Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takihashi and Viz Video. This is a freely distributed piece of fiction.

 

Clothes-Lined

By Michael Fetter

 

 

 

      A rare, quiet day in Nerima meant only one of two things; everyone died or they were bored. In this instance only the latter applied.

      After the morning exercise with his father and the battle over breakfast, Ranma had hidden himself away in the Tendou dojo. There he would have peace and time to focus on his training. At least until Akane decided to join him.

      "RANMA . ."

      And ask to spar.

      "NO . ."

      To which Ranma would respond with his usual insulting manner.

      "BAKA!!!"

      The pigtailed martial artist was sent on a cannonball run out of the dojo in perfect trajectory to land in the pond. Splashdown, Ranma sat up and spat the water from her mouth. It was a routine she was all too familiar with so didn't notice the laundry on the side or the woman hanging them up as she rung the excess water from her red hair. "Kawaiikunee otemba." Ranma grumbled.

      "That's not a very nice thing to say, Ranma-chan." Kasumi admonished the cursed boy.

      Ranma looked up in surprise. "Oh hey, Kasumi." She strutted over to the eldest Tendou daughter. "Well, it's hard to think of anything else when you're being beat over the head with a mallet by that violent sister of yours."

      Kasumi continued to pin up the wet clothes on the line running from the house to a place on the opposite wall. "I suppose so, but then I also suppose you could make her stop."

      Ranma snorted and started going through the clothes, picking out her own shirts just to be safe. "I try dodgin, but she just gets angrier when she can't hit me and keeps on chasin me."

      Chuckling, Kasumi looked down at the little girl fumbling through the laundry. "Oh, Ranma-chan. I've seen you fight your friends Ryouga and Mousse and you have no problem with their weapons and Akane certainly doesn't move as fast as them."

      "Yeah, well I don't want ta hit her." Ranma gave up on the clothes and sat down heavily beside the basket.

      Cocking her head to one side, Kasumi tried to think this through. "Because she is weak? You're probably right."

      Ranma instantly went on the defensive. These were the kind of things people said to get him in trouble. "That's not what I mean- I am?" She blinked as the rest of Kasumi's words formed in her head.

      "Well, she is certainly not as strong as Ryouga." Kasumi nodded and put up a yellow gi top.

      Ranma crossed her eyes and stared across the pond to the dojo. "That ain't a very fair comparison, Kasumi. Ryouga is a monster when talking about his strength."

      Shrugging, Kasumi tried again. "Shampoo then. Akane was beaten by her in the arm wrestling match at the fair before."

      "Naw, Akane is stronger than that. Shampoo just surprised her is all."

      "Her skill in the Art is rather deplorable." Kasumi noted with a nod, pinning up some yellow gi pants.

      "Huh?" Ranma blinked, not believing he was hearing this from Kasumi.

      "I don't think I've seen Akane in a martial arts fight except as the bait or trophy."

      "Hey, not that I want her fightin in some a the things I get involved in, but Akane can hold her own better'n most." Ranma insisted.

      Kasumi continued as if deaf to Ranma's words. "Cologne captured her rather easily while Ryouga was taking his Exploding Point training."

      This is ridiculous, Ranma thought. "Well, the old ghoul has given everyone trouble, even me."

      "And all those princes."

      Ranma waved off the comment. "Yeah, but those guys were just nuts anyway. What about all the times she had to beat her way through a crowd of guys to get to class. Or the Kunos. Heck, I've seen her take on Ukyou and Shampoo sometimes and come out even most of the time."

      Stopping in her chores, Kasumi stared down at Ranma then pulled out a sun dress to hang. "Then I suppose it is her speed."

      Ranma countered this one easily. "Please. Speed is good and all, but it ain't everything."

      "But isn't that why you bounce around her attacks, because she is too slow?"

      Good intentions grounding to a halt, Ranma tried to work up some plausible reason for dodging all of Akane's attacks. "Well, yeah. Akane is slower than me and all, but so is Ryouga, and he can pound me pretty good when he's focused."

      Stopping again to stare down at Ranma-chan, Kasumi started to tick things away on her fingers. "So, you're saying that Akane is stronger than Shampoo, more skilled than the Kunos, and her speed isn't really a factor."

      "Uh, yeah, I guess." Ranma squirmed in her seat, scratching the back of her head.

      Taking a look of understanding, Kasumi smiled and continued with her chore. "Then it should be okay to take her seriously in a fight."

      "What?! No way!" Ranma was up on her feet and crossing her arms over her chest to look immovable.

      "Why not?" Kasumi paused again.

      "Well, because . . she, uh . . because she ain't . . cause I . . I don't know." She sat down with a plop from her wet slacks smacking the grass.

      "You don't?" Kasumi blinked and looked down at Ranma-chan closer. "You've been here more than a year and I've seen you analyze people's styles in less than a day. Are you saying Akane's skill is beyond you?"

      Ranma hmphed. "Heck no! I could spend the day pointin out all her mistakes and it still wouldn't be enough time to get them all."

      "That's a lot. I thought you said she was more skilled than the Kunos and on par with Ukyou and Shampoo."

      Ranma squirmed nervously again. "Yeah."

      "Do they have that many mistakes?"

      Blinking, Ranma tried to think back to all her fights for those sorts of details and came back with nothing. "I-I don't know."

      The little smile on Kasumi's face shrank slightly. "You seem to pay a lot more attention to Akane's mistakes than her achievements Ranma-chan."

      Struggling with the concept Kasumi was drawing for her, Ranma tried to nod. "I . . I guess I could take her more seriously." Sweating a little, Ranma hastily added, "To help her fix those holes in her defenses."

      Smiling, Kasumi nodded like she had no doubt Ranma had said what she meant. "Of course. That might make her a lot better than those other girls."    

      Distracted now, Ranma barely caught what Kasumi said. "Who? Oh yeah. Them." Slapping her knee, she began to stand up. "Heh, by the time I'm done with her, Akane'll be one of the top fighters in Japan."

      Kasumi looked a little skeptical now. "Could it really be done with such a . . tomboy?"

      Smiling brightly, Ranma nodded, the end of her pigtail bobbing up and down in the air. "You bet. That's the whole reason she's such a good martial artist anyway."

      "Well, I don't want to distract you from your training." Kasumi began to scoop up the extra pins and laundry basket. "I'll go back to my kitchen and start working on dinner. I'm sure the two of you will work up quite an appetite."

      "Ha! She'll be hungry enough to eat a horse by dinner time!"

      Placing a hand to her cheek, Kasumi looked plainly stunned. "Oh my. Then I better get cooking!"

      "Later, Kasumi." Ranma waved and started jogging for the dojo. "Hey, Akane!"

      "WHAT?!"

      The redhead disappeared, bouncing into the building. "What do you say to a rematch, my slow, tomboy fiancee?"

      "RANMA! I'M GOING TO POUND YOU INTO PULP!"

      "Not this time, ya ain't!"

      Nabiki sat behind the news paper opened to the stocks pages. As the shogi opened, her fingers twitched and the top half of the paper dropped so she could see the smile on Kasumi's face. "You probably just cut into my profits with that little talk."

      "I'm sure it was used to offset some of the property damage to the dojo and house." Kasumi set the laundry things out of the way and went for her kitchen.

      "I suppose so." Nabiki thought, then shook her head and smirked like a shark. "That's the last time I let you borrow my 'Better Bartering' guides. You're far too dangerous."

      Kasumi paused in her search for the perfect dinner for tonight to place a finger against her chin and consider things. "With all that extra time I could probably try to start teaching Akane to cook again."

      Nabiki shivered and collected her things quickly before Kasumi could continue the conversation. "Far too dangerous."

      Smiling at Nabiki's retreating form, Kasumi began to hum a tune that fell in time with the sounds of sparring coming from the dojo.

 

 

The End

*     *     *

 

      One night I got to thinking on the peculiar nature of Akane's love life. She says she wants one thing and acts another. Is it Ranma, or Akane herself that is screwing things up? I finally decided that Akane may have once wanted a knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet, but then she fell to the influence of her environment.

      Kuno makes the challenge and Akane hates it, and ends up beating on all the guys before school. After a long enough time, this act becomes ritual and begins to bleed over into other aspects of Akane's life and creates her obtuse opinion on the opposite sex. In other words, she begins to believe that she must be beaten in order to truly fall in love. When Ranma comes around, he is good enough, but he won't do it. This makes Akane question her own worth, gets angry at Ranma, and the love-hate relationship is created.

      I don't know, this line of thought led me to write the above one-shot. Interesting theory though.

 

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Ja ne.