Beyond Forms 3
by Kiwi Noriega
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CHAPTER 3
Ryouga looked at Akane and answered, "Hi, I um-my name's um, let's see, oh, my name's..." Ryouga thought for a girl's name. He never met any girls so he was at a loss, then, one name came to mind and she said, "Ukyou! U-huh, Kuonji Ukyou's the name!" Ryouga said, reaching for Akane’s hand and shaking it.
Akane wasn’t particularly thrilled with seeing Ranma with this girl, but she’ never really had any girl friends so she answered, “Nice to meet you Ukyou!” As she stared at the girl, something nagged in Akane’s thoughts, *Why does she seem so familiar…?*
Ryouga slightly cringed at the mention of the name and thoughts flashed in his mind, *Oh I can see it now…one huge spatula sending me flying half-way across the world…* then he grimaced, *She’s gonna kill me alright…* “Uh, hehe, nice to meet you too! I’m Ryouga’s um, friend…”
“Oh that’s great! Ryouga was just here a while ago, I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, Ukyou.” Akane said in return, although that feeling of familiarity rose once again at the mention of Ryouga’s name.
Ryouga-onna cringed at the mention of the name and answered, “Uh yeah…”
Ranma, looking at both individuals in silence thought, *Oh my gosh, how can Akane be so dense?! I mean, here’s a girl wearing the _exact_ same clothes as Ryouga…especially that bandanna…*
Akane ignored her thoughts and said, “Anyway, I gotta go help with dinner, I’ll see ya around or something…Oh yeah, why don’t you just stay for dinner while waiting for Ryo-chan…?”
Ryouga-onna’s eyes shot open and she quickly replied, “No! I mean that’s okay, I’d love to but I _really_ have to get going anyway…”
Akane nodded her head and said, “Well, if you change your mind, you’re still welcome to come! Besides, you wouldn’t want to miss my special tonkatsu,” she said.
“Yeah, the best in the world.” Ranma said in a really dry tone.
Akane casually threw a plate at Ranma’s head then turned back to Ryouga-onna, smiling, “Don’t mind him, he usually speaks nonsense.” and with that, Akane headed for the kitchen, leaving the two girls standing on the lawn.
As soon as Akane was out of hearing distance, Ranma immediately grabbed Ryouga’s shirt and exclaimed, “What do you mean Ryouga’s not here!!?!?”
Ryouga-onna grabbed Ranma and pulled her into the dojo, heating a kettle in the process. Looking around, making sure no one was there, Ryouga sat down and said, “I can’t let anyone know I turn into a girl, Ranma…” she said.
“Heh?”
Ryouga sighed, slightly shuddering then answered, “It’s a long story…”
Ranma casually sat down on the middle of the dojo and said, “Yeah? Well I’ve got a lot of time.”
Picking up the heated kettle, Ryouga poured it on herself and then passed it to Ranma. After a brief moment of silence, he looked Ranma in the eye, hesitating a bit. With a final sigh, he bit his lower lip, and said, “Promise me first that you won’t tell a living soul about this, okay?” He continued after Ranma’s curt nod, “Don’t laugh, either.”
After a few moments of gathering his thoughts, Ryouga began, “Well, lesse, um, I’m sorta, uh, hidingfromtwogirls, just that, and you know what? I got nothing else to say, and so how’ve ya been, pal? It’s been years since I last saw you and Akane! I--”
Ranma stared at him, surprise evident in his facial features, “Whoa, whoa, hold on there for a sec, ‘Ryo-Chan’, what’s with this hiding from girls thing?”
Ryouga sighed in defeat and finally answered, “Well, it all started a few weeks after I got cursed…”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Akane sat, staring at a burnt mound of something on a plate, sighing as she rolled her eyes in defeat, “I am never ever gonna learn how to cook…”
“Well, the good thing is that you try really hard, Akane, that’s what counts.” Kasumi said, comforting her youngest sister. She smiled; feeling good as she smiled at her new sister, thinking of Akane as another part of her life brought back that’s been missing for so long.
Akane smiled back at her older sister, her thoughts of her failed attempt slowly disappearing, “Thanks, Kasumi-oneechan, I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Akane-chan.” She answered back, resuming her cleanup of Akane’s little cooking project while putting the finishing touches to their dinner. “Why don’t you call everyone and tell them that dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”
With a last nod at her sister, Akane stood up and threw her ‘tonkatsu’ in the trashcan, swiftly heading up the stairs and proceeded to Nabiki’s room, knocking gently.
“Come in…” a voice answered.
Akane turned the knob and peeked in. Nabiki was sitting on her bed, a laptop, now beside her. “Uh, Nabiki, Kasumi said--”
Before Akane could anything more, Nabiki gestured her sister to take a seat, “So Akane, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been doing for the past years?”
Akane felt a little uneasy, not knowing what to say, but as she looked into Nabiki’s eyes, her hesitation lessened and she started, “Well, just training, actually, moving here and there, going from a new challenge to the next one and all that…”
Akane continued on and told Nabiki of a few of her and Ranma’s adventures across China and the like, smiling as she got a few grins out of her new sister. After a few minutes of talking, silence descended and Nabiki suddenly asked, a sly grin on her face, “So, what’s up with you and Ranma, huh? What with the engagement and all…”
Akane was totally caught off-guard by the question, heat rising in her cheeks as she vainly tried to think of something to say. Without knowing, words just flew out of her mouth, “What?! Ranma’s my best friend! I mean we would neve—I mean I don’t mean that—I mean I do—I…I…” she trailed off, flushed by the effort.
Nabiki just smiled and let out a breath, standing up and resting her hand on Akane’s shoulder, “Oh, don’t worry about it, Akane…it’ll all come together in one way or another…this is definitely gonna be interesting…”
Akane didn’t’ know what to make of what her sister had just said, but let it drop, nonetheless. Following suit, she stood up and reminded Nabiki of dinner, quickly slipping out of her room and walking out to the dojo where Ranma would probably be.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Ranma stared at Ryouga and pitied the guy even more as his story progressed, “So now you’re being chased all over Japan _and_ China by two girls who’re out to get your girl side?”
Ryouga sighed, “Well, that’s the long and short of it I guess…”
“Well, I don’t understand why ya won’t tell Akane and all, I mean, she’s our best friend and that…”
Ryouga grimaced, “I know, I know, I feel bad about not telling her and all…It’s just that, the fewer people who know that that green-haired girl is me, the less chance for those two girls to track me down.”
Ranma looked at him and answered, “Well, I really don’t see the problem with those two girls finding you and all, I mean, the way _you_ of all people could get lost, they’d _never_ get a clue where you’d go…”
“Ranmaaaa!!!! How dare you insult my sense of direction!!”
Smirking, he answered, “Well, considering you don’t _have_ a sense of direction…” Ranma couldn’t get anything out as a fist swept past where his head had been. He immediately back-flipped away from Ryouga’s reach, not paying attention where he was landing, which was a _very_ huge mistake.
Ranma suddenly stopped moving, crouching at his current position, “Hmmm, the floor sure does feel weird…” a hammer suddenly greeted him, almost an all-too familiar indention of Ranma’s face imbedded on the hammer.
*WHAM*
Sensing the mood, Ryouga said to himself aloud, “Um, isn’t it time for dinner? Maybe I should go tell everyone I’m their new visitor…” With that, he immediately high tailed out of the dojo, leaving Ranma and Akane…alone…and with a hammer...
“It’s ‘coz my head ain’t the FLOOR!!!!” Akane shouted, picking up Ranma by the collar and shouting, “Why don’t you look before you land!”
Ranma stared at Akane, inevitable doom, descending upon him. Then a thought came to mind and he said, a grin foolishly painting his face, “Y’know what, Akane? You’re really cute when you’re angry.” Working as planned, Ranma suddenly found himself dropped to the floor, grinning at Akane for all he’s worth.
Noticing his stupid smirk, Akane realized his plan had worked and stared daggers right into him. *Well two can play that game…* without any trace of the previous events, Akane suddenly changed into the ‘I’m-so-cute-I-ooze-with-honey’ mode. “Really? Oh Ranma, do you really mean that?!?! Ooohhh!!!” she said, her voice oozing with cuteness.
“I, uh, I…eh…?”
“Oh I’m SOOOO happy!!!” she squealed, sending shivers down Ranma’s spine, “We can get married tonight if you want!! Or maybe NOW!!” Akane said, laughing inside as she took a step closer to Ranma.
Shock rippled through Ranma’s face as he stared at Akane, “You’ve gotta be kidding, Akane…I mean, we, I…” he bowed his head in defeat, at a loss of words for once. Looking back up, Ranma saw Akane smiling; thankfully back to her normal state.
“Never use my own tactics against me, Ranma…if you mess with the best, you’ll lose like the rest…’” with a stifled giggle, she exited the dojo, casually informing Ranma of dinner.
Sighing, Ranma looked around him and sarcastically said, “ ‘If ya mess with the best, you’ll lose like the rest.’ Blah, blah, bla—*WHAM* --urk! ”
“I heard that!!”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
(In the Tendo household….)
Everyone sat in the dinner table, Ranma beside Akane, Ryouga-onna in front while the two men, Soun and Genma, sat at either head of the table, leaving Kasumi and Nabiki to fill out the spots.
“Ukyou, it’s so nice of you to join us tonight!” Akane said, regarding the green-haired girl.
“Uh, huh? Oh yeah, uh, thanks, Akane! I hope I’m not intruding or anything, I sorta had a little accident in the koi pond, hehe…” Ryouga-onna answered, sheepishly grinning while pointedly ignoring Ranma’s glare.
“I wonder where Ryouga went though…” Akane mused, her chopsticks stopping for an instant.
“Oh, ya don’t got nothing to worry ‘bout, Akane, I’m sure he’s _here_ somewhere…” Ranma added, glancing at Ryouga-onna.
Just then, something smashed through the wall, sending clouds of dust all over the sundeck. A young woman emerged from the dust cloud, her lavender hair swaying as she menacingly pointed her bonbori at Ryouga, “Ryoko, I kill!”
Shocked and curious faces greeted the young lady, Ryouga’s face far outmatching the others’ by a mask of pure, impending doom. “I, uh, I…” Before Ryouga-onna could get a single word out, Akane stood up and faced the stranger, “Stop it Amazon hussy!”
Ryouga-onna sat still in her place, thoughts whirling in her head, *Wha…? Akane’s defending me…could it be that she--*
“You know not talk, tomboy!” the Amazon answered as she glared at Akane, her previous target now long forgotten.
Silence passed and the two ladies had a stare-off, neither one moving a single muscle as all the others watched with suspense. Then without warning, the purple-haired lady lunged at Akane with intense speed, bonbori in tow…everyone watched in horror when Akane looked as if she had no plan of dodging…
“Aiyaaah!” the girl said, suddenly hugging Akane tightly, “Akane!! Oh Shampoo too too glad see sister!!!!”
Akane brightened up, answering, “Shampoo! It’s great to see you too! How’s everyone in the village?”
A moment of silence followed, the chimes ringing with the wind, the mouths of those gathered, dropping with newfound shock – then they snapped out of it…
“SISTER?!?!?!?!?!”
- end
Author’s Notes:
Hey everyone! I finally finished Chapter 3 that I’ve been working on for how long? Um, just a few months!!! I’m really sorry, but school’s been busy and I’ve been suffering from Writer’s Block, but now, exams just finished and I’m pretty sure the fics will be coming out a little faster than usual. I really had a lot of fun writing this fic and all the ideas are just flowing in. Well, I hope everyone liked this; C&Cs are welcome at becknkal@addax.bc.ca.
Thanks and ja!
~Kiwi Noriega~
© 1997 becknkal@addax.bc.ca
