=?iso-8859-1?q?Elin=20B?=
27th November 2003, 08:00 AM
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi, their creator. They are used here without permission.
This story was written for entertainment purposes only and may not be
used for profit in any way.
We'll See
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Elin B
"No," she said, "No, I don’t think so. Not now."
They were sitting on the back porch, eating watermelons in the lingering
warmth of the summer evening. Akane wiped her mouth and spit out a few
watermelon seeds.
This was in late August, a month or so after the Unholy Big Row between
Akane and Nabiki. It was also after Kasumi had started to attend an
evening class, with a peculiar older man in the same class who had just
begun to pop up in the neighbourhood, making her family members a tad
nervous and suspicious. The Great Piglet Revelation was still in the
future, but not very far off anymore. On other fronts, Shampoo was still
blissfully unabducted, and Konatsu had yet not stumbled upon the recipe
for Benten’s Love Dumplings.
Ranma blinked and raised his eyebrows.
"You don’t want to be taught? Well, suit yourself. Why not?"
Akane put down the empty watermelon shell, then leaned back. The
crickets were chirping, occasionally drowned out by the distant sound of
traffic.
They had been talking a little about Soun Tendo’s recent decision, which
he had announced last night at dinner. Apparently. Soun’s cousin, who
lived over in Vancouver in Canada, was going to visit Tokyo for a
week-long visit, the first time in years. Naturally, he had asked if the
Tendos could put him up. For some reason, this had made Soun decide to
open the dojo up for classes again. He wanted the Saotomes, especially
his prospective son-in-law, to help out with the teaching. They had
several weeks to advertise and prepare themselves, since the cousin
wasn’t coming until late in September. (He would, in fact, be arriving
right in the agitation of the Great Piglet Revelation, and get a rather
skewered view of his host family as a result.)
Ranma had just admitted to Akane that he was a little concerned that he
might scare people away at first.
"I’m used to the way Pop’s been training me," he had said. "And, you
know, I am pretty damn good. But you can't use those training methods
on beginners. Maybe people are just going to get discouraged, if they
start off thinking they can reach any real levels of martial arts
without really applying themselves."
Akane had attempted to flick watermelon seeds at him, but he ducked them
easily.
"Well, you've never really taught before, did you?" she said. "You know
how to fight, but not teach.”"
"Well, neither do you," Ranma pointed out.
She nodded. "But Dad isn’t leaning on me to help out,” she said, “though
he might later. _You’re_ the one who’s supposed to take over the dojo,
after all." She gave him a shy look from under her bangs.
Ranma reddened for just an instant, but did not respond directly to the
last bit.
"All right, so I don’t have any experience of that stuff," he said. "But
you’ve got to start somewhere." A thoughtful look came into his eyes. He
turned and looked at his fiancee, tilting his head. "Say, do you want to
become my first student?" he said, nonchalance mingled with hope in his
voice.
Akane's eyes opened wide. "I mean," Ranma continued, "you did say just
the other day that you wanted to be better, so that you could handle
people like that latest loonie by yourself if you had too..." He trailed
off, aware of her stare.
"Do you *feel* well?" she said, frowning as she reached out to touch his
forehead.
"Of course I do!" He moved his head an instant after her touch. "Why?"
"It’s just that you’ve never seemed to want me to get better," she said.
"Look at what you did when I had the magical battle dogi, for instance."
"But that was different," he protested. "That wasn’t _earned_! And that
suit was perverted, anyway."
"Well, you wanted to wear it, too," she pointed out. "But anyway," she
continued quickly, leaving the matter of the battle dogi behind in the
dead past, "even so, you never seemed to think it was a good thing that
I trained. You always made me feel rather clumsy, actually." She
shrugged, then bit her lip and looked away, a little red in the face.
"Hey," protested Ranma, "I gave you a workout like nobody else would
have! If I hadn’t teased you so much, you’d be a whole lot slower than
you are now!"
"What?" said Akane, nonplussed. "Are you saying you did it on purpose?
But- but I’m not quick!" she protested after a few seconds had passed.
"I’m still pretty slow."
"You were slower when I first came here. A good deal so," said Ranma
seriously. "But most everyone else have gotten better too, so you can’t
really tell."
"Huh. Then I’m running to stay in place," she said pensively. She
shifted uneasily. But do I want to be part of the race that badly? she
wondered.
"So, whaddya say?" asked Ranma. "I do need to learn how to teach, after
all," he added, rather more quietly.
And that was when Akane had said no. No, she didn’t want to, not now.
In response to Ranma’s ‘Why not?’, she sighed and turned her head to see
him better.
"Because," she said slowly, "I think I need to do it alone. I mean, of
course I’ll need a sensei... But I think I’ll look for someone who
doesn’t already know me. I need to find my own way of doing things."
"Oh," said Ranma. "So... you don’t think I could hack it as a teacher,
then?" He was not sure how he felt about this. Part of him did feel a
little wounded at this lack of faith, though he supposed it made sense.
Part of him felt somewhat relieved: for some reason, there was something
a little alarming about the thought of holding private training sessions
with Akane. But he also felt a little disappointed, at the very same
time.
"That’s not it!" protested Akane. "When I do feel more sure of myself,
then I’ll let you teach me. Just not right away."
"Hm," said Ranma uneasily, struck by a new thought. "What if your
teacher’s some looney, though? Or a pervert?" He could picture the scene
easily, with a naive, wide-eyed Akane stepping up in her yellow gi
saying ‘Please, sir, I want to learn martial arts, sir’, and how the
teacher, handsome yet lecherous, would smile and say, ‘Very good. Let me
just show you some useful pressure points’. Ranma clenched his fists.
A loud snort from Akane interrupted these musings.
"In that case, I’ll just belt him and go look for a different teacher,"
she said drily. "Really, Ranma. Who do you take me for?"
"Someone who always gets caught up in trouble," he answered promptly.
She looked irked at this, but then she just exhaled slowly, leaned back
and smiled a little. They were silent for a while.
Akane thought: but what if I don't find my own way? What if all a
teacher can do is to tell me that I won't ever get much better than I am
now? Then what will I do?
She had to be prepared for something like that, she told herself. After
all, she was not Ranma. When he grit his teeth stubbornly and fought on,
he found a way to succeed in the end. When she did the same, she still
failed, more often than not. Perhaps because she didn't think of
changing the rules, like he did.
It wasn't as if she could just give up martial arts completely and
become a couch potato. Not that she wanted to, of course - but as long
as she was engaged to Ranma, it would be crazy not to keep in shape and
to keep up basic self-defense training. But perhaps, if she chose to,
she would no longer be a martial artist, merely someone who knew how to
fight a little. She would no more issue challenges, nor accept them.
Instead, she would be free to concentrate on other things. What those
things might be, she did not know, but there must be something she could
be good at.
The thought was not pleasant at all: it would mean leaving all the
responsibility for the honour of the school to Ranma alone. But after
all, she thought with sudden bitterness, that was all Dad seemed to
want.
This part of her father's announcement had not bothered her just now,
talking to Ranma. But it came and went, how she felt about it. The worst
part of it was, she did not dare to confront Dad about it. If it was one
thing she could not bear, it was to have her father confirm that he did
not think her good enough.
She is being awfully quiet, thought Ranma. But it didn't feel as if she
was waiting for him to say something. It felt calm and peaceful, for a
change.
He listened to the sounds of the neighbourhood around them. Family
fathers were coming home from work, opening and shutting gates and
doors. Dogs were barking. Teenagers were going out in clusters, talking
and laughing down the street. The sun was setting out of sight, beyond
the garden wall and the neighbouring houses. Only the very top of the
house was still basking in its reddish-golden light.
Akane seemed a little different these days, he thought, more grown up or
something. Well, at least sometimes. He supposed that was a good thing.
Only, did this mean he had to act more grown-up as well? And what if she
was changing and growing too fast for him to keep up with her?
On the other hand, who could tell what was really grown up, and what was
just becoming like everyone else?
I suppose I have changed, haven't I? thought Akane. I think I have
grown: I feel different on the inside. I hope it's for real and not just
some temporary mood.
Her big row with Nabiki had probably something to do with it, upsetting
as it had been. She could not pretend that it had all ended for the
better. The two sisters rather avoided each other these days. But at
least she had given as much as she had got - for once her sister had not
managed to make her feel like an eight-year-old. Nabiki had called her
awful things, some of which had more than a little truth to them. But
she had survived it. She had not broken down. And she was no longer
afraid of her sister.
Boy, she's been quiet forever, thought Ranma, glancing at her. A few
minutes ago, she looked slumped and brooding; but now she looked more
languid again, much like him. She was resting her chin in one hand and
gazing upwards. He too looked up at the sky, growing darker by the
minute. Night was coming fast. He felt as if he could capture this
evening, this moment, to hold it cupped in his hand as if it were a
firefly. But why would he do that?
Someone has to be like this, Ranma thought suddenly. Someone has to be
the one to take things lightly, to balance on the edges and casually
accept challenges. Otherwise, how would anything work? They would all
develop ulcers and drown in their own seriousness.
It's not just that it's fun, he said to himself. It's something I have
to do.
He studied new insight and decided to file it away for further
consideration. Perhaps he could say this to Akane some other time.
He doesn't understand, she thought. But she did not feel troubled: she
felt easy and calm and warm.
It was not that she thought he would make a bad teacher. He would
probably be quite good at it, once he'd had a few tries. It was just
that she did not want to be shaped like a lump of clay, without anything
to offer by herself.
"All right, then," said Ranma suddenly.
He turned his head to look at her. "Fine. You go off and find some old
geezer to teach you stuff. Then *I'll* take over and teach you something
better and more useful. Deal?"
"OK," said Akane, nodding. "I'll let you be my teacher, then."
"Great!" said Ranma cheerfully.
"You know, I think it's about time I went to bed," said Akane, getting
up and sliding the inner doors open.
Ranma frowned. "Now, wait a minute!" he called after her, as she entered
the house. "You're not letting me teach you - I'm the one who's letting
you be my student!"
"Isn't that nice of you," mumbled Akane sleepily. She let out a yawn as
she started to mount the stairs. "Well, we'll see." Outside, the moon
was rising.
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS: This came about from my wish to write a contemplative
piece, and to write more densely than I usually do. Feedback would be
much appreciated, whether critical or not. This is my first work of
fanfiction in prose.
Höstrusk och grå moln - köp en resa till solen på Yahoo! Resor på adressen http://se.docs.yahoo.com/travel/index.html
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Takahashi, their creator. They are used here without permission.
This story was written for entertainment purposes only and may not be
used for profit in any way.
We'll See
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Elin B
"No," she said, "No, I don’t think so. Not now."
They were sitting on the back porch, eating watermelons in the lingering
warmth of the summer evening. Akane wiped her mouth and spit out a few
watermelon seeds.
This was in late August, a month or so after the Unholy Big Row between
Akane and Nabiki. It was also after Kasumi had started to attend an
evening class, with a peculiar older man in the same class who had just
begun to pop up in the neighbourhood, making her family members a tad
nervous and suspicious. The Great Piglet Revelation was still in the
future, but not very far off anymore. On other fronts, Shampoo was still
blissfully unabducted, and Konatsu had yet not stumbled upon the recipe
for Benten’s Love Dumplings.
Ranma blinked and raised his eyebrows.
"You don’t want to be taught? Well, suit yourself. Why not?"
Akane put down the empty watermelon shell, then leaned back. The
crickets were chirping, occasionally drowned out by the distant sound of
traffic.
They had been talking a little about Soun Tendo’s recent decision, which
he had announced last night at dinner. Apparently. Soun’s cousin, who
lived over in Vancouver in Canada, was going to visit Tokyo for a
week-long visit, the first time in years. Naturally, he had asked if the
Tendos could put him up. For some reason, this had made Soun decide to
open the dojo up for classes again. He wanted the Saotomes, especially
his prospective son-in-law, to help out with the teaching. They had
several weeks to advertise and prepare themselves, since the cousin
wasn’t coming until late in September. (He would, in fact, be arriving
right in the agitation of the Great Piglet Revelation, and get a rather
skewered view of his host family as a result.)
Ranma had just admitted to Akane that he was a little concerned that he
might scare people away at first.
"I’m used to the way Pop’s been training me," he had said. "And, you
know, I am pretty damn good. But you can't use those training methods
on beginners. Maybe people are just going to get discouraged, if they
start off thinking they can reach any real levels of martial arts
without really applying themselves."
Akane had attempted to flick watermelon seeds at him, but he ducked them
easily.
"Well, you've never really taught before, did you?" she said. "You know
how to fight, but not teach.”"
"Well, neither do you," Ranma pointed out.
She nodded. "But Dad isn’t leaning on me to help out,” she said, “though
he might later. _You’re_ the one who’s supposed to take over the dojo,
after all." She gave him a shy look from under her bangs.
Ranma reddened for just an instant, but did not respond directly to the
last bit.
"All right, so I don’t have any experience of that stuff," he said. "But
you’ve got to start somewhere." A thoughtful look came into his eyes. He
turned and looked at his fiancee, tilting his head. "Say, do you want to
become my first student?" he said, nonchalance mingled with hope in his
voice.
Akane's eyes opened wide. "I mean," Ranma continued, "you did say just
the other day that you wanted to be better, so that you could handle
people like that latest loonie by yourself if you had too..." He trailed
off, aware of her stare.
"Do you *feel* well?" she said, frowning as she reached out to touch his
forehead.
"Of course I do!" He moved his head an instant after her touch. "Why?"
"It’s just that you’ve never seemed to want me to get better," she said.
"Look at what you did when I had the magical battle dogi, for instance."
"But that was different," he protested. "That wasn’t _earned_! And that
suit was perverted, anyway."
"Well, you wanted to wear it, too," she pointed out. "But anyway," she
continued quickly, leaving the matter of the battle dogi behind in the
dead past, "even so, you never seemed to think it was a good thing that
I trained. You always made me feel rather clumsy, actually." She
shrugged, then bit her lip and looked away, a little red in the face.
"Hey," protested Ranma, "I gave you a workout like nobody else would
have! If I hadn’t teased you so much, you’d be a whole lot slower than
you are now!"
"What?" said Akane, nonplussed. "Are you saying you did it on purpose?
But- but I’m not quick!" she protested after a few seconds had passed.
"I’m still pretty slow."
"You were slower when I first came here. A good deal so," said Ranma
seriously. "But most everyone else have gotten better too, so you can’t
really tell."
"Huh. Then I’m running to stay in place," she said pensively. She
shifted uneasily. But do I want to be part of the race that badly? she
wondered.
"So, whaddya say?" asked Ranma. "I do need to learn how to teach, after
all," he added, rather more quietly.
And that was when Akane had said no. No, she didn’t want to, not now.
In response to Ranma’s ‘Why not?’, she sighed and turned her head to see
him better.
"Because," she said slowly, "I think I need to do it alone. I mean, of
course I’ll need a sensei... But I think I’ll look for someone who
doesn’t already know me. I need to find my own way of doing things."
"Oh," said Ranma. "So... you don’t think I could hack it as a teacher,
then?" He was not sure how he felt about this. Part of him did feel a
little wounded at this lack of faith, though he supposed it made sense.
Part of him felt somewhat relieved: for some reason, there was something
a little alarming about the thought of holding private training sessions
with Akane. But he also felt a little disappointed, at the very same
time.
"That’s not it!" protested Akane. "When I do feel more sure of myself,
then I’ll let you teach me. Just not right away."
"Hm," said Ranma uneasily, struck by a new thought. "What if your
teacher’s some looney, though? Or a pervert?" He could picture the scene
easily, with a naive, wide-eyed Akane stepping up in her yellow gi
saying ‘Please, sir, I want to learn martial arts, sir’, and how the
teacher, handsome yet lecherous, would smile and say, ‘Very good. Let me
just show you some useful pressure points’. Ranma clenched his fists.
A loud snort from Akane interrupted these musings.
"In that case, I’ll just belt him and go look for a different teacher,"
she said drily. "Really, Ranma. Who do you take me for?"
"Someone who always gets caught up in trouble," he answered promptly.
She looked irked at this, but then she just exhaled slowly, leaned back
and smiled a little. They were silent for a while.
Akane thought: but what if I don't find my own way? What if all a
teacher can do is to tell me that I won't ever get much better than I am
now? Then what will I do?
She had to be prepared for something like that, she told herself. After
all, she was not Ranma. When he grit his teeth stubbornly and fought on,
he found a way to succeed in the end. When she did the same, she still
failed, more often than not. Perhaps because she didn't think of
changing the rules, like he did.
It wasn't as if she could just give up martial arts completely and
become a couch potato. Not that she wanted to, of course - but as long
as she was engaged to Ranma, it would be crazy not to keep in shape and
to keep up basic self-defense training. But perhaps, if she chose to,
she would no longer be a martial artist, merely someone who knew how to
fight a little. She would no more issue challenges, nor accept them.
Instead, she would be free to concentrate on other things. What those
things might be, she did not know, but there must be something she could
be good at.
The thought was not pleasant at all: it would mean leaving all the
responsibility for the honour of the school to Ranma alone. But after
all, she thought with sudden bitterness, that was all Dad seemed to
want.
This part of her father's announcement had not bothered her just now,
talking to Ranma. But it came and went, how she felt about it. The worst
part of it was, she did not dare to confront Dad about it. If it was one
thing she could not bear, it was to have her father confirm that he did
not think her good enough.
She is being awfully quiet, thought Ranma. But it didn't feel as if she
was waiting for him to say something. It felt calm and peaceful, for a
change.
He listened to the sounds of the neighbourhood around them. Family
fathers were coming home from work, opening and shutting gates and
doors. Dogs were barking. Teenagers were going out in clusters, talking
and laughing down the street. The sun was setting out of sight, beyond
the garden wall and the neighbouring houses. Only the very top of the
house was still basking in its reddish-golden light.
Akane seemed a little different these days, he thought, more grown up or
something. Well, at least sometimes. He supposed that was a good thing.
Only, did this mean he had to act more grown-up as well? And what if she
was changing and growing too fast for him to keep up with her?
On the other hand, who could tell what was really grown up, and what was
just becoming like everyone else?
I suppose I have changed, haven't I? thought Akane. I think I have
grown: I feel different on the inside. I hope it's for real and not just
some temporary mood.
Her big row with Nabiki had probably something to do with it, upsetting
as it had been. She could not pretend that it had all ended for the
better. The two sisters rather avoided each other these days. But at
least she had given as much as she had got - for once her sister had not
managed to make her feel like an eight-year-old. Nabiki had called her
awful things, some of which had more than a little truth to them. But
she had survived it. She had not broken down. And she was no longer
afraid of her sister.
Boy, she's been quiet forever, thought Ranma, glancing at her. A few
minutes ago, she looked slumped and brooding; but now she looked more
languid again, much like him. She was resting her chin in one hand and
gazing upwards. He too looked up at the sky, growing darker by the
minute. Night was coming fast. He felt as if he could capture this
evening, this moment, to hold it cupped in his hand as if it were a
firefly. But why would he do that?
Someone has to be like this, Ranma thought suddenly. Someone has to be
the one to take things lightly, to balance on the edges and casually
accept challenges. Otherwise, how would anything work? They would all
develop ulcers and drown in their own seriousness.
It's not just that it's fun, he said to himself. It's something I have
to do.
He studied new insight and decided to file it away for further
consideration. Perhaps he could say this to Akane some other time.
He doesn't understand, she thought. But she did not feel troubled: she
felt easy and calm and warm.
It was not that she thought he would make a bad teacher. He would
probably be quite good at it, once he'd had a few tries. It was just
that she did not want to be shaped like a lump of clay, without anything
to offer by herself.
"All right, then," said Ranma suddenly.
He turned his head to look at her. "Fine. You go off and find some old
geezer to teach you stuff. Then *I'll* take over and teach you something
better and more useful. Deal?"
"OK," said Akane, nodding. "I'll let you be my teacher, then."
"Great!" said Ranma cheerfully.
"You know, I think it's about time I went to bed," said Akane, getting
up and sliding the inner doors open.
Ranma frowned. "Now, wait a minute!" he called after her, as she entered
the house. "You're not letting me teach you - I'm the one who's letting
you be my student!"
"Isn't that nice of you," mumbled Akane sleepily. She let out a yawn as
she started to mount the stairs. "Well, we'll see." Outside, the moon
was rising.
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS: This came about from my wish to write a contemplative
piece, and to write more densely than I usually do. Feedback would be
much appreciated, whether critical or not. This is my first work of
fanfiction in prose.
Höstrusk och grå moln - köp en resa till solen på Yahoo! Resor på adressen http://se.docs.yahoo.com/travel/index.html
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
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