(Back to Rob Bob's Last Call, and "Her"...)
Akane's been kicked out of the dojo, Ranma's a permanent girl now,
and the whole gang is going to mix it up in one month at the dojo.
We're gettin' down to the nitty-gritty here, folks. From here on out,
no more interruptions from me until the end of the fic.
So now they're gonna start gettin' ready for this big fight, and as
usual, someone's just got to play dirty. I don't think I need to tell
you where *that* leads.
Also we have another little treat in this part...are you ready for
Okonomiyaki Acchan? Akane cooking okonomiyaki...I think I'd want to
get as far away from *that* as possible.
Well anyway, it's all right here in the dramatic final part of
"Her", and I'll be back after the fic to wrap things up...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----
P A R T F O U R : R E S O L U T I O N
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----
Akane and Ukyou woke up to the annoyingly loud sound of their alarm
clock. Akane groaned. "Is it your turn or mine Ucchan?"
"Your turn Acchan. I'm too tired to blink."
Akane yawned, then reached over and grabbed the large spatula next
to
her futon. The alarm clock shut off abruptly as its innards were
scattered by a massive blow. Akane put her spatula back down and went
back to sleep. "Nothing better than the snooze feature," Ukyou
chuckled,
then fell back asleep.
About an hour later, they finally dragged themselves out of bed and
went
through their morning routine. Ready to face the day, they went
downstairs. "Okay Acchan, let's see what you've got."
Akane nodded, and fired up the grill. Ukyou observed carefully as
Akane's hands whirred into motion, whipping up the batter, oiling the
grill, and flipping a rapidly cooking okonomiyaki. In almost no time,
Akane flipped the cooked okonomiyaki onto a plate and handed it to
Ukyou,
smiling.
"Wow, 75 seconds. Not bad." Ukyou took a bite of the okonomiyaki and
smiled. "Wow, and it tastes pretty good!" Akane beamed. "You're
getting
better by the day, Acchan!"
"Thanks Ucchan!"
"After breakfast we'll practice for about an hour. It's pretty late
this
morning so we'll have to rush if we want to get in that practice time
and
still be ready for the lunch rush." Akane nodded. Ukyou smiled. "And
then
after that, I'm going to teach you a more complicated recipe, and how
to
make...the sauce." Akane gaped. "Really, Ucchan?" Ukyou nodded. Akane
jumped up and down, excited. Ukyou grinned. They ate a couple of
okonomiyakis, and then moved out onto the floor. A wooden screen had
been
set up in front of the doorway and across the windows. The tables
were
stacked along one wall of the shop. When the restaurant wasn't open,
they
used the floor of the dining area as their training hall. Akane
checked
her gear; everything was in place. She smiled, she was getting the
hang
of this and she loved it.
"Ready to start, Acchan?" Akane nodded, drawing her spatula. It was
basically identical to Ukyou's, except it had blue tape wrapped
around
the handle. She also wore an okonomiyaki seller's outfit now, like
Ukyou's, except hers was yellow instead of blue. She wore the same
tight
black pants.
Ukyou twirled her spatula, then darted in and took a swing. Akane
deflected, and brought the handle of her own spatula around to strike
Ukyou in the elbow. Gritting her teeth, Ukyou tried for a pancake
toss
swing. Akane stopped the spatula with her own, then slid hers
underneath
Ukyou's and flipped upward. Ukyou was hit in the face with her own
spatula. "Okay, time to turn up the heat," she said. She took a few
steps
back, and readied four throwing spatulas. Akane took a defensive
stance,
spatula at the ready. Ukyou threw the spatulas. Two clanged against
Akane's spatula. She sidestepped one of the others, and jumped over
the
last one. Still in the air, she whipped out four of her own throwing
spatulas and sent them flying toward Ukyou. Ukyou swatted them in the
air,
taking three completely down, but one was deflected toward her knee
and
struck. She dropped down a bit, sucking in a sharp breath. She
quickly
stood, and attacked again with her spatula. They kept this up for
almost
an hour.
When they were done, Ukyou grinned. "You're really good at this,
Acchan!"
Akane smiled. "Thanks, Ucchan! I had no idea this would be so much
fun!"
Ukyou thought about that, and smiled. "Yeah, it is a lot of fun. Not
many people can fight with cooking utensils." Both of them giggled,
then
started moving the tables around and pulling back the screen. After
washing up a little upstairs, they opened the restaurant.
A little before the start of the lunch rush, Tsubasa walked in.
Simply
walked in. No disguises, and he wasn't crossdressing. "Tsubasa!"
Ukyou
said, mildly surprised.
"Hello, Ukyou-sa..san." He noticed Akane, and blinked. Twice.
"Akane?"
Akane nodded, and giggled. Tsubasa shook his head. "Man, maybe I
better
go back on vacation."
"You went on a vacation?"
Tsubasa nodded. "After that incident in the park that day, I decided
I
needed to get away from Nerima for a little while. Took a little
cruise
to China, very relaxing. I actually got used to normal clothes." He
grinned.
Ukyou and Akane blinked. "So, no more crossdressing? No more
disguises?"
"Nope. Well, the disguises aren't totally gone, I mean it's a handy
talent, if you want to spy on someone or something. But I'll usually
be
dressed like this from now on."
Ukyou and Akane both smiled. "That's great, Tsubasa!"
"Yeah, looks like my timing couldn't have been better."
"How so?"
"Well, the thought of being whapped and hearing 'Tsubasa no baka!'
in
stereo is enough to make me feel sick." He shuddered. Ukyou and Akane
bust out laughing. They filled him in about the challenge which would
take place in three weeks. When they were done, he nodded, a serious
expression on his face. "To be honest, I don't know whether to wish
you
luck, or to hope you fail. All I can say is whatever happens, I'll be
here for you if you need me."
Ukyou actually smiled. "Thanks Tsubasa. I never thought I'd say
this,
but that really means a lot to me."
Ranma sat on the roof, watching the sunset. Ryouga sat down beside
her,
and she snuggled up to him. "Two weeks until the big fight," she
said.
"Yeah. I guess there's just no way to talk Akane out of this. Or the
others."
Ranma nodded, and sighed. "I'm not mad at them anymore though. Not
like
I was that day they jumped us in the park."
"Yeah, me either. I mean, it'd be nice if they'd listen to reason,
but
they're only doing this because they believe it's right." Ryouga
closed
his eyes for a second.
Ranma sighed again. "I know, and that's why I'm not mad at them. You
really can't justify holding a grudge against someone just because
they're fighting for something they believe in."
"How very mature of you two! I'm so proud!"
Ranma and Ryouga turned to find Nodoka and Kasumi had come up behind
them on the roof. "Hi Mom! Hi Kasumi!" Ranma smiled at them as they
sat
down beside her and Ryouga. "What brings you two up here?"
"The same thing that brings you here, dear." Nodoka pointed at the
sun
sinking below the horizon.
"It's so beautiful," Kasumi said.
They watched for a few minutes. They'd been sitting there a little
while
when someone waved to them from down in the yard. Ranma and Ryouga
stood
and jumped down. The brown-haired boy standing there walked up to
them.
"Hi Ranma, Ryouga." They stared at him blankly for a few seconds.
"Who..." Then Ranma recognized him. "Tsubasa?"
Tsubasa nodded. "I just came by to wish you two well and offer the
same
support I'm offering the others."
Ranma blinked. "Thanks Tsubasa! I figured you'd side with Ukyou."
Tsubasa shook his head and sighed. "I'm not going to take sides in
this.
Something tells me that they're wrong, and you really have become a
girl,
but then again they might be right, and after the fight you'll be
back to
normal. I don't know. I'm just going to watch and wait. Oh, by the
way...
I will tell you that Akane has gotten a lot better. She might
actually be
hard for you to beat."
Ranma blinked. "Thanks for the tip. I don't get why you're telling
us
this though."
Tsubasa smiled. "Mainly that's an apology for going along with
Nabiki's
plan to screw up Ryouga's date that one night." He waved goodbye and
left.
Ryouga shook his head. "I can't get over Tsubasa acting normal. It's
almost too scary."
Ranma nodded, then yawned. "We better get some rest. Don't forget
that
tomorrow I'm going to start teaching you the kachuu tenshin
amaguriken
technique." Ryouga nodded. Ranma leaned up and kissed him, then they
went
inside.
Tsubasa went completely unnoticed disguised as an abandoned yatai as
he
watched Shampoo practicing with Cologne.
"Alright, granddaughter, are you ready?"
"Aiyah! Shampoo ready!"
"Very well then." Cologne lit the small campfire she'd built, and
dumped
a bag of sweet chestnuts into it. "Go!"
Tsubasa timed Shampoo as she plucked all the chestnuts out of the
fire.
3 seconds. Not bad. She might be a match for Ranma.
"Very good, child!"
"With speed of amaguriken technique, Shampoo have a chance at
beating
Ranma if something go wrong and he manage to turn girl-type."
Hmm...Tsubasa thought for a minute. If they were counting on keeping
Ranma in his male form, he thought, they needed to take that koi pond
the
Tendous have into consideration. Tsubasa had no idea that Ranma could
no
longer be turned into a male at all.
Shampoo yelped as the old wreck of a yatai that sat in the corner of
the
lot moved toward them. "Aiyah! What that!?"
Cologne turned, and smirked. "We're being watched."
"Don't be alarmed." Tsubasa emerged from the yatai.
Shampoo breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it you Tsubasa. No do that
again! You almost give Shampoo heart attack!"
"Sorry about that. I just wanted to see how the training was coming
along. 3 seconds on the chestnut fist. Not bad."
"Shampoo make sure she fast as Ranma!"
Tsubasa nodded. "You're holding this fight at the dojo right?"
Shampoo
nodded. "And your plan is to keep Ranma from turning into a girl
during
the fight if at all possible, correct?" Shampoo nodded again. "Okay,
did
anyone ever think about the koi pond in the Tendou's yard?"
"Aiyah! Shampoo forget they have pond!" Cologne smacked herself in
the
head. "What we do now?"
Tsubasa smiled. "I'll take care of it the day before the fight." He
explained his plan to them, and they smiled. Tsubasa went off to look
for
a certain ninja.
"Alright, GO!"
Ukyou started jumping around the dining area and throwing
mini-spatulas
at Akane while Akane worked furiously over a mini-grill, cooking an
okonomiyaki and occasionally deflecting one of the spatulas with her
cooking ones. She tossed the okonomiyaki at Ukyou, who blocked it
with
her spatula. "Good shot! Keep going!" Akane started firing off
okonomiyaki after okonomiyaki as Ukyou jumped around dodging and
blocking
them. Finally one got through her defenses and smacked her in the
face.
She stopped jumping, peeled it off, and smiled. "Perfect. And you got
the
characters for the wards down great."
Akane smiled. "I think we're ready to take them on, Ucchan." Ukyou
grinned.
Everyone was asleep in the Tendou-Saotome dojo. Sasuke slipped over
the
wall, followed by another ninja. The second ninja took out a large
fish
net and began catching all the koi in the pond and dumping them in a
small barrel full of water Sasuke had produced. Then, Sasuke dragged
a
bag of quick-dry cement out from its hiding place, and the two ninjas
worked together to pour it all into the pond. Then the unknown ninja
produced an oar and used it to stir up the water. Satisfied with the
job,
they hid the barrel behind the bushes in the corner of the yard, and
slipped back over the wall, unheard and unseen.
"Wake up you two! It's time for breakfast!"
Ranma blinked herself awake and groaned. "Already?" Ryouga yawned
and
stretched.
"We're eating early this morning since today is the big fight,
remember?
Now hurry up and get ready!"
Ranma and Ryouga shot out of bed and groomed themselves, and
dressed.
Ryouga started to reach for his usual yellow shirt when Ranma stopped
him.
He turned to her quizzically. She reached into the closet and pulled
out
her sleeveless white shirt. "For luck," she said with a wink. Ryouga
put
the shirt on, smiling, and also put on Ranma's gold arm bracers.
Ranma
herself decided on her purple shirt. She looked at herself in the
mirror
and frowned. "I think I want to do something different with my hair,"
she
announced. Ryouga blinked. "I've never seen you change your hairstyle
before."
"Yeah, I've only changed it one time in my whole life. I think it's
time
for a little change don't you?" She smiled. She reached back and
quickly
unbraided and untied her hair, handing Ryouga the dragon whisker that
she
needed to keep it from growing. Ryouga had forgotten about this, and
watched in amazement as Ranma's hair slowly started growing right
before
their eyes. She waited until it was almost halfway down her back, and
then she took the whisker back and quickly retied it. Looking at
herself
in the mirror again, she smirked, and then snapped her fingers.
"Gimme
one of those," she said, reaching up to yank a bandana off of
Ryouga's
head. Rather than using it as a bandana, she fashioned a hair ribbon
out
of it, tying it in a bow over the dragon whisker. She looked back at
her
reflection and smiled. "Kawaii, ne?" she said, giggling.
"I like it," Ryouga said, and they went down to breakfast.
Kasumi smiled at them as they sat down at the table. "I like what
you've
done with your hair, Ranma," she said. Ranma smiled. "Thanks."
Soun was wailing as he brought the newspaper in. "It's a
catastrophe!"
Everyone blinked at him. "What's wrong, Soun-kun?" Nodoka asked.
"Someone has filled the pond with cement! Oh my beautiful, expensive
koi
pond!" He was crying hard enough now to make a new one.
Ryouga frowned. "Now why would anyone do that, I wonder."
Ranma smirked. "Maybe a certain three people didn't want the pond
there
because it's cold water, and maybe they sent someone to take care of
it."
Ryouga blinked. "I don't get it."
"Baka!" Ranma said, smirking. "They probably don't know that I can't
be
changed into a guy anymore, and they're planning to weaken me with
hot
water." Ryouga nodded, understanding now. Then he grinned. "Won't
they be
surprised."
Ranma laughed. "Heh, I'll say. I'm a little worried about you
though."
"Me?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, if they're planning to splash me with hot
water,
they might try to get you with cold water."
Nodoka frowned. "That's a possibility alright. And we can't say it's
against the rules to turn one of your opponents into a pig since it's
anything-goes martial arts." She smirked. "Kasumi, we're going to
have to
make sure there's plenty of hot water available."
"Cold water also," Ranma said. Nodoka blinked at her. "To use
against
Shampoo.
"Ah." Nodoka nodded.
Ryouga frowned. "It'll be hard to keep moving kettles and buckets in
and
out of the house."
"Well why don't we use water balloons?" suggested Kasumi.
Ranma beamed. "Great idea!"
Nodoka nodded. "We'll get to work on them immediately. You two go
warm
up...I have a feeling the girls have probably trained harder than we
think." Nodding, Ranma and Ryouga got up and went into the dojo for a
morning workout.
Soun was still wailing outside. "My pond! My fish!"
"Your fish aren't harmed, Tendou-san. They're in a barrel hidden in
the
bushes over in the corner. And the person who did this apologizes
sincerely, and will help you refill your pond after the fight. But he
doesn't think it would be fair to anyone if the combatants kept
turning
into animals and such during the fight." This was Ryouga, reading a
note
he found stuck to the wall next to dojo door.
Soun stopped wailing and turned to him. "That's a note from the
vandal?"
"More like guardian angel than vandal," Ranma said. "For BOTH sides.
It
helps the girls more than it helps us...at least it would have if hot
water still turned me back into a guy...and it keeps Shampoo from
falling
in and turning into a cat. But it also helps Ryouga too."
"Any idea who did this, Ranma?" Soun asked.
"Yep." Ranma said. "I know exactly who did it."
Ryouga and Soun turned to her quizzically. "Tsubasa," she told them.
Akane and Ukyou were finishing their morning aerobics when Shampoo
and
Cologne arrived. "Are you girls ready?" Cologne asked.
"Yep!"
"Sure are!" They finished their exercises and grabbed their weapons
bandoliers. Strapping their spatulas on, they nodded to each other
and
walked out the door. The four of them made their way to the dojo.
Ranma and Ryouga finished their light workout, and now they were
waiting
for the challengers to arrive. Ranma had a row of water balloons
attached
to her side...cold water, for Shampoo. The rest of the family was on
the
veranda. Kasumi and Nodoka had a bucket full of hot water balloons
between them.
Tsubasa appeared on the top of the wall. "Sorry about your pond,
Tendou-
san," he called out. "I promise I'll help you refill it after all
this is
over."
"Hello Tsubasa!" Kasumi called, waving. "Why don't you come join us
over
here and watch the fight?"
Tsubasa shook his head, crouching on the wall. "No thanks, I'll just
perch up here and watch. He turned his head to look down the street,
and
said, "I think the girls are arriving."
Akane's voice shouted from outside, "Open the gates!"
Soun and Genma swung the gates open. Cologne hopped through first,
and
perched herself beside the veranda. Then the challengers strode
through,
stopping a few feet inside the gate and standing side by side.
Everyone
gaped in awe.
"Akane!?" Ranma said.
Akane spoke in a no-nonsense tone. "We've come to drive out the
spirit
we know is possessing Ranma to make him believe he is really a girl!
"We're gonna bring you back to your senses, Ranchan!" Ukyou said.
"That right! Stupid drowned girl go back where she belong!" Shampoo
said.
Everyone was still gaping at Akane, dressed in her yellow
okonomiyaki-
seller's outfit and carrying a giant spatula strapped to her back.
The
three girls marched to the center of the yard, stopping about five
feet
away from Ranma and Ryouga to face off with them. Akane taunted,
"Nice
ribbon there Ranko. Let's see how much you like it when we're through
with you."
"For the last time, I *AM* Ranma, you idiots."
Nodding to each other, Akane and Ukyou drew their spatulas. Ranma
and
Ryouga dropped into ready stances. Without warning, Shampoo threw a
bottle of cold water to Ukyou and a kettle of hot water to Akane.
Akane
slammed the hot water into Ranma with her spatula. The kettle broke
and
splashed all over Ranma.
"Aiyah! It no work!"
"Ranchan's still in his girl form!"
"Okay, that spirit has gone too far! Attack!"
Ukyou slammed the cold water at Ryouga, who couldn't block it in
time
and turned into a pig. Akane and Shampoo rushed Ranma. The attacks
and
dodges were coming equally fast on both sides. Nobody was doing any
damage to anyone. Ukyou snuck around to grab the pig. To her
surprise,
something popped and sprayed hot water in front of her. Next thing
she
knew, Ryouga's hands closed around her neck. "Why you..."
"Ah, heh heh heh..." Ryouga threw Ukyou across the yard. She slammed
into the far wall.
"Ucchan!"
"I'm alright Acchan! Get him!"
Akane broke off attacking Ranma and went after Ryouga, flinging a
barrage of spatulas at him. He whipped several bandanas in the air,
knocking the spatulas to the ground. Akane landed in close range, and
engaged him in spatula-to-umbrella combat.
Meanwhile, Ranma was having no success with the cold water balloons.
Shampoo kept knocking them aside before she was splashed. Ranma ran
out
of balloons. "Damn," she said.
Shampoo smiled evilly. "Now we see who stronger, stupid drowned
tomboy."
She whipped out her bonbori and began lunging at Ranma, who blocked
or
evaded every strike, but with some difficulty. Shampoo's gotten fast,
Ranma thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Ukyou was up, and had her mini-grill out. Ranma was too
busy
fighting Shampoo to notice her, but Ryouga did. As he dodged one of
Akane's strikes, he started to reach up for his bandanas. "Oooohhhh
no
you don't," Akane said, and whacked him hard in the elbow. She
pressed
the attack with fast strikes, and Ryouga was kept busy blocking and
dodging. "Ranma! Watch out for flying okonomiyaki!"
"Gotcha!" Ranma said as she tried to disarm Shampoo. It wasn't
working.
Shampoo was entirely too fast. Ranma was pressed back almost as far
as
Ryouga. As they were pushed against the wall, Ryouga leaned over and
whispered, "I have a plan. Try to get her over onto the pond. When I
push
Akane over there, get out of the way." Ranma nodded.
Akane smirked. "You two ready to surrender?"
"No way!" Ranma said, launching into her chestnut fist.
Surprisingly,
Shampoo was able to block a lot of the punches--Cologne must have
taught
her the technique, Ranma thought--but she was still being forced
back.
Meanwhile, Ukyou was busily preparing as many okonomiyaki wards as
she
could while Akane and Shampoo kept Ranma and Ryouga busy.
Akane was still pressing her spatula attack. Ryouga tried to use his
umbrella to cut her spatula in half but it wasn't working. Akane
didn't
give him an opening. Ranma called over her shoulder, "Use your new
attack
Ryouga!"
"Right!" Ryouga stowed his umbrella, taking a hit in the stomach
from
Akane's spatula. Shifting his body forward, he yelled, "KACHUU
TENSHIN
AMAGURIKEN!" and delivered a flurry of fast punches at Akane. Not
prepared for this, Akane had no choice but to fall back. "Ukyou! Do
it
now! Hurry!"
Ukyou started flinging the okonomiyakis. Shampoo and Ranma were now
grappling on the concrete pond, and Akane was almost backed up to its
edge. The okonomiyakis were getting closer. "Just a little more..."
Ryouga said, continuing to press Akane backward. She was almost on
top of
Ranma and Shampoo. "There! Ranma! NOW!" Ranma dropped to the ground
and
rolled away from the pond. Ryouga broke off his attack and dove at
the
ground, one finger extended. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" The concrete
exploded.
Akane and Shampoo collapsed in a heap in the middle of the blast.
Ryouga
jumped back, and began flinging bandanas, taking out all the
okonomiyaki.
Ukyou put away the grill and got ready to fight, flinging spatulas.
Every
spatula she threw, Ranma caught and threw right back at her. Shampoo
scrambled out of the wreckage of the pond and threw herself into the
fight. Ukyou closed in and let fly with her spatula. Ryouga and Ranma
were busy blocking and dodging.
None of them noticed Akane setting up her mini-grill when she came
to.
The fight was fairly even now, and stayed put, not leaving the
center of
the yard. Both sides were holding their ground.
Akane's hands blurred into motion, making an okonomiyaki.
Shampoo attacked with the chestnut fist revised, using her bonbori
instead of her fists. Ranma was keeping up with the attacks but it
was
tough. Ryouga had his umbrella out again, and was parrying with
Ukyou.
Akane drew the characters on the okonomiyaki.
Shampoo and Ranma dropped back to normal speed after almost two
minutes
of continuous chestnut fists. Ukyou and Ryouga were locked in an
eye-to-
eye, umbrella-to-spatula contest of strength and will.
Akane placed the ward on her spatula, brought it around, and smacked
it
against Ranma's face.
Shampoo and Ukyou broke off their attacks and backed up into
defensive
stances.
Ranma stopped moving. Ryouga stared.
The characters on the okonomiyaki began to glow...
Then it slid off Ranma's face. It shriveled and turned black as it
hit
the ground. Everyone blinked at it.
"Oh no," Akane said, "I guess I messed it up..."
Cologne shook her head. "No, child. You didn't mess up."
"Then what happen, great-grandmother?"
Cologne closed her eyes and sighed. She hopped over to Ranma and
Ryouga.
"Ranma...please accept my apologies. I didn't think it could be
true."
Ukyou, Shampoo, and Akane gasped. "Wh...what you talking, great-
grandmother?"
Cologne turned to the three girls. "You three fought well. I'm proud
of
you for that. But it seems it was in vain. When a ward shrivels and
blackens like that, it means that there were no spirits to ward off
after
all."
Akane's eyes widened. "Y..you mean...?"
Ukyou looked pale. "Ranchan...really...IS....?"
Cologne nodded. The three girls sank to the ground, and began
crying.
Ranma sighed. "Look you guys, I'm sorry...but this is who I really
am."
She explained to them about her dreams, and what she had realized
they
meant.
Akane gasped. "Ranma...I really had no idea...I thought..."
Ukyou sighed. "Same here. I'm really sorry, Ranchan."
"Shampoo sorry too, Ranma."
"It's okay guys. I know why you did it. You thought I was in trouble
and
you were just trying to help." She smiled. "That's what friends do
for
each other."
They all looked at her. "You mean you're not mad at us?" Akane
asked.
Ranma shook her head. "I never was, not after I realized what you
were
fighting for. You were fighting for what you believed in. I can't
hold a
grudge for that." Smiling, she added, "Besides, something good came
out
of all this. Look at you three. A month ago, none of you would have
had a
chance against me and Ryouga in a fight. But today, you actually beat
us.
"
The girls blinked. Then a slow smile spread across Akane's face.
"Hey,
we did, didn't we?"
"You girls make a great team," Ryouga said. They all smiled.
The happy moment was interrupted by a maniacal laugh as Kodachi
leaped
over the wall. "Ohohohohohohohoho! Ranma-sama! I've come for you, my
darling!"
Everyone looked at her. Ranma cleared her throat and said,
"Kodachi...
Ranma's dead."
Kodachi blinked. "What?"
Akane nodded. "Yeah. He's gone."
"He's been dead for over a month, sweetie."
"Ranma deader than doornail."
Kodachi shook, fighting back tears. Then she leveled a hand at the
group
of them. "You four girls! You wicked little sluts drove my Ranma-sama
to
his death, didn't you? I'll make you pay, do you hear me?"
Akane and Ukyou looked at each other and nodded. Moving in synch,
they
walked over to Kodachi, spatulas in hand. Their spatulas swung in
unison,
sending Kodachi flying off into the stratosphere, as their stereo
shout
rang out: "KODACHI NO BAKA!"
Everyone fell over laughing.
--------------------------------EPILOGUE------------------------------
-----
Ranma passed the Nekohanten on her way to Ucchan's. She poked her
head
inside. Shampoo saw her and waved. "Nihao Ranma!"
"Hey Shampoo! How's it going?"
Shampoo smiled. "Shampoo still sad, but think she get over it."
Ranma smiled. "I'm glad. I really hated having to hurt all three of
you,
but this is my destiny."
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo understand that now, and happy for you and
Ryouga. Hope you have long life and many strong children."
Ranma blushed and giggled. "You know, Shampoo...I bet if you gave
Mousse
a chance, you might be surprised. You may find out you like him after
all."
Shampoo sighed. "Stupid Mousse...he never beat Shampoo, so no can
marry.
Shampoo no even want date him unless he beat her."
Ranma thought about that, and grinned slowly. "Y'know...you COULD
train
him. Then he'd beat you." She winked.
Shampoo giggled. "Aiyah! Shampoo never look at it that way before!"
Ranma waved. "Seeya around, Shampoo!"
"Ja ne, Ranma!"
Akane and Ukyou were waiting when Ranma got to the restaurant. They
smiled at her and waved her over to the counter.
"Heya Ranchan," they said in unison. Ranma blinked. "That's going to
take a LOT of getting used to," she said. The okonomiyaki girls
giggled.
Akane whipped up an okonomiyaki and put it on a plate in front of
Ranma.
Ranma looked at it suspiciously and raised an eyebrow. Ukyou nodded.
Ranma ate it and got another surprise. "Wow, it's good!" Akane
beamed.
"This is going to take even MORE getting used to." Akane whapped her
playfully with one of her cooking spatulas. "Y'know," she said, "It's
gonna be hard to leave this place. I really like it here."
"You know you don't have to go, Acchan."
Akane sighed. "Yeah, I know, but they miss me back at home, and I
miss
them."
Ranma snapped her fingers. "I have an idea! Akane, you can spend
half
your time at home, and half your time here at Ucchan's!"
Ukyou nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, and you can still work here
every
day, you know!"
Akane smiled. "That's a great idea! I'll do it!" The three of them
had a
small celebration.
Tsubasa walked in. They all waved to him as he sat at the counter.
Ukyou
smiled at him. "Heya Tsubasa! How's it going?"
"Great, Ukyou! We finally got that pond back to normal." He smiled.
Akane poked Ukyou in the side and stage-whispered to her,
"Y'know...he
is pretty cute..." She winked. Ranma and Ukyou giggled, and Tsubasa
blushed.
Ukyou started making an okonomiyaki and said, "Hmm...well, I need a
little time to get over the loss of Ranma..."
Ranma said, "Look at it this way Ucchan. You haven't lost an
iinazuke,
you've gained a girlfriend!" She giggled. Akane grinned and said,
"Yeah,
someone else to gossip with and borrow clothes from!" They all
started
giggling. "By the way, Ranchan, your hair looks really cute like
that."
"Thanks Ucchan!" Ranma touched her hair ribbon and smiled. Akane
giggled.
"Yeah, that looks good on you. So you and Ryouga are pretty serious
huh?"
Ranma blushed and nodded. "We're engaged, and he's going to help run
the
dojo. I'm glad that Mom moved in, too. And Tofu-sensei is going to
propose to Kasumi tomorrow night!"
Akane gaped. "Finally?"
"Yep!" Akane grinned. Ukyou finished making the okonomiyaki and set
it
in front of Tsubasa. On it she had written one kanji character in
sauce:
"hope".
After they closed up shop, Akane headed home, tired but happy. She'd
lost her iinazuke, the man she loved, and that wasn't easy on her.
But
Ranma was still her friend, and she'd always be there for her. Things
were starting to look up. She wouldn't be married for a while now, of
course, but all in all, life was still pretty good.
A dark-haired, well-tanned boy dressed in an expensive-looking
sweater
and slacks walked up to her. "Excuse me, miss...I was wondering if
you
could tell me where the Tendou dojo is...I was looking for some old
friends, and..." He broke off. "Akane?"
She looked at him carefully. He was hard to recognize in these
clothes,
but now that she looked at him... She smiled. "Toma! How are you?"
Toma smiled. "I'm doing rather well. Our island got wedged in
between
two of the smaller islands of Japan after we dropped you and your
friends
off. My men and I decided to gather up all our wealth, and divide it
up,
and start over here in Japan. I moved to Tokyo, I got an apartment,
I'm
going to school there, and life is quite satisfying, except I have
yet to
meet any women I am really interested in."
A slow smile spread across Akane's face. "Toma, I think this may be
your
lucky day..." She offered him her arm, and together they walked off
into
the sunset...
<The end.>
(And now, back to Rob Bob's Last Call, and "Her"...)
In the end, it's Akane who manages to hit Ranma with the okonomiyaki
spirit ward that does absolutely no good whatsoever. So everyone
accepts the truth, Toma wanders in at the end just so Akane can have
a boyfriend like everyone else, and everyone lives happily ever
after, as this horrible farce finally comes to an end.
You can always tell an author's earlier efforts. You'd never guess
that the guy who wrote this weird piece of junk would later go on to
take the main plot points driving it, and use them to write the much
more popular "Onna: Red Side vs. Yellow Side"...that's right, the
epic and the Ranma fic lost in the mists of time sprang from this old
turkey.
Well, that's all the time we have for now, so this is Rob Bob saying
so long, and the FFML will never die...it'll just crash every now and
then...
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"Try to control yourself..."
"Hey, I'm 20. I'm male. I'm single. I'm not
getting any. What do you expect?"
"...I stand corrected. And you...just...stand."
-Conversation between Lurker and an
anonymous AOL user
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
...gettin' ficcy wit' it...
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/~etlostlurker
"Heeere leezard, leezard, leezard..."
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