[FFML][Ranma][Fanfic][Final Draft] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty -
Chapter 1 [Section 3]
Okay, here is the final draft (I hope) of the first chapter of my new
series. Anyone who has seen the first drafts will recognize many
changes to the first half. The part in the mountains hasn't changed to
much (I didn't get any negative comments about Ranma and Akane's
training in the mountains).
BTW, Ukyo's big apology had been postponed, since many people indicated
she was a bit OTT in her apology for this part in the story (I had to
agree). She also makes her reappearance later in the school year.
Also, it was suggested that I split it up into smaller parts for the
pre-reading/FFML so I have. I'll post the pieces over then next few
days.
I'm mostly concerned with cleaning up the grammar and spelling in this
draft, but as always, I welcome any comments about the story and
characters. Be brutal if you have to.
[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 1: Hit Me Hard,
Kiss Me Hard
=======================================================================
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 1: Hit Me Hard, Kiss Me Hard
Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, used
without permission
Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakan Inc., Kitty, Fuji,
Viz Communications, etc...
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and Copyright
1998 by Jim Lazar
An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga, but
incorporates elements/characters of the anime as well.
<Speech text in angle brackets are thought by character.>
All other speech is in Japanese, although written in English in this
story of course.
=======================================================================
[section 3]
* * *
About a month after Ukyo made her reappearance, the final school
bell before summer break rang throughout Furinkan High. As in any other
school, the students rejoiced and ran screaming and yelling out of the
building. Unlike most other schools, a fight broke out in the front of
the school shortly after the bell rang.
"Give it up Kuno!" Ranma yelled as he dodged a bokken swing. <Why
does he still do this? He knows he's no match for me, one 'Moko
Takabisha' and he's toast!>
"Ranma Saotome, I have but half of my senior year to vanquish you
before my glory days at university begin! Prepare to meet thy doom at
my noble hands!" Kuno exclaimed.
"Kuno, there is no way you'll ever beat me and I assure you that
Akane and your so called 'pig-tailed goddess' are forever out of your
reach!" Ranma recited for the millionth time, to no avail. Therefore,
he swept Kuno's feet, which caused Kuno to fall on his butt.
"How dare you make me take such an ignoble position!" Kuno yelled,
as he sat on his ass. He jumped to his feet and thrust his bokken at
Ranma's head.
Akane waited by the road, as the battle raged. Nabiki made her way
over to her. "This will be the last Kuno-Ranma battle for awhile, I
guess," Nabiki said, checking the bets entered in her palmtop.
"Yup, how'd you do?" Akane asked.
"Not bad, still can't believe that someone still bets on Kuno to
win these matches."
"Let me guess...Kuno?" Akane asked.
"Yup, that's the only reason I can even take bets on these Ranma
versus Kuno battles," Nabiki answered. "Everyone else bets on Ranma. Of
course the odds don't let them win too much, just enough to spread the
Kuno family's wealth a little."
"Ranma's not even using his special attacks, or this would be over
already," Akane insisted. "He decided, after he burned Kuno's hair off
at the start of the school year-" Akane snickered, then finished "-that
it wasn't honorable to blast a weaker martial artist like Kuno."
<I made a good deal of money off the bald Kuno pictures too,>
Nabiki thought. Nabiki laughed as well, then said, "His honor will get
him killed someday...or married."
"Nabiki!"
"Don't tell me this training trip you're going on with him this
summer is just to train?" Nabiki asked, with a wink.
"It is!"
"Whatever," Nabiki said, then glanced at a tall young man who
walked out of the school, avoided the fight, and made his way down the
street.
Noticing her glance, more of a lingering look actually, Akane
asked, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine. *I* broke up with Kyosuke, remember?"
"I know, but it must have been tough," Akane said.
"I don't think you're in the best position to be giving consoling
on boyfriends, Akane," Nabiki insinuated.
"Probably not. I'm just concerned," Akane replied.
"I know...sorry if I snapped at you. I liked Kyosuke, but it
always seemed like more of a friendship. No sparks," Nabiki said, then
noticed the fight was over. "Here comes YOUR sweetheart, I'll go mop up
Kuno." Nabiki went to wake up Kuno, congratulating Ranma as she passed
him.
"I'll be glad when he's gone to college!" Ranma insisted as he
took his bag from Akane. The young couple turned and started to walk
home.
"Well, at least he won't be bugging us this summer," Akane said
with a big smile.
"Why is that?"
"Our training trip..." Akane reminded him.
"Oh, that. Are you sure you want to go with me? I'm sure I can get
Ryoga to go instead," Ranma said, trying to weasel out of the trip.
"We went over this already! I'm going with you!" Akane growled.
"Okay, okay..." Ranma calmed her down.
"I'll never understand why you have such a problem training with
me, Ryoga doesn't mind sparing for real with me!" Akane exclaimed.
"I've never seen Ryoga hit you," Ranma commented.
"Of course he..." Akane said, then trailed off. <You know...He's
right...Ryoga doesn't actually throw punches at me either,> she thought
and grew angry, then quickly scolded herself, <I'm supposed to be mad
at Ranma now, not Ryoga!>
"I've told you this before: I don't like to fight with girls! Even
tomboys like..." Ranma began to say, but was cut short with a mallet.
Short in the sense that he was hammered halfway into the ground.
"Baka," Akane muttered, then stormed off.
<Damn, first malleting since the aborted wedding, I had such a
good streak going,> Ranma thought, as he crawled out of the hole.
From down the street, Ukyo had watched this exchange with
interest. As she walked back to her restaurant, she thought., <Friend
or not, why do I just let her keep abusing Ranma like this? How often
does she hit him anyway? She says she loves him, but is this how she
shows it?> Then she tried to remember when she had ever heard Akane
declare that she loved Ranma. She was still trying to remember as she
served the dinner crowd, when she took a bath, when she slipped into
her bed, and when she finally fell asleep that night. She never could
remember when she heard Akane say she loved Ranma.
* * *
Kasumi brought out the last of the dinner and knelt down at the
table and, with the help of Nodoka, began serving the hungry hordes.
"How was your day Akane?" Kasumi inquired.
"Pretty good, except I had to use my mallet on Ranma," Akane
replied cheerfully.
Ranma rubbed his head, remembering the blow. The pain had stopped
long ago, but he liked to rub it in Akane's face.
"Akane, you might want to leave the mallet behind when you go on
your training trip. I'd like my son to come back alive," Nodoka
offered, just a glint of a smile on her face.
Akane looked down at her lap and nodded her agreement.
"Now Ranma, remember that this is your first time teaching martial
arts to someone else. You are no longer the student. It is a teacher's
responsibility to help his student to become the best martial artist he
or she can be," Genma said, in his most authoritative voice.
"Yes, Pop," Ranma conceded.
Genma then leaned over to Ranma, then whispered, "Make sure not to
hit her too hard son, no need to cripple her before the honeymoon."
"Pop! I'm not going to hit her hard at all!" Ranma insisted, a
little to loudly.
"Oh yes you will Ranma!" Akane yelled, then added, "You'll hit me
hard or you really won't come back from this trip in one piece!"
"If you insist, but don't blame me if you end up with a broken leg
too," Ranma said, then shot a glance his Father.
"Oh I'm so happy! My future son-in-law is finally going to beat up
my little Akane!" Soun cried, then pulled Akane and Ranma into a tight
embrace.
The others in the room just stared in disbelief at Soun.
"Interesting choice of words, Daddy," Nabiki quipped.
"If only I didn't break my leg I could at least go with you two
and make sure you didn't kill each other," Genma insisted, indicating
the cast on his leg.
"Actually *I* broke your leg, old man," Ranma smirked, remembering
the sparring match where his Father broke his leg.
"And we're not going to kill each other! It's just training!"
Akane insisted.
"Just take it easy on my little boy, Akane," Nodoka asked.
"Mom!!!"
"I will, Auntie," Akane agreed, with a grin.
After few minutes of other dinner conversation, Kasumi said
softly, "Um, I have an announcement."
"Yes Kasumi, what is it?" Soun asked his oldest daughter.
"I've decided that with Nodoka here, I'm not really needed around
the house any more," Kasumi began to explain.
"Nonsense! You're the heart of this family!" Soun protested.
"Kasumi, I never meant to replace you. I just wanted to help out,"
Nodoka insisted.
The others all add their praise and support for the job Kasumi has
done as the head of the Tendo household.
"Please, let me finish," Kasumi said, with a slight rise in
volume. Everyone went silent. "I enjoy cooking for my family-" she
began her explanation. As she looked at the Saotomes, she continued
with a smile, "-ALL of my family and looking after the house, but it's
not what I intend to do for the rest of my life. I've seen my sisters
grow into fine young adults, but now I have to do something for myself.
I hope that's not too selfish of me." Soun chose this moment to start
crying. Trying to ignore the waterworks, Kasumi continued, "I've
decided to go to college. With a recommendation and help studying from
Dr. Tofu, I've been accepted mid-year at the Tokyo Women's Medical
College, in their pre-med program. Nabiki said there was enough money
for me to go and not affect her or Akane's college education."
After a few moments of silence the room exploded with
congratulations, praise, encouragement, hugs, and tears from everyone.
"It would make your father proud to one day call you DOCTOR Kasumi
Tendo," Soun said, between sobs.
"Just had to beat me into college, huh big sister?" Nabiki said.
<So that's what all those questions about our finances were all about.>
"Well hurry up, Kasumi! Ranma's going to need your help after this
trip!" Akane quipped.
"This family could use a marriage counselor if you ask me," Ranma
commented.
"You'd have to marry Akane first, before you could use one,"
Nabiki pointed out. <He makes it SO easy sometimes,> Nabiki thought to
herself.
Ranma blushed and looked away awkwardly.
* * *
Later that night, Akane packed her backpack. P-Chan looked on from
the desk by the window and tried to see if he could sneak into the
backpack somehow.
As she came into the room, Nabiki asked, "So all set?"
"Almost, just packing the last of my clothes," Akane said, as she
put in a spare gi.
"So, what do you think of Kasumi's announcement?" Nabiki asked.
"I think it's great! She deserves to do something for herself
after taking care of us for so long," Akane said, then thought to
herself, <And I'll be able to cook more myself.>
Ignoring the smile that crossed Akane's face, Nabiki said, "I sort
of thought she was going to wait till you and Ranma got married before
she would do something like this, but I guess she couldn't wait that
long."
"What?"
"Well, she asked about the family finances just before your
destroyed wedding, so I assume she was thinking about it back then,"
Nabiki explained.
"Well, she needn't worry about me and Ranma. We can handle our
relationship without anyone's help or interference," Akane insisted.
"Oh? What exactly is your relationship?"
"Um, well..."
"Don't forget these, just in case your 'relationship' requires
them," Nabiki said, tossing a small box to her.
Noticing what the box was, Akane stammered, "What??? What are
these..."
"Just in case," Nabiki answered, with a wink. She turned and left.
Akane just stared at the box and was about to throw it in the
trash. Instead, she slipped it into a side pocket on her backpack. She
didn't notice when P-Chan fell out of the window, frozen with shock.
* * *
Ukyo slept peacefully, until someone started banging on her
restaurant's door. She awoke and looked around. "Who on Earth could
that be at this time of night?" Ukyo said, then wiped the sleep out of
her eyes. She slipped out of her bed and shivered as the cold night air
caressed her skin. She wrapped a big fluffy robe with little pink
spatulas embroidered on it around her body, then made her way down the
stairs.
Ukyo opened the door to see a worried Ryoga staring back at her.
"What's up Pig-boy?" she asked.
"Don't call me that! Just because you found out about my curse
doesn't mean you have to taunt me with it!" Ryoga yelled back at her.
Ukyo shrugged her shoulders and then started to close the door. "Wait!
Ranma and Akane are going on a training trip, ALONE!" Ryoga quickly
explained.
"Yes, I know. Because Mr. Saotome broke his leg," Ukyo said and
again started to close the door.
"Yes, but I think they...may do more...than just train..." Ryoga
said, nervously.
"More?"
"Well, um..."
"Nabiki gave Akane something," Ryoga muttered, then wrung his
hands.
"What?"
"Um, a box of co..." Ryoga began, then stopped suddenly when he
fainted from blood loss when an image of Ranma and Akane using the
aforementioned box popped into his mind.
"For someone who can blow holes in the sides of mountains, you
sure are prone to nosebleeds," Ukyo stated, while she dragged the
unconscious Ryoga into her restaurant and up the stairs.
* * *
Ryoga awoke on a soft bed and looked around. "Where on Earth am
I?" Ryoga screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Quiet down! Is that the only volume you can say that phrase at?"
Ukyo questioned.
"Ukyo?"
"You passed out, now very carefully tell me what Nabiki gave Akane
for her trip," Ukyo said slowly.
"A box of...you know...starts with 'C' ends with 'S'. For when a
man and a woman...you know," Ryoga managed to say without his nose
bleeding.
"Condoms?" Ukyo questioned. Ryoga just nodded. Ukyo thought for a
few seconds.
"I'd have thought you'd be more upset! They...they are going
to..." Ryoga stopped, as he had to hold back a nosebleed.
"Don't you dare bleed on my good sheets!" Ukyo scolded. Recalling
the fight Ranma and Akane had on the last day of school before the
break, Ukyo said, "I doubt they are that close, it's just one of
Nabiki's little jokes. Akane probably threw them away."
"No...She packed them," Ryoga explained.
Something inside Ukyo snapped. All the control she had managed to
build-up over the past month concerning Ranma and Akane's relationship
broke apart and crumbled to dust. "What? She can't even say that she
loves him and she's going to have sex with him?!?!" Ukyo screamed.
<She's using her body to toy with MY Ran-chan's heart. That tramp!> she
thought, then grabbed her spatula and started out the door.
"They left two days ago!" Ryoga stopped her.
"What took you so long to tell me then!"
"Um, I couldn't find your restaurant."
Ukyo shook her head in disgust. "So what do you want me to do
about it now?" she asked, putting her spatula back down.
"Well, I overheard Akane say were they were going," Ryoga
explained.
"And you need me to help you find it," Ukyo finished. Ryoga
nodded. She thought for a few moments.
Impatient, Ryoga suggested, "This could be our last chance to save
them from a loveless marriage!"
"I know Pig-boy! It's just that Akane knows I'm still in love with
Ranma, but she still treats me as a close friend. I'd miss that," Ukyo
pondered, regaining some of her composure.
"I'm not saying we're going to hurt them...Just keep an eye on
them, and try to keep them from getting close enough to use...you
know..." Ryoga trailed off as the blood left his head.
"Okay, but you try one of your stunts to get my Ran-chan hurt and
you're my next pork okonomiyaki special!" Ukyo threatened, as she made
a deal with the devil.
"Deal," Ryoga agreed. <Not my fault if a mountain accidentally
falls on him,> he added to himself.
Ukyo started to pull together some supplies, then looked at Ryoga.
"We'd better wait till morning. You can use the spare futon over in the
corner," Ukyo said, indicating the futon.
"Good idea," Ryoga said, and started to unfold the futon.
Ukyo started to remove her robe, then stopped. "Um, close your
eyes and look away for a bit," Ukyo asked, then added quickly, "But
don't leave the room! I don't want to wait another two days for you to
find your way back here." Ryoga did as Ukyo asked. Ukyo slipped her
robe off and then slipped a long T-shirt over her naked body, mostly to
keep Ryoga's head from exploding. She slipped into her bed. "Okay let's
get to sleep."
"Okay, what was that about anyway?" Ryoga asked, as he slipped his
shoes off.
"Well I wasn't exactly 'dressed' for company," Ukyo explained.
Ryoga passed out again. "Damn, I'll have to wash that futon now."
* * *
The day before Ryoga showed up at Ucchan's, Akane and Ranma
trudged up the side of a mountain with their heavy backpacks strapped
to their backs. They finally reached a nice clearing. Looking around,
Ranma said, "This is it!"
Dropping her pack and wiping the sweat off her forehead, Akane
looked around. "Beautiful!" she exclaimed.
"Well, I picked it for it's training potential, not it's beauty,"
Ranma explained.
"I know, but it's still beautiful. You need to appreciate the
beauty around you more often," Akane said.
"I never said I didn't appreciate you!" Ranma replied,
defensively.
Akane blushed, and then said, "Thank you, but I meant the beauty
of the world around us." She grinned, knowing Ranma let his true
feelings slip. It didn't happen often and Akane had learned to enjoy
these moments to their fullest.
"Err..." Ranma began, but was interrupted by Akane's finger on his
lips.
"Shhhh, don't ruin it now," Akane said, then turned and started to
unpack her tent. Not having anything else to do, Ranma did the same,
the blush on his face slowly faded.
* * *
Nabiki was enjoying a sunny day in the park, soaking up the sun as
she read a book. Suddenly the sun disappeared and she looked up and saw
some profit. She corrected herself with a thought, <Nope, no
information for her.>
"Money girl, tell Shampoo where Ranma is," Shampoo asked, well it
was more of a command. She held out a few bills.
"Sorry Shampoo. I told you that I won't sell that kind of
information to you or your Great-grandmother anymore. Not after what
you did at the wedding."
Shampoo held out some more Yen. Nabiki raised an eyebrow, but
shook her head again.
"You'll regret this, money girl," Shampoo declared, turned around
and left.
Unfortunately, all the guys who Nabiki had been attracting
followed Shampoo out of the park. Nabiki sighed and adjusted her
bikini. She picked up her copy of '1001 Ways to Drive Your Competitors
Out of Business or Buy Them by Bill Gates' and began to read again.
* * *
"Are you sure this is where they said they were going to be
training?" Ukyo asked, as she looked around the busy street corner.
"Sure! Here look...I wrote it down," Ryoga informed her and handed
a piece of paper to Ukyo.
Looking at the paper, Ukyo asked, "I can't read this chicken
scratching. Where did you learn to write?"
"Actually, it's pig scratching. Do you know how hard it is hard to
write with a hoof?!" Ryoga explained and took the paper back. "It says
that they will be training at 'Mount and Hotaka Streets'." He pointed
at the street signs, they were indeed at the intersection of 'Mount'
and 'Hotaka' streets.
"Mount and Hotaka," Ukyo repeated several times. Then she hit
Ryoga on the back of his head. "Idiot! Could that be 'Hotaka
Mountain'?" she questioned.
"Err....yeah...that was it!"
"And Akane calls Ranma an idiot!" Ukyo yelled. <He can't even
write down names of places correctly, let alone find them.>
* * *
Akane stood on the tree branch and nervously scanned the
surrounding area. Suddenly she found herself on the ground looking up
at the tree branch, on which Ranma stood with a smirk on his face.
"Where..." Akane began to say, but stopped as she had to flip to her
feet to avoid Ranma from landing on her face. She followed with a side
flip to get away from his punches. She missed avoiding his leg sweep
and tumbled to the ground with a thud.
"Not bad reaction after the initial blow, but you're still
thinking in two dimensions. I didn't see you look up at the tops of the
trees once," Ranma explained, in a lecturing tone.
<Damn, he's right,> Akane scolded herself mentally. "Isn't that
'thinking in two dimensions' from an old Star Trek movie?" Akane
questioned, a smirk grew on her face.
"Probably, Pop got most of his 'divine wisdom' from the movies,"
Ranma said, smiling back. "You'd be surprised at how much of our
training involved swiping popcorn and soda." He held out his hand to
help Akane to her feet, but instead of just helping Akane to her feet
he flipped her over his shoulder and sent her into a group of bushes.
"You also have to be alert all the time."
"Baka..." Akane began, then corrected herself quickly, "Yes
teacher."
"You should have saw that one coming a mile away, how many times
did Pop try it on me while practicing in the garden?" Ranma asked.
"As I recall you fell for it several times as well," Akane replied
and then stuck out her tongue at Ranma.
"Let's head back to camp and I'll make dinner," Ranma offered.
"Oh, no...I'm making dinner!" Akane insisted.
"I am the teacher here, so I decide who cooks! I also promised
neither of us would get killed, so that rules out your cooking," Ranma
said, then turned back towards their camp. He arrived back at the camp
faster than he expected, since Akane ended up kicking him back to camp
in a graceful arc over the treetops. "Well, at least she's learned some
directional control," Ranma muttered and rubbed his head.
When Akane arrived back at camp, Ranma already had dinner finished
and ready to eat. To forestall another orbit shot, he said quickly,
"Here you go, that was nice of you to send me ahead so I could have
dinner ready."
Akane just smiled weakly, she was too sore to fight with him now
anyway. She sat down next to Ranma, wiped her hands on a wet towel, and
dug into the rice and meat. "It's good."
"Thanks, sorry about the food crack," Ranma apologized.
"No you're right, you're the teacher and it's your choice what we
do during this trip-" Akane replied, then reluctantly added, "-and who
cooks."
Ranma looked at Akane and saw the look of disappointment on her
face. Despite an overwhelming urge to run screaming away into the
forest, he swallowed hard. Finally, he said, "Well...you can make
breakfast tomorrow if you want to." Then already knowing her answer, he
added, "Just promise me that you'll carefully follow the recipe, taste
the finished product...actually all the ingredients too." He couldn't
stop the shudder that went through his body as he remembered where the
nearest hospital was, but finally managed to hand the recipe cards to
Akane.
Taking the cards and smiling broadly, Akane said, "Thank you,
Ranma." Looking at the cards, she asked, "Where did you get these?"
"Um, I asked Kasumi and my Mom to prepare them," Ranma replied,
then sucked down some more rice.
<Meaning he planned to let me cook...well at least planned to have
the recipes available if I forced the issue,> Akane thought to herself.
They ate their dinner silently as the sun started to set in the
distance. "What a glorious sunset," Akane said, after a few minutes.
"Yes, you know Akane, you've really improved over the last few
days," Ranma admitted.
"Thank you. You're going to make a great teacher," Akane replied.
"Now that you're over this 'I won't hit girls' phase."
"I wouldn't say I'm completely over it, it still feels wrong, but
that's the only way to train so..." Akane snuggled up to his arm. Ranma
looked a little uncomfortable, but relaxed in short order. "And I guess
I'll probably have to train girls at the dojo too, so I have to get
used to it," Ranma conceded, then added as an afterthought, "Maybe I
should train the girls in my girl form?"
"Well, you have plenty of time to decide, you still have to train
your first student first," Akane reminded him. <Not to mention marry me
so you can teach at that dojo.>
"True. Well...I'm going to go wash up in the waterfall," Ranma
said. He
grabbed a wash tub and towel and walked off into the sunset.
"Okay," Akane said, sadly watching him walk away. She had hoped to
spend more time watching the sunset with him.
* * *
"This is a pretty big mountain, how are we going to find them?"
Ukyo asked, as she climbed up the mountain.
"Well, they didn't say exactly were they were camping," Ryoga
explained. He then noticed something and suggested, "Let's ask that
girl in the waterfall." Ryoga pointed towards the young, naked,
redheaded girl washing herself in the waterfall.
Ukyo ducked down quickly behind some bushes and then pulled Ryoga
down beside her. "Idiot! That's Ranma!" Ukyo whispered to him.
"Are you sure?" Ryoga asked, sneaking another look.
"Well, what are the chances of another redheaded girl with a
pig-tail being up on this mountain at the same time as Ranma and
Akane?" Ukyo questioned a perplexed Ryoga.
"Good point," Ryoga conceded.
"Now be quiet and we'll follow Ranma back to their camp after he's
done washing up," Ukyo said, then asked, "By the way, why isn't your
nose bleeding with a naked girl in sight?"
"You may be attracted to hermaphrodites, but I'm not." Ryoga
replied.
Ukyo kept watching Ranma, but she started to think of some way to
get back at Pig-boy for that comment.
* * *
On the other side of the mountain, a large camp was teaming with
young redheaded girls, some had pig-tails. A couple of them hoisted a
banner into place, it read '5th Annual Redheaded Girls Outing'.
* * *
--
Jim Lazar
E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
Home - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
"You made Akane whose daughter?!?!"
"Genma's."
"Has she hit you with her mallet yet?"
"Several times, actually."