rogue1@netcom.com (Rogue1) DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations in this story are copyrighted by many people, not including me by any stretch of the imagination. :) This work is intended purely for entertainment purposes and not for profit. WARNING: This story does NOT contain any of the following: -- sexual acts, implied or otherwise -- resolution of any of the problems of Ranma Universe. -- the Ranma characters switching with characters from any other anime. The closest I can come to describing this story would be to compare it to an episode of the Ranma1/2 TV show. If this is not the sort of fanfiction you enjoy, don't read any further. :) Comments and feedback can be sent to rogue1@netcom.com. RANMA 1/2 Girls' Night Out by Rogue1 "Ranma no baka!" Akane growled out her favorite curse as she stomped down the road, so caught up in her anger that she didn't even notice the beautiful summer day. In fact, Akane barely noticed where she was going. Honestly, Akane thought to herself, will that jerk never learn? Will he ever listen to me? No, of course not! I'm only that dummy's fiancee! She took her anger out on a nearby lamppost, causing it to shake violently behind her. Akane frowned to herself. I know I never asked to be his fiancee, but you think he could at least... Akane sighed and looked up. She was in a small park, not far from Dr. Tofu's clinic. Not feeling like going home, where she might see HIM, Akane sat down on a park bench and put her head in her hands, still angry. Akane sat there for several minutes, glaring at the ground as if it were to blame. Ukyou trudged along a similar road in a similar state of mind. Ranchan, she sighed to herself. Why do you get yourself into these messes? Some days, she thought wryly to herself, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed in the morning. She sighed again and resolved to make the best of things. After all, if Ranchan wasn't going to listen to her, the best she could do was be there for him when his hopes crashed and burned... Ukyou took a deep breath and looked around with more interest. It really is a beautiful day, she thought to herself. Maybe I'll cut through that park and try to take my mind off Ranchan's problems. Idly twirling one of her small spatulas in her hand, Ukyou spent some time admiring the park before she noticed a familiar figure sitting hunched over on a park bench. Akane-chan! thought Ukyou. She looks as miserable as I felt. She regarded her rival for Ranchan's affections for a moment. Despite their predicament, Ukyou could never bring herself to hate or even dislike Akane. She could see that Akane and Ranma truly liked each other, despite all their arguments, and she could hardly hate Akane for liking someone like Ranchan! She even tried once to set her up on a date with Ryouga, in an attempt to see that everyone got a happy ending. Well, not everyone, she corrected herself, but I hadn't met Shampoo and Kodachi then, and frankly, I wish I never had. Those two are truly frightening at times. If they didn't know how upset Ranma would get, I almost think Akane and I might have had "accidents" a long time ago.... She shook her head. Those two might be crazy, but they weren't THAT bad. Ukyou decided suddenly that the best way to make herself feel better would be to work at cheering up Akane. Now, she thought to herself, what's the best way of going about that? A moment later, an impish smile spread across her face. I know! "Akane-chan? Are you OK?" came a voice. Akane looked up to see Ukyou standing over her, still clad in her boy's school uniform, complete with the giant spatula strapped to her back and a bandolier of mini-spatulas across her chest. She smiled at Akane, who felt an instant stab of inferiority. Ukyou was so many things she wasn't, Akane felt. She was cute, even in the male clothing, she could cook, she was a childhood friend of Ranma's.... It helped that Ukyou was so friendly and outgoing, though. While they might be rivals, Akane knew that Ukyou didn't hold it against her personally. "Ukyou!" Akane exclaimed. "It's nothing," she stammered. "I'm OK, really." Akane's voice trailed off. She looked miserably at her feet. Ukyou sat down next to her. "Come on, Akane-chan... you can't fool me. It's Ranchan again, isn't it?" "That baka?! Why would I be concerned about him? Hmph!" Akane turned up her nose at the thought. Ukyou sighed. "Because Shampoo's tricked him into dating her with another phoney cure." Akane looked at Ukyou in surprise. "How do you know it's phoney?" "Because," Ukyou said, "she's obviously trying to trap him into marrying her. She knows that a real cure means that he would have to make up his mind about this whole fiancee business, and she doesn't want that until she's sure he'll pick her. Oh," she added, "I could be wrong. It could be a real cure this time, nannichuan water or something like that, but I doubt it. She's pulled this trick too many times." Akane nodded. "Yeah... but that dummy keeps falling for it! And when I tried to warn him, he accused me of being JEALOUS! Ooooh!" Akane looked ready to explode. Ukyou merely nodded. "He told me about it at school, bragging that he would soon be cured. When I tried to warn him not to get his hopes up, he said I sounded 'just like that tomboy Akane.'" Ukyou laughed at Akane's expression. "Considering the way I dress, I'm amazed he would call YOU a tomboy, Akane-chan." Akane's anger dissipated into a fit of the giggles. "True," she said. "I'm surprised they let you get away with it..." Ukyou giggled and said, slyly, "It seems the school hasn't figured it out yet." "No! Surely SOMEONE has told them," Akane gasped. Ukyou shrugged. "I don't mind, really. I'm comfortable like this." The two of them sat quietly for a second. They both felt a little uncomfortable, sitting there talking to each other like ordinary schoolgirls. After all, most of the time they were working against each other, fighting for Ranma's attention. Akane finally took a deep breath and asked, "Why are you trying to cheer me up? I mean... Ranma... that is..." "You really don't know, Akane-chan?" Ukyou asked. "No," answered Akane, perplexed. Ukyou switched gears suddenly, "Well, it doesn't really matter. Come on, I know what will cheer us both up!" "What?" asked Akane, perplexed. "Let's go shopping!" "Oooh, kawaii!" exclaimed Ukyou, as Akane showed off a light pink sundress. The two of them were at a clothing store, because clothes, Ukyou had declared, were the first order of business. Akane frowned. "That's not the effect I wanted..." "What's wrong with cute?" Ukyou asked. "Haven't you ever heard me and that dummy arguing? He's always calling me 'kawaiikune' and 'unfeminine.' I wanted something... more." Ukyou got a wild glint in her eye. "I think I know just the thing. Come on!" She put back the dress she had been looking at, and pulled Akane out of the store. Akane dropped the dress. "Hey! Wait a minute!" She exclaimed as they tore out the door. Her cries fell on deaf ears as Ukyou took them to a boutique down the road. The clothes it offered were more expensive than the last shop, but were also of a higher quality. Additionally, they were designed to be as sexy as possible. Akane blushed as she looked around. "Ukyou!" she hissed. "Should we really be here?" Ukyou smiled at her. "Come on... it's just a dress store. Besides, don't you want to knock Ranchan's socks off?" Ukyou examined a blue dress with a short skirt. "What do you think?" Akane goggled at the dress. "You'd wear -that-?" "Hey, Akane-chan, whatever works. You take a look around, I'm going to go try it on." Akane stood uncertainly in the middle of the store for a few minutes, gawking at the cut of the dresses and their prices. When Ukyou came back out of the dressing room, though, her eyes flew open. The blue dress was very tight, low cut and left Ukyou's shoulders bare. She had loosened her hair, so that it fell in waves down her back. Smiling at Akane's reaction, Ukyou struck a pose. One of the advantages of being a martial artist, both Akane and Ukyou had found, was that it kept you in great shape, and Ukyou's body was irrefutable proof of that. "Ukyou... you look... great!" Ukyou nodded in appreciation. "Thanks! Now, let's find you one... Ooh, this is a nice red one...." Ukyou held out the red, sequined dress she was looking at. Akane shook her head. "I couldn't! I mean... that dress..." "Come on, Akane-chan... trust me on this." "Well, maybe... but not that dress," Akane said. She looked around the shop. Every now and then, Ukyou would show her a dress, and Akane would turn it down. Finally, Ukyou began to lose her patience. "Come on, Akane.... They're just dresses. You can at least try one on!" "But, they're so..." Ukyou raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to look 'kawaii.' Trust me, if you wear one of these dresses, 'cute' is the LAST thing Ranma will think." Akane's cheeks colored. "Who says I want to dress up for that jerk?" "You don't?" Ukyou asked innocently. "Give me that dress!" Akane growled, grabbing the dress Ukyou had just tried to show her and stomping into the changing room. A few minutes later, Akane came back out. The dress was not as tight or as short as Ukyou's, but it was still very daring. It was red and resembled a chinese dress, being high- necked and the skirt was slit along one side. The dress fastened at the neck and had little wooden ties going down the front, but it left the back bare. Ukyou smiled at Akane. "Trust me, you look anything but cute. You look like a movie star, Akane-chan!" Akane blushed. "OK," Ukyou said, "let's pay for these dresses and go." "Go? Go where?" "You'll see." "I can believe how much that dress cost!" grumbled Akane as she and Ukyou walked down the street. Besides the dresses, the two had also had to buy some accessories (shoes, wraps, jewelry) to go with them. "It was a bit of a splurge," Ukyou admitted, "but it'll be worth it. We're here." "Where?" asked Akane looking around. They were in front of a small dance club. Judging by the loud music and the number of teenagers milling around in front, it seemed quite popular with the younger set. "Here?" Akane asked incredulously. "Yup!" beamed Ukyou. Noting Akane's expression, Ukyou smiled encouragingly at her. "Akane-chan, trust me.... this is exactly what we need. Now, let's go have some fun." Akane let Ukyou drag her to the door. After a quick talk with the doorman (who wouldn't mark them as legal drinkers, of course) the two girls walked into the club. Akane looked around nervously. She had never been to a place like this before, not even with her girlfriends. She spent most of her nights in martial arts training or spending them quietly at home. It wasn't that she was shy or anything.... She looked over at Ukyou, who was smiling at her and seemed to be in her element. Was this one more thing that Ukyou was better at than her? Ukyou looked eagerly over the crowd. To her, the best thing about being in the restaurant business was the chance to meet new people, and she was enjoying herself. She smiled at some of the males who were staring at the new arrivals, causing them to blush and look away. She'd practically had to drag Akane here, but Ukyou was sure that she'd have a good time, once she loosened up a bit. "Hi there!" a handsome, brown-haired teenager shouted over the music to Akane. "My name's Kaneda. Want to dance?" Akane glanced nervously at Ukyou, who nodded and shouted, "Go for it girl!" Turning slightly, Ukyou smiled at a dark- haired boy who seemed to be trying to make eye contact with her. Noticing her attention, he soon came over and asked her to dance. The two girls stumbled out of the club a few hours later, laughing and flushed from the exertion. "Whew..." said Akane. "That was more of a workout than most martial arts battles." "But it was fun, wasn't it?" exclaimed Ukyou, doing a little spin. "I don't know how you did it, Akane. You had practically the whole club lining up to dance with you!" Akane blushed. "I did NOT! Besides, they all wanted to dance with you." "Hey, who got asked to dance first?" Akane's face grew redder. "I'm just glad nobody we knew saw us..." "Why?" "Well... we were dancing... with all those guys..." "Hey, don't worry about it... We were just dancing. And anyway, after the slap you gave that one guy I don't think anyone could doubt your intentions." Ukyou smiled. "I heard the slap over the music. You got him good." Akane clenched her fists. "I still can't believe he tried that... in public, even!" "Come on... forget about him. Time to head home." The two girls stumbled down the street, their legs rubbery from the exertion. Behind them, unnoticed, a small knot of people followed at a distance. "Let's cut across there," Akane said, pointing to a dark alley. "I dunno, Akane-chan," said Ukyou, looking dubious. "That could be asking for trouble." "Don't worry about it... it'll cut a lot of time off our trip, and we'll be through it in no time." Still unconvinced, Ukyou let herself be led towards the alley. Behind them, the small knot of men split off, one running off, the other hurrying in behind the two girls. The alley was dark and relatively quiet. Ukyou glanced around and checked to see if her giant spatula was still in place on her back. (Yes, she took it dancing. This IS Ukyou, after all. :) Akane didn't seem concerned as they walked quickly down the alleyway. "Hey, girlie!" came a leering voice behind them. "Keep walking," hissed Ukyou. "Don't look back." However, several figures suddenly blocked the alley in front of them. Ukyou looked at them and recognized them from the club. Looking behind her, she confirmed her fears. The lead figure had a large, red hand-print on his cheek. Apparently the dancer Akane slapped had decided to collect some revenge. "Akane," she whispered, "we're in trouble. Think you can handle the guys in front of us?" "Yeah," Akane said, grimly. Moving quietly, hoping it wouldn't be noticed, Akane slipped her feet out of her shoes. While the shoes might be fine for walking and dancing, she didn't want to try martial arts with them on. Beside her, Ukyou did the same. "Good. Wait for my signal." "Well, girls," sneered the voice of the dancer Akane had slapped, "fancy meeting you here..." His voice turned uglier. "Me and my friends are here to collect what you owe me for this," he pointed to the slap mark. "We think you need to be taught a lesson about respect." "Sorry, I don't respect pond scum," rejoined Ukyou. "NOW, AKANE!" Ukyou drew her giant spatula faster than the thugs could react and swung it in a mighty arc. It caught the slapped- face leader square in the head, slamming him into the brick wall of the alley. Blood fountained from his nose and he spit several teeth out as he slid to the ground, moaning. Akane leapt into the middle of the three guys she faced. A flying kick took one in the stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. Taking advantage of the confusion generated by her sudden attack, she slammed both her hands down on the first thug's ears, stunning him. He collapsed. Ukyou still had three thugs to deal with and they now hovered just out of range of her spatula. Grinning fiercely, she plucked three mini-spatulas out of her purse with her right hand and, with practiced ease, flung them at her attackers. The thugs, not expecting the culinary projectiles, dodged as best they could. One was a little too slow and stared at his jacket which was now pinned to the brick wall by a still vibrating spatula. Screaming incoherently, he ran off so fast that the leather of the jacket ripped. The remaining thugs charged Ukyou, only to be knocked down by another swing of her giant spatula. Meanwhile, one of Akane's thugs had gotten behind her and had pinned her arms. The other thug smirked at her predicament and moved towards her, hands outstretched. However, he and his partner neglected to pay any attention to Akane's feet. He realized his mistake a second later when her foot impacted with his groin.... hard. He bent over in agony, clutching at his injury. Akane took advantage of this to swing her self forward, lifting the man holding her arms off the ground, and ramming his head into his buddy's. Both fell to the ground, senseless. Ukyou's remaining opponents were now doing a passable imitation of okonomiyaki as she expertly flipped them into the air, letting them land in a pile of garbage cans. She then stood over them, smirking and panting slightly. "I think you better think again before you try to attack any more 'helpless' women, boys." She heard the wail of a siren approaching. "But I think you'll have a lot of time to consider that." She turned to Akane, "Good going, partner." Akane smiled and they exchanged a high-five. Several hours later, after giving statements and pressing charges against the would-be muggers, Akane and Ukyou headed home once again. "Ukyou?" asked Akane, after they had walked in silence for a time. "Yes, Akane-chan?" "Don't take this wrong, I had a wonderful time tonight-- at least until those guys showed up--but... WHY did you try to cheer me up?" Ukyou stopped and looked frankly into Akane's eyes. "Because, even though we're both fighting for Ranchan's heart, I'd like us to be friends, Akane-chan." "U-ukyou," stammered Akane. "Ranchan likes you... I trust his judgement." "That baka? But he..." Ukyou held up her hand. "I know, he's a bit foolish at times, but I see why he likes you. You're a very nice person, Akane-chan." She held her hand out to Akane. "Friends?" Akane looked at Ukyou for a second, then grasped the hand firmly. "Friends," she said with a nod. "Of course," Ukyou added with a grin, "I'm still going to win Ranchan away from you." "Hmph! You can have the baka!" Akane grinned back. Suddenly a familiar, purple-haired form ran past the two, followed closely by another familiar figure. "Shampoo! Get back here!" yelled Ranma. "Ranma no BAKA!" shouted Akane. Ranma came to a dead halt and looked at Ukyou and Akane. His jaw dropped as he saw their dresses. "A-akane? Ucchan? Wha--??" "SAOTOME!" came Mousse's voice, followed swiftly by a veritable hail of chains, whips, and weights. "How dare you date my future bride!" Ukyou and Akane just shook their heads in resignation as Mousse landed on Ranma's head and pounded it into the pavement. Then he took off, bawling, "Shampoo! Wait up, Shampoo!" "Some things never change," sighed Ukyou. "Well, at least he noticed you as something more than cute, right Akane- chan?" she asked with a wink. Akane smiled back as she helped Ukyou pull the unconscious Ranma out of the his crater. "Yup. And you know what, Ukyou? That makes me feel better than anything else." "Me, too, Akane-chan. Me, too." The End AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tale. It started as nothing more than a flash of inspiration and a need to finish at least one writing project. I'm working on the sequel to my BGC fanfic (Angel of Darkness) and a Ranma Elseworlds story with John Biles, but both those projects keep getting longer and longer, with no end in sight... Anyway, this short story offers, I hope, a glimpse into the lives of two of the many characters of Ranma1/2. Given all the craziness that occurs in their lives, we can lose sight of the characters that truly make that series enjoyable. As noted in my tongue-in-cheek warning at the beginning, this story lacks many of the features commonly found in Ranma fanfics, and this was intentional. It's not that I do not enjoy fanfics that do that sort of thing (if it's well written, I'll enjoy it) I just thought a change would be nice, even if it is a change back to the original. I've tried to keep everything in this story as 'in-character' as possible, but most of my exposure to Ranma is from the Viz videos and translated manga, some episode synopses, most of the fanfiction stored at Zoner's FTP site, and some Ranma1/2 manga I found at conventions. If I made any glaring mistakes, I apologize and plead ignorance. I'd like to thank a few people now... -- To Gryphon, Zoner, and everyone on #Eyrie... thanks for listening to me, correcting me, and inspiring me... and especially for convincing me that even I could write something... We may not always agree guys, but I appreciate it all... -- To John Biles, who really got me into Ranma1/2 Fanfiction, and was kind enough to listen to me when I wanted to talk about his stories. -- To everyone who preread this story and sent me comments, thanks! (If you want to preread my stuff, just drop me a line at rogue1@netcom.com... I'll put you on the list. Don't expect too much, or for it to be in great shape, but I need all the feed back I can get...) -- To my old roommate Jay, who was really responsible for getting me hooked on anime.... would he have done so, had he known what it would lead to? Who knows? :) -- To the people at Viz, who truly exposed me to Ranma1/2. -- To Rumiko Takahashi, who always amazes me with the silliness she can generate... -- To everyone who enjoys reading this story, whether you let me know it or not... in many ways, this story is written for you... Rogue1 February 3, 1995 -- Jeffrey Paul Hosmer rogue1@netcom.com 4001 Old Quarry Terrace rogue@Virginia.EDU Alexandria, VA 22306 (703)-768-0863