Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Family Secrets ❯ Chapter 1: Secrets Unveiled ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimers:

- Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

- This story is made for fun and is meant for the enjoyment of the fans.

- I have to thank Kirra and Rebecca Thornton for revising this chapter & Louise McCrowe for reviewing it. Thank you very much.

- Please R&R.

- If anybody wants to be a pre reader and help me you only have to e-mail me. I would be happy to accept. Thanks.

- I would like to have illustrations of my stories. So if anyone is interested, please email me. Thanks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chapter 01: Secrets Unveiled.

Nodoka was drinking tea quietly in the living room of the Tendo's house. Little volutes of steam rose from the hot liquid. The warm cup laid between the delicate hands of Nodoka, who from time to time, brought it to her lips and took a sip.

The tranquillity and silence reigned in the house and only the martial shouts of the students muffled by the distance challenged this calm.

Suddenly the entrance door opened with a strong blow that broke the atmosphere of the house and announced the arrival of the two youngest habitants of the house.

Nodoka sighed for the lost tranquillity and turned towards the room's door. A moment later this opened and Ranma and Akane entered in the living room.

“Good afternoon.” Nodoka greeted them with a smile while she stood up, however neither teenager returned the greeting.

Ranma stood by the entrance of the living room with his eyes fixed on the floor, avoiding look at her mother. At his side Akane stared at him. Her hands, crossed in front of her, held her schoolbag with so much strength that she had the knuckles white.

After a moment where none pronounced a word, Ranma looked at Akane. This one frowned and pointed at Nodoka with a slight movement of her head. Ranma turned towards his mother.

“Mom…Listen…Today we had talked with Ukyo. Well, no… Really Ukyo came to talk with me…”

The smiled disappeared from Nodoka's face, but neither Ranma, who was too busy searching for appropriates words, nor Akane, noticed it.

“We didn't talk with her since the wed… well…you know.”

Akane huffed and started to tap her finger on her school-bag

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While the echoes of the bell, that indicated the end of the class, still resounded, Ranma stretched in his chair to get the stiffness out of his muscles. At his side Akane went to talk with her friends while the rest of his classmates stood up, started to clear their tables or talk among them.

Ranma took his schoolbag, opened it and, without hurry, started to pick up; until he felt unexpectedly, that somebody pulled his arm gently. On raising his head he met Ukyo's inquisitive glance.

“Why have you been avoiding me all the week?” She asked seriously but quietly so nobody else, Akane specially, could hear her.

Ranma looked away angered and fixed his eyes in her desk.

“How could you ask me it after that Shampoo and you did?” The curtness of his answer surprised Ranma himself; but it didn't frighten off Ukyo who let out a loud guffaw.

“Come on Ranma! Don't tell me that you really wanted get married.” She answered in an amusing tone, slightly sarcastic.

Neither realised that Ukyo's laugh have caught Akane's attention, and this one approached them with an angry face. But Ukyo continued before Akane arrived and could interrupt the conversation or Ranma added anything.

“You don't need to lie. Your mother was the one that invite me to the wedding. She told me that you would be happy if, for any reason, the wedding didn't take place.”

Ranma looked at Ukyo who saw clearly in the face of her fiancé the surprise and confusion that her words had caused. The idea that Ranma didn't know anything about the plans of her mother assailed Ukyo.

A question pronounced in a low voice at her back interrupted her thoughts.

“Why?”

Ukyo's words had stopped Akane just when she had gone to grasp the shoulder of her rival; so when the young chef turned around, she met Akane's half-outstretched arm. Ukyo noted that Akane's hand shook slightly and her face had the same expression of surprised and disbelief of Ranma's.

Akane didn't pay attention to Ukyo. Her eyes were fixed on Ranma, with the vain hope to find an answer to her question.

“Why?”

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Ranma finished his story and the silence returned to the room. Akane had stopped tapping and both teenagers observed Nodoka with the hope that this one refuted Ukyo's words. However Nodoka merely continued looking them with a sad expression.

During a few minutes it was only listened in the living-room the deadened noises of the dojo and the song of a bird in the tree of the garden.

Finally Nodoka made a decision. She sat down again in front of her cup of tea and she started to stir the cold liquid with a teaspoon.

“Do you really want be marry?” Nodoka asked. The tone of her voice was calm but it had a touch of sadness.

Neither Ranma, nor Akane expected this question; therefore it caught them completely by surprise. Ranma started to babble an answer but before he could say anything coherent Akane exploded.

Akane's anger had risen greatly after seeing Ukyo talking to Ranma, but the words of Ukyo had covered her rage with surprise and confusion. Nodoka's inappropriate and rude question filled Akane with rage; a rage hidden under her surprise, but which was fed by her confusion.

“Since when do you care about our opinion?”

Ranma and Nodoka looked at her surprised by her outburst. Akane had the head lowered, her glance fixed in the floor, her shoulders sank and all her body trembled with rage.

“Our fathers are only interested in join the schools. You are only interested in Ranma manliness. You helped them to prepare the wedding. And you never asked us what we wanted!”

“Akane…” Nodoka whispered but nobody heard her.

“Now it turned out that you told Ukyo to sabotage our wedding. Why? Do you enjoy fucking with our lives??”

Akane rose her head as the question burst from her lips, and Ranma's mother could see the tears that flowed down by Akane's cheeks. Nodoka sighed and shook her head.

“You don't understand. You and Ranma can't marry.”

“Why?” Ranma exclaimed before Akane could reacted.

“Because you and Akane are siblings.” Nodoka said.

TBC...

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