Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Insanity Continues ❯ To The Prom! ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
The Insanity Continues

Volume 3 - Anything Goes Martial Arts Dance Contest

Chapter 3 - To The Prom!

By: Lord Archive

Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan and are used without permission. All rights reserved.

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It was of little surprise to Yuka and Sayuri to find the dress shop they entered busy. They had less than a week before their school prom, and were looking through the dresses trying to find something they'd like.

"Did you hear the latest rumors?" Yuka asked.

"You mean about Kuno and Nabiki being an item?" Sayuri returned.

Yuka nodded. "That's one of them."

"That one is not a rumor. I saw them dancing when Daisuke and I stopped to see Ranma and Akane at the dance club," Sayuri informed.

"Then it's true that Ranma and Kuno are becoming friends, too?" Yuka wondered.

Sayuri frowned, and not just because of the price of the dress in her hands. "I'm not sure about that, but from what I saw, they were tolerating each other's presence, even though Ranma was still insulting Kuno."

"How did Kuno react to it?" Yuka asked while checking how an exquisite, white dress looked in the mirror.

"He was too busy dancing with Nabiki to hear it. Oh, avoid wearing white, unless you want to scare Hiro away thinking you want commitment," Sayuri suggested.

"Guess you're right about that." Yuka put the dress back. "I heard Ranma started a fight."

"If he did, it was after I left. But I did see Ranma and Akane get into a little insult sparring match. Akane stopped it after each said two insults," Sayuri told her with a smirk.

Yuka shook her head. "You mean they're still having fights, even after getting married?"

Sayuri checked how a blue dress looked. She grinned at her friend. "She ended it by kissing him. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear she was getting turned on by them."

"You don't, because I was," Akane commented, standing with Akari behind Sayuri.

Sayuri became nervous. "Hi, we were just talking about you."

"I noticed." Akane smirked.

Yuka bit back her question as long as she could, visibly struggling to keep from asking it. Finally, though, her curiosity won out. "So... why were his insults turning you on?"

Akane blushed slightly. "Well, during the honeymoon, Ranma told me his insults didn't mean what you'd think. Uncute means, to him, beautiful but not some sweet, innocent, giggling school girl. Macho chick and the other insults about my strength were actually his awkward way of complementing me, but seeing as I took them wrong, he added them to his list of insults."

"What about his other insults, the ones that obviously degrade you?" Yuka questioned.

Akane sighed. "Those were his attempts to point out a weakness for me to correct. I still don't take those very well, so he has avoided saying them since the wedding." She checked what the white dress looked like.

"That would look great on you, Akane," Sayuri said.

"And you don't have to worry about scaring off your date," Yuka added.

"Yeah, but it still looks a little too much like a wedding dress. I don't want to remind Ranma it's kind of my fault we got married as soon as we did," Akane said with a sad undertone.

Akari took the white dress. "I rather like it."

"You might scare off your boyfriend," Yuka said.

Akari smiled brightly. "I'm not worried about that."

"It'd be another hint that she wants to get married," Akane pointed out. "Too bad you can't go to the prom."

Akari nodded. "Yeah, but we could still go to a dance club."

"Why can't you go to the prom?" Sayuri asked.

"Ryoga and I don't go to school," Akari replied.

Sayuri blinked, remembering when Ryoga turned into P-Chan just after Akane's wedding. "You want to get married to the guy who was Akane's pet pig?"

Akari blushed. "Um, yeah."

"Do you know why he was her pet?" Yuka asked, letting curiosity, once again, to get the better of her.

"Well, Ryoga was always alone before, so when Akane showed him signs of affection as her pet, he couldn't help but want to be her pet. Try to imagine not seeing family, friends or anyone who knows you for months at a time. Then someone smothers you with affection. Wouldn't you grab hold of it with both hands? Not wanting to let go," Akari related.

"So that's why he fell in love with me," Akane said.

Akari nodded. "The thought of losing that affection was what prevented him from telling you."

Akane huffed. "I guess I can understand that. I still haven't forgiving him, though. He shouldn't have been my pet. He should've at least told me."

"I understand. I'm not pleased with him for being your pet as long as he was. He probably still would be if you didn't know about it."

"If I hadn't figured it out by my wedding, I hope Ranma would've told me."

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In a different dress shop, Ukyou looked at the fancy western dresses with a lost expression. "I really don't have a clue how to pick one out."

"That is why you asked me to help, right?" Konatsu asked, wearing a kimono.

"Yeah, but this is a bit much, isn't it? I almost never wear a dress and here I am, about to get one of these gowns," Ukyou bemoaned.

"These are what one would wear to a formal dance," Konatsu reminded.

"How am I suppose to fight in one of these?" Ukyou protested.

Konatsu pouted. "You're not suppose to fight in them, only dance."

Ukyou shook her head. "How do I pick one anyway?"

Konatsu gazed at his beloved. "Well, first I'd suggest narrowing the selection down to a color of dress you'd prefer. Blue seems to be your color."

Ukyou nodded. She pulled out a blue dress with green accents. "Ick! Definitely not this one."

"Certainly not," Konatsu confirmed. He flipped trough a selection and pulled out a rather plain blue prom dress.

Ukyou took it and checked it out in the mirror. "It's not bad. Not fancy. I kind of like it."

"I thought you would. Why don't you go see how it fits?" Konatsu suggested.

"Sure, be right back." Ukyou went to a changing room.

Konatsu started to look through the dresses again, waiting for his beloved boss to return.

A saleslady approached him. "Can I help you miss?"

"No. I'm just looking for a dress for my friend," Konatsu replied.

"Already have one for the dance at Furikan?" she pressed.

Konatsu shifted uneasily. "Um... I'm not going to the prom."

The saleslady looked surprised. "Why not? A cute girl like you should easily find a date."

Konatsu started sweating a little. "Well, I don't go to school, so it wouldn't be right for me to go to the dance."

"Nonsense, a girl should experience what it's like to go dancing. Why don't you talk to my son? I'm sure he'd be glad to take a beautiful girl like you," the saleslady pushed.

Konatsu stammered, trying to think of a way out of the hole he somehow had dug himself into.

Ukyou had overheard the last part and was laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny, miss?" asked the saleslady.

"N-nothing," Ukyou tried to stifle her laughing. "It's just that he... er, she isn't interested in boys. She'd rather take a girl."

The saleslady looked at Konatsu strangely.

Konatsu nodded. "Y-yes. I'd prefer girls to boys, which is part of the problem with me going to the dance."

"Er... I see. Sorry." The saleslady quickly left to find some other customers.

"Now she thinks I'm some kind of pervert," Konatsu said sadly.

"You're a guy who's wearing a kimono and you've worn more dresses than me, so technically you are," Ukyou pointed out.

He sighed. "Everyone I know seems to be a pervert of one sort or another."

Ukyou laughed. "Can't really deny that. Several of the people I know have some unnatural outlook towards sex." She did a slow spin. "What do you think of the dress?"

"Looks nice, but we should check other dresses to find the one you like the most," Konatsu suggested.

Ukyou pouted and went back to the dressing room.

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Dr. Tofu entered the Neko-Hanten carefully. He did not want to get in a situation where he'd get angry at anyone. Thanks to the potion that Cologne gave him, he could get angry at someone very easily. "I need to talk to you."

"What is it, Doctor?" Cologne asked, not liking the bitter tone of his voice.

"I'm having a problem with the potion you gave me. It is getting worse. Before I was just a little less pleasant, now I've been downright mean to people I shouldn't be upset with," Dr. Tofu almost snarled at her.

"That is a problem. The thing is, I don't have an antidote for it," Cologne replied.

"You don't!?" Dr. Tofu snarled.

"No, the potion normally lasts for a couple days, or at most a week. If the potion is still affecting you, I'm not sure what to do. It should wear off anytime now," Cologne explained.

"What is the longest possible time it could still be in effect?" Dr. Tofu demanded.

Cologne shrugged. "I don't know."

"Could it be permanent?" Dr. Tofu snapped.

"That is a possibility. I'll check to see if there is a means to correct this," Cologne offered.

"Hurry. I don't want this getting any worse." Dr. Tofu turned and left.

Well, she couldn't use the potion on Shampoo. Cologne sighed. If he gets too bad, I'll have to let him use the Contrary Jewel to hopefully override the effects of the potion. But which way for him to wear it: right-side up or upside down?

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Ranma shook his head as he watched his wife dance to the song they were going to use in the dance contest. While her moves were smooth and pleasing to the eye, she kept missing almost every beat. "How come you're not moving in beat with the song?"

"What? I'm moving in beat," Akane said, confused and a little upset.

He shook his head as he rewound the tape. "Don't dance to it this time, but clap to it."

"Why?" Akane demanded.

"It'll be easier to point out if you're moving in beat or not this way," Ranma pointed out.

Akane scowled at her husband, and decided to prove him wrong. With the music playing, she started to clap to the music. She stayed in beat when the song kept the same speed for several seconds, but when the tempo changed, it took her time to adjust to it. Getting angry at herself for failing, she rewound the tape and tried again, and again. She played the tape dozens of times and was getting ready to smash the tape player into tiny bits.

Ranma shook his head, trying to come up with an idea of how to help her learn to stay in beat with the song. He got a perverted grin as he thought of one means to try. "Why don't we stop for the night. You can try to dance to it tomorrow."

Akane glared at him. "But I have to learn to stay in beat."

Ranma nodded. "I have an idea that should help. We can try it later tonight, but it'll be best if we wait a little first. Why don't you take a bath?"

"Okay, but what's this idea?" Akane wondered.

Ranma blushed. "It's kind of hard to explain."

Akane flattened her lips. "Try to explain it anyway."

Ranma fidgeted nervously. "While making love, we'll play the song."

Akane blinked. "How will that help?"

"Well... our bodies will hopefully move in rhythm with the song that way. By making it part of sex, it might become part of you," Ranma explained.

Akane flashed a perverted grin. "If nothing else, it'll be fun."

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Akane stood in the dojo, clapping in beat to the song that had frustrated her only the day before.

Ranma grinned. "So my plan actually worked."

Akane nodded victoriously. "It sure did. That was an excellent idea."

"I wasn't sure it could work," Ranma admitted.

"It didn't really matter if it worked or not, the plan was fun enough on it's own." Akane gave her husband a seductive look. "We should keep working on that plan for the rest of the week to make sure I can stay in beat, right?"

"Of course." Ranma returned, grinning.

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Ukyou closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. She then approached Ranma and Akane, who were eating in the school cafeteria, so she could talk to them. She might not have forgiven the girl for stealing fiance from her, but she was getting lonely and wanted to be friends with them again. "Hello," Ukyou smiled nervously.

"Hello," Ranma said coldly.

"Hi," Akane said, placing her foot on top of Ranma's.

"Um, I'd really like to be friends again," Ukyou said.

"Why should we?" Ranma asked. He winced slightly as Akane ground her foot into his.

"We've been through too much together to just let our friendship die," Ukyou pleaded.

Their conversation was interrupted as Happosai ran into the room and quickly groped Akane's chest. Ranma moved to stop him only to get splashed with water and groped as well. The old lech ran off laughing, followed by an enraged Ranma.

Ukyou shook her head and walked off.

Akane sighed in disappointment. She had hoped things would have gone better.

"Where did the old freak go?" asked Tarou.

Akane merely pointed in the general direction Happosai had run off to.

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It was the night of the prom and Akari was a little sad she could not attend it. She was wearing the white prom dress and had gotten Ryoga into a tux. They were walking down a street to a dance club. She turned her head, and stared longingly at her beloved.

Ryoga turned a nervous eye to his girlfriend, though she thought she saw the love behind the fear. "Um, Akari?" he began.

Akari wondered with excitement and nervousness mixed if he was going to ask her something important. "Y-yes?"

"Do you know where we are?" Ryoga sheepishly questioned.

Akari blinked as she looked around and saw they were in the middle of a forest. "I don't know."

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Gosunkugi nervously approached the Kuno mansion. He wore a black suit with a black dress shirt and a red tie. He couldn't believe Nabiki got him a date with someone as beautiful as Kodachi, and only for another fifteen hundred yen. Sure she was a little eccentric, but so was he. He rang the bell at the gate.

A servant opened the gate. "What business do you have here?"

"I'm Gosunkugi, and I'm here to take Kodachi to the Furinkan High School's prom," he replied.

"Ah, yes. Follow me." The servant led the boy to the study room.

Gosunkugi waited nervously for Kodachi to enter. When she did, he was floored by how beautiful she looked in the midnight black prom dress.

Kodachi gazed down at the boy with some anger. "Gosunkugi? What are you doing here? I was told my date, Hikaru, was here."

"Yes. I'm Hikaru, Gosunkugi Hikaru."

Kodachi looked at him in shock.

"You look beautiful. Here, I got this for you." Gosunkugi produced a corsage with a black rose.

"How is it you're my date? You could not possibly have fought Ranma," Kodachi protested.

Kuno entered the room, smirking. "Ah, but he has. He even brought the telling blow to Saotome in one of his battles."

Kodachi blinked. "He has?"

"I guess I have," Gosunkugi said.

This was terrible. How could he possible have beaten Ranma? She could not date with such a weakling. Perhaps this was a ploy of that mercenary, Nabiki, to keep her away from the dance. She couldn't let Nabiki win by not going. He did have good taste in clothes, and she could dump him once they got to the dance. Kodachi took the corsage that Gosunkugi held and put it on. "The night is wasting. Shall we be off?"

Gosunkugi nodded. "Yes."

A servant entered the room. "The carriage is ready, and the dinner reservations are confirmed."

"Very good," Kuno said. "We shall all go to the North Wind after we pick up my date."

"So, who is your date?" Kodachi asked.

Kuno grinned. "The cunning Nabiki."

Kodachi was going on a date with Gosunkugi and her brother was dating HER? Had the powers that be gone mad?

Gosunkugi whispered to Kuno, "The North Wind? I can't afford that place."

"Fear not, for I shall graciously cover the bill," Kuno offered.

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Ms. Hinako, in her adult form and holding a fish bowl, walked around the gymnasium. She checked to make sure all the preparations were completed. She hated the Hawaiian theme decorations that the principal insisted on, but it didn't look that bad.

Ms. Hinako was surprised that Ranma hadn't 'volunteered' his services to help set up the gym as several other students had. Since Ranma married Akane, he's stayed out of trouble. Ms. Hinako had always liked the girl because of her strong sense of right and wrong and tended to enforce it with a firm hand. It didn't hurt that she was also attracted to the girl's father. Akane had affirmed the teacher's faith by keeping Ranma out of trouble for most of the past month.

Ms. Hinako straightened out her dress, waiting for Soun to arrive. She smiled at the fighting fish in her fish bowl. She may not be able to use them all the time, but for events like this, they were perfect. She still cursed herself for not taking them to the wedding. She had thought there would've been a lot more fighting.

"Hello, Ms. Hinako," Kasumi greeted.

"Um, hello Kasumi. Where is your father?" Ms. Hinako asked.

"He had some prior plans, and asked if I could come in his place," Kasumi informed.

"What? Why..." Ms. Hinako was getting upset. "Why didn't you inform the school?"

"I did inform Principal Kuno of this," Kasumi replied.

Ms. Hinako scowled. "You did?"

Kasumi nodded. "Yes."

"You watch over things here. I've got something to do," Ms. Hinako ordered.

"Okay." Kasumi smiled.

Ms. Hinako walked off to the school offices and set the fishbowl down her office. "If I'm going to be an adult tonight, let it be off some lustful delinquents."

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Dr. Tofu wondered if he should've called in sick. He really shouldn't chaperon for the prom, considering Cologne's potion. But, he had promise to help. Maybe the potion had worn off.

Dr. Tofu sighed as he entered the gym, hoping for the best. "Kasumi, hello. What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Dr. Tofu. I'm a chaperon for the prom. Are you one too?" Kasumi smiled.

"Yes." Dr. Tofu smiled in return.

Ms. Hinako cursed as she saw the chaperons greet each other. If she couldn't have HER date, why do they get to have one?

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Yuka smiled at her date as they entered the gym. They were among the first to arrive. Sayuri and Akane hadn't arrived yet, so she had some time alone with him. He was rather handsome. She still couldn't believe he had asked her out. She wondered what it'd be like if she made love to him. She knew her mother and Akane have been saying she should wait. But Akane seemed to be a lot happier now that she's gotten married and done the deed.

As if on cue from Yuka's thoughts, Ranma and Akane entered the gym. They were absolutely gorgeous. Akane was wearing a stylish red dress. But only a few people gave the couple a second look.

Kuno and Nabiki came in arm-in-arm several minutes later. This turned many heads, not only because many of the students had a hard time seeing those two as a couple, but also because Nabiki's golden dress exquisitely complemented Kuno's ceremonial Samurai garb.

It was hard to make out the couple that followed them, since they blended into the night's sky. This couple was a bigger shock than Nabiki and Kuno. Kodachi and Gosunkugi walked into the gym, both completely covered in black.

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Akari wasn't sure how to explain it, but every time she closed her eyes for a long period of time, Ryoga had led her somewhere that she didn't think they could've made it to from where they were. She looked at a sign, that said Kyoto was only eighteen kilometers away. She shook her head at the sight wondering how they had gotten there.

Akari shut her eyes and kept them closed for several minutes. When she opened them she saw that they were in Tokyo business district. She shut them again and thought of the school prom Akane was at. Several minutes passed and she heard music. Maybe they were near a dance club. She opened her eyes and then blinked. They were inside a school. "Let me lead now," Akari requested.

Ryoga shrugged. "Ah sure. Do you know where we are?"

"I think we're at Furinkan High." Akari followed the music to the gym. She smiled at the sight. They were indeed at the school.

"What are you two students doing?" chibi-Ms. Hinako demanded angrily.

Akari looked and the child strangely.

Ryoga answered. "Um, sorry. We got lost on our way here."

"You haven't snuck off to do anything, have you?" Ms. Hinako demanded angrily.

Ryoga blushed. "No. No. I'd never do that."

"I wish he would," Akari whispered longingly.

"Be sure that you don't. Now get in there and stay out of trouble," Ms. Hinako snarled, fingering a five yen coin.

Ryoga and Akari entered the gym from the school's entrance.

"Who is she and why is she so angry?" Akari mused.

"She's one of the teachers here. As to why she's angry, I don't know," Ryoga replied.

Akari looked at him strangely. "She's a teacher?"

"She's a lot older than she looks. She has the ability to drain chi, and when she does, she temporarily grows older," Ryoga explained.

"Oh," Akari said. She spotted her friends, and dragged Ryoga over to them. "Akane, Ranma, hi!"

Akane smiled. "Hi. How were you able to get in? I thought they were only letting students in."

Akari blushed. "We sort of came in from a different entrance."

"You mean he got you lost and led you in here?" Ranma quipped.

Ryoga glared at Ranma.

"In a way," Akari confirmed.

Ryoga deflated a little. He was uncomfortable at how easy it was for him to get lost, and yet Akari had no problems with it. He couldn't get upset at her for mentioning that curse, because she meant no harm by it. She actually thought it was kind of cute.

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Author's Note:

I am perfectly aware that Ryoga has never demonstrated any sort of teleportation ability in manga or anime. That every indication is that he walked, and in one case rode, the vast distances he covered. The scene was done as a joke and as a method of getting him into the dance.