Second Chances
Chapter 15 - An Ice Cream Chat
By Lord Archive
Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, and several
other companies and are used without consent. Oh My Goddess characters
belong to Fujishima Kousuke, AnimEigo, and others- also used without
consent. I'll return them... I just need to get Urd to send them back
into time....
"Ranma!" Akane yelled and grabbed a man with red hair.
He looked at her, confused. "Oro?"
"Kenshin! Who is she?!"
"Oro!"
"You're not Ranma." Akane let go of him.
"Oops, over did it. Bye." Urd left 19th century Japan.
-----------------------------
After Akane waved goodbye to Ranma as he went off with Hiroshi and
Daisuke to a sports event, she walked into an ice cream parlor. She
remembered being here two years ago. Well, two years for her, today to
everyone else.
Akane thought back to how she had a fight with Ranma instead of waving
him off as she just had. A strange girl had seen the fight and felt
sympathetic to her. The girl then gave Akane the mallet she often used
on Ranma. Initially, she didn't want to use it and had Kasumi hold onto
it for her.
Akane often wondered why the girl had given her the mallet. She still
had it, since somehow her mallet had come with her into the past. She
vowed she would never use it on Ranma this time around.
Akane sighed as she sat at a table. The girl was not likely to talk to
her this time. After all, there was no fight to get her interested,
right?
"Hello," the strange girl greeted Akane, like she had two years
previous.
Akane blinked. "Hi."
The girl sat down at the table. "How are you?"
"Ah... fine and you."
"I'm in an ice cream parlor, so I'm in heaven!" the girl said
cheerfully.
"Um... may I ask..." Akane was uncertain how to phrase what she wanted
to say.
"Why I'm talking to you?"
Akane nodded.
"I was wondering how you liked my mallet?"
"It's... a... nice." Akane was looking to the metallic, polo-like mallet
strapped to her back.
"I mean the one I gave you."
Akane blinked. "But... ah... you gave me that er...."
"Today or two years ago, take your pick."
"How...." She then stared for a moment at the girl's strange tattoos on
her face, remembering how the goddess that granted her the wish had
similar ones. "You're a...." she started to say, then whispered, "You're
a goddess?!"
The girl nodded. "I'm Skuld. I'm aware you met my sister, Urd."
"Yeah...." Akane was having a little trouble with the idea of talking to
a goddess.
"So... how are things with your fiance?" Skuld asked.
"Um, great. He kind of gets scared that we're moving a little fast."
"Oh." Skuld looked at her, disbelievingly.
"We almost kissed and he then tried to push me away for the next several
days."
Skuld rolled her eyes. "Used my mallet on him yet?"
"No. I don't plan to use it on him."
Skuld sighed. "Now Akane, you are aware of Bakusai Tenketsu, right?"
"Yeah." Akane wanted to know why she asked that.
"That the true benefit does not come from the ability to destroy rocks,
but to be incredibly resistant to damage."
"I don't see... You don't mean I'm suppose to hit him!" Akane's eyes
widen in shock.
"Of course, how else is that pervert going to take punches from some of
his stronger opponents like Ryoga?"
"I can't... I won't hit Ranma again." Akane shook her head forcefully.
"I caused too much pain last time around because I did that."
"So how is he going to take a hit from Ryoga then?" Skuld asked flatly.
"I... I'll teach him Bakusai Tenketsu. Why risk hurting him emotionally
when he can learn it as a martial arts move?"
"Then what happens when Ryoga goes to learn that move? Ranma wouldn't
have to fear it if he knows it, so he won't go through speed training."
"I just won't tell Ranma it's not effective on living things. He won't
try to find out that. He'd still go through the speed training to avoid
Ryoga's 'one-hit kill' attack."
Skuld looked at Akane evenly for a moment. She then pulled out a pocket
computer and inputted data at an incredible rate. "Hmmm.... That's not
good. He would be TO resistant to damage."
"What do you mean by that?"
"That there is an eighty percent chance Ranma would become lax in his
training since his father wouldn't be able to hurt him, and Ryoga would
be the only one to be able to bruise him. So, when Taro shows up in his
cursed form, well... there is a good chance that things could go rather
badly for Ranma."
"That's not good."
Skuld nodded. "We need some way to make him more resistant to damage,
but some way to limit it so he won't be too thick skinned."
"Is there anyway you can find out if there are any martial arts
techniques that can do that?"
Skuld thought for a second and shrugged. She then started typing on her
computer. "I'll send up a search for the parameters he'll need. We can
eat some ice cream while it's processing."
Akane nodded with a hopeful look on her face. She had never considered
that by hitting Ranma she had made him a better martial artist. Maybe he
understood part of Bakusai Tenketsu and accepted those hits because it
was a form of training. It would explain why there were times he had
pissed her off for no good reason.
Skuld waved over a waitress and ordered a rather large sundae. Akane
would've ordered Devil's Delight special, but didn't feel right ordering
it in the presence of a goddess. She ordered a chocolate milkshake
instead.
"So besides Ranma being afraid of being tied down to one place, how are
things?" Skuld's feet tapped the floor impatiently as she waited for her
order.
"Well, things are changing from how they had been. Ranma just fought
Kodachi, and she vowed revenge for her defeat. Thanks to her, everyone
knows about Ranma's curse already. That has made school a little hard to
deal with. Harder than it had been originally."
"Well that was because they had more time to get used to Ranma and the
insanity around him. That Ranma and the 'pig-tailed girl' were the same
person answered many of their unvoiced questions. Questions they hadn't
begun to think about yet." Skuld's eyes brighten like a child receiving
a birthday present. Their order had arrived.
Akane mulled over what Skuld had said as she sipped her shake. It made a
lot of sense. "Anyway... Ryoga is still around to challenge Ranma, but I
doubt he's doing it to 'win' my love. Everything else is pretty much the
same except Nabiki."
"How has she changed?" Skuld shoveled in another scope of ice cream.
"Well, she found out that I'm from the future and because of that she
learned how much of a..." Akane looked up at Skuld.
"Bitch, right?"
Akane shuddered at the idea of a goddess calling her sister a bitch,
even if she was about to say that. "Ah... mercenarial would be better."
Skuld shrugged.
"Um, and she's changed because of it. She still does some things for
money, but not to the extent it had been. She's happier and has even
done things to help me without expecting any money for it. For some
reason she likes the idea of being the 'youngest Tendo daughter,' since
I am mentally older than she is."
Skuld's eyebrow quirked. "Why would she LIKE being the youngest? I hate
it."
Akane shrugged. There were plenty of times she hated being the youngest.
Skuld's computer started to beep. The goddess picked it up and started
to read off what it found. "There are three techniques that we can use.
The first is called Hifu No Iwa. A technique developed by an early group
of Muslim warriors. Simply put, you take someone to a wall and start
throwing rocks at him. Each day you gradually increase the number and
the strength they are thrown until the person is either dead or can't
feel it."
Akane shook her head. "It'd become a speed training technique as Ranma
would try to stop the rocks from hitting him."
"You could try tying him to the wall."
Akane scowled. "No."
Skuld shrugged. "The second is known to outsiders as Gansekiken but its
true name is Dairokkan, a Jokensuko technique. A beginner of this
technique would start with two rocks, an expert would end up with ten.
Each rock is hung in a forested area and swung toward the person being
trained. The rocks should not be thrown in any pattern as the person
should not know when any of the rocks would come at her. The idea is to
learn how to feel the presence of the attack and react instantly as well
as increasing the damage capacity of a punch by shattering rocks easily.
This will only toughen Ranma up a little, however it would increase his
ability to dodge so he won't end up being hit as often. This is usually
used as a prelude to Bakusai Tenketsu."
Akane nodded. This had some promise as it taught an actual technique.
"The third technique..." Skuld's eyes looked horrified. "Ewwww....
Forget it."
"What is it?"
"Let's put it this way, its was developed by the same idiot who came up
with Nekoken. Geez, hope this doesn't run in the family...."
"What?"
"Well, the guy who came up with those techniques was a Saotome." Skuld
smiled sheepishly. "It explains how Genma got a copy of it."
Akane buried her face into her hands. She did NOT need to know that. "If
Genma found a copy of that technique to increase endurance... what
should I watch out for?"
"Um, any large stone items like you would find connected to a water
wheel which are normally used powder grains."
Akane paled. "You don't mean that... in one end and out the other...."
Skuld nodded. "If he lives, not much can hurt him since he'd lose any
real sense of what pain is."
Akane massaged her forehead. For the first time since coming back in
time, she questioned whether she should marry Ranma. "Well, I like the
idea of the Dairokkan technique, but how do we get to train Ranma in
it?"
Skuld punched a few things into her computer while thinking over the
problem.
Akane snapped her fingers. "You said it was an Jokensuko technique,
right?"
Skuld nodded. "But Shampoo won't show up for another two weeks, and
Cologne a month after that."
"Yes, but that's not how we'd be able to get it. You see, Happosai was
at Jokensuko and stole a lot of their treasures, including scrolls. All
we have to do is say that among the stuff he left at my house was a few
of the scrolls that teaches martial arts techniques. This would not only
allow me to train Ranma in what he needs, but give an excuse for what I
already know."
"Well, you can lie to them about that, since I won't see them." Skuld
crossed her arms. "That does solve a few problems, and I might be able
to get you a few of the scrolls you need. However, I don't think you
should be the one to teach this."
"Why not?" Akane scowled.
"While you're a lot better than you were originally, you are still below
Ranma. He would resent anyone weaker in the art trying to teach him
'tricks,' wouldn't he?"
Akane sighed. "He would."
"Besides, learning this will hurt him. However, showing the scroll to
Genma so he can train both you and Ranma would be a good idea."
Akane brightened a little. "Right. I would get back some of my toughness
from when Ryoga trained me in Bakusai Tenketsu."
"Not to mention help your speed a little. After this, you might be able
to do Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken again."
Akane's face glowed. Finally a way to get back her abilities without
calling too much attention to herself. She couldn't just ask Ranma to do
some of the faster means of increasing her speed, they were a bit
dangerous and he'd never go for it. Genma wouldn't train her unless she
had something to offer him, a scroll containing a martial arts technique
would work nicely. "When can I get the scrolls?"
Skuld checked her computer. "Tonight. Come up with some excuse to do
some cleaning in the antic and leave some water out. A bucket will work,
though the bigger the surface area the better. Finish up tomorrow
morning, and I'll have left the scrolls somewhere you can find them."
Akane nodded. She didn't know what the water was for, but it didn't
matter. Then something caught her eye and she cursed silently. "I should
be going now. I promised to be home to get a cooking lesson from
Kasumi." She then picked up the bill and left a tip for the waitress.
"It was great talking to you. Thanks for helping me think through some
of those things."
"It was my pleasure. Thanks for the ice cream!" Skuld grinned.
"It's the least I could do. Will I ever see you again?"
"Maybe, only Dad knows."
"Ah... yeah. Um, bye." Akane left with newfound strength and hope to
face the challenges she already knew lay ahead of her since a goddess
was now helping her.
A moment after Akane left. A woman joined Skuld. A woman whose clothing,
well, barely covered what they needed to cover. "So, how'd it go?"
Skuld leaned back. "Pretty good, actually."
"So, is she going to play pound the fiance now?"
"She figured a way that should get around that. But she still might do
it later, the other suitors haven't shown up yet."
Urd eyed a guy as he passed the window. "I wonder if we could speed
things up and get them married before then."
"Don't you dare, Urd! The only reason we're here is because of your
screw up."
"My screw up?!" Urd stood up and scowled at her sister. "She wanted a
second chance, and I gave it to her."
Skuld glared back. "I wasn't talking about that. You actually did that
right, after a couple mistakes. I'm talking about the love potions you
gave them."
"What? I don't think one of those 'mistakes' was a mistake. Besides, Dad
asked for them to fall in love at first sight and had me do that."
"Yes, make them fall in love at first sight with each other, NOT
everyone fall in love with them at first sight."
"It worked, didn't it?" Urd crossed her arm. "So what if I went a little
overboard."
"A little?" Skuld couldn't believe her ears. "Akane had to fight dozens
of guys to get to school because their hormones are in overdrive, and
she still has a fair number of guys chasing after her. And Ranma would
have more women chasing after him if it wasn't for the fact his more
active suitors are all dan level martial artists."
Urd sighed. "What's done is done. No point to argue about it now.
Besides, Dad probably expected me to go overboard anyway."
"Whatever," Skuld grumbled. She then called over a waitress and ordered
yet more ice cream.
------------------------
Akane held a bucket as she stood by the stairs when Ranma returned.
Saotome was quite female and very upset. "What happened?"
"Nothing!" Ranma snapped. She couldn't believe how much of a pervert
Hiroshi was. She just couldn't believe how that creep kept asking about
whether or not he had had sex with Akane, masturbated as a girl, or if
she was really a guy or not. She felt a little ashamed about what she
did to him, but he deserved to be hit. Hopefully she hadn't hurt him too
much.
Akane sighed. She guessed this wasn't supposed to be Ranma's day after
all. He hadn't had much fun the last time because of the fight she had
with him before he left. She wondered what had happened today, but knew
prying anything from Ranma took a LOT of work.
------------------------
Author's Notes:
I'd like to thank the numerous people who've sent suggestions to this
series. I used a couple of them in this chapter, unfortunately I can't
seem to find the mail from those who had made those suggestions. I still
like to thank you, as well as thank those who sent all the mail I've
receive for this series and all my other series, to my pre-readers, and
to everyone else who reads this.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
archive@mich.com
Gansekiken: rock (ganseki) fist (ken)
Hifu No Iwa: skin of rock or rock skin.
Dairokkan: the sixth sense; intuition; hunch
(Hope I got these right. If not, please let me know.)
I'm using Japanese names for the techniques since I perfer to use the
Japanese names for the original Ranma attacks. If I use Hiryu Shuten Ha,
I felt I should stay consistant and use Japanese when naming the
techniques.
Just a reminder, after the failed wedding Ranma and Ryoga spent the
following six months training Akane in various special techniques so
that if she had to fight anyone like Shampoo, that she would have a
chance of winning.
Skuld's comment about Urd messing up a little with Akane's wish came
about because of a side story idea I had for this series where Urd
failed to properly brace Akane's mind for time travel and meeting her
love again. To make a long story short, the first attempt had Akane
become loony with glee at seeing Ranma again and literally scares him
away. The next couple attempts had similar problems. I had considered
the idea of having the timeline of 'It Wasn't a Dream?!' start because
Urd gave Akane enough sense not to blab around she's from the future or
hang over Ranma like a blanket, but failed to deal with Akane's lust for
him. The opening for 'It Wasn't a Dream?!' was Akane's mind feeling in
the blanks in her memory with reasonable explanations as to why she
would have sex with an absolute stranger. This of course was the one Urd
doesn't consider a 'mistake.'
I've received two complaints about this series:
First, the length of the chapters. I know they are short, but this is
intentional. I'm trying to gain the feel of the manga by breaking the
series into short, linking, and somewhat self-contained chapters, which
form even more contained volumes. I had wanted this to be similar to the
manga in that it would be one volume per manga volume, and I've already
broken that since volume two of Second Chances will probably end with
Shampoo's first story-arc. (End of volume 3 Viz/ volume 4 Japanese.)
Second, is that some things are not completely explained. This is
because of either a conscious decision on my part to keep some things in
the dark while others have the problem of not having a good place to
explain them thoroughly yet. I will try to explain everything in time.
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