"Worried?"
"About the Omiai. I know we said nothing could go wrong. Kasumi is a most obedient daughter, and they know they have to marry for the sake of family honor, but still, I'm starting to worry."
"What do you think could possibly go wrong?"
"It's the advocates. I started to wonder what could cause them to go against us. If for some reason they think Kasumi and Ranma are incompatible, then they'd vote against it despite how important it was."
"Do you think that could really happen? Kasumi and Ranma get along fine. Besides, even if it does, you still have two other daughters."
"Daughters who are more willful than Kasumi. And we'll never get the hall reserved so quickly for a second Omiai. If something happens to make this omiai a failure, it would be weeks or months before we have a formally agreed engagement or marriage."
"That's true, but you're worried over nothing. They get along excellently. Surely the advocates will approve."
"Not if their date goes badly. What if something happens on the date! What if it ends poorly and they convince the advocates? This is why I'm worried; a bad date could derail our plans."
"Good thinking! We must insure the success of the date! We must make a plan. It's Genma's..."
"and Soun's..."
The two fathers announced in chorus, "Operation: Snugglebunnies!"
Meanwhile, Ranma finally admitted to himself that he needed help fast. His date was this evening, and he hadn't planned anything. His male peers had proven themselves unsuitable to ask for advice, and he barely knew his female classmates. Therefore he had to rely on the Tendo sisters.
If he were dating any of the other sisters, he would have gone to Kasumi for advice, but as she was the one he was going out with, he felt it would have been inappropriate to ask her.
Nabiki might have been the more worldly of the two remaining sisters, but it was Akane whom he had spent the most time with, and Akane whom he felt most comfortable asking questions about the upcoming date. Nabiki might have made him feel like a little boy, looking down on him from her year older vantage point.
So it was Akane he fled to for help.
Akane was a bit bothered with the idea of offering some pervert boy advice on wooing her pure older sister, but not as much as she might have been. This was, after all, the plan; Ranma had to take her out on a nice, but otherwise inconsequential and meaningless date. Ranma wasn't trying to seduce and ravish Kasumi, it was an act following a script the sisters had devised and convinced Ranma to follow.
And since Ranma had come to her, she could guarantee that Ranma made sure that Kasumi enjoyed herself and she could do her best to make sure that Ranma behaved.
Besides, this was Ranma, who could have ogled girls in the locker room, but preferred to help her pull a prank on the pervert boys. As long as Akane minimized the risk that Ranma might be overly tempted, he could be trusted to behave.
And it wasn't as if he were dating Nabiki, a girl that liked to tease, and to push boundaries of what was acceptable. Kasumi would act demurely, and wouldn't provide any excuse for the pervert in all boys to emerge; and she would stop it calmly if it started to.
Besides, Ranma hadn't been here long enough to know what kind of restaurants there were. Akane quickly selected a restaurant she felt was suitable. It was a semi-elegant restaurant, which Kasumi would like, but more importantly it was adequately lit, and lacked any high-backed booths which would conceal diners from the sight of others. They could enjoy their dinner, and wouldn't even consider impropriety while in public.
For a movie, Akane didn't know what to do. It had to be something they'd enjoy, but she didn't want to pick something that might enflame their feelings. Eventually she suggested a Cineplex which wasn't known to be a mass make out site, and told him to talk it over with Kasumi when choosing a movie. Besides, Akane rarely went to movies, so how should she know what to recommend?
Finally, she recommended Ai Densetsu Park. It was near the theater, somewhat between the theater and home. It was a small, romantic park. It was certainly not an appropriate park to shag in. Akane firmly, almost viciously, overruled Koisukebe Park, which was the only park Ranma knew, as totally inappropriate.
Akane's suggested itinerary never approached any of the pink light areas. It never came near any love hotels, adult-parks, make out points, or theaters with shady reputations.
None of this was of any concern to Ranma, who only wanted somewhere to take Kasumi. He didn't even know the area well enough to realize Akane had been limiting her suggestions to places she felt were appropriate. And Ranma's ready acceptance of Akane's choices helped convince Akane that not all boys had to be ravenous perverts.
As far as Akane was concerned, everything was going perfectly. It wasn't until the date started that everything suddenly went terribly wrong.
She shows her legs, shows them damned well;
Knows how to drive a man right back to a child.
She's a nice girl, but her bad girl's better.
Qualifies in both ways, to my mind.
Akane wasn't prepared for her demure sister to come downstairs wearing a black dress that looked to her like an extra long turtleneck sweater. She certainly thought her innocent sister shouldn't be walking up and down stairs wearing a dress that short. Not that she was flashing her underwear, but since it surprised Akane that Kasumi hadn't exposed her panties that way, all the boys who saw her would surely be thinking about it too.
Above the waist it was as demure as possible, not even exposing her neck or wrists, as long as you overlooked the fact that it was skin tight. Unfortunately it only came down to mid thigh. Akane didn't know that after the skirt had passed the bottom, the last few inches lacked any of the elastic which made the dress so tight, if it had been as tight across the legs as it was across the bottom or breasts, the hem line would have constantly tried to ride up as Kasumi walked.
Then there was the look in Ranma's eyes as he saw Kasumi and escorted her out the door. She had never seen that look on Ranma before, and had no idea what it meant.
But the final straw of the incipient disaster happened the moment the door closed when her own father announced, "Right, Saotome, it's time for..."
"Operation: Snugglebunnies!"
Akane shouted, "What do you think you're doing?"
"We're going to follow them to make sure their date works out!"
Horrified at the idea of their father spying on their dates, Akane tried to derail her father's plans. "They'll never let you into the restaurant in that get-up." She pointed at their worn, and in Genma's case, stained gi.
Soun called out, "Good thinking!" as he and Genma raced to their bedrooms to change.
Seconds later they emerged wearing suits. Akane was stunned into silence at what she saw. If her father were to loose the white gloves, silver-tipped black walking stick, and top hat, people might overlook that his black tuxedo had half-meter long tails draping in back.
But the last time Akane had seen a similar white sequined suit with a ruffled shirt, John Travolta had been dancing disco in it. It really didn't lend itself well to the broad, bald, beady-eyed martial artist who seemed to think it was appropriate evening wear.
It wasn't until after they ran out the door shouting, "Thanks for the help, Akane!" that her mind finally rebooted.
"After them!"
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(Posted Wed, 04 Jan 2006 06:05)
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