Chapter Text
The door to the VHS Store jingled as Akane walked in. Akane’s shoes hit the cheap black carpet, with its bizarre collection of neon shapes splattered all over. She had a bit of spending money as her sister had allowed Akane to use her cash. Though Nabiki never did things out of the kindness of her heart, the goal was to pick something for them to watch together. Nabiki buys it, Akane grabs it, and they both watch it. A fair trade between siblings.
She let out a small hum as she started to pace through the aisles looking for something she thought her and her sister would enjoy.
Would it kill her to be here to pick out her own movie? Not like this place is easy to find.
Akane knew that was an exaggeration, it wasn’t exactly far, and it was only a couple of turns.
Akane stood there amongst the vast collection of cinema. It was a difficult choice, one with so many options. She meandered around aimlessly, not even really sure where to start. Something caught her eye. She saw somebody watching a movie on one of the display TVs. They were kinda short, with black hair in a pigtail. Their face looked androgynous, and their wiry physique didn’t help much either.
Nothing too bizarre about that, but it was their eyes. They looked completely engrossed. They would look perfectly at home in a movie theater. It was endearing, really.
Akane took the time to look at it too, it was some kind of kung-fu movie. Some guy was doing high-flying kicks, soaring through the air right into someone. The other had some sort of aura appear around them, coating their arm and blocking his strike.
Her and this stranger simply stared, watching the movie for a bit. It was a companionable silence. The display TV, small, far away, and juryrigged to be more or less hanging from a ceiling made fine details difficult. Not to mention just how quiet it was.
“It’s cool, but real martial arts stuff probably isn’t like that.” Akane said, as they both watched a man get flung so high he sailed over a building, a very hard to see fishing line likely the true culprit.
The stranger let their eyes wander over to Akane for a moment, before looking back at the screen like it was a place of worship.
“Yeah, but I don’t think real heists are like how they are on TV, or ghosts. If they’re even real. I don’t do any of those either, it’s just… cool. And I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for old kung-fu flicks like this.” Their voice was equally unhelpful in determining their gender, sounding almost like a girl with a boyish voice.
“I guess.” She paused, “I’m Akane, by the way.”
“Ranma.” Said the stranger, who now had a name to go with the face.
“What movie are you going to get?” Akane asked.
“I’m– uh– undecided… movies are kinda expensive. And it’s… hard to find one to bring home.” They whispered.
“Then why are you here?” Akane responded, equally quietly.
They pointed at the dinky screen with a small, mischievous grin and a devilish goblin whisper, “Free movies.”
“Won't you get kicked out for that?” Akane whispered back, nearly a hiss, a bit of panic at defying authority so directly.
Ranma hand waved with a self-satisfied smug aura, they gestured towards the big aisle of movies. Ranma was… to put it nicely, not so very tall. They looked at least a year younger than Akane, at minimum. As a result, the clerk at the counter likely had no idea they were there.
Akane felt somewhere in the back of her mind, a mix of hackles being raised and some admiration for the craft.
Akane put a hand to her chin, nodding a few times, still a bit uneasy about the idea. “I guess that makes sense.
She finally remembered what she was here for and began sifting through the movies on display, her eyes kept being drawn back to Ranma's face. Totally engaged with the men fighting on the screen. Akane caught them occasionally looking back at her in a quick snap before their eyes rolled back to the TV.
Akane’s insurmountable task, much to her chagrin, did not seem to get any more surmountable. and got a little curious. “What's the best one you've seen here?”
They paused, clicked their tongue a few times, and then hummed. “Uhhh… I dunno the names of almost any of em but…” Their eyes looked to the side, away from Akane. Like they were listening for something, before having a eureka moment. Their palm met their fist. “Right! There was this one, some guy, he kinda looked kinda like a bug and he did a bunch of cool poses and stuff. I remember being in awe at how good the explosions were. It was pretty– well– cool.”
Akane thought about that. She thought it sounded pretty cool indeed.
Ehh… Something about this- this- Ranma character feels bad. I don’t like ‘im.
Akane rolled her eyes at the thought before becoming stiff as a board, realizing that to anyone else it looks as if she’s making the gesture to Ranma. “Er- I think it sounds good!” Well now Akane had to go and get that, to show that she really did care. “So it’s like an action movie?”
Akane started to sift through some of the store’s selection, and for the first time since they met, this pigtailed person started looking through the store’s selection too. “Yeah it’s definitely action, lots of cool stuff blowing up.” Their eyes lit up as they looked over, “Like! There’s this one scene! Where he’s on a motorcycle and–”
“Spoilers!” Akane nearly dropped one of the boxes she was sifting through to put her hands over her ears, though she had a smile on her face.
“Oops–” Ranma looked very sheepish, “Sorry I– got a lil carried away but yeah, ‘s action. Uhm. Yeah.”
Akane awkwardly scratched the back of her long brown hair, “I- it sounds good and I’d like to hear more from you I just, well, I do wanna watch it.”
The ambiguously presenting video renter(?) looked away, attempting to conceal a sheepish look and a slightly red face.
Akane looked around for something that matched her given description. “Like this?” She held up a copy of ‘Carmen Righter: Fighting For What's Right’.
“Close!” Ranma said, snapping their fingers, “The guy I saw was wearin’ red. That one seems cool too.” Their own sentence was cut off midway through, and brown eyes stared at a cover of something and processed it.
Akane tilted her head, “What? Did you find it?”
“Huh? Oh– eh– no, I just–” Their red face returned, with nothing immediately convenient to compare its color to, “No I just uh– I remember wanting to see this movie when I was younger but uh– I never got t– I never got around to it.”
Akane looked over as Ranma tilted the box in their hands to show. Akane read the title. “Ram-bow?”
“I– I know it’s kinda silly wanting to watch it ‘cause like we’re y’know not little kids and stuff, a goat that does archery is kinda dumb.”
“No! No! I think– I think it’s good.” Akane felt like she was floundering a little, “Y’know sometimes you don’t like, get the chance to enjoy that stuff then.”
There was a beat.
“Yeah…” Ranma said, as if letting something sink into their bones. They slid the box back into its rightful place.
“Oh!” Akane’s eyebrows raised, she fumbled and reached for a box on the highest shelf, before showing it to Ranma. “This one?”
And just like that their eyes turned to saucers, sparkling lights there, “YES!!! YOU FOUND IT! OH MY-”
They were both interrupted by the voice of the man who worked there.
“HEY! It’s you!” He said, having recognized Ranma’s voice. “You owe like a hundred fifty bucks in late fees! At least! You need to pay up!”
Akane watched as they puckered, looking like they just housed an entire basket of lemons. Face actively paling with every microsecond that passed. “OhwouldyoulookatthetimeIgottajet!” They started taking off like a rocket for the exit.
“Wait! Do you wanna be friends!?” Akane reached a hand out, but she watched as their braid flapped in the wind and the bells of the shop jingled along with her escape.
She sighed, and her shoulders slumped, her eyes sank towards the ground like they were weighed down by bricks.
But then, she heard a thunk thunk thunk. Akane looked up to see that same face that just left, with a million dollar smile, having just smacked on the glass. Ranma gave two big thumbs up and a cheesy grin, nodding with fervor.
Akane smiled.
Ranma thought they might just die from that smile.
“HEY. GET BACK HERE.”
Not unless a random retail employee killed them first! One only had so much time for admiring a cute new friend.
Running out on us like that… I hate people like that.
Akane’s smile faded slightly as she watched Ranma leave, and sighed at the comment. She muttered so quiet that she hoped only its intended target would hear. “I know, Ryoga.”
Though he already knew she was thinking it.