Chapter 5: Preparations

Akane, Ranma, Nabiki, and Kasumi all lurked as stealthily as they could outside the door to the Tendo kitchen, curious who this Chinese girl was who had come looking for Youichi.

"So, you're enjoyin' Japan so fah, are you Minmin?" Youichi asked, sitting across from the girl.

"Oh yes. I was in Kyoto for a couple days, looking at all the historic buildings and the fancy old costumes. It was a little tricky to understand the accents, but lots of fun," Minmin replied.

"Ah, well, if ya want to go back and need some help, I'm sure Kazuma would be happy to help out. Dere's the twins or Yoshiko too," Youichi replied.

A silence hung in the room for a minute, no doubt amplified by how many ears were listening in. Youichi fidgetted for a moment before clearing his throat.

"So, uh... what had ya track me down?"

"I went to your restaurant, and that boy who calls himself your apprentice said you were out here at this dojo and that you were going to be here for a while," the girl replied.

"It's only a week," Youichi grumbled.

"I have waited years to see you again! You're the best cook I've ever met! I couldn't wait a whole extra week," Minmin protested. "I have important questions to ask!"

"But you spent a couple days in Kyoto first?" Youichi asked, an eyebrow raised.

The Chinese girl blushed. "My Japanese had gotten a little rusty. I wanted to make sure I was back in practice enough to talk to you."

"Alright... so, what are de questions?" Youichi asked.

"Number one: you are still single, right?" Minmin asked, getting snorts from the eavesdroppers.

The quartet scrambled back behind the door frame to hide.

"No?" Youichi replied, too confused by the question to have noticed the snorts.

"No? D-don't tell me you're dating that grumpy girl who can't even boil rice! She's a terrible match for a world class chef like you!" Minmin blurted.

"What? Grumpy—oh! You mean Mitsuko! No. No... she's seein' someone else. I'm wit'... well, you ain't never met him, I don't tink, but I'm with Kazuma," Youichi replied.

"Him? Him!?" Minmin muttered, sounding angry enough to get the peanut gallery to poke their heads back out to see what was happening.

"Ya've got a problem wit' me datin' a guy?" Youichi asked, looking a little nervous.

"Huh? Oh... well, I'm annoyed you're dating anyone, but I'm angry at Ryuu. I asked him twice, after he got her, if you had a girlfriend and he'd laugh and say no. If he'd just explained the situation to me... I-well, I could have saved a good deal of embarrassment," Minmin said, turning bright red.

Youichi let out a sigh of relief. "Were dere any other questions?"

"Uh... well... it's a little bit less appealing now, but... would you be interested in hiring me on for your restaurant? I do still greatly respect your cooking skill and should learn more Japanese cooking if I'm going to be living here now," the girl asked, still rather red with embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah! You was a good student back when I visited ya in Hong Kong. I'd be happy ta have ya about," Youichi replied.

The girl lit up with a smile, standing up and giving a quick bow. "Thank you! You won't be disappointed!"

"Just... try not to pick any fights with Mitsuko," Youichi said, standing up and starting to lead her out to the front door.

"She's so easy to tease... but I shall try," the girl said with a wink, before heading out the door.

With her gone, Youichi let out a heavy sigh. He then clapped his hands and turned around to the gaggle of evesdroppers.

"Sorry about all dat. Anyhow, let's get to work on recipes," he said, putting on a large smile.

"Popular with the ladies, aren't you?" Nabiki asked, an eyebrow raised.

Youichi shrugged. "Apparently. As Kazuma can tell ya, I was too busy tinkin' about him, along with one o' two other guys, to eveh notice any girls."

"I just think it's good that that girl didn't see Ranma," Kasumi said, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Let's... let's get back to my cooking lessons, why don't we?" Akane said, her tone a bit sharp as she side eyed a visibly plotting Nabiki.

Akane's attempts at cooling the somen properly were not going well in the slightest. The noodles kept clumping, and the effort was just making her angrier and angrier. Youichi told her to stop, and began to pace about the kitchen, deep in thought.

"I'm doomed, aren't I?" Akane whispered to Ranma.

"Nah, you've got the best cook in Japan workin' on this. And you've been getting better," Ranma replied.

"Keepin' somen from sticking is easily the hardest part of de preparation," Youichi said, coming to a stop. "I should have realised it played against your weaknesses more than I did dough. Impatience and anger... ah, but the bright side is that Mitsuko basically has the same issues. I just don't want to have to simplify the dipping sauce too much, in the effort to lower your stress level."

Ranma and Akane nodded, neither quite having any idea how to solve the issue. As the trio descended into thought, they were distracted by a light knocking on the door frame.

"Would it be okay if I start working on dinner?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. We're on a plannin' stage right now," Youichi replied, moving the pots they'd been using out of the way.

"Ain't it a bit early?" Ranma asked, checking the clock to see it was only 4:00.

"Well, normally, yes, but the store was having a sale on western pastas, and I thought I'd try a recipe I'd read about," Kasumi said, pulling out a bag of spirally pasta.

"Oh, hey, scoobi doo. Good choice," Youichi said.

"Scoobi doo?" Kasumi asked, looking down to see the label 'cavatappi' on the bag.

"It's what dey call it over in North America, and it's such a good name. Plus, it drives my step dad just as nuts as when I call it dat. Just like when I say pegsketti or flickacini," Youichi explained.

"Wait, you were mispronouncing those pasta names?" Akane asked, Ranma just as shocked.

Youchi turned to the pair with a slightly strained grin. "Oh, heh... yeah. I guess I shoulda told you guys I tend ta do dat."

Ranma gave Youichi stink eye for a moment, before turning to Kasumi. "So, does that western pasta stuff really take a long time ta cook?"

"Ah, well, no. But I thought I'd make a pasta salad, and that means I have to let them cool off thorou—"

"Dat's it!" Youichi blurted. "We'll use pasta! Well, like, not pasta flour mix, 'cause it tastes different, but... I gotta go bug step-dad for his pasta maker. Be right back!"

With that, Youichi ran off, leaving Akane and Ranma more than a little confused.

"He has ideas fast, don't he?" Ranma said.

Ukyo looked up when they heard the jingle of the bell attached to the front curtain. Looking up, she was pleasantly surprised to see Ranma.

"Yo! Ran-chan! What are you after?" Ukyo said as the redhead approached the grill.

"Well, I was just here to ask ya a favour, but, dang does it smell good in here. I guess I'll have my special?" Ranma replied.

"Sure thing... what's the favour, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Uh, well... Akane's got her cookin' competition coming up, and we need some judges. It seemed fair for Akane to have one of the judges know her, since the other two apparently know her opponent. They're not friends or nothin', but... they're definitely acquaintance types," Ranma explained, perhaps a smidge excessively.

"Sure, I'd be honoured. What's the meal?" Ukyo asked.

"Chilled somen," Ranma replied.

"Ooh. I don't have nearly enough of that. Sounds good. Even if Akane's cooking," Ukyo said with a laugh.

To her surprise, that got a pout out of the redhead. "She's definitely gettin' better. Ajiyoshi is a pretty good teacher."

"I was only teasing. I'm sure she's improved quite a lot with a tutor more patient than me and more firm than Kasumi," Ukyo said, tossing Ranma's okonomiyaki over.

Akane was shaking a little in her shoes as she stood at the front of a culinary lecture hall. She was really doing an honest to goodness cooking duel. Sure, Youichi had assured her that Mitsuko was on her level. Plus, his decision to make the somen into a fusilli shape had fixed the sticking issue that was driving her up the wall, as well as giving her the opportunity to create an, honestly, quite tasty sauce, so things were looking good. It didn't solve the issue of her nerves about the audience, however.

Her whole family was in the crowd, along with Ranma, Konatsu, Yuka, Sayuri, Shampoo, and some friends of Youichi or Mitsuko's. Having Ukyo be one of the judges, along with two very smug twin strangers. She'd heard Youichi say they were brothers, but... well, she supposed they had a more masculine fashion sense than Tsubasa, but only just barely.

She also supposed she really should learn to stop trying to judge people on that front, between Ukyo, Konatsu, and Ranma.

"Just remember to watch your breathing," Youichi said, putting a reassuring hand on Akane's shoulder.

Akane gave a quick nod and watched him head over to take his seat at the end of her cooking area.

"Hello everyone!" a man in a blue suit and a red bowtie announced. "I hope you're all comfortable, and ready for this cooking competition to begin. Today we have Ajiyoshi Youichi's student Tendo Akane up against Yamaoka Mitsuko, student of Shoda Yoshiko. The dish of the day is chilled somen noodles. Both contestants have one hour to prepare their meals, starting... now!"

Akane took a deep breath, before hurrying off to fill her pot to start it boiling. She poured out a few millilitres of soy sauce into a measuring cup and poured that into the pot, both to flavour the noodles and to add a little salt to help keep the noodles from sticking. She then turned her attention to making the stock, combining mirin, soy sauce, and the pre-prepared dashi in a smaller pot.

While she waited for everything to get to boiling, Akane set to work on her favourite part of the recipe: grating the yams. The simple efficiency of it was relaxing, and she couldn't help wishing more cooking involved the destructive simplicity of grating things. Sadly, that part only lasted so long, and she had to stir the stock while checking on the noodle pot (neither was boiling quite yet). She then added the little bit of brown sugar to stir into the yam.

Slicing the nori up small enough took a bit more concentration that grating did, but her increased practice with a knife these past few weeks meant she had the control to make most of the pieces close enough in size. Youichi had recommended she go for an irregular 'rolling' cut on the nori, to make size variability less noticeable than it would have been in regular strips, and she hoped it would work.

Knowing that things would be boiling soon, she grabbed a few large bowls, dumped as much ice as she could get from the freezer into them, stuck small bowls inside the one, and then filled much of the remaining volume of the larger bowls with cold water.

Finally, the stock was boiling, and she could remove it from the heat, pouring it into the ice bathed small bowls, and began to pour in the grated yam. Then she noticed the water for the noodles was boiling. Panic rising, Akane closed her eyes and reminded herself that taking a few seconds to breath was always an option. After those few seconds to slow her breathing, she crouched down and pulled out the small bag of freshly made fusilli shaped somen noodles. Quietly, she thanked the small mercy that had meant she hadn't been expected to make noodles from scratch as she poured them into the boiling water.

She finished pouring out the yam, then dropped in a couple dollops of wasabi paste into the dipping sauce. It was then time to breathe a little more, eyes drifting to the judges. She had to admit Ukyo was looking a little uncomfortable, while the feminine looking twin brothers... if Akane had to guess, she supposed it looked like they were flirting away with Ukyo.

Akane shook her head, trying not to laugh at how Ukyo always seemed to attract a very specific type.

Ah! The timer for the noodles had just gone off, prompting Akane to pour them into the colander and run them under cold water to avoid any sticking. Looking up, she saw there were only a few minutes left. Everything had timed out well, just like it had in practice with Youichi. Feeling encouraged, Akane poured the noodles into the second ice bath. She then waited for the last minute to pull the dipping broth out of it's ice bath, drying the outside of the bowl with a towel before sprinkling on a little nori, as well as just a hint of brown mustard imported from France, meant to widen the flavour of the wasabi.

"And that's time!" the host shouted out. "If both contestants and their teachers would head up to the front for judging, please."

Akane picked up her two bowls and headed up. She saw Mitsuko had gone for more traditional noodles and a simple sesame paste based broth.

"Alright, I'll now flip a coin to see who gets the first tasting. Ajiyoshi, Shoda... what side do you both pick?" the announcer asked.

"Heads!" Youichi announced.

"I'm fine with tails," Yoshiko added with a shrug.

The announcer nodded, flipping the coin into the air and catching it. "Tails has it!"

Mitsuko gave a visible nervous swallow before sliding her dish forward.

"Simple, but with heart," Ukyo said, having tried a little.

"It is definitely acceptable for a young amateur cook," the red haired twin said. "Do you not agree, Taro?"

"Most acceptable, Jiro," the silver haired twin replied. "Most traditional as well."

"And now, Tendo and Ajiyoshi's dish," the announcer said.

Akane put her two bowls forward, and tried not to hold her breath as three judges sampled some.

"The sauce is very nice," the silver haired Taro said.

"The noodle shape holds it very well. The noodles also do not clump in the slightest," the redheaded Jiro added.

"It's definitely well cooked, good work Akane," Ukyo said, though the breath she took told Akane there was more to come. "I just have one little issue... this is a pasta salad. Not somen."

"That is very true," the twins said in unison, turning to each other and nodding. "The noodles are the wrong shape."

"So?" Youichi asked, his tone defensive. "It's good, ain't it?"

"Yeah, it's good," Ukyo said, waving her hand dismissively. "I already complimented Akane on her work for preparing the recipe given to her, but the challenge was for somen. This is... I don't know, rigatoni? Penne? Not somen, I know that much."

"Oy! I used somen flour!" Youichi protested, marching over to glare at Ukyo. "It's not like I was usin' soba flour or somethin'!"

"Somen is somen. Pasta is pasta. They're two different things," Ukyo replied, narrowing her eyes. "If you want to fight me over this, I'd be happy to, b'y."

"Fight you? You know, maybe I wi—" Youichi started, until Akane rushed in, pulling him back by the collar.

"You are not getting in a fight with Ukyo," Akane hissed. "You're not a fighter and she's quite open to fighting dirty."

"I wasn't going to hurt him... too much," Ukyo muttered, pouting a little. "Either way, by default, we'll be announcing Yamaoka and Shoda as the winners, for their fine traditional somen dish."

Akane felt disappointment run through her, but the look of pure joy on Mitsuko's face softened the pain a little. She'd gathered the other girl had wanted to prove herself about as much as Akane had. Also, the excited kiss Mitsuko gave Yoshiko was hard for Akane to argue with. There was just a stronger bond between that duo than her and Youichi.

To her surprise, Akane found herself getting hugged from behind, and leaned back into Ranma's embrace. His distinct mix of feminine fruity shampoo and masculine aftershave was a scent she'd more or less memorised, and always made her feel safe.

"Ya did good, Akane. Stayin' calm and focused the whole time, even against the clock... it's good stuff," Ranma said.

Akane smiled, turning around to return Ranma's embrace. The pair held each other for a few moments, before Akane backed away, wanting to thank Youichi for his lessons. She found him looking around the lecture hall, a confused expression of his face.

"Is everything okay?" Akane asked.

"Uh... I guess? I just... I tought Kazuma'd be here... but I ain't seein' him anywhere, Youichi replied.

Akane turned to the crowd herself, looking for the blue haired boy. From what she knew of him, it seemed unlikely for him to have not shown up to support his boyfriend.

"S-sorry I'm so late," a feminine voice said from close behind them. "The rain just wouldn't let up, so I had to give up."

Akane and Youichi both spun to see a girl a smidge shorter than Akane with blue-black hair, a leather jacket that looked a little too big for her, and a red sweatshirt that definitely wasn't tailored to her (enviable) figure.

"I was going to go change in the bathroom to show you, but then I didn't know which one to use, and it was later than I'd thought," the girl said, rambling a little.

"Kazuma?" Ranma asked, leaning in to look at the girl more closely.

"Heh, y-yeah," the girl replied.

"W-what happened?" Youichi asked, stepping forward and giving Kazuma's new form a once over.

"I... well, I ordered some Nyannichuan water," Kazuma replied.

"I'm not going to say ya ain't adorable, but why'd ya do dat?" Youchi asked.

"Why'd I—you're the one who complained how it was a shame we couldn't pass our taste buds on to the next generation. And this way we can get married, like, legally and all that," Kazuma explained, turning a bit red while explaining. "Like we said back with the croquette competition, you'll be the groom and I'll be the bride."

"I, uh... I'd just meant for the croquette competition that we'd replace them, but... actually getting to get married sounds wonderful," Youichi said, hurrying forward to hug Kazuma. "Even if I tink you're a little crazy, gettin' yourself cursed."

"Aw... that's so romantic," Ranma said, grabbing Akane's hand. "Don't you think so?"

"It's definitely sweet," Akane said, before an idea struck her. "Why don't you two come back to the dojo? We can have a party to celebrate my first proper cooking competition, as a thanks for all the lessons, and to celebrate you two getting engaged?"

"Getting engaged?" Youichi asked, still holding on to Kazuma's hand.

"Well, you were both talking about getting married, so it seemed like this is the unofficial start to your engagement?" Akane explained.

"I guess that's right," Youichi said, rubbing his chin a little.

Kazuma's eyes went wide as a thought struck him. "I should have gotten a ring!"

"Shouldn't Youichi be supplyin' the ring, if you're gonna be the bride?" Ranma asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Huh? Nah. I'm the one with a rich family, I can afford it easier," Kazuma replied.

"It'd be nice to see some karats on this finger," Youichi added, smiling as he looked at his hand.

-Epilogue-

Ranma was relaxing, leaning back against the door frame to the Tendo living room as she watched the rain coming down. The smell of curry was slowly wafting from the kitchen. Knowing that Akane was involved in something that smelled so good filled her with a warmth in her heart.

After a few minutes, Youichi came wandering into view, only a little damp from the rain, with something in his arms.

"How did I stay here for a week and not realise there was a cute little piggy living nearby?" Youichi said, hugging the confused little piglet who's eyes were flying back and forth between Youichi and Ranma.

"Oh, P-chan. Uh, he's not really a piglet," Ranma said, hopping to her feet. "Let's get him to a bath."

"He's human?" Youichi asked, as he followed Ranma to the bath.

"Yep. Total dork too," Ranma said, as they arrived in the furo.

Ranma plucked the piglet from Youichi's arms and tossed P-chan into the tub. The splash as Ryoga jumped up from the water was enough to drench Ranma and change him too.

"Could you place me in the water, just once?" Ryoga shouted, stomping over to grab Ranma by the shirt. "It's not fun being thrown about like that!"

Ranma just smiled. "It's fun for me."

Ryoga opened his mouth, no doubt ready to shout at Ranma a bit more, when his eyes drifted over to Youichi. "Uh... is your cousin alright?"

"Cousin? As far as I know we ain't related," Ranma said, before turning to see what had Ryoga so concerned.

Youichi's furious blush and the light dribble of blood running down from his nose told Ranma everything he needed to know.

"Oh dear," Ranma announced, turning back to Ryoga with a grin. "It seems I may have accidentally turned ya into a homewrecker."

"What!? A home... what?" Ryoga asked, staring at Ranma in confusion.

"I should have known you'd be his type," Ranma said, trying not to laugh as he turned back to Youichi. "The muscles help, don't they?"

"Definitely," Youichi replied, giving Ryoga another once over, still blushing. "Those quads..."

"W-wait, he's..." Ryoga began, before turning bright red and dropping his hands to try to regain some modesty. "You could've warned me, Ranma! That's like being naked in front of a girl, but without me knowing it!"

"Oy! You never get embarrassed about being naked around me when I'm a girl," Ranma protested.

"You're different... even when you're a girl, you're, like... lesbian or whatever," Ryoga countered. "Either way, hand me a towel!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Ranma said, doing as requested.

Still visibly flustered, Ryoga quickly wrapped the towel around himself. "I, uh... I thought the food smelled good. Any chance I could stay for some?"

Ranma couldn't help laughing at Ryoga's awkward attempt to change the subject.

"I'd be happy to see you stay... I guess it'll depend on how much curry Kazuma made though," Youichi said.

"Curry? Better watch your plate to make sure Ranma doesn't steal any from you then," Ryoga said, side eyeing Ranma.

"That was curry bread, and it was still in mid-air. Totally fair game," Ranma snapped.

"It was being thrown to me!" Ryoga growled, the pair growing locked in a fierce staring contest.

"It was way back in middle school! Stop holding that grudge!" Ranma countered.

Tossing insults back and forth, the pair missed the sound of the furo door sliding open, though they did hear Kazuma's voice as he began an announcement.

"Akane-kun said you two wou—uh... what's going on?"

"Apparently Ranma has a boyfriend too!" Youichi declared happily. "And, I must say, she's got good taste."

"What? W-we're not... we're not a thing!" Ranma protested.

Ryoga, however, was distracted by Kazuma, leaning forward to get a closer look at him. "You know, you seem strangely familiar."

Kazuma froze for a moment, giving Ryoga a one over. "You know, you do too, for some reason..."

Ranma let out a sigh, certain this would take a while. "I'm just going to go start eating. Are you coming, Youichi? Or gonna stay here enjoying the view?"

The young chef paled. "D-don't make me choose between food and cute guys! That's cruel!"

Ranma laughed, leaving an indecisive Youichi and the two confused fanged lads behind as he headed to the living room. Akane and Kasumi were already serving up the curry, in halved pineapples for reasons Ranma didn't quite follow. What mostly drew his attention, though, was the happy smile on Akane's face. It was so good to see her content after having helped in the kitchen.