LAST GAMBLE
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Jan Story
Standard disclaimer: all characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi,
Shogakukan, etc. This story intended solely for noncommercial use of fans.
"Ranma no baka!"
Akane chased her fiance through the house, mallet raised high. Genma
Saotome not only saw her aura, he smelled it, an electrical odor like
overheated wires. Would those two young idiots never admit their feelings
for one another? Or would their stupidity drive them apart forever? Across
the table, his friend Soun Tendou burst into tears again. The strain was
really telling on Tendou. Some of the things he said sometimes, late at
night over the shogi board, when the sake bottle was nearly empty... the
kids didn't know about that. The only thing that kept him going was his
dream of passing the dojo on to Akane and her husband, a dream that faded a
little every time Akane and Ranma got into another fight.
Genma had dreams too. Dreams of a contented old age, with his friend by his
side and grandchildren around him. Panda dreams, maybe. Never mind, they'd
never come true now. He was down to one last desperate idea. It would mean
giving up everything: his dreams, his friend, his son, maybe even his
humanity.
He had no illusions about what kind of man he was. There had been a time
when ideas like honor and nobility brought to mind nothing but his father's
brutality; he had fled from everything that was remotely like the man,
straight into the tutelage of a sensei whose mastery of ki techniques had
never made up for his peeping and petty thievery. Happousai had encouraged
his opportunism and scheming, and a lifetime on the road, living hand to
mouth, had only furthered his disintegration. Nodoka had been his last
chance for redemption, but by then the habits had been too ingrained; her
honor had come to seem like a prison he was only too glad to escape from.
He had never really intended to see her again to redeem his promise. Still,
he had tried. Every scrap of decency and honor he could dredge up within
himself he had tried to put into his son, and beyond all expectation, he had
succeeded. In spite of the disasters that had lost him the boy's respect,
the multiple engagements, the Nekoken, the journey to China that had
complicated both their lives so much, he had managed to create something
noble and shining out of the wreckage of himself. But the boy was so damn
stubborn! Not that Akane was any better. Both of them too obstinate and
full of pride to admit to themselves how much they obviously loved one
another.
/*Forgive me, old friend,*/ he thought. /*Forgive me, my son. Maybe some
day you'll understand why this has to be.*/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Akane stared unseeing at her algebra textbook, listening to the angry
murmurs from downstairs, wondering what was going on and what, if anything,
she should do about it.
The morning had been normal enough. Ranma and his father sparring, knocking
each other into the pond. Breakfast, the Saotomes warring over food.
Racing to school, nearly late as usual. Shampoo. Kunou. A pretty
uneventful day at school, with no weird pronouncements from the principal's
office, and even Ranma managing to escape the disciplinary wrath of
Hinako-sensei. After school she had gone shopping with Sayuri and Yuka, and
Ranma had disappeared, probably to Ucchan's. He had smelled like
okonomiyaki sauce at dinner.
Dinner. What had happened during the day? What had gone on with their
fathers? She didn't know. Even Kasumi didn't know. But the anger and
tension between the two men had all but poisoned the meal. One snarling
barb after another from Ojisama, and Otousan not even crying, but retreating
into confused, hurt silence like a beaten child. And Ranma...
Oh gods. The hurt and confusion in his eyes...
What was going on? It almost looked like Ojisama was... was getting ready
to take Ranma away. To break their engagement.
She would be free again. Free...
Free to fight her way through every overbearing ego-driven creep in school
every single morning. Free to be the girl everybody wanted but nobody
wanted to get too close to. Free to cook anything she wanted without fear
of getting insulted... and with no reason to try. Free to walk to school
alone every morning, with no Ranma on the fence beside her. Her eyes went
to the picture she kept on her desk. There was no reason it should be
special, they weren't even together, Shampoo and Ukyou were hanging on him
as usual, and Ryouga and Kunou were next to her. But he had said... he had
nearly said...
The voices from downstairs were growing louder and meaner. Without even
realizing what she was doing, Akane began to change into her gi.
"...my son can do better than your worthless slut of a daughter! Get your
things, Ranma! We're leaving!"
"No, Oyaji!" That was Ranma's voice, firm and decisive.
Akane froze.
"What did you say, boy?"
"I said I ain't leavin'! Akane ain't a slut, and I ain't leavin' her!"
/*Not leaving... me?*/
There were sounds of fighting. Between blows, she could clearly hear Ranma.
"I said... I... ain't... leavin'... Akane!" Then there was a thud, and
silence. Heavy footfalls, too heavy to be Ranma's.
/*He lost. Ojisama beat him.*/
/*What do I want? Do I really want him gone? Or do I want... him?*/ She
stared out the window, memories playing back.
((I'm Akane. Do you want to be friends?))
((And I'm better built, to boot.))
((Your hair looks cute like that.))
((Akane's my fiancee! Lay a lip on her and I'll kill ya!))
((If I didn't care, this wouldn't be so hard.))
((The woman you are is the person I...))
The door slammed. She could see Genma, in human form, with his pack on his
back, and a second pack in his free hand. Ranma was slung over his
shoulder.
They were leaving. Probably forever.
She could hear her father bawling, and Kasumi's comforting murmur.
((Who'd want to marry an uncute tomboy like her?))
((The woman you are...))
She was out the window and moving before her mind caught up with her
actions.
She almost lost them a couple of times, but managed to catch them as they
entered the park. /*Now or never. Just like the orochi.*/ She leaped from
the rooftop to the park wall, rebounded to strike Genma in the side of the
head with a flying kick, and came down in a combat stance. /*Ow. I hope he
doesn't notice I bobbled that landing, and I think I twisted my ankle. If
he does I'm in trouble.*/
Genma stumbled at the impact and dropped Ranma and the pack. His own pack
slid from his back to the ground as he turned to face her, a slow, nasty
grin spreading over his face.
Her heart froze. /*What am I doing? I'm not good enough to take him on!*/
Then she noticed movement beyond him. Ranma rising to his knees, groggy,
dazed, shaking his head. And her heart sang.
/*I don't have to take him! All I have to do is hold on until Ranma can
fight! This is just the same as the dojo-yaburi � I can do it!*/ Blue aura
flared around her, illuminating the new leaves and flashing across Genma's
glasses. She met his nasty grin with her own confidence, and let him come.
Ranma felt like he was upside down, bobbing and pitching in every direction.
His stomach lurched and he fought to control it. A little more awareness
returned, and he realized he was slung over Oyaji's back. /*Damn, the old
bastard beat me. Gotta get away. Gotta get back to Akane.*/ Then there
was a sudden shock; Oyaji stumbled and dropped him. The impact almost
knocked him out again. He tried to get up, to focus. Oyaji was squaring
off against somebody, somebody small, wearing a gi. There was a flare of
aura, and he saw it was...
/*Akane? That slow clumsy chick, tryin't'take on Oyaji?*/
Genma rushed her. At the last minute she leaped, bouncing off his head and
making him sprawl face-down in the dirt. Her face twisted in pain as her
weight came down on her bad ankle, but she recovered and by the time he
picked himself up again she was ready for him.
Ranma tried to get his legs under him. The least movement of his head
brought the dizziness back, but he had to... Akane had come off pretty well
in the first passage, but Oyaji was a master of dirty tricks and he was
gettin' real mad, and her stance was a little bit off and no way Oyaji
hadn't spotted it�
Genma charged her again. She feinted high, making it look like she was
trying for the same move, but at the last second went in low, whipping her
leg around to strike Genma in the back of the knee. He measured his length
in the dirt again and she came down on his back, striking hard with both
feet and coming down once more in that slightly off stance.
Ranma saw her grimace and heard a slight hiss as she landed. She was hurt,
and Oyaji had to know it. She'd been lucky twice. Oyaji had underestimated
her speed. /*He's never sparred her and doesn't get to see her fight like I
do. I call her slow 'cuz she's not as fast as me, but she's really pretty
good. Trouble is Oyaji's fast too. People see the size and think he's
slow, but he ain't.*/ He could tell the old man had her measure now,
though. She wouldn't win a third passage. Hell, she'd be lucky if he let
her live.
"He doesn't want to go, Ojisama," she was saying. "And I won't let you take
him."
Ranma blinked. /*Akane's rescuin' me?*/
Oyaji hadn't noticed him yet. He wasn't up to a sustained fight, but he
could probably manage one decisive blow. That might be all she needed.
Then Oyaji struck.
Moving with a speed all at odds with his massive bulk, Genma Saotome threw
himself at Akane. She leaped out of the way, landing off balance with her
whole weight on her bad ankle. The joint gave way under her and she went
sprawling. She rolled and tried to recover, but his follow-through caught
her and sent her flying through the air. She struck the wall and slid
slowly down it to lie in a limp huddle at its base. And Genma, totally
unconcerned, lumbered back to pick up his discarded gear.
Something in Ranma snapped. "Not this time, Oyaji," he grated.
Genma looked up. There stood his son, tall and strong, a ball of flaming ki
in his hands and hate blazing from his eyes. Not just disgust,
disappointment, disrespect, not any more. Now there was bitter, implacable
hatred. Once this line was crossed, they could never return. /*Choose,
son. Choose your fiancee. Strike me down if you must, but choose her.*/
"That was *Akane* you just hurt, you old bastard," Ranma snarled. "I could
live with your stupid promise to Mom. I could live with the Nekoken. I
could live with gettin' cursed. I could even live with your engagin' me to
every other girl we ever met. But I ain't gonna live with you hurtin'
Akane! MOUKO TAKABISHA!" Ki blasted the older man backwards. There was a
splash, and he went into the fountain.
Another time, Ranma might have checked to see if his opponent was all right,
might have extended a hand and pulled him out. He had done it often
enough � to Ryouga, to Kunou, to Mousse, to any number of others. But that
man /*(not my father, never again)*/ had hurt *Akane*. If he drowned, it
only meant he would never hurt her again.
He didn't dare lift or shake her, could only take her hand, call to her.
Tears dripped from his face to splash onto hers. "Akane. Come on, Akane,
please wake up. Please, oh kami, please let her wake up..."
The long lashes fluttered, her dark eyes opened, dazed and unfocused
"Ranma?"
"Yokatta," he whispered, more to himself than to her. His own vision
blurred for a moment. "You... gonna be OK?"
"It hurts... really bad." Tears sparkled on her eyelashes as she closed her
eyes; ice clawed at Ranma's gut to think how bad she must be hurting to show
it like this. Akane was fiercely proud and stubborn as a rock; even though
she wasn't nearly as tough as he was, she always tried to act like it. For
her to show pain or admit to weakness...
He shouldered his pack � after all, it contained everything he owned that he
wasn't wearing � and picked her up. "I'm takin' you to Toufuu-sensei," he
growled. "Whaddya mean takin' on Oyaji anyway, stupid clumsy tomboy?" He
set off at a ground-eating pace.
Akane felt a brief surge of anger at his harsh words, but a wave of
dizziness made the emotion slip out of her grasp. Focusing on the way his
muscles rippled against her was easier than talking, and helped her bear the
pounding in her head, the agony that stabbed up her leg from her injured
ankle. And then the rhythmic movements stopped, there were voices, more
movements, and she missed the warmth of him against her as she was set down
on something firm. Cool, deft fingers probed her ankle. She fought her way
out of the fog that surrounded her, and blinked in the light of
Toufuu-sensei's examining room.
"That's a pretty nasty sprain, Akane-chan," the doctor observed. "It looks
almost like three or four injuries. Did you twist it and then keep fighting
on it?"
Akane nodded. "I didn't have any choice. I had to save Ranma."
"Dummy," Ranma growled. "I had the whole thing under control."
"Baka. Your dad was hauling you off like a sack of rice." Pain stabbed
through her head; she winced and hissed.
"Did you hurt your head too?" Toufuu asked. His fingers probed at the back
of her head, then pressed something and the pain abruptly lessened. He
shone a little penlight into her eyes. "I don't think there's any serious
head injury, but I want to keep you here tonight just in case." He picked
her up and carried her into a little room that held a bed, a table, and a
big Western-style armchair. "I'll call your father and let him know you're
both safe."
"Thanks, sensei." Ranma pulled the armchair up to the side of the bed. "I
still coulda got away on my own," he told her, "but it woulda took longer.
Thanks, Akane."
She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I got to protect you for once. You
usually want to have all the fun yourself."
His control snapped and he caught her up in a fierce hug. "Fun?! You
coulda got killed, you ditz!"
Her arms strained around him as she hugged him back. /*Ow, she hugs
harder'n Shampoo.*/ "So? I couldn't let him take you... besides, I didn't
have to beat him, just last till you could fight. Just like the
dojo-yaburi, and I did okay against him."
"Yeah, right. All that yarou had was bein' hard to hurt. Oyaji... you
didn't get this wrecked against the dojo-yaburi. Gods, Akane, if I lost
you..." A sudden thought struck him. "And I still might. Your dad'll
probably throw me out for what Oyaji did, or he'll blame me for your gettin'
hurt."
"No, he can't." she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "I won't let
him. Or if he does, I'll... I'll go with you."
"I thought... the way you always get so mad at me, I thought you'd be glad I
was gone," he said, confused.
She shook her head violently. "No!" Then she buried her face against his
chest and he felt his shirt growing wet. "No," she repeated quietly, her
shoulders shaking.
Without even thinking, he brought his hand up to stroke her hair. "Ssh,
it's okay, it's okay," he soothed. "Let's not think about that tonight,
okay? Tell you what. Soon's sensei says you can, how 'bout I start
trainin' you for real?"
"Really? You'd really do that?" /*And I thought she was cute just for
smilin'? She's lit up like Ginza!*/
"Hey, if you're gonna go around rescuin' me ya gotta learn to do it right
and not get wrecked."
She snuggled against him with a happy sigh, and closed her eyes. He held
her long after she had fallen asleep, until his own eyelids began to droop
uncontrollably. Then he eased her back down onto the bed and curled up in
the armchair, his head on the bed, holding her hand.
In the shadows outside, a panda watched his sleeping son for a while longer,
then turned and lumbered into the night.
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NOTES:
I have no idea where this one came from. I just got this picture in my
head, of Akane rescuing Ranma from Genma's attempt to take him away.
Wondering why he'd do such a thing, I ended up with the idea that it was a
put-up job. It's probably too sympathetic to Genma; I think he's a prize
lout and Soun is little better, but they never come off that way in my
stories.