Ranma 1/2 Fanfic "Ranma Gets a clue"
Written by Asayogure
Last modified (10/7/1999)
Chapter 4, "The fury of the fiancees."
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Authors Notes: (Feel free to skip)
This chapter is dedicated to Amber, without her
constant pestering I would never write anything. She
has the unique quality of being able to nag me, and
motivate me, without me feeling like I am doing chores.
God bless you.
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Begin.
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Akane sat at the breakfast table eating her breakfast
and sneaking furtive glances at Ranma. He was also playing
this sneaky game of "peek-a-boo" and was stealing glances
at her as well. Reaching for food became a whole new kind
of game, to see if they could touch hands without arousing
any suspicion. Ranma was having the damnedest time keeping
a straight face today. He was in a good mood, and Kasumi,
deciding to go Western style today, had served eggs and
bacon. If Ryouga walked into the room, he would have a
heart attack. Ranma was practically crying from the effort
to hold in his laughter.
All too soon it seemed, breakfast was cleared and the
two of them set out for school as was their daily habit.
They paused at the doorway to grab their lunches and
satchels and slip on their outdoor shoes. Ranma froze in
the entryway and pivoting at the waist with hands on hips,
swung his gaze wildly around the area. "Where in the hell .
. . " he muttered to himself.
"Looking for something?" Akane said, looking curiously
over her shoulder at him, while getting her shoes on. "Hey,
where's your bag anyway Ranma?" She asked casually,
noticing what he was looking for. "I uh, I um . . . I
dunno." He said while continuing to gaze around the room.
"I musta left it at school somewhere, or something."
Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed his lunch and stuck it
in Akane's bag when she wasn't looking. Then he slipped his
shoes on and hopped out the door. Whipping her head
around, Akane saw Ranma already almost half a street away.
"Damn it, wait for me!" She yelled after him, as she
accelerated out the door in a run. When she caught up to
him, they ran a ways in silence, with Ranma on the fence-
top, and her running alongside him on the ground. Ranma
didn't follow his set pattern today though. The closer they
got to the school, the weirder he became. He kept rotating
between running atop the fence and hopping down to run
beside Akane. His eyes were all over the place, and he kept
clenching and unclenching his hands into white knuckled
fists. Akane was pretty sure Ranma was losing it. Ranma
however just KNEW that something bad was going to happen.
That was how his life worked: he would have fun and a
bomb would level his house. He would smile and be taken
away from his mother for a decade. He would say he liked a
flower, and it would turn out the flower was possessed by
some demon Happosai had pissed off in the name of Anything
Goes Martial Arts. He would eat some bacon and well . . .
At the moment Ranma would admit that he liked Akane.
That was all, he just liked her . . . right? But even so,
things that Ranma liked or cared about had a habit of being
destroyed or taken from him. And Ranma wasn't really in
the mood for that kind of crap today. So he was being extra
paranoid.
Running absentmindedly alongside her, Ranma's hips
accidentally bumped into hers, and she skittered off the
sidewalk, a few steps to the left.
'So that's the way he wants to play it huh?' Akane
thought to herself, and grinned evil-like. Girding herself
for battle, Akane brought HER hips firmly into play and
Ranma bounced into the fence with the twanging spring of
stretching chain linked fencing. Snapping out of his
thoughts as the fence snapped him back, he looked
strickenly at her.
Then he playfully returned fire. While because they
were busy playing and running, they failed to take notice
of an ominous bicycle bell sounding in the distance.
Shampoo was so shocked at the sight running towards
her, that she didn't leap onto Ranma, or even try to
destroy Akane. She just sat upon her bicycle balancing atop
the fence railing, looking down at the two of them, and
feeling rather confused. Ranma and Akane, noticing her,
stopped so quickly they had to dig their heels in to avoid
falling over. Ranma swore a rather descriptive oath under
his breath, causing Akane to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"What you doing to husband, Akane Tendou?!" Shampoo
demanded, her arms folded under her breasts in a no-
nonsense kind of pose. The wind picked up for a second, and
tossed her purple hair into waves flowing behind her, the
wind carried with it the smell of the canal water, a musky
wet smell. 'This could be a good or a bad sign,' Ranma
thought, and waited to find out.
"Your husband!?" Akane shot back dryly. "I'm sorry I
missed the ceremony. When did he marry you?" Shampoo shot
Akane a glare that would freeze boiling water. Ranma now
understood the phrase, "if looks could kill." Shampoo was
making a move to advance on Akane, when out of the clear
blue morning sky, a single sparkling stream of water arched
towards her. Instant cat. Akane still hopped up on "MY-
almost-boyfriend protection," adrenaline searched crossly
for the source of the water. Choking back a laugh, and
settling for a snicker and a very satisfied grin, her eyes
found the old lady watering the dust down outside her home
as she did every day, following the ancient traditions.
'I swear, if I didn't know better I'd think she waits
out here to get people wet on purpose.' Her thoughts were
interrupted by the introduction of a heavy weight onto her
right arm, causing her to lurch off balance. Looking down,
she found Ranma. Curled up into as small a ball as he could
make himself, he stilled weighed a ton to her. Shaking and
with a wild look in his eyes, he whispered, "C-C-Caaat!"
Re-directing her gaze to the fence, Akane found Shampoo
glaring at them, kitty cat like of course.
Shampoo jumped off the top of the bike she was still
balanced upon, and, as it sailed off into the canal, she
sailed straight towards Ranma.
Ranma clenched his eyes shut and whimpered. Akane
thinking quickly, spun with all her might, pivoting on her
toes like a ballerina. This caused the heavy pack on her
back, to swing with quite a lot of force. The pack caught
the mid-air cat, and caused Shampoo to go sailing off after
her bike, making very indignant cat sounds. Smoothing
Ranma's hair with her left hand, Akane kneeled down on the
rough, sun warmed pavement, on her skirt-bared knees.
She cradled Ranma in her lap and cooed to him for a few
seconds until he snapped out of it. Looking up with his
normal eyes again, their gazes locked, and Ranma did
something he had never done before after being pulled out
of his Cat Terror. Arching his neck, he brushed his lips up
the base of her neck, tickling the little hairs there, and
whispered in her ear, "thank you . . . my fiancee." It was
as near to kissing her, consciously, that he would dare to
do in public.
Embarrassed and confused, Akane blushed and quickly
pushed him off her lap, causing . . . him to land in a
rather undignified pose on the pavement. Standing awkwardly
after having his body weight crushing her knees into the
pavement, she wiped some loose gravel off her knees,
straightened and smoothed her skirt, and adjusted her hair
and pack. By now Ranma had regained his dignity, and was
sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring at her rather
crossly.
"I don't think that was necessary." He said dryly.
"Do you have any idea how much you weigh, you goober."
Akane shot back playfully as she finished making herself
presentable.
"Yeah, well . . . you still didn't hafta push me, ya
coulda asked me to get off ya know."
"Well I . . . oh shoot! We're late! Again! Come on!"
She dashed off in the direction of the school, leaving
Ranma to stare after her dust trail and sigh. Rolling his
eyes to the heavens, he muttered, "women!" and loped off
after her. After all, he needed to keep her in sight if he
was to keep her safe. Not to mention the fact that she was
carrying around HIS lunch.
They arrived at the grounds of Furinkan High School,
and stopped. A small group of students were baring their
way. Idly, Ranma noted that Kunou wasn't there, which
surprised him. He also noticed that unlike the aggressors
he had encountered in the past, this group of students
looked, well normal. The assembled students carried no
battle gear, no sports equipment, and their eyes lacked
that obsessed mad gleam. This was gonna be trouble.
Ranma swore another oath under his breath, this one a
little bit louder and definitely not something he had heard
in the Tendou household. Akane raised both eyebrows at
him. A single student stepped forward with his head bowed.
Walking towards Akane, and ignoring Ranma, he stopped about
two feet in front of her. Raising his head, you could see
tears streaming from his eyes. His hands clenched into
fists. At his approach the wind picked up, but the noise
died down.
"Akane, I have loved you for as many years as you care
to recall. I poured my heart out to you on many occasions.
I asked you out repeatedly, and never sullied your honor by
participating in the idiotic actions of some of my fellow
classmates in the morning, by trying to win your affections
through force. Yet time and again you rebuked my advances
and dragged my honor through the mud! I came here today to
tell you that you are an evil bitch and I hope you are
happy with . . . "
*CRACK!* That was as far as the guy got. Ranma stood in
front of his fiancee; he was breathing heavily, the sky
grew darker behind him. Thunder sounded in the distance.
The wind picked up behind him and tossed his hair and
clothing around, as he fought to contain the rage that
sprang up within him. Akane could feel his anger, and it
wasn't even directed at her. The young men in the courtyard
must have had bladders of steel to remain rooted in place
as they were, and not wet themselves. The wind was bringing
with it the smell of the sky right before it rained.
Ranma's clothing started to whip and snap about as the wind
built in tempo. The weather mirroring his darkening mood.
His hands were clenched into fists and his knuckles were
white as he squared off against the threats against his
fiancee.
"Ut-oh." Akane said quietly. Still standing in the same
place she had been when this had started, a surprised look
on her face, clutching her satchel in front of herself like
a shield. Then, Ranma spoke.
"LISSEN UP!!! Akane is MY fiancee! Only I have the
right to call her names. I am warning you now I am NOT in a
good mood and if you have any brains you will leave RIGHT
NOW!!" At that, about two thirds of those assembled did
leave, quickly. The scrambled and knocked each other over
in their haste to get away. One student Akane could just
barely hear to berate another as they ran, "Idiot! How
could I let you talk me into taking on Ranma! Come back
here!" The student then slapped the back of the other
students head as they ran. That left five total,
discounting the now unconscious young man at Ranma's feet.
The remaining ones were about to regret their decision.
Akane just stood there in shock over how furious Ranma
was. He was protecting her! Violently! 'Good lord,' she
realized, 'this could get out of hand quickly!' Akane
walked up behind Ranma, intent on soothing him; but as she
approached, she suddenly felt the string need to back away.
The sky grew even darker as black clouds rolled into the
previously clear sky. Ranma seemed to be radiating heat.
She heard a low growl escape his throat and she watched he
started to glow very faintly around his body outline with a
dull crimson aura!
The last time she had seen his battle aura had been on
the island of Togenkyo as they were falling toward what she
had thought at the time was her certain doom. He had cast a
red aura then, right before he had released the energy of
his Ki into an attack she had never seen him use, using it
to protect her, the blast had been strong enough to drill
through an island! 'Dear god, he's ready to kill for me!'
She looked around frantically for a way to cool Ranma down.
Ranma's incredible display of power managed to scare
away two more of the students. Now only three were left.
They were unarmed, but Akane also knew they were Martial
Artists, and they were fantastic ones. They were in her
P.E. class and she spoke with them on many occasions.
Before today, she had considered them friends, even though
each one of them had been persistently asking her out since
she had been twelve. They held their ground and met
Ranma's cold furious gaze with a gaze of frustrated
vengeance. Akane was terrified. Not for Ranma but for these
brain dead people! Dear lord didn't they see how angry he
was? He was ready to kill! She had to stop this.
Stepping in front of Ranma, Akane tried to get his
attention. Looking into his eyes froze her as an icy blast
of dread knifed through her. Her heart clenched in her
chest. In those beautiful blue eyes of his, she saw a life
time of pain and loss. She saw anguish and personal
suffering. She knew that Ranma was protecting her, but she
had no idea what the depths of his feelings were, or all of
his reasons for doing so. But looking into those eyes, she
knew Ranma was not entirely in control of himself. Now she
was REALLY afraid for those guys, they had no idea of the
potential danger of the powder keg they were holding a
match to.
Ranma glared at the men assembled before him. All of
them unarmed, just the way he liked it. But that didn't
matter because he knew them all to be masters of their
individual arts. As a matter of fact, these were some of
the guys Ranma trained with when Ryouga wasn't around. One
was a master of Judo. A deadly art if used properly, and an
effective counter to the Kenpo style. One was a master of
Aikido. Not necessarily a deadly art, but also quite
capable of it, Aikido was also an effective counter to his
style. The last was a master of Tae Kwondo. That was too
similar to Kenpo to be of any threat to Ranma on a half-way
good day.
But this was not a good day, and he had two other
serious threats to deal with. Despite what people thought
about Ranma, he was no god, and he was not invincible. A
good shot to the right place on his head would render him
unconscious as well as anyone else. Ranma was afraid, not
for himself but for Akane. Coldly, he considered his
chances of beating three masters simultaneously, using
conventional methods.
Weighing his options, he also started to unconsciously
tap into a power within himself that he knew nothing about.
Something he had only used a few times in his life and had
always used in the defense of others. Most recently that
meant Akane. This primal power came alive within Ranma's
mind and tore through his body in the shape of his life's
failures and fears, his suffering and sweat and tears,
filling him with It's strength. He subconsciously felt the
most incredible need to protect, violently. The power grew
as his mind flashed back to his training, and everything
that he had gone through because of it.
He had lost too much, had suffered too much at the
hands of men and women, doing what was "right," or was "for
his own good." He had been separated from his mother, he
had missed a large chunk of his education traipsing around
Japan and China training with his father, he had been
forced to leave friend after friend behind on that trip.
Bitterly, he thought of Ukyou, and what he had been
unwittingly forced to do to her.
She had been the first person that Ranma could recall
as having said they loved him. His father never did, and he
barely remembered his mother. True at the time he had
thought Ukyou a boy and thought the talk of love as sort of
weird, but it had still made him feel good. It had made him
feel accepted and safe. Like he was home.
Over the years of his training, he might have forgotten
a lot about his brief stay with Ukyou, but he had never
forgotten that feeling. When they camped out under the
stars, in the dark, in some strange mountain pass, Ranma
would be afraid. He had cried himself to sleep searching
within himself, alone and afraid, looking for that feeling
many times. While his father would snore blissfully
unaware of his six year olds fears just a few feet away.
He had never forgotten the feeling, but he had lost it.
Several years later, as his self confidence and deadly
skill in the arts had grown, he had slowly begun to realize
that he could no longer dig within himself and find that
feeling, it was gone. Which is why it had shocked him so,
when he had felt it again, from a different source. He had
felt it again when he had met Akane that fateful day, and
she had asked if he would like to be friends. He could
never thank her enough for restoring a part of his
childhood, and with it a piece of his humanity.
Ranma felt a sick burning sensation in his chest. Then
his anger turned into an icy resolve. Over and over again
he kept muttering, "never again, never again . . . you'll
have to go through me . . . I wont let you take her from
me." He wasn't even really aware he was muttering it.
Suddenly, Akane stepped into his field of vision. Waving
her hands in his face and calling his name repeatedly, with
a look of terror in her eyes. In the split second that he
took to look at her, all hell broke loose.
The men attacking him were lashing out with years of
pent-up frustration, years of rejection and loving from
afar. True they had only come here today to vent a little,
but since they now had a convenient out source for their
anger and bruised egos, they lashed out at Ranma with all
they had. Ranma was defending one of the most precious
things in his life at the moment, and had no intention of
letting her get hurt, or losing her. While his focus was
diverted elsewhere, they rushed him.
Ranma's only concern at the moment was Akane, he
couldn't use any attack with her in the way. Quickly
reaching out and picking Akane up, he cradled her in his
arms and leapt. Kicking one of the students in the face,
hard, to boost his jump to a nearby roof top.
Dimly his mind registered the sound of breaking bone,
as his foot snapped the young man's jaw, or at least
cracked a tooth or two. He landed and set her down
gingerly. Then Ranma turned to settle this matter, for
good. Before he could do anything however, he saw dual
blurs of motion streak towards the students on the ground.
The motion turned out to be chains, chains trying to
wrap themselves around the students. One student was now
out of commission, lying on the ground writhing in agony.
The other two managed to dodge the chains. Beside himself
with astonishment; Ranma watched Mousse leaping to his
aide, and so accepting the unacceptable, Ranma sat down
beside himself and watched what most assuredly must be the
end of the world if Mousse was helping him.
As Mousse leapt into battle, weapons flying everywhere
and battle cries shouted in Chinese ringing off anything
that gave off an echo, Ranma could see a wet fur-ball
sticking out of the neck of his robes, that could only be
Shampoo. In a daze, he watched Mousse land perfectly
balanced and square off against the two still standing.
Mousse rocked side to side in a ready stance, coiled like a
steel spring atop the balls of his feet.
Before anything else could happen, a stream of tiny
cutting spatulas impacting sharply into the concrete, cut
their way to him in a deadly row. Back flipping out of the
way, Mousse never saw the ribbon that shot by to wrap him
up. Shampoo hopped out of his robe and went scurrying away
as they landed again.
Ranma watched as Ukyou leapt down out of a nearby tree,
and Kodachi stepped out from behind the shrub she had been
hiding behind, Mousse held firmly in her ribbon. "You're
ruining my plan sugar." Ukyou growled as she walked towards
Mousse, unlimbering more throwing spatulas from her
bandoleer as she walked.
"Ho ho ho. That's right darling, you'll spoil all the
fun if we let you run amuck." Kodachi intoned as she jerked
her ribbon tighter.
"These guys were about to help rid us of a pest
problem, and they need to finish their jobs, sugar," Ukyou
said grimly. Ranma couldn't believe it. He would expect
this sort of thing from Shampoo or Kodachi, but, Ukyou?
"Why, those, those evil bitches!" Akane growled from
behind Ranma; he turned to see her make a move to jump to
the attack. As she passed Ranma on the roof, his hand shot
out. She suddenly shuddered and fell back into Ranma's
arms. He released the shiatsu point from her neck and
cradled her now limp body. There was no way he was going to
let her take on Kodachi and Ukyou. Laying her prone body
on the rooftop, snug in a crevice. Ranma hopped off the
roof to confront his tormentors. He was still burning with
the need to protect.
Angling his jump, Ranma kicked through the ribbon
holding Mousse as he landed. Without pausing, Ranma
started towards the two girls.
"Ukyou! Have you gone insane!? What on earth would
cause you to do something like this?" Ranma challenged as
he slowly and painfully walked toward she to whom he owed
so much. Quickly he searched his mind for a way to
neutralize her without actually attacking a girl. The power
still raging in his body screamed for vengeance, begging
him to ignore her sex, and instead focus on the threat she
represented.
Before he had a chance to do anything though, his
momentum was halted as both of his arms were caught from
behind and lifted into a position that was VERY painful.
Turning to kill whoever had the audacity to impede his
vengeance, Ranma caught a stiff fingered jab to the throat.
Falling to his knees choking, Ranma saw through the tears
in his eyes two satisfied looking martial artists. Seizing
his anger and It's cries for blood, Ranma turned the core
of his being into ice.
There was too much at risk. He had left Akane
unconscious on a rooftop, Ukyou and Kodachi were
confronting him, Shampoo might be back any minute, and then
he had these two goons to worry about. It was more than his
already fragile mind and inhibitions could tolerate.
Stuffing his anger and emotions into a deep, dark corner of
his mind Ranma staggered to his feet.
The two young men, who had been celebrating and
congratulating themselves on their victory, halted in mid-
backslap. Visibly resolving themselves to finish their
jobs, they squared their shoulders and advanced upon Ranma
with the gait of those who had already won. Ranma started
to back away from them. He could sense their battle auras,
their self-confidence, and their emotion-driven mind sets.
Slowly they approached him, and Ranma, faking a look of
uncertain terror, backed away from them as he drew them
into a tighter and tighter spiral. Realizing what Ranma
was doing too late, Ukyou shouted,
"Look out you idiots, he's drawing you into a trap!"
But it was too late. The young men rushed Ranma, screaming
battle cries of righteous victory. Closing his eyes for a
second, Ranma focused his entire life energy into sensing
the heat of their anger and emotions. Fixing it within his
mind, he had power over it. Just before the dual attacks
reached him, he released the cold of his totally calm mind
and body.
Catching his opponents in the physical as well as the
mental sense, he channeled heart, mind, body and soul into
an attack learned gratefully from an old Amazon. The attack
of the rising dragon. Releasing the dragon, it took on a
being of It's own and catching the two young men unaware,
seized their anger and emotion driven attacks, bound them
with It's own energies, and drove them heavenward, with a
force to bring down mountain tops. It lifted them bodily
off their feet into the air, slamming the force of their
attack, driven back doubled and icy cold, into them over
and over again. Knocking them instantly unconscious, it
slammed them up and around the tightening spiral and
carried them off out of the school ground.
Standing in the middle of the blast crater, smoke and
debris and fine dust swirling around him, and the icy blue
aura of the dragon pounding out of him, Ranma turned to
face his attackers. Settling his gaze on the one he felt
had most betrayed him today, Ranma stepped out of the
crater and started to walk towards her. The incinerated
ground crunching under his footsteps.
Letting his control go, his anger and feelings of
betrayal surged to the front of his mind again. The anger
was life an independent being, clawing and screaming around
his mind begging to be let out. Blinking back the tears
forming in his eyes that the feeling of betrayal brought,
Ranma stopped about 10 feet in front of Ukyou. Calmly he
noticed Kodachi trying to make herself invisible as she
inched for the protection of the nearby shrubs and garden
areas. Snaking the length of ribbon he had salvaged from
around Mousse out of his sleeve, he caught her ankles with
it, lashed it tight by jerking violently with his left
hand, and tripped her off her feet.
His anger howled and wailed to be let free. But first
he had to know why. Why would his oldest friend betray him?
"Why, Ukyou, why?" He asked as he pinned her against the
tree trunk she was trying to melt into with the force of
his stare. Glaring defiantly she shot back.
"Why? Why do you think, you mule brained jackass!
You're mine. I own you. You have a debt to me and my
family honor. You promised me damn it! Said we would always
be together back then. Told me you loved me too all those
years ago. Called me your cute fiancee. What was I supposed
to do, roll over and die because Akane has a crush? You owe
me Saotome, because of you, I never knew the life of a
normal girl. That's why."
Stunned and shamed, Ranma's anger withered and died.
Standing there amidst the chaos of battle, of love won and
lost and pinned between forces he had no control over,
Ranma broke a little, then he broke a lot. His heart
catching in his throat, he fell to his knees at her feet.
Dazed and confused. He still loved her, damn it, he had
loved her first! But he loved Akane too, at least he
thought he sorta did.
But he had loved Ukyou first, and she had returned his
love openly without asking for anything in return as only a
child can. He HAD promised her, damn his father to hell for
making him break that promise. What was he supposed to do?
He knelt there in front of her, and blinked back the tears
of anguish that threatened to consume him.
He suddenly felt a fierce constricting around his ribs,
and looked up into the eyes of the first girl he had ever
loved, as she hugged him desperately. Clinging to something
she was either unable or unwilling to let go. Kneeling
beside him, she held him and looked into his eyes.
Searching for something Ranma could not fathom.
"I'm sorry Ukyou . . . .so sorry . . . I . . . I . . . "
he trailed off as she lay a single finger against his lips
to shush him.
"It's okay sugar. All's fair in love and war right?
I've waited for you for this long I can wait a little
longer. Just ditch all those other chicks and we can head
for the hills. Just you and me what do you say?" She bit
her lip as she looked into his soul through his eyes,
waiting for an answer.
Akane. Could he just leave her? What right did he have
to her? The promises of two idiotic old men, made without
his or her consent, before they were born? He had never
made those promises, and denied them every chance he got.
But he had made promises, out of his own mouth, to this
girl. But. He still liked Akane. Sure she couldn't cook,
and was as violent as a gorilla, but she was HIS gorilla.
All of this must have been flashing across his eyes, for it
seemed Ukyou got her answer. Shoving him aside, as she
stood. She glanced back over her should as he lay stunned
on the ground.
"You idiot. Can't you see that I know you can't seem to
make a decision? If you had just stayed out of the way
today . . . , we managed to make those guys angry enough
that Akane would be in the hospital for sure right now.
Then you would be free. All you had to do was step aside
and let it happen." Letting out a defeated sigh she
continued. "But then you wouldn't be Ranma would you?"
Ranma was starting to get angry again. Akane in the
hospital?!
"So that's it. Take Akane out of the picture and then
my choice is easy right? Ukyou. How could you? I know this
wasn't your idea, this could only have come from her
demented mind." He said while jerking his thumb in
Kodachi's hog-tied direction. "Were you were testing me?
You had to have known this scatter-brained plan would never
work. You know I would die for her. You know I would die
for you. Heck I would even die for nut-ball over there if
the circumstances warranted it. I know you want me to make
a choice, heck half the girls at this school would like for
me to make a choice. I also know I owe you. But not like
this, U-chan not like this. I will decide, but it will have
to be on my terms, when I'm ready. Can you ever forgive
me?"
The usage of her old nickname had knocked her into a
trance of past remembrance. Snapping back into the here and
now she nodded. "Know this Saotome. I'll never give up. I
would cross the gates of heaven or hell for you. Until you
make your choice, I will not give up." Giving him a
bitter-sweet smile. She jumped onto a nearby roof, and was
gone.
Sitting up and hugging his knees to his chest Ranma's
guilt and sorrow and indecision wailed in his mind. And he
punished himself with it. He punished himself for the pain
he caused Akane, and Ukyou, and the young men he had had to
hurt today as a direct result of his indecision. He lashed
himself for the pain he caused because every time he should
make a decision, he froze like a deer in the headlights. He
even sort of felt sorry for Kodachi and his old man.
Sitting there silently berating himself, he never heard
the foot steps approaching him, but he did feel it when a
most definite feminine weight glomped onto his torso from
the rear. Pressing herself firmly against the object of her
desire, Kodachi cooed in his ear,
"Raaaanma, darling. My love, why fight it? You know you
love me, just say it and you have my heart and my estates.
Myself and everything I own, would be yours forever."
'Oh great I forgot about screw-ball,' Ranma thought.
Kodachi Clung to him from behind. How she had gotten free,
only Houdini could answer. Ranma felt a flash of anger at
her blatant attempt to buy his love. Ranma straightened to
his full height, which was much taller than her. She
dangled from his back.
Landing with a plop, she grabbed his shoulder and spun
him around. Anger in her voice, she also demanded a
decision, in her favor of course. Ranma didn't owe her
anything though. Before he could formulate a proper retort,
a bonbori struck the side of Kodachi's head, carrying her
out of the courtyard.
"Hey, watch it with those things! You could hurt
someone!" Ranma shouted indignantly as he spun on his heel
to face the Amazon warrior girl, who jumped off the roof
towards him, yelling,
"Airen, when you stop stupid fighting and choose
Shampoo? Is Amazon law!" She finished as she landed.
Taking a step towards him, she waved her remaining weapon
erratically. Ranma made the "evil be gone" signs with his
hands crossed in front of himself, waiting for whatever
punishment she was ready to dish out. He did owe her
something, albeit indirectly. She crumpled after her second
step. Mousse caught her from behind before she could hit
the ground though. Grimly, he laid her on the ground as
her weapon slid from her grasp. Wiping his forehead with a
cloth materializing presumably from his cavernous robes, he
sat beside the fallen object of his desire. Cradling her
head in his lap. Ranma was beyond perplexed.
"Mousse, you did that?" Ranma asked.
"Of course I did, Saotome. She would have killed the
Tendou girl and most likely yourself way before this if I
did not render her unconscious occasionally." Ranma was
dumbfounded.
"If you can beat her, why don't you?! All you would
have to do is beat her with witnesses around and then she
would have to marry you!" Ranma elated, seeing one of his
problems flying over the horizon.
"Just as Akane did not want to be won by violence when
she had to fight her way to school, I do not wish to have
Shampoo for my bride because I am stronger than her. Not
even the old ghoul knows I have a mastery of the ancient
arts. Or she would make us duel and marry, in order to
preserve the blood-line, and strengthen the tribe. I could
not bear forcing Shampoo to do anything she did not wish to
do, no Saotome. I will win her heart fairly." Ranma's
problem came back over the horizon and dive bombed him.
"Then why did you help me today? If you hadn't bought
me a little time, most likely those guys might have
actually touched Akane. If she had been harmed, I would
never have forgiven anyone involved here today. Including
Shampoo. She had a part in this didn't she?" Ranma asked
already knowing the answer. Mousse just nodded.
"I did not do it to help you Saotome. I did it to help
an innocent, caught in between forces she has no defense
against. Akane Tendou is a noble spirit, she does not
deserve the fate that was planned for her today . . . tell
me Saotome, have you given a thought to the plan we decided
on?" Ranma had, and it terrified him.
"I dunno Mousse, what will people think, you see what
happened here today, simply because they must have noticed
me paying slightly more attention to her than usual. If I
commit to the plan, there would be no turning back, no
second thoughts." Sighing Ranma looked off into the clouds
that were hiding the morning sun. The birds had hushed and
the school yard was as quiet as a graveyard at midnight.
"But I guess I have no choice now huh? You're right Mousse
. . . things are getting out of control, It's now or
never." Looking back to Mousse for the confirmation he so
desperately needed. He saw him gathering Shampoo into his
arms tenderly. Looking into Ranma's eyes, Mousse nodded and
whispered,
"Do not fail Saotome." And with that he leapt as easily
as if he was not carrying a 130 pound girl, and was gone.
Leaving Ranma standing alone in the ruined courtyard. The
wind picked up for a second and pulled on him, seemingly as
if destiny was tugging him in the direction it wanted.
Sighing, Ranma leapt back up to the roof top and crouched
over Akane. Brushing hair from her eyes, he gazed at the
sleeping features of the primary cause of his trouble
today. But he could not fault her for it.
Smiling tenderly, Ranma picked her up in his arms and
squatted on the roof top, letting her sit on his lap as her
head and torso rested against his chest, supporting her
shoulder to balance her with his left hand. He reached his
right hand to the two spots on her neck, and under her jaw
line, and pressed gently. Her eyes snapped open. And she
slapped him, hard. Falling backwards he hit the roof, as
she leapt of out his arms shouting, "Pervert!" The anger
fled her features when she saw who it was. Sitting down in
a heap she looked up at Ranma, and muttered a quiet,
"sorry."
Grinning, Ranma sat next to her. He silently celebrated
when she leaned into his side and cuddled against him for
warmth, shivering in the still chilly morning air.
"What happened?" She asked him in a sleepy tone of
voice, while laying her head on his chest. "You fainted
Akane." Ranma lied through his teeth. He seldom struck her
unconscious, and she usually never bought his explanations
when he did. The now obvious parallels between himself and
Mousse were just sickening he thought glibly. But his
explanation seemed to satisfy her today.
"How long?" She asked. Glancing at the huge school
tower clock, Ranma noted that only about five minutes had
passed since they had entered the gates together. Had it
really only been five minutes?
"Just a couple of minutes. We should probably get to
class. Maybe we'll luck out and Ms. Hinako fell off a
cliff or something." He quipped. Akane giggled into his
chest, with her eyes closed, and her breathing shallow. She
felt so safe here. Her mind and emotions were in turmoil.
She had gone from being terrified to elated in the course
of five minutes and for some reason she felt very sleepy.
Dimly, she was aware of the fact that she was sitting
on a roof-top in a skirt, which was probably why her legs
felt numb, laying half-way on Ranma, in full public view.
The common sense part of her mind screamed at her to get
off of him, and down from the roof, and into class. But for
today, she kicked that part of her mind sharply down into a
silent corner, and let herself drift off into sleep.
'Great, just great.' Ranma thought. 'I must have hit that
sleeping nerve too hard. She'll probably be out for an hour
or so.'
Grinning silently to himself, he cradled Akane's
shivering body to his. Scooting into the lee of protection
the angles of the roof offered. Trying to keep most of her
body off the clammy cold roof-tiles, he held her while she
slept. Dimly his mind was aware of how dangerous this was.
All it would take would be one person to spot them, and his
old man and Mr. Tendou would eventually find out, and Ranma
would be wearing a tuxedo so fast he probably would have to
throw it over the clothes he was wearing.
But he ignored the danger, for today. Slowly her
shivering stopped as the sun peaked through the clouds then
as he watched, lanced across the courtyard, striking the
two roof-bound figures with It's heavenly warmth.
Akane awoke in his arms forty-five minutes later, and
this time she didn't slap him. Smiling shyly, she inched
off of him, and smoothed her skirt. Without saying a word,
they jumped off the roof. Ranma handed Akane her satchel at
the door to the school, just as the tone ending first
period sounded. Mouthing 'see you tonight', Akane turned
and headed for second period. In a daze, Ranma headed down
the hall.
Peeking around the corner, the girl who had retrieved
Ranma's satchel for him quickly pulled her head back around
and clutched his satchel to her chest. She had been so
worried he wasn't going to show up today, and she would
have to carry it around again all day.
That dang thing was heavy! Leaning against the wall
right by the corner she demanded her mind come up with
something clever to say to him when she returned his
satchel. He breath was coming in short gasps as the moment
drew nearer and the realization of what she was about to do
sunk in.
Trying desperately to gather the courage she needed she
closed her eyes and took deep breathes. Ranma turned the
corner and promptly slammed into something short and softer
than him. Looking down he saw the sort of familiar face of
a girl he was pretty sure sat behind him in first period.
Looking astonished, she stared back up at him. Quickly,
Ranma bent down and picked her up off the floor and set her
gently on her feet. 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god . . .
he's touching me, what do I do, what do I do?!' She thought
frantically. Her mind stared to shut down with panic.
Stammering, the girl held an object out to him. Shoving
it into his arms, she said something about finding
something of his, and ran off, her face a peculiar shade of
crimson. Looking down confusedly, Ranma found himself
holding his missing satchel, complete with the prize
bokken. Smiling absently at the good omen, his mind still
doing jumping jacks, he headed to class.
The girl who's name was Midori careened around the next
corner and slammed her back into it. Pressing her forehead
back into the wall with both palms she wailed silently.
'Damn it! I blew it, I blew it, I blew it!' Furious with
herself she made dual fists with her hands and slammed them
into the wall behind her.
The shock of the pain brought her back to reality. 'Gee
I wonder if I broke something.' She thought as her hands
started to throb. 'I guess I better go get a note and see
Dr. Tofu.' She resigned herself. He would know what to do
about this. He always knew what to do. Idly as she started
off to the nurses office to get a note she wondered if the
doctor had ever met Ranma. Now there was a guy! She hoped
the Doctor was in a mood to talk today, because she
certainly felt like talking.
_______________________________________________________
End.
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