Title: Life In A Northern Town
Author: S. Mark Gunther
Part: 1/?
Warnings: Angst.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is not mine. I'm borrowing the characters with 
respect, and I claim no ownership except for the ideas expressly put forward 
in this fic.
Summary: Just like starting over.... (the sequel to Emotional cost)
Pairing: None yet.
Archive: Yes to AAML, and the RAAC archive. Anyone else, ask
first.
________________________________________________________________________

Life In A Northern Town
By S. Mark Gunther

"People are strange when you're a stranger,
Faces look ugly when you're alone....
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted,
Streets are uneven when you're down....

When you're strange,
Faces come out of the rain,
When you're strange,
No one remembers your name,
When you're strange....
When you're strange....
When you're strange...."

-- From 'The Doors - People Are Strange'

***

     "Now arriving in Kashima! All passengers please exit quickly." the 
speakers on the train boomed as it pulled into the station. The passengers 
exited and boarded the train in a line dance of efficiency and speed, 
baggage and other items being handled like crates of fruit at the market. 
Soon the platform was full of emptiness as only a few souls stood watching 
the train leave. The wind from the receding train blew across the air in the 
bright morning sky. It was a perfect day in northern Japan. A perfect day to 
disrupt someone's life.

     "Are you sure he's here?" Akane Tendo asked, her hands shifting the 
suitcase she carried with an idle motion. Her eyes scanned the quiet city 
with a slightly expectant yet pensive glare.

     "Yes. I talked to him about a month ago." Nabiki answered as she moved 
to the stairs leading to the station house. Akane followed and no more words 
were spoken until they had gotten to the outside of the station house where 
they looked to flag down a taxicab. "Akane, we have no other place to go, 
and there are things to do here. Besides, money is easier to come by up here 
with my skills and your drive." She smiled and ignored Akane's frosty look 
as she proceeded to flag down a passing cab. "And didn't you say you wanted 
to leave Tokyo?"

     "Yes." At the mention of her desire to leave, she tensed slightly and 
clutched her bag handle just that much tighter. "I have to leave my past."

     "Well, this is the best place to do it. Considering we have someone who 
has broken the ground for us." Nabiki said strongly as a cab finally pulled 
in front of them. They got into the car and sped away from the station. 
Nabiki spoke a few soft words to the driver and soon they stopped in front 
of a large, rather poor looking boarding house. The outside of the building 
was clean, but on first glace it was apparent that youth lived here. Laundry 
fluttered on the line in the clean mid-morning air. The whole building 
exuded a feeling of youthful exuberance.

     "Well, this is the boarding house Gosunkugi told me he was living at." 
Nabiki said, walking forward up the small pathway with Akane trailing close 
behind. Akane couldn't help but notice the sense of peace that emanated from 
the building, a sort of magic.

     "It is the kind of place I would have thought Gosunkugi would be 
staying at." Akane breathed as they stepped onto the front porch. "But it's 
the middle of the day. Do you think he's here?"

     "Well, there's one way to find out." Nabiki rang the doorbell and 
waited. The door opened a few seconds later, and a slightly disheveled yet 
beautiful woman peered out.

     "May I help you" she slurred, her voice thick with sleep.

     "Yes, we're looking for Gosunkugi Hikaru?" Nabiki replied.

     "Gossy? Oh, he should be upstairs. I'll bring you to him." The girl 
stepped back and led the sisters into a large common room, littered with 
cups, glasses and half eaten food. A swarthy looking man lay curled up in 
one of the corners, snoring loudly. "Please excuse the mess. We held our 
annual house Go tournament last night, and things became a little out of 
hand."

     "It's alright," Akane said, kneeling at the small center table and 
setting down her suitcase. "Did Gosunkugi win?"

     "No. It was his first year competing. He placed third overall, though. 
He lost a heartbreaking match in the semi-finals and nearly lost his 
consolation match. But that's that boy for you." The girl sat down and swept 
some trash to the side so she could set the glass she was carrying down on. 
"Whenever you think he's down and out, he always finds a way to get back to 
victory." Suddenly, she looked up with surprisingly bright eyes and smiles 
warmly. "My apologies, I've been such a bad host. My name is Asana Miyoki."

     "I'm Nabiki Tendo, and this is my sister Akane," Nabiki said warmly, 
her voice catching a unique quality rarely heard by anyone. Asana nodded and 
looked at the girls with interest evident on her old looking yet young face.

     "Well, he should be back any time now. He and K decided to go and get 
more groceries for the party tomorrow night. I'll be right back." With that 
she got up and disappeared into the bowels of the house. Just as she 
disappeared, the door opened and voices could be heard in the hallway. Akane 
stretched her neck to see where the sound was and within a few seconds she 
found out who was speaking.

     "Well, I wasn't taking anyone, K. If you'd like, I could take you 
and..." Suddenly the voice stopped as Gosunkugi looked inside the living 
room and saw Akane and Nabiki for the first time in almost 3 years. They 
gaped at him and he took a step back in shock.

     "Really? I was hoping you would take me, Gos-kun..." As the girl 
stepped into the doorway she stopped and watched Gosunkugi's shocked 
expression settle onto his face. She turned and saw what he was gaping at 
and began to watch slowly, waiting for Gosunkugi's reaction.

     "Gos...Hikaru?" Akane said softly as she felt her breath catch slightly 
in her throat. "Is that you?"

     "H...H...Hai..." The formerly creepy lad felt his face turn into a 
familiar blushing state, his cheeks burning with the tension he had spent so 
long trying to get rid of. The girl at his side looked up at him, her young 
and innocent features telegraphing all her emotions to him in a glance. He 
noticed her glaring look and regained a semblance of control over his 
emotions. "K, can you put the groceries into the kitchen for me? I'll be 
there in a minute to put them away." The girl merely nodded and took the bag 
Gosunkugi was holding, disappearing with a flash and a blush.

     "Well, I see someone has been getting some rather interesting 
housemates," Nabiki observed lightly from her seat, her face never changing 
from the normally placid yet icy expression she was so known for. She made 
it look almost effortless though it was not for the lack of trying as she 
was desperately attempting not to gasp at the change in Gosunkugi's looks. 
Hikaru had gone from being a pale, thin, tweedy looking spook/geek to a 
striking, willowy graceful lad.

     His face, formerly sunken and recessed with the lack of food and love, 
now appeared angular and sharp. His eyes were intense and clear, the brown 
pupils flashing with a sparkle they had never had before. His body was 
fuller and taller; he stood with an erect, strident pose. His features now 
seemed to fit his body and he exuded a quiet confidence and arrogance. Even 
with the shock clearly evident on his face, she could see a new level of 
power flowing inside of him and it shook her to the core. This was not the 
boy she had belittled before; this was a young man with an internal power 
that rivaled Ranma Saotome's.

     Akane saw all of this, and could merely watch as Gosunkugi gracefully 
walked to the table, sitting down and scooting up to the flat surface. His 
initial shock had receded beneath the surface of his now veneer smooth face 
and he seemed to be back in control. He looked at Nabiki, his expression now 
businesslike and prompt. "Yes. I've begun anew here. But what brings you to 
this end of Japan?"

     "Akane and I are moving up here, and I figured you could help us find a 
cheap place to stay," Nabiki said, her hands already fishing into her 
handbag to fish out the ever present notebook and pen that she made her 
reputation upon. "You do seem to know the area, and you'd be perfect to help 
us out."

     "Just you and Akane are moving up here?" Hikaru asked, his own face 
beginning to crease up with worry, the rivers of doubt rising back up in his 
mind.

     "Yes. We really have nowhere else to go right now," Akane said, her 
voice now dropping to a low even she had never seen before. Hikaru turned 
his head and saw a profound sadness in her formerly bright expression. It 
was as if someone had placed a black veil over her face and left it there to 
absorb into her skin, the apparent sadness permeating into every fiber. It 
was all he could do to not look at her without wanting to comfort her but 
Hikaru kept his mask of emotions up as best he could.

      "Well, I can help you find a place. But for how long are you two going 
to be staying?"

      "Well, I'm not sure right now." Nabiki wrote some figures down on in 
her notebook and looked up at Hikaru. "We might be here for good, but 
definitely we'll be here about a year."

     "...Let me bring down my flat mates who are here and we'll think this 
through." Hikaru rose from his seat and walked over to the threshold, 
calling out through the house. "K, when you're done, bring Asana downstairs 
and join us. We need to talk." He walked back and sat back down, his posture 
and grace now evidently improved over the Hikaru of before. He looked at 
Akane and smiled a brilliant, product-selling smile causing the girl to 
blush and look away. "I want to have Asana and Kaori come and talk with us 
about the best places to find an apartment for two girls. And who better to 
tell me that then two other girls?"

     "No one, Gossy," Asana answered lightly as she and Kaori walked in, 
both of them sitting down in different parts of the large sitting room. 
Asana sat at the last place at the table while Kaori timidly cowered in a 
corner chair, her slender and lithe figure being shaded over by the little 
amount shadow that bounced off the corners and crevices of the airy room. 
Asana looked and Hikaru and smiles a warm smile at him. "So what did you 
need to talk to me and Kaori about?"

     "Well, Nabiki and Akane are going to be staying here for a while and 
they need their own place to stay. And as much as I know this town, you guys 
might have a better idea of where two young women can stay safely up here." 
He looked at Nabiki and cocked his head slightly, measuring the slight 
bemusement on the older Tendo's face. "I take it that you've met Asana, 
Nabiki?"

     "Yes we have." Nabiki brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes 
while Hikaru nodded his head.

     "Then there is only one other person to introduce." His head turned to 
Kaori who seemed to want to slide herself further and further into the crack 
in the wall. "Nabiki, Akane, this is Kaori Saito. Kaori, this is Akane Tendo 
on your left," He pointed to Akane who looked away and flushed a slightly 
embarrassed shade of red, "And this is Nabiki Tendo on your right. They both 
knew me back when I lived in Tokyo."

     "Hello. I'm pleased to meet both of you," Kaori said softly, her 
posture and body nature belying most of her words. But the introductions 
were made. Nothing could change that. "I'll help you as best I can."

     "As will I," Asana said briskly, her hands moving a pen rapidly on a 
small piece of paper. Nabiki noticed that her movements were almost like her 
own when she took notes and evaluated things, and she caught herself smiling 
at the thought of having someone to compete against again. "What kind of a 
place were you looking for, exactly Tendo-san?"

     "The name's Nabiki," Nabiki airily replied, "And we're looking for 
somewhere were we'll not have to live with any bugs, rats, or nasty 
landlords." Asana couldn't help but smile at the cheek of the other girl 
sitting next to her. She knew in that instant that Nabiki was going to be 
interesting to deal with. "Do you know of any place like that?"

     "There are a few places like that. Shall we go now?" Asana stood up and 
everyone else followed her lead. She walked to the door, Nabiki and Akane in 
tow, carrying their suitcases lightly in their hands. Asana looked back at 
Hikaru and Kaori, a small smile beginning to crease her lips. "Are you 
coming with us, Hikaru?"

     "Yes. But only for a little while. Professor Hasagawa wants to talk to 
me at 12.30 about the experiments for the summer." He looked at Kaori, his 
eye quickly taking in the flustered and quietly confused girl's expression 
as she gazed at the floor. "Are you coming with us, K?"

    "No. I have homework that needs to be done. Asana should be able to take 
care of this easily," she said softly as she shuffled to the stairs, her 
voice getting softer and softer with every step. She scarcely heard the door 
close and the voices fade away as she rushed to her room, her eyes blurring 
with tears. She flung open her door and ran into her room, shutting it 
behind her. With a great heaving cry, she collapsed onto the wooden floor 
and started sobbing passionately. Minutes passed and she continued to cry, 
her slim body racking with the movements.

     Soon she stopped crying and looked up, her eyes blurred with still 
unshed tears. She rose shakily to her feet and crossed over to her dresser, 
sighing heavily and trembling with the waves of passion still crashing 
against her heart. Her hands moved quickly and she pulled a large battered 
photo album from her top drawer. Slumping onto the small bed, she opened the 
album and let the few tears she had left flow onto the yellowed and ink 
stained pages. Photos of Hikaru littered the pages, ornate calligraphy was 
drawn in-between the pictures. With a sigh in her heart she pressed the 
album to her chest and murmured softly to herself.

     "Hikaru, my love, I will not let you go now. Even if I am too shy to 
tell you, I will have you love me one day..."

***

     Hikaru stepped from the darkness of the hallway to the equally dark yet 
somewhat more inviting recesses of his room and lit a candle near to the 
door. He then proceeded to light more and more candles, allowing the lights 
to flicker at odd angles due to their placement. Soon his entire room was a 
light with fire and light, a warm mix of smells wafting up to the ceiling to 
descend back down. Hikaru was home.

     He sighed heavily and clicked on the monitor to his computer. Nothing 
appeared to make much of an impact upon him and his face remained stoic 
looking as he turned the monitor back off. He then crossed over to the 
opposite corner of the room and turned on a small gas burner with a kettle 
sitting atop it. The warmth in the room slowly began to mount and come to a 
head. Shadow danced on the walls and the absence of direct light in the room 
only intensified Hikaru's far more adult look.

     Suddenly a knock on his door made him turn and look at the entrance to 
his room. The light from the hallway was on and he saw the glow at the 
bottom of the door intruding into his space. He opened the door and saw a 
head of black hair and pale features staring back at him.

     "Hello, Hikaru," Akane said as she stood, quietly fidgeting with her 
small purse as she avoided his glare.

     "Hello, Akane."

     "May I come in?"

     "Certainly. But one moment please," Hikaru replied as he slid out of 
the room and into the hallway. He clicked off the hall light but stood in 
the inky darkness, his breath becoming slightly ragged and torn. He knew 
that there was a reason for her being in his presence and being accompanied. 
He knew something was going to happen.

     When he got back to his room he noticed that Akane was standing next to 
his window and looking out onto the starry sky. Her hands had drawn back a 
tapestry that had originally been placed to block the outside world from 
coming in. As she heard Hikaru enter, her hands let go of the tapestry and 
fell to her side. She turned and watched him close the door, the room 
suddenly plunging back into the flickering darkness.

     "I'm sorry.... I..." Akane started to say, but was waved off by Hikaru 
who merely went to shut off the almost whistling teakettle.

     "It's no problem. Would you like some tea?" Hikaru asked as he brought 
the teapot and a set of cups to a small table on the floor.

     "Yes. Thank you very much." Akane sat down at the table across from 
Hikaru and watched as he expertly poured the tea into the cups. She noticed 
that Hikaru was using a cup she was not used to seeing on a table. "Hikaru, 
what kind of cups are these? They look so different."

     "These are not the tea cups you're used to. They're western coffee mugs 
I had imported from America. I wanted to drink something a little different 
while I was here." Hikaru slid the mug across the table to Akane who blew 
her tea and sipped. The long sip and savor was enough time for Hikaru to 
both attend to his own beverage and formulate his next question. "How did 
you get here, Akane?"

     "Nabiki told me how to get here and wanted me to come and talk to you 
before we had to clean house tonight. She and I are staying in a small 
apartment not far from your house and I wanted to come and see you." Akane's 
voice was low and deep, not like the Akane Hikaru had known nearly three 
years ago and while his face stayed locked in his now normal impassive state 
he inwardly wondered as to why Akane seemed to have changed so much. "She 
and Asana are talking at the new house and I don't assume they'll be done 
for a while."

     "Considering the sparkle I saw in Asana's eyes, I would agree with 
you." both sets of eyes met for a moment then looked away. It was a solitary 
glance but one that communicated much in its brevity. Hikaru cleared his 
throat and started speaking again. "Well, what would you like to talk about, 
Akane?"

     "Why did you leave Tokyo?" The question slipped out of Akane's mouth 
before she even realized it and her hand flew to her mouth in shock. Her 
cheeks reddened and her eyes dropped even lower then before. Hikaru sat 
silent for a moment and then stood up taking his mug and walking into one of 
the corners of the room. A candle sat near to where he was standing and the 
light embellished his refined and matured features. For a long time he 
didn't speak and the silence was nerve racking to Akane's psyche.

     "So soon we come to this end of the spectrum," Hikaru said softly as he 
turned to face Akane. His eyes shone with intense sparkles yet little light 
as Akane looked into his dark owlish eyes. "I figured we'd have some small 
talk first and then get into the real conversation. But I guess I should 
have expected this."

     "I'm sorry it came out like that," Akane said softly, "But that 
question has been haunting me for so long now. I need to know."

     "And I need to know why I was cursed to be on this earth. But only one 
of us will get what they need today." Hikaru came back to the table and sat 
down, putting his mug aside and looking directly at Akane's face. "But I 
think I must tell you for you to understand." Akane nodded and put her own 
cup aside.

     "I left not because of you or Ranma or the fight or anything like that. 
I left Nerima and came here because I needed to find out who I was. Lying in 
that hospital room forced me to try and find myself and I just couldn't do 
it. But I also came here to kick you out of my heart and find a reason for 
my obsessing over someone who'd never talk to me. So I lied about you not 
being a part of me coming to Kashima." He shrugged slightly as his voice 
dropped slightly and a small catch seemed to rise in his throat. "I came 
here to redefine who I was and find friends who would actually care about 
me. I came here to get away from the shadow of all those incredible and 
incredibly awful people in Nerima. I came here to start over.

     "And in coming here I found out who I was and who I am. I spent many 
nights here just trying to not cry my eyes out over you and over my past 
sins and my horrible crimes and shames. The fact that I used magic I had no 
damn right even touching to make someone who barely knew of me to love me 
haunted me to no end. I tried so hard to reconcile my past and move on that 
it almost killed me to do it. But I did it. And I helped stop something 
similar from happening here and helped bring peace to this town." Hikaru 
stopped for a moment and looked down at his trembling hands. He couldn't 
believe that his heart was still throbbing in his body at her presence. With 
a modicum of effort he clutched his hands together and tried to stop them 
from shaking. "When I came here the kids from the two high schools here were 
fighting so badly that it was almost to the point where walking the streets 
could get you hurt. I helped calm the different groups and bring a truce to 
this place that exists to this day. And all of it was because I had gone 
through what I went through in Nerima. All of it. I'm a walking cautionary 
tale to everyone now and it's all my fault."

     "But you're different now. You look better then you used to," Akane 
said softly as she looked hard at Hikaru. "Something else has changed you. 
You have these girls you live with. You seem like you're better off now then 
before."

     "And what makes you my goddamn caretaker, Akane Tendo?" At that her 
head snapped off angrily but came back a moment later, full of the fury that 
she was known for. "We could say the exact same thing about you, Akane. 
Especially considering Ranma's not with you. At least you had someone there 
for you to protect and love you. I had shit." At that Hikaru got up and 
walked over to the window, his face turning a strange shade of red. "You 
didn't even visit me in the hospital..."

     "And why should I have?! You tried to step into my relationship with 
Ranma! You knew I only partially liked you! You knew what happened to 
everyone else who came after me!!" Akane exclaimed angrily. She got up and 
walked over to the stoic looking boy, her fury radiating off into his body. 
"What makes you think you had any right to have me after the things you 
did??"

      "Akane, do you remember when you had the flu so badly you were 
hospitalized your first year in high school? Do you remember the times 
before Ranma and the rest of those assholes showed up? Before even Tatewaki 
Kuno began obsessing over you? Do you remember the fact that there were 
always flowers in your room no matter what the day? That was I. It was all 
me and it was all my downfall." At that Akane's face blanched over. She did 
remember the entire episode and the simple yet beautiful arrangements that 
she received day after day. And always the flowers came with a beautiful 
card with no name but meaningful words. "I went so deep into debt buying you 
those flowers that it made me have to be Nabiki's little slave for so long. 
But I did it for you because I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew 
what you were like before Ranma made you the queen of the damn school. And I 
knew that one day I would have liked to have you be my friend or more.

     "I didn't have the courage to reveal myself to you but I had to do 
something. I had to. Maybe I should have tried to say something to you then 
but I didn't. So I stayed silent and began to fall downhill. I had to deal 
with all the kids in the school hating me because of how I spoke and how I 
lived. I had to deal with all that and try to keep it all together. And I 
just didn't do it." At that Hikaru turned to Akane and noticed her angry 
looking eyes had lessened their intensity somewhat and were now only hurt. 
"I came here to make peace with the errors I made. I...I'm sorry I ever put 
you in the kind of situation that I did. I should have just accept my fate 
and moved on. But I couldn't."

     "Hikaru, I never knew..." Akane started to say softly but cut off as 
her own voice began to get thick and her angry eyes became only flooded with 
intense shame. "I never knew how deep your feelings were for me. I just 
thought you were some other hanger-on I had to deal with..."

     "Well, I'm surprised. I never even thought you considered me a 
hanger-on. I had no friends in Nerima, Akane. No one." He turned back to the 
window and sighed heavily. His hands trembled and his voice quivered with a 
tidal wave of emotion as he spoke again. "Do you know what it's like to lie 
in a cold hospital room and deal with the fact that no one has come to see 
you besides the nurses and the doctors? Do you know what it's like to truly 
be lonely and not know if anyone even gives a shit? Do you wonder why the 
only person to come see you from the outside world is someone looking for 
money from you? And only twice did Nabiki come to my room, mind you.

     "Akane, for me to come here was a last ditch effort to try and find 
myself. Everyone in that school would have known me as the asshole that got 
beaten up by Kuno in a fit of rage. No one would have given a shit, just 
laughed. So I left. Like a wimp I left and found myself somewhere else. 
Hell, even if Ranma had come to my room once and said he felt my pain for 
everything that happened and allowed me to apologize for dishonoring myself, 
I would have been able to deal with it easier. But neither he nor you came 
to see me. And no one else did either. So I was alone. Utterly alone."

     "But didn't you have your mother and father?"

     "My did is a salary worker. He had no time to come and see me in my 
dishonor. And my mother didn't give a fuck about me. She still doesn't, for 
that matter. That's why I don't feel like I have parents anymore. All she 
was glad about what the fact that I wasn't dead." Hikaru's hands gripped the 
tapestry tighter, the veins showing up against his pale skin. "Akane, they 
didn't care enough to realize that I was nearly falling apart in that room 
alone. So I decided that I didn't want to ever see you or my family or Ranma 
Saotome or anyone else from Nerima again. I paid the remainder of my debts 
to Nabiki and made my way here as an exchange student. And here I made my 
long trip to where I am now."

      Hikaru felt his body begin to shut down as the last angry words 
tumbled out of his mouth. All of a sudden the final ebbing reserves of his 
restraint drained into his feet and nothing held back his anger and 
frustration. "All I could do for the first few months that I was here was go 
to school and get alcohol from the college kids who didn't live far from 
where I was. I began to drink so much it would have put salary workers to 
shame. I drank and cried, cried and drank, cursed my life and drank some 
more. And nothing was solved. Not a damn thing was resolved. I was nearly 
put into the hospital twice because of alcohol poisoning. But I finally 
figured it out in my own head after a long night of drinking.

     "That night, I just got so damn drunk I could barely stand and I cried 
out to whatever God was watching over me to just kill me and get it the fuck 
over with. But I didn't die. All I did was lay there and make peace with it 
all. You, the fight, my family, everything. When I went to school the next 
day, the sun shone brighter, the grass was greener, the sky was bluer and 
the women were prettier. I resolved to make something of my life and make 
friends. Any way I could, I was going to change. I stopped drinking almost 
entirely and began working out. I gave up all the magic I used to obsess on 
for good and burned all my books and talismans. I sold much of it and used 
the money to begin anew here. So yes, Akane, I'm better then I used to be. 
But to get where I am, I almost died. I almost stopped living because I 
didn't know how." He turned back to Akane and smiled a sick, almost sadistic 
smile at her. His teeth shone in the night like a moonbeam and his features 
showed off a quiet determination that had risen like the foam on a latte. 
"So why is it that you're here alone and without the one you were engaged to 
marry?"

     "My ex-husband, you mean? Ranma Saotome? We're separated." At that 
Hikaru blanched over with pale shock at Akane's flat words. Her face had 
gone from anger to shame to dull disappointment and she just looked tired. 
"We separated after I found him in Ukyou's arms, looking damn glad to be 
there."

     "What.... how...." Hikaru stammered, his own mind trying like hell to 
catch up with her words. "I thought you were the couple everyone wanted to 
be like. I thought Ranma loved you."

     "I thought he did as well. I mean, got married ok...." Akane said as 
she moved closer to Hikaru. The space between them had slowly evaporated to 
the point that if they had been closer they would have been embracing each 
other. "We married less then 9 months after you left for Kashima. We tried 
one wedding but it was destroyed so damn badly that Ranma and I decided to 
elope later on. No one found us and we exchanged vows in a small ceremony in 
Kyoto. At first everyone just accepted it and moved on as best they could. 
Mousse and Shampoo married after Ranma tricked him into fighting Shampoo but 
by that time Shampoo was already exiled from the Amazon tribes. Ukyou and 
Konatsu were appearing to try and make a clean start together as they worked 
at the restaurant and the Kuno's were both in a mental hospital. Life was 
calm for a while."

     Akane sighed as she continued to speak, her voice becoming strained and 
torn ragged with the emotions she felt. "I...I tried so hard to be good to 
Ranma after we were married. I tried so hard but it almost seemed like we 
fought more after our marriage then before. It seemed that not a day would 
go by that we wouldn't have one raging argument. At first it felt like when 
we first met but then it became downright bitter. We tried everything to 
keep ourselves together: Time away from one another, trips away from 
everyone, sit-downs together, the works. But nothing seemed to help. We 
fought more and more and soon it got to the point that neither of us could 
stand to see one another."

     "Are you and Ranma divorced?" Hikaru asked softly.

     "No. We're separated but I doubt if I'll ever go back to him. 
Things.... things changed between us so much. And then there was Ukyou..." 
Her voice became much sharper and clearer at the mention of the chef's name. 
"The thing that iced it was the fact that every time I would go home from 
school, he'd be there talking to Ukyou. Especially if he and I had fought 
that morning. And she'd always give him this smooth smile. She always seemed 
to revel in our pain. For almost an entire year I watched them grow closer 
again...as he and I grew apart." Akane's face showed little anger and little 
sadness, just an overwhelming expression of resignation. The look on her 
face made Hikaru wonder about the validity of her words.

     "Did you ever think he was....sleeping around?"

     "The thought had crossed my mind somewhat. His father seemed like a 
rolling stone, so why shouldn't he follow his father's example?" Akane 
tasted the bitter remembrance in her mouth and it shocked her to find that 
it still resonated inside of her. "Though he never said anything to the 
contrary, I always suspected that Ukyou and he were involved together. But I 
never tried find out, despite Nabiki's offers."

     "Why?"

     "Because I know why we wouldn't have worked even if he wasn't cheating. 
We married too young, Hikaru. We both got married because everyone else 
wanted us to. We got married for everyone but the two people who were going 
to live with the union. I did love him once..." At that, a silent set of 
tears began to fall down her cheeks, the water reflecting the light from the 
candles like sparkles from jagged diamonds. "And I think he may have loved 
me. But we just had so many people pushing us in so many directions. His 
family, my family, the rest of his iinazuke, the rest of my suitors, 
everyone had a stake in our happiness. No one left us the fuck alone..." 
Akane began to cry hard, her head bowing and her body crumpling into 
Hikaru's wiry yet muscular frame. For an awkward moment, Hikaru froze and 
contemplated what to do then wrapped his arms around the crying girl and 
held on tight.

     The sounds of Akane's crying and labored breathing resonated and 
bounced off the walls like scattershot. It was all Hikaru could do to not 
cling ever tighter to the girl, to show her that he did care about her as a 
person. And as a friend. But soon enough, Akane realized where she was and 
whom she was hugging. She stepped back out of his grasp and stopped her 
crying as best she could, her voice hiccupping back into a small set of 
sobs. "I'm...I'm sorry..."

     "What is there to be sorry about? I'm just sad that it didn't work 
between Ranma and you. You both seemed to just make each other better." 
Hikaru replied, his own voice deep and husky, the contrasting emotions 
making a complex soup in his throat and heart.

     "Well, I didn't mean for us to get so emotional tonight. Though in a 
way I kind of guessed it would be something like this." Akane sniffled as 
she walked back to the table to get her purse. "I have to go now. It's 
getting rather late."

     "Yes. And I have work tomorrow morning." Hikaru opened the door for 
Akane and stood there for a moment. "I only hope you find what you came here 
for, Akane." Their eyes met as she passed by him, and she stopped for the 
briefest of moments.

     "Who said I was coming here to find anything?" Akane said, her voice 
tired yet defiant.

     "You wouldn't come to a northern Japanese prefecture just to get away 
from a bad husband. You came here to find something."

     A silence followed then Akane lifted her eyes up to look Hikaru 
directly in the face. "You're right. I did come here to find something. I 
want to find the peace and happiness you found here. I want to find myself 
again. I don't want to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome anymore."

     "You just want to be Akane Tendo again..."

     "Yes. And I was hoping you'd help me. This is for tonight." With that 
Akane leaned up and kissed Hikaru very lightly on the cheek and hugged him 
tight. Hikaru didn't hesitate in hugging Akane back. And for the longest of 
moments, everything seemed to stop. All he could feel was Akane's heart 
beating against his chest, her breath on his neck, and her hands around his 
waist. It was everything he ever wanted. Finally they separated and both 
smiled at one another.

     "Can I be your friend, Akane Tendo? For the first time?"

     "Only if I can be yours, Hikaru Gosunkugi." She walked out into the 
hallway and silent waved, her feet carrying her towards the stairs. For a 
long time all Hikaru could do was stare at the darkened hallway. But 
eventually he closed the door and leaned against it. The candles still 
burned and the light still flickered about as he slumped against the door. 
His mind was swirling with colors and intense sensations and all he could 
see was his entire safe world begin to crumble in front of him.

     Life in his northern town had suddenly gotten very complicated.


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