Okay... Here it is.  Zen's first finished fanfic.  Please give Zen a few
minutes to get into his phaser resistant clothing, and then have at it.

Thanks again to Richard and Sebastian, who, for better or worse, talked Zen
into posting this. ^_^

Zen hopes that you will enjoy it!

*************************************

Ranma 1/2 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Zen

Based on characters and situations created by Takahashi Rumiko
Ranma 1/2 and characters copyright Shogakukan, Kitty Animation Circle, and
Takahashi Rumiko.
This story copyright 1996 - James A Bateman



***  ###  ***

"RANMA no baka!"  The chant was becoming almost a litany for Tendou Akane
as she trained at the dojo.  Every kick, every blow, was punctuated with a
syllable from her mantra.  "Ran-" [[whudd]] "Ma-" [[whudd]] "No-" [[whudd]]
"Baka!" [[whudd][whudd]]...

Akane was in the courtyard of the dojo proper, using a practice post.  The
post was simplicity itself - a wooden timber driven into the ground.  At
any normal dojo, they used four by four timbers for training posts.  But
this was the Tendou Dojo, and four by fours would have been shattered like
match sticks.  Fortunately, Nabiki had managed to get her Dad a good deal
on a large load of surplus railroad ties - they lasted a little longer than
the four by's would have - but not by much.

The top half of the post was wound with thick rope to provide a defined
target area, and to keep the trainee from injuring her hands on the wood of
the post.  Sometimes training posts were fitted with dummies stuffed with
straw or cotton batting, which made for a more lifelike target, and even
allowed for a modicum of personalization.  The stuffed dummy that Akane had
on hers was sporting a shock of black hair tied into a distinctive ponytail
- it seemed somehow appropriate, and it certainly helped her to focus her
energy in her attacks.

She had worked up a steady rhythm of kicks and punches, and the post was
starting to show signs of the strain.  With Akane's last attack, the post
snapped and flew over the roof of the dojo, carrying her effigy of Ranma
with it.  She stood for a moment, catching her breath, looking sadly at the
splintered stump of the post.  Finally, Akane sighed and headed for the
house and a warm, relaxing bath.

***  ###  ***

On the veranda opposite the Dojo, Soun and Genma were playing their usual
game of Shogi.  Except for the earlier sounds of Akane's training, and the
subsequent immersion of her training dummy in the fish-pond, the day had
been abnormally quiet.  Happousai hadn't been seen in days.  Nabiki was off
somewhere, probably separating some poor fool from as substantial a portion
of his money as she could manage, and Kasumi was in the kitchen humming
quietly to herself as she prepared the evening meal.  Even better, tonight
dinner was going to be Kasumi's sukiyaki - All in all, it had been a very
pleasant day.

"Your move, Saotome-kun"

Genma made a show of studying the board, but his mind was really not on the
game.  On a day like today, he was content just to relax and go through the
motions.  Everything seemed to be going so well.  Ranma and Akane had not
fought for more than a week now.  Granted, their last fight had been one of
the worst in recent memory, but since then Ranma had gone out of his way to
avoid starting any arguments with his iinazuke.  At least, he had been
keeping out of her way lately.  Perhaps he was trying to give her time to
cool off.  Genma saw an opening and moved a piece.

Soun looked hard at the board - He and Genma were more or less evenly
matched - but both of them were better at cheating than actually playing.
Sometimes the games were more to see who could get away with what, rather
than a real match.  It was a good way to spend quality time.  Soun sighed
and moved a piece of his own.

***  ###  ***

After a thorough scrubbing, Akane was relaxing in the tub, letting the
warmth of the water melt the tension from her.  After a while, her thoughts
wandered (as they often did, though she would sooner die than admit it)
back to her iinazuke.

Their last fight had kept her beating up boards and bricks for days.  There
were times when she wanted nothing more than to knock some sense into that
pointed head of his, or some basic courtesy at the very least.  The nerve
of him!

It had started as many of them had, while they were sparring in the dojo.
Akane had actually been in a good mood for a change - Kasumi had agreed to
help her work through another chapter of their mother's notebook, and Akane
was looking forward to it.  Where she had made her mistake was in sharing
that news with Ranma.

Ranma had adopted a horrified expression, and made several rude remarks to
the effect that a 'true martial artist' would not resort to bio-toxic
weapons.  He had then proceeded to tell her in exacting detail what he
thought her husband's chances of surviving her cooking were, assuming, of
course, that she could find anyone willing to marry someone as kawaikunee
as she was.

In retrospect, Ranma's reaction had been predictable.  He was always making
fun of her cooking, always making fun of her attempts to behave like a
girl, and then criticizing her for not being more feminine.  Akane felt
that there was no way for her to win.  No matter what she did, Ranma would
always make fun of her.

Akane knew that her cooking needed work, and she tried so hard.  How did he
expect her to improve if she didn't try to learn?  But no, he wouldn't even
give her a chance.  It infuriated her - and it was even worse when she
found out that he could cook better than she could.  Yes, in retrospect,
Ranma's reaction had been perfectly predictable.  At the time though, it
had been more than Akane could stand.

"Ranma no Baka!" she had cried, falling back into an all too familiar
pattern.  She had advanced on him, her attacks driven more by rage than
intelligence, she was so angry.  Ranma avoided her attacks fairly easily,
which did little to improve Akane's temper.

"Stand still and take your lumps!" she had shouted.

"Akane, don't you get tired of always being so angry?"

"Of COURSE I do!" she had replied.  "But you never seem to get tired of
MAKING me angry!  Don't you ever get tired of being such an insensitive
jerk?"  By now Akane had backed Ranma into a corner of the dojo.

Ranma hopped lightly over her as she charged him.  "Kawaikunee," he
retorted, "You'll have to be a lot faster than that!"  He landed behind her
with a snicker.  Akane whirled to face him once more.

"Damned showoff..." she muttered.  "I'll show you..."

But Ranma didn't even seem to be listening.  In fact, he turned his back on
her, as if he didn't even consider her to be a threat.  That was the last
straw.  "Oooh, I HATE you!"  The brick she threw bounced squarely off the
back of his head.  Ranma started to pitch forward, dazed.  "You can be..."
Akane's kick caught him before he could hit the floor, bringing his head
back into striking range;  "...such an arrogant..."  her first backhanded
blow rattled Ranma's teeth; "...*bastard*!" she screamed as her second hay
maker struck home.  Ranma dropped to the floor of the dojo like a sack of
rice.  "Why don't you just go off and DIE, Ranma!"  He never saw the kick
coming as she punted him through the doorway and out into the garden.
Ranma-chan hadn't regained consciousness until an adventurous koi had tried
to swim up her shirt.

Akane shifted in the tub.  "Ranma," she sighed to herself... "You can be
*such* a jerk..."

***  ###  ***

Ranma was sitting at the Uuchan, idly poking at an okonomiyaki.  He had
eaten a few bites, but for some reason he really wasn't hungry.  Finally he
just sighed and pushed the plate away.

Ukyou noticed the motion from the corner of her eye, and glanced in Ranma's
direction.  Then she noticed that he had hardly touched his okonomiyaki.
That worried her - it was not like Ranma to pass up food, and she had
reason to know that okonomiyaki was one of his favourites.  She headed over
to Ranma's table and took the seat opposite him.

Ranma was resting his head in his hands, staring off into space.  Ukyou
shivered when she saw the expression on his face - it wasn't like him to be
this depressed.

"Ran-chan?" she asked.  "Ran-chan?  What's wrong?"

Ranma didn't even seem to hear her.

"Ran-chan? - You're not still upset about that fight with Akane, are you?
That was days ago - I'm sure she's forgotten about it by now..."

For a moment the fire was back in Ranma's eyes.  "Upset over that
Kawaikunee..." he began.  "of course not!" - but as he said it, Ukyou
watched the fire die and the life just seemed to drain out of him.

Ukyou had no idea what to say.  For a moment, she felt a flare of anger of
her own.  Why couldn't Ran-chan see how she felt about him?  Why did Akane
always have to hurt him so?  It just wasn't fair!  Another look at Ranma's
face, though, and the anger in her faded to be replaced with sympathy.  She
couldn't stand to see him in such pain.

Ukyou looked around the shop.  It was the slow part of the afternoon, so
she and Ranma had the place to themselves.  She got up, walked over to the
door, flipped up the 'closed' sign, and turned the lock.  She didn't want
to be disturbed right now; not when Ranma needed help so badly.  She went
back to the table and sat down again.

"Ranma," she said,  "C'mon, Ran-chan - talk to me.  You'll feel better, I
promise."

Ranma did not answer immediately.  For a while, she didn't think he was
going to say anything, and when he did, it was so softly that she almost
missed it.  "I'm fine, Ucchan," he sighed... "Just tired, that's all."

"Ran-chan - you've never lied to me before; don't start now," said Ukyou.
"I know you too well for you to get away with that."

Ranma managed a wan smile.  "Yes, I guess you do at that," he said.  The
smiled faded, but did not disappear completely.  Ranma looked down at the
table for a moment, marshaling his thoughts.  "I dunno, I'm just tired of
all the mess," he managed at last.  "Always fighting with Akane... Things
have gotten so confusing.  I don't even know who I am anymore at times."

Ukyou blinked.  "Ran-chan, I know your curse is hard on you, but it really
doesn't matter you know.  You're still the same person, no matter what
gender you happen to be at the time."

Ranma smiled weakly again.  "Thanks, Ucchan, but that's not really what I
meant.  Life has just gotten so... *complicated* lately.  I have three
iinazuke, and if that's not trouble enough, half of the guys in town are
out for my blood, and half want to ask me out.  Some of these clowns are in
*both* groups.  I have that psychotic gymnast chasing after me, and if Mom
ever finds out why I can't join the swim team, I'll have to commit
seppuku."

"Complicated begins to sound like an understatement."

Ranma nodded miserably.  "And I just don't know what to do about it.  No
matter which way I turn, it seems that someone is mad at me, and I have no
idea just how I got into this mess, let alone how I can get out of it."

"I think I see," said Ukyou.  "Was that what started this last fight with
Akane?  You've been in the dumps ever since."

"To tell you the truth, I don't know." said Ranma.  "Whenever Akane and I
are together, we're at each other's throats - even when things start off
okay, they usually end up with us fighting."  He sighed.  "I just can't
figure her out."

Ukyou sighed heavily.  "Do you love her, Ran-chan?"

"What?!"  Sparks flew from Ranma's eyes.  "Love HER?"  Again, the sparks
faded as quickly as they had come.  "Honestly? I don't have any idea how I
feel about her - I've never really had the chance to find out.  Sometimes I
think that I'm starting to like her, and then... well, then it all goes to
hell and we're fighting again."

"But you've fought for her - several times."  Ukyou said.  "Would you have
done that if you didn't care?"

"I dunno.  In a way, I owe her.  When Pop and I first came to the dojo, she
was the only one who was nice to me - the only one who didn't seem somehow
disappointed."

"Really?" asked Ukyou. "Somehow I find that hard to visualize."

"I thought that I had told you that story," Ranma said.  "When Pop and I
first showed up here in Nerima, it was raining.  Pop had sent Mr. Tendou a
postcard telling him to expect us, and we sort of got caught in the
downpour on the way."

"So you were a girl at the time."

"Yeah, and not too happy about it, either.  Y'see this was the first I had
ever heard of this whole iinazuke thing.  The first I'd heard of *any* of
it, if you follow."

Ukyou nodded.  "I think that I'm starting to, Ran-chan."

"Anyway, when we got to the dojo, Mr. Tendou and the girls were waiting for
us.  At first, Mr. Tendou didn't notice that I was a girl, but it didn't
take long for Nabiki to point it out.  He fainted."

"He certainly seems to be high strung for a martial artist at times,"
observed Ukyou.

"He does at that," agreed Ranma.  "It certainly was embarrassing - sitting
there as a girl listening to Kasumi trying to console her father, and
Nabiki complaining to anyone who would listen that I wasn't what she had
hoped for.  Akane's was the only friendly face in the whole room."

"So what happened?" asked Ukyou.

"Well, Akane and I went in to the dojo to spar a bit, while Pop was going
to explain things to Mr. Tendou.  At the time, Akane was not nearly as good
as she is now.  She was telegraphing her moves like she was Western Union.
After the match, she told me that she was glad that I was a girl.  She said
that she would have hated to lose to a boy."

"Ah.  I see.  So she didn't take it well when your father explained it, right?"

"Sort of.  As it happened, she found out about it before any of the others.
After Kasumi showed me our room at the dojo, she suggested that I take a
bath - at the time, it seemed like a good idea.  Akane decided to take a
bath too, and since I had been a girl, well, I guess she decided that she
didn't need to knock.  She walked in on me just as I was getting out of the
tub."

"Hot water..." giggled Ukyou.

Ranma nodded.  "Hai.  She just backed out and then ran off screaming.  By
the time I got dressed and came back out, she was threatening to come back
and bash me with the table."  Ranma shuddered at the memory.  "Then Pop
explained the curse, and at least Mr. Tendou felt better.  After that, all
Akane would do was look at me and growl.  Like it was my fault or
something.  It just went down hill from there.  Kasumi and Nabiki
volunteered Akane as my iinazuke, and *she* accused *me* of peeping on
*her* - and it was more than I could stand - that was the moment the whole
'kawaii/kawaikunee' thing came up, and it's been a sticking point ever
since."

"So what happened then?"

"She bashed me with the table after all - after which I accidentally walked
in on *her* in the bath - so she slapped me.  Since then, it's been fight,
fight, fight... and it never seems to end."

"I see," said Ukyou.  "So you feel obligated to her because she was nice to
you when she thought you were a girl.  Never mind that she hasn't been very
nice to you since."

"Basically," agreed Ranma, "But there's more to it than that, I think.  Dr.
Tofu once told me that Akane was a very sweet and caring girl.  At the
time, well, let's just say that I wasn't exactly convinced.  But there are
times, rare times, when I think I see a little of what he meant - little
flashes of kindness, and in those instants, she really is cute."

"So you *do* love her then."

"No! ... I mean yes! ... I mean no! ... Oh, hell, I don't know.  I'm not
even sure I know what love is - or if it matters."  Ranma sighed.

"If it matters?" asked Ukyou, "What do you mean by that?  Don't you think
you ought to love the person you're going to marry?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but who am I going to marry?  Akane is only *one* of the
iinazuke Pop set me up with!  There's Shampoo, and also..." Ranma's voice
died away as he turned red.

"...and there's also me." Ukyou finished for him.  "I'm afraid that I won't
be able to give you any objective advice on that one, Ran-chan."  She
smiled at him a little sadly.

"I'm sorry,  Ucchan...  I... I never wanted to hurt you.  You're the one
person that I *know* I can count on."  Ranma looked down at the table.  "I
guess I'd better go..."  Ranma stood and headed for the door.  As he turned
the lock to open it, he paused, and turned back to Ukyou.  "Ucchan...
Thanks.  I'm glad you're here."  And he was gone.

Ukyou sat staring after him for a long time, trying very hard not to cry.
Finally she stood up.  "You're welcome, my love."  she said softly.

***  ###  ***

Ranma wandered slowly along the streets of Nerima, not really caring where
he was going.  <Damn,> he thought to himself.  <Why can't I just keep my
mouth shut?  Now I've hurt Ucchan's feelings too.  How do I get into these
messes?>

A short distance away, Kunou Tatewaki watched as his hated rival (for the
affections of *both* of his beloved, no less) walked by, as if in a daze.
He smiled to himself.  "Saotome, your inattention will be your downfall.
The time for divine retribution has come!"  With that, Kunou charged
towards Ranma, his bokken swinging to attack.

Ranma, for his part, never even really noticed Kunou's attack above a
sub-conscious level.  As Kunou got close enough, Ranma absently grabbed the
end of his bokken, and with a deft twist, pulled Kunou forward - launching
him into an arc that terminated - quite solidly - against the wall of a
nearby building.  Kunou slid quietly to the ground.

"Bug off, Kunou," Ranma muttered to his unconscious attacker,  "I have a
lot on my mind right now..."

***  ###  ***

Back at the Tendou Dojo, it was approaching the dinner hour.  Nabiki had
come in an hour or so earlier, counting a wad of bills.  She had been in
her room since, the only evidence of her presence being the occasional
volley of clicking from the keyboard of her computer.  Soun and Genma were
in the midst of yet another game of Shogi while Kasumi set the table and
made her final dinner preparations.

Akane had finished her bath and was relaxing with one of her favourite
manga - a story about a young college student who falls in love with his
apartment manager, and all of their peculiar friends and acquaintances.
The college student and the manager were forever victims of silly
misunderstandings, but there seemed to be hope that it might all work out
in the end.  Perhaps that was why she liked it - as bad as things got,
there still seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

<Too bad the real world can't be like that,> Akane thought to herself.
<Nothing around here ever changes.>

***  ###  ***

Ranma was still wandering on a course that would eventually take him back
by the dojo, but he was in no particular hurry.  Dinner would not be for
another hour or so, and he had no desire to run into Akane just yet.  The
last thing he felt like doing was getting involved in another fight with
that kawaikunee tomboy.  His head still throbbed a bit when he thought
about that *last* fight they'd had.

Besides, Akane had been getting more and more upset with him over things
that just weren't his fault.  HE wasn't to blame for some stupid Amazon
law.  It wasn't HIS fault that his father kept selling him for a meal... It
wasn't his fault that some psychotic bimbo had taken a liking to him.
Ranma shuddered at the thought of Kodachi.

Ranma kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk.  "Stupid Akane.  Why does she
have to be so violent?" he asked of no one in particular.  "She never seems
interested in hearing my side of it.  Whatever's going on, it just has to
be my fault.  Why does she always blame ME?"

In fairness, Ranma had to admit that he needed to be a lot nicer to Akane.
He knew that he teased her too much.  He knew that she was trying to
improve her domestic skills, but he just could not resist the openings she
left him.  Akane could be such a contradiction at times - tough but
vulnerable, graceful and clumsy, self-confident yet plagued by self-doubt.
It made her so difficult to understand.

Somehow, he always managed to say just the wrong thing.  Just when he
thought they might actually have a chance of getting along, he said or did
something that set her off again, and her smile would disappear in a shower
of sparks.  It really was too bad.  She was so cute when she smiled - Ranma
wished that she'd smile more often.

Down the street, a little black piglet wandered into the middle of the
road, looking lost.  Ranma sighed to himself thinking about Akane.

A car screeched to a halt as its driver slammed on his brakes in an effort
to miss the pig.  Ranma, hearing the noise, looked down the street.

A Mishima Heavy Industries delivery van, moving at a high rate of speed,
swerved to miss the stalled car ahead of it.  Ranma looked up and saw
Akane, as if she were smiling at him; eyes as bright as head lamps,
forehead smooth as a windscreen, a flashing smile like the glint of the
setting sun from the polished chrome of a bumper.  A sad little smile
crossed his face as the delivery truck slammed into him, still doing well
over 125 kph.

The truck did not carry Ranma far; a building brought both of them to a
complete and abrupt stop.  As the smoke cleared, people could see the body
of a young man pinned between the wreckage of the truck and the remains of
the wall.  The bright red of his Chinese style shirt was awash with the
darker red of his blood.

Within moments, an emergency crew had arrived and paramedics were fighting
desperately to free Ranma or his remains from the wreckage.  As the truck
was pulled away from the shattered remnants of the wall, rescue workers
were astonished to hear a still semi-conscious Ranma muttering weakly...

"No...  Akane...  Don't..."  Ranma coughed, and blood welled up.  "A...
ka... ne..."  Ranma's awareness faded completely and his breathing came to
a stop.

"Medic! - Stat!" one of the workers called.

***  ###  ***

Kasumi was just clearing the dishes from dinner at the Tendou Dojo.  The
rest of the family was still sitting around the table thinking contented
thoughts.

"Ahh, Kasumi, your sukiyaki is without equal,"  Genma enthused.  "Truly a
delight for the palate."

Kasumi smiled.  "Why thank you Mr. Saotome," she said.  "I'm glad that you
enjoyed it.  I hope that you all saved some for Ranma."

"Ranma?" Genma looked startled.

"Why, yes." Kasumi said, gesturing at the clean bowls sitting at Ranma's
place on the table.  "He hasn't gotten home yet."

Akane looked at the empty place at the table.  Kasumi was right, Ranma had
not been there - his bowl was as clean as it had been when it had come from
the cupboard.

"That's odd," Genma said.  "It's not like Ranma to miss a meal."

"Maybe he's at the Nekohanten, or the Uuchan," said Akane, her voice acid.

Genma considered this.  "Possible, but I don't think that he would pass up
Kasumi's sukiyaki for that," he said.

"He'll turn up, Saotome-kun," said Soun.  "After all, Akane's here, right?"

"Right you are, Tendou-kun."  Genma agreed.  Akane just glowered.

***  ###  ***

By ten o'clock that night, Ranma still had not returned to the dojo, and
people were starting to get concerned.  Kasumi called Ranma's friends to
see if any of them had seen him lately.  The only affirmative answers she
got were from Ukyou, who said that he had left her shop a little after four
that afternoon, and Kunou, who could not say when he had seen him last,
just that the foul cur Saotome must surely have fled to avoid his (Kunou's)
wrath.  No one answered at the Nekohanten.

When Akane heard her sister's report, she was furious.  "That jerk!" she
said.  "I'll bet he's out with Shampoo!  And here we were worrying about
him!"

Nabiki came into the room in time to hear Akane's comment.  "I don't think
so, sis." She said.  "Shampoo was by here a couple of hours ago looking for
Ranma.  I told her that we hadn't seen him since before breakfast."

Akane cooled a bit when she heard that, but she was still miffed.  "So
where would he be, then?" she asked.

About that time, there was a knock on the door.  Nabiki went to greet their
visitor, while Akane sat fuming.  A moment later Nabiki came back, followed
by Dr. Tofu.  Kasumi came in from the kitchen with a tray of things for
tea.

"Konbonwa, Dr. Tofu!" she said cheerfully.  "How nice of you to drop by!"

Warning bells began ringing in the back of Akane's mind.  There was
something very wrong here.  Kasumi had just walked in, and Dr. Tofu had
barely noticed.

"Konbonwa, Kasumi-san," Tofu answered.  "Is Mr. Saotome here?"

Kasumi looked mildly puzzled.  "I think he's on the veranda with Father.
Shall I go see?"

"Please," said Dr. Tofu.  Kasumi set down her tray, and left to find Genma
and Soun.

Akane felt herself going cold.  Her subconscious put two and two together,
and got a very messy four.  "Tofu-sensei," she said.  Dr. Tofu looked
toward her, and Akane saw the pain in his eyes.  "What's happened?" she
asked.  "Where's Ranma?"

Dr. Tofu looked at the floor, and Akane felt her heart in her throat.  "Oh
no... - he's all right, isn't he?  Something terrible has happened, hasn't
it?"

Kasumi returned followed by Genma and Soun.  "Here they are, Dr. Tofu," she
said.  Then she noticed the doctor's expression, and that her sister was
white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf.  "Oh, my," she said.  "Is there
something wrong?"

Dr. Tofu took a deep breath and looked at the members of the Tendou family,
and finally at Genma and Akane.  "Some..." he started, "Sometime this
afternoon, Ranma was struck by a speeding delivery truck a few kilometers
from here.  He was crushed between the truck and a building.  He's still in
surgery at Nerima Medical Centre.  The outlook..." his voice started to
break, "the outlook is not good."

The others stared at Dr. Tofu in shock.  "My son..." said Genma, and sat
down heavily.

"Oh, dear," said Kasumi.  She looked stricken.

Akane just stood there, staring at Dr. Tofu, willing the nightmare to end,
wanting to wake up and find that it was all a bad dream, but knowing
better.  Dr. Tofu was not given to cruel jokes, and only the gravest of
emergencies could keep him sober when Kasumi was around.

Soun was in tears, babbling incoherently.  Genma looked up at Dr. Tofu.
"My son..." he said again.  "Will... will he live?"

"They don't know," said Dr. Tofu quietly.  "He's been in surgery for over
four hours now.  That he has lived this long is no minor miracle."

***  ###  ***

The door to Akane's room exploded off its hinges as Akane ran to her bed,
blinded by tears.  She buried her face in her pillow as great sobs wracked
her, making her shake uncontrollably.  She didn't know how long she lay
there, but she cried until the shaking lessened, and she was able to regain
some minor amount of control.  She sat there, alone in the dark, crying
quietly into her pillow.

"Oh, Ranma," she sobbed.  "You jerk!  Why'd you have to go and get hurt?  Why?"

It was some time before Akane noticed the silhouette in what remained of
her doorway.  When she did, Kasumi came the rest of the way into the room,
and sat down on the bed next to her.  Kasumi put her arms around her
sobbing sister and held her, making soft shushing noises.

"Why, Kasumi?  How could Ranma get hit by a truck, of all things?" Akane cried.

"They don't know the whole story yet," Kasumi said.  "Apparently, a car
stopped suddenly, and the truck swerved to avoid the car.  Then it hit
Ranma, and the building."

"I still can't believe it." Akane sniffled loudly.  "I keep hoping that
I'll wake up and this will all have been some kind of terrible dream.  Oh,
Kasumi, what'll I do if... if... what'll I do if he *dies*?"

Kasumi held her sister as she cried, rocking gently.  Finally, Akane's
shaking stopped, and, after a time, sleep claimed her.  Once she had been
asleep for a while, Kasumi tucked her into her bed and quietly left the
room.

***  ###  ***

Downstairs, a tense group of people was growing ever larger as more people
learned of Ranma's fate.  Ukyou had been the first to arrive.  She had
called to find out if Ranma had gotten home yet, and had gotten Dr. Tofu.
Once she had the story, she was there within minutes.  She looked as if she
had been crying, and was trying hard to stay in control.

Shampoo sat in a corner weeping quietly, while Mousse sat nearby, longing
to be able to comfort her.  As much as he hated Ranma for stealing his
darling Shampoo, he too hoped that Ranma would live, if only so he could
see Shampoo smile again.  Cologne sat quietly, still as a statue, lost in
thought.  Finally, she stood up and went to spell... err... relieve Kasumi
in the kitchen.

Kasumi then joined Dr. Tofu in his vigil by the phone, talking quietly to
him, and occasionally crying softly.  For once, Tofu found that he was able
to just hold her, and offer her the comfort she needed.  He just wished
that the price for his sanity wasn't so high.

***  ###  ***

News of Ranma's accident spread quickly as Nabiki made sure that everyone
in the Nerima district knew the latest developments.  Naturally these
bulletins did not come free.  Even as she worried about Ranma, as deep in
her heart she did, Nabiki retained enough presence of mind to milk the
situation for every single yen that the market would bear.

Kunou's first reaction to the news had been a surge of elation.  "The
vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure," he told himself.  "Surely the Gods
themselves have struck down the evil Saotome."  Immediately he began to
plan his campaign to console the grieving Tendou Akane, and his beloved
Pig-tailed Girl.

Kunou Kodachi, on the other hand, had taken the news with somewhat less
aplomb.  To put it more succinctly, she freaked.  Within hours, the Tendou
Dojo, Furinkan High, and the Nerima Medical Centre were hip deep in
bouquets of black roses.  When the doctors refused her admittance to the OR
where Ranma was still in surgery, she took it ill, and they threatened to
lock her in the Saeko Ward.

Upon hearing of Ranma's accident, Gosunkugi Hikaru found himself in
something of a quandary.  Here he had been granted one of his most ardent
wishes, the seeming removal of Saotome Ranma, which meant he had one less
rival for Tendou Akane.  Not that it really mattered, he thought glumly.
Akane would never look twice at him no matter how many of her suitors were
eliminated.  When he heard about Akane's reaction to the accident, Hikaru
decided that he had a lot of thinking to do.  He was not a fundamentally
unkind person; he genuinely cared for Akane and did not like to think of
her being unhappy.  When he realized how much Ranma's death would hurt her,
he was deeply ashamed of a lot of the things he had wished for.  For the
first time in his life, Hikaru found himself praying just as ardently for
his hated rival's recovery.  Hours later, had anyone thought to look
through the ashcans behind the Gosunkugi household, they might have found a
number of small dolls with black pigtails, various sharp implements, and a
toy truck.

***  ###  ***