Meiyo Ai soshite Nikushimi
                                        Chapter II
                                      Starting Over
                                   
                            A Ranma Nibunnoichi Fanfic
                                     by Joseph Kohle

     All characters are the products of Rumiko Takahashi's
imagination and are used with the permission of her or the innumerable
companies that have rights to her products.

     Ranma winced as the doctor prodded his side. Lifting his head, he
glanced down at his stomach. An angry, puckered, red gash followed
the line of his rib cage from almost the center of his chest to the side of
his abdomen. Around two dozen staples were holding the wound
closed. On top of this he could feel the stiffness from countless other
stitches holding his internal organs closed.
     "You're a lucky young man," the doctor said, as he covered Ranma
back up, "I don't know how you did it, but that knife nearly completely
severed an artery. That's why you lost so much blood. Also the fact that
it sliced through the upper abdominal muscles and cut your large
intestine did not help anything. Most people would have died from the
amount of blood you lost. Like I said you were lucky."
     "I want you to stay off of your feet for a few days. Give your body a
chance to heal. Even though Dr. Toufu says you are able to go home. I
still think you should stay here an extra day or two." He looked at
Ranma pleadingly, but Ranma ignored him. Instead he was watching
Akane, who was sitting across from his bed.
     Sighing in defeat the doctor checked off a few things on Ranma's
chart. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you though," he said and left the
room.
     "You could've been nicer to him, Ranma," Akane said, sliding
her chair closer to his bed.
     "What did I do?" Ranma asked slightly offended.
     "You ignored him, and kept looking at him like he was wasting
your time," she explained evenly, trying to keep her temper despite
Ranma's stubbornness, "He's only trying to help you."
     Sighing Ranma sank back into his pillows in defeat. He was not up
to an argument, and he knew Akane was right. "I know he is, but I
hate being in a hospital. Besides Toufu-sensei said I could go home."
     Shaking her head, Akane decided to change the subject. Like Ranma
she did not want an argument. They had not had one since he had
woken up the day before, and she was not in a hurry to start. Ranma
had promised her that he would try and be more reasonable, and she
had promised to listen to him before she hit him with something. Really
those two things were the single biggest cause of their skirmishes.
     "Have you decided what we are going to tell our parents?" she
asked. They had decided yesterday that the truth was too dangerous to
tell anyone. First of all a forced marriage was a certainty if her father
learned that she was no longer a virgin. Secondly, Ranma had enough
problems with the other fiances and people in school without having it
be common knowledge that he had tried to kill himself, especially over
a misunderstanding.
     "We can't say it was all a dream, can we?" Ranma suggested. Akane
gave him a cold stare. "I guess not."
     "How  bout you got really mad  and attacked me with a knife?"
     "I'm not taking the blame for this, Ranma," Akane stated evenly,
"Why can't it just be a training accident?"
     "We weren't talking the whole week before," Ranma said
exasperated, "No one's going to believe we were training in your
room."
     "Do you have a better idea?" Akane snapped back.
     "Ah..I, ah" he began and then stopped a look of confusion crossing
his face. Throwing up his hands in defeat he burrowed into his pillows
even deeper. "Why do you have to be right so often?" he muttered. 
     She directed a smile at him. "Oh, c'mon. I'll let you win the next
time." Ranma flashed her a dirty look but it did not last very long. He
was finding it harder and harder to stay angry at Akane when she
smiled at him. Somehow she had caught on to that and had been using
it ruthlessly so far today. Oh well, I'll find her weakness soon enough.
     His face softened and he smiled back at her. It was nice sitting ,
well actually lying while she sat next to him, and talking like civilized
people for once. They had discussed a lot since yesterday. Most of it
revolved around their relationship, trying to find some sort of neutral
ground they could work from.
     Both of them had realized and accepted that it was not the other
one's fault entirely, although Akane was still adamant on the fact that if
he had told her about the curse in the first place, they might have
started on better terms. Realizing it was futile to argue, and with an
understanding that it was only a small thing, Ranma let her have that
point. There were other points that were just as big, like her seemingly
endless ability to jump to the wrong conclusions. He had also made her
promise to stay away from mallets and heavy objects when they were
fighting.
     That did not come without a price though. He had to avoid his
other fiancees as much as possible. Personally, Ranma considered that
unfair. It was not his fault that they chased him. What was he supposed
to do, lock himself in the basement. Akane actually had the gall to
consider that idea for awhile before relenting and only stipulating that
he not seek them out, and that he get rid of them as fast as possible
when they found him.
     One thing they had not discussed was his mouth. Ranma was
thankful for that boon. He knew that he often spoke without thinking,
resulting in the hurt feelings of the people he cared for or the major
misunderstandings and problems that plagued him. Really he did not
want to hurt people, but he just always seemed to say the wrong thing
at the wrong time to the wrong person. Instead he had promised
himself, at least around Akane, to watch what he said. It was hard. It
had taken all of his control not to lash out at her during their discussion
on the alibi.
     Sighing Ranma turned to watch the wall. Was it possible for them to
put it all behind? To go on like nothing had happened? Truthfully he
did not know. He wanted it to be true. He would do everything he
could do to make it true, but somehow he knew how small of a chance
they actually had. But he was not going to let it discourage him. There
was a chance, small though it may be. At one point, something had to
go right in his life, and he wanted this to be the thing that did.
     "What are you thinking about?" Akane asked him.
     "How hard this is going to be, for us both," he said absently, still
thinking of their relationship.
     "Mmm-hmm," Akane agreed, "But it is the easiest way to
explain your injury."
     Ranma looked quickly over at her and just nodded. Why burden
her with my depressing thoughts? Let her be happy for a while. She
deserves it. I just wish someone would decide I deserved a little
happiness in life.

     For the next half-hour they flushed out the details of the story, much
to Ranma's chagrin. But as Akane had said, it was the easiest way. It
was a fairly simple alibi. Ranma had accepted a challenge to fight
another martial artist with blade weapons, and since he had known
nothing about kendo, he had gone to Akane who had studied the art
when she was younger.
     They had been working with a real tanto, because they had not been
able to find a wooden facsimile. As usual they had erupted into an
argument, neither one took the blame for starting it, but everyone was
so used to their arguments, that who started it was a moot point.
Exasperated Ranma had turned and left the room, only to tangle
himself in a pile of clothes. Since he was not used to a weapon in his
hand, he did not know how to react, and so reacted like he always did,
and rolled with the fall. This had the unfortunate side-effect of
slamming the tanto into his body, and ripping the wound open as he
rolled. Simple and straight forward.
     Personally Ranma thought the story was rather unbelievable. Why
would he practice with a tanto instead of a bokken? Besides why
would he be practicing with weapons anyway? His martial arts were
refined enough that disarming an opponent was easier than fighting
with weapons himself. That and the fact that the story made him look
like a complete incompetent did not make it any easier for him to
swallow.
     Surprisingly, the story was received with few questions, although
Ranma saw Nabiki's unsatisfied expression. Ranma knew she had a
nose for when things did not sound right, and this sound about as right
as an out of tune piano. Luckily, Nabiki either forgot to press the issue,
or was not too interested in the actual story. Ranma really did not care
for the explanation. If Nabiki was unsatisfied, she kept quiet about it,
which suited Ranma perfectly. There were other problems he had to
deal with, like his father.
     Genma exploded when he heard the concocted story. "Boy, do you
have any common sense?" he shouted, "And I thought I trained you
well. But no! You've gotta do something idiotic like this. Is your
training slipping? It must be. A four-year old would've handled that fall
better." Although he wanted to shout at and argue with his father,
Ranma remained quiet throughout the lecture. As long as they stuck to
this story, he was going to take the heat.
     "From the moment you get home, boy," Genma continued, waving
his fist in front of Ranma's nose, "Till the moment I see some
improvement, I'll run you ragged, train you into the ground. You're
going to find out how many separate muscles you've got in that body
because every single one'll be sore when I'm through with you."
     "Nearly killing yourself on a pile of clothes," Genma muttered,
turning away from his son, "That's not right. That's disgraceful." 
     Stung and hurt by his father's words, Ranma sank deep into his
pillows. Maybe if I tell him the truth, he'll go easier. At least then I'd
have done something honorable, but a quick glance at Akane's pained
and sorrowful expression stopped him from speaking out in his defense.
She feels sorry for me, or at least bad about what's happening.
Somehow he knew she was going to be extra nice around him for a few
days, and that made his father's tongue lashing easier to bear.
       The others were a little more supportive of him. Kasumi simply
commented on how happy she was that he was going to be okay. Soun
of course wept over him and left without a comment. Surprisingly
Nabiki was fairly quiet, only offering words similar to Kasumi's. This
all suited Ranma perfectly, who did not need or want too much
attention. It was bad enough dealing with his father's scorn, and the
humiliation this story was going to spawn when it reached school. The
price of his stupidity he figured. For some reason he seemed to paying
that more often these days.
   "C'mon, how bad could it be?" Akane asked when they were alone
again.
   "We're talking about Oyaji," Ranma stated glumly, "Training me
is his one and only goal in life. This is going to be very bad." Akane
patted his hand reassuringly, but it did not help. Ranma was dreading
going home now. Maybe I should take that doctor's advice and stay
longer.

     Nabiki listened outside Ranma's hospital room for a few minutes
before silently slipping away. Nothing, absolutely nothing. She had
been sure that the two would have let down their guards after the
family left, but obviously Ranma and Akane were not taking any
chances.
     This infuriated Nabiki to no end. There was money to be made here.
It was sitting right in front of her, she just could not reach it, she did
not have the information. Ranma was in here for a reason, and it was
not a training accident.
     That story was more unbelievable than campaign promises and had
holes in it large enough for Kunou's ego to pass through comfortably.
But the problem was that she had no leverage to get the real story.
Something had happened in her sisters room, something very drastic,
but for the life of her she was unable to figure it out.
     There were too many conflicting points to the whole situation.
Before Ranma had gone to the hospital, Ranma and his fiancee had not
spoken a single word to each other. Akane had growled in anger every
time Ranma's name was mentioned, and if it involved her with him, the
resulting display was on the edge of being a form of art. Furthermore
Ranma had literally disappeared that entire week. There had been only
two meals that he had come to, one the morning he had gone to the
hospital, the other a dinner in the middle of the week. At each event,
Ranma had been quiet and eaten slowly for once in his life. He had
spoken nothing to any member of the family and simply disappeared
afterwards. Nabiki was not even sure if he had even slept at the house,
she certainly hadn't been able to find him when she wanted to get a few
pictures. Then he was in the hospital, apparently stabbed by a tanto.
     At first Nabiki had thought Akane might have attacked him in a fit
of anger, but that was not possible. She had been in the room next to
her sister's when the entire thing happened, and she remembered
nothing that sounded like a fight. Actually it had been fairly quiet until
Akane had screamed.
     So if Akane did nothing, then the blame fell to Ranma by default,
yet what could he have done. Maybe it was a training accident. She
shook her head in denial. That was not possible, Ranma was too good
for that, besides she had never seen him practice with a weapon, yet
whenever he picked one up he was as proficient with it as if he had
been born to the thing. No it was not an accident, there had been
something deliberate about what had happened. It had the feel of
something that had gone wrong like...well she didn't know and that
was what frustrated her. 
     She remembered listening at the door when Ranma had first been
stabilized. Akane had been in with him, talking underneath her breath,
crying softly. Most of the words had been lost to Nabiki or just made
no sense since they had been isolated. Only one thing had come through
clear. "Baka," Akane had said in a voice filled with anger and grief,
"Why did you do this? Don't you ever think? You didn't hurt me. You
never have.." The rest had been lost as Akane began crying again.
     Was it possible that Ranma had meant to do this to himself? It didn't
seem like the Ranma she knew. He was always so confident and easy
going about life, but if the circumstances were right.. She left the
thought hanging. But what could've prompted him, and why was
Akane helping him in this, was she involved? If so, how? 
     Everything was one big enigma, a Rubic's Cube of what ifs and
unanswered questions. There was a pattern but she was missing one
key element, and she had no clue what it was, but she would. If  it
killed her she was going to uncover the very base of this situation, and
then the money would be coming in.

     Pivoting, Ranma spun his body, his foot whipping around to land
with a solid thwack against the wooden post. Without pause another
kick landed followed closely by a blizzard of punches. The dojo
resounded with the staccato claps of each of his strikes. 
     Sweat poured down his face, stinging his eyes, rolling across his
cheeks and lips leaving a salty taste on his tongue. Drops fell from his
nose and hair with each attack to splatter on the wooden floor. A dull
sheen of sweat covered his naked shoulders and chest.
     He was tired. The past few hours had become a blur in his
mind. There was only the solid rhythm of his continuous strikes against
the unoffending post. He did not care about what he had practiced or
what he still had to do. Only the present was important. It required too
much energy to think of anything else. 
     The constant training had slowly drained him. This was only his
second day back from the hospital and he was still recovering from the
loss of blood. What did that matter to his father? As long as the story
stuck he suffered unending training to redress his mistake. Oyaji had
promised to grind him into the ground, and he was already close to
doing it.
     His arms felt like leaden weights, each strike a struggle for the
precision and speed that marked his expertise. Dimly he was aware that
his form was suffering under his exhaustion. He knew he should end
now, but he never gave up. If it killed him he would finish this
sequence. 
     So he pushed onward feeling like he was fighting in a vat of
molasses. He simply went through the series. Jab, jab, knifehand, snap
kick, roundhouse, backhand, jab, jab, jab, forearm, dropkick, uppercut,
flip to gain position...on and on it went through his mind, an endless
rhythm that he had worked hundreds of times. Each series became
harder and harder, until he had taken himself to the limit. With a low
growl he launched a final series, unwilling to give in, to let his father
beat him down.
     Jab, jab, knifehand..I didn't do anything wrong..snap kick,
roundhouse...It's just that stupid story...backhand, jab, jab...if I was
able to tell him the truth I could be relaxing...jab, forearm..he has no
right to punish me..dropkick..why'd I go along with Akane?..uppercut,
flip back to position..why do I suffer!?...spin kick, snapkick...why does
life treat me like this?...jab, spin, backhand...it's not fair...jab, jab, jab,
jab...CRAAAACK! The top of the post flew from the rest of the post
to slam and stick into the wall. Exhausted Ranma could only drop to
his knees and finally lean against the ruined post, his breathing heavy
and laboured, his eyes shut.
     Oxygen-starved muscles burned throughout his body. He sucked in
air through his mouth, deeply and evenly. Slowly his heart stopped
thudding in his chest and resumed its normal pace. Gods, this sucks.
I'm exhausted. Rarely did he have such an intensive training session.
Placed on top of his weakened condition it was amazing that he had
survived. Several hours of sparring with his father, jogging before that,
katas and combination practices afterwards. The afternoon had
disappeared in a blur of sweat and repetition. He only had a vague idea
what time it was, and that was only because his stomach was empty and
growling.
     I should probably go in. Kasumi's gotta have dinner on by now.
His body had other ideas though, it wanted him to stay here. So he did
and just relaxed in the dojo, slowly gaining back his strength, as he
slipped gently into a dreamless half-sleep.
     Sensing a new presence in the dojo woke Ranma from his rest.
"Ranma?" Akane's voice was tentative, her step light, barely audible, as
she walked across the floor. Ranma opened his eyes. The first thing he
noticed was that it was dark outside. I must've lost track of the time.
He yawned and stretched, his muscles tightening painfully for a second
before relaxing, leaving him refreshed. Well at least I feel better.
     Next his gaze wandered to Akane, who was walking towards him,
almost to him. She was carrying a plate covered with a napkin, the
delicious aroma of food reaching Ranma, causing his stomach to
grumble in anticipation. Smirking at his reaction, Akane removed the
napkin and sat in front of him before beginning to nibble at the food. 
     "I'm sorry ya missed dinner, Ranma," Akane said in a sorrowful
voice, "Kasumi really out did herself." She stabbed a piece of pork
from the full plate with a chopstick and admired it for a moment before
taking a bite from it. Chewing quickly she swallowed it and sighed.
      Mouth agape, Ranma stared at his iinazuke. Now what did I
do? It was obvious she was not going to share the food with him, and
was purposefully torturing him with it. 
     "Well I'm full." Akane smiled at him as if nothing was wrong
and dropped the half-eaten piece of pork back on the plate and
recovered it with the napkin. That was the final straw.
     "Akane," Ranma half-growled, half-pleaded yet it was fully
underlaid with dismayed shock. Much to his surprise, Akane started
laughing, her eyes sparkling with mirth, and then patted him on the
cheek.
   "Oh stop it. Do you think I'm ready to start fighting with you.
The food's for you."
     Ranma glared at h er, but grabbed the plate and began wolfing
down the food. "That's not funny," he mumbled around a mouthful, of
rice, "I was starving."
     "Gomen..but I just couldn't resist." She dropped her eyes
demurely. "You're not mad, are you?"
     Sighing, he swallowed. "No. I-it's just that I'm tired, Akane.
Oyaji is working me ragged, and I'm in no mood for fun right now. A
bath and bed sounds better."
     "Oh, and I was going to see if you wanted to go to the new
Jackie Chan movie, but if you're too tired.." She left it hanging and
started to leave.
     "Nani?" Ranma sputtered in shock.
     "The Jackie Chan movie," Akane explained smiling, "I was going to
take you to it. You know, kinda make up for all the trouble my story is
putting you through. But if you're tired.."
     "No, no, no," Ranma gushed, pushing away the empty plate. Akane
was asking him for a date, or something like that. He quickly pinched
his arm, a sharp pain confirmed that he was very awake. "Arigato." He
smiled tentatively. "I guess I need some fun. You know how the last
week and a half's gone."
  "Baka," she said walking away, "It was all your fault, so don't
blame me, or look for pity because there's none coming."
  "Really," Ranma shot back regaining some of his composure, "I
seem to be suffering for your story."
  Akane glanced back over her shoulder. "Do you want me to tell the
truth?" Ranma shook his head slowly. "Then just be glad I'm not
making you take me out."
  Ranma groaned, but before he could think of anything insulting
enough to say, Akane had disappeared out the door. "Oh, be ready in
thirty minutes." Her voice floated back from the yard. Muttering under
his breath about the unfairness of the gods and violent tomboys, Ranma
stood up on stiff legs and walked from the dojo, heading to the house. 
  He was seriously tempted to go find Akane and tell her to forget
the whole thing. A whole evening of her in this present attitude was not
exactly on his list of favorites, but being smashed into the floor by her
mallet was high on his list to avoid also, so he would go. 
  Resigned to his fate, Ranma plodded into the house and headed to the
bathroom. Walking in, he shed his remaining clothes and turned on the
water, drawing a steaming bath. As the bath drew itself, he grabbed the
soap and sat on the stool. Grabbing the shower head he sprayed his
body with cold water, feeling the familiar change. Ranma-onna
scrubbed the dirt and sweat away from her body, her mind still whirling
in confusion.
     The fact that Akane had actually asked him out was floating in
his head, the implications of the act hovering on the edge of his
thoughts like a stalking tiger; however his exhaustion and own doubts
about the whole thing kept the creature at bay.
  He just had one of those feelings like a deer that has been singled
out for prey. There was something wrong with this whole thing. He
was certain that the night was going to end up as they always did, with
him flying through the air with the imprint of Super Deluxe Mallet by
Craftsman 'We Make Tools to Last' on his forehead. Of course the
entire incident was going to be a misunderstanding, but what could one
such as he do? Trouble and strife followed him like a lost puppy.
  Just spare me tonight, please. I don't need anymore problems. Why
did Akane have to drop this on me? Sighing Ranma-onna washed the
soap and grime from her body. Sighing she slipped into the now full
bath and began to unwind as he slipped back into his true form, the heat
of the water relaxing his taunt muscles and clearing his mind.
  Thirty minutes later, he was dressed in his normal black pants and red
Chinese shirt. He was impatient to get this over with and get some
sleep. What's taking her so long? She said thirty minutes, forty minutes
ago. There was a small sound from the top of the stairs. Turning, he
sucked in his breathe in surprise, his eyes wide. Akane was walking
down the stairs, smiling at him. Ranma had never seen her like this
before. A frilled black mid-thigh skirt swirled around her legs. She
wore a purple sweater vest over a black turtle neck, a gold chain
necklace fastened around her neck. The whole effect was stunning.
Beautiful hardly described what he saw. 
   Smiling, Akane walked up to him. He stood, his mind still reeling
from the Akane that stood before him. "How do I look?" she asked. 
   "Uh..uh," he faltered. At that moment he wished he had Kunou's
flare for words, since nothing was entering his mind. "You look great."
It was the best he found on short notice.
   "Really?" Akane asked, "You think it's fine."
   "Uh, yeah," Ranma said his hand nervously rubbing the back of
his neck, "We're only going to a movie." The glare she suddenly gave
him could have frozen water.
   "Just going to a movie." Her voice was low and threatening.
   At that moment several things began to connect in Ranma's over-
worked mind. Their recent discussion in the hospital, the sorrowful
look she had given him at his father's proclamation, her bringing food
to him, asking him to a movie, and now all of this, could she want this
to be more than an apology? Does she really want this to be a date?
Carefully he glanced at her. She's never worn anything like this before.
Maybe this is a real date. The thought was chilling, yet somewhat
satisfying. Akane and him on a date together.
   A nervous smile appeared on his face. "Gomen...I.I didn't mean it
that way. Really I don't want you to change a thing. Y-your fine just
like that. I'd be glad to go to the movie with you."
   Her expression softening, Akane looked him up and down. "You
might like my outfit, but you really should wear something different.
Don't you get tired of the same style day after day?"
   "Nani?" Ranma blinked.
   "You're so pathetic! Ah who cares? You look fine, just remember
you owe me for not making you change," she explained.
    Ranma, still wondering what was wrong with his clothing, decided it
would be best to just get out of the house before anyone found out that
they were going on a date. Standing quietly in front of Akane, Ranma
tentatively offered his arm. If she wanted a date, he would at least try
and make it a decent one. Smiling at his offer, Akane took the offered
arm and they both started out for the moving, casting nervous glances
at each other.

   Shampoo was riding back from delivering an order of ramen when
she noticed Ranma and Akane walking together down the street,
chatting amiably. Although great-grandmother was expecting her, she
was intrigued by this scene and decided to follow them, just in case the
violent tomboy was trying to steal her husband. Besides, curiosity and
the cat are never far apart.
   Shampoo was quite proud with herself, as she followed them in
stealth, not once rushing in and asking Ranma for a date, although she
was tempted several times. She watched what she saw and became
more and more amazed. Husband and Violent Tomboy were not
fighting. For the entire time she followed them, Shampoo never saw
even the glimmer of their infamous tempers. Worse, she saw Ranma
take Akane's hand or allow her to link arms with him several times.       
They are getting along. It's not supposed to be like that. "Ranma
not like violent tomboy, like me," she muttered in broken Japanese. But
the evidence was before her, and then the crushing blow. Both stopped
in front of the cinema and bought tickets before disappearing inside. 
   White hot rage burned around and within her, glowing dully in
the night's darkness. "*Husband will take that violent tomboy on a
date, but not me, Shampoo, his bride?*" she growled in Mandarin. The
people on the street were walking wide circles around this obviously
enraged girl. "*I will make this date live in infamy for the both of them.
And then Husband will take Shampoo on a date, without violent
tomboy.*" Smiling maliciously, Shampoo walked towards the theater.

      Grabbing the jumbo popcorn, two Cokes and two boxes of
Junior Mints, Ranma left the snack bar and returned to the theater
balancing the food easily as he walked. So far this 'date' had gone
surprisingly well. They had walked to the theater together, chatting idly
about absolutely nothing of importance. Both knew what were
dangerous topics, so they had avoided them and instead concentrated
on mundane topics, like friends and school. Occasionally Ranma had
thrown in one of his more amusing training adventures with his father.
All in all it had been a nice walk over. Several times he had relaxed
enough to hold Akane's hand, or offer her his arm again. He smiled at
the memory of her warmth against his side.
   Slipping quietly into the theater he made his way to their seats.
Akane was waiting patiently for him, watching the previews showing
on the screen. Sitting down, he handed the food to her. "Here's the
stuff you wanted, Akane."
   "Arigato," she replied and grabbed a Coke and one of the Junior
Mints. For a moment she looked confused and then turned to look at
Ranma. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
   "Nani?"
   "My nachos, baka!"
   Ranma started then smiled nervously, "Gomen, guess I forgot. I'll
go get 'em." It was taking all of his discipline not to tell her to go get
her own nachos. It wasn't like she needed them. They had had dinner
only an hour or so ago.
   "Don't worry about it," Akane said, standing up, "I'll go get them
myself. I'll be back in a minute." She wormed past him and disappeared
up the aisle.
   Sinking back into his seat Ranma watched the previews roll
across the screen. It was not like Akane to back down from an
argument that fast. Maybe she was making sure this night was perfect.
It did not matter. He was enjoying himself. She was obviously having a
good time. Not to mention the fact that she was beautiful tonight. A
picture of her standing on top of the stairs filled his eyes. 
   He cared for her a lot, loved her actually. It was just so hard to
come out and say those words when he was in control of himself. To
show emotion like that was just not in him. Stoicism was his nature,
and it was hard to change that. But still, she was particularly ravishing
tonight. Idly he wondered where this night might lead them.
   "Nihao, Ranma." Ranma cringed as he heard Shampoo's voice. I
knew this night was too good to be true. Something had to go wrong.
   "Yo, Shampoo," he muttered in response, his voice flat and
unemotional, "What're you doing here?"
   "Shampoo see husband go into theater with violent girl," Shampoo
explained in a bubbly voice, sitting down next to Ranma in Akane's
vacated seat, "Shampoo think you on date with her."
   "I am," Ranma answered without thinking.
   "You go on date with girl you not like, but not Shampoo." It was
a statement, but somehow the Amazon seemed to make it a question
and insult him at the same time.
   "She asked me," Ranma explained getting annoyed with the girl. She
is going to ruin everything. If I can just get rid of her before Akane
comes back. "So could you, uh, just go." It sounded lame, and he did
not put much force behind his voice, but it was all he was able to think
of at the moment.
   "No, Shampoo take over date, violent girl can get own date," she
stated in a tone that broached no argument. Ranma groaned as
Shampoo grabbed onto his arm and sipped at Akane's Coke. "So what
we watch."
   "We are watching nothing. Akane and I are watching this movie.
Now leave." Ranma was becoming desperate. He had to get rid of
Shampoo before Akane came back. He refused to let this evening be
ruined. His evenings were always ruined by jealous fiancees or crazed
rivals. Just once..one time, he wanted a normal night out.
   "Don't husband want Shampoo?" she asked in a quiet voice,
looking up at him, eyes glistening.
   "No," Ranma nearly shouted. Please just leave, please. "Just go
away, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
   "Shampoo don't see what you find in ugly, violent girl. Has she
ever done this to you?" With that she kissed Ranma, locking her arms
around his neck in a vice grip that made it impossible for him to break,
and he did try. Unfortunately Akane chose that moment to return.
   Akane entered their row and saw Ranma apparently kissing
Shampoo and obviously enjoying it from how much he was wriggling in
her grasp. White hot rage exploded in her mind. This night of all nights.
He promised. He promised! "RANMA NO BAKA!" she screamed and
slammed her mallet down on his head. This broke the kiss and sent
Ranma slamming into the floor with an audible grunt.
   Akane had not sated her rage though. Next she turned on
Shampoo, and before the Amazon could move slammed her half-way
across the theater. Then she turned back to Ranma, ready to finish the
job.
   Ranma had seen what had happened to Shampoo and was
personally thrilled. The bloody bitch deserved it as far as he was
concerned. Now however he had to make amends with Akane.
   He looked up at her glowing form. Tears were streaming down
her face. "A-akane, let me.." he began.
   "Explain!?" There was a derogatory tilt to the word. "There is
nothing to explain. I wanted this to be special. Just us. I thought you
understood. You promised me Ranma. No other fiancees. I guess you
don't care." She was sobbing now, her hammer having disappeared
from her hands. "You promised. I hate you Ranma!" She spun on her
heels and fled from the theater.
   His heart torn, Ranma watched her go. It was not his fault, he knew
that, but it still hurt. The night had been ruined once again because he
had never gotten rid of any of his fiancees. Ruined because he had
never cared, had enjoyed the attention. At that moment he hated
himself. 
   "Shampoo glad violent tomboy gone. Shampoo'll kill her later for
hitting husband and Shampoo, but now have husband to self."     
Shampoo chose the wrong time to come back, the wrong words to say,
the wrong night, the wrong time, the wrong everything. Ranma
rounded on her, his eyes blazing, his aura glowing blue in the darkened
and very quiet theater.
   "Shampoo will do nothing." His voice was cold, sharp as a razor.
He pronounced each word carefully, using them like weapons. He was
sick of his life. He was sick of all of his fiancees. They were ruining
him. They had ruined tonight. They had ruined the last year and a half
of his life, but no more. 
   "Huh?" Shampoo asked, "But violent gir.."
   "Shut up!" he snarled, "I am sick of this. I am sick of all of my
fiancees. I'm sick of the trouble this gets me in. From now on I'm no
one's fiancee. Do you understand me?" His finger stabbed at Shampoo,
stopping inches from her chest.
   "But Ranma beat Shampoo, you are husband," she explained her
eyes wide and confused.
   "That," he spit the word, "Is an Amazon custom and law. We are
in Japan, not China and not even remotely near your village. In Japan
I've got a choice in this matter, and I don't want to marry you. I am
not your husband-to-be. Is that understood?!?!" Shampoo nodded
mutely, her eyes wide in shock, her mouth moving soundlessly. "Now
leave me alone!" With that he spun on his heel and left the theater,
hoping he could find Akane. Behind him Shampoo began to cry,
sobbing uncontrollably as she collapsed to her knees. Ranma did not
see her. He would not have cared if he had.
     Rushing out of the theater, he desperately scanned the street. It
was only sparsely populated with pedestrians. Because of this he saw
Akane the instant before she disappeared around a distant corner.
Leaping to the rooftops he began to follow her. 
   He caught up with her easily, but stayed slightly behind. She was
hurt. She was mad. He himself was furious, and he had no real plan in
mind. What he had done to Shampoo had been spur of the moment. In
his anger he had lashed out in the most effective way, not physically but
emotionally, ripping her heart out. He knew how she felt, and he knew
that what he had done was worse than anything he might have hit her
with in a fight.
   As he pursued Akane, though, his thoughts returned again and again
to his words. "I'm sick of all of my fiancees. I'm sick of the trouble they
get me in. From now on I'm no one's fiancee." In his anger he had
stumbled on a sort of truth. So many of his problem revolved around
his fiancees. Ukyou and Shampoo were always vying with Akane for
his attention, creating bizarre situations, changing people's personalities
with magic, fighting him, plotting against the others, trying to hurt
Akane. Kunou hated him because he was Akane's fiancee, Ryouga had
also made that one of his biggest grudges against Ranma. Even all of
his strange adventures to find a cure linked somehow. Most of them he
never would have had if not for Shampoo and Cologne, or Ryouga for
that matter. Ranma shuddered remembering the fabled naniichuan
under the girl's locker room.
   It stood to reason that if he renounced all of his engagements, most
of his problems would go away. Oh he had no delusions that they
would magically disappear. No, Kodachi was still out there, and
Shampoo and Cologne did not know the meaning of the word quit,
come to think of it, Shampoo didn't know the meaning of most
Japanese words. Ukyou probably would still chase him, since she
professed to love him. 
   Somehow though it seemed like it would be better. A fresh start. His
present  fiancees would not be in such a fierce competition for him. He
might even finally be able to have a normal relationship. Yet if he broke
of the engagement with Akane, he would hurt her. He knew he would,
just like he had hurt Shampoo tonight and would hurt Ukyou tomorrow
if he decided on this course.
   He did not want to hurt her, but all these other fiancees and problems
were hurting her also. Maybe, if they did break the engagement, they
could start over, learn to be friends before they became lovers. It had
all started on the wrong foot anyway. Engaged by their fathers against
their wills. Then he had shown up as a girl. Yet the sparring match had
been an auspicious start. Akane had let down her guard, they had been
slowly becoming friends. But then..then the infamous bathroom episode
and the fighting had begun.
   Now they did not know how to stop it. He cared for her, loved her in
his own way. He wanted her to be happy, to be safe and protected, but
they always fought. He knew deep down that as long as things
remained unchanged they never were going to become close. Too much
bad blood had been spilled. 
   In the hospital he had come to understand how little of a chance they
had, and maybe, just maybe this was that small chance. If it worked, if
they put all the relationships behind them, even theirs, it then became
their choice. Besides, they were too young to know what they wanted,
who they wanted. They were only seventeen.
   Akane turned into the park. Ranma was close behind her. After a
time though, she stopped next to a tree and collapsed. Despite standing
several dozen meters from her, Ranma still heard her sobs, saw her
shoulders shake. In a sense what had happened was his fault. He had
never dealt with the other fiancees, but then he had never had a good
reason. He had not admitted his feelings before. Now he had. 
     Yet he did not move forward. He knew he was about to do some-
thing potentially very dangerous. Essentially he was breaking his family
honor, tarnishing it by denying his father's wishes and the family's
promise to the Tendou name. This worked for Akane and for Ukyou,
who also had a legitimate claim. 
     Breaking with Shampoo had been done in a fit of anger, normally he
would never have done such a thing. Because he had beat her and was
a martial artist, his honor told him to accept the law of her tribe and
allow her to be his fiancee. He did not love her, he did not want her as
a fiancee, but she was one. It didn't matter if everything had been a
mistake, it was still binding.
     The honour of his family was different than his own though. He
would tarnish his own to do the right thing, but to tarnish the family
name just because it was convenient was dangerous. Seppuku was the
least of his worries. It did not matter if he was intending to try and
create a relationship with Akane. The vow would be broken.
     But I don't want to lose her...I love her. Her sobs made him step
hesitantly forward. What was life worth if he could not have her? Is my
honor worth that much? He remembered her in the clearing. The
bleakness that had filled him. No, it wasn't.
   "Go away," she said angrily as he walked up to her and waited
patiently for her to notice him.
   "I need to talk to you," he said quietly.
   "There's nothing to say. I saw it all. Now go away." 
   "You saw only the end," he insisted, "Besides you promised to at
least listen to my side."
   "Why should I keep my promise when you broke yours?" she
demanded fiercely.
   "Because I didn't break my promise," he snapped losing his patience,
"Do you think I wanted Shampoo there? I was enjoying the night. I
liked being with you. I was enjoying myself."
   "Obviously," Akane drawled, "Shampoo seemed to be enjoying
herself too."
   "She came into the theater looking for me. I asked her to leave, but
she didn't. Then she insulted you when I said I was with you, then she
kissed me."
   Akane remained quiet, starring at him. Her anger was still radiating
like the heat from an oven. She was not pacified yet. Ranma took a
breath and continued, "After you left, I was furious. I rounded on
Shampoo and chewed her out, then I told her that any claim she had on
me was gone. I don't care what her law says, she is never to be my
fiancee again."
   "You said that?" Akane asked incredulous, her mood lightening at the
words. 
   "Hai."
   "But why? I thought you liked all of the fiancees chasing you. It made
you a stud," she had stopped crying but was still keeping her distance.
   "My fiancees only cause me trouble, with school, with our families,
with other people, and with you. I don't want it anymore. I've decided
to renounce all of my engagements. I'll make my own decision."
   "D-does that mean ours?" Akane asked fearfully, tentatively.
   "Hai, but.."
   "Ranma no baka!" she screamed, but Ranma was ready for this. His
hands flashed out and grabbed her wrists, halting the descending mallet.
"Let me go."
   "Let me finish," he said through gritted teeth. It was difficult to hold
her arms still. He was surprised at how strong she was.
   "No, you said you loved me. We..we slept together," she sobbed,
"And now you want to throw it all away, throw me away like some
used tissue. I won't have it."
   "I'm not throwing you aside," Ranma shouted, "I'm saving our
relationship."
   That comment silenced Akane. Her face drew itself up into a
puzzled expression, "Did I hit you too hard? That makes no sense."
   "Let me explain, please," Ranma pleaded. Akane nodded agreement
after a few moments. Once he felt her arms loosen, he released her
hands. She returned to her original position, although she kept the
mallet.
   "Explain, and it'd better be good." The warning and threat in her
words was obvious. 
   Ranma gulped audibly and started to explain as best he could. "We
were forced into this engagement. Our parents wanted it, not us. We
fought it and each other from the beginning. Then with the other girls
and all of those people at school, all the misunderstandings and crazy
adventures, it just made it harder and harder to get along, to forgive
each other. Don't you get it? Our engagement is the cause of so many
of our problems, not to mention my other ones."
   "We're more enemies than friends. No matter what we feel, we still
look at the other as a rival, as an annoyance or problem. I wanna start
over. Fresh, no misunderstandings, no forced marriages. How do you
even know we're right for each other?" Akane widened her eyes at that
question. Actually everything Ranma was saying was not like him. He
never thought about things this deeply, of course she had not seen him
suffer when he had thought he had raped her, or been with him all the
time in the hospital.
   "One of us might find another person latter," he said quietly, though
it hurt him to think about that possibility, "I-I still care for you Akane,
very deeply. I don't want to lose you, that's why I'm doing this." 
   "Maybe if we start out working on being friends. We have time, were
only seventeen," he said solemnly, "You weren't planning to get
married anytime soon, were you?"
   "No," she said, "Actual I never thought we'd be married. We fight so
much."
   "That's why I want to do this. It clears everything away, and maybe,
down the road, we'll decide we want to be together forever.
Then we can get engaged and married, of our own free will, without
hating each other, without all of the present problems."
   Akane sat quietly and thought about what Ranma had said. In a way
he was right, but at the same time, it seemed like a mistake. But he was
going to get rid of the other girls also, and he had said that he cared for
her and didn't want to lose her. She did not want to lose him, even after
tonight. She loved him deeply, but at the same time hated him so much.
He was right, they had started out wrong, and here was a chance to fix
that. It was risky, she might lose him, but then again she might lose him
faster if they kept up like this.  For once Ranma was right, she finally
decided.
   "Hai," she finally said, "As of now our engagement is off." Ranma
held out his hand, tentatively Akane took it, despite the fact that it was
a Western agreement. They shook on it. Then Ranma stood up and
walked away. 
   Startled Akane started to call for him, but he suddenly turned around
and walked back to her, with a mischievous grin on his face. He
stopped in front of her and bowed. "Tendou Akane?" he asked.
   Confused Akane could only nod her head.
   "I'm Saotome Ranma," he stated emphatically, "My father and yours
trained together when they were younger. Tendou Soun has invited us
to stay with your family for awhile, and he said you were a martial
artist. I'm pretty good myself, and I thought we might, you know, spar
every so often. Maybe we could be, ah, um friends." He said the word
quietly and blushed as he dropped his head sheepishly.
   By this time Akane had caught on to his game, and although it was
silly and had no real meaning, since first impressions were forever, it
was still an attempt by Ranma to heal things and start over fresh.
Standing up, Akane bowed, duplicating Ranma's and establishing an
equal status between them. "I'm Tendou Akane," she said, "And I guess
it'd be nice to have a sparring partner, even though your.." She stopped
herself. This was not a time for stupid comments. Ranma was serious,
and she realized she also should be. "Maybe we can be friends." She
smiled at him.
   Ranma returned her smile. She looks so beautiful. "Um, I've gotta
sort of, um problem," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "You see, I
was training in China, and well, I accidentally fell into a cursed pool,
and now, well, I, um, that is, I turn into a girl when I get hit with cold
water. But I turn back when I get hit with hot water. I don't like it, but
so far there's been nothing I can do 'bout it." 
   Still smiling, Akane took his hand, "That's horrid. I'd hate to have
that happen to me, although me turning into a girl'd be sorta redun-
dant." Ranma grinned at that, but stayed silent. "I guess it's not too bad,
I'm mean it's not like you actually like it, do you?"
   "No, no," Ranma stuttered, surprised at the question and how quickly
the game had become serious. They seemed to be covering everything,
apologizing in their own way.
   "Good, otherwise you'd be a hentai." She absolutely had to get that in
the conversation. "So I guess that does it. Do you wanna do anything?"
she asked quietly.
   "Your father said you've already had dinner," Ranma said, "Maybe
we could get some ice cream?"
   Akane smiled at that. "Hai, that would be nice. Your treat?"
   "Hai," Ranma said wincing. His wallet was already low from the
movies and Nabiki's extortion the other day, but this was worth it.
Carefully he offered her his arm. She took it gently, like it was a live
snake, but relaxed once their arms were linked. "Let's go then."
   "Hai," Akane answered, and they both left the park, hope burning
brightly in both of their hearts.
   

Author's Notes:

   I guess I could explain a few things. The first story in this series is
"Atonement".  I don't know how many more are coming after this one.
I think this will be a very long series, especially after I finished this one.
You see originally this story was going to end very differently and just
be a way to fill up the three or four weeks between the first and third
part, which is where the story I want to write begins, but somehow I
ended up creating this mess above. 
   Up until about two days ago, I had no clue where this one was
going, and then inspiration struck. I was just thinking about all of
Ranma's engagements and decided to remove them from the story. I
mean it seemed like a way to solve his problems, but in all actuality
how many of you think that would actually work? I don't and I thought
of it, yet it does leave the question of what is going to happen from
here.
   More than anything, this is a slightly more serious attempt at
continuing the Ranma series. I'm considering going up through the
senior year and maybe into college, but that is an undertaking of at least
forty to fifty different stories, ouch! Right now I'm looking at thirty or
so, even with my new additions.
   I guess the reason it is going to be so long, is because I want to
deal with so much. Although the story is focusing on Ranma and Akane
now, and for the most part will be for the entirety, my original plan was
to delve into the charatcers' motivations and start resolving the
situations and create new ones at the same time. I want to deal with as
many of the characters as I can, but then everyone has dreams.
   The title of this entire series, Meiyo Ai soshite Nikumishi, literally
translates as Honor, Love and Hate. I chose that mainly because it
seemed that those were the three main motivating factors in all of the
characters that have problems with Ranma. I know I didn't put greed,
it's basically love of money, in there, but Nabiki can fall under those
three if you fiddle with her.
   Well enough talking. I have to figure out how I'm going to get
back to my original point and still make what I did here today work.
Thanks for paying attention. 

   Joseph Ashira Kohle