The day has come at last! As I promised, here is the part one of
Dreams Come as They May. C&C would be greatly appreciated.
[FFML] A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction
--- --- ---
She was lost.
A step, then another. And another... no, she wasn't
walking, was she? She was running, she vaguely corrected
herself, and unsteadily at that. She had stumbled to the
ground several times already.
How long has it been since she began running? How longer
still since she began searching? And she couldn't recall the
last time she had tried to commit suicide. Only one thing
prevented her from dropping dead when she should have months
ago: she had to be with him.
She just needed a minute with him...
And she could finally die with a smile on her face, for
she would finally have admitted to him what she had denied to
herself for so long.
It took her a long time, and many failed attempts to
come this far. Every failure ate away at her heart, but she
refused to give up. She firmly believed that her dream would
come true someday.
She thought she was dreaming.
She recognized the familiar landscape from her long-
buried memories. Was it really only two years ago? But that
was impossible, wasn't it? She must be dreaming then.
Disoriented, she couldn't recall much of what had
happened within the last 12 hours. She remembered seeing a
mirror; a cracked one. She knew because she was still
carrying it, but couldn't fathom why she held to it tightly
at her heart. She just knew that it was very important; that
it would be instrumental in reuniting him with her.
The knowledge comforted her, and she was reassured that
things would turn out all right in the end.
Then she saw him.
For years she had envisioned various incidents when she
might be able to meet him, or to bring him back. Everyone had
called her delusional; but she didn't pay them any attention.
She knew she would meet him one last time.
Her vision eliminated other strangers, focusing only on
her target. She ignored a familiar-looking girl that seemed
to be arguing with her man. She screamed out his name and
spread her arms wide, running towards him.
She could see his startled expression as she jumped at
him with so much velocity that she overpowered him. She
embraced him tightly, tears streaming from her eyes. Time
seemed to slow for her as both of them began their fall to
the ground.
It's a dream. Her brain told her that it was physically
impossible for him to be still here, waiting for her. So it
concluded that it must be a dream, but she didn't care.
Even as her vision turned to white, Akane Tendo's heart
soared in happiness as she was finally reunited with her
long-removed Ranma Saotome...
---------------------------------
Dreams Come as They May
- Part I
Written by Dark Alpha
--- AlphSailor@aol.com
All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi,
first published by Shogakugan in Japan and brought over to
North America by Viz Communications. Read them and laugh. :)
Begin.
---------------------------------
- Ambivalence -
It was not good day for Akane Tendo. She had been angry
at Ranma for the third and fourth time, but couldn't remember
the reasons why she was mad. Events around Nerima tend to
have that effect. Like that incident which had recently
occurred a few minutes ago with Ranma and another woman, much
to her disappointment.
She remembered shaking her hand at Ranma, angry at
something now forgotten. Ranma had tried to protest his
innocence, which only frustrated her further. In
retrospection, she was almost absolutely certain it had been
about fiancees.
She recalled this much at least because the instant a
young woman popped out of nowhere and pounced on Ranma,
screaming out his name, Akane had regretted her words and
then her response. But she was now stuck with the results and
two unconscious forms on the ground, only one of which was
intentional.
She berated herself for letting her temper get the
better of her, just as it had so often in the past. The
instant this woman had plastered herself with such passion
and emotion that would make Shampoo green with envy, her
brain went into overdrive and took in a scope of the
situation just as Nabiki would have, albeit in prejudiced
perspective.
A young girl was attaching herself to Ranma, and judging
from the newcomer's actions, she had to be extremely
'familiar' with Ranma. And from her biased experience, the
only way any woman would have been familiar with the Casanova
was if she was his _fiancee_; of that Akane did had no doubt.
Since she did not recognize her, even though there was
something about her that seemed familiar, it meant that Ranma
must have picked up _yet_ another one.
And with that conclusion, she was definitely _not_
happy. Everyone within earshot spared Ranma a moment of
sympathy as Akane expressed fully her feelings about the
situation; she screamed, "Ranma *no* BAKA!" and executed her
trustworthy "Anti-fiancee" maneuver designed specifically to
separate Ranma from any woman he came in close contact. In
another words, she knocked Ranma out cold with her fist.
Good, no 'uncute fiancee' remarks from him, either.
She turned to face the new suitor, and instead of an
angry fiancee demanding an explanation for what she did to
her 'Ranma-honey' that she had expected, she found an
unconscious young woman, with pained expression on her face.
Immediately, her anger left her and she felt like a
heel.
"Honestly," Akane sighed as she knelt beside the
unconscious girl for a better look, which wasn't better
because she was laying face-down on the ground and her
unkempt long black hair partially obstructed her face, but
not her expression; mixed with a look of shock and pain, and
something else... a twinge of happiness?
Frowning slightly at a rather long scabbard hanging from
the back of the girl and the mean-looking sword it harbored,
she didn't like the looks of it. She never felt comfortable
around swords, not since Shampoo had shown up chasing after
Ranma's female half with intent to kill. They were too easy
to wield, and frequently used to kill...
Akane shook her head to clear her thoughts, but she
couldn't dismiss a nagging thought that something big was
about to happen, and that this seemingly harmless young girl
would be connected somehow.
After debating with herself over the logic of trying to
rouse up a dead-to-the-world type of person, her curiosity
won over. A raving-mad girl who ran around screaming Ranma's
name and carrying a nasty sword _did_, in her opinion, bear
some needed investigation, though for reasons she refused to
acknowledge. Aware of the deadly blade, she began examining
the girl's facial features and noted that the girl was not
much older than she was, perhaps around eighteen. She reached
out and brushed aside the hair strands for a better look at
the face. Her hair, while long and lush black, was unkempt
and frayed. A lot of dirt and soot marred the girl's face,
recently moistened by tears.
Placing her school case aside for a moment, she gently
lifted the body to its side for a better look. She did not
anticipate, however, the girl's light form and ended up
flipping the girl on her back. Except for a slight sharp
outburst of breath, there was no reaction from the girl. She
didn't expect otherwise.
She was not prepared for what she saw, however.
"Oh my gosh!"
The unconscious girl's clothes were ruined, having been
ripped in several places and heavily soiled. Akane wasn't
concerned about that; rather, it was blood. A _lot_ of blood.
The concrete beneath the girl was already dyed in red.
"What in the world happened here?!" Her previous
reservations about the mysterious girl were immediately
hurled out of her mind as she quickly inspected her
condition. It didn't take her long to discover a large ragged
rip on the girl's right side of jacket. The shirt underneath
was already heavily soaked red.
Akane gingerly lifted aside the rip in the clothing and
gasped in shock. There were three long and angry red slits
snaking diagonally from the unconscious girl's mid-section to
her right hip. It was still bleeding, though not as heavily
as she had feared. Not wasting time, she quickly shrugged her
dress jacket off and ripped it into large pieces and pressed
one of them against the wound. The unconscious girl did not
react in pain, nor did wake up. This worried her greatly.
"Somebody call 119! The girl's bleeding!"
A young man knelt next to Akane and was about to push
her aside, offering his help, but she didn't listen to him as
she shrugged his hands off her. Only one thing echoed inside
her thought, that whatever had happened to this girl, she
felt that she was partially responsible.
Realizing that the cloth she was pressing against the
wound was already soaked with blood, she quickly replaced it
with fresh shards of her now-ruined jacket. Just as she was
about to resume applying pressure again, she blinked at the
sight of her bloodstained hands.
...someone screamed behind her ear and she swiveled
around, bringing about her kanata to bear. The bandit
descended towards her, grinning madly, his hand extended.
Something glistened in dark, and she jerked backwards,
bringing up her red hands into her view, still gripping to
the hilt of her blade. This was it then. Better do than not
do...
"Miss!"
Akane snapped out of her daze and quickly applied
pressure on the wound almost mechanically. "Damn it, it's not
enough..." She gritted as the fresh cloth slowly turned red,
absorbing the slow trickle of blood.
Despite the pressure to stop the bleeding, Akane knew it
wouldn't be enough; the girl needed medical attention, fast.
She already knew that call for 119 had been made, but the
question was how long would it take for help to come? About
ten minutes, seven at the earliest. No, that was far too
long. There had to be someone experienced in medicine nearby,
someone she knew and trusted... Doctor Tofu!
He would be able to help the girl! And his office was
only a block away!
Akane would later vaguely recall shoving away a number
of bystanders from the unconscious girl in desperation and
picking her up, easing her onto her back. She didn't recall
shouting out her intentions, informing the kind man to
explain things to Ranma when he came to, that he should come
too.
Only things she could recall was running, carrying the
girl on her back and wondering why she seemed so familiar to
her. And the blood-stained hands of hers... groping at the
darkness...
And her own conscience reminding that this might have
been her fault somehow.
If she had known exactly whom she was carrying on her
back, she might have felt differently about what her
conscience was trying to tell her. An additional conscious
thought about a certain boy might have helped prevent a
drastic change in her life, and allowed only a not-so minor
adjustment. She would have had an easier time in the future.
All she had to do was acknowledge her feelings.
She might have salvaged the lives of herself and the
injured girl she carried.
But she didn't; instead she misinterpreted her own words
and willed herself to run faster, faster than ever she had in
her life, down the path that would lead her to Dr. Tofu.
This was definitely _not_ a good day for her.
- - - -
...clanking noise to my left, and a scream.
no no no not now - someone in pain near me. what to do,
cant help him... Ranma? No, Ranma's hurt! Gotta help him and
must-- *krunch* oh, right couple of my ribs are broken,
again. Don't feel any pain, though.
Ignore my injuries, I've got to get up and--
Nothing. I'm not moving much at all, it's an effort to
push myself off the ground.
Why do I feel so weak? My head's killing me, and I can't
remember what's going on, wait. Paralysis drug-tipped darts,
wasn't it?
Another groan of pain, and with my addled brain, I
barely recognized it as being Ranma's. I turned my head to
one side and was surprised to see Ranma's face, streaked with
tears. I blinked in surprise when I noticed that my eyes were
brimming with tears as well.
I tried to open my mouth, but nothing came out - damn my
paralysis! Why can't I say it to him?! I've got to tell him
that I lo-- that it's too dangerous out here! I didn't know
if Ranma understood what I was trying to say, but he smiled
at me.
I stared, transfixed by his smile...
He tried to help me to my feet, even though I moved like
a puppet. With an effort, I managed to rise to my knees
before I were driven to the ground violently by some unknown
force. I didn't react, instead I stared at the spot where
Ranma once had been.
Where did he...? Oh no, nono, he's gone. It can't be.
ranma's gone... and it's my fault, i told him to do it. he's
gone because of me...
- - - -
She snapped her eyes wide open and sprang up from the
lying position in surprise. Her mouth was open in a silent
scream. Immediately, she doubled over in an imagined pain,
clutching to her wound. She berated herself for having been
so careless when she had...
Had, she had tried...
?
What had she done? Her mind was blank; she couldn't
recall what had happened to her, or where she had ended up.
She raised her hand to touch her forehead gingerly, almost as
if by some magic touch, her memory would be restored. Surely
she must have done something crazy...
Then she remembered everything. Or at least some
portions of her memory, and she remembered Ranma.
She wept in despair, having been so tantalizingly close.
But it had been nothing but a dream. A delusion, induced by
her exhaustion and fading hope. She drew her arms around
herself for comfort. Her mouth went dry when she realized
something.
Someone had treated her wounds, and from what she could
recall, she wasn't that person. How could an unconscious
person, quite possibly dying, nurse her own wounds? No,
someone else had. Subconsciously, she scratched the itch on
her skin near the edge of thick bandages covering her wounds.
Rather skillfully, she idly noted, since she barely felt any
pain. Only an occasional itching sensation. She sensed
another set of bandages on her right thigh.
Her grief quickly forgotten, she quickly focused on the
world around her, bringing her senses to their fullest. She
saw more technology in the room than she had in last two
years. A brief wave of nostalgia swept through her mind, but
she suppressed it. Wherever she was, she determined that she
must be in doctor's house. Medicine, painkillers, scalpels,
oxygen masks...
Wait. The scalpels. There was an unmistakable telltale
ring where a drop of water had evaporated on the metallic
handle of the instrument. For some reason, that particular
instrument filled her with cold dread. The blade was sharp
and could easily draw blood, even if the handler was
incompetent. A weapon... if used properly it could become a
weapon. A weapon.
Her mind drew in the harsh cold reality and the answer
came to her, her eyes flickering around the room more warily.
She had been captured. How could she have been so foolish?
Who had captured her? Why was she captured? Fear intensified
when she couldn't recall anything from her memories.
Whoever her captor was, he obviously wanted her alive,
if the condition of her injuries were of any indication. For
what reasons, she did not know, nor care. All she knew that
someone had her as a prisoner, and wanted to keep her here.
No, she disagreed silently. If someone wanted to keep her in,
then she wanted to get out. It was as simple as that.
Simple, everything to her were instantly reduced to the
simplest terms, and quickly analyzed. Simple, everything was
that way; she had learned the hard way.
Quietly, she removed her bed covers and slid her body
off her bed. She shuddered slightly in the air-conditioned
room, noting fact that except for her panties, she was quite
naked. She tested her body weight on her legs. Good, she
could support herself. Next, she needed something to cover up
her nudity. Fortunately for her, the clothing she had worn
before lapsing into unconsciousness had been discarded upon a
nearby counter.
She frowned at the condition of her clothing. Her shirt
was had been completely shredded and was thoroughly soaked
with her blood; it was useless. At least her jacket was still
salvageable, despite the ugly gash where someone or something
had clawed through at her. Fortunately, the rest of outfit
was still in good condition. She was also extremely relieved
when she retrieved two pieces of necklaces with jeweled orbs
placed beside her clothing. They were absolutely priceless to
her. She fastened them both to her neck and wasted no moment
dressing up.
To her surprise, she uncovered her kanata resting
underneath her jacket. As she picked up her sword, she shook
her head at the incompetence of her captor. For a moment she
wondered whether she should be relieved or furious. She
decided to settle for latter.
She had just been insulted; discarding her weapons
unsecured and within her easy reach meant that her captor
wasn't taking her seriously. He probably considered her a
cheap person. If there was one thing she hated more than
anything in world, it was being not taken seriously.
Besides, anger was good. It helped her focus her
attention, and heighten her senses. It was familiar to her.
Having dressed up completely (sans her ruined shirt),
she gripped the hilt of her weapon, and drew it out slowly.
It was undamaged. The polished blade reflected back her face,
and she composed herself. Quickly and silently, she slid her
kanata back into its scabbard and slung it around her
shoulder.
Time to make her leave.
She quickly glanced around the room and frowned as she
realized that there was only one way out, and it was through
the only doorway in the room. Its curtains drawn close, it
beckoned and teased her at the same time. She inched closer
to the exit carefully, wary of possible dangers. It didn't
take long for her to register voices.
Voices. She could hear people talking just outside her
room. She quickly ceased her motion; if she were close enough
to hear voices, the speakers would be able to hear her as
well.
"...don't know what happened to her, but at least I
managed to stop the bleeding." A male voice, she noted.
Probably a doctor of a sort, judging from his words. He might
have been the one who took care of her. She decided to be
careful with this person for two reasons: he was a doctor,
and therefore was most likely to have knowledge of the
surrounding area that she could use to her advantage, and she
also wanted to know why she had been given extreme care.
"How's she doing?" The second voice puzzled her the
most; it was definitely feminine and concern was evident in
the voice. She frowned as she strained to hear this
particular speaker. It seemed familiar somehow, but she
couldn't quite place it.
"Lot better than I had anticipated. I'm surprised that
she's still alive, considering the fact that the cuts were
inflicted at least an hour before you brought her in. She's
been suffering from starvation, dehydration, blood loss, and
exhaustion."
She found herself nodding in agreement with the male
voice. Her fists clenched as dark thoughts swirled around her
head. Whoever did this to her, she swore that she would pay
him back in full. A broken nose sounded like a good place to
start. So intently focused on her situation, the conversation
beyond her room did not reach her senses, until a name was
mentioned.
"Why does it always have to be Ranma? He's always
getting into mess like this..."
What?!
Caught unprepared, she jerked reflexively back to the
sound of the voices. A small bottle of medicine that decided
to fall was instantly intercepted mid-air by her hands. She
absentmindedly put the bottle back to its original place. She
strained to listen more.
For some reason, her head chose this particular
opportunity to inform her that she had a headache. Each stab
of pain seemed to blot out the voices.
"... don't know, but ... coming ... suppose you're
right ... I wish he'd ... Great... got a head..."
She cursed her ill luck. She was having extreme
difficulty in hearing the conversation. She could hear only
occasional words and phrases, though. It was not enough. She
needed to know more about her situation, her captors.
Her damned headache was not helping her matters though.
On a whim, she glanced back to the prescription bottle she
had caught earlier. She opened it and quickly popped two
pills into her mouth before returning her attention to the
conversation.
"Ranma no baka..."
Her throat tightened when she heard the last three
words. Cold fear permeated her body. It was not that they
sounded familiar to her - rather, she had used that phrase
far too often for her own good. No, something did not feel
right to her, hearing familiar phrases rolling off a familiar
voice.
If only she could recall the identity of the speaker!
She raged internally over her frustration of being not able
to identify the speaker.
"...nevertheless, Ranma...almost the time... waking up
soon... strangely familiar... reminds me... Shampoo... at
least hope so..."
Seemingly of its own will, her hand traversed to the
hilt of her weapon secured tightly on her back, almost as if
remembering something. She willed her hand back to its
original position.
Ranma... and Shampoo. She knew those two names. Not only
she knew them both, they were a fatal combination to her. She
had pursed the first, and she would find him. The second, she
had snubbed and...
The second...
The girl raised her right hand, almost unwillingly. A
painful reminder in a form of a scar...
She tore her eyes from her hand and tried to focus her
attention to the conversation. It was now mostly worthless.
She was about to give up and focus upon her problems when she
overheard the female voice mutter something under her breath.
"...that girl... _bitch_... nerve to... work him up..."
She seethed in anger. Even though the female hadn't
actually specified her, she knew just exactly who she was
referring about. So this girl had dared to call her a
_bitch_, eh?
She had heard enough. It would not be long before the
doctor decided to check out her condition. She had to escape
and find her way around.
A distraction. That was all she needed- a diversion of a
sort. If she could create one, she could easily take her
captors by surprise and turn tables around against them. But
how...?
Almost acting on her instinct, she turned her attention
to the far end of the room. She smiled when she noticed a
circuit breaker box stationed on the wall, cables running out
from the bottom. She would later wonder how she had known
about the exact location of the circuit breakers. But she had
more pressing matters to attend to, so she didn't pay it much
attention. It only mattered to her that it was there.
Two-inch thick cabling snaked out of the bottom and ran
down along the edge of the flooring until it vanished into a
juncture not so far from her. It was exactly what she needed.
After a quick double-checking to ensure that her
'visitors' were still unaware of her consciousness, she drew
out her kanata. With a single swing, the blade sliced through
the metal box into half, as if it were made out of butter.
Electrical sparks spat out of the severed wires. The lights
flickered off and on before plunging the room and the
adjacent one into the darkness. Some stray sunlight seeped
into her room.
She quickly sheathed her weapon and wasted few precious
seconds to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Raising her
hands, even as she pressed herself against the wall near the
doorway, she cupped her mouth.
A shout of 'HELP!' echoed throughout the room, drawing
the attention of the doctor and the girl in the adjacent
room. The duo rushed instinctively to respond to the cries of
help without a thought or caution. This proved to be a
mistake.
Staying silent, her single cry having served her
purpose, she waited for the doctor to enter. When he did, she
grabbed the doctor's extended left arm and pushed and pulled
him further into the darkened room. A split-second later, the
doctor was on his ground, cringing in a painful position with
his left arm twisted upwards behind his back.
To the girl coming in after the doctor, it appeared to
her that the doctor had simply fallen out of sight.
Naturally, she came in to offer aid. The moment she entered
the black room, her senses screamed out, 'ambush' and 'stop
dawdling and get out of the way!'
It might have been a case where an Akane Tendo had been
accused of not being a decent martial artist, when compared
with Ranma and others. She didn't fare well in her feminine
duties either; but she was _not_ slow. She was just as fast
as the martial artists that had invaded her hometown and her
home, if not faster.
The mysterious girl simply proved herself to be faster.
Still firmly plastered against the edge of the doorway,
she brought down her free arm on the girl's head. Hard.
The girl quickly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The entire incident had barely lasted only three
seconds. Even as she continued to twist the doctor's hand
painfully, the girl looked down at the unconscious form in
disgust.
She so wanted to show the girl how wrong she was about
the 'bitch.'
"AKANE!" The girl started at the unexpected outburst of
her name. She jerked her head around in surprise, just in
time to see a fist reaching out for her. The doctor, having
finally realized what had happened to him, reacted
instinctively to the danger. So he ignored the pain in his
immobilized arm and twisted his body almost impossibly, his
other arm reaching out for the girl's neck.
The sole girl's eyes widened as she realized the
doctor's intentions; he was going precisely for the paralysis
point!
She yanked her body backwards, allowing the arm to drift
harmlessly past her. Her arm met with the doctor's and drew
him around while releasing his other arm from the painful
hold. With her second arm free, she grabbed his head and
propelled his momentum even faster.
Unfortunately for the doctor, a plaster wall happened to
be in his way.
She realized her mistake, but the prone form of the
doctor sliding down the wall informed her that it was too
late to correct her blunder.
"Damn..." She sighed heavily. Why couldn't she have been
able to foresee that maneuver and had simply disabled his arm
and limiting his mobility, instead of knocking him out? Now
she had no way to get information she desperately needed.
Aware of the reality of the situation, her headache
decided to return and help dull the gravity of the situation
for her. Not so grateful, she banged her head against the
wall in frustration and anger at her stupidity. This did not
detain her curiosity, though.
How did the doctor know her name, Akane wondered. She
had been careful about not revealing her name to outsiders...
Stop that! She was _not_ with the Amazons anymore! She
would _not_ emulate them, nor conform to their beliefs. She
never had since the beginning, anyway.
Aware that she was running out of time, she knelt and
gently lifted the doctor from his undignified (and obviously
uncomfortable) position against the wall and dragged him into
the next room. Even the girl who had recently insulted her
was given same treatment.
Under the circumstances, she did what she could to help
ease their future discomfort. She really wished she had a
light of some sort so she could have better look at them.
Apparently when she had cut power, she had short-circuited
the whole building. Pale light from the blue sky provided the
little illumination the entire building had, thanks to the
poor positioning of windows, due to its modern design.
As she probed the unconscious girl's neck for signs of
injury, she felt an unusual case of deja vu. She couldn't
shake the feeling that she knew this girl somehow, almost as
if there was a sort of bond between them...
o~/ Dreading the school bell, we can't help but worry
o~/
o~/ Classmates behind me, we can't help but hurry. o~/
She frowned slightly as lyrics sang in her headache-
ridden temple. What's going on?
o~/ They'll catch their breath and then, they'll say:
o~/
o~/ "Good - Mor - ni - ng!" o~/
Akane shook her head, disquieted by the words. It was
creepy for her, hearing the lyrics in a darkened room with
two people acting like dead. Her headache seemed to be
pulsating in synch with the song. It was too much for her.
o~/ Sweet summer grass that grows wild by the roadside
o~/
o~/ Starting each day with a smile that I can't hide.
o~/
She HAD to get out of here, to get away from the sense
of familiarity of the room and its inhabitants. Knowing and
yet not knowing was starting to drive her crazy. Any longer,
she feared she might go crazy.
Satisfied that there would be no permanent harm to them,
she scurried out of the room and into the blinding sunset. To
escape the unusual degree of familiarity she did not want to
acknowledge.
o~/ It's what I know... But may not always be so. o~/
She was running down the street now. Not paying any
attention to the bystanders who gave her unusual looks. Looks
of realization and later confusion. Some of them even called
out for her. No, no- please don't recognize me! She despaired
and feared. She wanted nobody to remember her, she didn't
want to remember faces of people who might have once been her
friends or allies.
She wanted to be left alone! Why can't she just be left
alone?!
o~/ Casual moments like these mean the most to me o~/
o~/ Treasured times that don't need any key. o~/
She wanted nothing to do with others! She only wanted
Ranma, and nothing else! _NOTHING!_
For better mobility in her escape and less exposure to
civilians, she jumped onto the roof of a nearby home.
o~/ In the album of my heart I keep, o~/
o~/ old times stay like new. o~/
o~/ No, I won't forget... (how this sky is blue) o~/
o~/ No, I won't forget... (how this dream came true) o~/
Her latest escapade forgotten, Akane bounced across the
Nerima rooftops like a super-powered grasshopper. Two birds
screeched in anger as their nest were disturbed. A man
repairing a small rooftop leak was knocked off.
She did not care. She only wanted to get away from it
all. The familiarity. The conformity. The community. That
girl she had felt so familiar with. All of it and everything.
She ran even faster.
o~/ They're the gentle times we'll share forever o~/
o~/ Long past all those times are thru. o~/
o~/ Even when I'm sad... (days I just don't know) o~/
o~/ Even when I'm sad... (days the tears just flow) o~/
o~/ Mem'ries of days I'll never, ever let go. o~/
- - - -
...in my hand the hunting knife I had used to... No
matter, it would suffice. Seppuku's not even worth the
effort. Besides there's no one who would be my second.
The house is quiet. Daddy... gone, dead. Not yet,
though- but he's on the way. Just like my Mommy. Kasumi's out
shopping, she wouldn't be back for another hour. Good.
Nabiki? Where did she go? No matter, I only need fifteen
minutes and it'd be over.
I quietly disrobed my clothes and gazed upon my final
steaming hot bath. I took extra care in folding my clothes
away, and scrubbed my body clean. Better to die clean rather
than filthy. Show others that I still cared, at least.
With my menial cleaning duties done, I stepped into the
furo and winced at hot temperature. Hotter, the better. I let
my body soak in water for five minutes, to mellow out my
skin.
I raised my left arm and marveled at the perfection of
my forearm. Pale white and devoid of any scars. As I brought
my hunting knife I still held to it clumsily, I felt a twinge
of pity at the intentional disfigurement of the perfection,
but it was unavoidable. It slid across my skin easily. I
barely felt any pain as I bled. I immersed my wrist into warm
water and watched it seep out even faster.
Ahh, I smiled contently and let my tears run free. For
Ranma. For me. For us.
Maybe it wouldn't take me long to die, I hoped.
I executed similar operation on my right wrist. I felt
no pain as I lowered my arms back into water, allowing it to
suck my blood out of me. I must have willed my blood to flow
even faster, because it didn't take long for the water to
turn blood red.
Sighing blissfully, I sank my body into water, coming to
rest just above my neck. I remembered closing my eyes, to
help me focus on the sensation of hot water grow colder and
colder until i felt nothing.
ranma, im coming and ive missed you...
- - - -
"AKANE!"
Startled by the scream, Akane spasmed out of her
artificially induced rest.
First thing she did was to check her wrists, to see if
she had any life left. Yes. She was still alive, and her
wrists were unslashed. Akane released a huge breath of relief
as she rubbed them.
It had been so vivid. She had never felt so closely
attached to a dream like this one before. She could still
feel cooling sensation of hot water, and her own blood
pumping out of her wrists...
She shuddered violently, squeezing her eyes tight. No
more, please! I don't want to remember and feel and see! Her
breathing became haphazard, coming out and in short but
inscrutable pattern. Yet her chest heaved in and out.
A pair of arms reassured her living, and words of
concern finally registered in her ears, "...all right? You're
not hurt, aren't you? Oh man, if I ever catch that guy who
did this to ya..."
She snapped her head back to reality and saw Ranma.
RANMA!
Almost as if driven by desperation, she reached out and
pulled him into a heart-crunching embrace, squeezing him like
a doll. Caught by surprise, Ranma felt his insides caving
inside under the Akane's powerful grip, his air being forced
out. "A-Akane, I c-can't breathe...!" He squeaked out.
Akane blinked, "Ranma?" Realizing what she was doing,
she released him just as quickly as she had grabbed him,
already positioning herself a meter further from him with a
red face. Ranma toppled back and fell from the force of
Akane's shove and bumped the back of his head against the
floor.
"What was that for?!" Ranma wheezed as he got up, eyeing
the girl oddly.
"I thought-" Akane paused, then tried again, as she
tried to search for the reason, "I-I... I-I don't know." she
finally admitted. Ranma crooked his head at her, but then
shrugged. It wasn't important to him anyway, so he tried to
dismiss it away.
She wasn't listening; she recalled her... dream? It
seemed to be more than a dream to her, almost as if she was
reliving a past experience. But it was impossible, wasn't it?
She had never committed suicide, or even considered it.
Yet she felt sure that it had happened in some way.
Never before had she felt such an overpowering sense of
finality and hopelessness. She imagined that she probably
would be able to pull off a perfect Shishi Hokodan if she had
tried with that much heavy emotion. This must have been how
Ryouga had felt when he thought she had hated him during his
Shishi Hokodan duel with Ranma three months ago.
"Ranma..." Akane trailed off as feelings of doubt and
uncertainty bore its way into her thoughts. No way had she
tried killing herself. She was sure of it. And certainly not
over Ranma!
'...was sure of it'? Why did she say that? She had NEVER
done such a thing. It was just a dream, yeah that's it. No
way it could be anything more than that!
Her senses already heightened by her scare told her that
someone had entered the room. She lifted her head from her
close body embrace and inhaled sharply when she saw the
doctor. "What happened, Doctor?!" She gasped as she noticed
his bloodied nose.
"Dub burry, I'b bine. Dust hud mah nobe, dat's ah."
Tofu mumbled as he pinched his nose with a Kleenex. "Ow."
"But what about..." Akane tried, but the doctor shushed
her.
"That's okay, it's stopped now." He let go of his nose,
relieved that the bleeding had stopped, and that his nose
wasn't broken. "Whoever she was, she didn't intend to cause
any serious injuries. She just simply knocked us both out."
"But why'd she do that?" Ranma interrupted, "I mean, you
helped her, didn't ya?"
"True," Tofu nodded as he discarded the used Kleenex in
the wastebasket. "But I'm not really sure. When she had me in
her hold, I sensed something about her. She's just feeling
defensive, scared, I think." The doctor paused for a moment
to think. There was something about that girl that he
couldn't quite put his finger on. He told them so.
Akane nodded in agreement. She had briefly looked over
the strange girl just before Tofu had kindly asked her to
step out so he could take care of the girl. When she did, she
had a strange feeling of deja vu, although she could not
understand why. It was almost as if she had known her
somehow.
Ranma, however, thought differently. "Something's not
right. How'd she get hurt, anyway? Whoever she is, she's
gotta be good. I mean, she knocked you two out in less than
ten seconds, tops. That's gotta mean she's a decent fighter
at least, but she's hurt somehow."
Akane blinked at him and wondered how she knew. Tofu
smiled grimly, "I agree, Ranma. Those wounds aren't normal;
they were done deliberately with a sharp instrument.
Thankfully they weren't serious."
"Are you sure? There was so much blood..." Akane
prompted as her voice trailed off, the haunting memory of her
'supposed' suicide still haunting her.
"There's another puzzling aspect: her injuries were
definitely at least forty minutes old, quite possibly around
fifty. I'm surprised that she didn't go to the nearest
hospital. There's plenty within her distance."
"Oh." The girl replied as her thoughts drifted. If she
hadn't found her, that girl might have...
The doctor must have been thinking along the similar
lines when he spoke, "Thankfully, she made it - how she
managed to lose this much blood and yet remain conscious I
find it hard to believe. But the risk is still there. I'm not
comfortable having her out there, running and jumping for all
we know, without medical attention. Any serious strain might
cause her stitches to reopen. I'm going to contact nearby
hospitals, so they'll know what to do in case she ends up
hurt again." The doctor nodded. He paused as he glanced at
Akane.
"Oh, Akane, don't worry about the blow to your neck.
It's nothing, you'll have a slight bruise, but nothing
serious." Akane blinked as she realized that she had been
massaging the sore spot on her neck for a while. Tofu
continued, "If you'd like to, you can leave now. Now if
you'll excuse me, I've got to some calls to make." With that,
Tofu sidestepped Ranma and left, leaving Akane to her
thoughts.
Now alone, Ranma turned to Akane and asked testily, "You
okay, Akane?"
"I'm fine," Akane said as she shook her head. A nagging
thought refused to leave her, so she decided to make it
known. "Who's that girl anyway? Why was she looking for you?"
Her eyes narrowed as she added another line, "Another fiancee
of yours?"
"No! I don't even know her! I've never met her before,
honest!" Ranma protested. "Besides, I've already got my hands
full with of you."
Well, his admission certainly sounded genuine. She
sighed in mixed disappointment and relief. Since she thought
she had detected a vague compliment somewhere in his words,
she decided not to purse it further.
Just for once, she thought despondently, she wished that
she would have a day of normality. A nice day after a great
night's sleep. A nice talk with Ranma without an argument, or
any interference from his so-called fiancees. She briefly
wondered how it would feel if she could just hold his hand
while walking, like a couple...
Ranma placed his hand on Akane's shoulder, concerned.
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing." Akane just shook her head. "Let's just go
home. I don't feel like blaming you right now. I just want to
go home."
At least one good thing came out of it; her headache
apparently had stopped.
She could almost hear her own breath wheezing as it
slowly ceased...
- - - -
Nerima.
Akane bit into a piece of rice ball she had managed to
purchase without being recognized, not happy at all. Of all
the places in the world she could have ended up in, it just
_had_ to be Nerima.
It wasn't that she didn't want to return to her old
hometown; rather, she would have preferred to come back
during a happier time or with good news. Like Ranma.
Funny, the district hadn't changed that much since she
had left. Then again, she supposed, there had been no reason
for it to change since Ranma had left. Even so, she wasn't
sure if there had been _any_ changes at all. She had been
away for quite some time after all. She supposed that the
recession Japan was suffering from was partly to fault.
Nothing seemed to be for better, but they weren't for worse
either.
Only one thing concerned her at this moment was getting
out of the city and return to China as quickly as possible.
She still had something to do there, but she couldn't recall
what. She only knew that it was urgent. Perhaps Cologne might
be able to help.
She sighed as she put the rest of her rice ball back
into her jacket, ignoring her discomfort of wearing not
wearing a shirt or a gi underneath her jacket. While she was
already on her way out of the place, she still had one place
to visit, and she was already there.
Hundreds of narrow stone pillars with markings spread
far and wide from her place at the entrance.
She quickly purchased some incense and a small bowl of
water, borrowing a ladle. She wasn't sure why she was doing
this, but her heart told her that it would help. It might
even help clear away some of her uncertainties.
It did not take her long to single out a single pillar
among the hundreds dotting the scared place. She paused
before it for a moment to read the markings on it.
Tendo.
The granite marking was not elaborately decorated, and
seemed to be dull and unattractive-looking, a stark contrast
to the scores of markers nearby, which featured their own
unique makeup. But it held a special meaning to Akane.
Her mother. Even though she had been only a little girl
when her mother had died, she remembered the last words Mommy
had spoken to her, as the monster inside her slowly ate away
at her life.
**please be strong, my dear akane. i am sorry that i
can't be with you for long, but please promise that you'll
always be strong, and that you will discover your own
happiness...**
**i promise, mommy! i promise always, so please don't
leave me!**
A tear swelled in her eyes, and she wiped them away.
Yes... she nodded her head sharply as she clutched her fists.
The last hour had been the closest she had come to throwing
in the towel. But never again!, she renewed her vow.
She would find Ranma even if it meant going into the
bowels of hell!
Doubts creeped in, however. "But..."
She knelt near the marking and raised her hand to it,
reaching out to feel the deep incisions of her mother's name
etched on it. Her right hand quavered slightly as it made the
contact then withdrew quickly as if it scorched.
Akane stared at her hand in genuine surprise. Then she
closed her eyes and nodded deeply.
"Thank you... I'd almost forgotten. Almost." Smiling bit
wider than she had in months, she took in a deep breath,
inhaling the fresh scent of springtime grass. Picking up the
ladle, she began the ritual. As she prepared for the
occasion, she was secretly relieved to notice that her
father's marking was conspicuously absent.
The water slowly drizzled from the wooden cup and
splashed on top of the stone pillar. She then lit the incense
she had and placed it at the base of the marker. Blowing out
the torch, she knelt and mentally prepared herself for a task
she had allowed to fall into disuse after years. Her mother
would have been upset if she were still alive today.
She prayed to the spirits.
Thank you, Mommy... Daddy. I won't give up until I find
him! I swear this on my honor as a Tendo!
Her resolve began to falter slightly once more. But...
Oh Mommy, I need you so much! I'm alone and I don't know what
to do! R-Ranma's gone a-and...
"Oh, I'm sorry for intruding."
An invisible barrier of emotion slammed into her, and
flung aside her thoughts into chaos. Fear gripped her body.
Oh, no... please not her! I-I can't face her, not here,
not now!
She turned around slowly and mentally made a thousand
offerings and promises to gods that might have been
listening. Then she made another thousand even though she
knew all of them would flutter by unheeded.
There she was, a radiant-looking young girl, holding a
small collection of flowers. The dying rays of sun darkened
her light blue dress, but did not hide her innocent smile.
Her scarred hand twitched slightly in extreme
nervousness. Words of the days past resurfaced in her
thoughts, intensifying her guilt.
"Kasumi." Akane swallowed hard. She could feel rivulets
of sweat dripping down her neck.
The girl smiled sweetly in return, just as she had
remembered it long time ago. Except that it was marred by
hidden features of shock and confusion that she didn't show.
But Akane saw them and her fear increased ten-fold. She took
a step back.
Her hand twitched again and she quickly put it behind
her head and scratched, partly to hide her hand, partly in
embarrassment, and partly in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Uh- I-it's been quite a while since we met,
oneechan..." Akane forced her smile nervously.
- - - -
"Hey, I said I'd pay you back, I promise!" Onna-Ranma
defended herself, muttering something that Akane could not
quite hear.
"It doesn't matter if you can pay me back or not," she
countered, "The point is that you should've known! Do you
have any idea how embarrassing it was for me when I had to
pay for ice cream when you realized that you didn't have any
money? You said it'd be on you, remember?!"
Onna-Ranma yelped, "I said I was sorry! You were in some
deep funk, so I just wanted to cheer ya up, that's all."
"Oh forget it." She waved her hand dismissively as she
took her slip shoes off as the cursed female bounded
apologetically past her.
"Welcome back, Akane, Ranma." Kasumi greeted them
cheerfully as usual as she walked past them with a watering
pot. Akane immediately noticed a slight discrepancy in her
voice. However, Ranma was concerned about something else.
"You got any hot water ready?"
Kasumi paused and shook her head. "I filled the kettle,
but I haven't set it on the stove yet, Ranma."
"I'll do it, Kasumi! Thanks!" With that, Onna-Ranma
slipped past Kasumi with a greeting and zeroed right into the
kitchen, in hurry to relinquish her cursed form. Without even
a simple greeting to Kasumi, Akane noted as she put aside her
purse, less several hundred yen.
The moment Ranma left, Kasumi's smile vanished.
"Akane?" Kasumi replied in a quiet, subdued tone that
was quite uncharacteristic of her. She didn't normally fidget
like she was right now, either.
"What's wrong, Kasumi?"
"I'm not sure about how to put it this way..." Kasumi
shook her head slightly. "I don't want to be rude here,
but..."
Warning bells instantly went off in Akane's mind. If
there was anything Kasumi had any trouble dealing with, it
was usually unpleasant matters. They weren't her best forte;
her sister disliked keeping them secret. Not that she could
without being too obvious in doing so anyway. She was
painfully clear as glass at this moment.
Trouble was not something Akane wanted to deal with at
this moment. Not after what had occurred between her and that
mysterious girl.
"Kasumi." Akane placed her hands on her sister's
shoulders and spoke calmly, pushing aside her concerns for a
moment. "Please tell me."
"When I visited our Mother earlier, I met someone at her
marker." Akane inclined her head, confused. Why would it be
unusual? She knew that her mother had some friends who still
occasionally stopped to pay her their respects. She suggested
the notion to Kasumi.
"Yes, you're right, Akane... but..." Kasumi bowed her
head in shame and whispered almost too lightly for Akane to
hear. "I think we might have an illegitimate sister."
Ah. So they had another...
"WHAT?!" Akane blurted out before she could stop
herself, drawing in Onna-Ranma's attention as she poked her
head into the room.
"Something wrong, Akane?"
"Nothing." She said simply, waving her away. "I just got
a bit excited, that's all."
"If you say so," Onna-Ranma replied, unconvinced, and
disappeared back into the kitchen.
Akane waited few moments to make sure Ranma wasn't
listening, then turned to her sister and spoke again in
hushed tones. "Are you trying to tell me that Daddy had an
affair with another woman before I was even born?!"
"Well, you needn't have to be _that_ blunt, but yes
that's what I think."
"Hold on, why do you think we've got another sister? Did
she say who her father was?"
"I was so surprised that I forgot to ask, but... she
called me 'oneechan.' She seems to know a lot about Nabiki
and me..."
"'Seems to know'...? What do you mean?"
Kasumi put her finger to her chin as she recalled her
meeting. "She remembered... things. She told me she knew our
mother... and the vacation we had at Hokkaido. She remembered
the fun she had with Nabiki and me." She twisted her fingers
around, uncertain. "She... she didn't tell me how she knew,
but she implied that she had been with us during our
vacation..." She scrunched her eyebrows together in deep
thought, which unsettled Akane. "But I don't remember seeing
her back then..."
Akane relaxed. So THAT was what was bothering Kasumi.
She simply didn't react well when greeted by a stranger
unless properly introduced. "Oh, don't worry about it...
it's okay, sis. It's probably a case of mistaken identity.
She might've mistook you for someone else." Akane patted her
sister's back confidently. "I'll set her straight. Where did
you say she was?" Still, she felt uncomfortable with someone
traipsing around the community with a misguided notion of
being a Tendo.
"Upstairs, I think." At Akane's questioning glance,
Kasumi hastily explained, "I didn't know what I was supposed
to do with her, so I just naturally invited her in. She said
she was going to her room."
Akane frowned. "*Her* room? What did she mean by that?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry, Akane, but you'll have to look
around for her. You don't mind, do you?"
She shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll talk with her and
get to the bottom of this." Kasumi relaxed as she placed her
hand on her sister's shoulder. "Why don't you go ahead and do
whatever you were about to do and I'll take care of it?"
Literally, that is.
Kasumi nodded and picked up her watering pot, relieved
to have the terrible burden and responsibility off her
shoulders. She disliked being shouldered with unnecessary
responsibilities, so she was more than grateful to relinquish
the trouble to her younger sister. Kasumi moved into the main
room cheerfully to water some plants. No sooner than her
sister had departed than Akane had climbed up the stairs
heading to the second floor and the bedrooms, including
hers...
Her eyebrows met.
An uninvited guest nosing around in her room without any
business being there. A number of possibilities of what such
a person might do in her room flew through her mind. A girl
with a long piece of cloth tied around her head under her
nose sneaking around the room, pulling out drawers of her
desk, paging through her personal photo Album, or taking a
brief doze on her bed. But interestingly enough, it was not
any of those, but the thought of her accidentally uncovering
one of her most personal secrets, a small box hidden away
somewhere behind her desk, that infuriated her the most...
A box full of tiny reminders of her mother and a
pigtailed martial artist...
Spurred into action, she quickly stomped her way up the
stairs, straight for her room. She was never the one for
subtlety, so she shouted out, "All right, whoever you are,
you'd better nobody not be in my room, or you'll be sorry!"
She slammed her door open, expecting to catch the
intruder with her hands on her treasure... and found her room
clean. She blinked. "Nobody's here? But I could've... oh."
She was probably just acting bit paranoid that's all, she
assured herself. Of course there was no way anybody would
have found it! It was the best place to hide it, and nobody
would have even guessed as to where it is!
Satisfied by her conclusions, she gave her room a quick-
over, paying an extra attention to her desk (and was also
quite relieved when reassured that her secret had remained
secret, apparently), before moving on to Nabiki and Kasumi's
rooms. Disappointed by lack of results of her search, she was
about to move on to the fourth and the largest room on her
floor; Saotome's room.
As she approached the room, a feeling of dread crept up
her spine, almost as if having a premonition of something was
going to happen. Something happened.
An uneasy feeling swept through her body, almost as if
she was... disoriented? Multitude of memories of running from
an unknown figure washed over her, before a vivid image of...
claw-hook trailing a length of chains loomed towards before
being yanked downwards...
...and sickening sounds of her own skin ripping as the
talons ripped into her fleshy stomach...
Akane jerked involuntarily backwards from the sensation,
bumping her back against the cool wooden walls of the hall.
She realized that she was already panting slightly, but...
what the hell was that?
Fishing out her left hand where it had previously been
clutching to her right side, her shoulders slackened as Akane
realized that her hand was still clean, as ever. No trace of
blood. Probing her side, she saw that there was nothing
amiss.
Still, she could've sworn that it had been real. For a
split-second there, she had felt pain, or was it also
imagined?
ranma, im scared! where are you...?
She snapped her head up, startled.
Where had that thought come from?
She shook her head to clear confusion from her mind and
was rewarded with extra confusion for her actions. Could she
be going crazy? She shuddered at the thought of going insane
like Kodachi. NO! she mentally screamed, I'm NOT going crazy
like that lunatic!
She stood there for few moments to gather her bearings
and decided to go below for some medicine to get rid of the
beginnings of a headache she felt coming. A BIG one, she was
sure.
As she was about to turn around to head down the stairs
to the kitchen for the cure, she heard a slight rustling
sound in... Ranma's room?!
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she frowned as she
recalled the reason for having gone upstairs in the first
place. "Why am I not surprised?" Akane muttered to herself.
Of all rooms, her mystery 'sister' just had to visit her
fiance's. It would be just her luck that whoever this
'sister' was, she would happen to be 'familiar' with that
hentai. Another contender against her engagement to him...
Akane sighed in frustration and groused mentally at her
misery, about how she had ended up being engaged to a jerk
she was starting to like-- nono. Strike that; DIDN'T like,
no. She didn't like him. Well... maybe a bit. But still! And
the insanity Ranma had brought with him was starting to wear
her thin. Unless she did something about that, and soon, she
would have to deal with it for the rest of her life if she
wanted to be with that baka.
For her sanity, she decided to leave her last thought at
that, rather than engaging in a philosophical debate with
herself.
Pushing aside the door open, she saw a girl slightly
older than her huddled over Ranma's futon. It struck her that
she seemed to be... crying?
Startled by Akane's unexpected entrance, the girl froze.
She blinked and realized that she was not alone. So she
quickly rubbed tears away from her eyes. Internally, the girl
despaired. Why couldn't she even have a moment alone with
Ranma, even if he was really dead (which she refused to
accept), and mourn in silence?
It seemed to her that time was slowing down. The motions
of the girl as she turned around appeared to be done in an
agonizing slow exaggerated fashion, even as her own legs
refused follow her own accord.
In one single moment, two pairs of eyes met each other.
Three and zero years of knowledge were not and were
transmitted to each other in that single contact. It was
broken by a stray thought. Or two. Oddly enough, they seemed
to create an echo in their minds.
he's not here.
Akane had envisioned many things. Many of her fantasies
were typical of a sixteen-year old female high school
student. They ranged from a simple daydream or wistful
thinking to her wildest dreams to, yes, even sexual fantasies
(of the latter, she didn't want to admit to herself, she had
enjoyed).
But nobody had ever envisioned meeting a version of
herself. A real warm-blooded living carbon-copy of herself.
So both Akanes' reactions were rather predictable: "WHO
the hell are you?!"
"I'm Akane, who are YOU?"
"I'm Akane TENDO!"
"No, _I'M_ TENDO!"
"Liar!"
"YOU are!"
"I'm Akane!"
"No, you're not!"
"I am so!"
"Are not!"
"Am so!"
"Are not!"
The elder Akane growled irritably, some nerve this
impostor had, impersonating her AND reminding her of her
underdeveloped figure she had when she was younger! Wasn't
being hauled back into retro-times bad enough for her? Her
arm inched towards her carelessly discarded katana.
The younger Akane growled irritably, some nerve this
impostor had, impersonating her AND flaunting with better
figure than she had! This person just picked a wrong person
to make a fool out of. Her muscles tensed from its relapse
from Martial Arts training, itching for a fight.
Fortunately, the inevitable duel was narrowly averted by
a timely arrival of a manly Ranma Saotome, albeit wearing a
slightly damp clothing.
"Hey, Akane? You in here--?" He paused mid-sentence as
two pairs of predatory eye tread across him as if he was some
unwanted guest. He wasn't sure if he should be insulted by
the reaction; this _was_ his room after all. Even if it was
currently on a lease to him.
All that changed in an instant when two girls recognized
him. Akane frowned in the expression of annoyance that he was
already familiar with. But the second girl, which for some
reason he had immediately pegged as familiar to him somehow,
had an expression of disbelief on her face, which made it
more difficult for him to get a bead on her face. The facial
features were in different places, conveying wrong impression
of familiarity to him.
"Ra.. Ranma?" The slightly older Akane's voice quivered,
almost as if she was having difficulty in believing her eyes.
It wasn't far from the truth.
"Yeah." Ranma was instantly wary. Even though he didn't
really recognize her, something about the girl seemed to tug
at his memories somehow, but he couldn't place it. And given
that Akane was in the same room as the girl and him, he knew
it would only spell trouble, so he had to be extra, extra,
_extra_ careful here. "I'm Ranma Saotome."
"Re... Really?"
"Yeah. What do you want with meeeEE?" was his words as a
bone-crushing embrace that would have made Shampoo insanely
jealous forced his air out of him.
Geez, is this day for glompin' or what, Ranma thought,
having been subjected to a similar experience by a rather
busty Amazonian female just after he had left that ice cream
parlor with Akane earlier, before the elder Akane planted a
passionate - WHOA! - kiss on his lips.
Taken aback by the intensity and amount of emotion of
the kiss, which he doubted even Shampoo would rival (heck,
that first kiss was nothing compared to the one he was
having), he wasn't sure whether he should respond or end it.
Thankfully, the decision was made in his stead.
"Oh, RANMA! It's you, it's _really_ you! I thought I'd
never see you again! You've got no idea how much missed you!"
Akane cried as she finally broke the kiss, settling for a
much more comfortable hugging of Ranma.
He blinked. He blinked again. No way, he thought. It was
impossible. But he voiced out the impossibility. "A- Akane?"
Akane nodded vigorously, simply too overwhelmed with
excitement and happiness to form words.
"But, but- you're older, no wait, I mean you look
different!" He realized that he was babbling, so he forced
himself to calm down and tried again. "Akane, how'd you grow
up so fast?"
He instantly regretted the words as they came out of his
mouth. He brought up his hands to his face, expecting a blow
of some kind. It never came. Instead, he heard a different
noise and opened his eyes to sight he would have never
believed: an Akane crossing her arms to herself and laughing.
It was a warm and pleasant laugh, the kind that made a
person feel like he was being chided, yet appreciated at the
same time. Ranma decided that he liked the sound of her
laugh. Still...
"Hey, what's so damned funny?!"
Still laughing, Akane managed out, "But it's just that
it's been so long that I never thought that your insults
would sound so wonderful to me..."
"Huh?"
"Oh, Ranma... I'm just so glad that we're together
again..." Akane wiped away her tears as she stepped back.
There was a slight rustling noise that distracted Ranma,
drawing his attention to the source.
So startled by Ranma's presence, the elder Akane had
neglected to keep her jacket closed, so when she had let go
of Ranma and gave him some slack, she also gave him a quite
eyeful of her exposed brasserie.
Ranma instinctively glanced down to her bosoms and
gulped audibly. Suddenly he felt an ominous presence behind
him and swallowed again. Akane was NOT happy. He spun around
with his hands up in warding gestures, "I didn't mean to,
Akane, rea--!!"
Akane didn't give him a chance to finish as she used the
wooden shinai she had found nearby and bludgeoned him into
unconsciousness, while screaming out what kind of a pervert
her fiancee was.
Almost as if to verify Akane's claims, Ranma's last
thought was about how odd that Akane's breasts had seemed
bigger a minute ago...
His fiancee ceased her attack the instant he had
osculated the tatami. Akane winced internally; she really
hadn't intended to be so... harsh on him, but her reflexes
had kicked in. Ironically unaware of his final thoughts, she
had admitted to herself only recently that Ranma wasn't as
much of a pervert as she had accused him of being in the
past. However, she was more than determined not to allow
Ranma an opportunity to prove her wrong.
Lifting her shinai from unconscious Ranma's head, and
allowing a tiny bump to sprout free from the mop of black
hair, Akane turned around to face her unexpected guest.
Anticipating a shocked expression on her guest's face, she
had planned to force a smile to her face and dismiss the
entire incident as merely 'reining in' the old letch's
'influence' on him.
A lie, really. But she had gotten better at this, so it
wouldn't be a problem for her...
"An--aaAAIIIOWWW!" She cried in pain as she felt her
hand holding onto the shinai crack back into an unnatural
position. Her eyes glanced back to her guest, who had been
standing almost three meters from her only moments ago,
gripping her wrist in its painful position.
Her eyes widened in shock. The older Akane had reacted
so quickly that she never saw it coming. God, she couldn't
believe the sheer speed and force behind this seemingly
harmless visitor; if the girl had applied just ten more
pounds of force behind her hand, her hand would have had
snapped.
Akane gave her younger twin a hard glare, full of anger
and hostility. "Drop it, sister. I'm warning you," she spoke
threateningly, "Do that again, and I'll make sure you'll live
to regret it."
As if to underscore her words, the pressure on younger
girl's wrist intensified slightly.
END
--- --- --- --- ---
For now.
Many thanks to:
Murmur the Fallen
Nightman
Captain Exposition (keep on cheering for me!)
And FFIRC members who attended Jan '00 one-hour challenge and
their delightful comments on the sidestory.
C&C would be appreciated.
This will be archived at its official website at
http://www/geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/7233/dreams.htm
In case you're wondering (or have recognized), the lyric
I used in this part was Omoide ga Ippai, or "So Many
Memories," from the opening scene for Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle.
DA/R