Ranma and his friends belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're used here
without permission.

As always, previous chapters of newRanma and all my other stories
are available at:

http://www.furinkan.net/fanfic/

------------------------------
newRanma 11: Dying

by Chris Jones
------------------------------

    Takedo Makuna was quite grateful for his opportunity to speak
with Ranma Saotome. He thought he had come to know the young woman
quite well, and was looking forward to speaking with the young man.

    Taiyoko Saiteiki had called a few minutes earlier to indicate
that she would be late to her appointment. Now there was a difficult
case. The young woman was so full of guilt and fear. Makuna was
afraid that he would never be able to fully help her with her
problems.

    Still, he welcomed the few minutes he had between
appointments. He was really making progress with Ranma, and was going
over his notes from her session.

    There was a knock at his door. Was it her already?

    "Ah, come in, Taiyoko," he said.

    When the door opened, he was quite surprised to see a man
standing inside, rather than the petite young woman he was expecting.

    "Excuse me, can I help you?"

    "I'm here to talk to you," the man said.

    Makuna realized that his visitor was shaking visibly. He
shifted uncomfortably in his chair, seeing the threatening expression
the man wore.

    "I'm afraid that I only see patients by appointment," Makuna
said, wondering if he should reach for the phone on his desk.

    "Did you give Naota an 'appointment'?" the man asked angrily.

    Makuna swore under his breath. "I'm afraid I'm going to have
to ask you to leave. My receptionist has gone for the day, but if
you'll call back tomorrow, she'll be happy to make an appointment."

    When the man began to approach, Makuna reached for the phone.

    "Put the goddamned phone down, faggot!" the man hissed.

    Makuna looked up and gulped. He was staring into the end of a
small-caliber hand-gun. The man had pulled it out of the pocket of
his sweat-shirt.

    "You must be Naota's father," Makuna said, standing slowly,
keeping his hands up.

    "Get out here," the man said, gesturing with his weapon.

    Shaking, Makuna stepped out from behind his desk.

    "I bet you think it was really funny to make my son run away
from home," the man said.

    "Naota was a very disturbed young man," Makuna said. "He was
in a lot of pain."

    "I sent my son to you so he could get better, not so you
could take him away from us!"

    "There was nothing wrong with Naota," Makuna said, "besides
his fear of abuse."

    "Do you have any idea what you took away from me?" the man
said. "My family has been torn apart! My son is living in Hiroshima
as some guy's bitch now, and it's all your fault!"

    Makuna exhaled deeply, realizing what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry if you're upset about the choices that Naota made, but
there is nothing I can do change those choices. Even if I could, I
wouldn't. Naota is happy, and well adjusted now. If there's anything
I can do to make you calm down and put the gun away, please tell me."

    "Okay," the man said.

    * * *

    Ranma was almost to the train station by the time she
realized she had left her satchel at Makuna's office. She would have
simply left it until her next visit, but she had left both her new
Dragon Ball and Utena tankoubans inside it.

    It was a quick jog back, and Ranma thought she could make it
before the next train. She sprinted up the stairs to Makuna's office
and stepped inside.

    The waiting room was empty, so she knocked on the door.

    "Oy, Makuna-sensei! I forgot my bag. Can I come in?" She
stepped inside.

    *BLAM*

    Ranma blinked once.

    Makuna fell backwards, a red spray erupting from his chest.

    The man who shot him, hearing the door hit the wall behind
him, turned on Ranma. He was carrying a handgun. His face was twisted
in rage and grief.

    Before she had fully realized what was happening, Ranma was
turning. Her right leg came up over her head.

    *BLAM*

    Ranma could hear the bullet scream past her left ear.

    Her leg connected with the man's wrist, knocking the gun
away, It hit Makuna's desk and clattered into the floor.

    Clutching his wrist, the man turned and fled through the open
door.

    Ranma was torn for a split second. Instead of chasing the man
down, she chose to stay. Doing her best to burn the gunman's
appearance into her mind, Ranma knelt down next to Makuna and began
to look for signs of life.

    His eyes had rolled up in the back of his head. Bright red
blood was pumping freely from the wound in his chest, just to the
right of his sternum. Ranma realized that if he hadn't actually been
shot in the heart, one of the large arteries in his chest had been
cut by the bullet.

    The pulse in his neck was nonexistent, and he had stopped
breathing. Ranma pulled off her red shirt, leaving her clad in an
undershirt. She wadded it up and pushed it against the wound, putting
as much pressure on it as she could.

    "EEEEEEE!!" A feminine voice screamed from the doorway.

    Ranma looked up to see Taiyoko standing in front of her. The
blonde girl's eyes were wide with horror. Her purse had dropped to
the floor and upended, spilling out its contents into the rapidly
growing pool of blood.

    "Call an ambulance," Ranma instructed her calmly. "Now. He's
dying."

    Then she tilted Makuna's head back. She forced his mouth open
and put her lips against his.

* * *

    "Ranma!" Nodoka yelled, running into the examination room.
She lifted her daughter, and began to look her over for signs of
injury.

    "Relax. None of it's mine," Ranma said weakly, gesturing to
her blood-stained undershirt.

    "So you did or did not see the suspect," a policeman asked
impatiently.

    "I t-t-told you!" Taiyoko said, tears running down her face.
"I saw a man run past me in t-t-the hallway. I didn't see what he
looked like."

    "So you hid from the suspect," the policeman said.

    "Hey, pal," Ranma said, pulling away from her mother. She
interposed herself between Taiyoko and the hostile cop. "You wanna
lay off? If she said she didn't see him, then she didn't see him. I
barely saw him, and that was only because he shoved a gun in my face,
okay?"

    "Oh, Ranma, what happened?" Nodoka asked. "We received the
call from the hospital and--"

    "Shhh. It's okay. I'm not hurt. Some guy attacked Doctor
Makuna. Me and Taiyoko," she gestured to the blonde girl, "were
around when it happened."

    "Is your doctor okay?" Nodoka asked.

    Ranma looked away.

    "Oh dear."

    "They ain't told us nothin' yet," Ranma said, swallowing
hard.

    Nodoka closed her eyes and shook her head. She glanced up,
seeing the upset blonde girl next to Ranma for the first time.

    "You must be Ranma's friend," she said, bowing her head.

    "Uh... no... No! I mean, Not yet," Taiyoko said. "We've only
met a few t-t-times," she stuttered.

    The girl was certainly pretty enough, Nodoka thought. Surely
Ranma hadn't...

    "Taiyoko sees Makuna-sensei right after I do," Ranma said.
"We've been meeting in passing for a few weeks now."

    Nodoka tried not to let her sigh of relief become audible.
The last thing her child needed at this point were more...
complications.

    At this point, another policeman burst into the examination
room.

    "Hey, we coulda been undressed in here!" Ranma blustered.

    "Sorry!" the policeman yelled. "Captain," he said, turning to
the officer who had been questioning Taiyoko. "We cornered the perp
at his residence. There was a brief hold-up situation with the
family. We had a ten-fifty six. Investigation is in progress by
Captain Masakeuchi."

    "Great," the police captain said, rolling his eyes. "What a
coward." He turned back to Taiyoko and nodded his head. "I apologize
for the questioning," he said. "But we wanted to clear this up as
quickly as possible."

    "Whoa, whoa! Wait a second!" Ranma said. "Ten fifty-six...
What's that?"

    The police captain stared at her seriously for a second. He
jerked his head at the junior officer, who left the room as quickly
as he came. "It means that the suspect committed suicide after he was
surrounded by police officers," he said quietly.

    Ranma felt the bottom fall out of her stomach at the
pronunciation. Vaguely, she heard Taiyoko begin to start crying
again.

    "I'm sorry," the captain said. "There's always the
possibility when we deal with personal assault cases."

    Closing her eyes, Ranma rolled her head back and took a deep
breath. She tried to calm the sick, nauseous feeling in her stomach.
She wanted to vomit. Worse, she wanted to take back what she had
done. CPR probably hadn't helped Makuna at all. Now his assailant was
permanently beyond the reach of justice. Ranma felt like she bungled
the situation... badly.

    There was another knock on the door. A second later, a
familiar face protruded into the room.

    "And you are..." the police captain prompted.

    "I am Saotome-san's physician," Doctor Tofuu said, stepping
into the room. "I understand you've had some excitement this evening,
Ranma."

    "I sure didn't ask for it," Ranma said in a trembling voice.

    "I thought you might want to know about Makuna-sensei," Tofuu
said, placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "The surgeon I spoke with
said that he had a fifty-fifty chance right now. They're still
operating, but it looks like he might make it through."

    "You're kidding," Ranma said.

    Tofuu shook his head. "It's touch and go, and will be for a
while, but it looks like whoever performed CPR on him kept him alive
long enough for the surgeons to take over."

    Ranma took another deep breath, and felt the tears begin to
run down her face.

    Tofuu gave both girls a brief once-over and asked if they had
been hurt. Ranma admitted to kicking the gun out of the assailant's
hands, a fact the police captain carefully noted.

    He asked Ranma if she would be willing to identify the body
of the assailant. Ranma gulped down the sick feeling at such a
request and nodded.

    After the police officer left, Tofuu told them that Makuna-
sensei would probably lose the use of one of his lungs, but that the
surgeons would probably be able to save his life if only they could
get the bleeding in his chest stopped.

    Several minutes later, a severe looking man and woman burst
into the examination room and began to protectively hover over
Taiyoko.

    "Why on earth did you get involved?" the woman, a tall, bird-
like person asked in an upset tone."

    "M-m-m-m--" Taiyoko stuttered, unable to get the words out.

    Taiyoko's father, a short, obese man, glared at Ranma, but
didn't say anything.

    "Where's Pops?" Ranma asked her mother.

    "He's out in the lobby with Soun and the girls," Nodoka
responded. "We weren't sure they would let more than one of us in."

    Ranma was happy to see her mother, but was more than a little
upset that her father hadn't come in.

    "Are you hurt?" Taiyoko's mother asked.

    "I-I-I-I--"

    "Answer your mother," her father said. "Were you assaulted?
Are you injured?"

    "M-m-m-m--" she tried to speak. Taiyoko's expression became
tortured.

    "Hey, it's okay. Calm down for a second," Ranma said, coming
to the girl's defense.

    Oddly, it earned her harsh stares from both of Taiyoko's
parents.

    "I-I'm okay," the blonde girl said, a little more in control
of her speech. "R-ranma had already chased the... the..."

    Ranma smiled at her new friend and nodded her encouragement.

    "We shouldn't be here," the girl's father complained. "I have
to leave for my business trip tonight and--"

    "You're not in any trouble with the police, are you?"
Taiyoko's mother demanded. "Oh, I need to make sure that they're not
trying to press charges."

    Ranma rolled her eyes at her own mother, who nodded
seriously. They were dealing with some truly sensitive individuals
here. Ranma wondered how Taiyoko came out of her family being so
nice.

    "Can we come in?" another voice asked from the door of the
examination room.

    "K-k-kasumi!" Tofuu shouted. "How surprising to meet you here
of all places!"

    "Tofuu-sensei! Is Ranma okay?"

    Tofuu shifted into a more serious medical mode, just before
he began to pat Taiyoko on the shoulder. Ranma breathed a sigh of
relief and made a gesture that indicated that the blonde girl should
keep her distance from the doctor, regardless.

    "Ranma's just fine," Tofuu said. "Just a little stressed. I
think that's true for all of us, however."

    Kasumi led Akane and Genma into the examination room.

    "Well, did you catch the killer, boy?" Genma asked after
several seconds of silence.

    Ranma couldn't help but notice the way Taiyoko's parents
flinched when her father said 'boy'.

    "Nah. He offed himself when the cops caught up with him,"
Ranma said seriously, more certain now that she had made the right
decision. "I stayed behind to do mouth to mouth on Makuna-sensei. He
might actually live."

    Genma pondered his child's statement for several seconds.
"Good," he said after quite a bit. "It's a martial artist's duty to
protect the weak."

    Ranma smiled, feeling better than she had all night.

    Genma whispered something to Nodoka and sidled out of the
room as Akane and Kasumi began to fuss over Ranma.

    "I brought a change of clothes for you," Akane said. "It's
one of my dresses. I just grabbed the first thing I came to," she
apologized.

    "Believe me," Ranma said, "it's okay. I think I'm gonna burn
these." She indicated her stained clothes.

    Ranma took the overnight bag Akane handed her. She ducked
into the examination room's bathroom, which had a small shower stall.
She quickly rinsed off and changed into the short dress Akane brought
for her. She took a few seconds to look in the mirror and make sure
there wasn't any blood in her hair, which she hadn't washed. She ran
her hands through it a few times, and stuffed her old clothes inside
a shopping bag that was inside the overnight tote.

    When she stepped back out, Taiyoko's parents were arguing
about their schedule.

    "I'll never make the flight if I have to take her home
first," the obese man said.

    "Well, you should spend some more time with your daughter
anyway," the skinny woman replied. "It's not like you're the only one
who has important business tomorrow."

    "If it's a problem, Taiyoko can stay with us," Ranma offered,
a little angry at how Taiyoko's parents were treating her. "I mean
she's been through a lot. Maybe it would be better if she was with
friends than all alone."

    Both adults stared at Ranma as if she had grown a second
head.

    "That would be just fine," Kasumi seconded Ranma's offer. "We
certainly have the extra room.

    Taiyoko smiled apologetically at Ranma. She had a hopeless
expression on her face. She glanced up as her mother and father took
a few steps away and began to argue in whisper tones.

    "It's not like she had any friends before," her mother said.

    "Yes, but we want her to make *normal* friends," he father
said. "I mean, why do you think the little red-headed slut was seeing
the doctor in the first place?"

    Ranma realized that the two didn't mean for anyone else to
overhear their conversation, and furthermore realized that she was
probably the only one in the room who was positioned right to hear
them. She did her best to keep her face from breaking into an angry
glare at the whispered insult. She took a few steps toward her mother
so she wouldn't be able to hear any more.

    "I wanna get out of here. Do you know if I can go yet?"

    Nodoka shook her head, but Kasumi nodded. "I spoke with a
doctor outside. They said that you can leave whenever you're ready.
We just wanted to give you a chance to get changed."

    Taiyoko's parents finished their argument, and stared firmly
at Kasumi and Nodoka.

    "If it's alright with you," her mother said, "we'll let
Taiyoko go with you since we have so much to do this evening."

    "That's wonderful!" Kasumi said, taking the blonde girl's
hand. "Come with us, dear. We'll get some dinner into you, and then
you can share my room or Akane's."

    "H-hai," Taiyoko said, a grateful expression on her face. She
allowed herself to be led from the examination room by Kasumi and
Nodoka.

    Ranma glanced back at Taiyoko's parents before stepping out
of the room with Tofuu. They stared back angrily, as if threatened.
Ranma shook her head.

    "I don't get it," she said.

    "Don't worry about it," Tofuu whispered.

    There was a small parade through the lobby as Ranma and Tofuu
met up with Ranma's parents and the rest of the Tendous. She
introduced Taiyoko to the group. Nabiki looked the girl over
speculatively, but didn't say anything.

    On the way out, a rather bishonnen man in his late twenties
ran up to Ranma, stopping her.

    "You're Saotome-san, right?" he asked, his otherwise handsome
features marred by worry and grief.

    "Uh... yeah," Ranma said, defensively backing away a few
steps.

    "Did you hear anything about Takedo? Please! They won't tell
me anything," he said, near tears.

    "Takedo?" Ranma asked.

    "Takedo Makuna," Tofuu supplied.

    "Oh, god, I've been so worried. I heard he had been shot on
the radio, and I rushed right over, but I can't get anything out of
this place," the man stated angrily. "They say I'm not family, so
they can't release any information."

    Tofuu's face was passive, expressionless.

    "You're..." Ranma prompted, her brain beginning to drop the
pieces into place.

    "I'm Ayanobu," the man said. "Please... If you know anything
at all..."

    Akane, Nabiki, and Taiyoko had come over to where Ranma was
speaking with the man. They looked at him curiously.

    "Mom, Dad! You guys should go on ahead," Ranma shouted.
"We'll be along in just a bit."

    "Are you okay, son?" Nodoka asked.

    Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead. We'll be okay."

    She took a deep breath and turned to Tofuu. "Regardless of
how close a person is to a patient, the hospital won't release
information to someone else unless they're family, right?"

    Tofuu nodded seriously.

    "Even if it was someone close... like a roommate or..." Ranma
guessed. Or a lover, she didn't say aloud. The pieces had all fallen
into place in her mind. Makuna-sensei's chosen specialty... This
man's apparent closeness to the psychologist... Ranma suddenly
realized that she was in the odd position of knowing more about
Makuna-sensei's condition than the person who was his 'spouse',
simply because she was there when he was injured.

    Ranma turned back to Ayanobu and put her hand comfortingly on
the man's shoulder. "I won't lie to you," she said. "But I don't know
a whole lot either. What I do know is that Makuna-sensei is in real
trouble right now. He got shot in the chest, near his lung. Doctors
think he's got half a chance, so he might live. It's not certain, and
he's probably gonna lose the lung even if he survives."

    Ayanobu's features contorted in anger and grief. "Takedo..."
he cried, tears running freely down his face.

    "I wish I had better news for you," Ranma said.

    "The person who shot him..." Ayanobu choked out.

    "He's dead. Killed himself when the cops caught up with him,"
Ranma explained, realizing that she was going to be telling this
story over and over again. "Listen, I may be able to find out more
about Makuna-sensei tomorrow since I'm his patient. I dunno. If I
can, I'll tell you, okay?"

* * *

    The encounter with Makuna's lover had been draining for
Ranma. While she was upset that the psychologist had been injured so
severely, she didn't have any special attachment to him. To see
someone who was close to him in such pain and fear upset Ranma
deeply. It made her think about how she would feel if it had been one
of her parents. It made her think about if it had been...

    Ranma shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It wasn't
worth it to mourn the dead before they passed. She refocused her
attention on dinner, which Kasumi had laid out in front of them.

    Taiyoko was quiet through the late dinner, but smiled at
Ranma whenever the red-head looked at her. The other girls made some
minor small-talk, but the gravity of the evening's events weighed
heavily upon them.

    After dinner, Kasumi recommended that they all have relaxing
baths. She prompted Taiyoko to go first, since she was a guest. Akane
was going to go along with the girl, but Kasumi stopped her, saying
that the blonde girl probably needed a little time alone to sort out
everything that had happened to her.

    It was after this conversation that Akane approached Ranma,
who was still wearing the minidress Akane had lent her.

    "So, what's the deal between you and her?" Akane asked,
leaning against the dojo wall as Ranma performed a calming kata.
"She's not another girlfriend is she?"

    "Why'd you have to go and say something like that, Akane?"
Ranma asked in irritation. "You think I want everyone hanging all
over me all the time?"

    "Well, you don't do a lot to stop them," Akane said
seriously.

    Ranma 'hmphed' and continued her kata.

    Akane's voice was free of the anger that usually accompanied
such discussions. "So why are you being so nice to her?" she asked.

    Ranma stopped her kata and walked over to Akane.

    "'Cause she's been nice to me, okay? She ain't never said
nothin' bad about me, and I think she's been trying to be my friend
for a while, okay? She's really shy, and I think she's got real
problems at home. You saw how her mom and dad were actin', right?"

    Akane nodded, grimacing. "I thought *our* parents were
weird."

    "She kinda looked like she was trying to get away from that,
so I offered to let her come over."

    Akane exhaled deeply, apparently accepting Ranma's answer.

    "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, she doesn't even
know I'm really a guy."

    "That's true," Akane admitted. Still, her voice sounded a
little troubled.

    After her bath, Ranma donned another one of her Chinese
shirts and a pair of shorts. She walked upstairs to her room, and
slid the door open.

    "Ah!" Taiyoko squeal from inside.

    "Whoa! Geez!" she whipped around. "Sorry about that."

    "You scared me a little," Taiyoko said, pulling one of
Kasumi's nightgowns closed over her bra and panties. "It's okay."

    "Didn't mean to walk in on you like that."

    "I don't mind," Taiyoko said. "You've been so nice to me t-t-
today."

    Ranma glanced back around to make sure that the girl was
covered up. She was blushing badly when Ranma looked at her.

    "Ah... you're in my room?" Ranma asked. "I thought you were
gonna stay with Kasumi."

    "She said it would be okay if I stayed in your room," Taiyoko
blurted out. "You don't mind, do you? I can go back or... or...
or..."

    Ranma realized if she pressed much harder, she was going to
make the girl start stuttering uncontrollably again. "No! It's okay.
Really. I'll sleep in the dojo." Ranma thought she saw a look of
disappointment cross Taiyoko's face.

    "I don't mind," she said.

    "I... uh... snore," Ranma said lamely. "Really loudly. It'll
be okay, really. I'll be out in the dojo."

    Taiyoko stared after Ranma as the redhead gathered up a
blanket and a pillow from her room and ran down the stairs.

    On her way to the dojo, she passed Genma, who had had a few
beers after dinner. He looked up blearily at his child.

    "Listen, Pops. Taiyoko is up in my room, and I'm out in the
dojo. You show up either place tonight, you better have a good
explanation, okay?"

    Genma grunted and nodded.

* * *

    The next day was a school day, but Ranma stayed home since
Tofuu had indicated he wanted to give Ranma a checkup after her
ordeal.

    "I called your mother," Kasumi told Taiyoko that morning at
breakfast. "You're welcome to go home any time you like, but we'd all
love it if you were to stay for dinner this evening," she said.

    Ranma smiled, indicating that she thought that was a good
idea. The girl still looked a little shaky to her, and didn't relish
the thought of sending her home to such mean-spirited parents.

    Right before she left for school with Nabiki, Akane
approached Ranma.

    "What's up?" Ranma asked, getting ready for her doctor's
appointment.

    "Behave," Akane commanded.

    "Huh?"

    "You know what I mean."

    Ranma blinked. She really didn't... unless Akane meant that
she was supposed to try to keep Taiyoko from acting like Shampoo and
Kodachi usually did. Taiyoko hadn't given her any indication that she
was like that, so Ranma wasn't really worried. Like she had told
Akane the night before, Taiyoko didn't even know she was a guy, and
Ranma was planning on keeping that particular cat in the training pit
for the time being.

    "I don't think Taiyoko's got anything planned, Akane.
Really."

    Akane smiled, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so
slightly. She reached out, as if to touch Ranma's face, but then ran
out the door before she actually made contact.

    "Damned brain. I don't understand anything anymore," Ranma
mumbled.

    Less than a half-hour later, Taiyoko was ready to accompany
Ranma to Tofuu-sensei's office. The two started walking. It was
really the first time they had been alone since the horrible scene in
Makuna-sensei's office, and Ranma wasn't planning on trying to
discuss that. Still, Taiyoko seemed fidgety and nervous.

    Ranma was about to open her mouth and blurt out the first
thing that came to mind, but was interrupted by Taiyoko.

    "You have a really nice family," the girl said.

    "Uhh, yeah. Thanks."

    "I don't understand something, though. Is your family name
Tendou or Saotome?"

    "Uh, Saotome," Ranma said. She realized that no one had clued
the girl into the peculiar living arrangement that was currently in
place at the Tendou dojo. "I'm studying martial arts with the
Tendous," she summarized. "Me and my dad-- he's the big, bald guy--
have been there for a little more than a year now. My mom moved in
with us a few months ago when her house got damaged.

    "Was it an earthquake?" Taiyoko asked.

    "I bet she thought it was an earthquake," Ranma quipped.
"Uh... there was a fight."

    "A martial arts fight," Taiyoko noted, looking at Ranma in
awe. The redhead nodded in reply. "So you're not related to... Akane
or Nabiki?" Taiyoko asked.

    "No. I've told people that I'm Akane's cousin before," Ranma
said, wondering where the conversation was going. "Mostly so they
don't look at me funny when I try to explain why I've been living
with the Tendous for more than a year."

    Taiyoko giggled. "They're really nice people," she said.

    Tofuu was waiting for them when they arrived at the clinic.
He told Taiyoko that he had called her doctor that morning, and that
the man had asked Tofuu to give her a checkup to make sure she was
okay after her ordeal.

    "She probably don't need one," Ranma said. "It was scary and
all, but she didn't even get hit."

    "Traumatic situations can often affect us in ways we don't
understand, Ranma," Tofuu said. "So it's good just to make sure,
okay? Besides, I'm certain that you need a checkup."

    Ranma rolled her eyes.

    True to Tofuu's words, he was only alone with Taiyoko for a
few minutes. The girl came out of the examination room and indicated
that Tofuu wanted Ranma to come in."

    "So, did you actually get in a fight with the man?" Tofuu
asked, once he was alone with Ranma.

    "Nope. I coulda, though. He was going to shoot me, so I
kicked the gun out of his hand and let him run off. I think I broke
his wrist."

    "You shattered his forearm," Tofuu said. He pushed the door
shut, and pulled a piece of paper out of a manilla folder. He put it
on the examination table next to Ranma. The title on the paper was
'Autopsy Report'.

    "Yikes."

    Tofuu nodded. Ranma skimmed quickly over the report. Most of
the language was incomprehensible medical terms, but Ranma got enough
out of it to know that the man she had seen the night before had
committed suicide by shooting a gun into his own mouth. She could
only imagine what 'Severe Cranial Trauma' looked like, let alone felt
like.

    Near the bottom, the report noted that the man did indeed
have multiple fractures and dislocations in his radius, ulna and
wrist.

    Ranma felt a cool detachment from the horror described on the
paper.

    "I guess I was keyed up. Having a gun shoved in your face
will do that to you."

    "I know you didn't have much of a choice in the situation,
but I do want you to be careful, Ranma. You have the most incredible
knack for getting into dangerous situations."

    "You ain't the only one who wished last night didn't happen,"
Ranma said seriously.

    The exam was quick and painless, consisting mostly of tests
to make sure that Ranma had not aggravated her brain injury. Tofuu
told Ranma to call him if she noticed anything odd and let the two
girls go.

    It was still several hours before lunch, so Ranma suggested
they find something to do.

    "You wanna go get a snack or something?" she asked.

    Taiyoko, who had seen the girl eat, nodded and blushed.

    Ranma took Taiyoko to her favorite ice cream parlor and
ordered huge sundaes for the both of them.

    "You ate so much!" Taiyoko noted in wonder.

    "Well, I go through a lot of energy," Ranma said, pleasantly
full of milk and butter-fat derivatives. "Martial arts takes up a
lot. Of course, I haven't been doing as much as I want to lately."

    "Do... Do... you want to go shopping?" Taiyoko asked,
blushing slightly.

    Ranma was about to respond disdainfully with a 'not really',
but saw the pleading expression on the girl's face.

    "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Let's just be sure to get back in time
for lunch. Kasumi's the best cook in the world... Well, except for my
mom," Ranma said.

    Taiyoko nodded happily, and led Ranma into the shopping
district. She took Ranma into several shops. She seemed to lose much
of her shyness, and kept trying to get Ranma's opinion on what ever
trinket or article of clothing she seemed to be interested in.

    Ranma really didn't know how to react. Worse, the whole time
they were looking at clothes, Taiyoko started to talk about how
different clothes would look on Ranma, and tried to persuade the girl
to try on some of the outfits she had picked out.

    Trying not to upset her, Ranma agreed to try on a skirt and
blouse that her new friend picked out. After looking in the mirror,
Ranma had to agree that the cream-colored blouse and the dark skirt
set off her eyes and hair nicely.

    "Okay, now you try something on," Ranma said once she had
returned to her normal attire. She was desperate to get the girl's
attention off of herself. She didn't mind being fussed over, but
hated to be made to feel so feminine, especially in front of someone
she didn't know very well.

    "Okay," Taiyoko said, having picked out a short minidress for
herself. Ranma couldn't help but notice that it was fairly similar in
cut to the dress that she had been wearing the previous night.

    Ranma waited several minutes outside the fitting room,
fidgeting in boredom. After she was about ready to knock on the door
and see if Taiyoko had fallen asleep. She took a step towards the
door when the heard the first of the sobs.

    "Taiyoko?" she called out.

    The quiet sobs continued to pour forth from the fitting room
door. Gritting her teeth, Ranma poked her head over the door to see
the blonde girl crouched in one corner, sobbing her eyes out.

    "You okay?" Ranma asked, opening the door a little. She was
thankful that her friend managed to get into the dress before Ranma
came in.

    "I t-t-thought I could be strong, like you," Taiyoko cried,
her stutter coming back. "

    Ranma closed her eyes and knelt next to the girl. "Hey, it's
okay," Ranma said, putting her hand on the girls shoulder. "That was
a pretty awful thing we saw."

    "What am I going to do?" Taiyoko pleaded. "Makuna-sensei is
gone and my parents hate me and I have t-t-to go back t-t-this
evening and--"

    "Whoa! Whoa, your parents don't hate you. They're kinda mean,
but I don't think any parents hate their kids."

    "T-t-they t-t-think I'm sick," Taiyoko said. "I'm a freak,
and I don't have any friends and everyone hates me, and Makuna-sensei
won't be able to help me anymore and--"

    "Whoa. You're wrong about something there," Ranma said.
"Yeah, Makuna may not be in the doctoring biz for a while. I think
that's a given. There's no reason you can't visit him when he gets
well enough to have guests. Also, you got plenty friends."

    "I do?" Taiyoko asked.

    "Yeah. Me." Ranma grinned winningly. "I know Kasumi likes
you, and I'll bet Akane and Nabiki would give you a chance if you
tried. Better watch out there, though. Akane's really violent, and
Nabiki'll steal your socks if you let her."

    Taiyoko managed a weak giggle through her tears.

    "Still, you don't know me. I'm a horrible person," she said.

    "You ain't horrible. You don't go around hurting people, do
you? You a thief or a bully?"

    "N-no," Taiyoko said hesitatingly.

    "Ain't nothing wrong with you then," Ranma said. "C'mon. It's
about time for lunch. Let's get you dressed and go see what Kasumi
made, okay?"

    "Okay," the blonde girl said.

    After she changed out of the dress, Ranma led her out of the
store and back towards the dojo.

    "Even if your parents really don't like you, you can always
come over and visit, okay?"

    Taiyoko nodded. Her eyes were still a little red from crying.

    "And I ain't no Makuna-sensei, but most of what he does is
just talk to people. If you ever just wanna talk, we can do that too,
okay? I bet the Tendou girls would too, if you asked."

    Taiyoko gulped, and bowed her head. Before Ranma could
protest, she wrapped her arms around the red-head's shoulders, giving
her a brief hug.

    "Thank you. You're a really wonderful person, Ranma."

    "I ain't so good," Ranma said. "I just try to do what I think
is right."

    They walked along in silence for almost a half hour. Ranma
noticed that Taiyoko was growing more and more fidgety as they neared
the dojo. Finally, the girl stopped and stared deeply into Ranma's
eyes.

    "You've been so kind and nice t-t-to me, Ranma," she said,
her blush spreading to cover her face. "And I probably don't deserve
t-t-that. But..." she closed her eyes and swallowed. "I'd like t-t-
t--" She gulped again. "I'd like to make it up t-t-to you. Would you
let me buy you dinner... and maybe t-t-take you t-t-to a movie
after..."

    Ranma stared at the girl. It was if she was asking Ranma for
a...

    Several months ago, when Nabiki had been tormenting Ranma and
Akane by 'taking over' the engagement to Ranma, there had been a
chase at a nearby park. The park had a large hedge maze. Despite the
fact that it was a fairly simple layout, Ranma had been thoroughly
lost at the time, and was tricked into grabbing and embracing Akane
through the bushes.

    Afterwards, when the two were walking away from the park,
they happened across a high bridge over one end of the maze where
observers could look down and see the people lost inside. Ranma
instantly recognized where he had been lost and could see all the
paths he should have taken in an instant. The maze resolved itself
totally in his mind.

    What Ranma was currently feeling felt just like that. All the
pieces of the maze she was lost in had come together, and she was now
able to look at it from above and see where she was going wrong. She
suddenly understood what Taiyoko wanted. It was obvious, really, now
that she thought about it.

    "You want to go out with me," Ranma said emotionlessly.

    Taiyoko bowed her head, embarrassment warring with fear and
guilt on her face.

    "You... you don't like me," the blonde girl whispered. "Or
you have someone else or--"

    "Taiyoko," Ranma said, lifting the girl's chin. "I would
*love* to go to dinner with you. But... there's something you should
know about me first."

* * *

    "Boy, what are you doing?!" Genma squawked.

    "Sorry, Pops. Object lesson," Ranma said, dousing her father
with a bucket of cold water.

    "GROOOOWWFFFF!!!"

    "I say," Soun protested, wiping the excess water off of his
go board.

    Taiyoko squealed in fright at the sight of the giant panda
that was suddenly looming over the both of them.

    "Ranma, that wasn't very nice," Nodoka said.

    "Sorry, Mom. Had to be done," she turned back to the angry
panda. "Kasumi's already got a kettle boiling for you."

    "Grrrrf! Grrrfff," the panda said, rolling onto its feet. He
waddled away from his child towards the kitchen.

    "It's t-t-true," Taiyoko said, her face turning green.

    "Sorry 'bout that," Ranma said. "I'm gonna be stuck like this
for another few weeks, but... Here," she said, grabbing a photo album
off a shelf near where Genma had been setting. She flipped through
several pages until she came to a picture of 'himself', Akane,
Nabiki, and Kasumi outside an amusement park. "This is the real me,"
she said. "This is what I really look like."

    "I see..." Taiyoko said, her voice tinged with grief and
disappointment.

    "I'm sorry," Ranma said. "I think you can understand why I
didn't tell you. Life is hard enough when you don't have an ancient
Chinese curse to deal with."

    Taiyoko turned away, unable to meet Ranma's face.

    "I'm sorry," Ranma said again. She was about to put her hand
on the girl's shoulder, but then thought better of it. "I still meant
everything I said," Ranma offered after several seconds. "And I still
wanna be your friend, okay?"

    Taiyoko's shoulders slumped, but she nodded.

    "And you can still talk to me whenever you want to. I
probably ain't too good at therapy, but I wasn't born yesterday, and
I've been through a lot too."

    "You have, haven't you?" Taiyoko asked, turning back to face
Ranma. "I'm... sorry, if I made you uncomfortable."

    Ranma said, "Don't worry about it," and led the girl from the
main room. "I got all sorts of guys coming on to me all the time.
It's a lot less of a pain in the ass to have a cute girl coming on to
me, believe me."

    Taiyoko giggled again. "I wondered why you were so... so...
open," she said.

    "So," Ranma said, a smile on her face. "Did you know Makuna-
sensei was gay?"

    "Yes," Taiyoko admitted. "But it was because he told me."

    "Well, I don't feel like a complete idiot then."

* * *

    The object of the afternoon for Ranma and Taiyoko ended up
being trying to find out more information about Makuna-sensei both
for their own peace of mind and Ayanobu's.

    A call to the hospital revealed nothing. Nabiki and Akane
were home from school by this point, so Nabiki showed them a trick.
She picked up the phone receiver and dialed the hospital operator.

    "Hello? Narita Catholic Hospital? This is Nabi Tenkawa from
the Tokyo Shinbun. I'd like to speak to a resident, please," she
addressed the operator.

    Ranma made an expression indicating that she didn't
understand what was going on or why Nabiki had lied about her
identity.

    "It's called 'freedom of press'," Nabiki whispered, holding
her hand over the receiver. "Of course the papers can print whatever
they want. On the other hand, a lot of people don't realize that they
don't *have* to talk to the papers. You'd be surprised what this kind
of social engineering can do. Yes?" she said into the receiver in a
more normal tone.

    After Nabiki regurgitated her knowledge of the shooting, she
repeated the questions that Ranma had asked. After listening intently
for several minutes, she thanked the doctor and hung up.

    "Here's the scoop. Yes, they are treating him. No, they won't
disclose his condition. That means he's still alive. They'd say if he
had died. This long after surgery, I'm going to guess that that means
he's going to live.

    Ranma exhaled in relief.

    "You two might be able to get in to see him if you walk in
and act like you own the place," Nabiki suggested.

    "That's... a good idea. Thanks, Nabiki."

    "I'll put it on your tab... And I'll start a new tab for
you," she addressed Taiyoko.

    "Hai," Taiyoko said, smiling.

    "I told you," Ranma chastened.

* * *

    A few hours later, Ranma and Ayanobu were walking through the
critical care ward at the hospital. Ayanobu looked nervous, but Ranma
had taken Nabiki's advice, and was walking through the hallway as if
she worked there.

    "Are you sure about this?" Ayanobu asked.

    "What are they gonna do, arrest us?"

    Ranma sneaked a peak at a nurse's clipboard as they walked
past the duty station. Indeed, the nurse looked up, but since Ranma
seemed to know where she was going, didn't say anything.

    "This way. He's in room one fifteen," she said.

    She led Ayanobu down the hall, and into the room she
mentioned.

    What was inside was not a pretty sight. At first, Ranma
didn't recognize the psychologist. In fact, he looked far worse than
he had when Ranma was performing CPR on him. He looked weak and old.
Ranma thought that the word 'withered' was a good description. The
bandages across his chest had large, black stains inside them.

    He had tubes down his mouth and nose, and numerous needles
projecting from the back of his hand. He was surrounded by apparatus,
all of their digital screens indicated slow, slightly irregular
rhythms. The ECG and pulse monitor, which Ranma was familiar with
from her own stay in the hospital, showed that his heart was beating
regularly, but not strongly. It was dropping beats occasionally. The
EEG looked more encouraging. There were wild, seemingly random lines,
indicating healthy brain activity.

    Ayanobu cried out, and dropped to his knees next to his
lover.

    "Excuse me," a doctor said from the doorway. "What are you
doing here. Can't you see that my patient is very ill?"

    "I'm *his* patient," Ranma said, gesturing to the injured
man. "It's my appointment time, but I think he's gonna sleep through
it."

    "Wha--"

    Ranma led the confused physician out of the room by the
elbow. "How's he doin'?" she asked. "You think he's gonna live?"

    The doctor, unsure of what was happening, took on a serious
expression and looked into Ranma's face. "It's still too soon to
tell. It will probably be fifty-fifty until he comes out of the
coma."

    "I see," Ranma said seriously, shaking her head. "You wanna
do me a favor, then?"

    "What ever could you--"

    Ranma held up a hand, cutting the doctor off. "That guy in
there... he ain't Makuna-sensei's family, but... he's Makuna-sensei's
family. Got it? He should be let in to see him."

    The doctor stammered for a second and then drew up against
Ranma. "Hospital policy--"

    "Hospital policy is gonna let two people be completely
miserable," Ranma said, cutting the doctor off. "You said it
yourself. Takedo Makuna might die. If Ayanobu-kun doesn't get to
spend every last moment with him... well, I'm gonna hold you
responsible."

    The doctor paused a few seconds, and then nodded seriously.
"I understand."

    "Thank you," Ranma said. She turned back to the doorway and
took one last glance at the two men, one hovering between life and
death and one doing his damndest to keep the other anchored to the
land of the living.

    Ranma blinked the tears out of her eyes and turned to leave.

* * *

    "So, Taiyoko-chan," Nabiki said from the doorway of the guest
room. "I understand you offered Ranma a free dinner this evening."

    "H-hai," the blonde girl replied. She had been packing her
things in preparation to return to her parents' house.

    "And I also understand that Ranma didn't take you up on the
offer."

    "That's right," Taiyoko said, blushing slightly.

    Nabiki took a step inside the room, and stared deep into
Taiyoko's eyes.

    "I'm interested in taking up the offer if it's still open,"
she said.

    "You... You are?" Taiyoko said, gulping.

    "Yes. The question is... are you interested?"

    "I don't know," the blonde girl admitted. "But... I.... I...
I..."

    "Take your time," Nabiki urged.

    "I... I would like to find out if I'm interested," Taiyoko
said.

    "Good." Nabiki smiled broadly, and brushed her fingers across
Taiyoko's trembling chin.

-----

~to be continued...

Sorry this one was so dark and transitory. I'm about 50% done with
Chapter 12, which is another 'big' chapter in terms of plot and
development. I dunno if it's going to be very funny yet, but it's
certain going to be more interesting than this.

Damn, Taiyoko's stutters give my spellchecker fits. Between her and
Ranma's sloppy speech, I might as well not spell check at all...
* * *
C. Jones - guilty@furinkan.net
http://www.furinkan.net

       Nabiki's left eyebrow twitched as she beheld what
her sister was doing to her waitress. "I think that saying
that this isn't what it looks like will be pretty pointless
right now, Akane," she said, swallowing.

       - from Pink Lemonade: The Nerima Boys' Club

         .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
           | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
           | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
           |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
           `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'