Life In A Northern Town
By S. Mark Gunther
"People are strange when you're a stranger,
Faces look ugly when you're alone....
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted,
Streets are uneven when you're down....
When you're strange,
Faces come out of the rain,
When you're strange,
No one remembers your name,
When you're strange....
When you're strange....
When you're strange...."
-- From 'The Doors - People Are Strange'
***
"Now arriving in Kashima! All passengers please exit quickly." the speakers on the train boomed as it pulled into the station. The passengers exited and boarded the train in a line dance of efficiency and speed, baggage and other items being handled like crates of fruit at the market. Soon the platform was full of emptiness as only a few souls stood watching the train leave. The wind from the receding train blew across the air in the bright morning sky. It was a perfect day in northern Japan. A perfect day to disrupt someone's life.
"Are you sure he's here?" Akane Tendo asked, her hands shifting the suitcase she carried with an idle motion. Her eyes scanned the quiet city with a slightly expectant yet pensive glare.
"Yes. I talked to him about a month ago." Nabiki answered as she moved to the stairs leading to the station house. Akane followed and no more words were spoken until they had gotten to the outside of the station house where they looked to flag down a taxicab. "Akane, we have no other place to go, and there are things to do here. Besides, money is easier to come by up here with my skills and your drive." She smiled and ignored Akane's frosty look as she proceeded to flag down a passing cab. "And didn't you say you wanted to leave Tokyo?"
"Yes." At the mention of her desire to leave, she tensed slightly and clutched her bag handle just that much tighter. "I have to leave my past."
"Well, this is the best place to do it. Considering we have someone who has broken the ground for us." Nabiki said strongly as a cab finally pulled in front of them. They got into the car and sped away from the station. Nabiki spoke a few soft words to the driver and soon they stopped in front of a large, rather poor looking boarding house. The outside of the building was clean, but on first glace it was apparent that youth lived here. Laundry fluttered on the line in the clean mid-morning air. The whole building exuded a feeling of youthful exuberance.
"Well, this is the boarding house Gosunkugi told me he was living at." Nabiki said, walking forward up the small pathway with Akane trailing close behind. Akane couldn't help but notice the sense of peace that emanated from the building, a sort of magic.
"It is the kind of place I would have thought Gosunkugi would be staying at." Akane breathed as they stepped onto the front porch. "But it's the middle of the day. Do you think he's here?"
"Well, there's one way to find out." Nabiki rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened a few seconds later, and a slightly disheveled yet beautiful woman peered out.
"May I help you" she slurred, her voice thick with sleep.
"Yes, we're looking for Gosunkugi Hikaru?" Nabiki replied.
"Gossy? Oh, he should be upstairs. I'll bring you to him." The girl stepped back and led the sisters into a large common room, littered with cups, glasses and half eaten food. A swarthy looking man lay curled up in one of the corners, snoring loudly. "Please excuse the mess. We held our annual house Go tournament last night, and things became a little out of hand."
"It's alright," Akane said, kneeling at the small center table and setting down her suitcase. "Did Gosunkugi win?"
"No. It was his first year competing. He placed third overall, though. He lost a heartbreaking match in the semi-finals and nearly lost his consolation match. But that's that boy for you." The girl sat down and swept some trash to the side so she could set the glass she was carrying down on. "Whenever you think he's down and out, he always finds a way to get back to victory." Suddenly, she looked up with surprisingly bright eyes and smiles warmly. "My apologies, I've been such a bad host. My name is Asana Miyoki."
"I'm Nabiki Tendo, and this is my sister Akane," Nabiki said warmly, her voice catching a unique quality rarely heard by anyone. Asana nodded and looked at the girls with interest evident on her old looking yet young face.
"Well, he should be back any time now. He and K decided to go and get more groceries for the party tomorrow night. I'll be right back." With that she got up and disappeared into the bowels of the house. Just as she disappeared, the door opened and voices could be heard in the hallway. Akane stretched her neck to see where the sound was and within a few seconds she found out who was speaking.
"Well, I wasn't taking anyone, K. If you'd like, I could take you and..." Suddenly the voice stopped as Gosunkugi looked inside the living room and saw Akane and Nabiki for the first time in almost 3 years. They gaped at him and he took a step back in shock.
"Really? I was hoping you would take me, Gos-kun..." As the girl stepped into the doorway she stopped and watched Gosunkugi's shocked expression settle onto his face. She turned and saw what he was gaping at and began to watch slowly, waiting for Gosunkugi's reaction.
"Gos...Hikaru?" Akane said softly as she felt her breath catch slightly in her throat. "Is that you?"
"H...H...Hai..." The formerly creepy lad felt his face turn into a familiar blushing state, his cheeks burning with the tension he had spent so long trying to get rid of. The girl at his side looked up at him, her young and innocent features telegraphing all her emotions to him in a glance. He noticed her glaring look and regained a semblance of control over his emotions. "K, can you put the groceries into the kitchen for me? I'll be there in a minute to put them away." The girl merely nodded and took the bag Gosunkugi was holding, disappearing with a flash and a blush.
"Well, I see someone has been getting some rather interesting housemates," Nabiki observed lightly from her seat, her face never changing from the normally placid yet icy expression she was so known for. She made it look almost effortless though it was not for the lack of trying as she was desperately attempting not to gasp at the change in Gosunkugi's looks. Hikaru had gone from being a pale, thin, tweedy looking spook/geek to a striking, willowy graceful lad.
His face, formerly sunken and recessed with the lack of food and love, now appeared angular and sharp. His eyes were intense and clear, the brown pupils flashing with a sparkle they had never had before. His body was fuller and taller; he stood with an erect, strident pose. His features now seemed to fit his body and he exuded a quiet confidence and arrogance. Even with the shock clearly evident on his face, she could see a new level of power flowing inside of him and it shook her to the core. This was not the boy she had belittled before; this was a young man with an internal power that rivaled Ranma Saotome's.
Akane saw all of this, and could merely watch as Gosunkugi gracefully walked to the table, sitting down and scooting up to the flat surface. His initial shock had receded beneath the surface of his now veneer smooth face and he seemed to be back in control. He looked at Nabiki, his expression now businesslike and prompt. "Yes. I've begun anew here. But what brings you to this end of Japan?"
"Akane and I are moving up here, and I figured you could help us find a cheap place to stay," Nabiki said, her hands already fishing into her handbag to fish out the ever present notebook and pen that she made her reputation upon. "You do seem to know the area, and you'd be perfect to help us out."
"Just you and Akane are moving up here?" Hikaru asked, his own face beginning to crease up with worry, the rivers of doubt rising back up in his mind.
"Yes. We really have nowhere else to go right now," Akane said, her voice now dropping to a low even she had never seen before. Hikaru turned his head and saw a profound sadness in her formerly bright expression. It was as if someone had placed a black veil over her face and left it there to absorb into her skin, the apparent sadness permeating into every fiber. It was all he could do to not look at her without wanting to comfort her but Hikaru kept his mask of emotions up as best he could.
"Well, I can help you find a place. But for how long are you two going to be staying?"
"Well, I'm not sure right now." Nabiki wrote some figures down on in her notebook and looked up at Hikaru. "We might be here for good, but definitely we'll be here about a year."
"...Let me bring down my flat mates who are here and we'll think this through." Hikaru rose from his seat and walked over to the threshold, calling out through the house. "K, when you're done, bring Asana downstairs and join us. We need to talk." He walked back and sat back down, his posture and grace now evidently improved over the Hikaru of before. He looked at Akane and smiled a brilliant, product-selling smile causing the girl to blush and look away. "I want to have Asana and Kaori come and talk with us about the best places to find an apartment for two girls. And who better to tell me that then two other girls?"
"No one, Gossy," Asana answered lightly as she and Kaori walked in, both of them sitting down in different parts of the large sitting room. Asana sat at the last place at the table while Kaori timidly cowered in a corner chair, her slender and lithe figure being shaded over by the little amount shadow that bounced off the corners and crevices of the airy room. Asana looked and Hikaru and smiles a warm smile at him. "So what did you need to talk to me and Kaori about?"
"Well, Nabiki and Akane are going to be staying here for a while and they need their own place to stay. And as much as I know this town, you guys might have a better idea of where two young women can stay safely up here." He looked at Nabiki and cocked his head slightly, measuring the slight bemusement on the older Tendo's face. "I take it that you've met Asana, Nabiki?"
"Yes we have." Nabiki brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes while Hikaru nodded his head.
"Then there is only one other person to introduce." His head turned to Kaori who seemed to want to slide herself further and further into the crack in the wall. "Nabiki, Akane, this is Kaori Saito. Kaori, this is Akane Tendo on your left," He pointed to Akane who looked away and flushed a slightly embarrassed shade of red, "And this is Nabiki Tendo on your right. They both knew me back when I lived in Tokyo."
"Hello. I'm pleased to meet both of you," Kaori said softly, her posture and body nature belying most of her words. But the introductions were made. Nothing could change that. "I'll help you as best I can."
"As will I," Asana said briskly, her hands moving a pen rapidly on a small piece of paper. Nabiki noticed that her movements were almost like her own when she took notes and evaluated things, and she caught herself smiling at the thought of having someone to compete against again. "What kind of a place were you looking for, exactly Tendo-san?"
"The name's Nabiki," Nabiki airily replied, "And we're looking for somewhere were we'll not have to live with any bugs, rats, or nasty landlords." Asana couldn't help but smile at the cheek of the other girl sitting next to her. She knew in that instant that Nabiki was going to be interesting to deal with. "Do you know of any place like that?"
"There are a few places like that. Shall we go now?" Asana stood up and everyone else followed her lead. She walked to the door, Nabiki and Akane in tow, carrying their suitcases lightly in their hands. Asana looked back at Hikaru and Kaori, a small smile beginning to crease her lips. "Are you coming with us, Hikaru?"
"Yes. But only for a little while. Professor Hasagawa wants to talk to me at 12.30 about the experiments for the summer." He looked at Kaori, his eye quickly taking in the flustered and quietly confused girl's expression as she gazed at the floor. "Are you coming with us, K?"
"No. I have homework that needs to be done. Asana should be able to take care of this easily," she said softly as she shuffled to the stairs, her voice getting softer and softer with every step. She scarcely heard the door close and the voices fade away as she rushed to her room, her eyes blurring with tears. She flung open her door and ran into her room, shutting it behind her. With a great heaving cry, she collapsed onto the wooden floor and started sobbing passionately. Minutes passed and she continued to cry, her slim body racking with the movements.
Soon she stopped crying and looked up, her eyes blurred with still unshed tears. She rose shakily to her feet and crossed over to her dresser, sighing heavily and trembling with the waves of passion still crashing against her heart. Her hands moved quickly and she pulled a large battered photo album from her top drawer. Slumping onto the small bed, she opened the album and let the few tears she had left flow onto the yellowed and ink stained pages. Photos of Hikaru littered the pages, ornate calligraphy was drawn in-between the pictures. With a sigh in her heart she pressed the album to her chest and murmured softly to herself.
"Hikaru, my love, I will not let you go now. Even if I am too shy to tell you, I will have you love me one day..."
***
Hikaru stepped from the darkness of the hallway to the equally dark yet somewhat more inviting recesses of his room and lit a candle near to the door. He then proceeded to light more and more candles, allowing the lights to flicker at odd angles due to their placement. Soon his entire room was a light with fire and light, a warm mix of smells wafting up to the ceiling to descend back down. Hikaru was home.
He sighed heavily and clicked on the monitor to his computer. Nothing appeared to make much of an impact upon him and his face remained stoic looking as he turned the monitor back off. He then crossed over to the opposite corner of the room and turned on a small gas burner with a kettle sitting atop it. The warmth in the room slowly began to mount and come to a head. Shadow danced on the walls and the absence of direct light in the room only intensified Hikaru's far more adult look.
Suddenly a knock on his door made him turn and look at the entrance to his room. The light from the hallway was on and he saw the glow at the bottom of the door intruding into his space. He opened the door and saw a head of black hair and pale features staring back at him.
"Hello, Hikaru," Akane said as she stood, quietly fidgeting with her small purse as she avoided his glare.
"Hello, Akane."
"May I come in?"
"Certainly. But one moment please," Hikaru replied as he slid out of the room and into the hallway. He clicked off the hall light but stood in the inky darkness, his breath becoming slightly ragged and torn. He knew that there was a reason for her being in his presence and being accompanied. He knew something was going to happen.
When he got back to his room he noticed that Akane was standing next to his window and looking out onto the starry sky. Her hands had drawn back a tapestry that had originally been placed to block the outside world from coming in. As she heard Hikaru enter, her hands let go of the tapestry and fell to her side. She turned and watched him close the door, the room suddenly plunging back into the flickering darkness.
"I'm sorry.... I..." Akane started to say, but was waved off by Hikaru who merely went to shut off the almost whistling teakettle.
"It's no problem. Would you like some tea?" Hikaru asked as he brought the teapot and a set of cups to a small table on the floor.
"Yes. Thank you very much." Akane sat down at the table across from Hikaru and watched as he expertly poured the tea into the cups. She noticed that Hikaru was using a cup she was not used to seeing on a table. "Hikaru, what kind of cups are these? They look so different."
"These are not the tea cups you're used to. They're western coffee mugs I had imported from America. I wanted to drink something a little different while I was here." Hikaru slid the mug across the table to Akane who blew her tea and sipped. The long sip and savor was enough time for Hikaru to both attend to his own beverage and formulate his next question. "How did you get here, Akane?"
"Nabiki told me how to get here and wanted me to come and talk to you before we had to clean house tonight. She and I are staying in a small apartment not far from your house and I wanted to come and see you." Akane's voice was low and deep, not like the Akane Hikaru had known nearly three years ago and while his face stayed locked in his now normal impassive state he inwardly wondered as to why Akane seemed to have changed so much. "She and Asana are talking at the new house and I don't assume they'll be done for a while."
"Considering the sparkle I saw in Asana's eyes, I would agree with you." both sets of eyes met for a moment then looked away. It was a solitary glance but one that communicated much in its brevity. Hikaru cleared his throat and started speaking again. "Well, what would you like to talk about, Akane?"
"Why did you leave Tokyo?" The question slipped out of Akane's mouth before she even realized it and her hand flew to her mouth in shock. Her cheeks reddened and her eyes dropped even lower then before. Hikaru sat silent for a moment and then stood up taking his mug and walking into one of the corners of the room. A candle sat near to where he was standing and the light embellished his refined and matured features. For a long time he didn't speak and the silence was nerve racking to Akane's psyche.
"So soon we come to this end of the spectrum," Hikaru said softly as he turned to face Akane. His eyes shone with intense sparkles yet little light as Akane looked into his dark owlish eyes. "I figured we'd have some small talk first and then get into the real conversation. But I guess I should have expected this."
"I'm sorry it came out like that," Akane said softly, "But that question has been haunting me for so long now. I need to know."
"And I need to know why I was cursed to be on this earth. But only one of us will get what they need today." Hikaru came back to the table and sat down, putting his mug aside and looking directly at Akane's face. "But I think I must tell you for you to understand." Akane nodded and put her own cup aside.
"I left not because of you or Ranma or the fight or anything like that. I left Nerima and came here because I needed to find out who I was. Lying in that hospital room forced me to try and find myself and I just couldn't do it. But I also came here to kick you out of my heart and find a reason for my obsessing over someone who'd never talk to me. So I lied about you not being a part of me coming to Kashima." He shrugged slightly as his voice dropped slightly and a small catch seemed to rise in his throat. "I came here to redefine who I was and find friends who would actually care about me. I came here to get away from the shadow of all those incredible and incredibly awful people in Nerima. I came here to start over.
"And in coming here I found out who I was and who I am. I spent many nights here just trying to not cry my eyes out over you and over my past sins and my horrible crimes and shames. The fact that I used magic I had no damn right even touching to make someone who barely knew of me to love me haunted me to no end. I tried so hard to reconcile my past and move on that it almost killed me to do it. But I did it. And I helped stop something similar from happening here and helped bring peace to this town." Hikaru stopped for a moment and looked down at his trembling hands. He couldn't believe that his heart was still throbbing in his body at her presence. With a modicum of effort he clutched his hands together and tried to stop them from shaking. "When I came here the kids from the two high schools here were fighting so badly that it was almost to the point where walking the streets could get you hurt. I helped calm the different groups and bring a truce to this place that exists to this day. And all of it was because I had gone through what I went through in Nerima. All of it. I'm a walking cautionary tale to everyone now and it's all my fault."
"But you're different now. You look better then you used to," Akane said softly as she looked hard at Hikaru. "Something else has changed you. You have these girls you live with. You seem like you're better off now then before."
"And what makes you my goddamn caretaker, Akane Tendo?" At that her head snapped off angrily but came back a moment later, full of the fury that she was known for. "We could say the exact same thing about you, Akane. Especially considering Ranma's not with you. At least you had someone there for you to protect and love you. I had shit." At that Hikaru got up and walked over to the window, his face turning a strange shade of red. "You didn't even visit me in the hospital..."
"And why should I have?! You tried to step into my relationship with Ranma! You knew I only partially liked you! You knew what happened to everyone else who came after me!!" Akane exclaimed angrily. She got up and walked over to the stoic looking boy, her fury radiating off into his body. "What makes you think you had any right to have me after the things you did??"
"Akane, do you remember when you had the flu so badly you were hospitalized your first year in high school? Do you remember the times before Ranma and the rest of those assholes showed up? Before even Tatewaki Kuno began obsessing over you? Do you remember the fact that there were always flowers in your room no matter what the day? That was I. It was all me and it was all my downfall." At that Akane's face blanched over. She did remember the entire episode and the simple yet beautiful arrangements that she received day after day. And always the flowers came with a beautiful card with no name but meaningful words. "I went so deep into debt buying you those flowers that it made me have to be Nabiki's little slave for so long. But I did it for you because I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew what you were like before Ranma made you the queen of the damn school. And I knew that one day I would have liked to have you be my friend or more.
"I didn't have the courage to reveal myself to you but I had to do something. I had to. Maybe I should have tried to say something to you then but I didn't. So I stayed silent and began to fall downhill. I had to deal with all the kids in the school hating me because of how I spoke and how I lived. I had to deal with all that and try to keep it all together. And I just didn't do it." At that Hikaru turned to Akane and noticed her angry looking eyes had lessened their intensity somewhat and were now only hurt. "I came here to make peace with the errors I made. I...I'm sorry I ever put you in the kind of situation that I did. I should have just accept my fate and moved on. But I couldn't."
"Hikaru, I never knew..." Akane started to say softly but cut off as her own voice began to get thick and her angry eyes became only flooded with intense shame. "I never knew how deep your feelings were for me. I just thought you were some other hanger-on I had to deal with..."
"Well, I'm surprised. I never even thought you considered me a hanger-on. I had no friends in Nerima, Akane. No one." He turned back to the window and sighed heavily. His hands trembled and his voice quivered with a tidal wave of emotion as he spoke again. "Do you know what it's like to lie in a cold hospital room and deal with the fact that no one has come to see you besides the nurses and the doctors? Do you know what it's like to truly be lonely and not know if anyone even gives a shit? Do you wonder why the only person to come see you from the outside world is someone looking for money from you? And only twice did Nabiki come to my room, mind you.
"Akane, for me to come here was a last ditch effort to try and find myself. Everyone in that school would have known me as the asshole that got beaten up by Kuno in a fit of rage. No one would have given a shit, just laughed. So I left. Like a wimp I left and found myself somewhere else. Hell, even if Ranma had come to my room once and said he felt my pain for everything that happened and allowed me to apologize for dishonoring myself, I would have been able to deal with it easier. But neither he nor you came to see me. And no one else did either. So I was alone. Utterly alone."
"But didn't you have your mother and father?"
"My did is a salary worker. He had no time to come and see me in my dishonor. And my mother didn't give a fuck about me. She still doesn't, for that matter. That's why I don't feel like I have parents anymore. All she was glad about what the fact that I wasn't dead." Hikaru's hands gripped the tapestry tighter, the veins showing up against his pale skin. "Akane, they didn't care enough to realize that I was nearly falling apart in that room alone. So I decided that I didn't want to ever see you or my family or Ranma Saotome or anyone else from Nerima again. I paid the remainder of my debts to Nabiki and made my way here as an exchange student. And here I made my long trip to where I am now."
Hikaru felt his body begin to shut down as the last angry words tumbled out of his mouth. All of a sudden the final ebbing reserves of his restraint drained into his feet and nothing held back his anger and frustration. "All I could do for the first few months that I was here was go to school and get alcohol from the college kids who didn't live far from where I was. I began to drink so much it would have put salary workers to shame. I drank and cried, cried and drank, cursed my life and drank some more. And nothing was solved. Not a damn thing was resolved. I was nearly put into the hospital twice because of alcohol poisoning. But I finally figured it out in my own head after a long night of drinking.
"That night, I just got so damn drunk I could barely stand and I cried out to whatever God was watching over me to just kill me and get it the fuck over with. But I didn't die. All I did was lay there and make peace with it all. You, the fight, my family, everything. When I went to school the next day, the sun shone brighter, the grass was greener, the sky was bluer and the women were prettier. I resolved to make something of my life and make friends. Any way I could, I was going to change. I stopped drinking almost entirely and began working out. I gave up all the magic I used to obsess on for good and burned all my books and talismans. I sold much of it and used the money to begin anew here. So yes, Akane, I'm better then I used to be. But to get where I am, I almost died. I almost stopped living because I didn't know how." He turned back to Akane and smiled a sick, almost sadistic smile at her. His teeth shone in the night like a moonbeam and his features showed off a quiet determination that had risen like the foam on a latte. "So why is it that you're here alone and without the one you were engaged to marry?"
"My ex-husband, you mean? Ranma Saotome? We're separated." At that Hikaru blanched over with pale shock at Akane's flat words. Her face had gone from anger to shame to dull disappointment and she just looked tired. "We separated after I found him in Ukyou's arms, looking damn glad to be there."
"What.... how...." Hikaru stammered, his own mind trying like hell to catch up with her words. "I thought you were the couple everyone wanted to be like. I thought Ranma loved you."
"I thought he did as well. I mean, got married ok...." Akane said as she moved closer to Hikaru. The space between them had slowly evaporated to the point that if they had been closer they would have been embracing each other. "We married less then 9 months after you left for Kashima. We tried one wedding but it was destroyed so damn badly that Ranma and I decided to elope later on. No one found us and we exchanged vows in a small ceremony in Kyoto. At first everyone just accepted it and moved on as best they could. Mousse and Shampoo married after Ranma tricked him into fighting Shampoo but by that time Shampoo was already exiled from the Amazon tribes. Ukyou and Konatsu were appearing to try and make a clean start together as they worked at the restaurant and the Kuno's were both in a mental hospital. Life was calm for a while."
Akane sighed as she continued to speak, her voice becoming strained and torn ragged with the emotions she felt. "I...I tried so hard to be good to Ranma after we were married. I tried so hard but it almost seemed like we fought more after our marriage then before. It seemed that not a day would go by that we wouldn't have one raging argument. At first it felt like when we first met but then it became downright bitter. We tried everything to keep ourselves together: Time away from one another, trips away from everyone, sit-downs together, the works. But nothing seemed to help. We fought more and more and soon it got to the point that neither of us could stand to see one another."
"Are you and Ranma divorced?" Hikaru asked softly.
"No. We're separated but I doubt if I'll ever go back to him. Things.... things changed between us so much. And then there was Ukyou..." Her voice became much sharper and clearer at the mention of the chef's name. "The thing that iced it was the fact that every time I would go home from school, he'd be there talking to Ukyou. Especially if he and I had fought that morning. And she'd always give him this smooth smile. She always seemed to revel in our pain. For almost an entire year I watched them grow closer again...as he and I grew apart." Akane's face showed little anger and little sadness, just an overwhelming expression of resignation. The look on her face made Hikaru wonder about the validity of her words.
"Did you ever think he was....sleeping around?"
"The thought had crossed my mind somewhat. His father seemed like a rolling stone, so why shouldn't he follow his father's example?" Akane tasted the bitter remembrance in her mouth and it shocked her to find that it still resonated inside of her. "Though he never said anything to the contrary, I always suspected that Ukyou and he were involved together. But I never tried find out, despite Nabiki's offers."
"Why?"
"Because I know why we wouldn't have worked even if he wasn't cheating. We married too young, Hikaru. We both got married because everyone else wanted us to. We got married for everyone but the two people who were going to live with the union. I did love him once..." At that, a silent set of tears began to fall down her cheeks, the water reflecting the light from the candles like sparkles from jagged diamonds. "And I think he may have loved me. But we just had so many people pushing us in so many directions. His family, my family, the rest of his iinazuke, the rest of my suitors, everyone had a stake in our happiness. No one left us the fuck alone..." Akane began to cry hard, her head bowing and her body crumpling into Hikaru's wiry yet muscular frame. For an awkward moment, Hikaru froze and contemplated what to do then wrapped his arms around the crying girl and held on tight.
The sounds of Akane's crying and labored breathing resonated and bounced off the walls like scattershot. It was all Hikaru could do to not cling ever tighter to the girl, to show her that he did care about her as a person. And as a friend. But soon enough, Akane realized where she was and whom she was hugging. She stepped back out of his grasp and stopped her crying as best she could, her voice hiccupping back into a small set of sobs. "I'm...I'm sorry..."
"What is there to be sorry about? I'm just sad that it didn't work between Ranma and you. You both seemed to just make each other better." Hikaru replied, his own voice deep and husky, the contrasting emotions making a complex soup in his throat and heart.
"Well, I didn't mean for us to get so emotional tonight. Though in a way I kind of guessed it would be something like this." Akane sniffled as she walked back to the table to get her purse. "I have to go now. It's getting rather late."
"Yes. And I have work tomorrow morning." Hikaru opened the door for Akane and stood there for a moment. "I only hope you find what you came here for, Akane." Their eyes met as she passed by him, and she stopped for the briefest of moments.
"Who said I was coming here to find anything?" Akane said, her voice tired yet defiant.
"You wouldn't come to a northern Japanese prefecture just to get away from a bad husband. You came here to find something."
A silence followed then Akane lifted her eyes up to look Hikaru directly in the face. "You're right. I did come here to find something. I want to find the peace and happiness you found here. I want to find myself again. I don't want to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome anymore."
"You just want to be Akane Tendo again..."
"Yes. And I was hoping you'd help me. This is for tonight." With that Akane leaned up and kissed Hikaru very lightly on the cheek and hugged him tight. Hikaru didn't hesitate in hugging Akane back. And for the longest of moments, everything seemed to stop. All he could feel was Akane's heart beating against his chest, her breath on his neck, and her hands around his waist. It was everything he ever wanted. Finally they separated and both smiled at one another.
"Can I be your friend, Akane Tendo? For the first time?"
"Only if I can be yours, Hikaru Gosunkugi." She walked out into the hallway and silent waved, her feet carrying her towards the stairs. For a long time all Hikaru could do was stare at the darkened hallway. But eventually he closed the door and leaned against it. The candles still burned and the light still flickered about as he slumped against the door. His mind was swirling with colors and intense sensations and all he could see was his entire safe world begin to crumble in front of him.
Life in his northern town had suddenly gotten very complicated.
By S. Mark Gunther
"People are strange when you're a stranger,
Faces look ugly when you're alone....
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted,
Streets are uneven when you're down....
When you're strange,
Faces come out of the rain,
When you're strange,
No one remembers your name,
When you're strange....
When you're strange....
When you're strange...."
-- From 'The Doors - People Are Strange'
***
"Now arriving in Kashima! All passengers please exit quickly." the speakers on the train boomed as it pulled into the station. The passengers exited and boarded the train in a line dance of efficiency and speed, baggage and other items being handled like crates of fruit at the market. Soon the platform was full of emptiness as only a few souls stood watching the train leave. The wind from the receding train blew across the air in the bright morning sky. It was a perfect day in northern Japan. A perfect day to disrupt someone's life.
"Are you sure he's here?" Akane Tendo asked, her hands shifting the suitcase she carried with an idle motion. Her eyes scanned the quiet city with a slightly expectant yet pensive glare.
"Yes. I talked to him about a month ago." Nabiki answered as she moved to the stairs leading to the station house. Akane followed and no more words were spoken until they had gotten to the outside of the station house where they looked to flag down a taxicab. "Akane, we have no other place to go, and there are things to do here. Besides, money is easier to come by up here with my skills and your drive." She smiled and ignored Akane's frosty look as she proceeded to flag down a passing cab. "And didn't you say you wanted to leave Tokyo?"
"Yes." At the mention of her desire to leave, she tensed slightly and clutched her bag handle just that much tighter. "I have to leave my past."
"Well, this is the best place to do it. Considering we have someone who has broken the ground for us." Nabiki said strongly as a cab finally pulled in front of them. They got into the car and sped away from the station. Nabiki spoke a few soft words to the driver and soon they stopped in front of a large, rather poor looking boarding house. The outside of the building was clean, but on first glace it was apparent that youth lived here. Laundry fluttered on the line in the clean mid-morning air. The whole building exuded a feeling of youthful exuberance.
"Well, this is the boarding house Gosunkugi told me he was living at." Nabiki said, walking forward up the small pathway with Akane trailing close behind. Akane couldn't help but notice the sense of peace that emanated from the building, a sort of magic.
"It is the kind of place I would have thought Gosunkugi would be staying at." Akane breathed as they stepped onto the front porch. "But it's the middle of the day. Do you think he's here?"
"Well, there's one way to find out." Nabiki rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened a few seconds later, and a slightly disheveled yet beautiful woman peered out.
"May I help you" she slurred, her voice thick with sleep.
"Yes, we're looking for Gosunkugi Hikaru?" Nabiki replied.
"Gossy? Oh, he should be upstairs. I'll bring you to him." The girl stepped back and led the sisters into a large common room, littered with cups, glasses and half eaten food. A swarthy looking man lay curled up in one of the corners, snoring loudly. "Please excuse the mess. We held our annual house Go tournament last night, and things became a little out of hand."
"It's alright," Akane said, kneeling at the small center table and setting down her suitcase. "Did Gosunkugi win?"
"No. It was his first year competing. He placed third overall, though. He lost a heartbreaking match in the semi-finals and nearly lost his consolation match. But that's that boy for you." The girl sat down and swept some trash to the side so she could set the glass she was carrying down on. "Whenever you think he's down and out, he always finds a way to get back to victory." Suddenly, she looked up with surprisingly bright eyes and smiles warmly. "My apologies, I've been such a bad host. My name is Asana Miyoki."
"I'm Nabiki Tendo, and this is my sister Akane," Nabiki said warmly, her voice catching a unique quality rarely heard by anyone. Asana nodded and looked at the girls with interest evident on her old looking yet young face.
"Well, he should be back any time now. He and K decided to go and get more groceries for the party tomorrow night. I'll be right back." With that she got up and disappeared into the bowels of the house. Just as she disappeared, the door opened and voices could be heard in the hallway. Akane stretched her neck to see where the sound was and within a few seconds she found out who was speaking.
"Well, I wasn't taking anyone, K. If you'd like, I could take you and..." Suddenly the voice stopped as Gosunkugi looked inside the living room and saw Akane and Nabiki for the first time in almost 3 years. They gaped at him and he took a step back in shock.
"Really? I was hoping you would take me, Gos-kun..." As the girl stepped into the doorway she stopped and watched Gosunkugi's shocked expression settle onto his face. She turned and saw what he was gaping at and began to watch slowly, waiting for Gosunkugi's reaction.
"Gos...Hikaru?" Akane said softly as she felt her breath catch slightly in her throat. "Is that you?"
"H...H...Hai..." The formerly creepy lad felt his face turn into a familiar blushing state, his cheeks burning with the tension he had spent so long trying to get rid of. The girl at his side looked up at him, her young and innocent features telegraphing all her emotions to him in a glance. He noticed her glaring look and regained a semblance of control over his emotions. "K, can you put the groceries into the kitchen for me? I'll be there in a minute to put them away." The girl merely nodded and took the bag Gosunkugi was holding, disappearing with a flash and a blush.
"Well, I see someone has been getting some rather interesting housemates," Nabiki observed lightly from her seat, her face never changing from the normally placid yet icy expression she was so known for. She made it look almost effortless though it was not for the lack of trying as she was desperately attempting not to gasp at the change in Gosunkugi's looks. Hikaru had gone from being a pale, thin, tweedy looking spook/geek to a striking, willowy graceful lad.
His face, formerly sunken and recessed with the lack of food and love, now appeared angular and sharp. His eyes were intense and clear, the brown pupils flashing with a sparkle they had never had before. His body was fuller and taller; he stood with an erect, strident pose. His features now seemed to fit his body and he exuded a quiet confidence and arrogance. Even with the shock clearly evident on his face, she could see a new level of power flowing inside of him and it shook her to the core. This was not the boy she had belittled before; this was a young man with an internal power that rivaled Ranma Saotome's.
Akane saw all of this, and could merely watch as Gosunkugi gracefully walked to the table, sitting down and scooting up to the flat surface. His initial shock had receded beneath the surface of his now veneer smooth face and he seemed to be back in control. He looked at Nabiki, his expression now businesslike and prompt. "Yes. I've begun anew here. But what brings you to this end of Japan?"
"Akane and I are moving up here, and I figured you could help us find a cheap place to stay," Nabiki said, her hands already fishing into her handbag to fish out the ever present notebook and pen that she made her reputation upon. "You do seem to know the area, and you'd be perfect to help us out."
"Just you and Akane are moving up here?" Hikaru asked, his own face beginning to crease up with worry, the rivers of doubt rising back up in his mind.
"Yes. We really have nowhere else to go right now," Akane said, her voice now dropping to a low even she had never seen before. Hikaru turned his head and saw a profound sadness in her formerly bright expression. It was as if someone had placed a black veil over her face and left it there to absorb into her skin, the apparent sadness permeating into every fiber. It was all he could do to not look at her without wanting to comfort her but Hikaru kept his mask of emotions up as best he could.
"Well, I can help you find a place. But for how long are you two going to be staying?"
"Well, I'm not sure right now." Nabiki wrote some figures down on in her notebook and looked up at Hikaru. "We might be here for good, but definitely we'll be here about a year."
"...Let me bring down my flat mates who are here and we'll think this through." Hikaru rose from his seat and walked over to the threshold, calling out through the house. "K, when you're done, bring Asana downstairs and join us. We need to talk." He walked back and sat back down, his posture and grace now evidently improved over the Hikaru of before. He looked at Akane and smiled a brilliant, product-selling smile causing the girl to blush and look away. "I want to have Asana and Kaori come and talk with us about the best places to find an apartment for two girls. And who better to tell me that then two other girls?"
"No one, Gossy," Asana answered lightly as she and Kaori walked in, both of them sitting down in different parts of the large sitting room. Asana sat at the last place at the table while Kaori timidly cowered in a corner chair, her slender and lithe figure being shaded over by the little amount shadow that bounced off the corners and crevices of the airy room. Asana looked and Hikaru and smiles a warm smile at him. "So what did you need to talk to me and Kaori about?"
"Well, Nabiki and Akane are going to be staying here for a while and they need their own place to stay. And as much as I know this town, you guys might have a better idea of where two young women can stay safely up here." He looked at Nabiki and cocked his head slightly, measuring the slight bemusement on the older Tendo's face. "I take it that you've met Asana, Nabiki?"
"Yes we have." Nabiki brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes while Hikaru nodded his head.
"Then there is only one other person to introduce." His head turned to Kaori who seemed to want to slide herself further and further into the crack in the wall. "Nabiki, Akane, this is Kaori Saito. Kaori, this is Akane Tendo on your left," He pointed to Akane who looked away and flushed a slightly embarrassed shade of red, "And this is Nabiki Tendo on your right. They both knew me back when I lived in Tokyo."
"Hello. I'm pleased to meet both of you," Kaori said softly, her posture and body nature belying most of her words. But the introductions were made. Nothing could change that. "I'll help you as best I can."
"As will I," Asana said briskly, her hands moving a pen rapidly on a small piece of paper. Nabiki noticed that her movements were almost like her own when she took notes and evaluated things, and she caught herself smiling at the thought of having someone to compete against again. "What kind of a place were you looking for, exactly Tendo-san?"
"The name's Nabiki," Nabiki airily replied, "And we're looking for somewhere were we'll not have to live with any bugs, rats, or nasty landlords." Asana couldn't help but smile at the cheek of the other girl sitting next to her. She knew in that instant that Nabiki was going to be interesting to deal with. "Do you know of any place like that?"
"There are a few places like that. Shall we go now?" Asana stood up and everyone else followed her lead. She walked to the door, Nabiki and Akane in tow, carrying their suitcases lightly in their hands. Asana looked back at Hikaru and Kaori, a small smile beginning to crease her lips. "Are you coming with us, Hikaru?"
"Yes. But only for a little while. Professor Hasagawa wants to talk to me at 12.30 about the experiments for the summer." He looked at Kaori, his eye quickly taking in the flustered and quietly confused girl's expression as she gazed at the floor. "Are you coming with us, K?"
"No. I have homework that needs to be done. Asana should be able to take care of this easily," she said softly as she shuffled to the stairs, her voice getting softer and softer with every step. She scarcely heard the door close and the voices fade away as she rushed to her room, her eyes blurring with tears. She flung open her door and ran into her room, shutting it behind her. With a great heaving cry, she collapsed onto the wooden floor and started sobbing passionately. Minutes passed and she continued to cry, her slim body racking with the movements.
Soon she stopped crying and looked up, her eyes blurred with still unshed tears. She rose shakily to her feet and crossed over to her dresser, sighing heavily and trembling with the waves of passion still crashing against her heart. Her hands moved quickly and she pulled a large battered photo album from her top drawer. Slumping onto the small bed, she opened the album and let the few tears she had left flow onto the yellowed and ink stained pages. Photos of Hikaru littered the pages, ornate calligraphy was drawn in-between the pictures. With a sigh in her heart she pressed the album to her chest and murmured softly to herself.
"Hikaru, my love, I will not let you go now. Even if I am too shy to tell you, I will have you love me one day..."
***
Hikaru stepped from the darkness of the hallway to the equally dark yet somewhat more inviting recesses of his room and lit a candle near to the door. He then proceeded to light more and more candles, allowing the lights to flicker at odd angles due to their placement. Soon his entire room was a light with fire and light, a warm mix of smells wafting up to the ceiling to descend back down. Hikaru was home.
He sighed heavily and clicked on the monitor to his computer. Nothing appeared to make much of an impact upon him and his face remained stoic looking as he turned the monitor back off. He then crossed over to the opposite corner of the room and turned on a small gas burner with a kettle sitting atop it. The warmth in the room slowly began to mount and come to a head. Shadow danced on the walls and the absence of direct light in the room only intensified Hikaru's far more adult look.
Suddenly a knock on his door made him turn and look at the entrance to his room. The light from the hallway was on and he saw the glow at the bottom of the door intruding into his space. He opened the door and saw a head of black hair and pale features staring back at him.
"Hello, Hikaru," Akane said as she stood, quietly fidgeting with her small purse as she avoided his glare.
"Hello, Akane."
"May I come in?"
"Certainly. But one moment please," Hikaru replied as he slid out of the room and into the hallway. He clicked off the hall light but stood in the inky darkness, his breath becoming slightly ragged and torn. He knew that there was a reason for her being in his presence and being accompanied. He knew something was going to happen.
When he got back to his room he noticed that Akane was standing next to his window and looking out onto the starry sky. Her hands had drawn back a tapestry that had originally been placed to block the outside world from coming in. As she heard Hikaru enter, her hands let go of the tapestry and fell to her side. She turned and watched him close the door, the room suddenly plunging back into the flickering darkness.
"I'm sorry.... I..." Akane started to say, but was waved off by Hikaru who merely went to shut off the almost whistling teakettle.
"It's no problem. Would you like some tea?" Hikaru asked as he brought the teapot and a set of cups to a small table on the floor.
"Yes. Thank you very much." Akane sat down at the table across from Hikaru and watched as he expertly poured the tea into the cups. She noticed that Hikaru was using a cup she was not used to seeing on a table. "Hikaru, what kind of cups are these? They look so different."
"These are not the tea cups you're used to. They're western coffee mugs I had imported from America. I wanted to drink something a little different while I was here." Hikaru slid the mug across the table to Akane who blew her tea and sipped. The long sip and savor was enough time for Hikaru to both attend to his own beverage and formulate his next question. "How did you get here, Akane?"
"Nabiki told me how to get here and wanted me to come and talk to you before we had to clean house tonight. She and I are staying in a small apartment not far from your house and I wanted to come and see you." Akane's voice was low and deep, not like the Akane Hikaru had known nearly three years ago and while his face stayed locked in his now normal impassive state he inwardly wondered as to why Akane seemed to have changed so much. "She and Asana are talking at the new house and I don't assume they'll be done for a while."
"Considering the sparkle I saw in Asana's eyes, I would agree with you." both sets of eyes met for a moment then looked away. It was a solitary glance but one that communicated much in its brevity. Hikaru cleared his throat and started speaking again. "Well, what would you like to talk about, Akane?"
"Why did you leave Tokyo?" The question slipped out of Akane's mouth before she even realized it and her hand flew to her mouth in shock. Her cheeks reddened and her eyes dropped even lower then before. Hikaru sat silent for a moment and then stood up taking his mug and walking into one of the corners of the room. A candle sat near to where he was standing and the light embellished his refined and matured features. For a long time he didn't speak and the silence was nerve racking to Akane's psyche.
"So soon we come to this end of the spectrum," Hikaru said softly as he turned to face Akane. His eyes shone with intense sparkles yet little light as Akane looked into his dark owlish eyes. "I figured we'd have some small talk first and then get into the real conversation. But I guess I should have expected this."
"I'm sorry it came out like that," Akane said softly, "But that question has been haunting me for so long now. I need to know."
"And I need to know why I was cursed to be on this earth. But only one of us will get what they need today." Hikaru came back to the table and sat down, putting his mug aside and looking directly at Akane's face. "But I think I must tell you for you to understand." Akane nodded and put her own cup aside.
"I left not because of you or Ranma or the fight or anything like that. I left Nerima and came here because I needed to find out who I was. Lying in that hospital room forced me to try and find myself and I just couldn't do it. But I also came here to kick you out of my heart and find a reason for my obsessing over someone who'd never talk to me. So I lied about you not being a part of me coming to Kashima." He shrugged slightly as his voice dropped slightly and a small catch seemed to rise in his throat. "I came here to redefine who I was and find friends who would actually care about me. I came here to get away from the shadow of all those incredible and incredibly awful people in Nerima. I came here to start over.
"And in coming here I found out who I was and who I am. I spent many nights here just trying to not cry my eyes out over you and over my past sins and my horrible crimes and shames. The fact that I used magic I had no damn right even touching to make someone who barely knew of me to love me haunted me to no end. I tried so hard to reconcile my past and move on that it almost killed me to do it. But I did it. And I helped stop something similar from happening here and helped bring peace to this town." Hikaru stopped for a moment and looked down at his trembling hands. He couldn't believe that his heart was still throbbing in his body at her presence. With a modicum of effort he clutched his hands together and tried to stop them from shaking. "When I came here the kids from the two high schools here were fighting so badly that it was almost to the point where walking the streets could get you hurt. I helped calm the different groups and bring a truce to this place that exists to this day. And all of it was because I had gone through what I went through in Nerima. All of it. I'm a walking cautionary tale to everyone now and it's all my fault."
"But you're different now. You look better then you used to," Akane said softly as she looked hard at Hikaru. "Something else has changed you. You have these girls you live with. You seem like you're better off now then before."
"And what makes you my goddamn caretaker, Akane Tendo?" At that her head snapped off angrily but came back a moment later, full of the fury that she was known for. "We could say the exact same thing about you, Akane. Especially considering Ranma's not with you. At least you had someone there for you to protect and love you. I had shit." At that Hikaru got up and walked over to the window, his face turning a strange shade of red. "You didn't even visit me in the hospital..."
"And why should I have?! You tried to step into my relationship with Ranma! You knew I only partially liked you! You knew what happened to everyone else who came after me!!" Akane exclaimed angrily. She got up and walked over to the stoic looking boy, her fury radiating off into his body. "What makes you think you had any right to have me after the things you did??"
"Akane, do you remember when you had the flu so badly you were hospitalized your first year in high school? Do you remember the times before Ranma and the rest of those assholes showed up? Before even Tatewaki Kuno began obsessing over you? Do you remember the fact that there were always flowers in your room no matter what the day? That was I. It was all me and it was all my downfall." At that Akane's face blanched over. She did remember the entire episode and the simple yet beautiful arrangements that she received day after day. And always the flowers came with a beautiful card with no name but meaningful words. "I went so deep into debt buying you those flowers that it made me have to be Nabiki's little slave for so long. But I did it for you because I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew what you were like before Ranma made you the queen of the damn school. And I knew that one day I would have liked to have you be my friend or more.
"I didn't have the courage to reveal myself to you but I had to do something. I had to. Maybe I should have tried to say something to you then but I didn't. So I stayed silent and began to fall downhill. I had to deal with all the kids in the school hating me because of how I spoke and how I lived. I had to deal with all that and try to keep it all together. And I just didn't do it." At that Hikaru turned to Akane and noticed her angry looking eyes had lessened their intensity somewhat and were now only hurt. "I came here to make peace with the errors I made. I...I'm sorry I ever put you in the kind of situation that I did. I should have just accept my fate and moved on. But I couldn't."
"Hikaru, I never knew..." Akane started to say softly but cut off as her own voice began to get thick and her angry eyes became only flooded with intense shame. "I never knew how deep your feelings were for me. I just thought you were some other hanger-on I had to deal with..."
"Well, I'm surprised. I never even thought you considered me a hanger-on. I had no friends in Nerima, Akane. No one." He turned back to the window and sighed heavily. His hands trembled and his voice quivered with a tidal wave of emotion as he spoke again. "Do you know what it's like to lie in a cold hospital room and deal with the fact that no one has come to see you besides the nurses and the doctors? Do you know what it's like to truly be lonely and not know if anyone even gives a shit? Do you wonder why the only person to come see you from the outside world is someone looking for money from you? And only twice did Nabiki come to my room, mind you.
"Akane, for me to come here was a last ditch effort to try and find myself. Everyone in that school would have known me as the asshole that got beaten up by Kuno in a fit of rage. No one would have given a shit, just laughed. So I left. Like a wimp I left and found myself somewhere else. Hell, even if Ranma had come to my room once and said he felt my pain for everything that happened and allowed me to apologize for dishonoring myself, I would have been able to deal with it easier. But neither he nor you came to see me. And no one else did either. So I was alone. Utterly alone."
"But didn't you have your mother and father?"
"My did is a salary worker. He had no time to come and see me in my dishonor. And my mother didn't give a fuck about me. She still doesn't, for that matter. That's why I don't feel like I have parents anymore. All she was glad about what the fact that I wasn't dead." Hikaru's hands gripped the tapestry tighter, the veins showing up against his pale skin. "Akane, they didn't care enough to realize that I was nearly falling apart in that room alone. So I decided that I didn't want to ever see you or my family or Ranma Saotome or anyone else from Nerima again. I paid the remainder of my debts to Nabiki and made my way here as an exchange student. And here I made my long trip to where I am now."
Hikaru felt his body begin to shut down as the last angry words tumbled out of his mouth. All of a sudden the final ebbing reserves of his restraint drained into his feet and nothing held back his anger and frustration. "All I could do for the first few months that I was here was go to school and get alcohol from the college kids who didn't live far from where I was. I began to drink so much it would have put salary workers to shame. I drank and cried, cried and drank, cursed my life and drank some more. And nothing was solved. Not a damn thing was resolved. I was nearly put into the hospital twice because of alcohol poisoning. But I finally figured it out in my own head after a long night of drinking.
"That night, I just got so damn drunk I could barely stand and I cried out to whatever God was watching over me to just kill me and get it the fuck over with. But I didn't die. All I did was lay there and make peace with it all. You, the fight, my family, everything. When I went to school the next day, the sun shone brighter, the grass was greener, the sky was bluer and the women were prettier. I resolved to make something of my life and make friends. Any way I could, I was going to change. I stopped drinking almost entirely and began working out. I gave up all the magic I used to obsess on for good and burned all my books and talismans. I sold much of it and used the money to begin anew here. So yes, Akane, I'm better then I used to be. But to get where I am, I almost died. I almost stopped living because I didn't know how." He turned back to Akane and smiled a sick, almost sadistic smile at her. His teeth shone in the night like a moonbeam and his features showed off a quiet determination that had risen like the foam on a latte. "So why is it that you're here alone and without the one you were engaged to marry?"
"My ex-husband, you mean? Ranma Saotome? We're separated." At that Hikaru blanched over with pale shock at Akane's flat words. Her face had gone from anger to shame to dull disappointment and she just looked tired. "We separated after I found him in Ukyou's arms, looking damn glad to be there."
"What.... how...." Hikaru stammered, his own mind trying like hell to catch up with her words. "I thought you were the couple everyone wanted to be like. I thought Ranma loved you."
"I thought he did as well. I mean, got married ok...." Akane said as she moved closer to Hikaru. The space between them had slowly evaporated to the point that if they had been closer they would have been embracing each other. "We married less then 9 months after you left for Kashima. We tried one wedding but it was destroyed so damn badly that Ranma and I decided to elope later on. No one found us and we exchanged vows in a small ceremony in Kyoto. At first everyone just accepted it and moved on as best they could. Mousse and Shampoo married after Ranma tricked him into fighting Shampoo but by that time Shampoo was already exiled from the Amazon tribes. Ukyou and Konatsu were appearing to try and make a clean start together as they worked at the restaurant and the Kuno's were both in a mental hospital. Life was calm for a while."
Akane sighed as she continued to speak, her voice becoming strained and torn ragged with the emotions she felt. "I...I tried so hard to be good to Ranma after we were married. I tried so hard but it almost seemed like we fought more after our marriage then before. It seemed that not a day would go by that we wouldn't have one raging argument. At first it felt like when we first met but then it became downright bitter. We tried everything to keep ourselves together: Time away from one another, trips away from everyone, sit-downs together, the works. But nothing seemed to help. We fought more and more and soon it got to the point that neither of us could stand to see one another."
"Are you and Ranma divorced?" Hikaru asked softly.
"No. We're separated but I doubt if I'll ever go back to him. Things.... things changed between us so much. And then there was Ukyou..." Her voice became much sharper and clearer at the mention of the chef's name. "The thing that iced it was the fact that every time I would go home from school, he'd be there talking to Ukyou. Especially if he and I had fought that morning. And she'd always give him this smooth smile. She always seemed to revel in our pain. For almost an entire year I watched them grow closer again...as he and I grew apart." Akane's face showed little anger and little sadness, just an overwhelming expression of resignation. The look on her face made Hikaru wonder about the validity of her words.
"Did you ever think he was....sleeping around?"
"The thought had crossed my mind somewhat. His father seemed like a rolling stone, so why shouldn't he follow his father's example?" Akane tasted the bitter remembrance in her mouth and it shocked her to find that it still resonated inside of her. "Though he never said anything to the contrary, I always suspected that Ukyou and he were involved together. But I never tried find out, despite Nabiki's offers."
"Why?"
"Because I know why we wouldn't have worked even if he wasn't cheating. We married too young, Hikaru. We both got married because everyone else wanted us to. We got married for everyone but the two people who were going to live with the union. I did love him once..." At that, a silent set of tears began to fall down her cheeks, the water reflecting the light from the candles like sparkles from jagged diamonds. "And I think he may have loved me. But we just had so many people pushing us in so many directions. His family, my family, the rest of his iinazuke, the rest of my suitors, everyone had a stake in our happiness. No one left us the fuck alone..." Akane began to cry hard, her head bowing and her body crumpling into Hikaru's wiry yet muscular frame. For an awkward moment, Hikaru froze and contemplated what to do then wrapped his arms around the crying girl and held on tight.
The sounds of Akane's crying and labored breathing resonated and bounced off the walls like scattershot. It was all Hikaru could do to not cling ever tighter to the girl, to show her that he did care about her as a person. And as a friend. But soon enough, Akane realized where she was and whom she was hugging. She stepped back out of his grasp and stopped her crying as best she could, her voice hiccupping back into a small set of sobs. "I'm...I'm sorry..."
"What is there to be sorry about? I'm just sad that it didn't work between Ranma and you. You both seemed to just make each other better." Hikaru replied, his own voice deep and husky, the contrasting emotions making a complex soup in his throat and heart.
"Well, I didn't mean for us to get so emotional tonight. Though in a way I kind of guessed it would be something like this." Akane sniffled as she walked back to the table to get her purse. "I have to go now. It's getting rather late."
"Yes. And I have work tomorrow morning." Hikaru opened the door for Akane and stood there for a moment. "I only hope you find what you came here for, Akane." Their eyes met as she passed by him, and she stopped for the briefest of moments.
"Who said I was coming here to find anything?" Akane said, her voice tired yet defiant.
"You wouldn't come to a northern Japanese prefecture just to get away from a bad husband. You came here to find something."
A silence followed then Akane lifted her eyes up to look Hikaru directly in the face. "You're right. I did come here to find something. I want to find the peace and happiness you found here. I want to find myself again. I don't want to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome anymore."
"You just want to be Akane Tendo again..."
"Yes. And I was hoping you'd help me. This is for tonight." With that Akane leaned up and kissed Hikaru very lightly on the cheek and hugged him tight. Hikaru didn't hesitate in hugging Akane back. And for the longest of moments, everything seemed to stop. All he could feel was Akane's heart beating against his chest, her breath on his neck, and her hands around his waist. It was everything he ever wanted. Finally they separated and both smiled at one another.
"Can I be your friend, Akane Tendo? For the first time?"
"Only if I can be yours, Hikaru Gosunkugi." She walked out into the hallway and silent waved, her feet carrying her towards the stairs. For a long time all Hikaru could do was stare at the darkened hallway. But eventually he closed the door and leaned against it. The candles still burned and the light still flickered about as he slumped against the door. His mind was swirling with colors and intense sensations and all he could see was his entire safe world begin to crumble in front of him.
Life in his northern town had suddenly gotten very complicated.