Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
=====
PROLOGUE: SOMEONE WHO ARRIVED
"Shut up! I keep telling you that wasn't my fault!" Ranma practically shouted, losing the last of his willpower to remain calm. He glared at the girl beside him as they walked along the unfamiliar downtown area. Akane glared back at him straight in the face and stuck out her tongue.
"Sure," she taunted, this time pulling on the skin below her eye. "Just go back to Shampoo and marry her, for all I care!"
"You're so uncute!"
"Pervert!"
People around the streets were already turning their heads to look at the young couple that'd come out of the convenience store some meters back. Ranma was the first to notice, and he shook his head.
"You're so embarrassing," he said, putting his hands around the back of his head and looking away. Akane looked straight ahead as well, and put her attention to the dark streets. Though there were lamplights that lined the roads, they were far apart and dim with age. They left much to be desired.
"Oh yeah, then maybe you should walk on ahead," Akane said to him with a lowered voice. She balanced the snacks they'd bought in both hands. Ranma gave something that sounded suspiciously like a scoff.
"Idiot. Didn't you hear about that group of men from Osaka?"
Ranma was talking about the small group of men who were trying to spread their notorious union network from Osaka to Hiroshima. They were something like the Yakuza. When the police had gone to their houses for questioning, it was discovered that they'd disappeared. The police suspected that these men were heading towards the direction of Hiroshima, passing through Tokyo. So the police were currently on the lookout for any suspicious activities in Tokyo that could give them a clue as to where these men were.
"What are the chances of me running into them?" Akane asked indignantly. The two of them crossed a street to a quieter road. They were almost at the last turn to be officially out of the downtown area. "Besides, I can take care of myself."
Ranma raised a skeptical brow. "Yeah, with your brutal strength and all..."
"I can!" Akane said in annoyance. "You think you're so tough? I don't need you to watch out for me all the time!"
"You need more training than you think."
That was the last straw. She was, after all, still the daughter of the Tendou dojo master. Her father had trained her in martial arts, too. Gritting her teeth, she swung the groceries in Ranma's direction. Hardly expecting an attack, he got whapped in the head. He stepped away from her, rubbing his head in annoyance.
"What was that for?!"
"Jerk! Get away from me!" Akane shouted. She stood still where she was, glad that there were no more people around. This final stretch of road was deserted, and at least the dim lamplights were lit until the last turn.
Standing in front of her, Ranma could only shake his head. He'd meant what he said: she needed more training. As usual, she took it as if it were an insult, and now she was demanding that he left. In any case, they were almost out of the downtown area. All they had to do was finish walking the thirty meters and take the right turn.
"I'm not moving until you go away," Akane said. He watched her cross her arms across her chest and look straight ahead.
"You're such a brat!"
Akane was studiously ignoring him.
"Fine!" Ranma said huffily. "Have it your way!" He jumped onto the roof of the nearest building.
Akane watched her fiancé jump off to the nearest roof and continue jumping on his way to the direction of the Tendou dojo. At last, some silence. She continued walking on, until a yogurt pack fell out of the bag onto the dirty pavement. Only then did she realize that when she'd hit Ranma with the plastic bag, she'd created a tear near the bottom. With a sigh, Akane bent down to pick it up...
And was immediately filled with a sense of apprehension. She quickly plucked the cold yogurt pack from the pavement and snapped up to standing position. She was sure of it. She was being watched. Akane gave a slow turn, this time cursing the dim lamplights. There were so many areas that were left in the shadows.
Akane considered her options. She could either turn back to walk where she'd just come from, in the direction of the convenience store, or she could continue where she was heading, towards the dojo. With a shake of her head, she decided to continue where she was heading, to dojo. She could take care of herself. Every morning, she'd battled hundreds of guys who'd wanted to date her.
Despite telling herself this, the heavy feeling of apprehension was building up. Where were they hiding? Her eyes flicked back and forth between the dark buildings as she increased her pace. For some reason, she had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen. A trickle of sweat traveled down her spine. She realized she'd been so stupid to tell Ranma to leave. And here she was, feeling like a lamb about to be slaughtered.
Finally unable to stand the tension any longer, Akane let the plastic grocery bag straps fall through her wrists and land on the ground. She turned to a random direction, with her legs bracing and her fists held out.
"Come out and fight me like a man!" she shouted. She moved away from the groceries and stood back, fighting position.
A moment passed without anything happening.
Then there was a chuckle as a man stepped out from the alley near her. He wasn't so tall, but his arms were wide and well muscled. He was wearing a sleeveless undershirt that showed off the tattoos on either arm. He smiled at her toothily and put his fingers to his mouth to give a shrill whistle.
Nine other men appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and approached her from all sides. They staggered slightly and had the flushed appearance of drunken men.
"You sure were loud back there with your boyfriend," one of the bald men said. He was wearing a dirty gray shirt and pants that were cut above the ankle.
"You're cute," another man slurred, stepping up. He was especially ugly. One part of his face had been badly burned in some fire, permanently deforming his facial features. By this time, Akane was encircled with men. Despite the odds, she had to smile grimly. Only ten? No problem.
She watched as Burned-face lunged at her. Akane's tensed herself, then brought the weight of her body forward as she pummeled Burned-face in the nose with her shoulder. He fell back, nose bloodied.
For a moment, there was a general silence, then all hell broke loose. All men charged at her from all sides at the same time.
"Hiyaa!" Akane shouted as she pummeled a man to the ground. The man fell down, joining the first man that was already unconscious. Two more men tried to tackle her, but she jumped out of their way, at the same time kicking one of them in the ribcage. Her fist came to a blow on the other man's head.
The remaining seven were making furious grabs for her flailing arms, at the same time trying to stay out of range. Akane gritted her teeth as she continued to block off several grabbing hands. She wanted badly to punch another one of the men, but none of them came near enough for a close attack. All they did was grope for her back and legs with outstretched hands.
Finally realizing that all the remaining seven were staying out of her fist's range, the Akane stopped waiting for them to come forward. Instead, she lunged towards the nearest man with her hand raised behind her head. While she hit that man, another man in his thirties came up from behind her and made a grab for her arms.
With amazing speed, Akane finished pummeling the man she had lunged for and had drawn back to punch the man grabbing for her. Amidst the bulky bodies and blowing cloth, Akane didn't see the third man take advantage of the situation. She had just finished hitting the second man when she was tackled from behind.
Akane fell face forward onto the body of an unconscious thug. A man was sitting on her back, the weight of his body on her ribcage. She could barely breath. Sweat rolled from her forehead to her eyes. Akane struggled to push herself to her hands and knees as the remaining four closed in around her. She was breathing heavily when a chlorophyll soaked handkerchief was held against her face.
There wasn't even time to think about holding her breath. As soon as Akane had inhaled the sour odor, she went limp, unconscious. Just to be sure of himself, another man brought his hand down to strike her forehead.
=====
The young man leapt from roof to roof with the address in hand, scanning the streets or Nerima below him. His dark brown hair fell over his eyes, plastered in place by sweat. His hazel eyes were straining to catch a glimpse of the dojo described to him in the letter.
"Tendou dojo, Tendou dojo..." he was muttering to himself as he jumped. The chilly Tokyo night breeze cut through his shapeless gray overcoat. The address and crude map in his hand his proven to be of little or no use at all.
Finally losing his patience with the endless maze of blue-tiled houses that expanded in all directions, he jumped down to the nearest street. It was a lonely side road, with traditional houses lining either side. Farther down, a metal wire fence edged beside a water channel.
His name was Soujiro Kaede, heir to the Kaede A-Okay Martial Arts Legacy. His father had heard of a legendary fighting duo residing in the Tendou dojo, and it was part of his training to defeat the fighter. And all he had was a crummy map and the knowledge that he was going to fight the heir of some martial arts school he had never heard of before.
He walked around the dim streets, his cold eyes darting back and forth between the traditional houses. Couldn't they have built any landmarks or anything for visiting travelers? He quickened his pace, thinking to hurry and reach his destination before the weekend was over so that he didn't have to miss any day of school. One step went after the other on the pavement...
And he stopped where he was. There was a faint shouting a close distance away. Feeling apprehensive, he followed the sound to where it came from, and he was led into a dark road near an alley. The establishments around it were buildings built in Western style, with red bricks and glass windows. There was no doubt about it. There seemed to be a ruckus going in the road.
He jumped up on a nearby roof to take the shortcut to the noise. Finally, he was there. Soujiro started down from the red-bricked roof to the scene before him. A young girl was holding out against ten burly men. Soujiro crouched on the roof, impressed.
He watched as she took out five of the ten men, noting how her blows were strong but her aim a little off. Only when the sixth man tackled the girl did Soujiro sit up in concern. Would she be able to get herself out of this situation? His question was answered a few seconds later when the sixth man brought his hand to his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. He held it to the girl's face, and she stopped struggling.
"She's a feisty one," one the remaining five men muttered as he struck the girl across the head.
There were a couple of crude laughs. Soujiro stood up on the roof. He wasn't the type to meddle into affairs that weren't his own, but he believed in the saying that with great power came great responsibility, and he think he had great power. He jumped down from the roof to land on the back of one of the unconscious men.
"Who's there?" The five men snapped to attention as they saw the lone figure standing atop one of their thug mates. The man sitting on top of the girl now stood up to stand on his feet.
"It's a little kid," another man said, laughing, as he stepped forward. The five men now came forward, exhausted by the task of subduing the girl, but drunk with alcohol and the feeling of power from their larger group.
"You might want to step away from the girl," he told the man nearest her, not really expecting a response. He felt his anger boiling up. It made him angry to think that there were still such sick minds in Japan that they felt they needed to force helpless women to do what they wanted. Soujiro stepped back and took the package that had been strapped to his back. It was a long, rod-like package wrapped in Manila paper. Soujiro braced his legs apart and held it before him, smiling grimly all the while.
"Now, who's first?"
=====
The young woman woke up in the middle of the night in some place, disoriented. Her large brown hazel eyes tried to focus in the dim lighting to look at her surroundings, to no avail. Where was she? Groaning, she brought her arms forward to push herself up. There was an unpleasant metallic smell, which she valiantly ignored. She planted her palms on the ground and stood up, swaying on her feet.
It took a moment for her memory of the incident to come rushing back at her. She'd been fighting against ten men until one of them had managed to knock her unconscious by holding a chlorophyll-soaked handkerchief to her face. Then what? Numbly, her hands came up to her forehead. She stepped back involuntarily. Every move she made seemed to take hours to accomplish. She looked down, holding her breath. At least her clothes were still on.
"Are you awake?" the voice startled her out of her stupor. Her head snapped up.
Akane looked up, squinting in the dim lighting. There was a young man who was sitting cross-legged on the pavement and leaning against the nearest lamplight. A rod-like package leaned against one of his shoulders. Akane staggered towards him, hating the dull ache in her head.
"Wh-What happened?" she rasped. All she knew was that she had been assaulted on her way from the grocery store and she'd passed out. "What happened?"
She didn't even think to ask the young man who he was. There was such a refined calm around him that she didn't sense any danger. Images of the assault came back. When she'd passed out, she'd thought for sure that she was a goner. And here she was, awake in the middle of an unused side road, in one piece. The small pools of blood around her did nothing to help her state of mind.
"What happened?" she asked, this time, her voice rising to a shrill note. She turned her head to her right and held the urge to throw up. The dull aching in her head was now intensifying to a full-scale migraine. The young man remained where he was, squatting a little ways off in the darkness. When she was done collecting herself, she wiped a hand roughly across her mouth. Her rubber legs threatened to give way from under her.
"I'll take you home," the voice said calmly through the advancing darkness in her mind.
Akane nodded.
=====
Akane Tendou stumbled up the stairs, trying her best not to make any sound. It was five thirty in the morning, and the sun had already painted the sky to a fiery orange color, but she took no pleasure in this. The young man who supported her arms didn't mention that one particular bruise on her temple was going to take some time to fade away completely.
In any case, he was surprised to discover that the girl he'd rescued had lived in the Tendou dojo. Now, all he had to do was find the rightful heir that his father had heard about, beat him, and go back home. It was simple.
"Thanks for your help," the girl suddenly whispered, bringing him out of his thoughts. The halls were still dim, and the house had a peaceful atmosphere to it. She stepped out of his support and staggered to her feet. Soujiro instinctively reached out to help her, but she swatted his arms away. "If it weren't for you..."
Her voice trailed off, as if she didn't know how to continue. Soujiro gave a brisk nod to show that he understood what she had to say. The truth was, he wasn't so interested in hearing her out than in beating the dojo's fighter.
He watched the girl slump against the door behind her, breathing lightly. She was a complete mess. Her cream colored sweater was streaked with dirt and torn at the sleeves and collar. Her grimy pink skirt had a long tear running from the hem to her knees. Her hair was in complete disarray, and her bruised face pale, but Soujiro was surprised to see that her eyes shone with anger and pride instead of the usual fear at remembering her ordeal.
"You'd better rest," Soujiro said, turning to walk down the stairs and take a look at the dojo. He felt the girl's eyes on his back as he disappeared down the stairs.
From where she stood in front of her room, Akane Tendou felt the first aftershock tears building up behind her eyelids. Holding them back, she stumbled over to the bathroom, barely feeling the numbness of her arm. All she wanted to do was soak in the bath and sleep. From what Soujiro had told her, he'd beaten the five men to a pulp until they ran off, dragging their thug mates. The small amounts of blood on the road? Blood the men had coughed up after taking some more blows.
Akane sighed heavily. She was lucky that Soujiro had come along in time. What if he'd come an hour later, or thirty minutes afterwards?
Akane slid open the door of the bathroom and slipped in, noting that the sun's rays hadn't completely penetrated through the window. The bathroom was still sort of dark. Akane's eyes surveyed the room, and was mildly surprised at how different she felt. Yes, there were the same white tiles that lined all four sides, the same sink and same ofuro...
But there was something different. Shrugging, and not allowing herself to give into the shadowy traces in her mind, Akane turned on the knob of the ofuro and watched the hot water fill the tub. Her hands went to her clothes to take them off with savage determination.
As soon as she was done, she jumped into the steaming tub, not feeling the almost scalding heat that met her skin. She and Ranma had gone out late at night to get some groceries, when suddenly, they got into an argument.
Akane closed her eyes. It had been something trivial, she knew. In any case, Ranma had jumped off ahead to go to the dojo, leaving her behind to continue walking by herself. After just a few minutes...
After just a few minutes... If he'd stayed around only a little longer...
Crying angry tears, Akane dunked her head below the surface.
=====
TBC... Reviews! (
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PROLOGUE: SOMEONE WHO ARRIVED
"Shut up! I keep telling you that wasn't my fault!" Ranma practically shouted, losing the last of his willpower to remain calm. He glared at the girl beside him as they walked along the unfamiliar downtown area. Akane glared back at him straight in the face and stuck out her tongue.
"Sure," she taunted, this time pulling on the skin below her eye. "Just go back to Shampoo and marry her, for all I care!"
"You're so uncute!"
"Pervert!"
People around the streets were already turning their heads to look at the young couple that'd come out of the convenience store some meters back. Ranma was the first to notice, and he shook his head.
"You're so embarrassing," he said, putting his hands around the back of his head and looking away. Akane looked straight ahead as well, and put her attention to the dark streets. Though there were lamplights that lined the roads, they were far apart and dim with age. They left much to be desired.
"Oh yeah, then maybe you should walk on ahead," Akane said to him with a lowered voice. She balanced the snacks they'd bought in both hands. Ranma gave something that sounded suspiciously like a scoff.
"Idiot. Didn't you hear about that group of men from Osaka?"
Ranma was talking about the small group of men who were trying to spread their notorious union network from Osaka to Hiroshima. They were something like the Yakuza. When the police had gone to their houses for questioning, it was discovered that they'd disappeared. The police suspected that these men were heading towards the direction of Hiroshima, passing through Tokyo. So the police were currently on the lookout for any suspicious activities in Tokyo that could give them a clue as to where these men were.
"What are the chances of me running into them?" Akane asked indignantly. The two of them crossed a street to a quieter road. They were almost at the last turn to be officially out of the downtown area. "Besides, I can take care of myself."
Ranma raised a skeptical brow. "Yeah, with your brutal strength and all..."
"I can!" Akane said in annoyance. "You think you're so tough? I don't need you to watch out for me all the time!"
"You need more training than you think."
That was the last straw. She was, after all, still the daughter of the Tendou dojo master. Her father had trained her in martial arts, too. Gritting her teeth, she swung the groceries in Ranma's direction. Hardly expecting an attack, he got whapped in the head. He stepped away from her, rubbing his head in annoyance.
"What was that for?!"
"Jerk! Get away from me!" Akane shouted. She stood still where she was, glad that there were no more people around. This final stretch of road was deserted, and at least the dim lamplights were lit until the last turn.
Standing in front of her, Ranma could only shake his head. He'd meant what he said: she needed more training. As usual, she took it as if it were an insult, and now she was demanding that he left. In any case, they were almost out of the downtown area. All they had to do was finish walking the thirty meters and take the right turn.
"I'm not moving until you go away," Akane said. He watched her cross her arms across her chest and look straight ahead.
"You're such a brat!"
Akane was studiously ignoring him.
"Fine!" Ranma said huffily. "Have it your way!" He jumped onto the roof of the nearest building.
Akane watched her fiancé jump off to the nearest roof and continue jumping on his way to the direction of the Tendou dojo. At last, some silence. She continued walking on, until a yogurt pack fell out of the bag onto the dirty pavement. Only then did she realize that when she'd hit Ranma with the plastic bag, she'd created a tear near the bottom. With a sigh, Akane bent down to pick it up...
And was immediately filled with a sense of apprehension. She quickly plucked the cold yogurt pack from the pavement and snapped up to standing position. She was sure of it. She was being watched. Akane gave a slow turn, this time cursing the dim lamplights. There were so many areas that were left in the shadows.
Akane considered her options. She could either turn back to walk where she'd just come from, in the direction of the convenience store, or she could continue where she was heading, towards the dojo. With a shake of her head, she decided to continue where she was heading, to dojo. She could take care of herself. Every morning, she'd battled hundreds of guys who'd wanted to date her.
Despite telling herself this, the heavy feeling of apprehension was building up. Where were they hiding? Her eyes flicked back and forth between the dark buildings as she increased her pace. For some reason, she had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen. A trickle of sweat traveled down her spine. She realized she'd been so stupid to tell Ranma to leave. And here she was, feeling like a lamb about to be slaughtered.
Finally unable to stand the tension any longer, Akane let the plastic grocery bag straps fall through her wrists and land on the ground. She turned to a random direction, with her legs bracing and her fists held out.
"Come out and fight me like a man!" she shouted. She moved away from the groceries and stood back, fighting position.
A moment passed without anything happening.
Then there was a chuckle as a man stepped out from the alley near her. He wasn't so tall, but his arms were wide and well muscled. He was wearing a sleeveless undershirt that showed off the tattoos on either arm. He smiled at her toothily and put his fingers to his mouth to give a shrill whistle.
Nine other men appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and approached her from all sides. They staggered slightly and had the flushed appearance of drunken men.
"You sure were loud back there with your boyfriend," one of the bald men said. He was wearing a dirty gray shirt and pants that were cut above the ankle.
"You're cute," another man slurred, stepping up. He was especially ugly. One part of his face had been badly burned in some fire, permanently deforming his facial features. By this time, Akane was encircled with men. Despite the odds, she had to smile grimly. Only ten? No problem.
She watched as Burned-face lunged at her. Akane's tensed herself, then brought the weight of her body forward as she pummeled Burned-face in the nose with her shoulder. He fell back, nose bloodied.
For a moment, there was a general silence, then all hell broke loose. All men charged at her from all sides at the same time.
"Hiyaa!" Akane shouted as she pummeled a man to the ground. The man fell down, joining the first man that was already unconscious. Two more men tried to tackle her, but she jumped out of their way, at the same time kicking one of them in the ribcage. Her fist came to a blow on the other man's head.
The remaining seven were making furious grabs for her flailing arms, at the same time trying to stay out of range. Akane gritted her teeth as she continued to block off several grabbing hands. She wanted badly to punch another one of the men, but none of them came near enough for a close attack. All they did was grope for her back and legs with outstretched hands.
Finally realizing that all the remaining seven were staying out of her fist's range, the Akane stopped waiting for them to come forward. Instead, she lunged towards the nearest man with her hand raised behind her head. While she hit that man, another man in his thirties came up from behind her and made a grab for her arms.
With amazing speed, Akane finished pummeling the man she had lunged for and had drawn back to punch the man grabbing for her. Amidst the bulky bodies and blowing cloth, Akane didn't see the third man take advantage of the situation. She had just finished hitting the second man when she was tackled from behind.
Akane fell face forward onto the body of an unconscious thug. A man was sitting on her back, the weight of his body on her ribcage. She could barely breath. Sweat rolled from her forehead to her eyes. Akane struggled to push herself to her hands and knees as the remaining four closed in around her. She was breathing heavily when a chlorophyll soaked handkerchief was held against her face.
There wasn't even time to think about holding her breath. As soon as Akane had inhaled the sour odor, she went limp, unconscious. Just to be sure of himself, another man brought his hand down to strike her forehead.
=====
The young man leapt from roof to roof with the address in hand, scanning the streets or Nerima below him. His dark brown hair fell over his eyes, plastered in place by sweat. His hazel eyes were straining to catch a glimpse of the dojo described to him in the letter.
"Tendou dojo, Tendou dojo..." he was muttering to himself as he jumped. The chilly Tokyo night breeze cut through his shapeless gray overcoat. The address and crude map in his hand his proven to be of little or no use at all.
Finally losing his patience with the endless maze of blue-tiled houses that expanded in all directions, he jumped down to the nearest street. It was a lonely side road, with traditional houses lining either side. Farther down, a metal wire fence edged beside a water channel.
His name was Soujiro Kaede, heir to the Kaede A-Okay Martial Arts Legacy. His father had heard of a legendary fighting duo residing in the Tendou dojo, and it was part of his training to defeat the fighter. And all he had was a crummy map and the knowledge that he was going to fight the heir of some martial arts school he had never heard of before.
He walked around the dim streets, his cold eyes darting back and forth between the traditional houses. Couldn't they have built any landmarks or anything for visiting travelers? He quickened his pace, thinking to hurry and reach his destination before the weekend was over so that he didn't have to miss any day of school. One step went after the other on the pavement...
And he stopped where he was. There was a faint shouting a close distance away. Feeling apprehensive, he followed the sound to where it came from, and he was led into a dark road near an alley. The establishments around it were buildings built in Western style, with red bricks and glass windows. There was no doubt about it. There seemed to be a ruckus going in the road.
He jumped up on a nearby roof to take the shortcut to the noise. Finally, he was there. Soujiro started down from the red-bricked roof to the scene before him. A young girl was holding out against ten burly men. Soujiro crouched on the roof, impressed.
He watched as she took out five of the ten men, noting how her blows were strong but her aim a little off. Only when the sixth man tackled the girl did Soujiro sit up in concern. Would she be able to get herself out of this situation? His question was answered a few seconds later when the sixth man brought his hand to his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. He held it to the girl's face, and she stopped struggling.
"She's a feisty one," one the remaining five men muttered as he struck the girl across the head.
There were a couple of crude laughs. Soujiro stood up on the roof. He wasn't the type to meddle into affairs that weren't his own, but he believed in the saying that with great power came great responsibility, and he think he had great power. He jumped down from the roof to land on the back of one of the unconscious men.
"Who's there?" The five men snapped to attention as they saw the lone figure standing atop one of their thug mates. The man sitting on top of the girl now stood up to stand on his feet.
"It's a little kid," another man said, laughing, as he stepped forward. The five men now came forward, exhausted by the task of subduing the girl, but drunk with alcohol and the feeling of power from their larger group.
"You might want to step away from the girl," he told the man nearest her, not really expecting a response. He felt his anger boiling up. It made him angry to think that there were still such sick minds in Japan that they felt they needed to force helpless women to do what they wanted. Soujiro stepped back and took the package that had been strapped to his back. It was a long, rod-like package wrapped in Manila paper. Soujiro braced his legs apart and held it before him, smiling grimly all the while.
"Now, who's first?"
=====
The young woman woke up in the middle of the night in some place, disoriented. Her large brown hazel eyes tried to focus in the dim lighting to look at her surroundings, to no avail. Where was she? Groaning, she brought her arms forward to push herself up. There was an unpleasant metallic smell, which she valiantly ignored. She planted her palms on the ground and stood up, swaying on her feet.
It took a moment for her memory of the incident to come rushing back at her. She'd been fighting against ten men until one of them had managed to knock her unconscious by holding a chlorophyll-soaked handkerchief to her face. Then what? Numbly, her hands came up to her forehead. She stepped back involuntarily. Every move she made seemed to take hours to accomplish. She looked down, holding her breath. At least her clothes were still on.
"Are you awake?" the voice startled her out of her stupor. Her head snapped up.
Akane looked up, squinting in the dim lighting. There was a young man who was sitting cross-legged on the pavement and leaning against the nearest lamplight. A rod-like package leaned against one of his shoulders. Akane staggered towards him, hating the dull ache in her head.
"Wh-What happened?" she rasped. All she knew was that she had been assaulted on her way from the grocery store and she'd passed out. "What happened?"
She didn't even think to ask the young man who he was. There was such a refined calm around him that she didn't sense any danger. Images of the assault came back. When she'd passed out, she'd thought for sure that she was a goner. And here she was, awake in the middle of an unused side road, in one piece. The small pools of blood around her did nothing to help her state of mind.
"What happened?" she asked, this time, her voice rising to a shrill note. She turned her head to her right and held the urge to throw up. The dull aching in her head was now intensifying to a full-scale migraine. The young man remained where he was, squatting a little ways off in the darkness. When she was done collecting herself, she wiped a hand roughly across her mouth. Her rubber legs threatened to give way from under her.
"I'll take you home," the voice said calmly through the advancing darkness in her mind.
Akane nodded.
=====
Akane Tendou stumbled up the stairs, trying her best not to make any sound. It was five thirty in the morning, and the sun had already painted the sky to a fiery orange color, but she took no pleasure in this. The young man who supported her arms didn't mention that one particular bruise on her temple was going to take some time to fade away completely.
In any case, he was surprised to discover that the girl he'd rescued had lived in the Tendou dojo. Now, all he had to do was find the rightful heir that his father had heard about, beat him, and go back home. It was simple.
"Thanks for your help," the girl suddenly whispered, bringing him out of his thoughts. The halls were still dim, and the house had a peaceful atmosphere to it. She stepped out of his support and staggered to her feet. Soujiro instinctively reached out to help her, but she swatted his arms away. "If it weren't for you..."
Her voice trailed off, as if she didn't know how to continue. Soujiro gave a brisk nod to show that he understood what she had to say. The truth was, he wasn't so interested in hearing her out than in beating the dojo's fighter.
He watched the girl slump against the door behind her, breathing lightly. She was a complete mess. Her cream colored sweater was streaked with dirt and torn at the sleeves and collar. Her grimy pink skirt had a long tear running from the hem to her knees. Her hair was in complete disarray, and her bruised face pale, but Soujiro was surprised to see that her eyes shone with anger and pride instead of the usual fear at remembering her ordeal.
"You'd better rest," Soujiro said, turning to walk down the stairs and take a look at the dojo. He felt the girl's eyes on his back as he disappeared down the stairs.
From where she stood in front of her room, Akane Tendou felt the first aftershock tears building up behind her eyelids. Holding them back, she stumbled over to the bathroom, barely feeling the numbness of her arm. All she wanted to do was soak in the bath and sleep. From what Soujiro had told her, he'd beaten the five men to a pulp until they ran off, dragging their thug mates. The small amounts of blood on the road? Blood the men had coughed up after taking some more blows.
Akane sighed heavily. She was lucky that Soujiro had come along in time. What if he'd come an hour later, or thirty minutes afterwards?
Akane slid open the door of the bathroom and slipped in, noting that the sun's rays hadn't completely penetrated through the window. The bathroom was still sort of dark. Akane's eyes surveyed the room, and was mildly surprised at how different she felt. Yes, there were the same white tiles that lined all four sides, the same sink and same ofuro...
But there was something different. Shrugging, and not allowing herself to give into the shadowy traces in her mind, Akane turned on the knob of the ofuro and watched the hot water fill the tub. Her hands went to her clothes to take them off with savage determination.
As soon as she was done, she jumped into the steaming tub, not feeling the almost scalding heat that met her skin. She and Ranma had gone out late at night to get some groceries, when suddenly, they got into an argument.
Akane closed her eyes. It had been something trivial, she knew. In any case, Ranma had jumped off ahead to go to the dojo, leaving her behind to continue walking by herself. After just a few minutes...
After just a few minutes... If he'd stayed around only a little longer...
Crying angry tears, Akane dunked her head below the surface.
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TBC... Reviews! (