Disclaimer: I own Ranma ½! Just kidding. Of course I don't own it. Rumiko Takahashi does. Anyway, the title of the story comes from the song, Here Without You by 3 Doors Down. The only thing I own is the plot and some characters that don't exist in the manga/anime.
Author's Notes: Hiya! I don't know how to say this but here it goes. This is actually my second Ranma fic. I've deleted the first one because a new, better idea came into my mind. Well, this story is pretty much the same as the first but this has more drama. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please read and review. I promise it's worthy of your time. Thanks a bunch!
l--------------------------------------------------------------------------l
HERE WITHOUT YOU
Chapter 1 – Happy Birthday, Akane!
It had been few years since they almost got married. Yeah. They were about to get married but thanks a lot to a bunch of nincompoops who fought over the gift for the groom. Because of that, the wedding was postponed and until now, they couldn't get married because their fathers were still looking for money. They wanted a grand wedding for their kids, a wedding that everyone could remember.
Akane and Ranma were now in their college years. Both were taking up a business management course, thinking it would help them in managing the dojo once they took over it. Ranma didn't like the idea at first but he was forced by his dad to take it. He would train himself in the mountains for a week or two as Akane would prefer being left in the house and do her training at the dojo.
Their attitude toward each other was still the same. Still stubborn as always. Ranma would still tease Akane, telling her she's uncute, unsexy and a terrible cook. Then, Akane would retort and a brawl would soon begin. But, that's just normal.
The sun was setting; it was almost six in the evening. The classes had ended and then the students left the college building. Ranma and Akane walked off the room after all their classmates had gone. Ranma pulled something off his pocket as they began walking through the almost dark and empty hallway. It was a small, hard, leather case.
"Akane," he called her name which made her stop walking.
"What is it, Ranma?" she asked, looking up to her fiancé and wondering what he would say.
"I…," he suddenly lost his words as he saw her eyes. Damn it! Ranma, there's no time for you to be nervous. He opened his mouth but still no words came out.
She stared still at him, waiting for what he's gonna say. But, he got tongue-tied. He felt his heart beating rapidly as if he had just raced against a horse. "What's the matter?" she asked.
Ranma choked, staring at his feet. I guess today is not the right time. He thought as he shook his head, putting the case back inside his pocket.
"Then let's go home. I'm sure Kasumi has prepared a special dinner for us," Akane said, smiling at him. Then, she began walking.
Ranma stood still, couldn't believe himself. Stupid me! How can I give this thing to her if I keep being like this? Argh! He realized Akane was already ahead of him so he walked quickly.
They got out of the building and made their way to the train station. They took a train from the university to Nerima. As soon as they reached the place, they got off the train and decided to walk from the station to their house.
The sky was red; it was such a nice scene. Akane didn't get the smile off her face as she was happy today. It was her 19th birthday. She's really glad this day turned out well. So far, she hadn't got any threats from Ranma's other fiancées. Yet…
"Akane!" a familiar voice called out her name.
Hearing this, she turned around to see who called her. She was not surprised to see Shampoo standing way ahead of her. She took a deep breath, feeling a bit disappointed. She thought all along everything would be fine. Yet, Shampoo's here, probably planning to make her life worse.
"Shampoo," Ranma spoke first before Akane could say something.
Shampoo walked closely to them with her one arm behind her back, seeming to hide something. "Ranma better get away from this. It's a thing between Shampoo and Akane," she said, painting a wicked smile on her face.
"Urgh! Not again. How can you not be so tired of doing this? Come on, Shampoo. Take a break," Akane said as she put her bag down. Then, she readied herself, clenching her fists and cracking her fingers. She's in her fighting stance.
Yet, Shampoo didn't give an answer. She seemed too focused on something.
Sensing that trouble was gonna happen, Ranma instantly spoke, "Shampoo, I know you're planning something. Whatever your plan may be, please stop it. I don't want any trouble. I don't want you to get hurt."
Hearing this, she stopped walking and she and Akane looked at him. "Aiya! Ranma do care about Shampoo. Ranma made Shampoo happy!" she said vigorously, smiling at him.
Akane narrowed her eyes at him, seeming to be jealous. "What does that suppose to mean?" she questioned.
Ranma shook his head at her being slow. "Don't you understand? It's the only way I can stop her from doing her antics," he answered softly, not wanting Shampoo to hear it otherwise she would snap. Yet, his plan didn't seem to work as she kept making her way to them.
Few moments later, Shampoo was already right in front of her. "It's a thing Akane will never forget," she said. She slowly moved her arm, showing what she was hiding behind. Akane kinda expected a knife in her hand but she was a bit surprised to see another thing.
"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion, seeing a small box in her rival's hand and loosening up.
Shampoo smiled widely at her. "Happy birthday, Akane!" she greeted.
Ranma looked at her and the small box. He took it and shook it, trying to figure out what was inside. "Is this some kind of a gift or something?"
"Yes. That's Shampoo's gift for Akane," she said, taking the box from him. "Oh well," she took Akane's hand and handed the box to her.
"Thank you! I didn't really expect this but thanks anyway," Akane said and then let out a sigh, feeling relieved. She looked at the box again, wondering what was inside. Wait. I know Shampoo. She doesn't do things like this unless she gets something out of it. She must be planning something. She suspected.
Shampoo carefully studied her face. "Don't worry Akane. Shampoo don't do mischief today," she said as if she knew what Akane was thinking. Well, she's correct.
There was silence between the two girls for a few seconds until Ranma broke it, putting her hands on their shoulders. "Hey Shampoo, Akane's having birthday dinner tonight. I'm sure she wants you to come. Right, Akane?"
"You know, Ranma. I can I always speak for myself, thanks," Akane said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice and then turned to Shampoo. "Well, Ranma has said it so you wanna come?" she asked, picking her bag up.
Shampoo nodded and the three of them started walking.
"I wonder if Ukyo, Ryoga and the others are there," Akane spoke all of a sudden.
"Knowing them, I guess they're there already," Ranma responded.
l--------------------------------------------------------------------------l
"Miss Hana, are you sure you wanna do this?" a man with grayish hair and long beard asked a straight, black-haired and dark brown-eyed beautiful, young lady, who was identified as Hana and sitting at the back of the car. "Does your father know about this?" he asked further.
Hana looked down to a 3-year-old boy beside her and then looked at the man who asked her. "I do want to do this for my son," she answered.
"But does your father know about this? You haven't answered that question yet," the man asked again as he drove along the road to Nerima.
"No but I guess he'll understand why I do this. Yoshi needs his father that's why we're going to Nerima to get him," Hana said and held the small hand of the kid, who was her son.
"I don't want to be nosy but do you love Mr. Yoshi's father? How do you think he will react on this? I mean, you haven't seen him in 3 years and now you're gonna show up there and tell him about the kid he has never known," the man asked.
"I don't know, Tetsuya. Maybe I love him, maybe I don't. Come on. I'm just doing this for Yoshi."
"Ms. Hana, you're still young to handle this kind of situation. There's me and your father who will guide and love Mr. Yoshi the way his real dad should do. What if he rejects the both of you?"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. And besides, a father can't deny his own child, can he? I know you're saying this because you care for us, Tetsuya. You're like my second dad after all. But, I think I can handle this. I'm a grown-up now. I'm 19."
"But you're still a teenager. Anyway, if that guy does anything to harm the both of you, I'll be here to protect you."
"Thank you, Tetsuya."
"Mommy, when will I see daddy?" Yoshi asked, looking up to her mom's face.
"As soon as we get there, sweetie," she answered and then kissed the boy's forehead.
Later on, they reached a place where a signboard that said "Welcome to Nerima!" stood. "We're here. Now, we have to find where he lives," the man, who was called Tetsuya said, seeing it.
Hana looked out the window to see the place. "It's so nice to be back to Japan."
"One thing, Ms. Hana. Do you know which part of Nerima he lives?"
"Yeah, I had one of our people research for it and they happened to find out that he's living at the Tendo's, who has a school of Anything Goes Martial Arts."
l--------------------------------------------------------------------------l
"We're home!" Ranma and Akane yelled out as soon as they stepped foot into the house of Tendo's. He slid the door open and party poppers popped at their arrival.
"Happy birthday, Akane!" everyone shouted out with gleam. The Tendos, Genma, Happousai, Cologne, Ukyo, Ryoga, The Kunos, Mousse were there.
"Wow! You sure did invite our friends, huh?" Akane said, approaching them. "Thanks a lot for coming here."
"Great-granddaughter, have you given the present to Akane already," Cologne suddenly asked Shampoo.
"Uh huh but Akane don't open the present yet," she answered, sitting beside her ancient-looking great-grandmother.
Okay…" Ranma spoke, looking around the room, "but where's the food?"
Genma and Soun stood up and stepped outside to the garden. "It's over there," they said, pointing toward the dojo.
"Yeah, all of the other guests are in the dojo now, waiting for us," Kasumi said after them.
"Is that so? Well then let's go to the dojo!" Ranma exclaimed, seeming to be more excited than the birthday girl was. He was the first one to get out and proceeded to the dojo. Could it be because he wanted to forget his nervousness so he could finally give his gift that seemed to be a case of a ring?
Everyone just looked at him.
"Shouldn't I be the one who's acting that way? Something weird is happening to Ranma today and I don't know what that is. Anyway, let's go," Akane said and all of them began walking to the dojo where the party was at.
Akane opened the door and she was surprised to see the dojo packed with people. "You're all here!" she exclaimed, seeing all of her friends in high school and college, and her family's relatives. She looked to her back to see the people who were with her earlier but they all disappeared. Now where have they gone to? Oh Well. She didn't mind it as she approached the visitors.
The dojo was decorated with flowers and balloons. The set-up was just like that of the Christmas party her family had a year ago except there were no Christmas trees. There was a stage with red curtains hanging on the ceiling down to the stage floor.
Moments later, lights were turned off and a spotlight shone toward the stage.
l--------------------------------------------------------------------------l
Author's Notes: So what do you think of it? Is it crappy or what? Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading!