UPDATE 2/12/13
I have added more to this chapter as it seemed to flow better with this chapter than the next. I'm sorry for those of you who had already read it and have to come back, but it will make more sense for the story to be here. To make thing easier, please do a ctlr+f search for:
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This is where the new section starts. The first portions of this chapter remain the same; the only addition is anything after the label listed above.
Thank you for understanding :D
Chapter 1
Ranma breathed heavily as he completed his morning workout at the recreation center of Tokyo University. Having the dojo responsibilities taken away from him while he attended college left few very reasons to stay in shape, but yet he continued to train. With no fiancées or rivals to chase him down, and no students to train, his only motivator to workout was that it helped him take his mind off her.
He powered through the last set of push-ups before he stood up, drenched in sweat. He took off his damp t-shirt and threw it haphazardly inside his gym bag. He then took out a towel and patted the sweat off his body, welcoming the cold air coming from one of the A/C vents. The involuntarily provoking scene was not lost to the eyes of the surrounding female athletes, who had begun to gather near the area where he would usually work out every morning, every day.
"I can't believe that guy is single," one of the young women close to him thought to herself. She had been extremely excited to see him move-in to the student dorms by himself, with the only woman close to him being his mother during move-in day. After a few days of following him around, she had gathered the courage to talk to him, eventually trying setting him up to ask her to out on a date. Her efforts had been in vain, however, when the man had flat out rejected her.
"A guy that hot and single, he must be gay."
At this juncture, she was not certain if Ranma was gay or not, but he had done some pretty non-gay things to her, at least in her mind. Every single one of her friends was after him since they laid eyes on him, but none had been able to get anything more than a greeting or assistance to carry boxes from him. The woman's thoughts were disturbed when Ranma looked at his watch and realized he had less than an hour to hit the showers and go to his first class of the day, causing the object of her badly behaved imagination to wrap up his workout. He grabbed his belongings and walked out of the premises, earning him every set of present females' eyes to follow his path.
He hit the showers of the recreation center and was out in less than five minutes. He dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a plain, red t-shirt before exiting the locker rooms. As he made his way out of the building, his eyes caught the sight of a blue-haired head. He instinctively turned to face her, and saw Akane practicing a routine on the balance beam. She had not noticed his presence, so he just stood there, resting his back on the wall and dropping his gym bag on the floor as he admired her form.
Her movements were precise and enclosed by a natural flow. Her eyes displayed her concentration when she jumped high above the balance beam and landed back on it, with no problem at all. She twirled upon it on one foot before performing a hands-free double somersault. She then proceeded to perform a handstand, flexing her legs back to fro, as if dancing upside down. She reached the edge of the beam and prepared for her dismount. She took deep breaths and focused on her task. With a quick leap, she began a combination of complex jumps, somersaults and twirls that lead her high into the air before she landed on her feet, without hesitation, and raised her right arm above her head.
Ranma's admiration of the captain of the female gymnastics team was cut short when a pair of hands clapped for the flawless execution of her routine. Ranma's eyes followed the sound and found himself staring at the captain of the male gymnastics team, Satoshi Nakajima.
Gone were the days of Ranma being the one supporting Akane in her projects and moments of need. After he had left the restaurant at the Tower of Tokyo that night when she ended their engagement –and thus their relationship, he had only seen her when they went home every two weeks to visit the dojo. While the dojo certification process was all squared out, they were required to monitor its progress as often as they could, and had decided to make a personal inspection every couple of weeks.
The ride home was always silent, with Ranma at the wheel of his car, and Akane staring at nothing in particular through the passenger's window. As soon as they would arrive to Nerima, Ranma would stop by the Tendo home to drop off Akane before he went to his own home. They would then spend Saturday sitting at the office of the dojo going over student records and the accounting of their funds.
Before they split up, Ranma had enrolled in the Business program, and Akane had enrolled in the Physical Education program. Ranma did not see the need to obtain a Physical Education degree seeing as he was already well known as a Dojo Master after the ART, and was more concerned about handling the finances of the dojo to keep it afloat. Akane, on the other hand, had chosen Physical Education because she was the one who tended to the injured students at the dojo. After her experience as a trainer, and her sudden loss of interest in performing martial arts herself, she had decided to pursue a career that would teach her how to enhance her students' natural abilities, and learning how the human body developed and evolved while performing sports and athletics, allowing her to expand the use of her physical abilities beyond her father's teachings of the art.
The families had been surprised at the turn of events of their relationship, but had not pushed the subject to prevent more damage than what was already done. They hoped that as long as Ranma and Akane came home very two weeks, and the dojo was registered under both of their names, there was still a possibility of them getting back together and joining the schools as previously arranged.
"It's just a phase," Nodoka had said. "Soon they will realize they are better together, and will reestablish their engagement."
So far, four months after their breakup, they were yet to see things Nodoka's way. Ranma had tried to question Akane about her decision, stating it was irrational for her to just suddenly fall out of love. He had repeatedly asked her to tell him what had bothered her enough that she felt there was no other solution to the problem than to part ways. She always gave him the same response: "Marrying you is not in my plans."
How true that statement was, only the Amazons knew for now.
After two months, he had stopped trying to make sense of what had happened between them, and decided that when she was ready to talk, he would be ready to listen –at least for a little while longer; even Ranma Saotome had his limits. He had focused on his studies and maintenance of the dojo, as well as the occasional meeting with Ukyo, which he used to distract himself from his shitty luck. It had been through her that he had learned she and Satoshi were no longer engaged, as his father had broken up the engagement when Ranma defeated Satoshi at the ART. Ukyo had been relieved, and Satoshi had not even bothered to stay around long enough before he began courting Akane. Ranma was not sure if Akane was corresponding to his courting, but they did spend a lot of time together because of their roles in the gymnastics teams of the University. Such thoughts brought him back to reality.
He continued to observe them as Satoshi handed a towel to Akane, and she used it to pat her face dry. When she was done with it, she threw back the towel to Satoshi. He grabbed it and buried it inside a gym bag, which Ranma assumed was hers. Ranma noticed the couple was getting ready to leave, so he made his way out of the gym and headed to class before they spotted him watching them.
Akane and Satoshi wrapped up their practice by putting away the rest of their belongings. Once their gym bags were zipped closed, they each grabbed their own and walked outside the gym together. After a brief moment of silence, Satoshi stole a glance in the direction Ranma had taken to go to class. "Did you see him? He was watching us."
Akane gave Satoshi a small smile. "Of course I did. He keeps following me wherever I go. Which reminds me, how is our arrangement developing?"
Satoshi shrugged. "I have the locations written down, and I will start this weekend."
"That's not what we agreed upon, Satoshi. We agreed you'd start last month. I need to have everything ready before the end of the semester. Have you forgotten what's at stake here? I can't have you waste time! Unless, you aren't interested in your reward, anymore."
Satoshi frowned. "I still am interested. It's just not as easy as you think."
Akane scoffed. "I could take care of it over a weekend if it wasn't so risky. I need you to start on this, and report to me when you're done."
Satoshi nodded. "As you wish, Captain."
Akane grinned. "The Captain is not available right now. You can leave her a message, and she may return your call."
Satoshi stared at his partner's body up and down. If he did not know any better, he would swear Akane was just an average girl with an air of overconfidence. Everyone knew her in the college from the tournament, and the seemingly preferential treatment the University officials gave her. Plenty of guys had asked her out, only to be politely –and some not so politely, declined in their invitations. No one was certain if there was anything between the owners of the Tendo Dojo anymore, and more than a handful of young men had taken their chances with her. Ranma did not seem to be dating anyone, and Akane was not officially dating anyone either. They would leave together every two weeks, and had sometimes interacted at the school. Yet, their relationship status was unclear, and no one other than the family and Satoshi knew of the failed marriage proposal.
Satoshi noticed that Akane noted his staring, so he cleared his throat and asked the question that had been in his mind.
"Is she…still in there?"
"Sporadically. I thought I had completely taken over her body, but she comes out sometimes. Especially when he's around. For the most part, she believes her actions are her own."
"When do you think it will stop?"
"When I finally kill the landling."
"I thought that was my job."
"It won't be if you don't hurry up."
Satoshi nodded. He had been putting off his part of their business deal because even though he knew he did not have a chance in hell with her, he still wanted to have around the real Akane. Sometimes she would act as before to the point she was kind to him (and he had wondered if these moments were due to Saffron's great acting, or if the real Akane had come out), and it was in those moments that he wanted to run to Ranma and tell him the truth. Even if she would return to Ranma the moment her little problem was fixed, Satoshi would rather have Akane as a friend than no Akane at all. However, while Saffron existed inside of her, no one, not even Ranma, would have a remote chance to be with Akane, in any way, shape or form.
"How can you be with someone that isn't there?" Satoshi wondered more than once every now and then, then realizing every time that this was Saffron's way of keeping Akane all to himself.
Akane looked down at her watch seeing as Satoshi was lost in his thoughts. She had a couple of hours before her next class, giving her more than enough time to refresh herself.
"I'm gonna go clean up. I don't want to hear from you until you have good news to deliver. I'm heading to Nerima tonight. Nabiki has some offer for me and Ranma for who knows what."
"Nabiki?"
"Yeah. I think she's plotting to get Ranma and Akane back together. Nodoka is starting to get on my nerves, too. It's becoming difficult to control her thoughts, as I did before."
"I'm sure you'll get her," Satoshi said as he himself realized he had only half an hour until his next class. "I gotta go, too."
Akane nodded to Satoshi, hurrying her step towards her single dorm room; individual rooms were scarce at the campus, but the university had been more than happy to provide a single room to their outstanding gymnastics captain and athlete. When she arrived, she took off her clothes, took out the dirty ones from her gym bag and dumped them in a hamper. She jumped in the shower, turned on the scalding hot water, and stood under it for a while.
Akane sighed. When she returned from death's grip at Nerima Hospital, his grip on her had seemed absolute. He had been extremely satisfied with his ownership over her, especially after they had been able to decline Ranma's marriage proposal, even though she had screamed bloody murder in her head only seconds later.
However, after Ranma's insisted attempts to discuss what had gone wrong, he could feel his control over her becoming weary. Sometimes he was able to play it off to her as a dream, or as a nightmare, but his options were running thin. At times, he had gone as far as fully paralyzing her body when she tried to run away to search for him. Lately and until recently, any time he had tried to shower, Akane had fought him to turn on the cold water. Being able to stand under hot water this long was an incredible accomplishment for her –him. He hated cold water, and she knew.
She had tried to push him out of her body by bathing with cold water once, even as unaware as she was of his presence back then at the Tendo home. He had suffered through it, knowing nothing she did would expel him from her body, at least while he had a say in it. All he had to do was go back to the corner of her soul where he had resided before, the same corner of her soul that had saved him from being sent to limbo. He would reside there for a while until she forgot about him, and then he would strike again.
"Why do you resist me, Akane?"
The Lord of the Phoenix tribe thought about his journey here. After Akane had extracted his soul from his body, she had used her body to channel his soul away from this world. She had almost been successful if he had not been a member of the royal family himself, and she had not.
He had clung to a piece of her soul and remained there for weeks. At first, he had not known what had happened to him. Everything around him had been dark and quiet. A few days after that, he had begun to relive the battle with Akane, but his mind would not show him how it ended.
After almost a month of waiting in the dark, he had heard his name being called. It had woken him up from his darkness as he focused on the voice.
"Lord Saffron is gone. I've killed him."
"Are you sure, child? How did you do this?"
"I'm dead?" He thought. "How the hell did I die?"
The water began losing its warmth, so she turned around and shut off the shower. She grabbed the closest towel and began patting herself dry as he remembered the culmination of his reappearance. The bits and pieces had turned into a big picture after three months in the dark, and he had been able to become a spectator of her life. He had sat back and learned every strength and every weakness in her body, Ranma's, and everyone who had any involvement with her life.
He had learned that her father and uncle were a joke of martial artists, and that they would always do whatever the women of the household demanded of them. They had been the easiest ones to manipulate since all he had to do was control the women to force them to do his will. He had learned that Ranma had a soft spot for his mother, and while he rarely showed it, her expectations of him played an important part in Ranma's decisions…unless the decision involved Akane. Ranma was as devoted –or more, to her than Akane was devoted to him.
The simple thought of their seemingly unbreakable bond made his godly blood boil. He could see their connection in their eyes, feel it in their touch; their auras had been the most intermingled he had ever seen until he had shown up to destroy them.
He had also learned that Akane's middle sister was a soul-sucking bitch who loved the smell, feel and power of money. The Lord of the Phoenix people had had his moments of terror when trying to fend off the manipulative sister, but thankfully he had escaped her attempts at blackmailing the younger Tendo girl. He had learned that Kasumi Tendo had no mean bone in her fragile body, but had the most stable, centered, and sane mind of all. He had, however, quickly dismissed her influence when he found out about the twins. Her motherly instincts had been redirected to her own offspring; leaving Ranma and Akane to deal with the cruel realities he had made them live through.
Then, there was Nodoka; the unofficial matriarch of the Tendo and Saotome families. Her word was the law, and even Kasumi feared her when she took out her katana to make her point. Even though her mind was a strong one, she had been easy to manipulate once he figured out that Ranma was her world. Her poor, poor son had been taken away from her hands while still young, and had been taken high up above and down below, facing dangers and all kinds of perils, just to fulfill her husband's promise of making him a man among men.
Once he put it in her mind that Akane was no good for her son, everything else had fallen into place on its own. He spent weeks –months, gathering information as he set his plan in motion. After a few months, he was ready to begin his strike, but he still had one more obstacle to overcome: Akane herself. The woman had resisted his manipulations as much as she could, and without her full cooperation, his time of gathering data from the families would become useless; Akane would never harm her own kin, especially her beloved fiancée.
Then, one day, when he had almost given up hope of ever controlling her without them knowing what had hit them, he heard the most wonderful news he had heard since he became trapped in her body. Akane's mom had died of a terrible and unknown disease; one that had been almost impossible for the doctors to determine its cause or consequence until it was very late, and one that had been confused with a simple pregnancy. It took him a few weeks, but he had been able to extract the partial memories from the members involved in the life of Akane's mother until he pieced together the entire ordeal. All he was left to do was to replicate the illness, with more efforts to aim it towards a human pregnancy, and then control her once her body was devoid of life.
And, his plan had worked. God, had it worked! Even when her return to life at the operating room had been done much faster than he had anticipated, thanks to Ranma's desperate attempts to revive her, he had succeeded in taking over her body. At first, he had not cared of the hurried revival caused by his rival. However, now that he had realized that Akane's body and actions were not 100% under his control, he had determined that it had to be Ranma's doing when he brought her back to life before the ritual was completed. Yet, he also knew that as long as he kept her away from Ranma, her screaming voice would continue to be unheard by anyone but him.
Yes, she screamed every now and then when she remembered what had happened to her. Yes, she had tried to expel him by trying to take her own life, on more than one occasion, and more often since college life had started. Yes, he had had to break her soul in tiny pieces every now and then in order to keep his governance over her. But it was all worth it in the long run. Soon, Satoshi would carry out his part of the deal, and nothing would be left to remind her of who she was, or what she was, before him.
And only then would he transfer himself to Satoshi's body and convert him to a full Phoenix by being reborn. He would take Akane back to his lands with him, and take her in all the ways Ranma could not. He would own her mind, her soul, and her body; her body being what he awaited the most. He would claim her, just as he wanted since she woke up from her attack-driven slumber and became his Captain. She would not remember the night Ranma tried to make her his; she would not remember how the Phoenix Lord had stopped their encounter with a simple shake of her soul.
She would only know him and him alone. And Ranma and his family would be long gone.
"I won't let you."
Saffron was shaken from his daydreaming by a voice inside his head. At first it confused him, making him turn around everywhere, searching for its source. After a moment, however, he remembered where the random voice came from.
"Not only will you let me, Akane; you will help me, too."
"Over my dead body! Over my dead body will I allow you to hurt my family, or Ranma!"
Saffron scoffed. "We both know I won't let you kill us, Captain. Why do you insist in protecting what is no longer yours to protect?"
"Ranma's still mine, and I'm still his."
"You can try your best, Captain, but you won't succeed. I will make sure you watch Ranma in his final moments before I strip your memory of him from you, forever."
"Why do you do this to me, my Lord? Why do you wish to see me suffer, if you claim to love me?"
"My Lord?" Saffron was intrigued by the title she used to address him.
"Old habits die slowly. You still kept me alive, and I still cherished you. Even though it was all a lie, you still kept me going long enough so I could reunite with Ranma. This, I will never forget."
"He was never supposed to come back into the picture."
"But he did; he would not let me down. He kept his promise. You, you didn't."
"You're so naïve, Captain. I did always love that about you."
"And I loved your devotion to your people, until I remembered I actually loved another man."
Saffron frowned. "I think you've spoken enough for one day, my dear. Just wait a little longer, and we shall be reunited again.
"And you wait a little longer, and Ranma shall kick your ass back to China, again."
A loud beep near Akane allowed the conversation to stop, and Saffron pushed Akane back to her inner jail. She looked down and saw her cell phone was beeping as it received a text message.
"This darn piece of technology! I should've gotten rid of it long ago."
She picked up the phone and flipped it open, seeing Ranma had sent Akane a text message regarding their meeting tonight.
"Lst cls s cndl. Wn2 leav erly?"
Saffron pinched the bridge of his nose. He had no idea what Ranma was asking. Regretfully, he called on Akane's knowledge of pop culture to translate the message for him. Once Akane had deciphered the message, he pushed her back to her cell.
"Is he not attending an institution of higher education? Why does he type as if he were a brute?!" Saffron yelled at no one in particular before composing a response to Ranma's inquiry.
"Sure," Saffron texted back.
"C u 4. My plce."
"For God's sake!"
Throwing the cell on the bed, Saffron proceeded to dress up before he exited the room to attend class.
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Akane sat on the floor of Ranma's hall, waiting for him to return from class. She knew he would show up soon, any minute now, as her powers of mind control allowed her to track his every move around campus. Even though he had said to meet at 4 at his place, she had nothing else to do since 3, so she decided to show up earlier than anticipated to analyze his surroundings once more. Saffron liked to keep a close eye on everyone who had close contact with Ranma, as he believed it to be vital to properly carrying out his plans.
After buying them both a couple of burgers to eat before leaving or during their way back to Nerima –in an attempt to distract Ranma from over analyzing their relationship, she arrived at his place about fifteen minutes before he finally showed himself at 3:30 in the afternoon.
Needless to say, he was surprised to see her on the floor, resting her back against his door, looking as indifferent as always. She was wearing a pair of blue jean shorts, a white V-neck blouse, and white running shoes. Her hair was as short as ever, and her face showed hardly any cosmetics on it, other than the usual shiny lip balm she carried around everywhere she went. Her luggage was resting on her left side, and a paper bag rested on her right. She gave him a smile as she stood up and grabbed her belongings from the floor, patting her rear to remove any dust that might have accumulated from the ground.
As every time he saw her after their breakup, he was enchanted by her presence and was not able to move freely. It was as if his body was experiencing a malfunction brought on by the lack of touch from her. He did not have many opportunities to admire her this closely anymore, and he took advantage of the chance whenever it made itself present. He swallowed hard as she walked up to him, staring directly into his eyes. In an instant, Saffron heard Akane scream his name inside her mind, and her pores itched with the need to touch him. Yet, using all of his might, Saffron shut down Akane from seeing him as he carried out his task.
"Are you hungry? I got us something to eat."
Ranma nodded, still unable to say a word as he walked next to her to unlock his room door. Akane followed closely behind, glad to have something more comfortable to sit on as she waited for Ranma to get ready to leave. As soon as Akane walked in, she made herself a-home on his bed, reaching inside the paper bag to take out the burger, fries and drink she had gotten for him. Ranma threw his schoolbag on a chair before returning to Akane and grabbing her wrist, pulling her off the bed while she still held the food in her hands.
"It'd be more comfortable to eat over here, don't you think?" he asked as he pointed to a small two-seat table he had in a corner of his dorm room. Akane followed the direction of his finger before nodding and joining him at the table. She brought out the rest of the meal on the table, as well as the needed utensils, before she concentrated on unwrapping her burger. Ranma took a moment to tear the wrapping off the straws and placed one straw in her drink and one straw in his.
They both remained silent as they ate, Ranma never taking his eyes off her for an instant, wondering if this meal was an invitation to talk about their relationship or lack thereof. Fearful that he had misunderstood her intentions and would push her further away from him, he decided to simply engage in small talk and allow her to say what was in her mind in her own terms when she decided the time was right.
"So, what do you think Nabiki has up her sleeve this time?"
Akane chewed on the piece of meat in her mouth. She then took a huge sip of her drink to help her swallow it down as she thought about his question.
"Who knows! Knowing her, though, she probably has some money-making scheme she wants our help with."
"I thought as much, too. Though, this time, we'd better ask for more than a 10% commission. We do more work than she does, but she gets to keep most of the profits."
Akane chuckled as she grabbed a single fry and smothered it with ketchup from a small packet. "Did it take you enrolling in business-related classes to figure that one out, Ranma?"
Ranma shrugged, obviously embarrassed by his lack of money sense in the past. "Would you believe me if I said I was never good with percentages?"
Akane laughed out loud at this, especially when she saw Ranma's classic physical response to embarrassment: a slight tint of red on his nose, accompanied by the scratching of the back of his head. For the quickest moment, Saffron almost forgot that the man standing in front of him could switch from an incredibly embarrassed individual to a deadly force to be reckoned with, in the blink of an eye. He wondered, if the situation had been different, whether he and Ranma could have been great allies for his cause. Then again, as long as Akane was present in their lives, Ranma could never be more than his sworn enemy, in more ways than one.
"Clearly; I can't imagine how much money Nabiki has taken from you, if your math skills are any indication of your ability to close a deal. Maybe I should double-check your accounting at the dojo?"
"Oh, come on!" Ranma retorted in a higher pitch of voice that he would have liked. "The dojo is important to me; I don't risk what is important in my life," Ranma said, his voice tinted with the sudden urge for Akane to understand his hidden meaning.
"Relax, Ranma, I'm not accusing you of anything different," Akane said a she finished her food and cleaned up after the both of them, seeing that Ranma had also finished his meal. "Are you all ready to go?"
"Almost, I just need to grab some books so I can study over the weekend. I have a big test on Monday."
"Alright."
As Ranma took a few minutes to sort through his notes and textbooks, Akane laid down on his bed, waiting for his task to be over. As soon as her head hit the pillow, his scent left behind in the sheets reached her nostrils, opening a small window of opportunity for Akane to come to the surface. With all the strength she had within her, she pushed aside the control Saffron had over her, allowing her enough time to grab the closest piece of paper and pen she could find.
She wrote the only word that came to her mind before shoving the paper under his pillow. As Saffron regained control, Ranma had finished packing his books and was now heading to the door. He grabbed Akane's luggage and his car keys before opening the door for her. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
Akane and Ranma walked next to each other down the hall of the dorm, ignoring the murmurs and stares of the other male inhabitants of the building. Ranma sometimes wondered what the rest of the university thought about them, and if Akane even gave a damn about the rumors and gossip that spread like wildfire around the campus regarding their relationship. Some of these rumors were not very polite, especially towards her. The female population of the university had mixed feelings about her presence in the school grounds. Some admired her strength and character, while others –particularly the group of girls who had hit on him and been turned down, had started rumors that Akane had slept her way to the top.
The male students of the university, however, were not far behind in the gossip area. He had been forced in the recent past to threaten a few of his classmates when they spoke about how they would show Akane a good time. Their descriptions had been rather undignified to his former partner, and even though he knew they were venting out their frustrations regarding not being able to date her, he still hated hearing how his former fiancée was reduced to nothing but cheap material to be used for a one-night stand. He had no idea if Akane had been dealing with her share of subtle or passive confrontations from her peers, but he had heard that no one had yet mustered up the guts to tell her anything to her face.
"I'm parked over there," Ranma said as soon as they reached the parking lot. Ranma opened the trunk and carefully placed their luggage inside. Akane opened the passenger seat and waited for Ranma to start up the car to begin their journey home for the weekend, as quickly as possible. Her head was filled with the thoughts of the people who had seen them walking out of the building and to the car, and she could not stand to hear another promiscuous thought from any of them. If there was a way to end their inappropriate thoughts without giving away her real identity, Saffron would have burned each one of the culprits to nothing but ashes with his bare hands. He knew Ranma heard them too, and the common rage that filled them both when Akane's decorum was scandalized always put them both in the worst of moods.
As soon as the car left the school grounds, Ranma turned to face Akane as she stared through the window as every other time they drove home. Her attitude towards him always changed when they headed home, and he wondered if it was due to the fact that returning to their city of origin reminded her of all the things they had overcome to be who they now were. Akane still showed interest in the dojo and its development, and when needed, she also showed devotion to her students as before. However, Ranma knew that her heart was no longer in the arts, and it pained him to think that her near-death experience and his inability to react sooner than he had, had struck a chord within her which made her reconsider the path her life was taking. He sometimes wondered if he again had the opportunity to cherish her as much as he did in the past, if she would come to her senses and see what a waste of time this breakup had been. It did not matter to him that she had declined his proposal of marriage; he would ask her again in a heartbeat. Yet, the more time passed, the least likely he saw another opportunity presenting itself for her to recover the feelings she used to have for him.
"Thanks for dinner, Akane," Ranma said, attempting to break the endless silence that always accompanied them back home.
"No problem," was her only response. Ranma had hoped that a more personal conversation would take place this time; however, her breathing soon became even, and her body limped on the seat to show that she was deep in her sleep. Ranma cursed himself mentally at the lost opportunity to straighten out their situation. He was losing his patience and had come to the realization that if he and Akane did not talk things out, they would never be together again. In fact, he had set himself the challenge to patch things up with her and win her heart once more by the end of their first year in college. In the event that he could not be with her any more, he would request his transfer to another university for his remaining three years of college life. Even he knew that moving on was an option that needed consideration if she refused to love him back.
Yet, above all things, and all situations, and all people involved, Ranma desperately wanted to know why Akane had changed her mind about their future together. Answers, however, would be slow to come to him, perhaps too slow for him to be able to make any difference in the matter at hand. With a last quick glance towards his companion, Ranma took a deep breath before concentrating on the road before him. Nerima was still an hour away from their current location, and with nothing but silence around him, he hummed a song to himself for the remainder of the drive.
Unbeknownst to him, Akane's body lightly convulsed next to him with every sob she kept from coming out.
(NEW) xxxXXXxxx (NEW)
The familiar streets of Nerima were always a welcomed relief for Ranma. Driving by Tofu's office, the park, the water canal, even by his former school, brought Ranma a much needed sense of belonging he did not experience during the work week while at the university. He hardly allowed himself to enjoy the perks of campus-living –which were many being the well-known Martial Artist Master he was, and had not yet even taken the time to make any real friends. The very few friends he had made in Furinkan were two years ahead of him, worrying about internships and other junior/senior duties in their trades, and way too busy to hang around the previously known, much older-than-usual college freshman of their campus.
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he slowed down his vehicle as he approached the Tendo residence in all its glory. It seemed strange to him how in the past, arriving at Akane's home was a relief, but now, visiting the place where she lived made his stomach clench. He noticed the dojo entrance door was wide open, and it took him a second to realize why. Since his last class of the day had been cancelled, the official owners of the dojo had arrived earlier than usual, matching up with the afternoon session of martial arts practice. The idea of being able to see his old students and meet the new ones gave him the little grain of hope and enthusiasm he needed to survive another dull weekend at home.
As the car came to a full stop, Ranma took out the keys from the ignition, unbuckling his seat belt and stretching his sore limbs. The drive was only two hours long, but he hated the feeling of constriction that driving a small vehicle gave him. Seeing Akane had not woken up yet, he leaned over to the passenger seat and lightly shook her arm.
"Akane, we're here. Wanna go see the kids?"
Akane's response was to curl up even more, mumbling a response he was not sure even she knew what it was.
"Akane, wake up. Why are you so tired, all of a sudden?"
Akane growled as she forced herself to open her eyes and face the daylight still present around her. She stared at nothing in particular for a few seconds before realizing where she was. Ranma pulled himself back to his seat as she straightened herself out on her own. She stretched her neck from side to side and relished at hearing bones pop back into place. "That was quick," she finally said.
"Only if you ain't driving," was Ranma's response.
"Hey, I've offered to drive before, you know?"
Ranma nodded, acknowledging her efforts to assist in the drive home. "Oh, I remember, but I'd like to make it home in one piece, thank you very much."
Akane narrowed her eyes at him and punched his shoulder with a little bit more force than he expected from her.
"Jerk."
"I love you too, Akane," Ranma said before he realized what he had said.
Akane did not look amused by his lighthearted response, prompting Ranma to raise his hands in the air showing he had meant no harm by it. Akane had over time learned to despise any comment, gesture or slight indication that she and Ranma were still together. Ranma, for the life of him, could not understand why something that had been so well received just a few months ago had turned to an action similar to asking Akane to drink battery acid.
"Sorry, 'kane, old habits die slowly."
Akane opened her mouth to retort to him, but the phrase he had used made her hesitate longer than she would have liked. The phrase sounded so familiar to her, as if she had heard it recently used around her but she could not place it at all. As quick as the feeling of déjà vu had come, it went away, leaving Akane to shake her head in disapproval and opening the passenger door of the car, exiting the suddenly suffocating environment of the vehicle.
Ranma took the hint regarding the end of their sociable discussion as he got out of the car himself and headed to the trunk. Akane stood close enough to the trunk, but as far away as she could from him, not wanting to give him any ideas that would incite another comment like the one she had just dismissed. Ranma took his time rummaging through the contents of the trunk, thinking of how to make it up to the obviously upset Akane. It was cruel enough that she seemed not being able to put up with his presence, but the feeling of giving her more reasons to loathe him was something Ranma detested.
He finally opted to grab her luggage and ignored her expecting extended hand by plopping the bag over his shoulder and closing the trunk. Akane gave him a new look of disapproval, which caused him to sigh as he grabbed her still open hand. She immediately tried to pull it away from his grip, but he held onto it as fiercely as he could without hurting her.
"Akane, please, I want to see the kids. Can I stay for a little while?"
Akane exhaled deeply through her nose to remain calm. For a minute she felt as if they were a recently divorced couple in which she had kept custody of the children, and he was the estranged father retuning home after a long search for cigarettes, pleading to see his kids. She measured him up for another long moment before he walked closer to her, guiding her hand in his to rest on his chest. "I won't be long; I just want to see how Pop is treating them."
It was moments like these that Saffron detested and actively tried to avoid between them. He could feel her pulse suddenly quickening at Ranma's closeness, and her defenses crumble with his simple touch. He could hear her inner voice calling his name with a hunger he had never heard her state her Lord's name with before. He could even feel the tingle that ran down her spine at feeling his breath so close to her face. Saffron tried his best to keep her eyes from meeting his, as this had been how he had lost his power over Akane many times before, resulting in Ranma's lack of believing that Akane felt nothing for him. Feeling Ranma's grip loosen, she pulled her hand away from his grip and nodded. "Fine, but don't let my dad talk you into staying, OK?"
"I promise."
With that understanding, Ranma followed Akane to her home, still carrying her bag on his shoulder. The couple entered the residence to find it empty, as expected. Ranma handed Akane her bag as he made his way to the back of the house to reach the dojo. Akane walked upstairs to her old room to deposit her bag on the bed before making her way to the dojo herself to see her students and her dad.
By the time Akane had reached the dojo, Ranma was already observing their most enthusiastic students perform a kata for him. Soun and Genma stood in the back of the room, allowing Ranma to correct and encourage students in performing their katas. Akane reached the two elder artists and stood next to them as she observed Ranma enjoying his time with the students.
"You kids are early, Akane," Genma said as he watched with pride the traits of a great dojo master that Ranma unconsciously displayed for them.
"Yes, Uncle Genma, Ranma's last class was cancelled."
Genma shook his head. "I still can't believe my boy didn't choose a physical education degree, much like you did. Everyone knows he has no brains for business."
A small part inside of Akane made her feel wounded by Genma's comment, provoking her to lash out at the unsuspecting man before Saffron could intervene. "Well, Uncle, everyone knows you had no brains for parenthood, and yet here we are."
Soun held back a chuckle while Genma opened his mouth to show his disbelief in her comment. Thankfully for Genma, Soun stopped him before he could say anything else to tease Akane's bad temper. "Come on, Saotome. I think our kids can handle the rest of the class. Kasumi and Nodoka will be here any minute with Nabiki, let's get ready for them."
Soun gave Akane a quick hug on his way out, and welcomed her home before following Genma out of the dojo and into the home. Akane waited for the two men to leave before she waved at Ranma to get his attention.
"Hey, look who else is here!" Ranma said as he pointed to Akane. The class turned around and the students who already knew her beamed at her, happily waving at her. "Akane-sensei is also paying a visit!"
Akane waved back at her students as she walked towards the front of the class to stand next to Ranma, hands behind her back. She eyed every single student present, making note of the new students they had yet to meet since they always arrived after the classes had ended, and of the returning students who she could not wait to catch up with. Their school had grown so much since its humble beginnings, and she knew it was mostly due to reputation the ART had provided them. She was slightly disappointed, however, that the class was mostly composed of young boys and young male adults rather equally distributed between males and females. Yet, while there were only a handful of girls in the class, Akane was glad to have at least some female representation in their dojo as opposed to when they started teaching last year. Dealing with testosterone while training was something she did not look forward to very much.
"For those of you who don't know her," Ranma began, "Akane-sensei is the co-Master of this dojo. She deserves the same respect you'd give me or Soun- or Genma-sensei."
Most of the students took Ranma's word as law, many of them having already witnessed Akane's strength and equally impressive abilities during the tournament. Whoever had not had the opportunity to see her in action first-hand had been personally informed of how she had produced a wall of ice out of thin air to protect her and some students from Ranma's Hiryu Shoten Ha. To speak of either one of the masters' abilities without involving the other one was impossible to do.
One of the new non-believing teenaged students, nevertheless, raised his hand at hearing such a command from Ranma, asking for permission to speak from the only person the boy considered his sensei. Ranma nodded to him, inviting him to speak up, yet dreading what a boy full of hormones would have to say about his pretty martial arts partner, seeing as Soun had already warned him about this particular student in the first two minutes Ranma had stepped into the dojo.
"Ranma-sensei, Akane-sensei is only training the girls, correct?"
The students who already knew Akane rolled their eyes at the newcomer, some of them even shook their heads at his obviously biased question. This particular student was known to have masculine supremacy tendencies, and Genma's teachings and beliefs did not help deter him from his narrow-minded ideas. Ranma had an idea of where the conversation was headed, and hoped the student would take a hint.
"Akane-sensei can train anyone that needs it, same goes for me."
"But, Akane-sensei is a girl. Girls are not as tough as boys."
A few chuckles were heard throughout the classroom, as the new student continued to showcase his immaturity to his peers. "I mean, I wouldn't be able to train with her. What if she, I don't know, broke a nail or something?"
Ranma kept his anger in check, as he was quickly reminded of his own attitude regarding hitting girls. He knew that this boy was just young, testing the waters, and trying to prove himself to others, but it still irked Ranma to think that his dad and uncle had allowed such behavior to continue in his dojo. Before Ranma developed a response to the boy, Hisoka Endo –his most quiet student, retorted back at his annoying peer.
"You're right, Satoshi. She might break a nail while kicking your ass back home."
Ranma held back from hitting his forehead with his hands. Of course the annoying little brat's name was going to be Satoshi! It was as if it were in the stars! If he ever had a son, he would never, ever name him Satoshi; and, if he had a daughter, she would never, EVER, date anyone by the name of Satoshi. How he had learned to despise the wretched name!
"Thank you for the input, Hisoka, but let's stay away from insulting our peers."
"Sorry, Ranma-sensei."
Ranma waved his hand at Hisoka to show him that there were no hard feelings. Satoshi, however, rolled his eyes at the situation and then looked at Akane with the utmost condescension she had ever witnessed in someone so young. Akane kept herself from throwing the kid out from the dojo, knowing she had to show she was beyond his teasing. However, Saffron was not as willing to let go of such impudence from a mortal. He made a mental note to circle back with the little brat, sooner rather than later, and allowed Akane to proceed with her decision of kindly smiling to the boy before returning to address the class.
"Anyway, the next ART will be in about a month. We will need a third person to defend the title of our school with Ranma-sensei and I, as well as our team of five students to represent us in the regular tournament, who's interested in going?"
All hands in the class went up immediately –even Satoshi's, prompting Akane and Ranma to smile at each other, delighted with their students' eagerness. Their quick interaction did not go unnoticed by the students who of course were intrigued by their senseis' relationship, but Akane quickly cleared her throat and returned to the matter at hand.
"How about Ranma and I come back in two weeks, and have a quick internal tournament of our own to choose our team?"
Some students nodded in agreement, and some –more vocal, yelled their approval and excitement. Ranma and Akane knew they did not have to worry about their team of five students not working their way up to the finals, as the registration of the dojo was not in danger unless they themselves lost against the new unregistered challenging dojo or failed to follow an NRD directive. They wanted, nonetheless, to make sure the group of students had enough experience and demonstrated the good teachings of their school to increase the popularity of the school.
"I guess it's settled, then. The Saturday two weeks from now, Ranma and I will be back to choose the team to go with us to the ART."
And with those words, the students were dismissed. While a handful of them stayed behind to catch up with Ranma and Akane, most of them left as soon as their parents arrived for them at the door, excitingly relating to their parents about the ART. The two dojo masters briefly interacted with some of the parents of the students and reassured them of their dedication to the success of their children, meaning every single word they said. Ten minutes later, the dojo was empty save for Ranma and Akane who still stared at the opened doors.
Akane did not waste another moment and quickly made her way to the door, locking it from the inside. At the same time and coming as a surprise to Akane, the entire dojo was dark thanks to Ranma's will, having been waiting for an opportunity like this to have Akane all for himself. Akane slowly walked towards the exit to the garden of her home, extending her arms in front of her as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the sudden dark, but she was suddenly stopped by Ranma's arm around her waist.
"What do you think you're doing?" Akane asked with a threatening tone, but did not attempt to fight him off her.
"What does it look like?" he said, pulling her closer to him and bringing his lips to her ear. "I want us to talk. I'm tired of not knowing what's going on between us, Akane."
Akane's back was facing Ranma's face, so he missed her mischievous smile and the tint of gold in her eyes. Once she composed herself, she twisted her body so that she faced Ranma while he still held her body with his arm. She closed her eyes as she tilted her head to the side, showing him that she was considering his request. She finally opened her eyes and exhaled, nodding as she did so.
"Alright, but if we're having this conversation, you have to promise me this will be the last."
Ranma swallowed hard. The last? As in he could never again ask about them getting back together? He considered his options, which weren't that many. He knew he had been the one to ask for this conversation, and he desperately needed answers from her.
"I promise it will be the last if you answer like a normal person and not diss me with excuses."
It was Akane's turn to consider her options. With so many activities pending completion from Saffron's plan, he could live without Ranma's incessant questioning. Besides, Ranma would never know what was real and what was not, and as long as Akane made it sound convincing, the pigtailed boy would finally move on.
"Alright, but I intend to keep my promise; I hope you intent to keep yours."
"On my honor, Akane."
This was enough for Saffron. Akane pulled herself from Ranma's grip and walked away from him. Ranma, confused by her actions, followed her as she made her way out of the Tendo residence. He silently walked behind her until they reached the water canal where their first date had taken place. The couple sat on the edge of the river, watching the sun beginning to set.
"Why are we here, Akane?"
"We needed a safe place to talk. I can't imagine being able to do so at home. You know our parents are dying to find out what happened to us and wanting to know when are we supposed to get back together."
"I guess you're right."
Akane picked up a rock and threw it towards the water, skipping three times before it sunk. Ranma had never seen Akane be able to skip a rock that much, and for a brief moment he wondered what other things Akane could do now that she had not been able to do before.
"So?" Akane finally asked.
"So, what?"
"What do you want to know?"
Ranma thought about her question. She seemed to be willing to open up about their situation, so he wanted to make sure he asked everything he wanted to know.
"I guess my main question is: why you broke it off?"
"I figured that'd be the main concern."
"So?"
"So, what?"
"Why did you end it?"
"It's…complicated…"
"Remember your promise, Akane," Ranma reminded her.
"Fine, uhm –well, you know everything we've been through. Clearly our relationship was not normal. When I was China, believing I was someone I wasn't…I…Let's just say you will never know what it was to be there, for two years, by yourself."
"What does that have to do with us?"
"You see, when I saw you there, and then had my memory return to me, I was so happy. I was happy that you found me. I was happy at the possibility that I could return to my real life. I couldn't wait to get back here and be with my family, my friends, and you."
Ranma nodded, understanding where her point was heading. He too had wanted to get back to his real life when he woke up at Nerima Hospital, only to find out he had lost two years of his life tied to a bed. He could see her point regarding this, but even if his friends had moved on, even if his old life was nowhere to be found, Akane –his constant, was enough for him to hold on.
"And now," Akane continued, "my friends are long gone, way ahead of me, living the life I should've lived. Kasumi is married and with kids. Nabiki has a great job in America, probably coming back home on vacation today as an engaged woman, and my dad is growing old; he won't be around for long.
"I know it sounds selfish, and sudden, but after coming back from the dead almost a year ago, I began to wonder what had I done with my life, and where it was headed, and I couldn't list one thing I had done that I had wanted to do since I was a kid. I had devoted my life to the arts for the sake of my father –who probably won't be here to support me with it much longer. I had studied so hard in school to one day become a doctor, and yet the closest I am to it is being a future simple P.E. instructor. I saw myself dating and marrying a man who supported me, in all the ways I needed to be supported, and I saw myself dating a man who loved an art I had detached myself from. Do you see what I'm saying?"
"Marrying me wasn't in your plans; that's what you meant when you told me that before."
Akane nodded. "I'm not saying what we had together wasn't good, or memorable. It was; it really was. And I will fondly remember all the adventures we had together, and everything we learned together, Ranma. But, why should I chain myself to a future I never looked forward to have in the first place?"
Ranma felt as if a truckload of cold water had been poured over him. He completely understood what she was saying, he respected her for it…and he hated that he did. He was –for the most part, doing everything he had aimed to do when he was young, with the exception of going to college and getting a degree in business, that is. Yet, he could see every piece of the life puzzle falling into place. How would he feel if he was forced by circumstances beyond his control to live his life in a way he never saw fit for himself? He would have been left with two choices: deal with it and move on, or do what Akane was doing now.
"So, you're just trying to follow the plan you had since you were a kid, as close as you can?"
"Yeah."
Ranma swallowed the knot that was forming in his throat, but it refused to go down all the way. It bobbled up and down his chest, competing in space with his pain-filled heart. He turned around to face Akane, lifting his hand to caress her cheek; staring in awe at how beautiful she looked when the last rays of the sun hit her face. Akane allowed him to savor the moment, knowing he understood it was their last. "Akane, haven't you considered that I could be that man for you? That you could still be a doctor? You…you can change majors…I can take care of the dojo 100%. I can get a good job so that you can study full time. I can give you that life that you want. If you would just let me…"
Akane shook her head, inciting Ranma to cup her face with his hands. He rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes as he felt his eyes sting with unshed tears. Akane closed her eyes as well, taking in his scent, and welcoming his warmth. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I really am. But, how fair would it be to ask you to give up your plans if I'm not willing to drop mine?"
"I –I can adjust. I can adjust to whatever as long as you're with me."
Akane's heart broke. She knew he would adjust. She knew she would adjust, too. Yet, a voice in the back of her head told her not to give up now. She had made a decision that was for the best, and she had to own up to it regardless of how tempting the alternative was.
"I couldn't live with that burden, Ranma. Why can't you understand? I've always done what I thought was right, wasn't that why you fell in love with me?"
Ranma responded by embracing her and resting his chin on her shoulder. Akane froze on the spot for a second before surrounding his waist with her arms. She closed her eyes and felt his body tremble in their embrace. She knew he was trying his best not to crumble in front of her; he was trying his best not to completely fall apart.
"It was, Akane. I've always admire that of you; going against all odds, doing what you think is best. I just thought I could admire it forever, and not from afar."
"I know, Ranma, and I'm really sorry. But, if I never try I'll never know what my life could've been."
It was then than Ranma's hope dissipated completely. He could not force her to stay, and she had every reason to leave his ass. How could he have been so blind to understand what she had meant back then? She was telling him her valid reasons why they couldn't be together, and while to him they seemed as if all her supposed problems could be solved by staying with him; he could just not bring himself to be the cause of any unhappiness in her life. He had no choice but letting her go. He had no choice but to let go of himself, too. His determination of transferring to another university at the end of the school year was reinforced. If he was ever going to move on without her, he had to go live his life somewhere else.
"I just hope whatever guy you end up with knows just what you're worth so I don't have to kill him," he finally said to her as a matter of showing his understanding.
Akane chuckled at his response, tightening her grip on him to show her appreciation of his vigilance. She loosened her hold on him and kissed his cheek as she began pulling herself away. Her face, however, did not get far from his when he pulled her closer to him by the back of her neck and pressed his lips on hers. Akane closed her eyes and fervently returned the kiss, wanting it more than she thought she should. After a long kiss, Akane finally broke it off before taking her hands to his face and drying up his tears.
"It's hard for me too, Ranma. Please don't make it more than it should be."
"I won't."
Ranma detached himself from her, standing up as he prepared to leave and to walk around the city for a while before heading back to the Tendo residence for his car. He was in no mood for seeing his family just yet, and he could only think of one person with whom to vent his frustrations. He looked at his watch and saw that Uc-chan's would be opened by now, and he felt he needed a drink.
"I, uhm…I'll be back for my car later. Is that OK?"
"Yeah," Akane responded as she stood up and cleaned her clothes from dirt and leaves. She dried the tears from her face in an attempt to compose herself. She could not return home in this state without causing an uprising of the Tendo and Saotome families. The last thing she needed was to deal with the tears of her father, the teasing of Nabiki, and the condescending looks of Kasumi and kin.
"I'll see you tomorrow to go over the dojo's status."
"Yeah, I might be a little late, though."
"That's OK. I'm expecting Nabiki's visit to cause a celebration tonight."
"Tell the bitch we aren't accepting anything else other than 30% commission, each."
Akane could not help to laugh out loud at his comment, secretly agreeing with it completely. Saffron was not fond of her either, and making her life miserable was one of the everyday goals for the Lord of Phoenix tribe. "I will make sure she is informed."
Ranma turned around and began walking away from Akane, but stopped after only a few steps. Without facing her and putting his hands in his pockets, he asked the other question that was in his mind.
"Akane?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you and Satoshi…?" he was unable to finish the question, but the intent was clear to Akane.
"We…he's in my plans…"
How cryptic her answer truly was Ranma would later understand.
Without another word, Ranma jumped to the fence of the canal, and then jumped on rooftops –much as he did when he was younger, and wandered aimlessly until reaching his friend's restaurant, which he would not leave until the next day.
Akane saw him leave, and with him her heart went. When Saffron could not feel Ranma's aura anymore, he concentrated to find the scent of another boy who needed her attention. Facing the opposite way Ranma had headed, Akane walked down the street, her golden-color eyes showing her determination to exert vengeance on her prey.
A/N: A slow start, I know, but this story is kind of difficult to write. I have too many ideas, some rather unconnected, so it has been very difficult to piece together what fits and what needs to be thrown out. This chapter was primarily meant to help readers recall knowledge from the other two fics without having to re-read them, and fill gaps between the time elapsed and the beginning of this chapter. BTW, I have nothing against gay people, nothing at all, literally half of my friends are gay, but it is true that some people use homosexuality as a reason to judge someone who is alone and not seeking (I know my parents did for me, for a while). I have an outline already written for all the chapters, including the epilogue. Can anyone find the four lines adapted from the song "Fix You," used in this chapter? Virtual cookies for those who do!