Ranma 1/2
Relative Peace
Part 2
Can't Get No Satisfaction
"Oneechan!" Akane called, wrapping her sister in a big hug,
despite protests. "We've missed you! How's college?"
"Akane... need... breath..." Nabiki managed, turning blue.
"Oops, sorry," Akane apologized, releasing her.
"Uh, Akane, it's kinda crowded here, maybe we better head back
now," Ranma suggested. "Uh, it's good to see ya, Nabiki."
The middle Tendo sister regarded him evenly. "Likewise,
Saotome," she said in a tone that probably said she didn't.
Akane missed it as she was looking for the cab. She spotted it
and the three people left the train station. At her sister's prompting,
Nabiki began to talk more about college life as they boarded the cab and
began the ride home.
Ranma tuned out the sisters' animated discussions, wishing he
could be anywhere else. Well, anywhere else with Akane. Maybe another
meeting... He tuned back in when he heard his name mentioned.
"Hey, Ranma-kun, what's the smile for?" came Nabiki's voice.
"Huh?" came the intelligent response. "Oh, nothing." He thought
fast. "Uh, just haven't seen Ryoga in awhile, so he should show up
soon." He cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Haven't had a good fight in
awhile."
"Baka!" Akane scolded. "I've told you not to pick on Ryoga-kun!"
As the two argued, Nabiki frowned. That had definitely been a
smile on Ranma's face, and he had been looking at Akane. [Hmmm, he can
look, but if he thinks he's getting any more...]
A lazy smile spread across her face.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The girl in the jean shorts and tight yellow T-shirt alighted
upon the thick, sturdy branch and sat down next to the figure already
there. She leaned into him after giving him a sweet, lingering kiss, and
felt his arm go around her waist.
"Mmm, now I feel much better," Akane whispered, resting her head
on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
"I was wonderin' what happened to ya," Ranma replied. "Still, I
knew you'd show up."
"Really?" she asked. "How?"
He shrugged slightly. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away
from a good lookin' guy like me for long..."
She slugged his ribs, lightly. "Macho jerk." Her expression
dropped slightly. "No, actually it was the strangest thing. I could've
sworn I was being followed."
"Nobody knows about us, and we put on a good act during the day,
so it was probably just your imagination or somethin'."
"Yeah, you're probably right..." Still, she couldn't shake the
bad feeling she had been getting all day. She decided not to tell Ranma
about it, so she wouldn't worry him. Besides, he probably wouldn't
understand anyways.
She contented herself to watching the sunset from their vantage
point in the trees. She had found this particular spot on one of her
jogs and thought it would be perfect for one of their meeting places. It
was in a park that was some distance from their home, so the chances of
anyone they knew seeing them was slim. This particular tree was in the
midst of several others and they were pretty high up, so they would be
hard to spot even if someone knew where to look.
Looking up at her fiance, she brought his head down for another
sweet kiss. Ranma obliged her. He really enjoyed these times-Akane, warm
and sweet in his arms. Her smile made him feel good, her hugs brought
forth intense feelings in him, and her kisses... He didn't think there
was anything greater.
He brought his hands up to her shoulders as he continued to
kiss her. From there, his left hand went up the back of her head and ran
through her silky hair. Akane's hands weren't idle either, as they
caressed his back and chest. Eventually, her attention focused more on
how he was kissing her, and her hands dropped to rest on his thighs.
In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to try that sort of
thing when one is high in a tree.
Ranma was caught off-guard as one of her hands `accidentally'
brushed against his groin. He started, then lost his balance, falling
backwards out of the tree.
"Ranma!"
He managed to avoid the thicker branches, instead breaking off
several of the smaller ones on his downward descent. Halfway to the
ground, his instincts kicked in and he grabbed a lower branch, using it
to slow his fall though a swing. He was unable to maintain his grip and
instead fell to the ground with a *thud*, landing on his back.
He sensed a figure land nearby. "I'm sorry, Ranma. Are you
okay?"
"Yeah," he grunted. "I..."
"SAOTOME! How dare you kidnap the fair Tendo Akane to use for
your own base lusts!"
Ranma groaned. "Oh no, not him." He stood up to confront the
charging kendoist. "Heya Kuno, what's up?" He ducked the first swing
then backstepped to avoid the three dozen that followed it. "I get the
feeling you're upset..."
Kuno stopped and pointed his sword at his foe. "Think me not
aware of your foul plots? When mine own manservant told me the vile
sorcerer was making a move on one of my loves, I had no choice but to
move to protect her!"
Akane rested her hand on her forehead. [Kuno no baka. We
might've been able to pick up again had that moron not shown up. And how
did Kuno know where to find us? I would've known if Sasuke was following
me.]
Ranma made to respond, but a flurry of black rose petals blew
through the area. "Ohohohoho! Sasuke was right, my Ranma-sama was
waiting for my arrival for our date!" Kodachi, the "Black Rose" Kuno
landed next to her brother and pointed the shaft of her handle on Akane.
"Tendo, you may leave us now. Ranma-sama has no interest in a lowly
commoner such as yourself."
Akane started a slow boil and stepped up the crazed gymnast.
"Why you...!" She was stopped as two arms embraced her from behind.
"Come my love, let my manliness sweep you up into ecstasy!"
*POW* Kuno, in a very zen-like manner, became one with the tree.
Kodachi took the opportunity to glomp Ranma before he could
act. "Let's leave them alone, darling. Sweep me into your arms and
shower my lips with your tender kisses!"
Ranma bigsweated, while trying to ignore the skin-tight leotard
she wore that didn't leave much to the imagination. "Uh, that's okay,
really!" He managed to squirm out of her grip. [She hasn't used any of
her poisons or powders yet, but I better get her out of here before she
does.] "Uh, gotta go, see ya!" He bounded out of the small forested area
with Kodachi in hot pursuit.
"Come back, my Ranma-samaaaaaaa..." her voice faded into the
distance.
"Ah, now we are alone, my fierce tigress of the hunt!"
*POW* This time Kuno was given a free air tour all the way back
to his mansion.
"Baka," Akane muttered. [Well, this meeting is ruined. And what
was with Ranma!? Why did that baka go off with Kodachi?] She was almost
tempted to go after them, but decided against it. [Their too far away
now, and I'd never catch up to them. He better not do anything with her.
He may love me, but does he want the other girls, too?] She sighed and
started for home, trying to shove the jealous twinges out of her mind.
One thing she knew for sure, was that a few dozen cement blocks
were going to meet their doom tonight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A few days later...
"I thought they'd never leave!" Ranma half-exclaimed.
He walked into the dining room from the dojo where Akane was
watching TV. He had just watched as his father and Soun leave to get
drunk. Kasumi had gone on another date with Tofu, and Nabiki had gone
with some of her old friends from high school to catch a movie.
He then realized Akane hadn't bothered to look at him. The red
warning light that was flashing in his head the past few days got
brighter. He had noticed Akane acting a little upset and withdrawn ever
since their meeting was disrupted by the Kunos, and now was the perfect
time to talk to her about it.
Sitting down beside her, he asked, "Okay, you wanna tell me
what's been goin' on with ya?"
Several different emotions flashed through Akane as she debated
whether to say something. His hand on her shoulder finally broke through
to her, though, and she sighed "I'm guess I'm just upset over last
week."
Ranma exhaled with relief. Truth be told, he was also a little
upset that their meeting had been broken up. Then again, he was also
slightly relieved. Akane had been making more aggressive moves, with
last week being the most recent, and most daring. It both excited and
scared him at the same time.
"I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner," Ranma said.
Akane let out a breath. "I know what you mean. We've been able
to get away it for so long... And then to have Kuno appear and grab me,
and then you ran off with Kodachi..." She looked up at him,
suspiciously. "Why didn't you stay to help me out? Were you doing
something with her?"
"Aw, geez, of course not!" Ranma complained. "Give me some
credit. Would you do `anything' with Kuno?"
Akane grimaced. "I see your point. I guess I'm just being
silly." She smiled at him and patted the spot next to her. "Why don't
you sit down?"
Ranma exhaled and smiled nervously, but he did sit down beside
her. That's when the wall exploded.
"Airen!" *Glomp!* Shampoo have free night from work! Leave
pervert-girl and come date with Shampoo!"
Akane snarled. "Excuse me! Who invited you!?"
Shampoo leveled a gaze at her. "Wife welcome anywhere husband
is."
"He's not your husband!" Akane retorted.
"What pervert-girl care?" Shampoo countered. "You no deserve
him. You no treat Airen right. Like this."
Akane watched in disbelief and ever-increasing anger as
Shampoo's hands traveled down Ranma's body.
"SAOTOME!" called another familiar voice. "How dare you fondle
my Shampoo!"
Several chains accompanied that statement by flying through the
hole in the wall. Akane dropped to the ground and rolled to avoid one,
while Ranma was forced to duck his head to narrowly avoid another.
He gulped when he realized where his face was now facing.
"Ooh, Airen like Shampoo breast?" she giggled.
Akane was on her feet in an instant. "RAAANMAAA!"
The unlucky pig-tailed martial artist, who had been trying to
squirm out of her grip all this time, now became incredibly desperate.
With a breath, he expanded all his muscles, trying to break out of her
grip, but the Amazon held tight. Then he suddenly went slack, making
himself as thin as possible, enabling him to slither out of the dreaded
glomp before Shampoo could tighten her grip.
"It's been fun, gotta go!" Ranma's voice receded as he sped out
the hole in the wall Shampoo made.
"Wait, Airen!" Shampoo called, running after him.
"SAOTOME, YOU COWARD!" Mousse's enraged voice echoed as he
vanished after them. "Come back and fight!"
Akane inhaled sharply and gave chase. "RANMA!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, at least she's gone," Ranma said at last as he walked
down the deserted street.
Akane, to his right, scowled at him. "You don't have to sound so
relieved. She may have her bad points, but she is my sister."
Ranma shrugged. "Whatever."
"What do you have against her anyways?" Akane asked, suddenly.
"More like what she has against me," he countered.
"You're saying she hates you? Why?"
Ranma shrugged again. "Like I know. She just does."
Akane sighed nosily, then the pair went back to walking in
silence.
They had just dropped Nabiki off at the train station so she
could return to school, and their conversation was about her. The
middle Tendo seemed to be in a good mood as she left, and Ranma was
convinced it was because his own mood wasn't as good. In fact, he could
almost swear it was because she had accomplished something, like the
proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.
[Yeah, right.] he thought. [The only thing that was accomplished
was that Akane's mad at me again. Like I had something to do with those
stupid girls showing up to wreck things. So, what else is new?]
He side-glanced to his right, where Akane still seemed to be in
her huff. Not like he wasn't upset as well. They hadn't had a successful
meeting all week, and it seemed so long ago that he had last kissed her.
His lips tingled at the memory, but he knew now wasn't a good time,
considering they were in public and Akane was upset.
Why she was upset, was another mystery to him. But now that he
thought about it, she was upset after the Kuno's broke up one of their
meetings. Could they be related?
As a matter of fact, they were related, but Akane didn't feel
like saying anything at the moment. She knew Ranma loved her, but did he
love the other girls, too? Was he meeting with them as well? After all
this time, they still hadn't given up on him and didn't seem likely to,
as evidenced by the last two wrecked meetings.
And how had they managed to interrupt just before anything
could happen between herself and Ranma?
-----------------------------------------
The weeks passed, and things returned to normal. Akane
eventually got over her huff and the secret meetings continued, though
spaced at longer intervals. It seemed to get harder and harder for them
to find time to spend together, away from prying eyes. It seemed both
Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi had redoubled their efforts in the months
following Nabiki's visit, providing very little time Ranma and Akane to
find time together.
"Which way did he go?" Ukyo asked Shampoo as the two grils
stopped at a busy intersection, surveying the crowd.
The Amazon shook her head and scowled, not knowing how Akane
had found the biggest crowd of people in Nerima. "Not know, but Shampoo
see Ranma come through here."
Ukyo slammed her right fist into her left palm. "If only we had
some idea of where he was headed!" [I'd buy the info off Nabiki, but
she's back at school. And her backup, To-something or other, she
couldn't remember. Only that Ranma would be coming this way.]
Ukyo didn't really like dealing with the middle Tendo; there
was just something about her. Of course, the fact that she would sell
out any info you wanted on their houseguest, did make the chef wonder
what about the other girl's motications. But, she supposed Nabiki had
her own reasons.
And it was Ukyo's only recourse for getting info about her
fiance, since Ranma didn't seem to be real forthcoming about what he'd
been up to lately.
Ukyo threw her hands up into the air. "Oh forget it! We're not
going to find him now, and I've got a restaurant to run. If you want to
keep looking, fine." She turned on her heel and left, not wanting to
leave Konatsu running it alone for very long. She would have sent the
kunoichi, but she wanted to confront Ranma herself.
Shampoo absently nodded, then leapt to a nearby rooftop to get
a better view. Ten minutes later, she gave up and left.
-----------------------------------------
Ranma swayed to the beat of the train as it rode it along, his
hand holding onto one of the overhead straps. Several times during the
trip, he glanced over at a girl sitting across the way, thinking she
looked very familiar, but he couldn't place her. Then an image of a
Furinken High School uniform overlapped her dark-blue blouse and skirt
for a second, and a few more pieces fell into place.
"Hiya!" he greeted cheerfully while waving to get her attention,
then asked. "You go to Furinken, dontcha ya?"
The girl looked up from the paper she was reading, looking
surprised and feigning a nervous smile, but she didn't respond, other
than with a headshake. She got off at the next stop, although Ranma
didn't. He kept thinking there was something else about the girl, but he
culdn't place it. He shook his head to clear his mind, deciding not to
spend any more time thinking about it. There was something else more
important to consume his thoughts.
He had an appointment to keep!
Tomoe braced herself against the wall of the train station,
trying to get her nervous breathing and pounding heart under control.
[That was close! I think he almost recognized me!] She had gone through
the trouble of getting a good wig and doing her make-up differently, as
well as the change in wardrobe, hoping to tail him and find out where he
was going.
She really didn't like to do this, but Nabiki was paying good
money to know what Ranma was up to. Tomoe didn't ask why, as the money
was good.
Recovering, she decided to call it a day and caught the next
train home.
-----------------------------------------
Inevitably, the middle Tendo returned once again for summer
break
Enjoying both the sun and the start of summer break, Akane
stood on a street corner in shorts and a T-shirt. She had keenly felt
the need to get out of the house, especially since Nabiki had arrived
back from college for the break and had started to grill Akane on her
life in a friendly manner, as well as probe for information about her
relationship with Ranma. Akane resisted the urge to splurge all the
details, and kept up with her usual comments, i.e., denying she felt
anything for the Baka, hoping it would fool and placate her sister. She
hoped she was successful, but Nabiki was hard to read.
Now standing outside on a nice summer day, Akane glanced around
subtly at her surroundings, but detected nothing out of the ordinary.
She began walking again, taking a route which lead to Dr. Tofu's clinic.
Poking her head around the corner of an alley, another face
watched her go. Shan Pu, the best Amazon warrior of her generation and
heir to the knowledge of Kuh Lon, stalked after her prey with feline
grace. Considering she was currently a small pink and white house cat,
this was no great chore.
In fact, she rather like her feline form, as it came in handy
at times. She could go where no one else could, and spy on people
without them being aware of it. The only downside was that Ranma had a
somewhat nasty aversion to it.
Right now, she was using it to track the pervert-girl, who
seemed to have some strange hold over her Airen. Try as she might, she
couldn't figure out what kind of mind-control Akane was using (it was
what she would've used, after all). Although she was grateful for the
info her source had provided, for a feee, of course, that said the Akane
and Ranma would be up to something today.
Prodding out of her hiding place, she streaked to and from
various forms of cover while keeping her quarry in sight.
Across town, Ranma jogged along a fence, seemingly in random
directions. Unlike Akane, he knew he was being followed. By whom, was
still unknown, since he could never catch a glimpse of who it was. Which
was really beginning to get on his nerves, since he was trying to join
up with Akane for an afternoon meeting.
Frustrated, he took off like a shot, hoping to leave his tail
in the dust.
Sighing, Konatsu faded out of the shadows and touched the
something in his hair. "He's headed west along Jubei Street, Ukyo-sama."
A crackling voice resonated in his ear. "Stay with him Konatsu-
chan! Find out where he's goin' then let me know! I've got Akane in
sight. Ukyo out!"
The kunoichi sighed again. His mistress seemed quite determined
to do something about Ranma this time, and had drafted him to help. He
didn't mind doing things for her, but helping to spy on someone didn't
sit quite right with him. Still, who was he to argue? She gave him a
place to stay and took care of him.
Gathering his own determination, he started after Ranma.
Ryoga glanced down at his map, and then around at the houses on
the street. [Where am I now?] He wanted to ask for directions, but that
was only reserved for people who knew where they wanted to be. He wanted
to find Akari, or maybe snuggle up to Akane as P-chan, he couldn't
decide which. His inability to find either was only fueling his
depression.
"This is all Ranma's fault!" he declared. He looked back down at
his map, and that's when a foot bounced off his head. "Who did that!?"
He looked back up to see Ranma zooming away at high speed. At last!
Something to relieve his frustrations on! "RANMA! COME BACK HERE YOU
COWARD!"
Ryoga took off after his rival.
Akane now knew she was being followed as well. Several times,
she had caught sight of some guy in a trenchcoat shadowing her
movements. Upon closer inspection, a silvery handle could be seen poking
out of the collar of the man's big coat, and Akane knew it for what it
was: a giant spatula.
The youngest Tendo ground her teeth at the fact Ukyo was
following her. [How am I supposed to shake her and meet up with Ranma?
Argh! Only one choice.] Gathering her strength, she took to the air
running as soon as her feet made contact with the first rooftop.
Ukyo swore and sprinted after her on the ground, determined to
put a stop to whatever Akane was trying to do with her Ranchan. Behind
her, a post office box also began moving at high speeds, but the chef
was too intent on her own target to notice.
[So it was Ryoga!] Ranma thought. [Great. No time to play, I'll
just have to lose him.] He increased his pace.
"Look, Katsunishki!" Akari pointed as Ryoga ran by. "There he
is!"
The big pig grunted.
"After him!"
Unfortunately, going by rooftops made her more visible.
"Tendo Akane, my love! Date with me!"
The increasingly frustrated girl jumped to the ground and
poured on the speed.
*Crunch!* Ryoga didn't realize what he stepped on.
"Oooh, bad Keiki ruin da big Kahuna's new scissors, yeah!" The
principal pulled out another pair. "Need be gettin' da special trim,
now!"
Principal Kuno joined the chase!
He was wearing his glasses for once, and expertly spotted his
love dash down the road. "Shampoo! I'll get you some hot water then we
can spend the day together!" He took off after her. "Shampoo! Wait!"
"Ohohohohoho! Come back my Ranma-sama!"
Ukyo swore, then tapped her communicator. "Where is he?"
"He just turned down Garou Lane," the feminine voice of her
masculine employee responded.
Something was buzzing in the back of her head. What was wrong
about that? Then she had it.
THEY were on Garou Lane.
He finally saw her. "AKANE!"
She saw him. "RANMA!"
Both saw each other's respective crowds, knew they couldn't
stop or slow down, and thought one collective thought.
[Uh, oh.]
Nabiki watched through her binoculars as the two dust clouds
crashed into each, creating one major dust cloud. She reached beside her
lounge chair on the second floor balcony of the Tendo home and grabbed
some popcorn, smirking.
[It's so incredibly easy to manipulate those idiots, that my
talents are practically wasted here,] she thought. [A few words here and
there about Ranma and Akane's activities to the suitors, and those
morons act in their own predictable manner.]
Her expression turned into a frown. [Tomoe was right about one
thing, though. Ranma was heading for some sort of secret rendezvous with
Akane, just like he was in the last few months. Well, hopefully today's
little event will help to cool his heels.]
She tossed some popcorn into her mouth and began to munch.
Ranma and Akane returned later that evening, their clothes torn
and dirty, their faces tired and haggard.
"Goodness, what happened?" Kasumi asked them.
"Bad day," Akane mumbled, bleary-eyed
"What she said," Ranma added, then yawned.
"Well, why don't you take some time to wash up before dinner,
Akane," Kasumi offered. "Since dinner's almost ready, Ranma-kun can have
one afterwards."
"Sounds like a good idea," the youngest Tendo agreed, trudging
down the hall while Ranma plopped down on his dining cushion. Both
fathers were still out on the veranda playing shogi, but within visual
distance of the table, ready to sprint over when dinner was served.
Nabiki momentarily glanced at him over the rim of her manga.
"Bad day, huh?"
Ranma grunted in the affirmative, not really paying much
attention to anything, his head studying his hands in his lap.
"That's too bad," she replied nonchalantly, then continued in
tones too low for the two older men sitting just outside to hear. "It
didn't look like such a good day for Akane either. But I suppose that
can't be helped, what with all those wierdos that are after you. It's
only natural that Akane would get caught in the crossfire."
"It ain't my fault," he muttered automatically, his head still
lowered.
"We've heard that song and dance before, Saotome," Nabiki told
him from behind the pages of her manga. "If you cared about Akane at all
you'd leave, then all the crazies would follow you and Akane would have
peace."
That brought Ranma's head up, but any reply was halted as
Kasumi began to bring in dishes and the fathers joined them at the
table.
-------------------------------------------
[Could she be right?]
Great thinkers have always had their special places for
thinking and philosophizing. Some have been normal spots like a bench in
the park, while others have tended to gravitate toward more unusual
locales. In fact, it's said that Einstein came up with most of his ideas
while sitting in the bathtub.
The roof of the Tendo house couldn't exactly be called unusual,
but it wasn't exactly normal for most people either. But then again,
Ranma couldn't be counted under the normal category.
[Would Akane really be better off without me?] Ranma wondered as
he sat on the roof. Normally, he would have dismissed Nabiki's claim,
seeing as how it had become more and more clear that Nabiki didn't like
him; of course she would want him to go. And naturally, he didn't want
to leave Akane, but his first priority was keeping her safe. He couldn't
take the thought of something happening to her.
[Ryoga, Ukyo, Shampoo, did all show up lookin` for me. Beatin'
up fifty school boys each mornin' ain't nothin' compared to what's
happened since I came here. That cursed doll, Herb, Shampoo, Pink and
Link... Saffron...] Ranma shivered involuntarily at that last one. It
brought up too many memories and strong emotions that he didn't really
want to deal with.
"I thought I'd find you up here," Akane said softly as she
landed on the roof behind him.
Ranma sighed. "I thought you were goin' to bed?"
Akane yawned as she sat down beside him. "In a minute." Her
mouth turned up in a slight smile. "Besides, weren't you going to bed,
too?" She leaned over to rest her head against his shoulder in the cool
night air...
...only to find him moving away as he stood up, facing away from
her. "Ranma?"
"Akane... I-" He hung his head, wondering how he could phrase
this.
The raven-haired girl regarded her fiance. "What is it, Ranma?"
"I'm gonna go away."
Akane's world stopped. "What!?"
"I, uh," Ranma faltered. [Can't tell her the real reason.] He
thought fast. "Well, I was on the road for most of my life and I kinda
miss it, so I thought I'd spend a couple more years traveling around."
He grinned at the good explanantion he just came up with.
"What!?" Akane blinked in disbelief, her world beginning to get
dizzy. "What brought this on?"
Ranma turned around, his hand behind his head, and laughed a
couple of times. "Well, you know hectic today was! Just thought I'd get
away for a couple of years."
"Well, where will you go?" Akane asked, still in shock. Ranma
was leaving her? Just like that? For a couple of years!? She tried to
stand, but found her legs just wouldn't support her at the moment and
gave up.
He shrugged. "I'll just wander around Japan, and maybe China.
Ya know, like Ryoga does."
Akane, juggling too many emotions at the moment and none of
them good, tried to think of a reason to keep him here. "What about
school?"
His features turned into a scowl. "Never got much out it. Don't
really need it."
"What about me?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Ranma waved it off. "Ah, you'll be fine. You could use a break
from the action."
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Akane set her jaw and
rose to her feet, this time finding the strength to stand. "Then I'm
coming with you."
"No!" Ranma blurted suddenly, then waved his hands in a warding
gesture. "I mean, you'll be better of here, what with your family an'
all. You wouldn' t like it on the road."
Akane knew Ranma was a terrible liar, and she had come to know
him quite well in the past two years to realize when he was not telling
her something. "Why don't you want me to come with you?"
He turned his back to her. "It ain't easy travelin' around with
nothing but your pack. You wouldn't like it."
She frowned. "I can do anything you can do, Ranma! I'm not a
weak little girl!"
She stopped, and it all suddenly clicked in Akane's mind.
[Traveling around Japan and China. Ranma hiding something from me. Wants
me to stay here. He may love me, but does he love the other women as
well? If he's spending time with me in secret, could he be doing the
same with them as well?]
"Alright, who is it?" She asked sharply. "Shampoo or Ukyo?"
Ranma spun around, surprise written on his face. "What!?"
Akane's hands were clenched at her sides and she was trembling
slightly. "Who are you planning to sneak off with!?" she very nearly
shrieked. "Or are you going off with both of them?" Her shock was
beginning to ignite around the edges.
"No!" Ranma denied forcefully, then blurted out, "I just wanna
get away from you for awhile!" Once again, it was the pure and natural
truth, just phrased in the worst possible way.
"So that's it!" She `hmphed' and turned her back to him. "You're
tired of me already! You get your kicks and leave!"
Ranma threw his hands up in the the air. "I should've know you
wouldn't understand! I don't know why I bother tellin' you anything,
you're too dense to understand!"
She spun back and speared him with a venomous look. "What did
you say!?"
"You heard me!" he yelled back, oblivious to the danger. "You
take everything I say the wrong way! I was right that first day: you are
so uncute!"
"Well, if you weren't such a pigheaded liar!" she retorted
angrily. "You don't trust me enough to tell me the truth! What am I
supposed to think!?"
"You wouldn't understand, anyway! I'm doin' this for your own
good!"
"Fine then!" Her fists were still clenched, and a modest battle
aura was begginning to flame around her. "Go away and see if I care!"
She spun and closed her eyes, not wanting him to see the tears starting
to leak from her eyes. "I guess I don't mean that much to you after
all!"
That last statement was said as she jumped off the roof and ran
inside, not giving him a chance to respond.
Ranma stood there in shock, having totally expected her to hit
him. [She MUST be mad this time!] he realized. [Still, in the end she'll
be better for it. Her life will return to normal when I'm gone. She'll
be okay.] Feeling like he just went ten rounds with Ryoga and Taro,
Ranma collapsed into a sitting postion.
[But will I be okay?] the thought came unbidden.
"Of course, I'll be just fine!" he said with as much bravado as
he could muster. But to him, it sounded hollow, because he knew
otherwise.
Jusendo had proved that.
In her room, Nabiki smiled and removed her earphones. This
little guilt trip plan she had been saving for awhile now. She had hoped
that her father would see how stupid this engagement was and put a stop
to it, or that Akane would throw Ranma out for good, or even that Ranma
would get fed up and leave.
Seeing as how none of that had happened and disturbed by the
closeness the two seemed to show as late, she figured she'd have to
plant that little idea in Ranma's head and wait for his guilt to do the
rest. The fight up on the rooftop couldn't have gone much better that it
had. Now, Akane was severely ticked at Ranma, who seriously considering
the idea of leaving.
When Ranma had first shown up, Nabiki was amused. The bickering
and arguments between him and his fiancee might have been a little
annoying, but Ranma's insecurities and habit of getting into fights was
more fun and profitable than she had ever anticipated, not to mention
the additional profits from selling Ranma-chan pics to Kuno.
However, as time went on, Nabiki became increasingly disturbed
by how much Akane was affected by the events that surrounded Ranma.
Getting kidnapped, attacked, memory erased, and turned into a doll were
the least of the things that had happened to her little sister. Then
when Ranma and the gang had returned from China, she managed to get the
truth out of Mousse and Ryoga of what had happened, and it shocked her
to the core:
Akane had very nearly died. Twice.
Nabiki came to the logical conclusion: Hanging around Ranma was
going to get Akane killed one of these days, and maybe her whole family.
So, she stopped the wedding the two old fools had sprung shortly
thereafter. The money she had made from that, and over the past two
years, was enough for her college tuition with a scholarship.
Long ago, Nabiki had taken up managing the investments and
finances to keep her family secure. She grew to love money, but only as
a means to to an end: To afford college and to protect her family. Now
that she was in college, she didn't need to earn as much, so the profit
gained from exploitation of Ranma was no longer neccessary.
It was time for Ranma to go.
Nabiki took a deep breath, then proceeded to pack her things
for her trip back to college tomorrow, planning on getting an early
start on her next semester studies. She was content that by the time she
got back, Ranma would be long gone and her naive, little sister would be
better off because of it.
-------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
Whew! It took me long enough to write this! I promise the next part will
be out much, much sooner! I've already started plotting out the rest of
this, and it should run 6 parts max. I've also started writing part 3.
Also, I just wanna say I have nothing against Nabiki. She's an
interesting character and she was one of my favorites when I first
started watching Ranma 1/2. I admired her ability to make a buck in
almost any situation. The scene where she sells her first set of pig-
tailed girl photos to Kuno is still one of my favorites! For this story,
however, I decided to play a little `what if'. For all of Nabiki's
knowledge and intelligence, there is one thing she doesn't seem to know
a lot about, or care about: Love. She only dates a guy once, milks him
for cash, then ending the date when he's broke.
I hope the last section made sense and helped explain her motivation and
behavior.
For those of you who are wondering why I go back and forth between
dashes and spaces for scene changes, it's my way of conveying the time
passed. A scene change with dashes indicates more time has passed,
(usually more than a day), while spaces indicate the change is much
shorter (less than a day, and usually only a few minutes). I have
changed the spacing to be more consistant, go with four spaces between
breaks. If you feel this is still too much, let me know.
And as always, if you have any other C&C, or even if you just want to
stroke my ego, I would love to hear from you at:
oddball22@hotmail.com
The rest of my fanfiction is at:
www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
Another work brought to you by Brad aka Kaiphantom (my not-so-secret
alter ego)
Relative Peace
Part 2
Can't Get No Satisfaction
"Oneechan!" Akane called, wrapping her sister in a big hug,
despite protests. "We've missed you! How's college?"
"Akane... need... breath..." Nabiki managed, turning blue.
"Oops, sorry," Akane apologized, releasing her.
"Uh, Akane, it's kinda crowded here, maybe we better head back
now," Ranma suggested. "Uh, it's good to see ya, Nabiki."
The middle Tendo sister regarded him evenly. "Likewise,
Saotome," she said in a tone that probably said she didn't.
Akane missed it as she was looking for the cab. She spotted it
and the three people left the train station. At her sister's prompting,
Nabiki began to talk more about college life as they boarded the cab and
began the ride home.
Ranma tuned out the sisters' animated discussions, wishing he
could be anywhere else. Well, anywhere else with Akane. Maybe another
meeting... He tuned back in when he heard his name mentioned.
"Hey, Ranma-kun, what's the smile for?" came Nabiki's voice.
"Huh?" came the intelligent response. "Oh, nothing." He thought
fast. "Uh, just haven't seen Ryoga in awhile, so he should show up
soon." He cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Haven't had a good fight in
awhile."
"Baka!" Akane scolded. "I've told you not to pick on Ryoga-kun!"
As the two argued, Nabiki frowned. That had definitely been a
smile on Ranma's face, and he had been looking at Akane. [Hmmm, he can
look, but if he thinks he's getting any more...]
A lazy smile spread across her face.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The girl in the jean shorts and tight yellow T-shirt alighted
upon the thick, sturdy branch and sat down next to the figure already
there. She leaned into him after giving him a sweet, lingering kiss, and
felt his arm go around her waist.
"Mmm, now I feel much better," Akane whispered, resting her head
on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
"I was wonderin' what happened to ya," Ranma replied. "Still, I
knew you'd show up."
"Really?" she asked. "How?"
He shrugged slightly. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away
from a good lookin' guy like me for long..."
She slugged his ribs, lightly. "Macho jerk." Her expression
dropped slightly. "No, actually it was the strangest thing. I could've
sworn I was being followed."
"Nobody knows about us, and we put on a good act during the day,
so it was probably just your imagination or somethin'."
"Yeah, you're probably right..." Still, she couldn't shake the
bad feeling she had been getting all day. She decided not to tell Ranma
about it, so she wouldn't worry him. Besides, he probably wouldn't
understand anyways.
She contented herself to watching the sunset from their vantage
point in the trees. She had found this particular spot on one of her
jogs and thought it would be perfect for one of their meeting places. It
was in a park that was some distance from their home, so the chances of
anyone they knew seeing them was slim. This particular tree was in the
midst of several others and they were pretty high up, so they would be
hard to spot even if someone knew where to look.
Looking up at her fiance, she brought his head down for another
sweet kiss. Ranma obliged her. He really enjoyed these times-Akane, warm
and sweet in his arms. Her smile made him feel good, her hugs brought
forth intense feelings in him, and her kisses... He didn't think there
was anything greater.
He brought his hands up to her shoulders as he continued to
kiss her. From there, his left hand went up the back of her head and ran
through her silky hair. Akane's hands weren't idle either, as they
caressed his back and chest. Eventually, her attention focused more on
how he was kissing her, and her hands dropped to rest on his thighs.
In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to try that sort of
thing when one is high in a tree.
Ranma was caught off-guard as one of her hands `accidentally'
brushed against his groin. He started, then lost his balance, falling
backwards out of the tree.
"Ranma!"
He managed to avoid the thicker branches, instead breaking off
several of the smaller ones on his downward descent. Halfway to the
ground, his instincts kicked in and he grabbed a lower branch, using it
to slow his fall though a swing. He was unable to maintain his grip and
instead fell to the ground with a *thud*, landing on his back.
He sensed a figure land nearby. "I'm sorry, Ranma. Are you
okay?"
"Yeah," he grunted. "I..."
"SAOTOME! How dare you kidnap the fair Tendo Akane to use for
your own base lusts!"
Ranma groaned. "Oh no, not him." He stood up to confront the
charging kendoist. "Heya Kuno, what's up?" He ducked the first swing
then backstepped to avoid the three dozen that followed it. "I get the
feeling you're upset..."
Kuno stopped and pointed his sword at his foe. "Think me not
aware of your foul plots? When mine own manservant told me the vile
sorcerer was making a move on one of my loves, I had no choice but to
move to protect her!"
Akane rested her hand on her forehead. [Kuno no baka. We
might've been able to pick up again had that moron not shown up. And how
did Kuno know where to find us? I would've known if Sasuke was following
me.]
Ranma made to respond, but a flurry of black rose petals blew
through the area. "Ohohohoho! Sasuke was right, my Ranma-sama was
waiting for my arrival for our date!" Kodachi, the "Black Rose" Kuno
landed next to her brother and pointed the shaft of her handle on Akane.
"Tendo, you may leave us now. Ranma-sama has no interest in a lowly
commoner such as yourself."
Akane started a slow boil and stepped up the crazed gymnast.
"Why you...!" She was stopped as two arms embraced her from behind.
"Come my love, let my manliness sweep you up into ecstasy!"
*POW* Kuno, in a very zen-like manner, became one with the tree.
Kodachi took the opportunity to glomp Ranma before he could
act. "Let's leave them alone, darling. Sweep me into your arms and
shower my lips with your tender kisses!"
Ranma bigsweated, while trying to ignore the skin-tight leotard
she wore that didn't leave much to the imagination. "Uh, that's okay,
really!" He managed to squirm out of her grip. [She hasn't used any of
her poisons or powders yet, but I better get her out of here before she
does.] "Uh, gotta go, see ya!" He bounded out of the small forested area
with Kodachi in hot pursuit.
"Come back, my Ranma-samaaaaaaa..." her voice faded into the
distance.
"Ah, now we are alone, my fierce tigress of the hunt!"
*POW* This time Kuno was given a free air tour all the way back
to his mansion.
"Baka," Akane muttered. [Well, this meeting is ruined. And what
was with Ranma!? Why did that baka go off with Kodachi?] She was almost
tempted to go after them, but decided against it. [Their too far away
now, and I'd never catch up to them. He better not do anything with her.
He may love me, but does he want the other girls, too?] She sighed and
started for home, trying to shove the jealous twinges out of her mind.
One thing she knew for sure, was that a few dozen cement blocks
were going to meet their doom tonight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A few days later...
"I thought they'd never leave!" Ranma half-exclaimed.
He walked into the dining room from the dojo where Akane was
watching TV. He had just watched as his father and Soun leave to get
drunk. Kasumi had gone on another date with Tofu, and Nabiki had gone
with some of her old friends from high school to catch a movie.
He then realized Akane hadn't bothered to look at him. The red
warning light that was flashing in his head the past few days got
brighter. He had noticed Akane acting a little upset and withdrawn ever
since their meeting was disrupted by the Kunos, and now was the perfect
time to talk to her about it.
Sitting down beside her, he asked, "Okay, you wanna tell me
what's been goin' on with ya?"
Several different emotions flashed through Akane as she debated
whether to say something. His hand on her shoulder finally broke through
to her, though, and she sighed "I'm guess I'm just upset over last
week."
Ranma exhaled with relief. Truth be told, he was also a little
upset that their meeting had been broken up. Then again, he was also
slightly relieved. Akane had been making more aggressive moves, with
last week being the most recent, and most daring. It both excited and
scared him at the same time.
"I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner," Ranma said.
Akane let out a breath. "I know what you mean. We've been able
to get away it for so long... And then to have Kuno appear and grab me,
and then you ran off with Kodachi..." She looked up at him,
suspiciously. "Why didn't you stay to help me out? Were you doing
something with her?"
"Aw, geez, of course not!" Ranma complained. "Give me some
credit. Would you do `anything' with Kuno?"
Akane grimaced. "I see your point. I guess I'm just being
silly." She smiled at him and patted the spot next to her. "Why don't
you sit down?"
Ranma exhaled and smiled nervously, but he did sit down beside
her. That's when the wall exploded.
"Airen!" *Glomp!* Shampoo have free night from work! Leave
pervert-girl and come date with Shampoo!"
Akane snarled. "Excuse me! Who invited you!?"
Shampoo leveled a gaze at her. "Wife welcome anywhere husband
is."
"He's not your husband!" Akane retorted.
"What pervert-girl care?" Shampoo countered. "You no deserve
him. You no treat Airen right. Like this."
Akane watched in disbelief and ever-increasing anger as
Shampoo's hands traveled down Ranma's body.
"SAOTOME!" called another familiar voice. "How dare you fondle
my Shampoo!"
Several chains accompanied that statement by flying through the
hole in the wall. Akane dropped to the ground and rolled to avoid one,
while Ranma was forced to duck his head to narrowly avoid another.
He gulped when he realized where his face was now facing.
"Ooh, Airen like Shampoo breast?" she giggled.
Akane was on her feet in an instant. "RAAANMAAA!"
The unlucky pig-tailed martial artist, who had been trying to
squirm out of her grip all this time, now became incredibly desperate.
With a breath, he expanded all his muscles, trying to break out of her
grip, but the Amazon held tight. Then he suddenly went slack, making
himself as thin as possible, enabling him to slither out of the dreaded
glomp before Shampoo could tighten her grip.
"It's been fun, gotta go!" Ranma's voice receded as he sped out
the hole in the wall Shampoo made.
"Wait, Airen!" Shampoo called, running after him.
"SAOTOME, YOU COWARD!" Mousse's enraged voice echoed as he
vanished after them. "Come back and fight!"
Akane inhaled sharply and gave chase. "RANMA!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, at least she's gone," Ranma said at last as he walked
down the deserted street.
Akane, to his right, scowled at him. "You don't have to sound so
relieved. She may have her bad points, but she is my sister."
Ranma shrugged. "Whatever."
"What do you have against her anyways?" Akane asked, suddenly.
"More like what she has against me," he countered.
"You're saying she hates you? Why?"
Ranma shrugged again. "Like I know. She just does."
Akane sighed nosily, then the pair went back to walking in
silence.
They had just dropped Nabiki off at the train station so she
could return to school, and their conversation was about her. The
middle Tendo seemed to be in a good mood as she left, and Ranma was
convinced it was because his own mood wasn't as good. In fact, he could
almost swear it was because she had accomplished something, like the
proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.
[Yeah, right.] he thought. [The only thing that was accomplished
was that Akane's mad at me again. Like I had something to do with those
stupid girls showing up to wreck things. So, what else is new?]
He side-glanced to his right, where Akane still seemed to be in
her huff. Not like he wasn't upset as well. They hadn't had a successful
meeting all week, and it seemed so long ago that he had last kissed her.
His lips tingled at the memory, but he knew now wasn't a good time,
considering they were in public and Akane was upset.
Why she was upset, was another mystery to him. But now that he
thought about it, she was upset after the Kuno's broke up one of their
meetings. Could they be related?
As a matter of fact, they were related, but Akane didn't feel
like saying anything at the moment. She knew Ranma loved her, but did he
love the other girls, too? Was he meeting with them as well? After all
this time, they still hadn't given up on him and didn't seem likely to,
as evidenced by the last two wrecked meetings.
And how had they managed to interrupt just before anything
could happen between herself and Ranma?
-----------------------------------------
The weeks passed, and things returned to normal. Akane
eventually got over her huff and the secret meetings continued, though
spaced at longer intervals. It seemed to get harder and harder for them
to find time to spend together, away from prying eyes. It seemed both
Ukyo, Shampoo, and Kodachi had redoubled their efforts in the months
following Nabiki's visit, providing very little time Ranma and Akane to
find time together.
"Which way did he go?" Ukyo asked Shampoo as the two grils
stopped at a busy intersection, surveying the crowd.
The Amazon shook her head and scowled, not knowing how Akane
had found the biggest crowd of people in Nerima. "Not know, but Shampoo
see Ranma come through here."
Ukyo slammed her right fist into her left palm. "If only we had
some idea of where he was headed!" [I'd buy the info off Nabiki, but
she's back at school. And her backup, To-something or other, she
couldn't remember. Only that Ranma would be coming this way.]
Ukyo didn't really like dealing with the middle Tendo; there
was just something about her. Of course, the fact that she would sell
out any info you wanted on their houseguest, did make the chef wonder
what about the other girl's motications. But, she supposed Nabiki had
her own reasons.
And it was Ukyo's only recourse for getting info about her
fiance, since Ranma didn't seem to be real forthcoming about what he'd
been up to lately.
Ukyo threw her hands up into the air. "Oh forget it! We're not
going to find him now, and I've got a restaurant to run. If you want to
keep looking, fine." She turned on her heel and left, not wanting to
leave Konatsu running it alone for very long. She would have sent the
kunoichi, but she wanted to confront Ranma herself.
Shampoo absently nodded, then leapt to a nearby rooftop to get
a better view. Ten minutes later, she gave up and left.
-----------------------------------------
Ranma swayed to the beat of the train as it rode it along, his
hand holding onto one of the overhead straps. Several times during the
trip, he glanced over at a girl sitting across the way, thinking she
looked very familiar, but he couldn't place her. Then an image of a
Furinken High School uniform overlapped her dark-blue blouse and skirt
for a second, and a few more pieces fell into place.
"Hiya!" he greeted cheerfully while waving to get her attention,
then asked. "You go to Furinken, dontcha ya?"
The girl looked up from the paper she was reading, looking
surprised and feigning a nervous smile, but she didn't respond, other
than with a headshake. She got off at the next stop, although Ranma
didn't. He kept thinking there was something else about the girl, but he
culdn't place it. He shook his head to clear his mind, deciding not to
spend any more time thinking about it. There was something else more
important to consume his thoughts.
He had an appointment to keep!
Tomoe braced herself against the wall of the train station,
trying to get her nervous breathing and pounding heart under control.
[That was close! I think he almost recognized me!] She had gone through
the trouble of getting a good wig and doing her make-up differently, as
well as the change in wardrobe, hoping to tail him and find out where he
was going.
She really didn't like to do this, but Nabiki was paying good
money to know what Ranma was up to. Tomoe didn't ask why, as the money
was good.
Recovering, she decided to call it a day and caught the next
train home.
-----------------------------------------
Inevitably, the middle Tendo returned once again for summer
break
Enjoying both the sun and the start of summer break, Akane
stood on a street corner in shorts and a T-shirt. She had keenly felt
the need to get out of the house, especially since Nabiki had arrived
back from college for the break and had started to grill Akane on her
life in a friendly manner, as well as probe for information about her
relationship with Ranma. Akane resisted the urge to splurge all the
details, and kept up with her usual comments, i.e., denying she felt
anything for the Baka, hoping it would fool and placate her sister. She
hoped she was successful, but Nabiki was hard to read.
Now standing outside on a nice summer day, Akane glanced around
subtly at her surroundings, but detected nothing out of the ordinary.
She began walking again, taking a route which lead to Dr. Tofu's clinic.
Poking her head around the corner of an alley, another face
watched her go. Shan Pu, the best Amazon warrior of her generation and
heir to the knowledge of Kuh Lon, stalked after her prey with feline
grace. Considering she was currently a small pink and white house cat,
this was no great chore.
In fact, she rather like her feline form, as it came in handy
at times. She could go where no one else could, and spy on people
without them being aware of it. The only downside was that Ranma had a
somewhat nasty aversion to it.
Right now, she was using it to track the pervert-girl, who
seemed to have some strange hold over her Airen. Try as she might, she
couldn't figure out what kind of mind-control Akane was using (it was
what she would've used, after all). Although she was grateful for the
info her source had provided, for a feee, of course, that said the Akane
and Ranma would be up to something today.
Prodding out of her hiding place, she streaked to and from
various forms of cover while keeping her quarry in sight.
Across town, Ranma jogged along a fence, seemingly in random
directions. Unlike Akane, he knew he was being followed. By whom, was
still unknown, since he could never catch a glimpse of who it was. Which
was really beginning to get on his nerves, since he was trying to join
up with Akane for an afternoon meeting.
Frustrated, he took off like a shot, hoping to leave his tail
in the dust.
Sighing, Konatsu faded out of the shadows and touched the
something in his hair. "He's headed west along Jubei Street, Ukyo-sama."
A crackling voice resonated in his ear. "Stay with him Konatsu-
chan! Find out where he's goin' then let me know! I've got Akane in
sight. Ukyo out!"
The kunoichi sighed again. His mistress seemed quite determined
to do something about Ranma this time, and had drafted him to help. He
didn't mind doing things for her, but helping to spy on someone didn't
sit quite right with him. Still, who was he to argue? She gave him a
place to stay and took care of him.
Gathering his own determination, he started after Ranma.
Ryoga glanced down at his map, and then around at the houses on
the street. [Where am I now?] He wanted to ask for directions, but that
was only reserved for people who knew where they wanted to be. He wanted
to find Akari, or maybe snuggle up to Akane as P-chan, he couldn't
decide which. His inability to find either was only fueling his
depression.
"This is all Ranma's fault!" he declared. He looked back down at
his map, and that's when a foot bounced off his head. "Who did that!?"
He looked back up to see Ranma zooming away at high speed. At last!
Something to relieve his frustrations on! "RANMA! COME BACK HERE YOU
COWARD!"
Ryoga took off after his rival.
Akane now knew she was being followed as well. Several times,
she had caught sight of some guy in a trenchcoat shadowing her
movements. Upon closer inspection, a silvery handle could be seen poking
out of the collar of the man's big coat, and Akane knew it for what it
was: a giant spatula.
The youngest Tendo ground her teeth at the fact Ukyo was
following her. [How am I supposed to shake her and meet up with Ranma?
Argh! Only one choice.] Gathering her strength, she took to the air
running as soon as her feet made contact with the first rooftop.
Ukyo swore and sprinted after her on the ground, determined to
put a stop to whatever Akane was trying to do with her Ranchan. Behind
her, a post office box also began moving at high speeds, but the chef
was too intent on her own target to notice.
[So it was Ryoga!] Ranma thought. [Great. No time to play, I'll
just have to lose him.] He increased his pace.
"Look, Katsunishki!" Akari pointed as Ryoga ran by. "There he
is!"
The big pig grunted.
"After him!"
Unfortunately, going by rooftops made her more visible.
"Tendo Akane, my love! Date with me!"
The increasingly frustrated girl jumped to the ground and
poured on the speed.
*Crunch!* Ryoga didn't realize what he stepped on.
"Oooh, bad Keiki ruin da big Kahuna's new scissors, yeah!" The
principal pulled out another pair. "Need be gettin' da special trim,
now!"
Principal Kuno joined the chase!
He was wearing his glasses for once, and expertly spotted his
love dash down the road. "Shampoo! I'll get you some hot water then we
can spend the day together!" He took off after her. "Shampoo! Wait!"
"Ohohohohoho! Come back my Ranma-sama!"
Ukyo swore, then tapped her communicator. "Where is he?"
"He just turned down Garou Lane," the feminine voice of her
masculine employee responded.
Something was buzzing in the back of her head. What was wrong
about that? Then she had it.
THEY were on Garou Lane.
He finally saw her. "AKANE!"
She saw him. "RANMA!"
Both saw each other's respective crowds, knew they couldn't
stop or slow down, and thought one collective thought.
[Uh, oh.]
Nabiki watched through her binoculars as the two dust clouds
crashed into each, creating one major dust cloud. She reached beside her
lounge chair on the second floor balcony of the Tendo home and grabbed
some popcorn, smirking.
[It's so incredibly easy to manipulate those idiots, that my
talents are practically wasted here,] she thought. [A few words here and
there about Ranma and Akane's activities to the suitors, and those
morons act in their own predictable manner.]
Her expression turned into a frown. [Tomoe was right about one
thing, though. Ranma was heading for some sort of secret rendezvous with
Akane, just like he was in the last few months. Well, hopefully today's
little event will help to cool his heels.]
She tossed some popcorn into her mouth and began to munch.
Ranma and Akane returned later that evening, their clothes torn
and dirty, their faces tired and haggard.
"Goodness, what happened?" Kasumi asked them.
"Bad day," Akane mumbled, bleary-eyed
"What she said," Ranma added, then yawned.
"Well, why don't you take some time to wash up before dinner,
Akane," Kasumi offered. "Since dinner's almost ready, Ranma-kun can have
one afterwards."
"Sounds like a good idea," the youngest Tendo agreed, trudging
down the hall while Ranma plopped down on his dining cushion. Both
fathers were still out on the veranda playing shogi, but within visual
distance of the table, ready to sprint over when dinner was served.
Nabiki momentarily glanced at him over the rim of her manga.
"Bad day, huh?"
Ranma grunted in the affirmative, not really paying much
attention to anything, his head studying his hands in his lap.
"That's too bad," she replied nonchalantly, then continued in
tones too low for the two older men sitting just outside to hear. "It
didn't look like such a good day for Akane either. But I suppose that
can't be helped, what with all those wierdos that are after you. It's
only natural that Akane would get caught in the crossfire."
"It ain't my fault," he muttered automatically, his head still
lowered.
"We've heard that song and dance before, Saotome," Nabiki told
him from behind the pages of her manga. "If you cared about Akane at all
you'd leave, then all the crazies would follow you and Akane would have
peace."
That brought Ranma's head up, but any reply was halted as
Kasumi began to bring in dishes and the fathers joined them at the
table.
-------------------------------------------
[Could she be right?]
Great thinkers have always had their special places for
thinking and philosophizing. Some have been normal spots like a bench in
the park, while others have tended to gravitate toward more unusual
locales. In fact, it's said that Einstein came up with most of his ideas
while sitting in the bathtub.
The roof of the Tendo house couldn't exactly be called unusual,
but it wasn't exactly normal for most people either. But then again,
Ranma couldn't be counted under the normal category.
[Would Akane really be better off without me?] Ranma wondered as
he sat on the roof. Normally, he would have dismissed Nabiki's claim,
seeing as how it had become more and more clear that Nabiki didn't like
him; of course she would want him to go. And naturally, he didn't want
to leave Akane, but his first priority was keeping her safe. He couldn't
take the thought of something happening to her.
[Ryoga, Ukyo, Shampoo, did all show up lookin` for me. Beatin'
up fifty school boys each mornin' ain't nothin' compared to what's
happened since I came here. That cursed doll, Herb, Shampoo, Pink and
Link... Saffron...] Ranma shivered involuntarily at that last one. It
brought up too many memories and strong emotions that he didn't really
want to deal with.
"I thought I'd find you up here," Akane said softly as she
landed on the roof behind him.
Ranma sighed. "I thought you were goin' to bed?"
Akane yawned as she sat down beside him. "In a minute." Her
mouth turned up in a slight smile. "Besides, weren't you going to bed,
too?" She leaned over to rest her head against his shoulder in the cool
night air...
...only to find him moving away as he stood up, facing away from
her. "Ranma?"
"Akane... I-" He hung his head, wondering how he could phrase
this.
The raven-haired girl regarded her fiance. "What is it, Ranma?"
"I'm gonna go away."
Akane's world stopped. "What!?"
"I, uh," Ranma faltered. [Can't tell her the real reason.] He
thought fast. "Well, I was on the road for most of my life and I kinda
miss it, so I thought I'd spend a couple more years traveling around."
He grinned at the good explanantion he just came up with.
"What!?" Akane blinked in disbelief, her world beginning to get
dizzy. "What brought this on?"
Ranma turned around, his hand behind his head, and laughed a
couple of times. "Well, you know hectic today was! Just thought I'd get
away for a couple of years."
"Well, where will you go?" Akane asked, still in shock. Ranma
was leaving her? Just like that? For a couple of years!? She tried to
stand, but found her legs just wouldn't support her at the moment and
gave up.
He shrugged. "I'll just wander around Japan, and maybe China.
Ya know, like Ryoga does."
Akane, juggling too many emotions at the moment and none of
them good, tried to think of a reason to keep him here. "What about
school?"
His features turned into a scowl. "Never got much out it. Don't
really need it."
"What about me?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Ranma waved it off. "Ah, you'll be fine. You could use a break
from the action."
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Akane set her jaw and
rose to her feet, this time finding the strength to stand. "Then I'm
coming with you."
"No!" Ranma blurted suddenly, then waved his hands in a warding
gesture. "I mean, you'll be better of here, what with your family an'
all. You wouldn' t like it on the road."
Akane knew Ranma was a terrible liar, and she had come to know
him quite well in the past two years to realize when he was not telling
her something. "Why don't you want me to come with you?"
He turned his back to her. "It ain't easy travelin' around with
nothing but your pack. You wouldn't like it."
She frowned. "I can do anything you can do, Ranma! I'm not a
weak little girl!"
She stopped, and it all suddenly clicked in Akane's mind.
[Traveling around Japan and China. Ranma hiding something from me. Wants
me to stay here. He may love me, but does he love the other women as
well? If he's spending time with me in secret, could he be doing the
same with them as well?]
"Alright, who is it?" She asked sharply. "Shampoo or Ukyo?"
Ranma spun around, surprise written on his face. "What!?"
Akane's hands were clenched at her sides and she was trembling
slightly. "Who are you planning to sneak off with!?" she very nearly
shrieked. "Or are you going off with both of them?" Her shock was
beginning to ignite around the edges.
"No!" Ranma denied forcefully, then blurted out, "I just wanna
get away from you for awhile!" Once again, it was the pure and natural
truth, just phrased in the worst possible way.
"So that's it!" She `hmphed' and turned her back to him. "You're
tired of me already! You get your kicks and leave!"
Ranma threw his hands up in the the air. "I should've know you
wouldn't understand! I don't know why I bother tellin' you anything,
you're too dense to understand!"
She spun back and speared him with a venomous look. "What did
you say!?"
"You heard me!" he yelled back, oblivious to the danger. "You
take everything I say the wrong way! I was right that first day: you are
so uncute!"
"Well, if you weren't such a pigheaded liar!" she retorted
angrily. "You don't trust me enough to tell me the truth! What am I
supposed to think!?"
"You wouldn't understand, anyway! I'm doin' this for your own
good!"
"Fine then!" Her fists were still clenched, and a modest battle
aura was begginning to flame around her. "Go away and see if I care!"
She spun and closed her eyes, not wanting him to see the tears starting
to leak from her eyes. "I guess I don't mean that much to you after
all!"
That last statement was said as she jumped off the roof and ran
inside, not giving him a chance to respond.
Ranma stood there in shock, having totally expected her to hit
him. [She MUST be mad this time!] he realized. [Still, in the end she'll
be better for it. Her life will return to normal when I'm gone. She'll
be okay.] Feeling like he just went ten rounds with Ryoga and Taro,
Ranma collapsed into a sitting postion.
[But will I be okay?] the thought came unbidden.
"Of course, I'll be just fine!" he said with as much bravado as
he could muster. But to him, it sounded hollow, because he knew
otherwise.
Jusendo had proved that.
In her room, Nabiki smiled and removed her earphones. This
little guilt trip plan she had been saving for awhile now. She had hoped
that her father would see how stupid this engagement was and put a stop
to it, or that Akane would throw Ranma out for good, or even that Ranma
would get fed up and leave.
Seeing as how none of that had happened and disturbed by the
closeness the two seemed to show as late, she figured she'd have to
plant that little idea in Ranma's head and wait for his guilt to do the
rest. The fight up on the rooftop couldn't have gone much better that it
had. Now, Akane was severely ticked at Ranma, who seriously considering
the idea of leaving.
When Ranma had first shown up, Nabiki was amused. The bickering
and arguments between him and his fiancee might have been a little
annoying, but Ranma's insecurities and habit of getting into fights was
more fun and profitable than she had ever anticipated, not to mention
the additional profits from selling Ranma-chan pics to Kuno.
However, as time went on, Nabiki became increasingly disturbed
by how much Akane was affected by the events that surrounded Ranma.
Getting kidnapped, attacked, memory erased, and turned into a doll were
the least of the things that had happened to her little sister. Then
when Ranma and the gang had returned from China, she managed to get the
truth out of Mousse and Ryoga of what had happened, and it shocked her
to the core:
Akane had very nearly died. Twice.
Nabiki came to the logical conclusion: Hanging around Ranma was
going to get Akane killed one of these days, and maybe her whole family.
So, she stopped the wedding the two old fools had sprung shortly
thereafter. The money she had made from that, and over the past two
years, was enough for her college tuition with a scholarship.
Long ago, Nabiki had taken up managing the investments and
finances to keep her family secure. She grew to love money, but only as
a means to to an end: To afford college and to protect her family. Now
that she was in college, she didn't need to earn as much, so the profit
gained from exploitation of Ranma was no longer neccessary.
It was time for Ranma to go.
Nabiki took a deep breath, then proceeded to pack her things
for her trip back to college tomorrow, planning on getting an early
start on her next semester studies. She was content that by the time she
got back, Ranma would be long gone and her naive, little sister would be
better off because of it.
-------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
Whew! It took me long enough to write this! I promise the next part will
be out much, much sooner! I've already started plotting out the rest of
this, and it should run 6 parts max. I've also started writing part 3.
Also, I just wanna say I have nothing against Nabiki. She's an
interesting character and she was one of my favorites when I first
started watching Ranma 1/2. I admired her ability to make a buck in
almost any situation. The scene where she sells her first set of pig-
tailed girl photos to Kuno is still one of my favorites! For this story,
however, I decided to play a little `what if'. For all of Nabiki's
knowledge and intelligence, there is one thing she doesn't seem to know
a lot about, or care about: Love. She only dates a guy once, milks him
for cash, then ending the date when he's broke.
I hope the last section made sense and helped explain her motivation and
behavior.
For those of you who are wondering why I go back and forth between
dashes and spaces for scene changes, it's my way of conveying the time
passed. A scene change with dashes indicates more time has passed,
(usually more than a day), while spaces indicate the change is much
shorter (less than a day, and usually only a few minutes). I have
changed the spacing to be more consistant, go with four spaces between
breaks. If you feel this is still too much, let me know.
And as always, if you have any other C&C, or even if you just want to
stroke my ego, I would love to hear from you at:
oddball22@hotmail.com
The rest of my fanfiction is at:
www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
Another work brought to you by Brad aka Kaiphantom (my not-so-secret
alter ego)