THESE CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME. THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF RUMIKO TAKAHASHI, AND I WILL NOT TAKE ANY CREDIT OR MONEY FOR THEIR USE. SO THERE.
Words in italics are thoughts
Everything Goes Martial Arts
Chapter 4: In the confusion, someone gets hurt
A fanfiction by FrictionX42
Nabiki looked up from the screen of her laptop. Something felt wrong, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. The whole house just seemed… odd, somehow.
She glanced at her clock; it read 2:27 am. "Maybe I should get some rest," she said to herself.
Her room was dark, the sort of tangible blackness that might scare her two sisters sometimes, but Nabiki was far more sensible than they. She didn't care how dark her room was, she had more than enough ways to protect herself if the situation arose. For all her preparation, however, she had never needed to use any. For the most part, everyone worth knowing in Nerima owed her something, and her safety was assured on many different levels by many different loyal followers.
Yet, something tugged at her nervous mind this night, as though she could feel things the way that Ranma or some of the other weird people that came chasing him sometimes did. Something like a sixth sense, she guessed, but she had never come up with anything besides business sense which she had in abundance. She glanced around her room, half-expecting to find something out of place, something there that shouldn't have been. But her room was neat and tidy - nothing out of place, and nothing there that shouldn't have been.
She rose to her feet, turned on the lights and blinked in the sudden incandescent glare that flickered to life in the light bulbs on her ceiling. She opened her door a crack and peered into the gloomy blackness that was illuminated by the lights from her room. She heard a door slide shut a little further down the hall from her room, and poked her head around the corner, expecting to see Ranma sleepwalking, or- infinitely more amusing but improbable- sneaking into Akane's bedroom.
What her gaze settled on unnerved her more than she would like to admit: Akane was slumped on the floor outside the room Ranma and Genma slept in- and she was crying! Akane was sobbing quietly, oblivious to the light that had suddenly permeated the hallway, streaming from Nabiki's door.
Nabiki blinked several times, unsure what to make of this situation, but couldn't figure out what her sister could be doing crying outside Ranma's room. Her curiosity getting he best of her, she slowly walked out of her room, careful not to make any noise. Akane heard her anyway. Curse living in this house full of weird people that have inhumanly high-powered senses!
Akane picked her head up at the sound and acknowledged her sister. Her eyes were puffy and red; Nabiki could tell she had been crying for a while.
"Akane, what's going on?" she asked, trying to sound as caring and sisterly as she could manage, given the hour and her shock at seeing her little sister cry- something she had not witnessed since her mother's death.
"He's gone," she whimpered. In her hand she held a small piece of paper upon which was scrawled in Ranma's nigh-illegible handwriting the words "Good-bye. Don't follow me." Nabiki stared at the paper in amazement for a moment, and Akane spoke again.
"I didn't realize I was being so hard on him," Akane said, in a barely audible whisper. Nabiki quickly suppressed a smirk at the understatement of the century.
Not noticing, Akane continued, "I can't believe I've driven him off like this, he must be really upset. I can't let him go like this, I just can't!"
Nabiki drew back in shock, over both the fact that her sister had allowed this outpour of real caring for Ranma, and also that Ranma had apparently grown a backbone out of nowhere that would allow him to pull such a stunt. He had made Akane cry. Nabiki would find him. After all, she was the only member of the family with enough resources to keep up with someone like Ranma when he didn't want to be found. And he had made her little sister cry. She would find him, no doubts about it.
"Akane, I know you're upset, but we have to think about how to deal with this. We have to come up with a plan to find him. Go to bed, and we'll work with the others tomorrow morning, after we've had a little sleep."
"But Nabiki, he's-" Akane began.
"Is anyone fast enough to catch him, Akane?" Nabiki cut her off before she could begin. "He's faster than any of us. We need to exercise our intelligence in order to catch him. Luckily, I'm on your side."
"Really Nabiki? Do you mean it? You'll help me find Ranma?" Hope began to shine in Akane's eyes, a welcome sight to Nabiki who was beginning to wonder whether or not she'd ever get Akane to calm down.
"If I agree to help you, will you go to sleep?" Nabiki asked, a slight smile playing across her face, visible even in the faint light that stretched from her room at the other end of the hallway. Akane nodded her assent, the tears coming to a halt as she began to hope that she'd be able to find him.
"Good," said Nabiki, with a small grin, "I'll even give you a discount."
Ryoga continued running all through the night, trying to get to the Tendou dojo. His clothes were tattered, his face stung from the many branches that had torn at him on the way.
"Damn you Ranma! It's your fault Ukyo's feelings are hurt! You're gonna pay for what you've done, once and for all!" He cried, his rage and despair building up to truly superhuman levels. Ryoga was used to super depressed feelings, however, and allowed these emotions to spur him on, making him go faster, driving him to find the Tendou residence, that he might be able to find Ranma or- better yet- Akane. Someone would help out, he was sure. They were her friends, the only ones Ukyo had.
Only one more hill to go, only one more forest and I'll be there. One more river to cross, and I'll be able to save Ukyo. His mind raced almost as fast as his feet, hardly noticing the changes in terrain as it rushed by him, a huge blur of deserts, forests, towns, and mountains.
Shortly after passing by the Tokyo Tower for the fourth time, Ryoga noticed the sky starting to get brighter over the ocean. "Oh no! I've been going south the whole time!" he cried," I'd better hurry back the other way, or I might not make it there!" With that, Ryoga turned east, and started running again.
Breakfast the next morning at the Tendou household was surprisingly normal, strangely enough. In the early dawn light, Genma and Soun were too busy planning their children's wedding again that they didn't even notice that neither Akane nor Ranma was present. Nabiki had shown up for breakfast, but was not saying anything. She wanted to wait until Akane had arrived so that the family could talk it over.
"I wonder where Akane and Ranma are this morning," Kasumi said, her motherly instincts telling her immediately that two people were missing from her breakfast table. She was the only one who seemed to notice, until Genma remarked on there being more to eat than usual. It was at that time he first started to notice that something was amiss.
"Tendou-kun, you don't suppose those two…" He began to grin a big, wide smile as he and Soun clasped hands, crying, "It worked! Our children have eloped together and now the families are united at last! At last the school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts is in good hands and you and I can enjoy the remainder of our lives in peace!" The two looked happier than anyone had ever seen them. Kasumi beamed brilliantly over the good news. "Oh my, Ranma will my real brother at last!" The two patriarchs were embracing each other in their bliss of finally having their families united when Nabiki chose to disillusion them in her usual, blunt manner.
"Daddy, the two of them didn't run off together, Akane's probably still asleep. She was up late last night worrying because Ranma took off in the middle of the night."
The room immediately stopped seeming so happy. Soun and Genma both immediately turned to Nabiki and stared in astonishment. The look of disbelief on their faces was almost too comical for Nabiki to handle, so she turned her back to them as she continued, "I was working on some business documents last night when I heard something out in the hallway. When I went to investigate, it turned out to be Akane, and she was really upset that Ranma had run off during the night. He even left her a note, see?" Nabiki held out the chicken-scratch note that Ranma had left behind.
"So that explains why the window was open when I woke up this morning," Genma said levelly, while Soun began his usual waterworks, crying as if he had hundreds of gallons of water in his body all fighting to be let out at once.
He turned to Nabiki and blubbered, "Oh, my little girl is going to be an old maid!"
Nabiki drew back in fear; she knew what was coming next- the Purple Demon Head of Doom. She quietly left the room while there was time. Kasumi followed suit.
"SAOTOME! HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR SON DO THIS TO MY LITTLE GIRL! HOW COULD YOU RAISE HIM TO BE THIS CRUEL? SAOTOME, YOU'D BETTER FIND YOUR SON AND GET HIM BACK HERE, OR ELSE!"
Genma quailed in fear, and as he ran upstairs to get away from Soun he idly wondered where Soun had learned that technique, and how difficult it would be for Ranma to master. Then he remembered that Ranma wasn't going to be upstairs, that he had run away the night before. He heard the sound of Soun's footsteps following him up the stairway and began to run faster.
Soun, behind him, cried out in despair. "Don't worry Akane, Daddy's going to make it all better. We'll find Ranma, then he'll marry you." He raced to his youngest daughter's door, drenching it with tears as he continued shouting meaningless babble, and threw it open with such abandon that it came off its hinges and fell to the floor with a crash. Soun gasped, unable to take in what he saw before him: Akane's room, neat and clean as ever, with a bed that was obviously not slept in, a note on the desk- and no Akane. With trembling hands, Soun approached the desk, and read the note that was written there. It was sloppy, unlike Akane's usual handwriting, and the paper was stained with teardrops that had dried hours ago. Soun slumped to the floor, his mind reeling, trying to take in all the implications of his discovery.
"Oh my," Kasumi exclaimed from the doorway, "I guess Akane must have gone after him; how sweet." Kasumi had followed Soun up the stairs to make certain her little sister was doing all right, and had seen her father's shock at finding his youngest daughter not present, but as usual, was completely unfazed by such a discovery. Soun knelt on the floor by his daughter's bed, sobbing uncontrollably as he gave in to the emotions going through his mind.
"Why mister Saotome, where are you going?" Kasumi's voice spoke again from the doorway. Genma froze, a huge sweat-droplet forming on the outside of the white bandanna he wore on the top of his head. He turned around slowly, cautiously, all the while with a big, fake grin on his face.
"Well, I just thought that, uh, I thought I'd do a little bit of shopping, since it's such a beautiful day out… Yeah, that's it, shopping! Hahaha"
"Why that's so nice of you, here's a list of some of the things I might need for the kitchen. If you bring them back by dinner, I'll make something really nice tonight," Kasumi merrily chattered. "Why, I might even make your favorite sukiyaki dish."
Genma looked a little bit strained, "Why thank you Kasumi dear, that would be most lovely. I'd better get going if I want to make it on time."
Genma turned around, ran down the stairs as fast as he could go, and was almost out of the front gate when suddenly Soun jumped out in front of him.
"Saotome, you weren't thinking of running away again, were you?" He said in a very meaningful tone. "I'd hate to think of what would happen if you were to suddenly leave town." He chuckled in a very strained manner.
"No, of course not Tendou, whatever would give you that idea?" Genma also laughed nervously.
"I don't know Saotome, maybe the fact that you are wearing your knapsack." Soun continued to chuckle even louder, "One might think that you were trying to sneak away!"
"Yeah, Tendou, one might think that! I'm actually wearing it to go shopping for Kasumi, though. She asked me to bring back a few things from the market." Genma began laughing as loud as he could, but Soun suddenly became very serious.
"Saotome, don't you think we have more important things to deal with right now than shopping? What about Akane? What about Ranma? What about our promise to marry the two of them?" Soun fixed Genma with a fierce look. "You need to find them!"
"Now, Now Tendou, don't you think you're going a bit overboard? It was that ingrate son of mine that ran off, and your daughter that followed him."
"Yes, Saotome, but who raised that son of yours, and he-" He was cut off by Nabiki calling from downstairs,
"Daddy, I've found her. She's all the way on the other side of Tokyo!"
Akane was hopelessly lost; in all of her travels and trips with friends, she had never come this far into downtown Tokyo. The buildings were much larger and more daunting than any she had visited. It was very early morning, just before the sun rose, and the weight of her grief and tiredness was great. She felt helpless and foolish. Worse, she had lost Ranma's trail, and had no clue as to where to find him. Tears began to flow down her face, blurring her vision. Sheer determination kept her moving, however: determination to find Ranma. She continued walking, unable to tell where she turned or where she wandered. Her vision impaired by the tears, she did not know that she had stumbled onto a street until she glanced to her left and saw a pair of bright lights approaching her very quickly.
"What the-" was all Akane could get out as the bright lights consumed her, filling her vision with glaring white light. She heard an audible *thump* and the white light changed to a darkness deeper than any she could have ever imagined.
Ranma smiled as he walked through deep woods somewhere way out in the middle of nowhere. He looked around him, admiring the scenery. He had declined to use a train or other way to get there, as he wanted to try to clear his head. So far, it had been a good idea. Getting out into the open air, practicing his moves out in the wild, and getting exercise had done well in calming him down and making him feel more like himself again. He looked around him, again appreciating the lush valleys, mountain peaks standing out starkly against the sky, which was a gorgeous bright blue the likes of which he had never seen before. "Man, if this is the sort of scenery that you see out here all the time, I might have to chase after Ryoga the next time that the poor jerk goes off and gets himself lost. He must see this sort of countryside all the time."
Once he found himself wishing that he had asked someone to come along for company. Anyone would have been nice. Maybe Ukyo or Shampoo, so they could cook. he hadn't seen either since the failed wedding, and was still rather upset at them anyhow. Still, they both run restaraunts and are great cooks!
But I'm the only item they want on their menu… Man, why do girls all have to be that way? Well, Akane's not like that, but then again, who can tell anything with that macho chick. Well, I don't have to deal with girls at all out here any more; I'm all alone. Just like in that first dream, before Akane started to- to… The familiar sensation of loneliness that had been with him his whole trip suddenly intensified so much that tears began to seep out of the corners of his eyes. NO! I can't cry! I'm a guy! Guys don't cry over some stupid girl!
Try as he might, Ranma could not stop the tears from flowing. As this became apparent to him, he gave in to the feelings of despair that had been plaguing him for days, ever since the first nightmare. They hadn't stopped, but rather had increased in number over the last few days until Ranma couldn't sleep well at night. The sleep he did get was fitful and gave him little respite from the days. He sobbed for what seemed like hours, thankful that there was no one there to see him. His grief finally acknowledged, Ranma let the tears flow freely as he brooded over what he was to do about Akane.
Ranma had been unable to think in Nerima, with all the distractions that always presented themselves, usually as his new fiancée, opponent, or both. Out here in the wilderness, however, he could think far more clearly, and he spent most of his waking moments thinking about what he was to do about Akane.
As he slept that night, he was again plagued with nightmares about what life would be like if things went the course it seemed they had been going in, if he married Akane. He loved her, he couldn't afford to deny that now, but he just couldn't be with her like he wanted to be. He hated to admit it, but he didn't feel that he was strong enough yet.
Maybe if he were to find a cure for his curse, then at least Akane wouldn't be forced to accept it along with the rest of him. He could go to her as a complete man, not as some gender-bender freak of nature. Who knows? Maybe in a while, then he could go back and finish what he had started, after he was finished training. Maybe someone at the Everything Goes School of martial arts would know of a way to help him.
Shampoo awoke, her eyes still red and puffy from crying herself to sleep the night before. The full realization of what she and her great-grandmother were doing to her beloved Ailan had been too much for her to bear. Cologne had come upon her as she wept, saying "Child, stop that nonsense! It pains me as well to do this, but we have been left no other choices. Son-in-law's near-marriage to the Tendou girl has made this perfectly clear." Cologne spat the words out in such disgust that her true feelings on the matter were perfectly clear. Shampoo lifted her head, and looked up at her great-grandmother with a look of despair. Her great grandmother was lying. Shampoo could see the glee that burned in Cologne's eyes as she began casting the dream spells each day. She enjoyed hurting Ranma. She loved the idea that she was causing him pain. Cologne continued, "Shampoo, how much honor has our family lost because of that boy? You already have been cursed due to him. How much more are you willing to sacrifice for him?"
Shampoo's reply was a terse, "Shampoo give all for Ailan."
Cologne's eyes furrowed. She carefully cleared her throat, "Child, whatever his position is, don't ever forget he is only a male. He is very strong, and adding his blood to our line would do well for our family's honor. We need him, Shampoo, and we dare not return to Joketsuzoku again empty-handed. But he is still only a man. The elders accorded us this favor of opening the library to us that we might be victorious. If you should fail…"
She trailed off, knowing that she had no need to continue. Shampoo was just as familiar with the law as she was, and knew that another failure meant death. Cologne had left her then.
This morning Shampoo felt no better. Her eyes burned, her heart ached, and her conscience weighed upon her so heavily she worried that she might never get up. But get up she did, as today she had to go get supplies so that she and her grandmother could continue to cast the spells that would bring Ranma to her. She still felt terrible about it, but she knew that she had to. Doing anything else meant death- or worse. She wished she had someone she could talk to, but her failures had made her into something of an outcast, and most of the village would have nothing to do with her. Telling anyone about her feelings would probably be one of the worst things she could do. She felt as though it was going to rip her apart from the inside out, but she couldn't do anything about it except to keep doing what she was doing.
A recent letter from Mousse told her that things were going very well. Ranma and Akane weren't even speaking to each other anymore, and never spent time with each other. Shampoo smiled. Today she could start casting the next set of dream spells, and soon she could go back to her Ranma and the two would become married. Somehow the thought didn't excite her as much as she had expected.