Chapter 6
"Then, what you are saying, even if you are beating so much around the bush, is that the answer is Yes?" said Ranma Saotome with an amused smile.
Akane swallowed, thinking she must be crazy. Marry that man? Tie herself to him for the rest of her life?
"Well, yes. But before signing any contract, it is usual to stipulate the conditions," she murmured. "There are things I want to know. For example, would I have to leave my career altogether?"
"As a rule, I have nothing against working wives, especially when it is essencial for making ends meet," he said. "But that would not be the case with us. And the main reason for this agreement is for you to be at hand anytime I need you, not in the Caribbean or any other place. And sometimes I will need you to travel with me."
He paused briefly.
"I have never been under the impression that your career is very important for you," Ranma observed. "At least, not compared to your interest in the dojo. Am I wrong?"
"No," admitted Akane reluctantly, and a little annoyed at his shrewdness. "You could say that my incursion in modeling was accidental, and I never thought I would be so succesful. I've enjoyed it, for sure, but I only left home to escape Hinako."
Ranma's smile was slight but pleased.
"In that case, I won't be depriving you of something essential," he said. "What else worries you? I'm sure that's not all."
Akane did not know how to answer his disturbing question. She dropped her eyes before his.
"There's something else, but I don't know how to express it," she stammered, and Ranma interrupted her with a sudden peal of laughter.
"Usually, the best way to do it is directly."
Akane inhaled deeply and swallowed again.
"This... marriage... would it be in name only? Or is it your idea to consummate it?"
To her annoyance, Ranma laughed again.
"Do you mean, will we make love?" he inquired, and now it seemed to Akane that the corner where they were seated, the whole room, actually, was full of his presence. She watched his long legs, outstretched before him, his broad shoulders, his strong, supple body, and she shuddered. To share his bed, to be possessed by that magnificent body, to be caressed by those hands...
What she felt was not precisely repugnance. Far from it. It was curiosity, excitement, and an exquisite fear. She nodded wordlessly and averted her eyes, blushing.
"Well, then," Ranma said, after a perturbing pause. "It seems pointless, to have a beautiful wife and sleep alone, don't you think?"
Akane could not escape that searching gaze pursuing her.
"I'm not going to push you, Akane. We will start this relationship from zero. Why don't we let things develop in a natural way?"
Her distressed brown eyes locked with the blue depths of Ranma's gaze. It was not the answer Akane had expected.
"I guess you're right. The truth is I am in no hurry. After all, we hardly know each other," she said.
"You know what I want, and I know what you expect to obtain from our agreement," Ranma remarked, somewhat drily. "That is the basis for a good deal, in my opinion. If the conditions are clear enough, can we consider ourselves engaged?"
"I guess so," murmured Akane.
Ranma grinned broadly. Standing up, he waved to Cologne, who was standing behind the bar.
"Cologne, open some bottles of your best champagne and serve a drink to everyone here. Akane and I have just become engaged."
Amidst the happy hubbub of congratulations and expressions of amazement that followed that announcement, Akane remained as if stuck to her seat until Ranma took her hand, urged her softly to stand up and tightened his arm around her waist.
"Our reasons for marriage are ours alone," he whispered in her ear. "To everyone else, this must be an engagement born out of love. So smile, as if you were happy. And look into my eyes."
She was so astonished, that was not able to resist when Ranma leant forward and kissed her lips. Akane clung to that man she barely knew, and felt like a fraud. She felt greatly relieved when they were able to escape to the parking lot.
"Will we have to keep that pretense during the whole engagement?" Akane wanted to know. "I agreed to marry you, Ranma, but I'm not an actress. I can not guarantee an Oscar-worthy performance of a woman in love!"
Ranma shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Do you want everybody to believe that you are a gold digger going after my money?" he challenged her. "I'll tell you what: I'll make things easier for you. We'll get married soon. No later than the middle of July."
Akane gasped.
"Ranma! That's under a month!"
"The sooner, the better," he said mildly. "We'll go somewhere for a few weeks... how about Thailand? And when we're back, everything will be ready at the dojo for us to settle down."
Ranma opened the car door and helped her in.
"Leave your car here, I'll send for it later," Ranma said. "I'd better take you home, to let your people know our news."
Soun Tendo was delighted with the idea of his daughter's marrying Ranma Saotome. Now he could leave without any remorse, Hinako would have enough money to satisfy her thirst for luxury, and Soun's conscience was soothed regarding his daughter. She would not only be the mistress of this house that meant so much to her, but besides she had caught a rich husband!
"You two have not wasted any time," Hinako commented, meaningfully.
"When I see something worth my while,I grasp it at once," Ranma answered, taking Akane's icy hand in his. She found the warm clasp curiously comforting, and she instinctively closed her fingers around Ranma's hand.
"How sweet!" remarked Hinako, with honeyed irony. "When do you plan to get married? I think that six months would be nice. That would give us enough time to organize the wedding properly, don't you think?"
"We think we'll set it around the middle of next month," Ranma said calmly, and Hinako raised a hand to her mouth.
"So soon? That's impossible!"
Akane came back to life.
"Don't fret, Hinako. We do not want something extraordinary. Ranma and I can get married easily, at the city hall."
But before Hinako could comment anything, Ranma intervened.
"Not at all, my darling," he said affectionately, and clasped her hand tighter. "One does not get married every day of the week, and I want to do it properly, with a big party, the Western way, with you dressed in white, I in a tuxedo. Flowers, music, photographer... the whole shebang. And yes, everything can be organized in time, if one has enough money."
"But, Ranma..." Akane started to protest, but could say no more.
"Please excuse us," he remarked.
Then he helped her to her feet, and without stopping to listen anything she was trying to say, he led her to the garden.
"I want us to be clear about this," he said once they were there. His tone was pleasant, but his expression was firm. "If we are going to be married, we'll do it properly, otherwise we can forget about the whole thing. So if you do not agree with that, we'd better forget our bargain here and now."
Akane pursed her lips.
"The thing is I had not thought about having a big wedding."
"It's just a day, Akane. It'll likely be the only wedding you'll have in your life. Are you willing to do whatever it's needed to make this work?"
He was daring her, and Akane knew how to face a challenge.
"Anything you can do, Ranma, I can do too," she said decisively.
Akane felt a little less sure of herself a couple days later, when she took a local newspaper and found her picture on the front cover.
"Love at first sight," the headline blared.
"The famous entrepreneur, Ranma Saotome, thought he had found the perfect home when he made an offer to purchase the fifteenth century estate known as the Tendo dojo, currently owned by Mr. Soun Tendo.
But what he had not foreseen was that he would be bedazzled by Mr. Tendo's beautiful daughter, Akane, a very well-known fashion model. When asked whether it had been love at first sight, Ranma Saotome said: I know what is worth my while as soon as I see it."
But the article only amused Ranma.
"What is the problem, Akane? I thought all women liked romance. "
"But this story is about me," she remarked acrimoniously. "And it is not true. Ranma, when I accepted to marry you, I did not agree to share in a farce just to get publicity"
"I have to make some profit out of all this," Ranma pointed, somewhat coldly. "You got the Tendo dojo. And you also got that," he pointed at the diamond ring that Akane wore and that had left her breathless the first time he slipped it on her finger.
"Ranma, I can not accept something so expensive!" she had protested.
"Nothing but the best for my future wife," Ranma had smiled, and Akane soon found out that he meant it literally. He had not only granted her carte blanche, but had urged her to spend extravagantly on her bridal trousseau. No penny pinching, he had said firmly, any skimpiness would be noticed, and he didn't want to be considered stingy. Nevertheless, Akane felt uncomfortable spending so much money she could not consider to be hers yet.
Now she said in a tense voice:
"I don't care about your money, Ranma. I would have been satisfied living in the dojo in the way I was used to."
"I know," he said. "But that won't be possible, not if you are my wife. Your lifestyle has to change. It is always necessary to sacrifice something for what one wants."
"I'd like to know what you are sacrificing," Akane murmured, and Ranma shot an ironic look at her.
"You would be amazed," was all he answered her.
The day of the wedding was set. Akane gasped when she saw the guest list.
"Ranma, who are all these people?"
"Well... friends, business associates, family. Make all the hotel reservations you can. How about the bridesmaids? Do you have any friends or relatives who would want to be one?"
"I could invite my roommate and another friend from Tokyo."
"Fine. And as my best man, I can invite my best friend."
"I didn't even know you had a best friend."
"I do. Ryoga... Ryoga Hibiki. He is almost my brother, and he also works for me. You'll like him. I also have many relatives in Kyoto who will want to come."
A week before the wedding, Ranma left again for Southeast Asia, telling her that he may not be back before the wedding day, but that he trusted she would finalize all the arrangements satisfactorily.
Akane had no misgivings about that. What perturbed her was the lengthy absence of her fiancé, in the last days before the wedding, and she discovered, to her own surprise, that she would have preferred to see him during those few days previous to the moment she would become Mrs. Saotome.
This wedding is nothing but a commercial deal, Akane reminded herself. Why should Ranma neglect other business transactions, to stay near a woman he did not love?
Why did she, then, feel so lost and needy of her fiancé's presence?
Akane felt even more depressed when Ranma called her from Malasia, to confirm that it would indeed be impossible for him to come back before the day of the wedding.
"There are still several issues that I have to resolve and that require my full attention," he explained. His fiancée's silence must have told him something, and he added, half jokingly: "You miss me, don't you?"
"That's rubbish!" she denied, hurriedly.
Ranma laughed lightly, and then his voice changed, becoming harsher and deeper.
"I'll compensate you for my absence, don't worry about it."
Akane hung up, jolted by an uncontrollable emotion she could not define. Ranma was several hundreds of miles away, the phone conection was broken, but she could still hear the potent promise implicit in his voice.
Turning around, she met her stepmother's shrewd eyes.
"That was your sweetheart, wasn't it?" Hinako inquired. "Or maybe that's not the right way to describe him. For you're not in love with him... are you?
"I don't understand why you say that, Hinako," Akane challenged her. "You herself have said that he is a very handsome and charismatic man."
"And he also has a lot of money!" Hinako laughed maliciously. "You're so clever! You get the Tendo dojo and a rich husband. But everything has its price, you know? And with a man like Ranma, I imagine the payments will have to be made in bed."
Hinako's laughter echoed behind her when she left the room, and Akane felt a sudden apprehension. Ranma had said he would not pressure her, and since their engagement, the only physical contact between them had been some handshakes and a few light kisses on her cheek. But that would change once they were married. They would be together all the time during the honeymoon. How long would he be satisfied with that situation?
Akane felt at once fearful and attracted to her fiancé's powerful masculinity, and Hinako's remarks had reawakened her restlessness. Somebody like Ranma must have had ample experience with women.
Akane was tense and worried the rest of the week, and on the night before the wedding, when Ranma called her from the Neko-hanten to let her know he was back, suddenly she felt anxious to see him, to look into his eyes and convince herself that everything was well.
"I'm glad you're back," she said, endeavouring to sound contented. "Do you want to come and have a drink with me?"
"Akane, for the groom to see the bride before the wedding is supposed to be bad luck," Ranma answered. "We'd better not tempt fate."
"But, Ranma...those are superstitions!"
Ranma laughed, but he was adamant.
"I know I am irresistible, but try to control your impatience a few more hours."
Akane did not know whether to laugh or get cross at his joke.
"See you tomorrow," added Ranma, and he hung up.
And Akane had no other choice than to endure alone the torment of expectation.
The big day's dawn was cool and bright. Akane looked out the window at the enormous canopy covering the garden and the tables soon to be overflowing with food. She breathed deeply. This was her wedding day; her heart fluttered in her chest and her pulse raced at the idea.
Soon it was time to get dressed and ready, with her bridesmaids' help: Sayuri, the friend she had stayed with, the first time she left home for Tokyo, and Yuka, her current roommate.
"This is like a dream!" commented Sayuri, as she helped Akane into her wedding gown. "But your life has always been like this, hasn't it, Akane? To grow up in an ancestral mansion such as this. Then your life as a model, travels all over the world, and your picture in the best fashion magazines. And now you meet a very wealthy man, and handsome to boot. Some girls have all the luck!"
Akane looked at herself in the mirror, with an ironic expression. Was she really so lucky? The truth was she hardly recognized herself in that dreamy creature in the silk and lace gown. What would Ranma think when he saw her?
Hinako, dressed in brilliant peacock blue, popped her head through the door.
"The cars are already here," she announced.
Akane barely had time to watch the slowly approaching limousines. With scarcely contained tears, she met her father in the hall.
"You look beautiful, Akane-chan," Soun murmured, and offered her his arm. "Time to go. I thank heaven I'm giving you away to a good man."
It seemed as if half Nerima had gathered there to see her, friends from school and from work, and the contingent from Kyoto was also there, all strangers to the young bride.
Her throat felt constricted by emotion as she walked toward her groom. And there was he, his slim, vigorous figure looking magnificent in his tuxedo.
Next to him, Akane barely glimpsed another masculine shape, formally attired, but with a yellow bandanna in his hair, looking at her with eyes full of goodwill. She smiled back at him, and then, her attention was claimed by the man who would soon be her husband. Ranma's hand touched hers, and his eyes smiled at her.
"So you did come, Akane , he murmured. "There's no turning back now!"