Disclaimer: Not mine. Do we have to do this every single time?
AN: I got 2 interesting reviews for my last chapter that left me quite stumped. Honestly, I won't bother to repeat what the reviews said, so if you're interested, go ahead and check them out but I will address their points.
In this story Nabiki has only made a few cameo appearances and she's barely said any more than 2 or 3 sentences to Ranma, so where is there a chance in my story that Nabiki/Ranma might be the possible pairing in this story?! I state in the AN in ch.2 which pairing it is. How much clearer can I state the fact that this is a Ranma/Akane story? Do I have to take 2 sticks with the names Ranma and Akane carved on each of them and beat the person in the head with them?
As for Ranma being the 'bad guy' in my story, again, where does that idea come from? If anything, I've been making Ranma the victim, right along with Akane. They are both going through different issues throughout the story as they deal with the chaos that is life in Nerima. They both have problems and emotional baggage to deal with. They've both made mistakes and they're both trying to figure out how to live their lives as everyone continues to butt into their business. For this story, I decided to make Akane the first catalyst of change for several different reasons. Akane is the only one out of the crew that has always gone to school, has other friends and has been able to have other interests. The others have spent their entire lives training martial arts and Ranma was even forced to give up his mother to be trained to be the best. Akane's the only one who can offer Ranma what he's always wanted in his life, which is a home and somewhere he can belong, without giving up who he is. She's the only one who's had a semi-normal life who has seen what a normal life and relationship can be. Is it really that hard to believe that she might be the first to realize that what's been going on isn't normal and decide to change a few things about herself, and in essence change the reactions of the people around her? She doesn't blame Ranma, though she knows that Ranma does do a lot of things that don't help, such as making fun of her and whatnot. She realizes that the problem actually lies in herself and the way she reacts to Ranma. The story has so far been centered on Akane's POV, mostly cause I didn't want to confuse things and change POV too many times. There's a lot more going on in each character's mind than I have revealed so far. However, almost each time a different character's feelings has significantly changed about something, I have stopped and shown glimpses into their new point of view.
Anyway, I know this chapter is a lot shorter than the last chapter but it's actually about the same length as the 1st chapter. When I had started this chapter, I realized that the first part I had planned was already 5 pages long and I knew for a fact that the 2nd part would end up much too long, so I decided to split things. It's become a bit of a filler chapter but some things had to be explained before progress was made in plot. Honestly, I had this chapter written for a few weeks but my beta got a bit busy and wasn't able to work on it so for once, I had things on time!
Please, readers, take my apologies and gratefulness for allowing a crazy author to vent a little and turning what was supposed to be a simple AN into nearly a page unto itself. I welcome questions, comments, critics and such but I please ask that they be relevant. On with the story now, and please R&R!
About half of the Nerima Wrecking Crew and their families had woken up early and made their way to Furikan High School to see two of their numbers off on their summer trip. A couple of them were there for a few different reasons though. Akane was all packed and ready to go. She had already said a farewell to her friends, Sayuri and Yuka, yesterday. It was time to give final hugs and kisses to her family. Kasumi was giving Akane last minute reminders on how to take care of herself. Nabiki was telling her to make sure to call and write cause she wanted to her all about how America was really like. Even Soun had left the house to make sure his baby girl was going to be all right. Genma had tagged along to make sure that his son didn't screw up his relationship with the youngest Tendo and ruin their plans to unite the 2 schools. Ranma was standing slightly off to the side with a scowl on his face at the fact that his fiancé would be gone for 3 weeks with someone else.
That someone else was indeed standing beside the blue-haired girl. Mousse had his bag all packed and was waiting patiently as his friend said her goodbyes. He was very surprised when he was swept up into a hug by the eldest Tendo sister and was told to take care of himself and her sister. Shampoo was standing among them but within just an arm's reach of the pig-tailed boy. She kept telling herself that she was there to make sure Ranma didn't do something crazy like kiss the Kitchen Destroyer goodbye or something. Cologne was even there as she told Mousse not to do anything that would disgrace the Amazon tribe, but honestly, she wanted to see what sort of fun might happen at the moment. Ukyo had even shown up to show her support of Akane being gone for 3 weeks and to remind her Ran-chan that she was always there for him.
No one had seen Ryouga for a while now but Ranma fully expected to see him sometime later today or in the next day. Kuno hadn't shown up but that didn't mean he wouldn't be there soon. After all, his huntress was going out of the country for 3 weeks and wherever there is one Kuno, the other is sure to follow. Ranma had his weary eye out for the should-be-locked-up Black Rose.
"SAOTOME!!" A very recognizable cry carried through the air who also happened to be waving a very familiar bokken through the air. "How dare you allow this travesty to happen!!"
Sometimes Ranma really cursed his luck on these matters. Just thinking about these things seemed like an invitation for the gods out there to just pull them out of his head and throw them at him.
"What have I done now, Kuno?" Ranma asked in pure boredom.
"You evil rogue of sorcerer hast continued to bewitch the hair beauty, Tendo Akane, and have driven her away! How dare you force her to flee from our homeland and away from my own presence . . ." Kuno continued to rant on for a bit but everyone else had tuned him out.
Akane, quite upset at Kuno interrupting her time with her family, decided to try to cut him off. "Sempai Kuno, Ranma hasn't done anything. I was chosen to go on that ambassador trip to the United States."
Kumo properly calmed with the information, sheathed his bokken into his belt. "Oh, well, that is acceptable then. When will you be returning, Tigress Akane?"
"3 weeks." She answered him, quite surprised at how normal he suddenly seemed, though he still went with the Shakespearean speak. He hadn't been so composed since the first time she'd ever met the older student when he'd ask her to date with him and she'd said no.
"Then may you have a joyful journey and safe return to us soon." The upperclassman sincerely wished to her.
"Thank you, Sempai." Akane returned as she turned her attention to give the middle Tendo daughter a hug goodbye.
Kuno couldn't help but stay and watch the family affair. He wished he could be a part of it. His own family was so messed up. His mother had died long ago. His father was consumed in his Hawaiian principal tactics. His own sister was twisted and lost in her chemistry and gymnastics. He himself was deluded in his love for Shakespeare and Kendo. In his love for Akane, he hoped that he could one day join her circle of friends and family. She was a strong woman with strong martial arts ability so she was a great match for him. His love for the Pig-tailed Girl was the same feeling, though that one was less than honorable but heck, he was a teenage boy after all.
"You make sure that Kasumi does more than just housecleaning." Akane said smiling at her slightly older sister. "You'll need a break from all of your planning. Both of you need to take a break occasionally."
"You be sure to have fun on your trip and not worry so much about everything here." Nabiki tossed back at her as she embraced her little sister one last time. Though she tried to hide it, the girl with the page haircut couldn't hide the smile she had on her face from everyone.
Kuno saw that smile and he saw how it lit up her face. So Akane wasn't the only person who had such a radiant smile. Nabiki should smile more often, Kuno thought to himself.
"I will bid thee a farewell then, Tendo Akane." Kuno let her know and began to walk away. He had just one more thing to say though before he went back to his mansion. "Tendo Nabiki, I will see you later."
"Oh, my!" Kasumi couldn't help but let out that little exclamation. She had seen that look that Kuno had given her middle sister. It was a look usually reserved for the youngest Tendo daughter. She could only wonder how Nabiki would react once she found out about this new piece of information but for now, Kasumi would let things play themselves out. The next 3 weeks would feel so empty without the vivacious blue-haired girl so a little surprise and mystery would keep things interesting.
Nabiki had seen that look that Kuno had thrown at her though. She hated to admit it but she was terrified to think of just what it meant and made plans to deal with it later.
Just as one Kuno began to walk away, the other Kuno had just leaped her way in front of all of them. Before she could let out her usual laugh and demand of fealty, the male Kuno leaned over and whispered something into her ear. The girl wearing a black leotard stared at her brother with an incredulous look of surprise but suddenly nodded slowly as if in an unsure agreement. Then the most amazing thing happened. It was something that not even the great ring leader of the Furikan High School betting ring, Nabiki, could have predicted. They both turned around and walked away. The Black Rose couldn't resist blowing a kiss to her beloved though before the 2 very odd siblings disappeared around the corner. Every single person in the school yard from the teachers and the students who were chosen to go and the families saying goodbye, and even the custodial staff who were hired specifically to come and fix any damage done over the school year, were completely and utterly stunned at this turn of events.
"I wonder what that was all about?" Akane couldn't help asking aloud in the stunned silence that had settled over the crowd in the school yard.
"I haven't the slightest clue." Kasumi tranquilly answered though Akane could see a sparkle of mischief behind her eyes.
She sent a questioning look to her sister in hopes of an explanation but the long brown-haired sister of the Tendo family simply returned a look that told Akane she would have to find out later. The blue-haired girl, though very curious to matters, threw back the smallest of nods that she would wait but expected to hear the facts later on. Kasumi smiled to let her know that she would indeed be filled in later and Akane smiled back in more accord.
While everyone was still staring at the corner as if waiting for the Kuno children to pop back around the corner and yell 'boo,' Ranma had turned back to look at his fiancee as soon as she'd spoken, and was still staring at her face as she had that silent conversation with her oldest sister. He was utterly blown away at such an intense display of so many different emotion that flitted across her face in the span of all 2 seconds. The smile at the end clenched at his heart and he was forced to make a decision that he'd been going back and forth in his head for the past week and half.
Ranma had noticed that Akane was trying to be different. It had taken him a long while to see the effort she was putting out to change her temper, but he did finally see it. At first he hadn't been sure what to make of it. He had simply thought that maybe she was bored of him and was just turning her attention to Mousse and it had been so much easier to blame the male Chinese Amazon at first. But even a Saotome could delude himself for so long. If the blind Duck Boy could see, then the pig-tailed young man could also see that Akane was changing more than just her passing interest in a boy.
She was really making an effort to change herself into a better person. She was putting more effort into everything she did from school and personal relationships to martial arts and it was just mind blowing how much her want to make herself better affected everyone and everything around her. In the past week she had made the most profound affect on the happiness of her family. For the past year and half that Ranma had been living in the Tendo house he had never seen any of the Tendo sisters be so open with each and so happy to be around each other. Kasumi's absolute mask of sereneness let her show disapproval of her father and his father's drunken nights out, her amusement in some of the antics that happened in her home and other such things that Ranma had never seen from her before. Nabiki's own face of ice was occasionally melted whenever near her sister's new attitude and Ranma saw happiness around her family and show affection to the ones she cared about. Even Soun was slowly being brought over to their side of things and didn't burst into tears as often. The change in Mousse was the largest difference in things. The fact that he had switched from glasses to contacts had made a major change in his ability to fight. The prescription of the contacts wasn't perfect but they were a heck of a lot better for him to see through than his old glasses. His sparring with Akane helped home in on his flaws in technique as he shared them with the blue-haired girl and gave him time to get used to the change in his vision so that when he went after the pig-tailed martial artist, Ranma was forced to do more than just dodging. Since Ryouga's continued disappearance, Ranma was hard-pressed to pick who would win a fight between the Pig Boy and Duck Boy. The recent change in Kuno's demeanor was just the latest development that confounded matters even further in Ranma's head.
With everyone making a change, and as much as the aqua sex-changer hated change, Ranma was forced to go along with them or truly be left behind. Change had always been a bad thing for the young martial artist. Change had forced him to leave his mother behind. He changed every single time he was splashed with hot or cold water. Change always meant that someone's feelings got hurt and friends would leave or he was forced to leave. It was understandable that Ranma didn't like change usually, but he had to admit that lately change was a good thing and it was indeed time to start making a change in himself. He couldn't stay the same and keep teasing her if she no longer reacted. He only went after her like that cause it was a great way for Akane to notice him without their father's suspecting anything more was going on between them. He knew that sometimes it went too far though and always felt horrible when she cried. He always tried to make things up to her though, and then she'd actually smile at him cause she knew he was trying. She no longer took the bait anymore though, so Ranma couldn't keep playing the same game. The game had changed.
Ranma finally admitted to himself that he cared about Akane as more than just a friend. He wasn't anywhere near ready to admit that he might actually lo . . . .no, he couldn't say it, but ranma more than cared about his forced-upon fiancee in that way but heck, it was progress. No one said change had to be immediate. So admitting that fact to himself made him see that he had to do something about her leaving. He couldn't go with her though and he knew there was no way he could ask her to not go. He had heard her talking excitedly about the trip for the past 2 weeks now. The youngest Tendo daughter was totally ecstatic about her chance to see a new place and meet new people and the sometimes-girl boy couldn't deny her happiness like that. She was going to be leaving for 3 weeks though and Ranma had to do something.
It was Kasumi who had given him the idea for it. Ranma had been lounging in front of the television, not really watching whatever was being shown, as she came through the living and was cleaning. She had suddenly looked up and asked him whether he had seen a small white cloth sitting around the room. Ranma had distractedly replied that he hadn't seen it and the long-haired Tendo sister had continued to say that it was a small gift that Kasumi was embroidering to give to Akane as a small 'have a good trip' gift so that she wouldn't miss her family too much and that if he saw it, to let her know. Ranma had jumped into a standing position so abruptly that he had nearly rammed his head through the ceiling of the living room. Before he could even tell her what she had just done for him, the oldest Tendo sister had already left the room to start dinner.
The question had then turned into what sort of 'see you later' gift could Ranma give to Akane without everyone turning it into a major huge deal but still have enough meaning to her that she would really like it. The young martial artist had really racked his brain for the answer to such a riddle. There was no way he could ask anyone for advice on the matter. The only person he felt he could even approach on such a topic was the one who'd given him the idea but he was learning that to say anything out loud was a basic definite of someone else overhearing his conversation, especially a certain girl with a page haircut who liked to carry around tape recorders just for him. So Ranma had seriously spent some time on his own looking for the answer. When he told everyone that he was heading to the arcade, he'd actually been wandering the mall, in disguise cause there was no way that Saotome Ranma could be caught walking the mall for more than 1 day in a row, hoping to catch a glimpse of a nice token to hand to his inazuke.
It wasn't until 3 days ago that his eye had fallen on the perfect item. It was a small sterling silver link bracelet with a small rose shaped pink quartz in the center plate. It was simple but elegant with a hint of feminity to it with the pink quartz rose. It screamed Akane. Besides, he'd sort of remembered that she'd point it out to him weeks ago when they'd been in the mall together. The problem was that he had been short just 500 yen on his own. He hated to do it but Ranma had been forced to borrow money. The amazing part was that it hadn't been as painful as he had thought it would be. At first she had been her usual calculating self when he'd asked to borrow money from her but then he had told Nabiki exactly what he was getting her younger sister. As she had listened to him, her face had become softer though at first Ranma hadn't noticed at all. It wasn't until she told she'd lend him the money for the gift and that she wasn't even going to demand interest, as long as he didn't screw up when he actually gave it to her sister. If he ended up screwing her trip before she even left to go on, the middle Tendo child had warned him that she'd slap on triple interest just to spite him. She then handed him the money and had pushed him out of the door before he could say a word.
For the first time ever, the Kami was on Saotome Ranma's side. He had run to the mall fast as he dared without drawing the usual following. He was lucky that it was the start of summer so that both the Nekohaten and Uc-chan's kept Ukyo, Mousse and Shampoo from chasing after him for the time being as they restaurants adjusted to the more numerous summer customers. With everyone else being out of school, he was able to blend into the crowd more and not be so suspicious as he walked through the mall. The best part of it was that Ranma was able to get the back of the plate that held the pink rose engraved with 2 simple words-'from Ranma.' It was simple but it worked and now all he had to do was give it to her. Ranma had broken into a nervous sweat at such a thought.
As Akane had given her family their hugs goodbye, Ranma was the last person she still had yet to say 'see you later' to. Her father had been the first person she'd hugged goodbye. It was common knowledge among the sisters that Daddy hated goodbyes no matter for how short a time they were for. He was now standing just behind them, bawling his eyes out at the fact that his 'baby girl was going so far off all by her lonesome.' Akane loved her father though and his crazy antics. She had even given Ranma's father a handshake in the hopes that he would behave himself. Stunned at the show of friendship, the usually-panda man had simply kept his mouth shut and told her to have a good time and that a small souvenir would be nice. The pig-tailed martial artist was standing there and just looking ready to bolt, as Akane waited for Ranma to realize that it was time for her to separate from them. She didn't blame him for looking so scared though since everyone was still a bit spooked over the strange way the Kuno siblings acted. She couldn't stand there forever staring at a nervous Ranma, even if he did look as handsome as he always did. Akane shook her head in dismay. She reminded herself that she had to get over such thoughts and concentrate on other things for the time being. Standing there and staring and waiting for him to say something was definitely a bad thing.
"Ranma, well, I guess I'll be seeing you in 3 weeks." Akane found herself saying. Her voice sounded so small to her own ears. She wasn't sure what to say though, so she was hesitant.
"Uh, yeah, I'll see ya later, Akane." Ranma responded as he forced his brain to pay attention the moment.
She was slightly disappointed that those were the only words that he was going to say to her but Akane simply told herself that this was Ranma after all. At least he hadn't insulted her somehow. Deciding that she might as well go for it, she held out her hand to him as she had done to his father and waited for him to shake it. As much as it would have been nice, she knew there was no way he would accept a hug from her.
The young pig-tailed martial stared at the girl he had fallen for despite his hardest efforts not to do so. His hand continued to fiddle with the small wrapped box in his pocket. They had hardly been separated from each other for too long since the day they had met each other and now she was going to be gone from him for 3 weeks. For 3 weeks he wouldn't see her beautiful, expressive brown eyes or her radiant smile or hear her sweet voice chatting away with her sisters in the next room. Ranma stared at her outreaching hand that looked so petite and gentle but was well practiced in breaking straw dummies, wooden planks and bricks into bits. He wanted nothing more than to just reach out for that hand and pull the tiny, lovely young lady into a hug and possibly do a small something to her lips, but that just wasn't possible. It would be the stupidest thing he could do in front of everyone. Shampoo and Ukyo would start chasing him to the ends of the earth and Ranma really didn't want to spend the start of his summer break fleeing for his life. Soun and Genma would have a wedding planned for the moment that Akane stepped back onto Japanese soil.
The Kami had apparently deemed to keep blessing the young Japanese boy as he was struck with inspiration on how to give his inazuke the gift. It wasn't a large bracelet by any means so it had been placed inside of a small box that fit in the palm of his hand. He could just simply keep the box hidden in his hand and place it unseen into her outstretched hand.
"Have a fun trip, Akane." Ranma told her. As soon as he touched her hand, he closed his hand around hers, pressing the small token into the palm of her hand and proceeded to shake it. He gave her a pointed look that he hoped sent across the message to not say a word about said object as he kept on talking. "Don't forget about everyone back here and be sure to tell Kasumi where you'll be going and staying."
Akane's eyes couldn't be more open in absolutely shock when she felt the small package slipped into her palm. As Ranma continued to shake her hand and talk, she was given the chance to recover and receive the message. She sent him a smile to let him know that she got it.
"Thank you, Ranma." She said in return, hoping that he got the double meaning in her gratefulness. "Take care of the family for me and try to stay out of trouble."
"Hey, trouble finds me and no problem." He responded easily enough. His nervousness had disappeared when she'd understood what was going on.
At that, the 2 fiancees let go of each other's hand on some unspoken agreement. Akane turned to Ukyo and Shampoo both and said a quick 'see you later.' She knew they were really there to make sure that she was gone and then spend as much time with Ranma to try to make him forget about her but they had shown up and not started any trouble. If Akane really wanted to show to herself that her temper was getting better, she had to say a polite goodbye to them. Besides, it would make Kasumi proud. Once the customary farewells were recited to everyone, the blue-haired girl then gave one last wave to everyone and turned around to walk away to get on the bus that would take them to the airport from where they would get on the place and be off to America for 3 weeks. Ranma and the rest of the Tendo family stood there and watched as the glue of their group walk off to adventure and new experiences.
Mousse walked right beside the small Japanese girl and gotten onto the bus right after she had stepped onto the bus. His farewells hadn't been nearly as long. Cologne had only given the obligatory 'don't shame the Amazons' speech and that had really been it. It would be torture not seeing Shampoo's alluring beauty for the next 3 weeks but it would be great not being near the Amazon Elder so it was a bit of a trade off. The old dried up monkey remains had been really rough with him lately. Shampoo had given him a bit of a surprise though when she'd actually reached for his hand and held it for a second when she'd told him not to do anything stupid. It wasn't quite a hug though it was almost as good as in their culture. It was definitely far better than a bonk on the head and Mousse had sincerely relished the feeling of his beloved hand's in his own for that too short of a second.
Mousse wasn't the only one surprised about a little hand grasping at least. Being a master of hidden weapons, the Chinese Amazon male had seen something in Ranma's hand when he reached for her hand and the wide eyed look of his blue-haired friend had confirmed the fact that something had been passed between them. Perhaps he could discuss these developing matters with his friend, Akane. If anything, the trip would offer great sites and such, and he could enjoy that with his ally in the petite Japanese girl.
Shampoo had also watched that little conversation between her Airen and Violent Girl. She didn't know what had happened but it wasn't difficult to see that something had happened when Akane's eyes opened in such a wide-eyed expression. All she did know was that it wasn't good but for the moment, it didn't matter. The Kitchen Destroyer would be gone for the next several weeks and she would have Ranma all to herself. Well, there was still Spatula Girl, but she wasn't much competition. It was the short, blue-haired girl that, for whatever reason, he was especially protective over, but it was partly for his honor and loyalty that she was so attracted to the Japanese boy.
A small part, while every single part of her that demanded honor and respect the Amazon way hated admitting to it but the purple-haired martial artist was worried over the idea of Mousse being gone. No, not Mousse, he was Duck boy, Shampoo corrected herself mentally. They'd grown up together. Even as children, as they had trained to be warriors, he'd always followed her around, tripping over himself to please her and such. Even when she'd been chasing the girl-type Ranma, he'd been there just out of sight, and now, he was leaving for 3 weeks to spend time with the Obstacle. Obstacles for killing, the young Chinese Amazon automatically repeated to herself. Shampoo knew she was deluding herself on that one though.
She guessed that it was cause they'd never been really separated before that had made her grab his hand. In their culture it was just as good as giving him a kiss on the cheek. Giving a male Amazon an actual kiss on the cheek would have been a wedding proposal and there was no way that was happening and she wasn't about to give the Duck-beak face a kiss on the lips, no matter how chaste she meant it to be. He'd have blown it all out of proportion and they would have been forced to re-teach the methods of courtship, marriage and friendship to him and no young Amazon boy liked for those lessons to be repeated.
The purple-haired girl was so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed Mousse following right behind the Angry Girl as she got on the bus. Shampoo then knew that she would indeed miss the stupid Duck Boy, but there was still Ranma and he was definitely more important. He also happened to have Ukyo still wrapped around his arm and he would pay for that. Shampoo looked around, saw that someone had left a water bottle on the ground and got an evil grin on her face. She grabbed the bottle and squirted herself with the cold water and jumped straight at the Japanese martial artist.
Akane had just taken her seat when she looked out the window to give everyone one last wave when she saw Ranma frantically running around the school yard. She stood up, ready to bolt out the bus to help him out of his fear of cats when Cologne deftly reached out and grabbed cat-Shampoo. Ranma ran behind a tree and stood there just trying to calm himself down. The petite blue-haired girl was still standing there frozen as she watched to make sure he hadn't entered Cat Fu.
Mousse touched her elbow and reassured her. "He will be all right. Cologne will prevent Shampoo from causing too much trouble."
She mutely nodded and slowly sat back in her seat. Akane then looked back out to Ranma to make sure with her own eyes that he would be all right. Ranma saw the concern on his inazuke's face and sent a small wave in her direction, to let her know that he would be fine. Akane then waved back at him to let him know that she had gotten the message. The bus driver had just started the bus when the youngest Tendo daughter looked back at her family for one more look at them. It was only 3 weeks but it could still seem like a very long time.
The family was still watching as the bus drove down the road to take the students and their escorts to the airport. Just as it drove out of the school yard, the groups started to break apart and head into different directions to get to their homes. The 2 Amazons had already left. Even the rest of the Tendos and Genma had started their walk home. Ranma was standing on the wall that surrounded the school and refused to leave til he could no longer see the bus from there, which would be for at least another 2 minutes. He ignored the fact that Ukyo was standing just below him on the ground. She was looking up at him and trying to convince him to come to her restaurant for a snack.
Akane tried not to look back but she couldn't help it. She saw Ranma standing there on the school wall. He looked as good as he always did in his black pants and red Chinese shirt and his pig-tail swaying slightly in the breeze. It would do her good to get away from everything. She knew it but she also knew that 3 weeks would be a very long time.
