Chapter 9
Back at the Tendo house, the combined Saotome and Tendo families were all gathered in the living room discussing what had happened last month which finally brought the youngest members of the families together. Akane was snuggling in Ranma's lap, trying to draw on his calmness. Her hand was resting on her stomach, and she was concentrating on it, trying to see if she could feel her baby.
Ranma for his part was trying to stay alert to everything in his surroundings. He knew Kuno would be coming for him soon, and he wanted to make sure he was ready. He also could tell that some of the people in the room were less than pleased that he had gotten his lover pregnant.
Finally the discussion turned to the future. "Well, Son," said Soun. "What do you plan to do about my daughter?"
Ranma looked Soun dead in the eye, his determination flowing off of him in waves. "I plan to marry her of course. I asked her last night before we knew about her being pregnant, and she said yes. I… I love her, and she loves me." He gave Akane a little squeeze.
Kasumi spoke up next, visibly upset. "But what are you going to do about the baby? Neither of you will be out of school when it comes, and you won't be able to take care of it. You'll probably have a hard time getting a job in order to buy everything it is going to need for that matter."
Ranma hadn't thought of that. At least he did have one thing going for him though. "I have the art. I'll start teaching classes in the dojo to help pay for everything." He turned to Soun. "If that's ok with you… Dad."
It was the "Dad" that did the trick. Soun teared up and nodded, elated that his dreams of uniting the families were coming to pass. "Of course you can… Son," he managed to squeak out before he was too overwhelmed with emotion.
Akane let out a big yawn. "I think I'm going to get to bed, it's been a long day." She turned in her seat to give Ranma a quick kiss, before getting up and walking out of the room. Ranma just smiled as he watched her go. Nabiki had to pick up her chin off the floor at how comfortable her sister was with Ranma. She shook her head, and excused herself as well, needing to get up to her room to see who she could collect from in the morning.
Kasumi stood as well, but didn't go to her room. She turned to go to the kitchen instead. "Ranma, could I speak with you privately please?" she asked. Ranma looked up at her, and saw that she was still upset. He gulped nervously, and followed her.
Kasumi was standing at the sink washing dishes, her back turned to Ranma as he walked into the room. The fact that the dishes already seemed to be clean tipped off Ranma as to how furious she was with him. He cleared his throat to get her attention.
Kasumi slammed the dish into the drying rack, shattering it. She looked down at her hand in surprise, as if it had done that on its own. She closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath before addressing to her new brother-in-law, her back still turned to him. "I'm very disappointed in you Ranma," she said in a low voice. "I thought you'd be honorable enough to wait until you were married to Akane before you started doing… that. Now my sister is pregnant before she's ready, before either of you are ready, to take on the responsibility of a child."
Ranma wanted to defend himself. It wasn't COMPLETELY his fault. She'd seduced him! It was hard to talk back to Kasumi though, so he tried for placating her instead. "I know, and I'm sorry Kasumi. It just kinda happened. I didn't force her into anything, and we always used protection."
Kasumi rounded on him now. "Every time? Are you sure about that? Even if you are, condoms aren't 100 percent effective Ranma, nothing is, save not doing it."
Ranma had to think about that. He was pretty sure that they'd always used a condom Ever since she gave him one to put on that first time they'd done it in her bed. Wait… that was the day after… ah hell.
Ranma averted his eyes, not able to look his new sister in the eye while she was tearing him a new one. Especially since he now had a pretty good idea how Akane got pregnant in the first place. Then he heard Kasumi sigh, and close the distance between them. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen, and that it's not completely your fault. I just wish it hadn't happened this way." She pulled him into a hug. "Welcome to the family, little brother." Ranma returned the hug, thankful that he was being let off easy. When Kasumi pulled away, she grabbed his collar and looked him dead in the face. "If you hurt her or leave her," she said, "I will make you wish you never set foot in my house." She then turned her back on him, and started to clean up the broken plate. Ranma nervously made his escape.
On his way out to the dojo, he saw a shadowy figure leap from the wall. He instantly took a ready stance, thinking it was Kuno come to exact his revenge. When it came to a landing in front of him, he relaxed when it turned out to be too short to be Kuno. The presence of the walking stick allowing him to relax further since it proved it was Cologne rather than Happosai. "What is it Cologne?" he asked.
"I have just come from the Kuno mansion. You don't have to worry about either of those crazy suitors any longer," she said with a chuckle. "You remember the Xi Fa Xiang Gao technique don't you? Shampoo told me she used it on your lover once."
Ranma frowned. "Yeah, and it didn't work. Akane was able to get her memory back."
Cologne waved away his concerns. "That's because my granddaughter doesn't know the meaning of moderation. She always goes too far. I didn't make them forget who you are, since if they were reminded enough the amnesia wouldn't take hold, like it did with Akane. I just made them forget all about the omiai, and the fiction they believe about that boy sleeping with your girl. Since nobody will remind them of this falsehood, they will never remember."
Ranma was relieved to hear that he didn't have to try to convince Kuno that the child wasn't his. He didn't know what would happen once Akane started to show, but he figured they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. Still, there was something odd about all this. "Why are you doing this for us?" he asked.
Cologne had a sad look on her face now. "Shampoo has failed in her pursuit of you. Her mistake in getting pregnant by another just seals her fate. She is considered an adulteress now since she got pregnant by one other than her husband, and therefore you have the option to sue for a divorce." She scrutinized him briefly. "Unless you don't want one."
Ranma quickly shook his head and held up his hands. "Nonono, I want the divorce."
"Then it's done. You two are no longer bride and groom." She sighed sadly. "I had hoped to bring your genes and your knowledge of the art into the tribe, but now I see that that was just a dream. Since you have professed your love for Akane, I figured the least I could do to make up for this debacle would be to help you with the Kunos."
Ranma was stunned that his ordeal with Shampoo was over. He wondered if there was a way he could have helped this to happen a long time ago. Oh well. "Thanks Cologne," he said. "Um… What's going to happen to Shampoo now?"
"Her punishment is that she will carry her child to term and raise it on her own. Our family has always had difficult pregnancies. Perhaps after nine months of sickness and hormone swings she will see the error of her ways." She shook her head. "If only she'd seduced you rather than every other man in town…" Ranma was taken aback at this statement, but said nothing in reply. "Oh well. Good bye Ranma." With that, she leapt onto her stick, and bounced off into the night.
Ranma looked up at the moon for a while, sighing a bit at the fact that nothing was ever going to be the same again. He entered the dojo, and shut the door behind him. He stripped down to his tank top and boxers, and walked in the dark over to where his futon was laid out. He was surprised to see there was already a lump under the covers. He turned the light on, and was even more surprised to find Akane was that lump, blinking awake in the light. "Ranma? You coming to bed?"
"Uh, what are you doing in my bed Akane?" he asked.
"I figured since everyone knew about us now, it would be ok for us to sleep together all the time rather than try to sneak in and out every night." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "And… I… I need you to hold me… please?"
Ranma's answer was to pull the covers back and get into bed with her. Akane clutched onto him desperately, so he held her gently, rubbing her back and whispering soothing noises to her. Finally, Akane seemed to calm down enough to fall asleep. Ranma joined her shortly thereafter.
Breakfast the next morning wasn't as tense as Ranma was dreading it to be. Kasumi was still visibly miffed, but was still able to put on a smile for her family and join in the morning's conversation. Soun hid his face behind the morning paper as he always did, only dropping it from time to time for a bite of food. Genma looked as if he wanted to say something, but one look from his wife put him in his place.
It was Nabiki who seemed to be the most animated out of everyone. She'd been up late into the night figuring out who owed her how much on the bets on when Ranma and Akane would hook up, but that didn't seem to slow her down now that the hour of collection was at hand. Akane glared over her sister, a sour look on her face. "And just how much money are you set to earn thanks to people betting on my sex life?"
Nabiki giggled maniacally. "I could put a very large down payment on a car with what I'm making today, my dear sweet sister," she replied. Finally she just couldn't take the wait anymore, and jumped to her feet. "I'm going to school early so that I can set up. I'll see you there!"
"Nabiki, wait a moment and I'll get your bento!" Kasumi called after her. She rushed into the kitchen, and came out with the lunch, meeting Nabiki at the front gate.
"Thanks Sis! Gotta run!" Nabiki said, but she stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up the arm to see that it was indeed attached to her demure older sister. "Um… Kasumi?"
"Nabiki, please don't tell everyone about your sister today," she said. "She'll tell people when she's ready to, and then you'll be able to collect."
Nabiki tried to pull away, but her sister's grip was like iron. "I wasn't going to tell them that Akane was pregnant, just that she and Ranma have finally done the deed."
"Even so, I'm sure Akane could do without the stress today. She just found out yesterday that she is pregnant, and she is scared. Just give her some time."
Nabiki gave Kasumi one of her coldest stares, but was met with one equally cold on Kasumi's face. Finally she rolled her eyes and sighed. "OK, you win. I'll let them tell people on their own." She pulled her arm out of Kasumi's grip. "Since when did you get all scary anyway?" she asked. Kasumi just gave her sister an enigmatic smile and shooed her on her way.
Akane and Ranma ran out of the door soon after. Akane waved goodbye to Kasumi, but Ranma avoided looking at her. When Akane looked at him quizzically, he just shook his head, asking her to drop it.
They arrived at school early for once. They were hoping to avoid the overexcited crowds of people wanting to confirm what Nabiki had told them, only to be surprised to find that nobody was even paying attention to them. They looked up at the balcony where Nabiki was looking down at them. It was obvious by the look on her face that she was less than pleased. "I wonder what her problem is," said Ranma.
"I dunno," replied Akane. "Maybe someone didn't want to pay up."
Ranma was about to reply, when all the sudden Kuno came out from behind a tree. "Aha!" he shouted as he leapt from his hiding place. "My lover has come to stand by my side against the evil demon Saotome!"
Akane sighed at the antics of her upperclassman. She was going to ignore him and just continue walking into the school, when she noticed a look on Ranma face. "What is it?" she asked.
"He's not supposed to remember that," replied Ranma.
"And how is it that I would not remember the dear, sweet, Akane joining me in my chambers for a night of bliss."
Akane also looked confused at run the statement. "Cologne came to me last night and told me that she had used the Xi Fa Xiang Gao technique, and made him to forget that he had slept with Shampoo," he said. "It was supposed to be better than when Shampoo used it against you since she wasn't trying to make and forget you all together, only that you had slept with him." He turned to Kuno. "Did you wake up this morning feeling refreshed?"
Kuno looked confused at the question. "Yes I did, but I put it down to my dear sister experimenting upon me again. She is always trying her new potions out on me before she use them against an enemy." He smirked. "Unfortunately for her I have built up an immunity to her potions from long exposure to them."
"Oh brother," mumbled Ranma. "Come on Akane, lets go home. I don't need this right now, and neither do you." He put his arm around her shoulder and started to lead her away, his fiancée blushing at the sudden show of affection, when they were stopped cold by the continuing ranting of the lunatic behind them.
"Halt!" Kuno cried, unsheathing a real katana. He screamed as he dashed after the pair, an overhead strike intending to remove Ranma's arm from her shoulder, and from his own as well. Ranma turned at the sound of his scream, and shoved Akane out of the way, knocking her to the ground. "Dammit Kuno, you almost hit Akane!" he cried. He winced as he remembered the baby, but hitting the ground was better than getting cut by that sword.
Kuno didn't seem to realize what was going on. "You shall no longer hold sway over the mother of my child!" he screamed as he renewed his attack, slashing quickly over and over. Ranma managed to dodge the attacks, but since he didn't want to risk a block against the katana, he was unable to effectively counterattack. He backed away from the crazed kendoist, trying to lead him away from Akane. Finally, Ranma had Kuno right where he wanted him. A duck under a side slash left the katana stuck fast in the trunk of a tree. Ranma used the opening to follow up with an uppercut, lifting his opponent off his feet. Kuno didn't get back up.
Ranma took a deep breath, shuddering as he let it out. This maniac nearly killed Akane, and yet he professed to love her? It took all his willpower not to do more permanent damage to the prone kendoist. Instead, he looked over at the sword still embedded in the tree. Grabbing the hilt, he pulled down on the sword until it snapped in half. He tossed away the broken hilt, leaving the blade stuck in the tree. He walked over to his fiancée who was watching from the sidelines. He surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug, holding her silently for a while. Akane was startled at first, but soon returned the hug, ignoring the gasps and chattering from the people watching them. "Lets go home," he repeated. "I don't want to deal with this guy today, and I don't want you to have to deal with him either."
Akane just nodded, well aware of how close she had come to death that day. She leaned up and kissed Ranma on the cheek, earning an even larger gasp from the onlookers. She no longer cared. "Nabiki!" she called up to her sister. "Go ahead and tell them!" She then turned her back on the crowd, and walked out of the yard, her arm around Ranma's waist.
Nabiki gawked at her sister as she left school, but then the words that had been shouted up at her registered, and she saw yen signs. "I hope you all brought your wallets, folks, because the results are in!"
"Are you sure you're ok?" Ranma asked for the third time. "Maybe we should go see Dr Tofu." Akane was struggling to keep her temper in check. He was only saying it because she took a rough fall, and he was concerned for her and for the baby. He wasn't trying to be annoying.
"Yes, I'm fine Ranma. I just scraped my knees a little," she replied. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thanks for worrying though." Maybe if she placated him like that he'd shut up.
Ranma looked like he wanted to say more, but the look in her eyes suggested it might be prudent to hold his tongue. Besides, he had other things to worry about. "I wanna go see Cologne before we go home," he said, dead serious. "She told me that she had taken care of Kuno for us. I want an explanation."
Akane pondered this for a second. "I think we already got one Ranma," she replied. "Remember what he said? He's immune to Kodachi's potions. The Xi Fa Xiang Gao uses an herbal shampoo along with the massage to remove memory. It might not work on him."
Ranma thought about it and had to admit that the idea had merit, considering that he himself was working up a bit of an immunity to Kodachi's potions. "In that case we need to think about what we can do about him. He's too focused on you now that he knows you're pregnant. He'll only end up hurting someone, if not you or me, then maybe the baby once it's born."
That statement left Akane feeling sick to her stomach. She was still new to the idea that she was going to be a mother, but already she knew she would do anything to protect her unborn child. She clutched Ranma's hand tighter. "What do we do?"
"Well, if giving him a shampooing didn't do the trick, maybe Cologne knows some other trick that might make him forget about you. Lets go see her."
Akane nodded, leaning up to give Ranma another kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me this morning," she said.
They walked towards the café in silence, only broken once when Akane noisily broke wind. "Sorry. I've had the worst gas this morning," she said blushing hard. Ranma just tried to keep his laughter quiet, glad for something to lighten the mood.
Sorry I didn't get this out on Friday. Been rather busy, and the Olympics started up, so I completely forgot. Here it is though in all it's glory!
And while Akane is having a somewhat easy pregnancy sickness wise, she's showing symptoms elsewhere, hence the gas. Plus it made for an amusing way to end the chapter :P
