Ranma ½:
Notes of Sorts By zoupzuop2
Chapter 10/
The summer faded away, cooling down for the colors of fall. The brown of leaves, the green of plants taking their last living breaths… the grey of the doom-bearing clouds that overcast Furinkan High.
With a swift flurry of strikes, Akane blasted through the New Horde 'o Hentai with record speed towards her voice class. Ever since Ranma had left, the boys of Nerima had the idea that she was suddenly "fair game" again, and took up their olds posts once more. Unfortunately for them, over the last few days, Akane had also taken it upon herself to train harder than she ever had before, making her passage through their blows almost as easy as when Ranma used to help her out.
Akane grinned. There was no way she could be late at this rate, unless…
Kuno stood in front of the doors, arms gripping his bokken and face pointed towards the ground.
Akane rolled her eyes. "Oh, come ON, Kuno, let me through!"
Kuno simply smirked, and closed his eyes. "Alas, I cannot allow it. Even had it been for your idiot transsexual friend, I would not move."
"What are you—oh. My. Gosh."
Kuno had figured it out.
Akane stopped sprinting as her face went pale. Even some of the Horde stopped and gawked at this newfound development.
"You thought I'd never figure it out, did you?" Kuno jested, cruelly. "Fortunately, your providence and assertive help allowed me to figure it out. My heart will ache for the days of blissful ignorance, but I must act now to not lose you in the same way."
"Lose me? You never HAD me!" Akane lunged for the door, but a wooden stick flung her the opposite way, with notable force.
Akane was stunned. Did Kuno actually… HIT her?
Kuno kept his tone. "My apologies, fair Akane Tendo, but I simply cannot allow you to continue life as usual, for I cannot continue life without you."
"Let me by!"
"Promise me your love, Akane, and I shall."
"I'd rather die."
Kuno's face shifted to one of reluctant and dismayed anger.
"Fairest Tendo, I fear that your answer causes me to call upon measures I don't wish to call upon. However, if no other means will dissuade you…"
Kuno pushed a button on his bokken, and a sharp metal tip emerged at the top.
Akane was vocally speechless, but her face told unimaginable tales of shock.
"I intend not to harm you any more than what any other challenge would entail. As such, I formally challenge you, with marriage as my wager."
The fight began.
Ukyo sprinted above the rooftops, sparing not a moment to look back at the house she should've dropped her delivery off to. Something was wrong.
Kuno made the motion for Akane to strike first. Akane, however, was too stunned from the current events to do so. After a few seconds of waiting, when it was obvious that she wouldn't come, Kuno took the initiative and charged at his target. Akane dodged to the side, but was struck a hard blow to the stomach. As Akane slammed against the ground and gasped for air, Kuno stood still and solemn. "My apologies once more, but if your affections cannot be won by love, it is my intent to try to do so by force." With that, he stood in defensive stance.
Kuno was crazy.
That was the only explanation that Akane could muster for the situation. Trying to keep her head about her, she struck with a flurry of punches, fast even for Akane, and even a bit surprising to Kuno, who had seen Ranma perform the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken. Of course, not a single hit flayed Tatewaki's face, or any part of his body for that matter. Finally, Akane swung her leg up and kicked his chin, sending Kuno flying up and backwards, slamming into the wall.
"What's gotten into you, Kuno? I just want to get to class!" Akane yelled, albeit she was unaware of it. She was also unaware of the large crowd that formed a large circle around their fight, forming in the windows and around trees.
Hinako Ninomiya sprinted down the hall to an uncrowded window overlooking the scene. She produced a 5-yen coin, stuck it out the window…
…and let them be.
She was aware of the Kuno boy's delinquency, although she never reported this to Principal Kuno, out of fear of unemployment. So when she saw the events play out beneath her, she realized that she simply had to let things pass.
After all, it appeared that her interference would only impede the incoming savior.
True enough, Ukyo's hunch had been accurate. She saw Kuno strike Akane down, wait for her to stand up once more, and then strike her down once more.
That was enough to send Ukyo flying towards Furinkan High.
The battle raged on, surprisingly so with the rate with which Kuno struck Akane down. Akane did the same from time to time, but it was uncommon for Kuno to be doing this well, lasting this long with this few permanent injuries.
Finally Akane and Kuno ceased to fight. Kuno kept the same grin as before, fresh and nearly unfazed. Akane, however, was badly beaten. A light, wirey trickle of blood fell from her mouth to the ground and on her shoes, depending on how she wobbled to stay on her feet. She could barely see the opponent ahead of her, but she would only accept defeat by death.
"Please, Akane, cease the madness and surrender. I fear for your health."
"Then kill me. If you plan on dating me, I'll do it in Hell."
"I cannot allow you to—!"
Kuno was suddenly smashed into the a tree, and a large spatula swung close to his throat, nearly shaving his Adam's Apple. As he fell down from the large indent he left, another spatula lodged itself in the bark of the tree where his head once was.
Kuno looked up to see an intensely angered Ukyo, weilding an enormous spatula, and snarling through her teeth. The fire in her eyes could've set steel ablaze, and if the adage were true of "if looks could kill", Kuno would be vaporized,naught more than a memory at this point.
After panting of sheer rage, Ukyo bellowed, "YOU SLIME!" and lunged at Kuno with unrelenting force. Kuno could only do all that he could to avoid the swift, dire swings of the angered girl's spatula, constantly changing in direction and in arc. This didn't last long, and finally Kuno misjudged a swing of the spatula, meeting the flat end of it face-on. As he flew back, Ukyo leapt up into the air, preparing some smaller spatulae. These were suddenly flung at a high speed in Kuno's specific direction, though none reached their marks as he rolled away.
Kuno was speechless. Who was this rogue woman, and what had he done to trigger her unbridled rage?
As he dodged and ran once more, he brought this question up. "Fair chef, for what reason do you strike at me with such enthusiasm?"
Swish-BAMPH!
Ukyo's spatula met Kuno square in the chest, knocking much of his wind from his lungs. As he writhed of the pain and lack of air, Ukyo finally spoke once more.
"Is it really so difficult to understand, you scum? She doesn't love you. She wants nothing to do with you. She wants nothing to do with these failures surrounding us." (This was met with some protest from the crowd.) "All she wants is to live life as she should, and you make every day of that miserable for her. Is it really so hard to just let her attend class?" Ukyo knelt down and met Kuno face to face.
"If you harm as much as another hair on Akane's head… I'm not going to beat around the bush. I. Will. KILL. You. Any questions?"
Kuno was too busy continuing to writhe on the floor.
Akane was too busy being in shock at what had just happened.
Finally, Ukyo got up, dusted herself off, and turned to the crowd, saying nothing. Her eyes did all the talking for you, and they certainly weren't saying anything kind. Within a few seconds, the entire Horde 'O Hentai ran for their classes, and disbanded for the rest of their high school career.
With a flick of the wrist, Ukyo managed to have Akane's shrimp Okonomiyaki flip a good 5 times before it landed just how she wanted it. The desired effect of the flip was unsuccessful, as Akane remained dismal, head down in the crook of her arm. "Look," Ukyo sighed. "You did the right thing, standing up to that jack. He's clearly crazy, and the only thing you could've done better is done it sooner…"
Akane sniffed.
"…and, hey, think about it. That prick's not gonna bother you any time soon, now is he? Now you can lead a normal life for once!"
Akane twitched in her place, but said nothing. Ukyo sighed, and continued flipping Akane's okonomiyaki…
"…I don't want a normal life any more."
"DEH-?" Ukyo nearly tripped over at the sound of what she just heard. After recovering, she puzzled, "What are you talking about?"
"…I thought I wanted a normal life, at least, when I took Ranma for granted," Akane mourned through her elbow. "Then… when he left, it all kinda went away… and… I can't DO normal again."
Ukyo didn't know what to say, so she didn't. She figured that it was all Akane needed right now.
"…and, thinking about that… is what makes me sad the most."
"What, that you can't do normal any more?"
"No, I don't want to do normal any more. It's just…"
Akane's speech broke somewhat, choking her words through sobs. "…it makes me… miss Ranma so… so much…"
As Akane sobbed, the rain patted softly outside.
The weather was not too different for Osaka.
Ranma tromped down the stone steps to the dressing room for a half-hour break, well-earned and required by management. As he pushed the door open to his small corner of the backstage rooms, Tonikko approached him from behind.
"'Ey, Ranma! That HAD to be our best rendition of 'Fistcuffs' ever! Drink up so you can pull the next… set…"
Ranma didn't react to Toni at all. He was busy staring at the mirror, emotionlessly regarding the face that stared him down on the other end. The air that Ranma produced could've killed any party that surrounded him, no matter how "raging" it was. Something… wasn't right.
"…Ranma? Y'there?"
Ranma decided to regard Tonikko this time. "Yeah. I'm here."
Toni noted Ranma's melancholy disposition and tried to cheer him up.
"Whoa, what's with the emo attitude? You get off'd by someone in the crowd? AH. It must'a been that one flashing lady. Look, that's bound 'ta happen, and even then—?"
"That's not it." Ranma brushed him off, continuing to stare his reflection down.
Toni's face darkened. This was going too far.
"Look, man. You've been getting more an' more emo with each passing concert. What's dragging you down, man?"
"Nothing. I'm fine. Go get ready for the second half."
Toni would have none of that. "Hey. I'm not going down that easily. There's a problem when a bandmate is sinking with each passing gig. I'm not gonna bug off 'till I know how to help you with whatever's—!"
"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" Ranma shot up and glared at his bandmate, his eyes suddenly going sharp, and ready to pierce those of his comrade. His aura flared partially red, partially navy blue, and grew bright enough for Toni to see it with slight clarity.
Tonikko was speechless.
Ranma's face stayed ticked for a while, then slowly faded to anguished defeat. "I… I'm sorry, man. I've just got to forget some things from back home." He turned once more to his mirror, this time grabbing his water bottle. "G'won ahead and get ready. I'll be ready to pull off the second set by the time it's about to start."
Toni was still speechless. He knew that Ranma was getting a bit more emo with each passing gig, as he'd said, but it wasn't like him to act out like this, especially to one of his crew.
"…A-alright. See you then."
Toni walked out apprehensively. Whatever Ranma was thinking about, must've been pretty painful or miserable. Maybe he was thinking about that cat pit he occasionally had nightmares about.
Ranma couldn't jettison a single memory from his mind. Over this, he mourned.
Every single memory of his hardships with Kuno and Kodachi, Ryoga's insults, Genma's foolish pranks (none of what he recalled involved fish), Nodoka's claims… all of what he left behind in Nerima, or believed he did, anyway, seemed to sneak up from behind and strike him down. Even insults he easily brushed off made cameo appearances to attack his self-esteem.
Every single memory of Akane, from the table-smashings, to the malletings, to the arguments, to the apologies, to the battles with other fiancés, to her smile… it all seemed to come back to him, and it always seemed to happen whenever he was playing a gig. These thoughts had never been more prominent since the day he left Nerima the first time as a Bad Shoe.
Emotion suddenly found itself debating with Logic.
Logic began to shoo off the memories. Hmph! Mere memories! You're past all that now! You're FREE from all that garbage! So stop being Depressio Dumpington and enjoy this while you still have it, or you'll lose THIS too!
Emotion tried to fight back. That's easy for YOU to say, Logic, but you forget that we don't function in sync as easily as you'd like. These memories are irreversible, unless we receive massive head trauma.
Ugh. There's not a single memory in here worth keeping. Find me a single one you should keep.
Ah… uh… Emotion began leaping through the memories, trying to find a one worth keeping. Logic smiled, and this smile grew bigger as Emotion frantically searched the memories.
I thought so. Logic began to smirk.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Emotion threw up his hands. I can't find one.
That's right. So shut up and—huh?
I found these. Emotion brought forth the memories that displayed Ranma and Akane's hugs, feigned kisses, accidental… err, discoveries, and Akane's smiles.
I… you… those…Logic was speechless for a minute or two.
The two were interrupted when the loudspeakers blared from outside.
Turo stopped by Ranma's door and said, "10 minutes to showtime."
Ranma drank up, slapped some bandaids on his cuts, and made his way up the stone steps.
