Damn, a month without updates. Well, here's a new one. Oh, and DON'T read the end notes until the end.
Oh, and I'd like to personally apologize for the review begging last chapter. It was truly unbecoming of a good author. Then again, I never claimed that status, but I'd like to pretend I'm more than a review crazed idiot.
Still, that's not to say I don't want reviews, 'cuz I do, I just don't want to sound like I want them, you see! That's right, I'm a hypocrite! Yay me!
Ahem… On with the show!
Chapter 13, Truth.
"This is a really bad idea." Nabiki muttered, as she and Akane stood in front of the Nerima district police department.
The younger woman threw her older sister a look that conveyed both annoyance and determination. "Nabiki, I have to know." She said, simply.
Nabiki nodded. She had tried to convince her sister not to pursue her current thread of questioning, thinking that it would hurt her too badly, and she was damned sure she wasn't going to tell her, but something had changed in her sister the night before, when she'd seen Ryoga. "Just call me when you want to go home, all right? Don't try to walk there yourself!"
"I know." Akane growled, not liking to be reminded of the problem she'd been cursed with upon marrying her husband. Walking away and keeping her attention fixed on the front doors to the building, she stopped for a moment. "Thanks, Nabiki."
"You're welcome." Nabiki said, shortly, before getting back into her car and closing the driver's side door. 'But I don't think you're going to want to thank me if you find out what you want to know…' She thought, shifting into gear and driving off.
Akane listened to the sound of the car's engine as it faded in her ears, and then walked steadily into the front entrance of the Nerima police department's main building. She'd actually never been here before, which was saying something as she'd explored most of the district when she was younger, either chasing Ranma or looking for P-chan, her pet pig. The building was large, its front hall paved with marble that made a satisfying clicking sound as she walked over it.
As she approached the front desk, she saw a young woman she vaguely recognized sitting at the terminal there and looking bored. The woman looked up, immediately straightening, and Akane noticed the cast that encased one arm.
"Hello, Ma'am, how can I help you?" the brown haired woman asked, trying to look cheerful even though she was on the verge of falling asleep from boredom.
Akane just stared at her arm for a moment. "Um, are you…" She started, rummaging around to try and remember the name Ranma had mentioned in the hospital, over three weeks ago. "Are you Kimiko?"
The woman looked truly surprised for a moment. "Yes…" She said, slowly. "Kimiko Najisa. Is there something I can help you with?"
Akane shook her head to clear it, and then answered. "Yes, is Ranm… I mean, is Officer Sato here?"
Kimiko's eyes narrowed only slightly, before she responded. "She's out in Juuban at the moment. Why do you need to talk to her?"
Akane was taken aback at the suspicious tone the other woman had taken. "I… I just want to talk to her." She said, annoyed. "It's important."
Kimiko nodded. "She should be coming back in a couple of hours." She conceded.
"Thanks." Akane said, and turned to walk away from the desk. As she did so, she heard Kimiko clear her throat.
"Um, you're walking into a restricted area." Kimiko said, blinking in confusion as she noted that the other woman had somehow missed the red "do not enter, authorized personnel only," sign on the door she was about to push open.
"Oh." Akane said, blushing in embarrassment and wishing fervently that she could disappear. "Is there some place where I can wait for Ranma here?"
"Hold on a second, I'll show you where it is." Kimiko said, suddenly connecting the dots between the strange blue-black haired woman she now saw and some comments Ranko and Nabiki Tendo had made about Nabiki's younger sister.
HR.
Ranko coiled her legs beneath her, and then leapt into the air in a graceful arc before landing on the top of a two story business office. As she stabilized herself, unused to doing this after almost ten years of living in places where such a sight would get her questioned rather uncomfortably, she started running along the roof, not stopping as she took a flying leap off of its edge, and landed with a barely noticeable thump on the roof next to it.
As she jumped, she kept one eye on the road, looking for anyone who had parked their vehicle incorrectly or who was breaking the traffic laws.
Earlier in her shift, she'd found herself phenomenally bored. Parking enforcement wasn't precisely the worst job an officer could be saddled with, but it was definitely close, especially without a partner to talk to or a car to keep your attention occupied. Of course, the thought of missing Kimiko brought her back to the events that had taken place several weeks ago, which she still shied away from, and made her concentrate on her job… which generally meant that her mind had been running in a vicious circle for just over two hours by the time she'd figured that she had to do something to break it.
What she'd decided to do, of course, was hop across the rooftops of the Juuban district rather than walking down its streets. This had been a mode of travel denied to her in most of Tokyo, since the average citizen wasn't exactly used to seeing a powerful martial artist treating the laws of physics as mere suggestions. In Nerima, home of the said martial artists, and Juuban, home of some equally strange magical girls, however, she could get away with it without getting odd looks.
As she catapulted herself off of one slanted roof surface, grabbing the edge of another one and flipping up, she began to smile slightly. She'd forgotten just how enjoyable this had been when she was younger.
The freedom to go pretty well wherever she wanted, without any pedestrians in the way, and as quickly as her skill would let her was exhilarating.
It was odd, she thought, that in spite of all of the bad things that had happened since she came back to Nerima she could still find a bright spot in everything… even if it was so small.
Seeing a vehicle parked at something like a 45 degree angle in its spot, she landed and bounded off of the side of the building she was on.
Landing on the ground in front of the car, she started writing the ticket.
"Odango, now look at what happened. You got us ticketed!" Came an annoyed male voice, as Ranko turned around to see two people walking towards her. One was an older teenaged girl, somewhere around 19, and the other was a man somewhere around eight years older.
"But Mamoru, I parked it as best I could!" The girl whined, pouting up at the man.
He just shook his head. "So, how bad is it?" He asked, walking up to Ranko.
"Just being illegally parked." She said, ripping the ticket off and handing it to him. "Your car?"
He nodded. "Unfortunately…"
"Hey, we're going to move it right now, can you let this slide?" The girl asked, looking at Ranko imploringly.
Ranko shook her head, though when the girl started to quiver her lip and her eyes started to water, she had a hard time. "Sorry, but I've got to do my job." She said, concealing her uncertainty well.
As she walked off, she heard the two squabbling. "That puppy dog eyes trick of yours only works on guys, remember?" The man said, chuckling slightly through his annoyance.
"But I swear she almost let us go!" The girl exclaimed. "Plus, did you see how she just jumped down off the roof to get to the car? Maybe she's a Youma!"
"A Youma? Now I know you've got meatballs in there…" The man said, as Ranko exited hearing range.
HR.
The good mood Ranko had somehow established from her afternoon of light duty and roof hopping took a major hit as she walked into the station, seeing a rather worried looking Kimiko sitting at the front desk, and an impatient looking Akane Hibiki at one of the tables provided for waiting visitors.
Reluctantly, Ranko stepped the rest of the way into the building, seeing Akane perk up slightly. Ignoring this, she headed over to Kimiko at the front desk, pulling the small pile of copies of tickets she'd written out of her pocket. "Can you file these for me?" She asked. "Something tells me I won't have time."
"Sure." The other woman said, agreeably. "But you owe me a favor."
Ranko shook her head slightly, but then smiled. "Fine." She said, and then looked oddly over to Akane. "Um, Kimiko, you got any idea why she's here?"
"She told me she wanted to talk to you, and it was important." Kimiko replied. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Ranko said, trying to sound reassuring. "I actually thought she'd be around sooner."
"All right, then I'll get this stuff filed." Kimiko said. As Ranko turned, she finished. "Good luck."
Ranko merely nodded, before walking over to where Akane was patiently waiting. Well, perhaps that was too strong a term. She was waiting, but she was fidgeting rather obviously, and she looked kind of annoyed. "Ya wanted to talk to me?" Ranko asked, sitting at the table across from her.
Akane nodded. "I wanted to see you. We didn't get much time to talk when you were in the hospital."
"We talked a little at your place before Ryoga showed up." Ranko said, looking uncomfortable.
"Ranma, you got away as soon as you could then." Akane said, flatly.
"No, I just…" Ranko countered, and then shook her head. "Never mind. It's not important."
"Of course it is." Akane said, sighing. "I know I wasn't exactly supportive when you left. I just… Ranma, I'm sorry."
"For what?" Ranko asked. "Look, I know why you reacted like that. I mean, the nightmares I had when I thought about being married to Kuno or somethin, Akane, I know how ya felt." She looked away, uncomfortable. "Just sorta wished you'd have picked a better guy to hook up with after I left."
Akane wanted to take offense at that remark. Until yesterday, she would have. But now the image of Ryoga's face, full of rage, entered her mind. She still loved her husband, yes, but that scene had planted a few doubts in her mind that refused to leave her alone.
The two fell into a rather uncomfortable silence after that comment, until a few moments later, when Ranko broke it. "Damn, I shouldn'ta said that… I heard he's finally awake."
"Yeah." Akane said, slowly. "He woke up last night and they called us."
"So… how is he?" Ranko asked, actually looking slightly worried.
Akane looked at her, surprised. "You actually want to know how he is?" She asked.
Ranko shrugged. "I don't like Ryoga. In fact, ya could say I hate the bastard, but I don't wanna be the person who killed him." She said, bluntly.
"Why!?" Akane burst out, the question echoing around the hall, at least to her, as though it were completely hollow.
Ranko shook her head. "I…"
"Don't say it!" Akane exclaimed, cutting her off. "Don't say you can't tell me, don't say I don't want to know… I'm so tired of everyone hiding some big, horrible truth from me, thinking I can't take it…" She stopped, her voice catching in her throat. "I… I saw my husband with murder in his eyes last night! I… When you two were younger, you always fought,, but I didn't understand, I didn't know it was that serious, and I want to know WHAT could make you hate each other that much! Damn it, Ranma, I deserve to know this!"
Ranko looked around, noticing that a few of the off duty officers had turned their heads to look at the two of them after Akane's exclamation. When she answered, Akane could hear some bitterness in her voice. "You deserve to know, huh? Wow, didn't know ya were that hard on yerself." Shaking her head to clear it, she continued. "Let's go."
As Ranko got up, Akane looked at her oddly. "Go where?"
Ranko shrugged. "Well, the honor promise I gave not to tell was on the anything goes, and my honor as a student." She snorted. "Now, I guess I can tell you… but yer gunna wanna be somewhere private."
Akane gulped audibly. She'd expected Ranma to tell her something like that he and Ryoga had been bitter enemies all along, and she'd just been too dense to realize it. This, though… this sounded serious. Worriedly, she followed the small redhead down a hall into the bowels of the building.
HR.
Several minutes later, Akane found herself in a small room, the walls filled with square, steel drawers. For a moment, her mind ran away with her and she thought she was in a morgue, before she saw the word "Evidence" above the door. "Why are we here?" She asked.
"'cuz almost no one ever comes here, and it's got thick walls." Ranko said, simply.
"Ranma, stop playing with me. This can't be as bad as you're making it out to be." Akane said. "All I want to know is why my husband wants to kill you…" She stopped there, then blinked. "Yeah, I guess it could be all that bad." She muttered, processing what she'd just said and imagining all the things Ranma could have done to anger Ryoga that much.
"Look, ya know Ryoga followed me 'n Genma to Jusenkyo, right?" Ranko started, seemingly unwilling to continue.
Akane nodded, though she was unsure. She supposed that if Ryoga had followed Ranma all across Japan and China, he probably would have followed him there.
"Well…" Ranko started, uneasily. "What ya don't know is that, while there, he got in the way of me chasin the old man 'round the grounds. I was pissed enough I was just seeing red, so I didn't notice Ryoga when I ran him down."
Akane merely listened, uncomprehending, as Ranko continued. "C'mon, Akane, you have ta have figured it out!"
"What?" Akane asked.
"Akane, I booted Ryoga into a cursed spring. When I found out, I… I felt guilty about it, so I promised him on my honor that I wouldn't tell anyone."
"So…" Akane said, blinking. "He's angry at you because you kicked him?"
"WHAT?!" Ranko asked, blinking rapidly. "Akane, Ryoga is P-Chan!" She finally exclaimed, in complete shock at how dense the other woman was being.
Akane blinked slowly for a moment, and Ranko waited for the explosion. "Yes, Ryoga is…?" She asked, in an obviously leading fashion.
"P-chan…" Ranko said, now looking very confused. "Ryoga is P-chan, your pet pig. I couldn't tell you because I'd made an oath on my honor. I know it was stupid…" She trailed off, looking down. "Well, I was kinda stupid back then."
"Ranma, start making sense! What couldn't you tell me?" Akane demanded, starting to look angry.
"Ryoga is…" Ranko restated, and then her eyes widened. "No…." She whispered, horrified. "Akane, Ryoga is P-chan."
Akane's response turned Ranko's face white. "Ranma, you keep saying 'Ryoga is,' but then trailing off. What are you trying to say?"
END.
Wow, quite a cliff hanger, eh?
Thus, I elegantly explain why Akane's been so bloody thick through this entire fic! Wait, no, I can't be that egotistical. To tell the truth, this plot came out of nowhere and slapped me in the side of the head, while half way through this chapter. Incidentally, the chapter was supposed to be longer… but then that happened, and I really couldn't pass up the cliff hanger.
Sorry!
Misato: Hey, this didn't just come out of nowhere! I'll have you know that I've been working on it for months in your subconscious!
Weebee: Oh, sure Misato. I believe you. And that shocked look you pulled when it happened was a total coincidence.
Misato: Of course!
Weebee: Sarcasm is wasted on the truly stupid…
Misato: What was that?
Weebee: Um, I said "and don't forget to R&R!" That's the ticket!