CHAPTER EIGHT
While Ranma was running through Nerima, both Akane and Tomoe were already halfway to the Tendo Dojo when they decided to stop for some ice cream. And after they each had a cone in hand, they took the scenic route home by walking through a nearby park.
And a few minutes into their stroll, Tomoe began to speak, hoping to find some way to make Akane feel better, as well as make her brother admit he was wrong.
"Hey, Akane-chan?" she said, gaining the attention of her short-haired companion. "How long does it usually take for Onii-chan to realize he's made a mistake?"
However, this question only made Akane laugh bitterly before she answered her friend in a low voice.
"Tomo-chan, that is a question with no good answer. I may be Ranma's fiancee, but he's never been one to admit to doing something wrong. Not even to me."
Hearing the emotional tone in Akane's voice, Tomoe thought back to her childhood, before her brother and her father left on their training journey, and the Ranma she remembered and the Ranma Akane was describing now just didn't seem to be the same person. They couldn't be. They just…couldn't.
As they continued to walk, the pair decided to drop the touchy subject all together and, instead, spent the next several minutes talking about anything and everything but.
However, after they had finished their ice cream, the two girls were distracted by the sounds of several girlish squeals from somewhere up ahead. Curious, Tomoe ran forward as fast as she could, not stopping until she was met with the sight of the crowd of at least twenty girls gushing over an unknown object. Eventually, though, the confused teen heard another sound, this one strangely similar to a pig's squeals.
Being a long-time animal lover, Tomoe ran into the crowd, only to be met with the sight of a small black piglet being manhandled by nearly five girls at a time, all the while, the other girls were fighting to give it some attention of their own. But, when she looked closer, Tomoe noticed that the poor little pig seemed to be struggling, as if he were trying to get away from the overexcited girls.
Her animal loving instincts quickly took over, causing the teen put her brain into overdrive to try and find a way to help the tiny animal get free.
And, finally, after nearly five whole minutes of thought, Tomoe hadn't gotten any ideas as to how she could pull this off. So, she just decided to go with something simple, yet effective.
She took a deep breath and let out a shrill squeal of her own.
"OH MY GOD! YOU GIRLS FOUND HIM! KO-CHAN!"
She then rushed forward, pushing herself to the center of the crowd and plucked the piglet's small form from his current holder's hands, pulling him close in a tight hug and placing a gentle kiss against his cheek, hoping that her show of affection would convince the girls that he was really her pet. She even went so far as to force her eyes to shine with worried tears, all to sell her act.
And, luckily for her, it seemed to work because the girls all began to slowly disperse, as they had lost their cute plaything.
Sighing in relief, Tomoe adjusted her tight hold on the small pig, just as Akane ran forward with a surprising speed.
"Tomo-chan! I can't believe it! You saved P-chan!"
"P-chan?" the redhead asked, confused. "Oh, you mean this little guy? Yeah, I guess I did. He was being gushed over by that group of girls, but he looked uncomfortable, so I decided to save him."
The young teen then held up the pig in the air, and gave him a gentle smile, "So, your name's P-chan, huh?"
She then pulled the surprised piglet to her chest with a loud squeal.
"Oh my God! You are just too cute! I've always been a fan of small animals, but cute baby piglets have always been my favorite! And your cuteness takes the cuteness cake!"
"I know, right?" Akane squealed back. "P for "pig" and chan for "cute". That's why P-chan is the perfect name."
"It really is." Tomoe said after finally calming down enough as she let out a pleasent sigh.
"Well, Akane-chan? Should we head home for dinner?"
Akane nodded in agreement as she and Tomoe headed out of the park and back towards the Tendo Dojo with P-chan still in Tomoe's arms.
***BACK WITH RANMA***
Ranma had spent the last twenty minutes running through the streets of Nerima, trying to find some trace of his sister and fiancee.
He had already searched the school grounds, the Neko Haten cafe, where he was attack-hugged by Shampoo and regular-attacked by Mousse, before he finally came to Ukyo's own restaurant, Okonomiyaki Ucchan's hoping that they might be there.
Unfortunately, when he walked through the front door, he quickly realized that he was the only one there.
"Hey there, Ranma-honey. What can I get you?" Ukyo answered cheerfully from behind the counter.
"Ucchan, have Akane or Tomo been here?" he asked, out of breath.
"No. Why?" the young chef questioned curiously.
"I just…I need to find them. Promise if you see them, you'll tell them I'm looking for them, okay?" the martial artist before he ran back outside to continue searching for the two girls.
But, after another half-hour of looking, the sun was finally beginning to set and Ranma had given up any hope of finding either Tomoe or Akane, so he decided to just head home, feeling defeated.
However, the moment he arrived at the Tendo Dojo and stepped inside, he was shocked to find the very girls he was searching for standing in the dining room, setting the table for that night's dinner.
As he stared, slack-jawed, while the girls continued to place dishes on the table, completely ignoring him standing there. Finally, though, Kasumi carried in a large pot of steaming curry from the kitchen and the smell alone had Ranma forcing himself out of his stunned state.
And as he sat down at the table, while being casually greeted by Kasumi, Mr. Tendo, and Mr. Tendo, he immediately noticed that he was completely ignored by both Akane and Tomoe.
And their cold indifference to him lasted all through dinner until Ranma finally noticed a small animal nestled lovingly in his sister's arms.
An animal that was annoyingly familiar to him.
"YOU PERVERTED LITTLE PIG!" he screamed as he ripped P-chan from Tomoe's arms, causing the redhead to let out a shocked gasp at her brother's actions.
"What do you think you're doing, onii-chan?" she yelled as Ranma ran out of the room with P-chan still in his grasp. Worried, she ran after him, only to find herself outside a locked bathroom door.
"Onii-chan, you open this door right now! What do you want with that poor pig?!"
As she continued to pound on the door, she thought she could make out the sounds of running water and, not only her older brother, but another male voice as well. One that was strangely familiar to her.
And it was this curious fact that caused her worry to grow ever stronger.
"Onii-chan?" she said slowly, her anger disappearing completely. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"
But, after several seconds of silence, Tomoe gave up trying to convince Ranma to come out of the bathroom and walked away from the bathroom door, feeling defeated.
***THIRTY MINUTES LATER***
Tomoe has been downstairs with Akane, both of them feeling anger at Ranma and concern for poor P-chan.
The short-haired girl explained that Ranma had been rude to the little pig from the day she had found him on the streets and brought him home. It was like he had some kind of vendetta against the small animal.
And hearing this made Tomoe's heart pound in her ears. She loved her big brother very much, but she couldn't deal with the fact that he was treating a defenseless animal like that.
Feeling her anger once again boil in her shared bathroom, she threw open the door, only to find that her brother was not alone.
"Ry…Ryoga?" she asked in shock. "What…What are you doing here?"
She wasn't sure, but Tomoe thought she saw Ryoga get a panicked look in his eyes before he turned and answered her question with a wide grin.
"I just thought I'd come by for a visit. I just wanted to see you, Tomoe-chan." he said in a charming voice, causing the teen to blush slightly in pure happiness.
However, Ranma wasn't feeling quite as thrilled about the whole situation.
In fact, he had already grabbed Ryoga by the front of his shirt and prepared to throw him through the doorway when he was halted by Tomoe knocking him down with a powerful roundhouse kick in the ribs. And this scene had the lost boy letting loose an impressed whistle.
"Nice shot."
While he said this, Ranma pulled himself out of the crumpled heap he was left in by his sister's sudden attack.
"What the hell did I do now?"
"BAKA ONII-CHAN!" she cried out with tears shining in her deep blue eyes. "You promised you wouldn't be so overprotective anymore!"
Ranma didn't know how to react to this, so while he was flapping his lips soundlessly, Ryoga stood up and walked over to Tomoe with a broad grin that showed off his trademark fangs.
"I gotta get going, but you wanna meet for lunch some time?"
Tomoe's mouth parted in surprise, for she wasn't expecting that, but she quickly gathered her thoughts and turned to Ryoga with a sly smile of her own.
"You're on, Ryoga. How about this Sunday?"
"Sounds good. I'll see you on Sunday, then."
After he said this, Ryoga turned back to Ranma with another smug grin.
"Bye, Ranma. I guess I'll see you on Sunday as well."
"Don't count on making it on time, jerk. Not with your sense of direction." Ranma said through his teeth.
With one final smirk and a smug wave in his rival's direction, Ryoga left the room to a simple, "Bye, Ryoga" from Tomoe before leaving the two Saotome siblings alone.
And after another few minutes of awkward silence, Ranma was finally able to pull himself from the pile of debris, dusting himself off befoer clearing his throat and drawing the attention of his little sister.
And when she turned around to face him, what he saw nearly had him chasing after the other boy in a rage.
The look on her face was one of pure bliss, making it obvious how she felt about Ryoga asking her out
Her face was still lightly flushed, giving her a healthy glow. Her mouth was twisted into a wide grin, showing off her utter delight. And her eyes shone with a touch of light as the pupils danced with excitement.
Seeing this look on his beloved little sister's face had Ranma forcing himself to take several deep breaths to calm his anger all over again.
But, finally, after taking a few minutes, he turned to his sister with a determined look in his eyes.
"Look, Tomo. There's absolutely no way you're going to meet Ryoga for that stupid date."
Hearing her brother's tone, she pulled herself out of her own head and looked towards Ranma with a determined look of her own.
"And what makes you think you can do anything to stop me? What makes you can tell me who I can go out with?"
Ranma then placed his head in his hand out of exasperation before he let out a heavy sigh and lcoked gazes with his furious sister, who stared back with her hands resting pointedly on her hips.
"What?" she said sharply.
"I'm not trying to tell you who to date. I'm telling you that there's no way Ryoga is going to make it back to Nerima in time."
"What the hell do you mean, "make it back to Nerima"? Where the hell is he supposed to go?"
Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose for a few seconds before he looked back at Tomoe with a resolved frown.
"I don't know how else to tell you this, so I'm just gonna say it. Ryoga has absolutely zero sense of direction. He is physically unable to make it anywhere on his own. In fact, the first time he showed up in Nerima, he was hunting me over missing a stupid middle-school fight. But, I only left the meeting spot because it took him four days to get there. Even though it was at an empty lot located just behind his own house."
After telling her this, Ranma went on to tell Tomoe about all the other times he had to help Ryoga find his way somewhere. Like the time he was forced to show Ryoga to his own house in the next town over, if only because he was expecting a visit from Akane. And just thinking about Ryoga manipulating him like that brought up the same feelings of anger and resentment as the time it happened.
As she listened to her brother's stories, Tomoe got the impression that, even though her brother talked a big game, he seemed to truly care about Ryoga. She could tell that he was not only Ranma's heated rival, but also his dear friend.
And it was this fact that had Tomoe's lips twisting into a small smile.
"I don't know about you, onii-chan, but, I believe that Ryoga will make in on time. No matter what, I choose to listen to my heart."
With that, Tomoe headed upstairs to change into her pajamas. Once this was done, she headed into the bathroom to complete her nightly regimen.
***TIME SKIP***
Tomoe finally exited the bathroom, dressed in her usual pajama shorts, matching tank top, and bunny slippers, only to remember a few seconds later all that had happened that afternoon at Furinkan High School. Smacking herself on the forehead, the frustrated teen made her way towards Akane's bedroom and, just as she arrived at the door, she was met with the surprise of her own brother, the very brother that was told was a rude jerk who was too prideful to admit to making a mistake, already outside her door with his hand raised to knock.
"Hey, onii-chan." she said slowly.
"Oh, Tomo." Ranma gasped in shock. "I thought you were still in the bathroom."
"I just finished a moment ago." she answered, raising an eyebrow. "Onii-chan, what are you doing out here?"
Ranma took a few moments to gather his own rattled thoughts before finally able letting out a resolved sigh, gaining the questioning gaze of his sister to fall his sister's eyes.
However, Tomoe was positive she must have heard him wrong.
"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?"
"Look, I know you heard me. I'm not gonna say it again." Ranma said with a slight blush on his cheeks.
Tomoe took another few seconds to let what her brother said sink in, but, finally she turned back to Ranma with a gentle smile.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" she said cheerfully. "Let's both check on Akane-chan together."
With an approving smile and nod in his sister's direction, Ranma knocked on Akane's door with a sharp rapping of his knuckles against the wood.
And after a couple minutes had passed, the door opened to reveal a red-faced Akane Tendo wiping her puffy eyes with a tissue.
"Oh, Tomo-chan…and Ranma. What…What are you two doing here?"
Tomoe didn't answer right away, instead, she glanced at her brother expectantly as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. But, when it became clear that he wasn't going to talk, she discreetly jabbed him in the side of her elbow, all the while, glaring angrily at Ranma.
Rubbing his side to alleviate the pain, Ranma turned to Akane with a regretful look on his face before he suddenly shocked the short-haired teen by bowing low in apology.
"Please forgive me, Akane!"
At first, Akane didn't know what how to react. Ranma had never done anything like this before. He had certainly never asked her to forgive him or admitted to making a mistake.
"Ra…Ranma? What're you…" was all she could say before Ranma shot up from his current position and began to talk in a rushed tone.
"I'm so sorry, Akane. I treated you so badly and I even made you cry. It's just that I never knew you had so much skill."
Akane stared at him completely confused until she noticed that he was holding something in his fist.
"Ranma, what's that clenched in your hand?"
The pigtailed boy then blushed heavily as he held out his hand, which he opened to reveal the same dark blue treat bag from her cooking class earlier that afternoon.
"Why do you have…? I don't understand." she muttered in shock.
"I tried one of your cookies." Ranma said matter-of-factly.
"A…And?" Akane stuttered nervously. "What did you think?"
"Akane, I'm not gonna lie." Ranma said slowly and carefully. "But, those cookies were among the greatest cookies I have ever had!"
"You mean it?" Akane gasped as she grabbed Ranma's hands excitedly.
"Of course I do! Akane, I never thought anyone could make cookies that amazing! They were a perfect blend of chocolate and vanilla and even melted in my mouth from the moment I tasted it. Akane Tendo, you are incredible!"
Akane didn't know what to say. She just stared at her finacee with happy tears forming in her dark brown eyes.
She never in her life expected something like this. Ranma Saotome really was apologizing to her and admitted that he had made a mistake.
As her heart filled with love and appreciation for her betrothed, Akane's eyes finally overflowed as she allowed her tears to fall.
"A…Akane? Did I say something wrong?" Ranma stuttered nervously.
"No. I'm just…so happy. You've never said anything so sweet to me before, let alone apologized fr doing something wrong. Ranma Saotome, I know I rarely say this, but I think I've fallen more in love with you."
With these final words, Akane stepped forward and threw herself into Ranma's arms, sobbing, as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.
Tomoe had been watching this short episode take place the entire time, but now, she decided to give her brother and Akane some privacy, so she carefully tiptoed away from the couple and headed towards her own bedroom to do a bit of homework before bed.