Ranma and his friends belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're used
here without permission.
------------------------------
newRanma 19: Leaving
by Chris Jones
------------------------------
As the sun ran over Nerima Ward, Ranma ran like a man
possessed. The rejection he had suffered just a few hours earlier
was still fresh in his mind. It was like an open wound. Kodachi's
glare of horror burned into Ranma's mind like a laser.
She wants me! She doesn't want me!
Angrily, fearfully, Ranma shook his head. Just when he
thought it didn't matter any more, the curse raised its ugly head.
The hell of it was, when Ranma started trying to figure out how to
get rid of his cursed girl-body, a new thought invaded his
consciousness.
It was Nabiki, in the Tendou's restroom, clad in only her
panties. Her hands roamed over Ranma's body, touching Ranma's most
sensitive and private places. She wanted Ranma to touch her in
return.
"Take my panties off," Nabiki commanded.
Ranma had wanted to do that more than anything else in the
world right then. She wanted to make love to Nabiki... and it
didn't matter if Ranma was a girl or a boy. In fact, when Ranma
tried to think of how the situation would proceed if he was a he
instead of a she, it just didn't work. Nabiki wanted Ranma as a
woman, but not as a man.
The night before, Kodachi's horror and repulsion at her
female body was so clear that Ranma could feel it coming off her
in waves. Kodachi wanted Ranma as a man, but not as a woman.
I want that! I don't want that!
"Why can't I have both?!" Ranma screamed out loud as he
ran.
Nabiki told him. Nabiki said that she could never love a
man. Ranma would never have her love as a man. He could never be
with Kodachi as a woman.
"Why can't I be both?!"
Tears began to stream from Ranma's eyes as the words came
from his mouth. Another one of his foundation stones had just
crumbled, tumbling away into the darkness. He thought everything
would go back to normal once he finally managed to change back,
but he was starting to see how wrong he was. He wasn't even sure
of what was going on in his own head anymore.
Still, there was one last chance, even though Ranma wasn't
sure that was what he wanted. Ranma ran to his destination, hoping
against hope that what he feared was wrong.
Would the curse be hanging over his head like this for the
rest of his life? Even if he could get rid of it, would he want
to?
"Please don't make me choose..." he whispered.
* * *
Despite the fact that she was usually up at the crack of
dawn, Ukyou Kuonji was not a natural early riser. It was only by
dint of perseverance and a decent opportunity to profit off the
early-morning breakfast rush that got her up with the sun.
Today was no exception. Ukyou rolled out of her futon and
did her best to stand up without falling over. She staggered over
to the tiny bathroom and turned on the cold water faucet in the
sink. She stuck her face underneath and let the water run across
it for several minutes.
More awake after the extended shock of icy water, Ukyou
stood and dried herself off. She ran a comb through her long hair,
but held off pulling it back into the severe ponytail she usually
wore to school. She took a few minutes to brush her teeth and
rinse with mouthwash, and then, deciding that she needed to open
the store if she wanted to make any money before classes started,
started to change out of the pair of cotton panties and the plain,
worn men's dress shirt she wore to bed.
She had pulled the panties off over her hips was just
unbuttoning her shirt when she heard the bang erupt from the
restaurant downstairs. Startled, she grabbed her battle spatula
from its customary place next to her futon. There were two more
loud bangs, each echoing up into Ukyou's room.
Something or someone had just broken into the restaurant.
It leapt up the stairs in two bounds, and was coming for her!
Her bedroom door slid open with a slam and a large,
masculine figure loomed broodingly in the darkness at the top of
the stairwell.
"Oh God, Ranchan. You scared the hell out of me." Ukyou
exhaled, letting her spatula fall to the ground. Then she realized
that most of her body was bared by the unfastened dress-shirt.
Blushing, she jerked her shirt closed and thrust one hand down to
cover her bare delta. She tried to decide which way to turn, not
wanting to expose naked bottom to him."Get out of here, you
jackass! I'm not even dressed yet!" she yelled.
Instead of obeying her commands, Ranma lurched forward,
his arms outstretched and reaching for her.
Ukyou felt panic rising in her chest. Her heart was still
pounding, and she suddenly felt very vulnerable and very afraid.
Then she saw Ranma's face.
He looked like he had been stabbed through the heart. His
expression was wide and full of hurt and need. His eyes were red
and his cheeks were wet with recent tears. She gulped but didn't
try to break free when he wrapped his arms around her. She could
hear and feel his rapid breath in one ear.
"Ranma..."
"Kiss me, Ukyou," he pleaded.
Ukyou started, her eyes opening wide in shock. Did he
really just say--
Her disbelief was obliterated as Ranma pushed his lips
against hers. Her mouth opened almost of its own accord, moving
against Ranma's in response to the outwelling of emotion. After a
few seconds, she felt his tongue start to move over her lips,
delicately exploring her.
What was happening? Had she finally won Ranma away from
the other girls? She hadn't even been trying particularly hard to
make any moves on him since the debacle with the bunny costume.
What had happened to the other girls? Shampoo had gone back to
China, of course. Had Akane given up? Had Ranma broken up with
her? Did he end their engagement? Perhaps they had an argument.
Maybe that's why Ranma was so upset.
Hope began to well up in Ukyou's chest. Regardless of the
causes, Ranma had come to her. He had sought her out, and was
giving her the affection she always knew he had inside him.
Ukyou suddenly realized how weak she felt in the knees. It
didn't matter because Ranma was holding her up with the strength
of his embrace. She suddenly felt a whole lot less like trying to
keep Ranma from seeing her half-naked body. She let go of her
shirt and wrapped her arms around his back, hoping the kiss would
never end.
Indeed, Ranma's hands began to roam over her back, even
over her naked posterior. He squeezed lightly, pulling Ukyou's
hips against his own. Their bodies started to move together.
I may be inexperienced, Ukyou decided, but Ranma is really
good at this. When did he get so good? Does it matter? Do I care?
I might...
Suddenly, Ranma broke away from her. The kiss had ended
but Ranma's eyes still burned. Ukyou struggled to catch her breath
again, not daring to look away from the martial artist's face.
Ranma turned, pulling out of the embrace. He stepped into
the bathroom with one long stride and turned on the water faucet.
Oh God, Ukyou thought, beginning to shake a little bit.
Ranma splashed cold water in his face, triggering the
change. She stepped back over to Ukyou, her eyes no less needy
than before.
"Kiss me again, Ukyou. Please."
Oh god. This was it! This was what it was all about.
"Please Ucchan," Ranma begged. "Please show me that it
doesn't matter. Please..."
Ranma wanted her to... to... to... *gulp*
Could she? Ukyou had wondered long and hard about how she
would react when this moment came. In the back of her head she
knew there was probably no avoiding it. In the dark of night,
Ukyou had lain awake wondering if she'd ever be able to give the
female Ranma the same affection as the male. Small things like
dressing up in cute or sexy outfits weren't really a problem. Even
giving Ranma free okonomiyaki didn't give her any qualms at all.
Hell, she gave all her friends free okonomiyaki all the time,
regardless of gender.
That was it, wasn't it? So long as she didn't have to
touch Ranma, it was okay. Could she touch Ranma as a girl? Could
she kiss another woman... even if she was the man Ukyou loved so
much. Could she?
"Ucchan..."
Trembling, shaking, Ukyou leaned over, trying to make her
lips purse. He eyes wide, she approached Ranma's breathless mouth.
Closer... closer still... I'm going to kiss a woman.
I'm going to kiss a woman.
I'm going to...
I can't do it.
Ukyou's body froze. Her lips were almost touching Ranma's,
but Ukyou just couldn't do the deed. She couldn't kiss another
girl.
She knew Ranma could see the hesitation on her face. Ukyou
could feel her own expression breaking against her will, filling
with disgust. She turned away before Ranma could see. She hoped
Ranma hadn't seen.
Damn.
She turned back to Ranma after doing her best to wipe the
sick expression from her face. The girl's face was twisted as if
in agony. Her fists were balled up at her sides, and tears were
overflowing down her cheeks.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Why did Ranma have to hang it all on
this one thing? Ukyou clenched her eyes shut as anger started to
build inside her. Why on earth couldn't he have been happy with
the kiss?! Couldn't he see how much Ukyou wanted to be with him?
Why did he have to force the issue? Ukyou would have done
anything... *anything* for *him*. Why couldn't he accept that
there were just some things that Ukyou couldn't do for *her*?
How dare he hang it all on that one problem? How dare he
force the issue when Ukyou loved him so much? How could he be so
insensitive as to come to her demanding to do the one thing she
couldn't?
Had Ukyou lost? Was Ranma going to go to one of the other
girls now? Would any of them do what Ukyou could not?
"God, Ranchan, how could you do this to me?" she demanded
angrily, quickly refastening the shirt she was wearing.
She looked up but Ranma was already running back away from
her. She could hear the girl's fleeing footsteps descending the
stairway.
* * *
Akane looked at the pile of books and magazines in a kind
of sick wonderment. How had she collected so many? She didn't
recall spending that much money-- only few hundred yen here or
there.
After her father's speech the day before, her first
reaction was to just gather up the whole lot and throw them in
with the rest of the burnable trash. She sat on her freshly
repaired bed, staring at the stack, wondering if that was truly
the best alternative for dealing with them.
Akane realized that she was spending so much time thinking
about what to do with the magazines so she wouldn't have to think
about... about what she had said... and what she had done.
Kasumi had been alternating between her bedroom and the
kitchen, locking the door behind her. Nabiki still wasn't talking
to her, even though the swelling around her eye had already
started to fade. Taiyoko was infallibly polite, but cringed every
time Akane came near.
And Ranma...
How did everything get so far away from me?
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was
better to think about this mess than it was to figure out the
other. One she simply could clean up. The other would not be so
easy to deal with. No amount of cleaning or scrubbing could change
what happened.
Akane sighed and began to straighten the mess in her
floor. It was a lot simpler than fixing her bed had been, but it
also made her think about her problems no matter how much she
didn't want to.
"When did I buy all this stuff?" she asked, picking up a
copy of a bondage magazine. She flipped through a few pages,
grimaced, and threw it back down. She started to push everything
into one big pile so she could just be rid of it all but then she
saw the cover of a doujinshi on top of the pile.
It was Ranma's naughty Utena doujinshi.
"Pervert," she hissed, picking the book off the top and
opening it.
A nasty little voice in the back of her head noted that it
wasn't Ranma's bedroom floor that was currently ankle-deep with
porn.
Akane sighed, and before she realized it, had started to
re-read the story in the Utena book. It was *highly* perverted,
she thought, but cute in a way, just like the Sailor Moon
doujinshi, or the Tenchi Muyou book that was dedicated entirely to
a hot, romantic relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko, or...
"ARGHGHG! I DON'T LIKE GIRLS!" Akane yelled out loud. It
was a lot easier to just keep saying that over and over again than
admit that she wanted to keep all the ecchi pictures of beautiful
women.
Was the best option just to get rid of it all? Did she
really want rid of it?
After her father's speech, Akane really didn't want to see
the photographic magazines any more, but the only reason she had
for getting rid of the manga and the print books were for the sake
of her ego and her self image.
I'll get rid of those later, Akane told herself. She spent
several minutes sorting through the mess. Doujinshi and other
naughty manga went into one stack. Fiction books-- Akane was smart
enough to realize that they were fiction even if the covers said
something like 'True Stories of Lesbian Passion'-- went into
another. Magazines with photographs went into a plastic garbage
bag. Akane put both the doujinshi and the books on the top shelf
in her closet. It wasn't like she *had* to hide them anymore,
but...
Quickly, suddenly eager to be rid of them, Akane took the
garbage bag down stairs and outside. She tied it up and put it in
the bin for burnable trash.
When she walked back inside, her father and Ranma's were
waiting for her. They both had severe expressions on her face.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked, wondering what *else* had
happened.
"We have come across a matter of great importance to you
and Ranma, Akane," Soun informed her.
"Yes," Genma said in a slightly accusing manner. "Where is
your fiancee, Akane?"
Akane looked away, unable to meet either of the men's
eyes.
"If I remember correctly, you threw him out yesterday
morning, didn't you?" Soun noted in a passive tone.
"Hai," Akane said, staring at the floor. "School is about
to start and--
"This is an important matter, Akane," Genma said. "More
important than a day of school. Find Ranma and bring him back
here."
"But--"
"No buts, Akane," Soun said. "Time is running out."
Akane sighed deeply and stepped back outside.
* * *
Ranma felt stupid. He felt stupid for believing that
either Kodachi, Nabiki, or Ukyou would ever want him without at
least some conditions. Worse, he felt stupid for pressing the
matter once it became important to him.
The answers were starting to become obvious... at least
Ranma hoped they were. There was no hope for Nabiki. She was gone,
lost to Taiyoko if not to Ranma's own masculinity. He was stupid
to think that he ever really had a chance with her. Kodachi and
Ukyou both expected him to *stay* masculine... at least he thought
they did.
He had to cure the curse. That was his only option if he
ever wanted to find love... or was it lust? He didn't know. Did
being attracted to a girl's body meant you loved her? Ranma didn't
think that was the case, but he had been willing to do anything
Kodachi wanted. He would also have done anything for Ukyou, if
only she'd... she'd...
The worst part was that Ranma suddenly didn't want a cure!
He wanted to feel love both ways!
Ranma gagged silently, trying to will himself not to be
sick on the sidewalk in front of him. The realization was painful,
but it had been coming for some time. As a girl, he had loved it
when Nabiki touched him. It was just as wonderful, if not more so,
than when he and Kodachi had touched each other.
My damned body is still making decisions for me, he noted
sadly. Was he that stupid, that his body could do what ever it
wanted as a guy *or* a girl, and he couldn't control it?
He felt pretty stupid.
With that particular circle running round and round in his
mind, he sat forlornly on a park bench near Furinkan high not far
from Ucchan's. Kunou, dressed in his Furinkan High uniform, was
upon him before he realized it.
"Oy, Sempai," Ranma said weakly, hoping that his face
wasn't still red from crying.
Kunou sat down on the bench and laid his bokken across his
knees. He sat back and stared up at the sky.
"How best to say this..." he murmured. "Saotome... I wish
to implore you to forgive my sister."
Ranma clenched his eyes shut. "Like you know about it," he
growled out.
"Indeed," Kunou replied. "But there are many hints as to
what transpired last night-- too many to be ignored. My unclad
sister running down the hallway, screaming her head off. The
pigtailed girl's voice-- your voice-- calling after her. She
refused to come out of her room this morning, you know. She's
quite ashamed of herself for the way she treated you."
Ranma was silent, but still wouldn't meet the kendoist's
eyes.
"Kodachi has a very difficult time... accepting. More
difficult than I do, if you can believe that."
"That would be pretty hard, yeah," Ranma ceded.
"She does care very much about you, and I would very much
like to see the two of you together."
"You just want another shot at Akane," Ranma said,
mockingly.
"I will not lie when I say that the thought has crossed my
mind," Kunou admitted. "But I love my poor, strange sister, and I
believe that she truly loves you."
"I don't know who I love," Ranma admitted in a low,
carefully controlled voice. "Or why. Yeah, it... it coulda
happened between me and her last night, but now that I've thought
about it for a little while, I think that maybe it was just
because she was half-naked when she came onto me. She's pretty...
beautiful even... but I'm not sure I feel the way about her she
does about me. Hell, I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel."
"Decide," Kunou suggested. "It's easy to fall in love with
a woman's body or her face... very easy," he admitted guiltily.
"As I've recently discovered, it's an altogether different matter
to fall in love with a woman's soul."
Ranma started, surprised at Kunou's tacit admission, but
also stunned by the depth of his words.
"If you love my sister, woo her. Seduce her. Make her
yours," Kunou said. "If you're not sure, date her. Treat her.
Enjoy her presence, but do not take advantage of her. If you
decide you don't love her, break her heart and allow her to start
anew."
"I've tried that already!"
"Tell her, 'I can never love you', just like you told me."
Kunou said.
Ranma was silent. Nabiki had said as much to him. "Even
when you're a girl, you're still a man. I could never love a man!"
Was it really that simple? Could Ranma bring himself to do it even
if it was?
"Thanks, Sempai," he said, still unsure what to do.
Kunou nodded and rose. Holding his bokken by his side, he
stared at the sky for a few minutes and strode away.
"Holy crap," Ranma muttered out loud as the tall kendoist
disappeared from view. "I just took love advice from Kunou."
It was a few seconds later when another figure appeared.
It was Akane.
Ranma was silent. A dozen words came to his mouth, but he
bit his tongue to keep them flying out.
She was... distressed. Her face was red. Her eyes, which
would not meet Ranma's, were a mixture of agony, shame, and anger.
Her fists were clenched at her side. She seethed with hatred...
but not at Ranma. It was as if all her loathing was directed
inward.
Finally, Ranma opened his mouth to break the silence.
"Hey--"
"Our-- Sorry," Akane grumbled, stumbling over Ranma's
words. "You go first."
"No, you." Ranma said, unsure of how he felt and even more
unsure of how to deal with the situation.
"My dad and your dad want to see you," she said. "They
sent me to get you."
"Okay."
Akane swallowed obviously. Wordlessly, she turned around,
and walked back to the dojo.
"Are you coming or-- EEE!" she yelped, not realizing that
Ranma had gotten up and was walking behind her before she turned
her head back. "Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"
"Funny," Ranma noted. "That's the second time I got that
today. Ucchan said the same-- ah damn," he cut himself off,
realizing that Akane's face had grown even more red at the mention
of the okonomiyaki chef's name.
"What did you do to her anyway?" Akane asked curiously
after several seconds. "She was swearing about you like a sailor
when I got there."
"You were at Ucchan's?" Ranma asked.
"I was supposed to find you," Akane noted as they walked
along.
"I asked her to kiss me," Ranma said firmly after several
seconds. He clenched his jaw, waiting for the explosion.
Akane turned away, but Ranma could see her start to shake.
Was it anger? Sadness? Finally, she turned her face up to the sky.
Ranma saw a single tear course down her cheek. "I'm not sure why
she would be upset about that. I figured your 'cute' fiancee would
be happy that you had come running into her arms."
"It was in the way I asked," Ranma said flatly.
They walked in silence for several more minutes.
"So," Ranma said in an accusing tone. "You kill Taiyoko
yet?"
"No," Akane said, turning her face back away from him.
"Father said she could stay as long as she wanted. She and Nabiki
slept in the same bed again last night."
Ranma raised one eyebrow. "He's cool with that? Well, I
guess he'd have to be. Two out of three daughters can't be wrong,
can they?"
"I'M NOT A PERVERT!" Akane shouted, turning back to Ranma.
"I ain't the one who keeps saying 'Pervert'," Ranma
snapped back.
Akane opened her mouth to retort, but nothing made its way
out.
"Go ahead, slap me again," Ranma encouraged. "It'll make
you feel better."
Akane let her arm fall. She didn't even realize that it
had come up. Her face bowed in defeat and shame, she turned back
away from Ranma.
"Just tell me one thing, Akane," Ranma said quietly,
almost wistfully, a few seconds later.
"And what's that?" Akane demanded defensively.
"Why?" Ranma said, staring her straight in the eyes.
Akane flinched away from his glance. "Why what?"
"Why all of it," Ranma clarified. "Why the girly
magazines? Why try to kill Nabiki and Taiyoko? I mean, I was
surprised too... even angry, but you just kinda went nutzoid night
before last. I guess... more than anything else I wanna know why
if you were interested in girls... you weren't interested in me."
"I'm not..." Akane started to stammer. "I'm..."
Akane glanced up at Ranma, but saw no accusation in his
face. There was only loss and sadness.
"When you had your surgery," she began. "Doctor Tofuu said
you had developed more female sexuality than you had male
sexuality."
Ranma nodded. He vaguely remembered something to that
effect, but hadn't really thought about it. At the time, he
thought the doctors were talking about his curse, but didn't
really understand what they meant. He thought they meant his girl-
body was more attractive than his real form and hadn't thought
about it since. Now it meant something altogether different.
"But that ain't the case, right Akane? Right?"
Akane couldn't quite meet Ranma's boring gaze.
"Tell me that ain't right, Akane."
"You were a girl for three months, Ranma," Akane said.
"And before that, you had times when you acted more like a girl
than a boy. When you first got hurt, you acted like a girl, and
that wasn't the first time that happened. I thought to myself,
right at first, that sometimes you were more feminine than I was."
Ranma exhaled deeply, unsure of how to react to Akane's
statement. She wasn't being insulting, but that didn't mean the
words didn't sting any less, or that they didn't echo Ranma's own
feelings from earlier. How could he even *think* about wanting it
as a girl if at least a little of what Akane said wasn't true.
He sneered and started to snap back at Akane for her
comments. "That still doesn't explain why--"
"I didn't know if I'd be able to marry a woman," Akane
said out loud, cutting him off. "But the idea that I might have to
started to seem more and more realistic. I tried to get closer to
you, and you seemed interested... but then you kissed Kunou."
Ranma exhaled deeply.
"Suddenly, I was thinking a lot more about what a husband
and wife do together. I also started wondering about what two
women would do together," she continued, her voice shaking, "since
you and I might have to do that. I saw a page in that filthy manga
you brought home, and it showed two girls together, so I thought
that maybe that would be a good place to start. I bought a couple
of manga like it and... and... and..."
"And?"
"They were wonderful," Akane said, shuddering. "They were
so romantic and so sexy. Nobody ever yelled at each other in the
stories. Nobody ever fought. They were all just in love with each
other, and then they... they..." Akane coughed, unable to finish
her sentence. "After I read them, I bought a magazine that had the
same kind of things in it. I bought a book with stories about
women... together... in it and... and... and..." Akane took a deep
breath, but was unable to stop the shaking. "I realized something
was wrong with me. Girls aren't supposed to like those kinds of
things, right?"
"Apparently some of them do, or Nabiki and Taiyoko
wouldn't have gotten together," Ranma noted.
"I was frightened," Akane continued. "I'm still not sure
that something's not wrong with me. It's just not right, like
Kasumi said. Before I saw what Nabiki and Taiyoko were doing, I
was convinced I could stop liking that kind of thing if I tried
hard enough!"
"So you like girls now," Ranma summarized. "But you think
there's something messed up about that, so you tried to kill
Nabiki when she admitted she liked girls too."
"No!" Akane countered. Her face was full of indecision and
self-loathing. "Yes... no... I don't know."
Ranma sighed deeply.
"Then you said... you said that Nabiki had touched you,"
Akane continued. "Did you... Did Nabiki and you..."
"Did I have sex with Nabiki?" Ranma guessed.
Akane paled, and looked away.
"I could have. I was so close to it that it probably
didn't matter," he told her honestly. "We were touching each
other. It was only because I was afraid we'd get caught that we
didn't. 'Course that pissed her off and sent her running to
Taiyoko. I think you heard all about how that turned out."
Akane's shaking had increased. Her hair had fallen down
over her eyes, but Ranma could see that her cheeks and ears were
burning red.
"Oh, if that pisses you off, you're gonna love this,"
Ranma added nonchalantly. "I tried to have sex with Kodachi last
night, but she ran away from me after she spilled champagne down
my back and turned me into a girl. That was a real kick in the
nuts... even if I was a girl at the time."
"You... you..."
"I ain't been thinkin' real straight lately," Ranma said.
"I think I know what guys mean now when they say they've been
thinking with their dicks." He looked away from her. The sight was
just too painful. "I haven't had anything to hold onto. I can look
back now and wonder what would have happened if you were
interested in me. One kiss would have saved me, Akane."
Several seconds of silenced passed between the two before
Akane started sniffling.
"It's all messed up now, isn't it?" she asked, crying.
"There's no chance at all, is there?"
"No," Ranma said, feeling more tired than he ever had
before in his life. "No, there ain't."
* * *
When Ranma and Akane walked back into the Tendou home,
there were significantly more people there than either of them
expected.
"Ranma-sama, please--"
"Ranchan, you have to--"
Kodachi and Ukyou mobbed Ranma from either side, each
grabbing an arm.
"Ranchan," Ukyou said, trying to drown out Ukyou. "I'm
sorry about what happened earlier. If you'll just give me another
chance then I'm certain that I'll be able to learn how to--"
"Ranma-sama," Kodachi raised her voice. "You must return
to the Kunou mansion so that I can try to make up for last night's
unfortunate incident."
"Unfortunate incident?" Ukyou demanded.
"And what would you care about it, servant?" Kodachi
sniped.
"Well, Ranchan *kissed* me this morning!"
"You aren't the only one," Akane muttered darkly as the
pushed past the three into the main room.
Inside, Tofuu-sensei was waiting with all the Tendous,
Saotomes and Taiyoko. They looked on curiously
"He kissed you?! He kissed me first!" Kodachi cried out,
raising her voice. "Isn't that right, my darling?"
Ranma didn't even struggle as they tugged back and forth
on his arms.
How did everything get so far away from me? He shook his
head, not understanding, but beginning to lose hope. Was Nabiki
right? Did he *need* a harem to be happy? Ranma certainly didn't
feel happy. He felt like he was in over his head. He felt like
there was somehow a battle going on around him, and that we was
about to lose-- lose big.
"Ranma-sama, tell this hussy how close we are!" Kodachi
urged him. "Tell her how much you love me!"
"How close you are?! Ranchan, you better let the lunatic
know she's hallucinating."
Ranma felt sick to his stomach. Before he changed back
into a guy, everyone had been getting along so well. Everyone had
become friends, and was willing to have a good time together
without worrying about romance, love, or sex. Now he was in
exactly the same boat he was before the damned surgery. The girls
were fighting. Akane was mad at him and he suspected from Kodachi
and Ukyou's rising voices that they would soon would be too.
The thing that really dug into his skin was that this
really was all his own fault. This was the result of letting his
body do his thinking for him.
"Ranma," Genma said in a voice loud enough to drown out
the girls. "Come in here."
Eager to get away from being ripped in half, Ranma pulled
free and walked into the main room. He noticed that all eyes were
on him. He glanced at his father for direction, but Genma's face
was impassive. He noted that his mother sat to next to the man in
one of her newer dresses, holding Genma's hand. Kasumi and Nabiki
were present, but were sitting across the room from each other.
Nabiki was openly holding hands with Taiyoko. Kasumi seemed a
little jumpy, but kept her silence.
"Sit down, Ranma-chan," Nodoka urged over the cacophony of
the argument raging behind Ranma.
Ranma nodded and kneeled down. Nodoka glared over her
son's shoulder until both Kodachi and Ukyou got the hint to shut
up.
"Ranma," Soun said, "I understand that you've had some
problems with my daughters in the last few days."
Ranma didn't even have to answer. He just rubbed his eyes
in weariness.
"We've had a bit of an upheaval," Soun noted, almost as if
it was no big deal. "And while you may have been the catalyst for
what happened, I believe that it would have happened sooner or
later regardless of your involvement. That does not mean that
matters here are not very problematic, or that your presence isn't
making a bad mess worse."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Ukyou demanded.
Kodachi, however, was suspiciously eyeing Nabiki and Taiyoko,
alternating expressions of disgust and suspicion on her face.
"That said, I think it's best to modify the arrangement
between our families, at least in the short term."
Ranma looked up, a sick, queasy feeling in his gut. He
suddenly knew what was about to happen.
"The engagement between Ranma and Akane is dissolved,"
Genma said. "At least until the problems here at the Tendou Dojo
are resolved."
Yet another foundation stone crumbled out from underneath
Ranma and fell away. He felt like he had been stabbed. He honestly
didn't know how he stayed upright.
Ukyou smiled triumphantly, her mouth opened to proclaim
her possession of Ranma.
Kodachi was similarly about to start shouting, but Genma
held his hand up, silencing both girls.
Ranma's last handle on the situation was gone. He was
losing a fight he didn't even know the rules for. He didn't even
know what he was fighting for. He just knew that the consequences
of losing would affect him for the rest of his life.
"Now that that's taken care of," Genma said, "I have a
proposition for you, Ranma."
Ranma nodded sickly, eager to get all the bad news out at
once.
"Your mother and I happened across an old acquaintance a
few days ago," Genma said. "One with a lucrative business
proposition. He is going to be in a highly profitable situation
for the next few months, but needs the kind of protection that
only highly trained martial artists could give him."
"So what's the catch, old thief?" Ukyou asked from behind
Ranma.
"Indeed," Kodachi retorted. "Why should Ranma partake of
this proposition when he could lounge in luxury at the Kunou
mansion under my tender care?"
"Or with me at the restaurant?" Ukyou appended.
Nodoka cleared her throat. "The catch is that you'll have
to leave the country, son. Your father and I have already decided
to go. We really do need the money and this is a good opportunity
for your father. I also believe it's a good opportunity for you. I
love you and I want you to be happy, so I'll understand if you
choose to stay here with the Tendous or with one of your
girlfriends. We'll both understand," she said, squeezing her
husband's hand.
"Doctor Tofuu says that you are fit and healthy enough for
this, even after your surgery," Genma said. Tofuu nodded his
agreement. "Will you come, Ranma?" the bald man asked.
Ranma closed his eyes.
Three months ago, he didn't know that there was this much
pain or suffering involved in love... or merely trying to figured
out who you loved. He also had no clue that the temptation of the
body or the heart could be so confusing.
Indeed, Ranma had gone through his entire 'harem' in a
matter of days. Now that he had acknowledged his needs and desires
to each of the girls, he doubted anything could ever go back to
being like it was.
What was the best way out of this situation? What was the
best way to defeat this enemy of Ranma's own making? Could it be
defeated?
"Yes." Ranma whispered. Any enemy could be defeated if
only you knew how!
"Son?" Genma asked.
Ranma didn't know how to defeat this enemy. Hell, he
didn't even know how to control his own body. He was losing the
fight, and if he didn't get away from the situation, there would
be no hope of winning.
He needed time away... time to figure out what was going
on... time to figure out how to keep from losing this war of love
and lust before it was too late.
"I'll go," Ranma said, opening his eyes.
"I've already packed your clothes," Nodoka said. "And a
taxi is coming for us in just a few minutes. We'll be boarding a
flight out of the country this afternoon."
Ranma nodded. "Do I need a new passport or anything?"
"I've already taken care of that," Genma said. "Get your
bags, Ranma."
"Wait a second!" Ukyou protested. "Where ever my Ranchan
goes, I'll go too!"
"I'll be damned before I let him get away again," Kodachi
agreed. "I must go with Ranma to comfort him."
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," Nodoka told both the
girls. "I'm certain Ranma would love to have you along, but we
promised not to tell anyone where we were going for security
reasons."
Ranma was already running up the stairs. He darted into
his room, seeing it laid bare and empty. Every possession he had
in the world was in a backpack and a small athletic bag leaned
against each other in the middle of the floor. He quickly
shouldered both bags and ran back down stairs.
The front door was open, and a taxi was waiting in the
street beyond. All eyes were on him.
Kodachi and Ukyou's eyes bored into him. Both their faces
will filled with shock.
Akane's eyes were on him. Tears ran down her cheeks.
It was like there were dozens of hooks in his body,
holding him back. This hurt more than anything else Ranma had ever
experienced. It was worse than being beat on by Ryouga or Mousse.
It was even worse than having his head cut open.
"I'm sorry about this," Ranma said, his voice catching.
Then he left the Tendou Dojo.
* * *
Ranma was gone.
Even though it had been just a few seconds, it seemed like
it had been an eternity. The taxi had already disappeared down the
street. Kodachi and Ukyou each thought that they might be able to
catch up with the car and find a way to follow Ranma wherever he
was going.
It was just too shocking. How could Ranma have left? There
was a huge hole in the room where Ranma wasn't.
Akane turned away from the sight of the disappearing taxi,
unable to watch any longer.
"I think you girls should leave now," Soun said, stepping
up between Kodachi and Ukyou. "We have several things we need to
work out."
"H-hai..." Ukyou murmured, tears beginning to run down her
face.
"I'm certain he'll let you know just as soon as he
returns," Soun told them. Gently, yet firmly, he ushered them out
of the house and saw them off in opposite directions.
That task done, he stepped back inside the house.
Akane was kneeling in the middle of the floor with her
face in her hands, weeping silently.
"Akane," her father said, taking a deep breath. "Do you
have something to say to your sister or Taiyoko?"
It was a few seconds before Akane could speak, but
eventually, she croaked out, "I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I
tried to hurt you."
Nabiki sighed at great length and rolled her eyes. Taiyoko
patted the dark-haired girl once on the shoulder, before backing
away quickly.
"We have many things to discuss, Akane," Soun announced.
"With the end of the engagement, we need talk about what's going
to happen to the dojo. As you know, I can't simply pass it on to
you because of inheritance taxes. We don't have enough money to
pay them and I don't think that's going to change any time in the
near future. We could have easily side-stepped that if I had given
the dojo to Ranma, and therefore to you by proxy as his wife."
But... Ranma was gone. Akane bowed her head, utterly
defeated.
"Since it looks like that will no longer be the case, I've
talked with Tofuu-sensei about taking over the dojo when I retire.
The dojo will legally belong to him, but you will continue to
practice here and hopefully teach martial arts classes here.
Nabiki has agreed to help by keeping the dojo's finances in order.
The doctor will be paying her a small fee to do book keeping for
both the dojo and his office."
"Hai..." Akane replied meekly.
"Is this what you want, Akane?" Soun asked. "Is this what
you're willing to settle for?"
Akane couldn't answer. Ranma was gone. Her heart had been
ripped out, and all she could feel was loss and pain. She had been
so mad and so fearful, but now that the martial artist had left,
there was nothing in her but regret for what she had done and what
she had said.
"Don't you want more?" Soun demanded. "Doesn't some small
part of you want to be with Ranma?"
Even if she did, wouldn't Ranma just run off with one of
the other girls at the first opportunity? Wasn't it hopeless?
Didn't he hate her now? Wasn't she still mad at him for everything
he had done, and everyone he had done it with?
"One kiss would have saved me, Akane," Ranma had told her.
"What else can I do?" Akane bawled.
"You have one last chance, Akane," Soun said, holding out
a airline ticket and a new passport booklet.
Akane's eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief.
"If you want to inherit the dojo with Ranma, then I expect
you to be on the plane this afternoon, Akane."
"But... but... but..."
"If not... If you stay here, the plans I just talked about
will go forward. It's your choice, Akane."
"But... but... but..."
"We already packed your stuff, Akane," Nabiki said, not
meeting her sister's disbelieving stare.
"That's right," Kasumi said, somewhat evasively. "Nabiki
and Taiyoko were... helpful."
"But... but... but..."
Tofuu knelt down in front of her. "My car's running out
back, Akane. We can be at the airport in just a few minutes.
Still favoring one eye, Nabiki knelt down next to Akane
and grabbed her by the arms. She pulled the shorter girl to her
feet. Then, quite deliberately, she leaned over and kissed Akane
on the cheek. Akane tried to pull away in alarm, but Nabiki
wouldn't let her go.
"Akane... you'll always wonder if you don't try," Nabiki
whispered in her ear, tightening her grip and digging her nails
into Akane's forearm. "You'll be left wondering for the rest of
your life what you could have had if don't take this opportunity.
If you *don't* take this opportunity, I promise you that I will do
everything I can to make your life a living hell."
Akane backed away from her sister, her mouth working open
and closed like a fish out of water.
"Go, Akane," Kasumi urged her. "Remember that your family
loves you."
"Will you go, Akane?" Soun asked, holding the tickets out
to his daughter.
A second of silence passed between those assembled in the
Tendou's front room.
Finally, Akane opened her mouth.
"Yes."
- - -
~to be concluded
here without permission.
------------------------------
newRanma 19: Leaving
by Chris Jones
------------------------------
As the sun ran over Nerima Ward, Ranma ran like a man
possessed. The rejection he had suffered just a few hours earlier
was still fresh in his mind. It was like an open wound. Kodachi's
glare of horror burned into Ranma's mind like a laser.
She wants me! She doesn't want me!
Angrily, fearfully, Ranma shook his head. Just when he
thought it didn't matter any more, the curse raised its ugly head.
The hell of it was, when Ranma started trying to figure out how to
get rid of his cursed girl-body, a new thought invaded his
consciousness.
It was Nabiki, in the Tendou's restroom, clad in only her
panties. Her hands roamed over Ranma's body, touching Ranma's most
sensitive and private places. She wanted Ranma to touch her in
return.
"Take my panties off," Nabiki commanded.
Ranma had wanted to do that more than anything else in the
world right then. She wanted to make love to Nabiki... and it
didn't matter if Ranma was a girl or a boy. In fact, when Ranma
tried to think of how the situation would proceed if he was a he
instead of a she, it just didn't work. Nabiki wanted Ranma as a
woman, but not as a man.
The night before, Kodachi's horror and repulsion at her
female body was so clear that Ranma could feel it coming off her
in waves. Kodachi wanted Ranma as a man, but not as a woman.
I want that! I don't want that!
"Why can't I have both?!" Ranma screamed out loud as he
ran.
Nabiki told him. Nabiki said that she could never love a
man. Ranma would never have her love as a man. He could never be
with Kodachi as a woman.
"Why can't I be both?!"
Tears began to stream from Ranma's eyes as the words came
from his mouth. Another one of his foundation stones had just
crumbled, tumbling away into the darkness. He thought everything
would go back to normal once he finally managed to change back,
but he was starting to see how wrong he was. He wasn't even sure
of what was going on in his own head anymore.
Still, there was one last chance, even though Ranma wasn't
sure that was what he wanted. Ranma ran to his destination, hoping
against hope that what he feared was wrong.
Would the curse be hanging over his head like this for the
rest of his life? Even if he could get rid of it, would he want
to?
"Please don't make me choose..." he whispered.
* * *
Despite the fact that she was usually up at the crack of
dawn, Ukyou Kuonji was not a natural early riser. It was only by
dint of perseverance and a decent opportunity to profit off the
early-morning breakfast rush that got her up with the sun.
Today was no exception. Ukyou rolled out of her futon and
did her best to stand up without falling over. She staggered over
to the tiny bathroom and turned on the cold water faucet in the
sink. She stuck her face underneath and let the water run across
it for several minutes.
More awake after the extended shock of icy water, Ukyou
stood and dried herself off. She ran a comb through her long hair,
but held off pulling it back into the severe ponytail she usually
wore to school. She took a few minutes to brush her teeth and
rinse with mouthwash, and then, deciding that she needed to open
the store if she wanted to make any money before classes started,
started to change out of the pair of cotton panties and the plain,
worn men's dress shirt she wore to bed.
She had pulled the panties off over her hips was just
unbuttoning her shirt when she heard the bang erupt from the
restaurant downstairs. Startled, she grabbed her battle spatula
from its customary place next to her futon. There were two more
loud bangs, each echoing up into Ukyou's room.
Something or someone had just broken into the restaurant.
It leapt up the stairs in two bounds, and was coming for her!
Her bedroom door slid open with a slam and a large,
masculine figure loomed broodingly in the darkness at the top of
the stairwell.
"Oh God, Ranchan. You scared the hell out of me." Ukyou
exhaled, letting her spatula fall to the ground. Then she realized
that most of her body was bared by the unfastened dress-shirt.
Blushing, she jerked her shirt closed and thrust one hand down to
cover her bare delta. She tried to decide which way to turn, not
wanting to expose naked bottom to him."Get out of here, you
jackass! I'm not even dressed yet!" she yelled.
Instead of obeying her commands, Ranma lurched forward,
his arms outstretched and reaching for her.
Ukyou felt panic rising in her chest. Her heart was still
pounding, and she suddenly felt very vulnerable and very afraid.
Then she saw Ranma's face.
He looked like he had been stabbed through the heart. His
expression was wide and full of hurt and need. His eyes were red
and his cheeks were wet with recent tears. She gulped but didn't
try to break free when he wrapped his arms around her. She could
hear and feel his rapid breath in one ear.
"Ranma..."
"Kiss me, Ukyou," he pleaded.
Ukyou started, her eyes opening wide in shock. Did he
really just say--
Her disbelief was obliterated as Ranma pushed his lips
against hers. Her mouth opened almost of its own accord, moving
against Ranma's in response to the outwelling of emotion. After a
few seconds, she felt his tongue start to move over her lips,
delicately exploring her.
What was happening? Had she finally won Ranma away from
the other girls? She hadn't even been trying particularly hard to
make any moves on him since the debacle with the bunny costume.
What had happened to the other girls? Shampoo had gone back to
China, of course. Had Akane given up? Had Ranma broken up with
her? Did he end their engagement? Perhaps they had an argument.
Maybe that's why Ranma was so upset.
Hope began to well up in Ukyou's chest. Regardless of the
causes, Ranma had come to her. He had sought her out, and was
giving her the affection she always knew he had inside him.
Ukyou suddenly realized how weak she felt in the knees. It
didn't matter because Ranma was holding her up with the strength
of his embrace. She suddenly felt a whole lot less like trying to
keep Ranma from seeing her half-naked body. She let go of her
shirt and wrapped her arms around his back, hoping the kiss would
never end.
Indeed, Ranma's hands began to roam over her back, even
over her naked posterior. He squeezed lightly, pulling Ukyou's
hips against his own. Their bodies started to move together.
I may be inexperienced, Ukyou decided, but Ranma is really
good at this. When did he get so good? Does it matter? Do I care?
I might...
Suddenly, Ranma broke away from her. The kiss had ended
but Ranma's eyes still burned. Ukyou struggled to catch her breath
again, not daring to look away from the martial artist's face.
Ranma turned, pulling out of the embrace. He stepped into
the bathroom with one long stride and turned on the water faucet.
Oh God, Ukyou thought, beginning to shake a little bit.
Ranma splashed cold water in his face, triggering the
change. She stepped back over to Ukyou, her eyes no less needy
than before.
"Kiss me again, Ukyou. Please."
Oh god. This was it! This was what it was all about.
"Please Ucchan," Ranma begged. "Please show me that it
doesn't matter. Please..."
Ranma wanted her to... to... to... *gulp*
Could she? Ukyou had wondered long and hard about how she
would react when this moment came. In the back of her head she
knew there was probably no avoiding it. In the dark of night,
Ukyou had lain awake wondering if she'd ever be able to give the
female Ranma the same affection as the male. Small things like
dressing up in cute or sexy outfits weren't really a problem. Even
giving Ranma free okonomiyaki didn't give her any qualms at all.
Hell, she gave all her friends free okonomiyaki all the time,
regardless of gender.
That was it, wasn't it? So long as she didn't have to
touch Ranma, it was okay. Could she touch Ranma as a girl? Could
she kiss another woman... even if she was the man Ukyou loved so
much. Could she?
"Ucchan..."
Trembling, shaking, Ukyou leaned over, trying to make her
lips purse. He eyes wide, she approached Ranma's breathless mouth.
Closer... closer still... I'm going to kiss a woman.
I'm going to kiss a woman.
I'm going to...
I can't do it.
Ukyou's body froze. Her lips were almost touching Ranma's,
but Ukyou just couldn't do the deed. She couldn't kiss another
girl.
She knew Ranma could see the hesitation on her face. Ukyou
could feel her own expression breaking against her will, filling
with disgust. She turned away before Ranma could see. She hoped
Ranma hadn't seen.
Damn.
She turned back to Ranma after doing her best to wipe the
sick expression from her face. The girl's face was twisted as if
in agony. Her fists were balled up at her sides, and tears were
overflowing down her cheeks.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Why did Ranma have to hang it all on
this one thing? Ukyou clenched her eyes shut as anger started to
build inside her. Why on earth couldn't he have been happy with
the kiss?! Couldn't he see how much Ukyou wanted to be with him?
Why did he have to force the issue? Ukyou would have done
anything... *anything* for *him*. Why couldn't he accept that
there were just some things that Ukyou couldn't do for *her*?
How dare he hang it all on that one problem? How dare he
force the issue when Ukyou loved him so much? How could he be so
insensitive as to come to her demanding to do the one thing she
couldn't?
Had Ukyou lost? Was Ranma going to go to one of the other
girls now? Would any of them do what Ukyou could not?
"God, Ranchan, how could you do this to me?" she demanded
angrily, quickly refastening the shirt she was wearing.
She looked up but Ranma was already running back away from
her. She could hear the girl's fleeing footsteps descending the
stairway.
* * *
Akane looked at the pile of books and magazines in a kind
of sick wonderment. How had she collected so many? She didn't
recall spending that much money-- only few hundred yen here or
there.
After her father's speech the day before, her first
reaction was to just gather up the whole lot and throw them in
with the rest of the burnable trash. She sat on her freshly
repaired bed, staring at the stack, wondering if that was truly
the best alternative for dealing with them.
Akane realized that she was spending so much time thinking
about what to do with the magazines so she wouldn't have to think
about... about what she had said... and what she had done.
Kasumi had been alternating between her bedroom and the
kitchen, locking the door behind her. Nabiki still wasn't talking
to her, even though the swelling around her eye had already
started to fade. Taiyoko was infallibly polite, but cringed every
time Akane came near.
And Ranma...
How did everything get so far away from me?
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was
better to think about this mess than it was to figure out the
other. One she simply could clean up. The other would not be so
easy to deal with. No amount of cleaning or scrubbing could change
what happened.
Akane sighed and began to straighten the mess in her
floor. It was a lot simpler than fixing her bed had been, but it
also made her think about her problems no matter how much she
didn't want to.
"When did I buy all this stuff?" she asked, picking up a
copy of a bondage magazine. She flipped through a few pages,
grimaced, and threw it back down. She started to push everything
into one big pile so she could just be rid of it all but then she
saw the cover of a doujinshi on top of the pile.
It was Ranma's naughty Utena doujinshi.
"Pervert," she hissed, picking the book off the top and
opening it.
A nasty little voice in the back of her head noted that it
wasn't Ranma's bedroom floor that was currently ankle-deep with
porn.
Akane sighed, and before she realized it, had started to
re-read the story in the Utena book. It was *highly* perverted,
she thought, but cute in a way, just like the Sailor Moon
doujinshi, or the Tenchi Muyou book that was dedicated entirely to
a hot, romantic relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko, or...
"ARGHGHG! I DON'T LIKE GIRLS!" Akane yelled out loud. It
was a lot easier to just keep saying that over and over again than
admit that she wanted to keep all the ecchi pictures of beautiful
women.
Was the best option just to get rid of it all? Did she
really want rid of it?
After her father's speech, Akane really didn't want to see
the photographic magazines any more, but the only reason she had
for getting rid of the manga and the print books were for the sake
of her ego and her self image.
I'll get rid of those later, Akane told herself. She spent
several minutes sorting through the mess. Doujinshi and other
naughty manga went into one stack. Fiction books-- Akane was smart
enough to realize that they were fiction even if the covers said
something like 'True Stories of Lesbian Passion'-- went into
another. Magazines with photographs went into a plastic garbage
bag. Akane put both the doujinshi and the books on the top shelf
in her closet. It wasn't like she *had* to hide them anymore,
but...
Quickly, suddenly eager to be rid of them, Akane took the
garbage bag down stairs and outside. She tied it up and put it in
the bin for burnable trash.
When she walked back inside, her father and Ranma's were
waiting for her. They both had severe expressions on her face.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked, wondering what *else* had
happened.
"We have come across a matter of great importance to you
and Ranma, Akane," Soun informed her.
"Yes," Genma said in a slightly accusing manner. "Where is
your fiancee, Akane?"
Akane looked away, unable to meet either of the men's
eyes.
"If I remember correctly, you threw him out yesterday
morning, didn't you?" Soun noted in a passive tone.
"Hai," Akane said, staring at the floor. "School is about
to start and--
"This is an important matter, Akane," Genma said. "More
important than a day of school. Find Ranma and bring him back
here."
"But--"
"No buts, Akane," Soun said. "Time is running out."
Akane sighed deeply and stepped back outside.
* * *
Ranma felt stupid. He felt stupid for believing that
either Kodachi, Nabiki, or Ukyou would ever want him without at
least some conditions. Worse, he felt stupid for pressing the
matter once it became important to him.
The answers were starting to become obvious... at least
Ranma hoped they were. There was no hope for Nabiki. She was gone,
lost to Taiyoko if not to Ranma's own masculinity. He was stupid
to think that he ever really had a chance with her. Kodachi and
Ukyou both expected him to *stay* masculine... at least he thought
they did.
He had to cure the curse. That was his only option if he
ever wanted to find love... or was it lust? He didn't know. Did
being attracted to a girl's body meant you loved her? Ranma didn't
think that was the case, but he had been willing to do anything
Kodachi wanted. He would also have done anything for Ukyou, if
only she'd... she'd...
The worst part was that Ranma suddenly didn't want a cure!
He wanted to feel love both ways!
Ranma gagged silently, trying to will himself not to be
sick on the sidewalk in front of him. The realization was painful,
but it had been coming for some time. As a girl, he had loved it
when Nabiki touched him. It was just as wonderful, if not more so,
than when he and Kodachi had touched each other.
My damned body is still making decisions for me, he noted
sadly. Was he that stupid, that his body could do what ever it
wanted as a guy *or* a girl, and he couldn't control it?
He felt pretty stupid.
With that particular circle running round and round in his
mind, he sat forlornly on a park bench near Furinkan high not far
from Ucchan's. Kunou, dressed in his Furinkan High uniform, was
upon him before he realized it.
"Oy, Sempai," Ranma said weakly, hoping that his face
wasn't still red from crying.
Kunou sat down on the bench and laid his bokken across his
knees. He sat back and stared up at the sky.
"How best to say this..." he murmured. "Saotome... I wish
to implore you to forgive my sister."
Ranma clenched his eyes shut. "Like you know about it," he
growled out.
"Indeed," Kunou replied. "But there are many hints as to
what transpired last night-- too many to be ignored. My unclad
sister running down the hallway, screaming her head off. The
pigtailed girl's voice-- your voice-- calling after her. She
refused to come out of her room this morning, you know. She's
quite ashamed of herself for the way she treated you."
Ranma was silent, but still wouldn't meet the kendoist's
eyes.
"Kodachi has a very difficult time... accepting. More
difficult than I do, if you can believe that."
"That would be pretty hard, yeah," Ranma ceded.
"She does care very much about you, and I would very much
like to see the two of you together."
"You just want another shot at Akane," Ranma said,
mockingly.
"I will not lie when I say that the thought has crossed my
mind," Kunou admitted. "But I love my poor, strange sister, and I
believe that she truly loves you."
"I don't know who I love," Ranma admitted in a low,
carefully controlled voice. "Or why. Yeah, it... it coulda
happened between me and her last night, but now that I've thought
about it for a little while, I think that maybe it was just
because she was half-naked when she came onto me. She's pretty...
beautiful even... but I'm not sure I feel the way about her she
does about me. Hell, I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel."
"Decide," Kunou suggested. "It's easy to fall in love with
a woman's body or her face... very easy," he admitted guiltily.
"As I've recently discovered, it's an altogether different matter
to fall in love with a woman's soul."
Ranma started, surprised at Kunou's tacit admission, but
also stunned by the depth of his words.
"If you love my sister, woo her. Seduce her. Make her
yours," Kunou said. "If you're not sure, date her. Treat her.
Enjoy her presence, but do not take advantage of her. If you
decide you don't love her, break her heart and allow her to start
anew."
"I've tried that already!"
"Tell her, 'I can never love you', just like you told me."
Kunou said.
Ranma was silent. Nabiki had said as much to him. "Even
when you're a girl, you're still a man. I could never love a man!"
Was it really that simple? Could Ranma bring himself to do it even
if it was?
"Thanks, Sempai," he said, still unsure what to do.
Kunou nodded and rose. Holding his bokken by his side, he
stared at the sky for a few minutes and strode away.
"Holy crap," Ranma muttered out loud as the tall kendoist
disappeared from view. "I just took love advice from Kunou."
It was a few seconds later when another figure appeared.
It was Akane.
Ranma was silent. A dozen words came to his mouth, but he
bit his tongue to keep them flying out.
She was... distressed. Her face was red. Her eyes, which
would not meet Ranma's, were a mixture of agony, shame, and anger.
Her fists were clenched at her side. She seethed with hatred...
but not at Ranma. It was as if all her loathing was directed
inward.
Finally, Ranma opened his mouth to break the silence.
"Hey--"
"Our-- Sorry," Akane grumbled, stumbling over Ranma's
words. "You go first."
"No, you." Ranma said, unsure of how he felt and even more
unsure of how to deal with the situation.
"My dad and your dad want to see you," she said. "They
sent me to get you."
"Okay."
Akane swallowed obviously. Wordlessly, she turned around,
and walked back to the dojo.
"Are you coming or-- EEE!" she yelped, not realizing that
Ranma had gotten up and was walking behind her before she turned
her head back. "Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"
"Funny," Ranma noted. "That's the second time I got that
today. Ucchan said the same-- ah damn," he cut himself off,
realizing that Akane's face had grown even more red at the mention
of the okonomiyaki chef's name.
"What did you do to her anyway?" Akane asked curiously
after several seconds. "She was swearing about you like a sailor
when I got there."
"You were at Ucchan's?" Ranma asked.
"I was supposed to find you," Akane noted as they walked
along.
"I asked her to kiss me," Ranma said firmly after several
seconds. He clenched his jaw, waiting for the explosion.
Akane turned away, but Ranma could see her start to shake.
Was it anger? Sadness? Finally, she turned her face up to the sky.
Ranma saw a single tear course down her cheek. "I'm not sure why
she would be upset about that. I figured your 'cute' fiancee would
be happy that you had come running into her arms."
"It was in the way I asked," Ranma said flatly.
They walked in silence for several more minutes.
"So," Ranma said in an accusing tone. "You kill Taiyoko
yet?"
"No," Akane said, turning her face back away from him.
"Father said she could stay as long as she wanted. She and Nabiki
slept in the same bed again last night."
Ranma raised one eyebrow. "He's cool with that? Well, I
guess he'd have to be. Two out of three daughters can't be wrong,
can they?"
"I'M NOT A PERVERT!" Akane shouted, turning back to Ranma.
"I ain't the one who keeps saying 'Pervert'," Ranma
snapped back.
Akane opened her mouth to retort, but nothing made its way
out.
"Go ahead, slap me again," Ranma encouraged. "It'll make
you feel better."
Akane let her arm fall. She didn't even realize that it
had come up. Her face bowed in defeat and shame, she turned back
away from Ranma.
"Just tell me one thing, Akane," Ranma said quietly,
almost wistfully, a few seconds later.
"And what's that?" Akane demanded defensively.
"Why?" Ranma said, staring her straight in the eyes.
Akane flinched away from his glance. "Why what?"
"Why all of it," Ranma clarified. "Why the girly
magazines? Why try to kill Nabiki and Taiyoko? I mean, I was
surprised too... even angry, but you just kinda went nutzoid night
before last. I guess... more than anything else I wanna know why
if you were interested in girls... you weren't interested in me."
"I'm not..." Akane started to stammer. "I'm..."
Akane glanced up at Ranma, but saw no accusation in his
face. There was only loss and sadness.
"When you had your surgery," she began. "Doctor Tofuu said
you had developed more female sexuality than you had male
sexuality."
Ranma nodded. He vaguely remembered something to that
effect, but hadn't really thought about it. At the time, he
thought the doctors were talking about his curse, but didn't
really understand what they meant. He thought they meant his girl-
body was more attractive than his real form and hadn't thought
about it since. Now it meant something altogether different.
"But that ain't the case, right Akane? Right?"
Akane couldn't quite meet Ranma's boring gaze.
"Tell me that ain't right, Akane."
"You were a girl for three months, Ranma," Akane said.
"And before that, you had times when you acted more like a girl
than a boy. When you first got hurt, you acted like a girl, and
that wasn't the first time that happened. I thought to myself,
right at first, that sometimes you were more feminine than I was."
Ranma exhaled deeply, unsure of how to react to Akane's
statement. She wasn't being insulting, but that didn't mean the
words didn't sting any less, or that they didn't echo Ranma's own
feelings from earlier. How could he even *think* about wanting it
as a girl if at least a little of what Akane said wasn't true.
He sneered and started to snap back at Akane for her
comments. "That still doesn't explain why--"
"I didn't know if I'd be able to marry a woman," Akane
said out loud, cutting him off. "But the idea that I might have to
started to seem more and more realistic. I tried to get closer to
you, and you seemed interested... but then you kissed Kunou."
Ranma exhaled deeply.
"Suddenly, I was thinking a lot more about what a husband
and wife do together. I also started wondering about what two
women would do together," she continued, her voice shaking, "since
you and I might have to do that. I saw a page in that filthy manga
you brought home, and it showed two girls together, so I thought
that maybe that would be a good place to start. I bought a couple
of manga like it and... and... and..."
"And?"
"They were wonderful," Akane said, shuddering. "They were
so romantic and so sexy. Nobody ever yelled at each other in the
stories. Nobody ever fought. They were all just in love with each
other, and then they... they..." Akane coughed, unable to finish
her sentence. "After I read them, I bought a magazine that had the
same kind of things in it. I bought a book with stories about
women... together... in it and... and... and..." Akane took a deep
breath, but was unable to stop the shaking. "I realized something
was wrong with me. Girls aren't supposed to like those kinds of
things, right?"
"Apparently some of them do, or Nabiki and Taiyoko
wouldn't have gotten together," Ranma noted.
"I was frightened," Akane continued. "I'm still not sure
that something's not wrong with me. It's just not right, like
Kasumi said. Before I saw what Nabiki and Taiyoko were doing, I
was convinced I could stop liking that kind of thing if I tried
hard enough!"
"So you like girls now," Ranma summarized. "But you think
there's something messed up about that, so you tried to kill
Nabiki when she admitted she liked girls too."
"No!" Akane countered. Her face was full of indecision and
self-loathing. "Yes... no... I don't know."
Ranma sighed deeply.
"Then you said... you said that Nabiki had touched you,"
Akane continued. "Did you... Did Nabiki and you..."
"Did I have sex with Nabiki?" Ranma guessed.
Akane paled, and looked away.
"I could have. I was so close to it that it probably
didn't matter," he told her honestly. "We were touching each
other. It was only because I was afraid we'd get caught that we
didn't. 'Course that pissed her off and sent her running to
Taiyoko. I think you heard all about how that turned out."
Akane's shaking had increased. Her hair had fallen down
over her eyes, but Ranma could see that her cheeks and ears were
burning red.
"Oh, if that pisses you off, you're gonna love this,"
Ranma added nonchalantly. "I tried to have sex with Kodachi last
night, but she ran away from me after she spilled champagne down
my back and turned me into a girl. That was a real kick in the
nuts... even if I was a girl at the time."
"You... you..."
"I ain't been thinkin' real straight lately," Ranma said.
"I think I know what guys mean now when they say they've been
thinking with their dicks." He looked away from her. The sight was
just too painful. "I haven't had anything to hold onto. I can look
back now and wonder what would have happened if you were
interested in me. One kiss would have saved me, Akane."
Several seconds of silenced passed between the two before
Akane started sniffling.
"It's all messed up now, isn't it?" she asked, crying.
"There's no chance at all, is there?"
"No," Ranma said, feeling more tired than he ever had
before in his life. "No, there ain't."
* * *
When Ranma and Akane walked back into the Tendou home,
there were significantly more people there than either of them
expected.
"Ranma-sama, please--"
"Ranchan, you have to--"
Kodachi and Ukyou mobbed Ranma from either side, each
grabbing an arm.
"Ranchan," Ukyou said, trying to drown out Ukyou. "I'm
sorry about what happened earlier. If you'll just give me another
chance then I'm certain that I'll be able to learn how to--"
"Ranma-sama," Kodachi raised her voice. "You must return
to the Kunou mansion so that I can try to make up for last night's
unfortunate incident."
"Unfortunate incident?" Ukyou demanded.
"And what would you care about it, servant?" Kodachi
sniped.
"Well, Ranchan *kissed* me this morning!"
"You aren't the only one," Akane muttered darkly as the
pushed past the three into the main room.
Inside, Tofuu-sensei was waiting with all the Tendous,
Saotomes and Taiyoko. They looked on curiously
"He kissed you?! He kissed me first!" Kodachi cried out,
raising her voice. "Isn't that right, my darling?"
Ranma didn't even struggle as they tugged back and forth
on his arms.
How did everything get so far away from me? He shook his
head, not understanding, but beginning to lose hope. Was Nabiki
right? Did he *need* a harem to be happy? Ranma certainly didn't
feel happy. He felt like he was in over his head. He felt like
there was somehow a battle going on around him, and that we was
about to lose-- lose big.
"Ranma-sama, tell this hussy how close we are!" Kodachi
urged him. "Tell her how much you love me!"
"How close you are?! Ranchan, you better let the lunatic
know she's hallucinating."
Ranma felt sick to his stomach. Before he changed back
into a guy, everyone had been getting along so well. Everyone had
become friends, and was willing to have a good time together
without worrying about romance, love, or sex. Now he was in
exactly the same boat he was before the damned surgery. The girls
were fighting. Akane was mad at him and he suspected from Kodachi
and Ukyou's rising voices that they would soon would be too.
The thing that really dug into his skin was that this
really was all his own fault. This was the result of letting his
body do his thinking for him.
"Ranma," Genma said in a voice loud enough to drown out
the girls. "Come in here."
Eager to get away from being ripped in half, Ranma pulled
free and walked into the main room. He noticed that all eyes were
on him. He glanced at his father for direction, but Genma's face
was impassive. He noted that his mother sat to next to the man in
one of her newer dresses, holding Genma's hand. Kasumi and Nabiki
were present, but were sitting across the room from each other.
Nabiki was openly holding hands with Taiyoko. Kasumi seemed a
little jumpy, but kept her silence.
"Sit down, Ranma-chan," Nodoka urged over the cacophony of
the argument raging behind Ranma.
Ranma nodded and kneeled down. Nodoka glared over her
son's shoulder until both Kodachi and Ukyou got the hint to shut
up.
"Ranma," Soun said, "I understand that you've had some
problems with my daughters in the last few days."
Ranma didn't even have to answer. He just rubbed his eyes
in weariness.
"We've had a bit of an upheaval," Soun noted, almost as if
it was no big deal. "And while you may have been the catalyst for
what happened, I believe that it would have happened sooner or
later regardless of your involvement. That does not mean that
matters here are not very problematic, or that your presence isn't
making a bad mess worse."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Ukyou demanded.
Kodachi, however, was suspiciously eyeing Nabiki and Taiyoko,
alternating expressions of disgust and suspicion on her face.
"That said, I think it's best to modify the arrangement
between our families, at least in the short term."
Ranma looked up, a sick, queasy feeling in his gut. He
suddenly knew what was about to happen.
"The engagement between Ranma and Akane is dissolved,"
Genma said. "At least until the problems here at the Tendou Dojo
are resolved."
Yet another foundation stone crumbled out from underneath
Ranma and fell away. He felt like he had been stabbed. He honestly
didn't know how he stayed upright.
Ukyou smiled triumphantly, her mouth opened to proclaim
her possession of Ranma.
Kodachi was similarly about to start shouting, but Genma
held his hand up, silencing both girls.
Ranma's last handle on the situation was gone. He was
losing a fight he didn't even know the rules for. He didn't even
know what he was fighting for. He just knew that the consequences
of losing would affect him for the rest of his life.
"Now that that's taken care of," Genma said, "I have a
proposition for you, Ranma."
Ranma nodded sickly, eager to get all the bad news out at
once.
"Your mother and I happened across an old acquaintance a
few days ago," Genma said. "One with a lucrative business
proposition. He is going to be in a highly profitable situation
for the next few months, but needs the kind of protection that
only highly trained martial artists could give him."
"So what's the catch, old thief?" Ukyou asked from behind
Ranma.
"Indeed," Kodachi retorted. "Why should Ranma partake of
this proposition when he could lounge in luxury at the Kunou
mansion under my tender care?"
"Or with me at the restaurant?" Ukyou appended.
Nodoka cleared her throat. "The catch is that you'll have
to leave the country, son. Your father and I have already decided
to go. We really do need the money and this is a good opportunity
for your father. I also believe it's a good opportunity for you. I
love you and I want you to be happy, so I'll understand if you
choose to stay here with the Tendous or with one of your
girlfriends. We'll both understand," she said, squeezing her
husband's hand.
"Doctor Tofuu says that you are fit and healthy enough for
this, even after your surgery," Genma said. Tofuu nodded his
agreement. "Will you come, Ranma?" the bald man asked.
Ranma closed his eyes.
Three months ago, he didn't know that there was this much
pain or suffering involved in love... or merely trying to figured
out who you loved. He also had no clue that the temptation of the
body or the heart could be so confusing.
Indeed, Ranma had gone through his entire 'harem' in a
matter of days. Now that he had acknowledged his needs and desires
to each of the girls, he doubted anything could ever go back to
being like it was.
What was the best way out of this situation? What was the
best way to defeat this enemy of Ranma's own making? Could it be
defeated?
"Yes." Ranma whispered. Any enemy could be defeated if
only you knew how!
"Son?" Genma asked.
Ranma didn't know how to defeat this enemy. Hell, he
didn't even know how to control his own body. He was losing the
fight, and if he didn't get away from the situation, there would
be no hope of winning.
He needed time away... time to figure out what was going
on... time to figure out how to keep from losing this war of love
and lust before it was too late.
"I'll go," Ranma said, opening his eyes.
"I've already packed your clothes," Nodoka said. "And a
taxi is coming for us in just a few minutes. We'll be boarding a
flight out of the country this afternoon."
Ranma nodded. "Do I need a new passport or anything?"
"I've already taken care of that," Genma said. "Get your
bags, Ranma."
"Wait a second!" Ukyou protested. "Where ever my Ranchan
goes, I'll go too!"
"I'll be damned before I let him get away again," Kodachi
agreed. "I must go with Ranma to comfort him."
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," Nodoka told both the
girls. "I'm certain Ranma would love to have you along, but we
promised not to tell anyone where we were going for security
reasons."
Ranma was already running up the stairs. He darted into
his room, seeing it laid bare and empty. Every possession he had
in the world was in a backpack and a small athletic bag leaned
against each other in the middle of the floor. He quickly
shouldered both bags and ran back down stairs.
The front door was open, and a taxi was waiting in the
street beyond. All eyes were on him.
Kodachi and Ukyou's eyes bored into him. Both their faces
will filled with shock.
Akane's eyes were on him. Tears ran down her cheeks.
It was like there were dozens of hooks in his body,
holding him back. This hurt more than anything else Ranma had ever
experienced. It was worse than being beat on by Ryouga or Mousse.
It was even worse than having his head cut open.
"I'm sorry about this," Ranma said, his voice catching.
Then he left the Tendou Dojo.
* * *
Ranma was gone.
Even though it had been just a few seconds, it seemed like
it had been an eternity. The taxi had already disappeared down the
street. Kodachi and Ukyou each thought that they might be able to
catch up with the car and find a way to follow Ranma wherever he
was going.
It was just too shocking. How could Ranma have left? There
was a huge hole in the room where Ranma wasn't.
Akane turned away from the sight of the disappearing taxi,
unable to watch any longer.
"I think you girls should leave now," Soun said, stepping
up between Kodachi and Ukyou. "We have several things we need to
work out."
"H-hai..." Ukyou murmured, tears beginning to run down her
face.
"I'm certain he'll let you know just as soon as he
returns," Soun told them. Gently, yet firmly, he ushered them out
of the house and saw them off in opposite directions.
That task done, he stepped back inside the house.
Akane was kneeling in the middle of the floor with her
face in her hands, weeping silently.
"Akane," her father said, taking a deep breath. "Do you
have something to say to your sister or Taiyoko?"
It was a few seconds before Akane could speak, but
eventually, she croaked out, "I'm sorry I hit you. I'm sorry I
tried to hurt you."
Nabiki sighed at great length and rolled her eyes. Taiyoko
patted the dark-haired girl once on the shoulder, before backing
away quickly.
"We have many things to discuss, Akane," Soun announced.
"With the end of the engagement, we need talk about what's going
to happen to the dojo. As you know, I can't simply pass it on to
you because of inheritance taxes. We don't have enough money to
pay them and I don't think that's going to change any time in the
near future. We could have easily side-stepped that if I had given
the dojo to Ranma, and therefore to you by proxy as his wife."
But... Ranma was gone. Akane bowed her head, utterly
defeated.
"Since it looks like that will no longer be the case, I've
talked with Tofuu-sensei about taking over the dojo when I retire.
The dojo will legally belong to him, but you will continue to
practice here and hopefully teach martial arts classes here.
Nabiki has agreed to help by keeping the dojo's finances in order.
The doctor will be paying her a small fee to do book keeping for
both the dojo and his office."
"Hai..." Akane replied meekly.
"Is this what you want, Akane?" Soun asked. "Is this what
you're willing to settle for?"
Akane couldn't answer. Ranma was gone. Her heart had been
ripped out, and all she could feel was loss and pain. She had been
so mad and so fearful, but now that the martial artist had left,
there was nothing in her but regret for what she had done and what
she had said.
"Don't you want more?" Soun demanded. "Doesn't some small
part of you want to be with Ranma?"
Even if she did, wouldn't Ranma just run off with one of
the other girls at the first opportunity? Wasn't it hopeless?
Didn't he hate her now? Wasn't she still mad at him for everything
he had done, and everyone he had done it with?
"One kiss would have saved me, Akane," Ranma had told her.
"What else can I do?" Akane bawled.
"You have one last chance, Akane," Soun said, holding out
a airline ticket and a new passport booklet.
Akane's eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief.
"If you want to inherit the dojo with Ranma, then I expect
you to be on the plane this afternoon, Akane."
"But... but... but..."
"If not... If you stay here, the plans I just talked about
will go forward. It's your choice, Akane."
"But... but... but..."
"We already packed your stuff, Akane," Nabiki said, not
meeting her sister's disbelieving stare.
"That's right," Kasumi said, somewhat evasively. "Nabiki
and Taiyoko were... helpful."
"But... but... but..."
Tofuu knelt down in front of her. "My car's running out
back, Akane. We can be at the airport in just a few minutes.
Still favoring one eye, Nabiki knelt down next to Akane
and grabbed her by the arms. She pulled the shorter girl to her
feet. Then, quite deliberately, she leaned over and kissed Akane
on the cheek. Akane tried to pull away in alarm, but Nabiki
wouldn't let her go.
"Akane... you'll always wonder if you don't try," Nabiki
whispered in her ear, tightening her grip and digging her nails
into Akane's forearm. "You'll be left wondering for the rest of
your life what you could have had if don't take this opportunity.
If you *don't* take this opportunity, I promise you that I will do
everything I can to make your life a living hell."
Akane backed away from her sister, her mouth working open
and closed like a fish out of water.
"Go, Akane," Kasumi urged her. "Remember that your family
loves you."
"Will you go, Akane?" Soun asked, holding the tickets out
to his daughter.
A second of silence passed between those assembled in the
Tendou's front room.
Finally, Akane opened her mouth.
"Yes."
- - -
~to be concluded