Nothing is Easy
Part 4 - Enter Erock
By Halen Rains
*I hate that damn pig!* Ranma slammed his fist into a practice dummy causing it to
explode and fill the dojo with straw.
"Damn it!" Ranma growled in agitation and tossed the decimated dummy into the corner.
"I'm acting like Akane for crying out loud." Ranma forced himself to the floor and slowed his
breathing. He didn't know why seeing Akane turn away from him for Ryoga had caused a sudden
surge of anger, but he wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing it in him. He focused on finding
his center and slowly the heat and tension drained away leaving only a soothing coolness within
him.
*Now rise.* Ranma slowly stood and began a slow kata in the obstacle course he'd
converted the dojo into. His movements began to increase in speed every time his hand connected
with a dummy or target until he had become almost a blur of motion flipping through the air and
striking out calmly and precisely. *THIS is right, THIS is beautiful.* He closed his eyes and
focused on using his other senses to guide him, increasing in speed even more.
"You have a very strange idea of beauty." Rhye's voice passed unnoticed to Ranma and
Rhye watched as his young charge continued the cold dance. Rhye sat on the head of one of the
dummies perched like a bird watching its prey, a small smirk on his face.
As he moved around the room, Ranma noticed the temperature dropping as his cold chi
filled the room around him. It had been a long time since he'd been able to reach this level of
calm. With one last jab Ranma settled in a spot directly in the center of the dojo and opened his
eyes.
Every single dummy had been expertly dissected and every target marked exactly with the
intended strike. A smile crept onto his face and he exhaled, enjoying the perfection of his work.
As the chill began to ebb, so did his expression. He looked around the room and slumped when he
found noone. Noone had been there to witness the beauty, not a single person was there to
appreciate all his hard work.
Rhye looked sympathetically at Ranma and dropped to the floor. Ranma didn't understand
yet. He still believed that the art would complete him, would be all he needed to be happy. Rhye
thought briefly of someone else he'd known like that...long ago, and another wave of pity flooded
into him causing his shining silver eyes to dim.
Reluctantly he began to clean up the mess he'd made, returning the various tools to the
storeroom and piling the dummies that were beyond repair in the corner to be taken out the next
morning. After the dojo was clean he slid open the door and stepped out into the night.
When the change overtook him, Ranma wrapped her arms around herself for warmth
against the rain. She didn't care about the rain now, she entered the house and removed her wet
shoes before going into the kitchen to warm water.
Back in his male form Ranma felt drained. It had been a long day, from the very beginning
nothing had gone right. And now suddenly even practice had started to feel hollow and empty. In
the old days, doing something as difficult as he'd just pulled off would have made him all smiles
for a week, now it didn't last but moments . Not compared to the warm comfort he got from her
sometimes. Even if he refused to admit it, she could make him feel better than the art ever could.
*Maybe I should talk with her, say I'm sorry for running out on her.* Ranma started to
head for her door then stopped as images of Ryoga flooded his vision. *Fuck it!* Ranma spun
away and slid open the door to his room and entered. *She'd rather be with that damn pig then
me anyway.* Ranma flung himself down onto the futon beside his father. *What do I care if she
sleeps with Ryoga?* Ranma rolled onto his side, putting his back to Genma and the window.
*Because you do.* Rhye leaned against the wall, his legs crossed and his hands jammed
deep into the pockets of his coat.
Ranma curled into a ball as a sudden sick feeling overtook him. Ranma breathed a rigid
breath and pressed his face into his knees.
*Do I?* Ranma uncurled and stretched out on the floor staring at the ceiling. After
inspecting the ceiling for around an hour, Ranma hopped to his feet and crept silently out onto the
roof.
"Saotome..."
Ranma spun to find a strange young man perched at the edge of the roof. Suddenly an
uneasy feeling flooded into him and Ranma took a step back and brought his hands up.
"Who are you?"
The young man didn't look up from the ground, but Ranma could make out a small smile
as it spread across the man's face.
"Noone of importance, but you may call me Erock." His voice dripped with honey, and at
last he brought lazy sky blue eyes to look at Ranma.
"Why are you on the Tendo's roof this late at night?" Ranma noticed the fighting rod on
Erock's back and took another step back.
"Hahaha.... are you scared of me?" Erock's lazy look took on a predatory quality for only
a second, but it vanished as he ran a hand through his dirty blond hair.
"Me?.. Scared of someone like you. Ha! You don't know me that well do you?" Ranma
took a few steps toward Erock then stopped short when he noticed the young man's gaze didn't
rest on him, but rather at Akane's window.
Erock shook his head and stood his full height.
"Of course not." Erock turned his whole head to look at Akane's window and grinned
widely then back to Ranma. "But you are scared of something else... aren't you?"
"If you touch her I'll kill you!" Ranma dropped into a fighting stance and prepared to
fight.
*Erock...*
"Huh!?! What's he doing here?" Erock looked around wildly, a confused look suddenly on
his face. "I'll speak with you further." Erock bowed his head slightly to Ranma and didn't raise his
head again. "Until then..." In a smooth motion Erock dropped from the roof and vanished the
moment he had left Ranma's sight.
"Hey! You come back here!" Ranma ran to edge of the roof and looked around. *Damn
he's fast.* Ranma looked over the edge of the roof where Erock had jumped off then sat down
heavily. His heart was racing, the moment he'd first seen Erock's eyes looking into Akane's
window his pulse had jumped.
*Erock. What is that fool doing?* Rhye appeared at Ranma's window and lowered
himself to one knee. His silver eyes were glowing faintly as he looked out into Nerima where
Erock had vanished.
Ranma slowly crept across the roof and looked into Akane's window. He was relieved
when he found her asleep at her desk, books and paper strewn all around her. P-chan sat in her lap
in similar condition.
*Why do I worry about her so much?* Ranma slid the window open and crawled into the
room. *If she wakes up while I'm in here...* Ranma crept across the room to her bed and pulled
back the sheets then lifted her carefully from the chair.
"Guess it's my turn now." Ranma whispered into her hair as he placed her into her bed
and pulled the sheets up. He turned his eyes down to where he'd left Ryoga asleep at the desk and
frowned. *What the?* Ranma tried to pull his arm away and found it stuck under Akane's body.
He wrapped his loose arm around her and carefully lifted her to free his hand.
"Huh?" Ranma suddenly noticed that he'd pressed her against himself to lift her and that
there faces were only centimeters apart.
*Built like a brick my ass* Ranma looked at her face and gently eased her back onto the
bed. He brushed the hair from Akane's eyes then walked back to P-chan. *Come on.* Ranma
tossed the sleeping pig onto the bed with Akane then turned to shut off the light when he noticed
Akane's drawings from that morning.
"Why you little..." Ranma sat down in the chair and looked at the pictures. *I thought I
was the only one of us who didn't pay attention in class.* Ranma turned in the chair to look at
Akane and suddenly sleep struck him. *I can't fall asleep here.* He tried to stand but only got as
far as his chin hitting his chest
"Can't risk leaving her alone." Rhye looked down at Ranma then over at Akane. He pulled
the string on the lamp and the room turned black. "Good night you two." Rhye walked over to
the window and pressed his back against it.
As the early morning light pierced the curtain in Akane's room she had begun to stir. She
stretched and rubbed her eyes before sitting up in her bed.
*When did I get in bed?* She looked over to her desk and found Ranma asleep in the
chair. *Why that...* She climbed out of bed and prepared to toss him out the window.
"If you...touch Akane" Ranma mumbled under his breath as he slept and his breathing
wasn't exactly what Akane would call relaxed. "I'll..kill you." He suddenly tossed himself back in
the chair so that he was facing the ceiling. "Ahhhh!"
Akane fell back in surprise from Ranma's sudden scream and landed on the floor looking
up at her fiancé. She watched as he bolted straight in the chair and his eyes flew open, his
breathing heavy.
Ranma looked at Akane's bed and found it empty. Immediately the worst idea's raced into
his head about last night and he jumped out of the chair.
"Akane!" Ranma took a quick step and lodged his foot under his fallen fiancé then went
tumbling down on top of her.
"Watch out!" Akane put her hands up to brace for Ranma's weight then opened her eyes
when it didn't land. "Huh?" She found Ranma hovering inches above her, his hands keeping his
weight from her.
"S..Sorry." Ranma just stared down at her wide eyed. Akane let her hands fall to the floor
and looked at him.
"Can you please move?" Akane glanced down at how the two of them were possitioned
and blushed.
"Ehh?" Ranma slowly followed her gaze and traced the path of their bodies then suddenly
grew very red. He quickly rolled to her left and sat up crossed legged on to floor and looked at
her. "Sorry about that, you had me worried." Ranma started to laugh and rubbed the back of his
head as he spoke.
"Worried about what?" She sat up and put her back to him. "It's not like I need some
hentai like you to watch out for me in my own house."
Ranma's smile faded instantly and he hung his head.
"That's all you think of me, huh?" *So why do I bother?* Ranma started to stand to leave
but found Akane holding his wrist to the floor and glaring at him.
"No, no! I'm not going to start out my day like this. Let's go ahead and say everything
now so it won't be another day like yesterday." She let go of Ranma's wrist and crossed her arms
waiting for him to say something.
Ranma sat back down and crossed his legs again. He watched her for a second then
scratched his head in annoyance.
"So you gonna start or what?"
"Why did you sleep in here last night anyway?" Akane still hadn't turned to look at him and
let out a heavy breath after she spoke.
"Well, because I..." Ranma slid across the floor so that he sat in front of her and smiled.
"Because something happened yesterday that had me worried about you. Plus after moving you
from the desk to the bed I was really tired." Ranma started to laught, but found Akane's fist in his
mouth and fell over onto his side. "I deserved that." Ranma spoke under his breath then propped
himself up on an elbow to look at her.
"Ranma, look... If this is about when I ran out of school yesterday. Please don't worry, I
was just upset about that morning that's all."
He waved his hands and smiled again.
"It's not about that. Something else happened. I'm not sure it was just a dream or what,
but I just didn't want to risk leaving you alone." He reached out to her and took her hand in his
without thinking about it and gently squesed it.
Akane looked down at their hand in surprise and then back to his smiling face.
"Well, what if our parents had came in here this morning and found you or what if Nabiki
had..."
"I didn't really think about that." Ranma hung his head and let go of her hand.
"You should have. If they'd found us, I bet we'd already be halfway married by now."
Ranma didn't look up at her but sat silently allowing her to ramble on. Images of their last
wedding attempt flooded his head and he frowned.
"Look Akane." Ranma moved so that he sat closer to her and took her by the shoulders.
"I don't care if they found me in here. I won't let pop or anyone else force you into something
you don't wanna do. Especially if it's something like getting married."
"Ranma...thanks." Akane finally returned his smile and looked into his eyes. Immediately
she found that some old confidence there. It had become something she was used to, something
that always comforted her and gave her confidence.
After a long silent minute, Ranma let go of her and left via the window. Akane quickly got
dressed in her sweets and left for her morning jog. After the two had left , only a soundly sleeping
P-chan remained in the room with Rhye gently patting his head.
"What are you doing, Erock?" Rhye removed his hand from the sleeping pig and
immediately P-chan began to wake up. "What are you doing?"
Part 4 - Enter Erock
By Halen Rains
*I hate that damn pig!* Ranma slammed his fist into a practice dummy causing it to
explode and fill the dojo with straw.
"Damn it!" Ranma growled in agitation and tossed the decimated dummy into the corner.
"I'm acting like Akane for crying out loud." Ranma forced himself to the floor and slowed his
breathing. He didn't know why seeing Akane turn away from him for Ryoga had caused a sudden
surge of anger, but he wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing it in him. He focused on finding
his center and slowly the heat and tension drained away leaving only a soothing coolness within
him.
*Now rise.* Ranma slowly stood and began a slow kata in the obstacle course he'd
converted the dojo into. His movements began to increase in speed every time his hand connected
with a dummy or target until he had become almost a blur of motion flipping through the air and
striking out calmly and precisely. *THIS is right, THIS is beautiful.* He closed his eyes and
focused on using his other senses to guide him, increasing in speed even more.
"You have a very strange idea of beauty." Rhye's voice passed unnoticed to Ranma and
Rhye watched as his young charge continued the cold dance. Rhye sat on the head of one of the
dummies perched like a bird watching its prey, a small smirk on his face.
As he moved around the room, Ranma noticed the temperature dropping as his cold chi
filled the room around him. It had been a long time since he'd been able to reach this level of
calm. With one last jab Ranma settled in a spot directly in the center of the dojo and opened his
eyes.
Every single dummy had been expertly dissected and every target marked exactly with the
intended strike. A smile crept onto his face and he exhaled, enjoying the perfection of his work.
As the chill began to ebb, so did his expression. He looked around the room and slumped when he
found noone. Noone had been there to witness the beauty, not a single person was there to
appreciate all his hard work.
Rhye looked sympathetically at Ranma and dropped to the floor. Ranma didn't understand
yet. He still believed that the art would complete him, would be all he needed to be happy. Rhye
thought briefly of someone else he'd known like that...long ago, and another wave of pity flooded
into him causing his shining silver eyes to dim.
Reluctantly he began to clean up the mess he'd made, returning the various tools to the
storeroom and piling the dummies that were beyond repair in the corner to be taken out the next
morning. After the dojo was clean he slid open the door and stepped out into the night.
When the change overtook him, Ranma wrapped her arms around herself for warmth
against the rain. She didn't care about the rain now, she entered the house and removed her wet
shoes before going into the kitchen to warm water.
Back in his male form Ranma felt drained. It had been a long day, from the very beginning
nothing had gone right. And now suddenly even practice had started to feel hollow and empty. In
the old days, doing something as difficult as he'd just pulled off would have made him all smiles
for a week, now it didn't last but moments . Not compared to the warm comfort he got from her
sometimes. Even if he refused to admit it, she could make him feel better than the art ever could.
*Maybe I should talk with her, say I'm sorry for running out on her.* Ranma started to
head for her door then stopped as images of Ryoga flooded his vision. *Fuck it!* Ranma spun
away and slid open the door to his room and entered. *She'd rather be with that damn pig then
me anyway.* Ranma flung himself down onto the futon beside his father. *What do I care if she
sleeps with Ryoga?* Ranma rolled onto his side, putting his back to Genma and the window.
*Because you do.* Rhye leaned against the wall, his legs crossed and his hands jammed
deep into the pockets of his coat.
Ranma curled into a ball as a sudden sick feeling overtook him. Ranma breathed a rigid
breath and pressed his face into his knees.
*Do I?* Ranma uncurled and stretched out on the floor staring at the ceiling. After
inspecting the ceiling for around an hour, Ranma hopped to his feet and crept silently out onto the
roof.
"Saotome..."
Ranma spun to find a strange young man perched at the edge of the roof. Suddenly an
uneasy feeling flooded into him and Ranma took a step back and brought his hands up.
"Who are you?"
The young man didn't look up from the ground, but Ranma could make out a small smile
as it spread across the man's face.
"Noone of importance, but you may call me Erock." His voice dripped with honey, and at
last he brought lazy sky blue eyes to look at Ranma.
"Why are you on the Tendo's roof this late at night?" Ranma noticed the fighting rod on
Erock's back and took another step back.
"Hahaha.... are you scared of me?" Erock's lazy look took on a predatory quality for only
a second, but it vanished as he ran a hand through his dirty blond hair.
"Me?.. Scared of someone like you. Ha! You don't know me that well do you?" Ranma
took a few steps toward Erock then stopped short when he noticed the young man's gaze didn't
rest on him, but rather at Akane's window.
Erock shook his head and stood his full height.
"Of course not." Erock turned his whole head to look at Akane's window and grinned
widely then back to Ranma. "But you are scared of something else... aren't you?"
"If you touch her I'll kill you!" Ranma dropped into a fighting stance and prepared to
fight.
*Erock...*
"Huh!?! What's he doing here?" Erock looked around wildly, a confused look suddenly on
his face. "I'll speak with you further." Erock bowed his head slightly to Ranma and didn't raise his
head again. "Until then..." In a smooth motion Erock dropped from the roof and vanished the
moment he had left Ranma's sight.
"Hey! You come back here!" Ranma ran to edge of the roof and looked around. *Damn
he's fast.* Ranma looked over the edge of the roof where Erock had jumped off then sat down
heavily. His heart was racing, the moment he'd first seen Erock's eyes looking into Akane's
window his pulse had jumped.
*Erock. What is that fool doing?* Rhye appeared at Ranma's window and lowered
himself to one knee. His silver eyes were glowing faintly as he looked out into Nerima where
Erock had vanished.
Ranma slowly crept across the roof and looked into Akane's window. He was relieved
when he found her asleep at her desk, books and paper strewn all around her. P-chan sat in her lap
in similar condition.
*Why do I worry about her so much?* Ranma slid the window open and crawled into the
room. *If she wakes up while I'm in here...* Ranma crept across the room to her bed and pulled
back the sheets then lifted her carefully from the chair.
"Guess it's my turn now." Ranma whispered into her hair as he placed her into her bed
and pulled the sheets up. He turned his eyes down to where he'd left Ryoga asleep at the desk and
frowned. *What the?* Ranma tried to pull his arm away and found it stuck under Akane's body.
He wrapped his loose arm around her and carefully lifted her to free his hand.
"Huh?" Ranma suddenly noticed that he'd pressed her against himself to lift her and that
there faces were only centimeters apart.
*Built like a brick my ass* Ranma looked at her face and gently eased her back onto the
bed. He brushed the hair from Akane's eyes then walked back to P-chan. *Come on.* Ranma
tossed the sleeping pig onto the bed with Akane then turned to shut off the light when he noticed
Akane's drawings from that morning.
"Why you little..." Ranma sat down in the chair and looked at the pictures. *I thought I
was the only one of us who didn't pay attention in class.* Ranma turned in the chair to look at
Akane and suddenly sleep struck him. *I can't fall asleep here.* He tried to stand but only got as
far as his chin hitting his chest
"Can't risk leaving her alone." Rhye looked down at Ranma then over at Akane. He pulled
the string on the lamp and the room turned black. "Good night you two." Rhye walked over to
the window and pressed his back against it.
As the early morning light pierced the curtain in Akane's room she had begun to stir. She
stretched and rubbed her eyes before sitting up in her bed.
*When did I get in bed?* She looked over to her desk and found Ranma asleep in the
chair. *Why that...* She climbed out of bed and prepared to toss him out the window.
"If you...touch Akane" Ranma mumbled under his breath as he slept and his breathing
wasn't exactly what Akane would call relaxed. "I'll..kill you." He suddenly tossed himself back in
the chair so that he was facing the ceiling. "Ahhhh!"
Akane fell back in surprise from Ranma's sudden scream and landed on the floor looking
up at her fiancé. She watched as he bolted straight in the chair and his eyes flew open, his
breathing heavy.
Ranma looked at Akane's bed and found it empty. Immediately the worst idea's raced into
his head about last night and he jumped out of the chair.
"Akane!" Ranma took a quick step and lodged his foot under his fallen fiancé then went
tumbling down on top of her.
"Watch out!" Akane put her hands up to brace for Ranma's weight then opened her eyes
when it didn't land. "Huh?" She found Ranma hovering inches above her, his hands keeping his
weight from her.
"S..Sorry." Ranma just stared down at her wide eyed. Akane let her hands fall to the floor
and looked at him.
"Can you please move?" Akane glanced down at how the two of them were possitioned
and blushed.
"Ehh?" Ranma slowly followed her gaze and traced the path of their bodies then suddenly
grew very red. He quickly rolled to her left and sat up crossed legged on to floor and looked at
her. "Sorry about that, you had me worried." Ranma started to laugh and rubbed the back of his
head as he spoke.
"Worried about what?" She sat up and put her back to him. "It's not like I need some
hentai like you to watch out for me in my own house."
Ranma's smile faded instantly and he hung his head.
"That's all you think of me, huh?" *So why do I bother?* Ranma started to stand to leave
but found Akane holding his wrist to the floor and glaring at him.
"No, no! I'm not going to start out my day like this. Let's go ahead and say everything
now so it won't be another day like yesterday." She let go of Ranma's wrist and crossed her arms
waiting for him to say something.
Ranma sat back down and crossed his legs again. He watched her for a second then
scratched his head in annoyance.
"So you gonna start or what?"
"Why did you sleep in here last night anyway?" Akane still hadn't turned to look at him and
let out a heavy breath after she spoke.
"Well, because I..." Ranma slid across the floor so that he sat in front of her and smiled.
"Because something happened yesterday that had me worried about you. Plus after moving you
from the desk to the bed I was really tired." Ranma started to laught, but found Akane's fist in his
mouth and fell over onto his side. "I deserved that." Ranma spoke under his breath then propped
himself up on an elbow to look at her.
"Ranma, look... If this is about when I ran out of school yesterday. Please don't worry, I
was just upset about that morning that's all."
He waved his hands and smiled again.
"It's not about that. Something else happened. I'm not sure it was just a dream or what,
but I just didn't want to risk leaving you alone." He reached out to her and took her hand in his
without thinking about it and gently squesed it.
Akane looked down at their hand in surprise and then back to his smiling face.
"Well, what if our parents had came in here this morning and found you or what if Nabiki
had..."
"I didn't really think about that." Ranma hung his head and let go of her hand.
"You should have. If they'd found us, I bet we'd already be halfway married by now."
Ranma didn't look up at her but sat silently allowing her to ramble on. Images of their last
wedding attempt flooded his head and he frowned.
"Look Akane." Ranma moved so that he sat closer to her and took her by the shoulders.
"I don't care if they found me in here. I won't let pop or anyone else force you into something
you don't wanna do. Especially if it's something like getting married."
"Ranma...thanks." Akane finally returned his smile and looked into his eyes. Immediately
she found that some old confidence there. It had become something she was used to, something
that always comforted her and gave her confidence.
After a long silent minute, Ranma let go of her and left via the window. Akane quickly got
dressed in her sweets and left for her morning jog. After the two had left , only a soundly sleeping
P-chan remained in the room with Rhye gently patting his head.
"What are you doing, Erock?" Rhye removed his hand from the sleeping pig and
immediately P-chan began to wake up. "What are you doing?"
