Chapter 6:
Times of Change
She would be leaving soon. Tomorrow, Ranma had said. If only she knew when tomorrow was. There was always something comforting about knowing the time. A little piece of order in the chaos of life.
Akane sat on her bed, propped up by many unmatched pillows. She was, once again, in her room. Her room… she could recall a time when it had been simply a room.
Her eyes flickered to Ranma, and back to the wall across from her. He was staring past the comforter across her bed to a place only he could see. He looked pensive. There was only silence between them. Once she would have embraced that silence, like the warmth of a lover. It was a cold barrier to her now, when so many others had fallen.
A thought occurred to her. She acted on it impulsively, before she could think better of it.
"So… what are you going to do to him once you find him?"
She was talking, of course, about the man who was ultimately responsible for Ranma's curse, for the pile of reports sitting in her apartment, for the death of innocents. The man without a name, without a face. She didn't have to specify, Ranma would understand.
His gaze was on her for a bare second.
"Kill him."
"I… thought you…"
"Didn't want to kill? You thought right. But you can't have everything you want…"
"Oh…"
They lapsed back into silence. Bitter, horrible silence. She shifted her feet, knocking them together and watching. The stiff quiet was uncomfortable. Her eyes flickered again to Ranma. There was a palpable tension between them, a sea of confusion, pain, and things left unsaid.
"I'm sorry."
And she was. But even as she spoke those words she knew they wouldn't be enough.
He only glanced at her.
There was an un-definable anger behind his eyes. Not for her, but because of her. He was betrayed.
"It's time."
He stood without looking at her, and left through the door. Akane followed him. She had no luggage. She had nothing. Her eyes drifted to Ranma's back.
It was the last time.
The newest file was tossed upon the pile of its precursors. There was a sound almost like the brief rushing of water. Akane dropped into her desk chair, ignoring the thin film of dust. There was dust all over, evidence that her apartment had been untouched during her absence. No one had connected her to Xian. They were tired too. Tired of the rank stench of dried blood and death like salt and old bread, hanging in the cold, stale air. Tired of the endless flow of words on paper that were organized into manila files and labeled with the names of the deceased.
But maybe she was the one who felt that way. And the rest of her ward was only looking for the easy way out. Maybe they just didn't care. She wanted to believe they were good people. But it was hard sometimes…
And you can't always get what you want.
It didn't matter what she thought now anyway because…
"I'm going to die."
She bit her lip. Her eyes traveled from the pile of files to the discarded clothing littering the hardwood floor to the drawers of her desk, open to varying degrees. The contemporary metallic ceiling fan. The shelves, pressed against the wall and cluttered with books and papers and trinkets. The door-less entryways from room to room, rectangular openings in the walls on her left and right sides.
This was all she had. This was all she would lose.
"I'm going to die."
She knew Ranma was somewhere nearby. Maybe he could hear her. She was talking to herself… what would he think? It didn't matter, because soon she would exist only in the thoughts of others. And only truly in the thoughts of Ranma himself. So maybe it did matter.
"I'm going to die, Ranma. It's funny… I've always known I would die, but it never hurt before this."
She thought she heard an answer. Not of words, but the whisper of movement just barely prodding at her consciousness. Her back was to an empty wall, and she was glad of it.
She wanted to face death. Just to see…
"Do you know why? Why this pain? I don't. I'll probably be dead before I figure it out. Death… I wonder… what will it be like?"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the two entryways, like the wavering path of an unsettled fly.
"I think it will be nothingness. I want it to be that way, with no room for regrets. But… if it's not…"
She knew there was someone there now. There was no noise, no sound to betray the presence of an enemy. Only the firm conviction of her senses.
"If there is an afterlife, then maybe I'll see you there… someday. Or maybe… maybe we'll be reborn and meet again. I'm not sure what to want… what to believe… Ranma…"
She didn't care who heard her. She had to keep talking, fill the silence. In the silence, the noises might be audible. And then she would know someone was there. Maybe she hoped her voice would scare them off, that it was only a juvenile looking for some quick cash.
"…I think… I'm afraid. But… not of death. It's stupid… but… I'm afraid of…"
She let out a short, hysterical giggle. She had no idea what she was saying… only that it was true… and that it would keep her from reality. She could freeze time with her words.
"I'm afraid I… you know, I've never been so scared… I'm not even sure I've ever actually been scared… not for a long time and not of something so… so…"
She laughed. They were just outside the entryway.
"I'm afraid…"
She could imagine them, pressed against the wall, and waiting for the right time.
"…That I'll…"
A booted foot was what she saw first, edging into the room. Her hand crept towards a drawer, its contents glinting in the dim light.
"Never see you again, Ranma."
She flicked the drawer open, and with one fluid motion the gun was in her hand. Her eyes met with those of a young man with a lean build and slightly more feminine features. He held a gleaming dart gun and a bored, if a bit arrogant, expression. Her finger shook against the trigger.
"D-Drop it."
Her voice wavered as she spoke. The young man smirked. And then a dart plunged through a fold in her coat, barely missing the skin. It hadn't come from him. So there was another.
And then she heard a gunshot and a thump, and instead of her second assailant, Ranma came through the entryway. The round holes of both their weapons were trained on the young man like a pair of dead eyes.
"You know, you were supposed to let him shoot you."
Akane wanted to laugh.
"And you were supposed to stay put."
Neither of them moved their eyes from their silent enemy who still had his weapon aimed at her.
"Drop it."
This time it was Ranma who gave the command, and his voice was colder and harder than hers could ever be. But the young man's smirk widened.
She looked down to find a dart in her arm. Then through a murky haze she heard a gun go off and saw the young man fall before she fell to the ground herself. The last thing she saw was the burning blue of Ranma's eyes. She thought maybe she would die soon, by his hands.
Why?
Because she was just like all the others.
Would it be so bad to die?
Not if she were killed by him.
How she had changed.
A/N: I am sooooo sorry it took this long, but only had time to write on Wed. and then I had really bad writers block. School keeps me really busy and the next chap might take about as long cuz I have 3 major projects due next Fri. for 3 different classes and I haven't started any of them. Plus I have soccer til 5:00 at least 4 days a week. Its tough… Ok enough about that, I just have one more thing to say: I am most definitely keeping this fic under 15 chapters, hopefully I can fit into 10. I was planning to make this kind of short from the beginning, so it doesn't have that much to do with my schedule. I've just wanted to do some IY fanfiction for a while and have to finish this first. On to the reviews (like I said before, if all I can really say is thanks, I'm not going to make a reply, as much as I love to hear it):
Saturn Angel: I hope you found it different from my first fic! It was supposed to be. Writing thirty chapters in the same style kind of got to me, so I just wanted to try something different. As for the dialogue in the first couple chaps, there really wasn't much for them to say without giving stuff away and I don't like to waste space having the characters do things that have no relevance to the story… actually, its more like I'm really lazy and like to keep it in as little words as possible while still being descriptive… but those first two reasons were part of it. Glad you like my fic and thanks for the review!!
Socchan: You don't… understand… !? Argh… well I'm not going to explain it to you… actually, yes I will: Ok, Ranma doesn't have control over his 'cursed form' so basically, he can tell whenever someone else is 'cursed' and then he transforms to a girl and goes and kills them. Why? I don't know, she just does. Maybe she's crazy or something… like that kid in your Mom's dream… that's really creepy… Hmm… I might be able to use it… but I'm not sure… I love your suggestions though. You seem to be one of the few people who read the author's notes and actually listens to them. It's great!