Scarlet Phoenix, Blue Dragon
Chapter 5, Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Author's Notes: This is the next chapter and it may be a little confusing, but stick with it and you'll understand. Now, to those of you who are confused at why if Ranma loves Akane so much, he sleeps with so many different women? Well, see all these years Ranma's missing Akane and so he believes that if he dated all these women he could fill in the void and hurt
that Akane left behind. It didn't work. Enjoy. Oh yeah, send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doors to the G3 terminal opened and people filed out ready to greet their families and friends. Akane finally caught sight of a tall, brown-haired lady holding hands with two small children, Asako and Mayabi, Kasumi's boy and girl, 4-year old twins. Kasumi smiled as Akane rushed toward her and caught her in a breathless hug. Asako and Mayabi jumped up and down waving their arms at Tenchi and Ryan, Akane's guards, to pick them up. Ukyo smiled politely at Dr. Tofu and they watched as the two sisters hugged.
"Hello Akane," Kasumi said at last when Akane finally let her go.
Akane quickly wiped away any tears from her eyes and said, "Hi oneechan. Hello Tofu-sensei. Hey 'sako, Hey Maya'. Let's get going, 'k?" At that she told Tenchi and Ryan to pick up Kasumi and Tofu's luggage and she and Ukyo carried Asako and Mayabi out of the airport followed by Kasumi and Tofu.
"My, Akane, aren't your friends nice? Driving you here and carrying our luggage. You should thank them," Kasumi said, referring to Tenchi and Ryan, just as Ukyo burst out laughing. Akane smiled and nodded, but she thought *They have to be 'nice' for the prices I pay them...*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They entered the small, studio apartment that was supposed to be where Akane lived. To be truthful, Akane saw the apartment for the first time that day. Kasumi looked around the apartment and smiled sweetly at Akane, obviously not seeing anything wrong.
"Really, Akane, this is...nice," Dr. Tofu said as he bent down and looked at a greenish, bluish, brownish blob on the floor.
"Look, Asako! The water's green!" Mayabi giggled. Akane turned to glare pointedly at Ukyo.
"Green water, Ucchan?" Akane said into the microphone in her mouth so that only Ukyo, Tenchi, and Ryan can hear. Tenchi and Ryan burst out laughing at seeing Ukyo in trouble.
"Listen, Ne-chan, I happened to be in the hospital these past days so I told Tenchi to find the apartment. I had nothing to do with this," Akane heard Ukyo say through the small speaker in her ear.
Tenchi abruptly stopped laughing and said into his microphone defensively, "Hey, that's not fair. I told Ryan to get the apartment, I was supposed to arrange the actress jobs."
Ryan turned to glare at Tenchi before turning and cheekily smiling at an angry Akane, "Well, listen Akane-chan, you're supposed to be a poor, starving actress right?"
"But I'm not going to let Kasumi, Tofu and the kids living in this dump for a week!" Akane growled.
Ukyo interrupted before Akane killed Ryan, "The solution is simple if ya blockheads bother to think. We'll just tell them that the place is under some sort of sterilization or something and we'll pay for them to live in a hotel. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the others chorused.
Kasumi looked up as Akane walked over to her. "Um...oneechan, I'm sorry, but the whole floor is going through this sterilization thing and you can't live here. I'll pay for the hotel though," Akane quickly assured.
Kasumi agreed and the kids just jumped over living in a hotel, but Dr. Tofu wasn't so easily convinced. He eyed Akane suspiciously as he asked, "And where would you live Akane?"
"Oh, he...he...I was just...I was...I was staying with a friend! Yeah, I was just gonna stay at a friend's house," Akane said.
"Um...listen, Ya'll have a seat, k? No, don't sit on the couch! Sit on that table right there and talk. I gotta go and...and...and buy some soy sauce," Akane said as she edged toward the door.
"Why would we need-?" Ukyo began but Akane was already out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane walked through the streets and relaxed. She was allowed time to think, think, and think. Time to digest all that has happened and plan. That is how it was ifyou wanted to work this game. If you had to lead a clan, you had to think like a chess player. Plan your moves ahead of your opponents...and patience. Lots and lots of patience. Akane had to work months to develop the patience she had now. Chess. She needed to make a move now to ensure that she wouldn't be hearing from the Blue Dragon this week that Kasumi is here. After some more thinking, Akane finally, took out her cell phone and dialed the number of the officer under her payroll.
"Hey, talk," Akane heard Cole say.
"Hey Officer Cole, listen, I want you to tell the chief about a new shipment of weapons on the Third Dock in, oh about, 45 minutes. This is big. The source that you got this is anonymous. Bye," and with that Akane hung up. It wasn't fair of her to do that, but, hey, whoever said the game was fair. Feeling happy with herself Akane walked into a small restaurant and ordered some food.
Half-way through her meal, Akane heard Ukyo's voice say over the speaker in her ear, "Akane, get home, NOW!"
"What's the matter, Ucchan. I'm eating here, whatever it is, you, Tenchi, and Ryan can solve it, okay?" Akane replied, annoyed that her meal was interrupted.
"I am not playing with you, Ne-chan, you had better get you butt home, quick because something big has happened," Ukyo demanded.
"What happened? Did the world end because my side of the world seems pretty normal," Akane snapped back.
Ukyo chuckled nervously, "This is very close to the end of the world. Just get your butt back here or I am so gonna kill you. Now bye." With that, Akane heard the dial tone. Grumbling about stupid, bossy friends Akane paid the check and exited the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane opened the door to her apartment and yelled, "Hey, Ucchan, Kasumi,
Tenchi, Ryan, where are ya'll?" Ukyo rushed from the bedroom and was rushing Akane out the door, intent on warning her of what was about to happen, when someone walked from the
bedroom door, followed by Kasumi that stole all of Akane's attention.
Akane felt her breath freeze and she faintly heard Ukyo's, "Damn," in the distance, but all her focus was on *him*. What was he doing here? There stood Ranma and Ryoga, but only a sub-conscious part of Akane noticed Ryoga, all her senses pointed at Ranma. He looked better then she thought he would. He looked better then in her dreams, in her hopes, in her visions. He looked so much better, and he was here, now. Ranma. Akane's trained eye
looked him over. He was wearing black, silk, Chinese pants, and a large, blue, silk shirt. His hair was still in that pig-tail, but his face. Oh, his face...a faint white scar ran over his left cheek, but his face was older, more dangerous, and his face was so brutally, drastically handsome.
*How many hearts has he broken...?* Akane found herself wondering, *...including mine...* His eyes were still the same bluish-grey they were before and Akane noticed with a jolt that he was staring at her as well.
Ranma looked at her and felt like either breaking down crying, or laughing. He did neither. He noted that she was taller and filled out in a lot of places, losing the last of her baby fat. As skilled as he was, he noted that her posture was straight, tall, confident of everything that she did. She wore a large sweatshirt and bellbottom jeans, looking normal with her blue-black hair put up so that it fanned around her face. The hairstyle and clothes were average and Ranma felt a warm familiarity along with it. She was better then he could possibly dream; warm, kind, beautiful, and the only thing that was not part of the life he had now. A tiny, mini scar was on her left cheek, near her ear and covered by her hair. Ranma looked at her brown eyes and sighed as he felt like drowning. Just drown in those deep, brown eyes and not return. Yet, suddenly, Akane's eyes hardened and Ranma saw anger there.
After spending years as Akane's best friend, Ukyo knew when Akane's anger
peaked and now was one of those moments so she nervously laughed and said, "He... he.... Ne-chan, you...um...remember Ranma?"
"How could I forget such a bastard? After all, it's only once in a
lifetime you meet someone as annoying or traitorous as him!" Akane snapped, her eyes practically blazing. Ranma and Ukyo winced at Akane's tone and words and Ukyo said, "Aw, c'mon now, Ne-chan, he didn't know. I'm sure if he did he would have stayed. Besides, even if he did stay, he couldn't have possibly done anything. It would have ended the same way. Let it go."
"What didn't I know?" Ranma asked Ukyo, but she wasn't paying attention to him, but instead trying to defuse Akane's anger.
Akane glared at Ranma and he could see tears in her eyes now, "Well, I'm sorry, Saotome-san if I offended you in any way, but life has been tough and my manners have become terrible, now if you'll excuse me..." Unable to end that Akane ran out of the room. Ukyo looked after her, she knew Akane only used a 'polite' tone with those she hate or feel no connection too. She turned to tell Ranma to chase after Akane, but he was already gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane used her speed to run on top of the buildings till she reached the roof of Falcon Industries. The laws of gravity were always broken when you were a martial artist. Akane climbed onto the large metal box where the door to enter to roof was and sat down. She could see the whole city up there. Sitting here always reminded her of that gaijin movie, The Lion King. Looking at the city, it was bright, but at the ends on two sides were dark. Those were the streets normal people didn't enter for the danger. Half of those streets were hers. Tears were in her eyes, but none ran down her cheek. Mel told her not to cry, that it was weak, and one could not afford to be weak in this business.
Akane saw Ranma land on the roof so she bent down to hide from him.Looking around, Ranma yelled, "Akane, where are you?" *Should I answer him? If I don't he probably won't go away...*
"Go away, Ranma," Akane called from on top the metal box. Ranma looked up at her and was about to climb up when she said stubbornly, "Don't you dare come up here."
Ranma sat down beside the metal box and for awhile they just sat silence wondering what they should say to each other. Finally, Ranma spoke up, "So...what was with that show back there?"
"It doesn't matter," she said stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter, but it matters enough that you got angry at me," Ranma said softly.
"Touché," Akane commented, but said nothing else.
"Well..." Ranma prompted.
"Well what?" she asked, annoyed.
Ranma sighed, "Well, what happened after I left?"
Akane thought not to tell him, but then decided he would find out from Ukyo or Kasumi anyway so she told him, "After you left, Ucchan moved her okonomiyaki shop to the city and Shampoo..."
#######Flashback########
Akane walked by the Neko-Hanten and she saw that it was closed with a "For
Sale" sign on the front. Surprised, she entered the restaurant to see Shampoo packing up things into a box.
"Shampoo, what are you doing?" Akane asked. The Chinese Amazon turned her
head up and her purple ponytails waved as her violet eyesglittered with tears.
"Shampoo and hiba-chan go back to village. Go home to China," she answered
as she stood up.
"What? Why?" Akane asked confused. *If their leaving, shouldn't they go chasing after Ranma.* she wondered.
"Amazon village say Shampoo waste too too much time chase after Airen. Must go back to village now," she whispered.
Maybe it was intuition, maybe it was just a personal understanding, but in that moment Akane understood that in her own way...Shampoo had loved Ranma too. It wasn't just an infatuation with his skills, or a duty she must fulfill, but Shampoo had honestly loved Ranma Saotome. The revelation sent Akane staggering. *But how could she love him? She didn't even know him that well! She was only impressed by his skill and thought she loved him!* Akane tried to convince herself, but the truth was there in Shampoo's eyes. *Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, therefore winged cupid painted blind...* Akane remembered Kuno quoting to her once.
"You loved him, didn't you?" Akane whispered in awe. Shampoo looked up at her, "Pervert girl love Ranma too. So did Spatula girl and Crazy girl. It not matter who we love, matter who Ranma love. Ranma gone now, we never know. Mousse come back to village too. Akane come visit, yes? Good luck, pervert girl."
#######End of Flashback#######
"...and Shampoo was gone the next day. Some people bought the Neko-hanten
and Ucchan's Okonomiyaki and made it into a nail salon and mini-clothes shop."
"That still doesn't explain why you're angry with me," Ranma reminded her.Akane looked out at the shadows of the city again and smiled grimly as she said, "Don't worry, Ranma. You'll understand. So, Ukyo, Shampoo, your parents, and Ryoga was gone. My life was back to the way it was before you came as if you had never been there at all. Sometimes, I'll have to look at a photo of you to convince myself that you did exist and all that stuff did
happen. Then, a couple months later, daddy died-"
"You don't sound all that sad when you say it," Ranma said. He wasn't shocked about Soun's death. His researchers had already told him that.
Akane laughed, "Sad? Yeah, I was sorta *sad*, as you put it, we all were, but after awhile, the pain numbs and the scar heals over-"
"But the scar's still there," Ranma pointed out.
"You've taken up a habit of interrupting, huh? Well, daddy died and he left us with a mess of debt. Nabiki told us to file for bankruptcy and we did. They took away everything-"
"You mean the Tendo Dojo's gone?" he asked incredulous.
"For awhile, but I bought it back. Anyways, they took away everything and then... then...Nabiki...she left! She just up and left one day. We were living at Dr. Tofu's at the time since we didn't have anyone to turn to and Nabiki just up and left me and Kasumi when she was the only one that could make money! No one in Nerima would hire a 17-year old, inexperienced girl and I couldn't make Kasumi work so I went to the city to find work and here I am. Working as an actress and sending money home every month," Akane explained.
Ranma was suspicious about the chunk of her life that Akane left out. The 7 years from when she arrived at the city until now. Ranma, knew from personal experience, that a 17-year old, no-degree, kid could just walk into the city and get a job. It was either, go home or starve and die. Of course, there was one more option, but Ranma immediatly disregarded Akane taking the same route he had.It was silence again, that quiet demon that fills the air. Akane spoke up again just to break it, "So what do you work as?"
"Oh, I teach a karate class," he said the lie smoothly.
"So, do you have a-" but his cell phone interrupted him. Ranma picked up his cell phone and said, "What is it?"
Ryoga's heavy breath came through the phone as if he was talking and running at the same time, "The police raided our shipment on the Third Dock. Get here quick."
Ranma hung up and he quietly cursed, "Shit!"
"What is it?" Akane asked.
Ranma looked up at her and he found that his years of practiced lives were wasted at the sight of her eyes, "Um...an emergency at the job, I need to go." With that he jumped off the building and was gone.
Akane watched him run off and heard her cell phone ring. Picking it up she heard Cole's voice on the other line.
"Hello?"
"Job's done boss. The chief sent men to take on the Third Dock. The whole shipment is taken and several of their men were tooken in. The chief even awarded me for the info. Thanks."
Akane smiled, "No problem, it was my pleasure." and she hung up. Never once did it occur to her of the connection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@htomail.com.
Chapter 5, Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Author's Notes: This is the next chapter and it may be a little confusing, but stick with it and you'll understand. Now, to those of you who are confused at why if Ranma loves Akane so much, he sleeps with so many different women? Well, see all these years Ranma's missing Akane and so he believes that if he dated all these women he could fill in the void and hurt
that Akane left behind. It didn't work. Enjoy. Oh yeah, send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.
Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doors to the G3 terminal opened and people filed out ready to greet their families and friends. Akane finally caught sight of a tall, brown-haired lady holding hands with two small children, Asako and Mayabi, Kasumi's boy and girl, 4-year old twins. Kasumi smiled as Akane rushed toward her and caught her in a breathless hug. Asako and Mayabi jumped up and down waving their arms at Tenchi and Ryan, Akane's guards, to pick them up. Ukyo smiled politely at Dr. Tofu and they watched as the two sisters hugged.
"Hello Akane," Kasumi said at last when Akane finally let her go.
Akane quickly wiped away any tears from her eyes and said, "Hi oneechan. Hello Tofu-sensei. Hey 'sako, Hey Maya'. Let's get going, 'k?" At that she told Tenchi and Ryan to pick up Kasumi and Tofu's luggage and she and Ukyo carried Asako and Mayabi out of the airport followed by Kasumi and Tofu.
"My, Akane, aren't your friends nice? Driving you here and carrying our luggage. You should thank them," Kasumi said, referring to Tenchi and Ryan, just as Ukyo burst out laughing. Akane smiled and nodded, but she thought *They have to be 'nice' for the prices I pay them...*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They entered the small, studio apartment that was supposed to be where Akane lived. To be truthful, Akane saw the apartment for the first time that day. Kasumi looked around the apartment and smiled sweetly at Akane, obviously not seeing anything wrong.
"Really, Akane, this is...nice," Dr. Tofu said as he bent down and looked at a greenish, bluish, brownish blob on the floor.
"Look, Asako! The water's green!" Mayabi giggled. Akane turned to glare pointedly at Ukyo.
"Green water, Ucchan?" Akane said into the microphone in her mouth so that only Ukyo, Tenchi, and Ryan can hear. Tenchi and Ryan burst out laughing at seeing Ukyo in trouble.
"Listen, Ne-chan, I happened to be in the hospital these past days so I told Tenchi to find the apartment. I had nothing to do with this," Akane heard Ukyo say through the small speaker in her ear.
Tenchi abruptly stopped laughing and said into his microphone defensively, "Hey, that's not fair. I told Ryan to get the apartment, I was supposed to arrange the actress jobs."
Ryan turned to glare at Tenchi before turning and cheekily smiling at an angry Akane, "Well, listen Akane-chan, you're supposed to be a poor, starving actress right?"
"But I'm not going to let Kasumi, Tofu and the kids living in this dump for a week!" Akane growled.
Ukyo interrupted before Akane killed Ryan, "The solution is simple if ya blockheads bother to think. We'll just tell them that the place is under some sort of sterilization or something and we'll pay for them to live in a hotel. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the others chorused.
Kasumi looked up as Akane walked over to her. "Um...oneechan, I'm sorry, but the whole floor is going through this sterilization thing and you can't live here. I'll pay for the hotel though," Akane quickly assured.
Kasumi agreed and the kids just jumped over living in a hotel, but Dr. Tofu wasn't so easily convinced. He eyed Akane suspiciously as he asked, "And where would you live Akane?"
"Oh, he...he...I was just...I was...I was staying with a friend! Yeah, I was just gonna stay at a friend's house," Akane said.
"Um...listen, Ya'll have a seat, k? No, don't sit on the couch! Sit on that table right there and talk. I gotta go and...and...and buy some soy sauce," Akane said as she edged toward the door.
"Why would we need-?" Ukyo began but Akane was already out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane walked through the streets and relaxed. She was allowed time to think, think, and think. Time to digest all that has happened and plan. That is how it was ifyou wanted to work this game. If you had to lead a clan, you had to think like a chess player. Plan your moves ahead of your opponents...and patience. Lots and lots of patience. Akane had to work months to develop the patience she had now. Chess. She needed to make a move now to ensure that she wouldn't be hearing from the Blue Dragon this week that Kasumi is here. After some more thinking, Akane finally, took out her cell phone and dialed the number of the officer under her payroll.
"Hey, talk," Akane heard Cole say.
"Hey Officer Cole, listen, I want you to tell the chief about a new shipment of weapons on the Third Dock in, oh about, 45 minutes. This is big. The source that you got this is anonymous. Bye," and with that Akane hung up. It wasn't fair of her to do that, but, hey, whoever said the game was fair. Feeling happy with herself Akane walked into a small restaurant and ordered some food.
Half-way through her meal, Akane heard Ukyo's voice say over the speaker in her ear, "Akane, get home, NOW!"
"What's the matter, Ucchan. I'm eating here, whatever it is, you, Tenchi, and Ryan can solve it, okay?" Akane replied, annoyed that her meal was interrupted.
"I am not playing with you, Ne-chan, you had better get you butt home, quick because something big has happened," Ukyo demanded.
"What happened? Did the world end because my side of the world seems pretty normal," Akane snapped back.
Ukyo chuckled nervously, "This is very close to the end of the world. Just get your butt back here or I am so gonna kill you. Now bye." With that, Akane heard the dial tone. Grumbling about stupid, bossy friends Akane paid the check and exited the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane opened the door to her apartment and yelled, "Hey, Ucchan, Kasumi,
Tenchi, Ryan, where are ya'll?" Ukyo rushed from the bedroom and was rushing Akane out the door, intent on warning her of what was about to happen, when someone walked from the
bedroom door, followed by Kasumi that stole all of Akane's attention.
Akane felt her breath freeze and she faintly heard Ukyo's, "Damn," in the distance, but all her focus was on *him*. What was he doing here? There stood Ranma and Ryoga, but only a sub-conscious part of Akane noticed Ryoga, all her senses pointed at Ranma. He looked better then she thought he would. He looked better then in her dreams, in her hopes, in her visions. He looked so much better, and he was here, now. Ranma. Akane's trained eye
looked him over. He was wearing black, silk, Chinese pants, and a large, blue, silk shirt. His hair was still in that pig-tail, but his face. Oh, his face...a faint white scar ran over his left cheek, but his face was older, more dangerous, and his face was so brutally, drastically handsome.
*How many hearts has he broken...?* Akane found herself wondering, *...including mine...* His eyes were still the same bluish-grey they were before and Akane noticed with a jolt that he was staring at her as well.
Ranma looked at her and felt like either breaking down crying, or laughing. He did neither. He noted that she was taller and filled out in a lot of places, losing the last of her baby fat. As skilled as he was, he noted that her posture was straight, tall, confident of everything that she did. She wore a large sweatshirt and bellbottom jeans, looking normal with her blue-black hair put up so that it fanned around her face. The hairstyle and clothes were average and Ranma felt a warm familiarity along with it. She was better then he could possibly dream; warm, kind, beautiful, and the only thing that was not part of the life he had now. A tiny, mini scar was on her left cheek, near her ear and covered by her hair. Ranma looked at her brown eyes and sighed as he felt like drowning. Just drown in those deep, brown eyes and not return. Yet, suddenly, Akane's eyes hardened and Ranma saw anger there.
After spending years as Akane's best friend, Ukyo knew when Akane's anger
peaked and now was one of those moments so she nervously laughed and said, "He... he.... Ne-chan, you...um...remember Ranma?"
"How could I forget such a bastard? After all, it's only once in a
lifetime you meet someone as annoying or traitorous as him!" Akane snapped, her eyes practically blazing. Ranma and Ukyo winced at Akane's tone and words and Ukyo said, "Aw, c'mon now, Ne-chan, he didn't know. I'm sure if he did he would have stayed. Besides, even if he did stay, he couldn't have possibly done anything. It would have ended the same way. Let it go."
"What didn't I know?" Ranma asked Ukyo, but she wasn't paying attention to him, but instead trying to defuse Akane's anger.
Akane glared at Ranma and he could see tears in her eyes now, "Well, I'm sorry, Saotome-san if I offended you in any way, but life has been tough and my manners have become terrible, now if you'll excuse me..." Unable to end that Akane ran out of the room. Ukyo looked after her, she knew Akane only used a 'polite' tone with those she hate or feel no connection too. She turned to tell Ranma to chase after Akane, but he was already gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akane used her speed to run on top of the buildings till she reached the roof of Falcon Industries. The laws of gravity were always broken when you were a martial artist. Akane climbed onto the large metal box where the door to enter to roof was and sat down. She could see the whole city up there. Sitting here always reminded her of that gaijin movie, The Lion King. Looking at the city, it was bright, but at the ends on two sides were dark. Those were the streets normal people didn't enter for the danger. Half of those streets were hers. Tears were in her eyes, but none ran down her cheek. Mel told her not to cry, that it was weak, and one could not afford to be weak in this business.
Akane saw Ranma land on the roof so she bent down to hide from him.Looking around, Ranma yelled, "Akane, where are you?" *Should I answer him? If I don't he probably won't go away...*
"Go away, Ranma," Akane called from on top the metal box. Ranma looked up at her and was about to climb up when she said stubbornly, "Don't you dare come up here."
Ranma sat down beside the metal box and for awhile they just sat silence wondering what they should say to each other. Finally, Ranma spoke up, "So...what was with that show back there?"
"It doesn't matter," she said stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter, but it matters enough that you got angry at me," Ranma said softly.
"Touché," Akane commented, but said nothing else.
"Well..." Ranma prompted.
"Well what?" she asked, annoyed.
Ranma sighed, "Well, what happened after I left?"
Akane thought not to tell him, but then decided he would find out from Ukyo or Kasumi anyway so she told him, "After you left, Ucchan moved her okonomiyaki shop to the city and Shampoo..."
#######Flashback########
Akane walked by the Neko-Hanten and she saw that it was closed with a "For
Sale" sign on the front. Surprised, she entered the restaurant to see Shampoo packing up things into a box.
"Shampoo, what are you doing?" Akane asked. The Chinese Amazon turned her
head up and her purple ponytails waved as her violet eyesglittered with tears.
"Shampoo and hiba-chan go back to village. Go home to China," she answered
as she stood up.
"What? Why?" Akane asked confused. *If their leaving, shouldn't they go chasing after Ranma.* she wondered.
"Amazon village say Shampoo waste too too much time chase after Airen. Must go back to village now," she whispered.
Maybe it was intuition, maybe it was just a personal understanding, but in that moment Akane understood that in her own way...Shampoo had loved Ranma too. It wasn't just an infatuation with his skills, or a duty she must fulfill, but Shampoo had honestly loved Ranma Saotome. The revelation sent Akane staggering. *But how could she love him? She didn't even know him that well! She was only impressed by his skill and thought she loved him!* Akane tried to convince herself, but the truth was there in Shampoo's eyes. *Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, therefore winged cupid painted blind...* Akane remembered Kuno quoting to her once.
"You loved him, didn't you?" Akane whispered in awe. Shampoo looked up at her, "Pervert girl love Ranma too. So did Spatula girl and Crazy girl. It not matter who we love, matter who Ranma love. Ranma gone now, we never know. Mousse come back to village too. Akane come visit, yes? Good luck, pervert girl."
#######End of Flashback#######
"...and Shampoo was gone the next day. Some people bought the Neko-hanten
and Ucchan's Okonomiyaki and made it into a nail salon and mini-clothes shop."
"That still doesn't explain why you're angry with me," Ranma reminded her.Akane looked out at the shadows of the city again and smiled grimly as she said, "Don't worry, Ranma. You'll understand. So, Ukyo, Shampoo, your parents, and Ryoga was gone. My life was back to the way it was before you came as if you had never been there at all. Sometimes, I'll have to look at a photo of you to convince myself that you did exist and all that stuff did
happen. Then, a couple months later, daddy died-"
"You don't sound all that sad when you say it," Ranma said. He wasn't shocked about Soun's death. His researchers had already told him that.
Akane laughed, "Sad? Yeah, I was sorta *sad*, as you put it, we all were, but after awhile, the pain numbs and the scar heals over-"
"But the scar's still there," Ranma pointed out.
"You've taken up a habit of interrupting, huh? Well, daddy died and he left us with a mess of debt. Nabiki told us to file for bankruptcy and we did. They took away everything-"
"You mean the Tendo Dojo's gone?" he asked incredulous.
"For awhile, but I bought it back. Anyways, they took away everything and then... then...Nabiki...she left! She just up and left one day. We were living at Dr. Tofu's at the time since we didn't have anyone to turn to and Nabiki just up and left me and Kasumi when she was the only one that could make money! No one in Nerima would hire a 17-year old, inexperienced girl and I couldn't make Kasumi work so I went to the city to find work and here I am. Working as an actress and sending money home every month," Akane explained.
Ranma was suspicious about the chunk of her life that Akane left out. The 7 years from when she arrived at the city until now. Ranma, knew from personal experience, that a 17-year old, no-degree, kid could just walk into the city and get a job. It was either, go home or starve and die. Of course, there was one more option, but Ranma immediatly disregarded Akane taking the same route he had.It was silence again, that quiet demon that fills the air. Akane spoke up again just to break it, "So what do you work as?"
"Oh, I teach a karate class," he said the lie smoothly.
"So, do you have a-" but his cell phone interrupted him. Ranma picked up his cell phone and said, "What is it?"
Ryoga's heavy breath came through the phone as if he was talking and running at the same time, "The police raided our shipment on the Third Dock. Get here quick."
Ranma hung up and he quietly cursed, "Shit!"
"What is it?" Akane asked.
Ranma looked up at her and he found that his years of practiced lives were wasted at the sight of her eyes, "Um...an emergency at the job, I need to go." With that he jumped off the building and was gone.
Akane watched him run off and heard her cell phone ring. Picking it up she heard Cole's voice on the other line.
"Hello?"
"Job's done boss. The chief sent men to take on the Third Dock. The whole shipment is taken and several of their men were tooken in. The chief even awarded me for the info. Thanks."
Akane smiled, "No problem, it was my pleasure." and she hung up. Never once did it occur to her of the connection.
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Author's Notes: Send all comments and criticism to silverflame_maiden@htomail.com.