A/N: This is a songfic that uses the rewritten lyrics to a song by Megumi Hayashibara, Ranma-chan, called November Rain. So really, the song's from Ranma's point of view to begin with. The song's originally in Japanese, and this is not an exact translation of the lyrics. A while ago I rewrote the translation I had so that it flowed together better and sounded more like a song. And then I decided to take my rewritten lyrics and turn the words into a songfic. Anyway, please enjoy!
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I shivered and stamped my feet to keep warm. "Stupid storm," I muttered to myself while watching the rain pelting the ground. I sighed and looked up at the awning over my head. "Well, it looks strong enough. Hopefully it'll hold until the rain stops." I had been lucky enough to get to shelter before the first rain drops had fallen. Unfortunately with the rain pouring down all around me I had backed myself into a corner. "Just wish there was some way I could get home without getting wet."
As if on queue Akane exited the store across the street from me and opened a red umbrella. Holding it over her head, she began to walk slowly back to the Tendo house. "Yo Akane," I shouted without hesitation. She stopped and turned towards my voice, a curious smile touching her lips as her eyes laid upon me. She crossed the street until she was standing beside me.
"Hi Ranma. Get caught in the storm? I told you it was going to rain. You should've listened to me." It was more of a teasing than an admonishing so I didn't think much of it.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Here," she said, handing me her umbrella. I looked at her mutely. "What? You going to take it or not?"
"Don't you need it?"
"Nope." With a smile she flipped the hood of her jacket up so it covered her head. "Come on, let's go." She stepped out from under the awning again and turned back waiting for me to follow. I did so after only a moment.
We walked along in silence, side by side. Akane seemed annoyingly cheerful for some reason. I couldn't understand why. Rain always had the tendency to put me in a dreary mood, even before I had my curse.
A sudden gust of wind whipped at Akane's hood causing it to blow away from her head. With a slight squeal she snatched at it and pulled it tightly back around her face, only to have it blown away another time. With a sigh I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm, pulling her underneath the umbrella with me. "Here," I said in a rough voice.
She smiled slightly and her cheeks tinted pink. "Thank you Ranma."
"Don't mention it."
And then we were silent again. But only for a moment. Akane sighed and leaned closer against me. "This is nice, don't you think?"
"How's this nice? It's cold, it's wet and I'm this close to having my stupid curse activated."
She flinched. "Sorry. I just meant… Well, you know. You and me, here, like this. Under the umbrella. It's kind of peaceful."
I almost smiled. She was right. It was kind of nice. Not that I'd let her know I thought that though. "You feeling alright Akane? You're acting kind of weird."
She frowned briefly and grabbed the umbrella forcing me to a stop as she turned to face me. "Ranma, what do you think of me?"
"Wh-what do I, what? What kind of question is that?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just wanted to know I guess. What do you think of me?"
"I don't know. You're Akane. You're a girl, even if you do act like a tomboy most of the time and…"
"No," she said growling slightly at my use of 'tomboy.' She seemed determined not to get upset though. "Not what am I. What do you think of me? I mean… How do you feel about me?"
I let my mouth gape. "Oh damn, she wants to know how I… feel about her?"
"I… uh… uh…" I stuttered unintelligently. Her question had thrown me way off guard.
She giggled in a cute manner to hide her nervousness and for a moment I thought it wouldn't be so hard. To tell her right then, that I lo… that I… "Dammit, I can't even think it, let alone say it." I didn't know what to say. So instead I said the first thing that popped into my head.
"I think you're an uncute, violent, sexless, tomboy." I flinched. That was obviously the worst thing to say at that moment.
The smile immediately left her face and she looked at me with these eyes, so full of surprise. Although I couldn't understand why. After all, I'd called her that a million times before.
"I-Is that really…" she swallowed softly and tried to finish the sentence but couldn't. "Ranma, you jerk," was all she could choke out as the tears began to fall from her eyes. Almost as an afterthought she slapped me hard across the face. However, it wasn't out of anger that she hit me, like it usually was. It was out of pain. She spun on her heel and ran away from me as fast as she could.
"A-Akane…" I called after her in a small voice partially full of confusion, partially full of regret. I reached up to touch my cheek where she had slapped me. Yet the image of the pain in her eyes stung me much deeper than the red mark on my face. I tried to see where she had gone to, but found I could hardly make out a thing through the moisture in my eyes.
Tonight, tears fell from the sky
And the rain welled up in my eyes
Blurring my vision so I couldn't see you
As you walked away
Another gust of wind struck me and the umbrella was ripped from my grasp. But it didn't matter. My curse triggered as the rain ran down my face, until it was impossible to tell where the rain stopped and my tears began. Slowly I began to walk, the umbrella behind me completely forgotten.
Just now, the umbrella I held over you blew away
But it doesn't matter to me because you're no longer here
"What's her problem anyway?" I asked myself as I walked aimlessly through the deserted streets. "A tomboy like her. She shouldn't let something like that get to her. Why did that hurt her feelings so much?" There was a sudden stab of pain in my chest and I asked in a less protesting voice, "Why do I care so much? It's not like I like her or anything…"
I know I'm not being true to myself, or to you
But I simply can't say the words we both want me to say
"Ah, who am I kidding? Dammit," I yelled to no one in particular. "Why'd this have to happen? Why'd she have to ask me that? She should know that I care about her. Why'd she have to try and force me to say it? I just can't say it. No matter how hard I try, I can't say it. And now she's off crying because of what I said and I'm… I'm…
Tender falling rain
No matter how cold you may be
You're still warmer than my heart
November's winter rain
Until my tears disappear
Don't ever go away
I walked around aimlessly for quite some time. I had no idea how long it had been. It was as if nothing in the world existed except for my thoughts and my loneliness. Eventually I found a bench and sat down on it. Strange how it didn't matter anymore, the bitter cold, the freezing rain. I couldn't even feel it. It was nothing in comparison to the cold in my heart. The sky was gray; the trees were dropping under the weight of the never ending onslaught of water. The streets were completely empty, free of any life. After all, no one would be crazy enough to be out during such a storm. "No one except for me." Everything seemed sad. As if the world were reflecting only my pain. "Well, that's fine with me," I muttered. "The rain suits me just fine."
The sound of rain splashing on the ground
Gives the little town that we live in a touch of sadness
I heard a soft whine and suddenly a wet nose nuzzled my hand. I didn't acknowledge it at first. However, the whine persisted all the more until I had to look down at the wet puppy at my feet. "Hey runt, you lost?" He whined in response and I sighed. I lifted him into my arms and held him close in the hopes of keeping him warm. "Come on boy, let's find who you belong to. After all, you shouldn't be out in this weather by yourself."
I'm carrying a puppy I found lost and alone
Because after all, isn't he just like me?
It wasn't very long before I heard the voice of a girl crying out in distress. "Ikko! Ikko!" I looked over to see a young woman running around frantically in the rain calling for her lost pet.
"It's all right, Dear," said a tall man coming up behind her, desperately trying to wrap a coat around her wet frame. "We'll find him…"
I turned and walked towards the couple slowly, the puppy still in my arms. As I approached I called out to them. "Excuse me?" The woman spun around and her eyes immediately fell upon her beloved pet. "Is this your…"
"IKKO!" she called in relief as she rushed forward, snatching the puppy from my arms and holding him close.
The man was close behind her and finally managed to drape the coat around her shoulders. The woman looked up at him and smiled. The man smiled back and then turned to me. "Thank you for finding him," he said.
The woman looked at me then, gratitude evident in her eyes. "Yes, thank you." They both turned away and the man's arm wrapped around the woman's waist.
"I'm sorry I let him get out."
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault, he has a knack for sneaking away. Sorry I yelled at you."
"Don't worry about it." He smiled at her. "You know I love you despite that temper of yours."
Her face lit up in a bright smile. She looked so happy at his words. "I love you too…"
I sighed from where I stood watching the happy couple. "It looks so easy…"
I'm so sorry, I was wrong
I should have said the words you longed to hear
Because then you would be standing here
And I could see your smile
I thought about what would have happened if I had told her the truth when she asked me how I felt about her. I could imagine her face lighting up in that beautiful smile of hers. A smile made only for me.
But of course I had to blow it and insult her again. It wasn't because I didn't lo- care about her. It was because I couldn't tell her the truth. Because I was a- I was afraid. Gods how hard that was to admit. That I, Ranma Saotome was afraid of something. Something as simple as telling a girl that I… loved her.
Tender falling rain
I hurt you because of what I lacked the courage to say
November's winter rain
Please stay and wash away my pain
"Shampoo… Ukyo… Kodachi… They can be pains sometimes. Hell, they're a pain most of the time. Still, I can't bear to reject them. I can't bear to hurt them. Not that they'd really listen anyway. Or give up on me.
"Kuno… Ryoga… It's not like she could really get rid of them either. And they'd be out for my blood if Akane and I were to get together. Although that wouldn't really be anything new. But still…
"Even without all those complications, the fact remains that I'm not ready. I'm not ready to get married. And surely if I told Akane that I loved her I would have to marry her. We couldn't keep something like that from our parents. It's not that I don't want to marry her. I do. Very much. But I can't. Not when I'm still engaged to two other women and have Kodachi after me. Not when she's adored by so many other guys herself.
"There's just too many issues. Sure, we might be in love, but we're both too stubborn to admit it. Our relationship's fragile enough as it is. If we were to get together it would be way too easy for someone to come along and ruin everything."
I sighed as I ran the situation through my mind for what seemed like the hundredth time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't come up with a solution.
I still can't bring myself to be tender with you
For the love between us is just too easy to break through
So the fact still remained that we had to wait. Wait until the issues with everyone else were resolved. Wait until we could actually go a day without yelling at each other because of some stupid thing.
"And in the meantime," I whispered out loud as I turned the corner to find myself on the street that would lead me back to the Tendo household. "I'll just have to hope that somehow she'll understand. Somehow she can see what words can't say. At least not yet."
Still, that didn't make things much easier.
Tender falling rain
No matter how cold you may be
You're still warmer than my heart
November's winter rain
Until my tears disappear
Don't ever go away
As I walked through the gate, my eyes immediately fell upon the girl sitting on the steps just underneath the overhang. I stopped in the middle of the yard and stared at her still form. She looked so small and frail sitting there alone. She shivered against the wind and pulled her coat tighter around her. And then she looked up, finally noticing my presence. Her eyes met mine, chocolate brown eyes that mirrored the same pain and inner turmoil as my own. I guess I expected she'd be mad at me. Maybe she'd planned on being mad at me as well. She'd probably been waiting out there just so she could yell at me. But for whatever reason she didn't. Perhaps because she could tell for once that I was hurting as well.
Without breaking eye contact she pushed herself to her feet. Blushing, my own gaze faltered and I looked down towards the kettle clasped in her hands. She followed my line of sight and lifted the kettle slightly.
"I uh… It's probably cold now…" she muttered in a raspy voice.
"Akane? How long have you been sitting out here?" I asked, suddenly feeling concerned.
She blushed and looked down while shuffling her feet. "I don't know… I just wanted…"
As she trailed off I walked up to her and lifted her chin with my finger, forcing her to look at me.
"I didn't mean it," I said.
A soft smile filtered onto her lips, and there was understanding in her eyes. "I know."
And then I smiled as well. "Maybe that's enough for now," I thought.
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A/N: Okay, before you ask, no I do not plan to make a sequel to this story. Part of writing is knowing when to end something. I am sorry that it didn't have a more satisfying ending though. The song is really sad, so it was a struggle for me to write a happy ending for this story at all considering it doesn't really match with the song. Anyway, if you want a more happy ending I suggest you read one of my other stories because this one's not going to change or get added to. Sorry! Hope you enjoyed it anyway...