After leaving the park, Akane got on the subway and made her way to the northern edges of Kyoto. She got off at her destination and began to walk the short distance to the place she intended to visit. She walked down a street and stopped in front of an extremely large and elaborate traditional Japanese style home with the name of Kurashi on the plaque hanging at the door. It hadn't been very hard to find, even though she'd only visited the home a few times. After all, it was the type of place you didn't forget about very easily.
She made her way through the gate and past the beautiful Zen garden that had been arranged in the entryway. As she reached the front door she took a deep breath and knocked. After a few moments a short servant answered the door and looked at Akane curiously. "May I help you?"
"It's me, Mayuka. Akane Tendo, remember?"
The maid blinked for a moment and then a wide smile spread on her face. "Akane Dear! Oh do come in! What brings you to Kyoto?" she asked while ushering her into the house.
"Well, I'm just taking a bit of a vacation is all," Akane responded as Mayuka led her into the front room where guests were received.
"Oh, how nice! The mistress will be overjoyed to see you! You wait here a moment while I go and get her." With that, the maid excused herself and left the room. Akane cautiously walked around the room, examining the décor of the elaborate house. She stopped when she reached the far wall and examined a picture hanging on it. The picture was of Akane's mother and her two sisters, Noriko and Kimiko when they were teenagers. Akane smiled as she observed the picture of her mother. Ayame had been the youngest of the Higarashi children, just like Akane had been the youngest of the Tendo girls. However, that wasn't the only similarity between the two. Ayame had been full of life, and she had practiced martial arts, just like Akane. Their looks were similar as well. However, in the picture, Ayame still had long hair, although she had cut it later after marrying Soun Tendo. Despite that, they still looked very much alike. They had the same eyes, the hair was the same bluish color and they were around the same height as well.
"I never realized just how much she did look like me," Akane mused out loud.
"Indeed she did," spoke a voice from behind her.
Akane spun around to face an older but beautiful woman in a green and blue kimono. Akane smiled and ran over to hug the woman. "Auntie Noriko, it's so good to see you again."
"You too Akane. And how is my favorite niece?"
"Oh, well, you know. Been busy. I just graduated from high school," Akane said as the two of them had a seat at the tea table and Mayuka returned bringing in a tray of tea.
"Oh how wonderful! My but you girls sure grew up fast. So then, what brings you all the way here to Kyoto?"
Akane looked down into her tea. She still didn't know exactly what she was doing visiting her Aunt Noriko. It was nice to see her, but she wasn't sure how detailed she wanted to get about recent events in her life. "I, uh just needed a bit of break from things and all, so I figured I'd come to Kyoto." Noriko nodded in a manner that showed that she understood everything Akane had said, and everything she hadn't said.
"Oh! By the way, I got an invitation for your wedding last week, unfortunately I wasn't able to attend. However, judging by the fact that you're here in Kyoto alone, I assume it was another failure, hmm?"
Akane continued to look down into her tea. She nodded her head slightly and muttered a meek, "Uh huh."
"Oh, Honey, come here," Noriko said, scooting next to Akane and pulling her into a close embrace. "It's okay Dear, you don't want to get married like that anyway, do you?"
"I-I guess not," she sobbed softly into her aunt's shoulder. "But if I don't marry Ranma, who else am I going to marry?"
"Well, Dear, you're young and you're beautiful, you could have your choice of any boy out there." She looked at Akane who didn't seem all that comforted by her words. In fact she appeared to be even more distressed. "Yet I suspect that's not the problem, is it?" Noriko smiled. "He's special isn't he?"
Akane hesitated for a moment and then merely nodded. "But it'll never work," she whispered, more to herself than her aunt.
"And why not?"
"Because! He has several other girls that have just as strong of a claim to him as I do, for one thing."
"I wouldn't say that. The one who has the strongest claim is the one that he loves, right? And that would be you."
Akane sighed and pouted. "What if he doesn't love me?"
"Akane," Noriko said sternly. "Don't tell me you honestly believe he doesn't?"
"I-I don't know what to believe anymore. Sometimes I think he does. But he's never said so. At least not out loud. And he's always chasing after other girls, and he says I'm un-cute. Not to mention he left Nerima right after the wedding."
"Sometimes boys are a little dense. And they're not good at admitting their feelings. However, just because he doesn't tell you he loves you, doesn't mean he doesn't. And as for the other girls, if he really cared for them, I'm sure he would have already run off with one of them by now. And he probably calls you un-cute because he likes you. Some guys tend to tease the girls they like. As for him leaving, he'll be back. Trust me. He probably just needed some time to clear his mind. When he does return, maybe you'll be pleased with the results."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, why do you think he left?"
"Well, the note apparently said that he needed to think or something…"
"There you go! See, he went off to decide what he was going to do next. When he comes back, you might find that his thinking has done him some good. Maybe he'll finally resolve things between you and the other girls."
Akane creased her brow. "You think so?"
"Hey, I may not be an expert on males in general, but I am a terrific judge of character."
Akane knew she was right. Not much could get past her aunt. Akane had been a lot like Ayame, and Nabiki had been just like her Aunt Noriko. Akane smiled a little. "Maybe you're right."
"Of course I am." Noriko was glad to see she was getting through to the girl and cheering her up a bit, but then Akane frowned again. "Okay, what is it now?"
"It's nothing really."
"Oh don't give me that, I can see right through you Akane Tendo."
Akane sighed. "Well, it's just that, supposing Ranma and I do get married, okay? Well, still, it's just all so… so…"
"Unromantic?"
Akane blinked. "Well, yeah I guess that's the word. I mean, it's just that we already had the worst first meeting in the history of the world. Shouldn't your first meeting with the guy you're going to be with forever be something special or something? Not one of the worst moments of your life. And our first kiss! For crying out loud, he thought he was a cat at the time! Although I guess maybe that one didn't really count. And it's not like he's ever going to propose to me, seeing as we're already engaged. So what's left? I don't see our wedding ceremony being something all that enjoyable should we ever even get married."
Noriko stifled a giggled. "You know it's funny. I had this exact same conversation with your mother some years back, before she married your father. And I'll tell you the exact same thing I told her. It's not the first meeting or the proposal or even the wedding that is romantic. It's the little things that happen when you least expect them, the random occurrences of every day. The way he gets jealous when you're with another guy and denies it later. Those times when you catch him looking at you from across the room and the way he gets nervous when you finally notice. The excitement that goes through you when you accidentally bump into each other or touch for a brief moment. Or the way he tries to cheer you up when you're upset. Now that's real romance. Not some planned out storyline of how love should be. It's different for every person, and that's what makes it so special."
Akane looked thoughtful for a moment and began to smile a little. Then a thought crossed her mind. "You said you had this conversation with my mother?" she asked, slightly confused.
"Yes, a long time ago."
"But I thought that my mom and dad were always pretty close."
"Oh goodness no. They fought all the time for a while. Three years actually, until they finally admitted their feelings for each other. We all knew that they liked each other though, but they had to keep up the pretense so that they wouldn't be forced into getting married."
"What do you mean, forced into getting married?"
"Well the engagement of course."
"Huh?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know it was an arranged marriage?"
"A what?" Akane asked, shocked.
"Why of course! I was sure you knew that. Their father's arranged for them to be married when they were children. When they grew up and found out that they were engaged they fought the whole arrangement nonstop. But their father's kept pushing and pushing."
"But Mom always gave the impression that they got married of their own freewill."
"Well, technically they did. You see, after they admitted their feelings for each other, their father's tried to push for them to get married right away, but they didn't want to get married like that. So, your dad proposed to your mother himself one day and the two ran off and eloped. No outside influences at all. They got married because they loved each other, not because their parents made them."
"R-Really? That's so beautiful!"
"It was. Sure shocked the rest of us though. And it would've been nice to see my own sisters wedding, but I can respect their decision. So you see now? They didn't have a big fancy wedding or anything. Their relationship was nothing like you'd read about in a romance novel or see in a movie. Yet it's the kind of relationship you've wanted your whole life. Now ask yourself why you've longed for all of that? Is it because it was terribly romantic, according to the world's standards? No, it was because they loved each other very much. And there's nothing wrong with wanting the kind of love they shared. After all, that's true romance."
Akane grew thoughtful at her aunt's words. Noriko watched her young niece with interest as she digested her advice. After they had finished their tea a wicked grin spread on Noriko's face.
"Now. My guess is you've been doing nothing during your stay here in Kyoto but sit around in your hotel room and pout. Am I right?"
"No! That's not true! I went to the hot spring at my hotel and talked to a very nice boy," Akane said triumphantly, proud at being able to prove her aunt wrong.
"Oh really?" Noriko was not entirely convinced. "And I'm sure the two of you had a nice, upbeat conversation about the weather, hmm?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.
Akane sulked slightly feeling defeated again. "No. We mostly talked about our fiancée's."
"My point exactly. You, my dear, are wasting a perfectly good vacation by sulking! Now, Kyoto is not one of the most popular tourist areas in Japan for nothing! Come! We shall go shopping and tour the great city that is my hometown!" Noriko said in a dramatic voice, while jumping to her feet and pulling Akane with her.
Akane smiled, finding Noriko's playfulness contagious. Yes, she was definitely glad she had come to Kyoto.
* * * *
Ranma wasn't much for visiting temples, beautiful gardens and imperial palaces. He knew less than the average Japanese teenager about Japan's history, and couldn't have cared less if Kyoto was the only major city to avoid being attacked in World War II. However, he did think the futuristic tower thing looked pretty cool. So while Akane and her aunt Noriko were off investigating the finer points of Kyoto, Ranma spent his day playing video games in the humongous arcade at the famous Kyoto Station. Well, actually, he ran some errands first and worked out the details to his 'plan', but Ranma being Ranma finished those errands and details in less than an hour and had the rest of the day left to eat and do whatever he wanted. He would have gone straight back to the hotel and called 'Ayame' every five minutes until she answered, but she had told him the previous night she would be out until the afternoon, and promised not to leave without saying goodbye. Instead, Ranma had gone out and enjoyed Kyoto, or at least Kyoto's arcade, for a few hours before going back to his hotel... And calling 'Ayame' every five minutes until she finally answered.
Ranma hung up the phone for the sixth time and glared at it. "Well she sure is taking her sweet time!" He sighed and mentally calmed himself down. "Let's see. I think I took care of everything," he said in a contemplative voice. Then his eyes began to narrow. "Now if only my stupid fiancée would get back!" He sighed and began to run over things in his mind. "It seems like I'm forgetting something." He thought for a while but couldn't quite remember. "Let's see. It had something to do with what 'Ayame' told me last night. Now why was it that she wanted to talk to me last night in the first place? She wanted to thank me for dinner and then… hmm… Oh yeah! She was upset because 'Ranma' left Nerima. That's right. Maybe I should call the Tendos and leave them a message or something." He sat up and reached for the phone.
* * * *
"Alright, it's all set up," Nabiki said as she finished connecting a wire to the telephone."
"Nabiki, what do we need all this stuff for anyway?" Kasumi asked.
"It's a phone tracer. When Akane calls tonight we'll be able to figure out her location."
"And Ranma too?" An excited Shampoo asked from where she stood next to Ukyo who was also looking hopeful.
Nabiki merely rolled her eyes. "Well, he would have to call first. And knowing Ranma that's pretty unlikely…" She trailed off as the phone rang.
"Oh my! That must be Akane!" Kasumi exclaimed as she went to pick up the phone.
"Okay, now be sure to keep her on the phone for at least thirty seconds so I can trace her."
"Alright." Kasumi picked up the phone and Nabiki sat down in front of a small laptop computer that was connected to the phone. "Tendo Residence."
"Hey Kasumi, what's up?"
"Oh, Ranma," Kasumi said sounding slightly disappointed. "How are…" She was cut off as both Shampoo and Ukyo made a mad dash for the phone, an inevitable brawl taking place over the possession of the receiver. Ukyo came out ahead and claimed the phone first.
"Ranma Honey! Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"
"Oh, hi Ukyo," Ranma said. The indifference in his voice and the use of her regular name made Ukyo more worried than she had been already, but she went on anyway.
"Ranma Honey, when are you going to come back?"
"I don't know yet. We'll see."
"A-are you still mad at me?"
She heard him let out a sigh on the other end of the phone. "I don't know, Ukyo. I guess I just expected more from you."
Tears started to form in her eyes. "R-Ranma, I'm so s-sorry…"
She was cut off as Shampoo finally became tired of waiting and shoved Ukyo out of the way, stealing the receiver from her. "Aiya Ranma! Where you been?"
"Shampoo, give the phone back to Kasumi, I need to talk to her."
Shampoo recoiled a bit in shock from the tone of his voice but she quickly pulled herself together and continued. "You no happy to hear from Shampoo?"
"Of course not!" he shouted. "I thought you'd gotten better since the first wedding but you're just as bad! You went and dragged Ukyo into another one of your stupid schemes and ruined yet another one of my weddings. You two really haven't changed a bit! And I've had enough of all of it. When I do come back, things are going to be a lot different, you understand?"
"R-Ranma, Shampoo no…"
"Enough! I called to talk to the Tendos. Now give the phone back to Kasumi."
Shampoo numbly handed the phone to Kasumi.
"Hello Ranma." Kasumi said taking the phone.
"Hey Kasumi. Look, I just wanted you to pass a message on to Akane for me."
"Oh, okay Ranma."
"Yeah, when she calls could you just tell her that I called and that I am planning on coming back soon."
"Alright, sure Ranma, but how did you know Akane was gone?"
Ranma almost dropped the phone. "Shoot! How could I be such an idiot?" he thought to himself. He tried to think of some response quickly. "I, uh saw her note when I left," he answered hoping she had left a note.
"Oh. I was kind of hoping you knew where she was," Kasumi responded sounding a little worried.
Ranma felt a little bad lying to Kasumi. "Don't worry Kasumi. Akane's fine, I'm sure of it. Anyway, I should go. I'll be back soon probably. Say hi to everyone for me."
"Alright Ranma. Enjoy your little trip. Goodbye."
"Got it," Nabiki said as soon as Kasumi had hung up the phone. Shampoo perked up at her announcement and Nabiki smirked. "Now, how much would the two of you be willing to pay for this information?"
"Aiya," Shampoo exclaimed. "Is no price too high!"
"And what about you, Ukyo?" Nabiki asked, her predatory gleam filtering to the forlorn looking chef.
Ukyo thought for a moment. "Nothing."
Shampoo's jaw dropped in surprise. Nabiki's would've dropped as well, but she kept her business face in check and raised her eyebrow instead. "Nothing?"
"You heard me. Ranma said he wanted to be alone. I respect his decision."
Silence filled the room and Ukyo looked at her feet, unable to sustain the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. "Fine," Nabiki finally said. "I'll just give the information to Shampoo then. 50,000 yen, Shampoo."
"Is deal!" She quickly produced the money and handed it to Nabiki who quickly pocketed the change.
"Wait!" Ukyo said suddenly.
"What you want spatula girl?"
Ukyo was looking down at the floor sadly. "Shampoo, you heard him. He doesn't want to see us right now."
"It no matter. Ranma Shampoo's husband. Is duty as Amazon woman to…"
"ENOUGH!" Ukyo shouted surprising everyone by her sudden outburst. Shampoo recoiled in shock. Ukyo looked up then with her face streaked with tears. "What about what Ranma wants? Does that matter? He needs some time to himself to come to a decision. We can't go on like this forever, all four of us fighting for him. It's got to end eventually. And I for one am going to wait for him to come back and respect his decision when he returns. Even if he doesn't choose me. Because his happiness is what's really important to me."
Shampoo clenched and unclenched her jaw unsure of what to say. She knew Ukyo was right. As an Amazon it was her duty to make sure Ranma chose her at all costs. However, as a woman it was her duty to allow the man she loved to be happy. She had to decide what she was first, a woman or an Amazon.
Nabiki sighed. "Whatever," she said. No matter what the girl decided she had already been paid. She wasn't about to sit around all day and wait for Shampoo to make up her mind about whether or not she was going to follow Ranma. "Look, Ranma's in Kyoto staying at a hotel called The Jade Rabbit, room 118. Either use the information or not. I couldn't care less." With a wave of her hand she turned and made her way into the kitchen to find herself a snack. Personally she hoped both of the girls would track down Ranma and beat him into a bloody pulp. She wanted him to pay for how he had put her younger sister through so much pain and make him think twice about ever leaving her again. She smiled as she wondered how much Kodachi would pay for the information of his whereabouts.
She exited the room leaving the two girls alone with Kasumi to digest the information. "Well then," Kasumi smiled trying to relieve the grim mood hanging around the room. "Would you two like some tea?"
They both looked up having forgotten for a moment that Kasumi was even there. Murmuring their excuses they both left the Tendo house to return to their respective residences, places that neither of them felt could be called home.
When they had passed the front gate Ukyo stopped. "Shampoo, what are you going to do?"
The purple hair girl stopped, her back to the girl who was both her greatest rival, and strangely enough her closest friend. "Shampoo no know. What about you?"
"I-I'm not sure. Now that I know where he is..." she trailed off. Shampoo nodded. Without a word the two girls turned and went their separate ways, both weighted down with the decision they had to make.
* * * *
Akane hummed to herself as she entered her hotel room. She had a wonderful time with her aunt Noriko, and the older woman had really helped her to put some things into perspective. She felt much better. There were still a few things that concerned her, but for the most part she felt the trip had done her a world of good. "It sure was nice to get away from things for a while." She went to put her shopping bags down in the closet and stopped when her eyes fell upon her suitcase. "But I guess it's time to face reality again."
She turned away from the closet and plopped down on her futon. "I haven't resolved everything, but at least I've finally realized what my feelings for Ranma are. And I guess I'm feeling a little more confident that he loves me. But there's still the problem of all the other girls." She frowned. "And I still don't know if Ranma's ever going to return." She shook her head. "No, stop thinking like that, Akane. He'll be back. Still, it would probably be better if I were there in Nerima when he gets back. Otherwise he might get discouraged and leave again. Plus it would be nice to be with my family while I'm waiting. I hate being alone. And it's not like there's anything else I can do here. I could think about it for the rest of my life and never come up with a plan to get rid of the other girls. Best thing would be for me to tell Ranma how I feel about him and then we can decide what we're going to do next together. That is, as long as he wants to be with me." She paused and looked at her watch. "I don't really want to rush home today though. I'll go back tomorrow."
She looked over at the phone. "Oh that's right. I promised to say goodbye to Kenji before I left. After all, he was awfully nice. Maybe we could keep in touch or something." Somehow she knew that would most likely be impossible. Akane picked up the phone and called the receptionist that connected her to Kenji's room.
"Hello?" Came the voice on the other end of the phone.
"Kenji, hey. It's me, Ayame."
"Oh hey! Ayame, I was trying to get a hold of you earlier. You must've just gotten back."
"Yeah, just a few minutes ago actually. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm planning on leaving tomorrow."
"Oh really? That's too bad."
"Yeah, well, I decided to just go home and face things. I can't just stay here in Kyoto forever."
"Yeah I understand I guess."
"But I wanted to say goodbye first. And well... I don't know. I guess it's too much to ask for us to stay in touch or anything."
"What, you mean through letters?"
"I guess. Something like that."
Ranma laughed slightly. "Somehow I don't really think that's going to work."
"Yeah. I know. You're right. I'm going to miss our conversations though."
He didn't respond at first. "I wish..."
He didn't finish his sentence and just grew silent. "You wish what?"
Ranma took a deep breath. "I just wish we could've met under different circumstances. You know, before we were engaged and everything."
Akane blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong or anything. I love my fiancée very much. I realize that now, and I plan to marry her. But still…"
Akane's heart skipped a few beats. "But still what?"
"Geez, I don't know. It's stupid. I mean we're both engaged and everything. But all that aside, we just connected so well. I've never even seen you face to face since we met in the hot spring. I just wish we weren't engaged, when we met. Because then it would be okay for me to tell you that I... Akane, I love you."
Akane gasped. "Kenji… I-I don't really know what to say. I agree that I definitely felt some kind of connection between us but I…" She trailed off. "Wait a minute. What did you call me?"
Ranma laughed. "What do you mean, what did I call you?"
"You called me Akane."
"Why would I do that?"
"I don't know, why would you?"
"Wow, are you feeling alright, Ayame? There must be something wrong with your hearing. Or is it that you're just trying to change the subject?"
"No! It's not that at all it's just… I could've sworn…" She shook her head. "It must've just been my imagination I guess." At least she thought so. "But anyway, um… What was I saying?"
"I believe you were in the middle of telling me that you don't have those kind of feelings for me."
"Oh. Yeah. I guess so. Sorry Kenji."
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's like I said, I love my fiancée, and I'm going to be perfectly happy with her. I would've still wanted to marry her regardless of what you said. I just thought I should tell you."
"I really am sorry though."
"Just answer me this though. If you'd never been engaged to Ranma, and you and me just met like we did. Two strangers. Maybe gone on a few dates or something. Do you think you could've loved me?"
She paused for a moment before answering. "If-if I never met Ranma... If I wasn't in love with him... Then yes. I think I could've loved you."
Ranma grinned. "Believe me, that's the best possible answer I could've hoped for. So you've decided that you love him then?"
"Yeah, I guess I do."
"Well that's great. I wish you the best of luck."
"Thank you. And I wish you and your fiancée the best of luck as well."
"Thank you very much. Anyway, hey, I still owe you a dinner, and I would like to see you face to face before you leave. How about it?"
Akane smiled. It was her last night in Kyoto. She might as well enjoy it. "That sounds nice."
"Great! I'll meet you at the same place in about an hour, okay?"
"Alright, I'll see you there. Bye."
Akane hung up the phone and smiled. Somehow, talking to Kenji made her feel so much better about things. "Well, I've got an hour, what else can I do?" She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh that's right! I was supposed to call Kasumi again." She picked up the phone and dialed the number.
* * * *
"Hey Kasumi?"
"Yes Nabiki?"
"I was just thinking. 'The Jade Rabbit,' that sounds awfully familiar. By any chance, was that the place we were staying when Mom…"
Nabiki didn't complete the sentence and Kasumi didn't finish it for her. She merely nodded her head. "Yes it was."
After a moment Nabiki spoke again. "Man, what are the odds of that happening?" Just then the phone rang again breaking the tension hanging in the room. "Okay," Nabiki said. "That must be Akane. Be sure to keep her on the phone for at least 30 seconds, Kasumi."
Kasumi nodded and picked up the phone. "Tendo residence."
"Hi Kasumi. It's me, Akane."
"Akane! How are you?"
"I'm fine. Um, have you heard anything from Ranma yet?"
"Why yes actually, he just called a few minutes ago." Nabiki's head shot up and she started making gestures towards her sister to stop, but Kasumi wasn't paying any attention.
"Really? Do you know where he is?" Akane asked growing excited.
"Yes actually. He's staying in Kyoto at a hotel called The Jade Rabbit, room number 118."
Akane was shocked. "D-Did you say The Jade Rabbit? Are you absolutely sure?"
"Why yes! Nabiki hooked up this phone tracing machine so we could figure out where the two of you were!" Nabiki moaned and put her head in her hands.
"S-She did? Ah, whoops. I uh have to go Kasumi, bye!"
"But Akane! Wait!" She cried just as she heard the phone click on the other end. "Oh my. Did you get that Nabiki?"
Nabiki was typing some things out on the computer desperately. Finally she sighed. "No, just five more seconds and we would have had her."
"Oh my. Sorry about that. You think she'll call back?"
"No!" Nabiki said in an icy tone of voice she usually reserved for people other than Kasumi. Kasumi blinked a bit in surprise but remained her normal composed self. Nabiki upon seeing this pushed herself up off the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled making her way up the stairs.
* * * *
Akane hung up the phone and took a few seconds to digest the information. "Ranma? Here, in Kyoto? And in the same hotel no less! But… how? It can't be right. It's just too much of a coincidence." Deciding to test the newfound information she picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.
"The Jade Rabbit Hotel, can I help you?" asked the young and indifferent voice of the receptionist on the other end of the line.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me if there's a Ranma Saotome staying at this hotel?" Fortunately enough the girl was young and inexperienced and knew nothing about rules and regulations forbidding the exposure of such classified information.
There was the sound of keys clicking and the smack of bubble gum before the girl responded. "Um, nope. No Ranma Saotome is staying here."
Akane couldn't say she really felt surprised. She knew it must have been a mistake after all. She was about to thank the girl and hang up when a thought occurred to her. If Nabiki had to use a phone tracer to track down Ranma, it was unlikely that he had left his real name, or else it would have merely been a matter of hours before she had found him. And after all, she had used a false name, there was no reason to conclude Ranma hadn't as well.
"Okay, then, could you tell me who's staying in room 118?"
The girl sighed in annoyance and went back to her clicking on the keyboard. "Um, it appears that there is a Kenji Saotouyo staying in room 118."
Akane almost dropped the phone in her surprise. "K-Kenji? Saoto…" Her eyes narrowed. Only one person would be stupid enough to come up with a name like Saotouyo. "I'm going to kill him."
She was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of the receptionist. "Hey, you still there? Is there anything else?"
"Huh, oh um, no. Thank you very much." She hung up the phone.
"K-Kenji, is Ranma! Why that jerk! What the hell is he doing in Kyoto? And he said he loved me, when he thought I was Ayame. He was trying to cheat on me! And he was never planning on telling me! Ooh!" She jumped to her feet and ran out of her room, intent on giving Ranma or Kenji or whoever he was claiming to be a piece of her mind. She reached the door, her hand raised ready to knock when she remembered his exact words.
"Akane, I love you."
She froze, her hand still poised just about ready to pound on the door. "He- he did say my name. He said he loved me! Akane." She gasped and let her hand fall back to her side. "He loves me." A smile touched her face as that thought occurred to her, but the pleasant thought was quickly replaced by a different one. "He knew who I was all along! And he lied about it, why that little…" She glared at the door in frustration, torn between whether or not she should be angry. After all, he did say he loved her... Her anger faltered once again and she smiled slightly. "Alright Ranma. I'll give you a chance. I'll forgive you this time, but you'd better be planning on telling me the truth tonight." She looked at his door one last time. "Guess my only choice is to meet him for dinner and see what he does."
With that decided, Akane silently slipped back to her room, mumbling about Ranma being a dummy on her way.
* * * *
End of Chapter 5
Author Notes:
General - Sorry, this chapter ended up being really long. Hope that was okay for everyone. Anyway, 'The Jade Rabbit' isn't a real hotel in Kyoto, at least not to my knowledge. I could've used a real hotel for the story, but I thought it would be better to use a fictional one because then I can't make the mistake of describing the place incorrectly, like with the hot spring and everything. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, Kyoto Station is a real place. It contrasts with the rest of Kyoto quite drastically because of its futuristic style. I couldn't really see Ranma spending the day looking at temples and stuff, so I had him visiting the arcade at Kyoto Station instead. Probably not the best use of a vacation, but oh well. I threw in the parts about sight seeing because it seemed kind of unrealistic that Ranma and Akane would go to Kyoto and just stay in a hotel the whole time.
Reviews - Okay, so there you go. Akane finally knows about Ranma being Kenji! I know a lot of you were expecting for her to slaughter Ranma or something. However, this is two years after the end of the manga. Akane's matured a little bit and her temper's lessened slightly. Plus, she was very angry thinking that Ranma had cheated on her. Fortunately, she realized that he knew it was her. She's still pretty upset that he tricked her, but she's going to give him the chance to confess before she beats him up. Oh, and just to clarify: Yes this story is basically finished. However, the two days between chapters is used for me to proof read. I'm very big on being grammatically and culturally correct and I strive to portray everyone as true to their character. I also try to stick to the Ranma 1/2 plot consistently. So I could post the whole thing right now, but it wouldn't be as good. Some of you might not be too bothered about the few errors, but for my own peace of mind I like to get things right. Plus, I've been stalling and working ahead a bit. I had to change a lot of things in the final chapter. And guess what? The next chapter is the final chapter! Yea! My story's almost finished! I still need to work on it a bit, but I'm going to try to get it out within my typical two day deadline. However, I may be busy and not get the chance to really work on it. So I may be a little late. Once again, thank you everyone for your kind reviews. I've never gotten such wonderful feedback for anything I've written. Thank you so much... Ja ne!