I know this chapter was a long time in coming, but unfortunately time has become a commodity that I simply can't afford anymore
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My Mom decided to go back to school, and I'm glad, but I have a 1 year old brother and a 3 year old sister. Three guesses on who gets to play nursemaid.
So now I have a full time job, and I also have kids to take care of. I'd be bitter, if it weren't so darn much fun:) I'm gonna continue to write, but I just don't know how long it will take me to update. I'm really sorry about this, if I had known this was going to happen I wouldn't have posted this story in the first place.
Chapter 12
Akane found that Cane stuck to an extremely strict training schedule. Everyday was more difficult then the last. In the mornings they did special exercises and katas that focused on strengthening the mind and spirit. Cane was most concerned with developing Akane's kei. She said it was too weak, but with heavy concentration it could be stronger in no time. In the afternoons they worked on her speed and combat skills, and in the evenings Cane tried to teach Akane how to fight with long heavy bamboo staffs, Akane felt that this training had something to do with the long bundle which rested comfortably on Ranma's hands.
Cane was constantly pushing her harder. Akane could never seem to jump high enough, move fast enough, or punch hard enough to appease that woman. At least Shinnosuke was there. If Cane got too rough with her, he was there in an instant to put Cane in her place, inevitably, this caused him and Cane to start another argument, which always gave Akane a ten minute breather. Which is what was happening right now...
"...You're trying to do too much too quick! She can't handle that kind of..."
"Of...what?! Punishment?! Oh please, Shinnboy, don't make me laugh! I think I'm a good enough judge of what she can and can't take!" Cane's face was bright red with anger. She was standing nose to nose with Shinnosuke who, although being visibly intimidated, stood his ground bravely.
Akane observed them from her perch on the ground. She was breathing heavily, and sweat poured from her brow. Gingerly she reached up a hand to nurse the fast swelling black eye, that Cane had given her a few moments earlier, which was what set Shinnosuke off in the first place...maybe she should tell him the blow looked worse then it felt...nahhhh...
"You forget she's a child!"
"And you forget this is my operation!"
"So what?! You think because she's you, you can mistreat her any way you want? Why?! Because of what happened with Ranma?! Or should I say what could happen...?"
"...What will happen, if I don't intervene! I won't disappoint Ranma again!!"
"Disappoint Ranma?! Ha! You weren't the one doing the disappointing, baby, Ranma was!"
"First of all, never, ever call me 'baby' again, and second of all, who the Hades said you have a right to judge me or Ranma!?"
Akane sat forward and rested her elbows on her knees with her head in her hands. This argument between Cane and Shinnosuke was a lot more heated then usual. In fact, from the look of things, Cane was about ten seconds from feeding him his head, and Shinnosuke showed no sighs of backing down.
"Oh, come on, Akane! It was Ranma's fight, Ranma's enemy! Not yours! It was his responsibility to save you, not vice versa! As far as I'm concerned Ranma was the failure. A real man should protect his woman! He was not a man! He was a..."
*SMACK*
Shinnosuke took a few steps backwards, stunned. He raised a trembling hand to the angry red imprint on his cheek. His shocked gaze turned to Cane's face, her eyes were full of unshed tears.
"At seventeen, he was twice the man you'll ever be." She whispered angrily.
He said nothing. hanging his head in defeat, he left the two girls alone.
Cane remained silent for a moment , her face was unreadable. "Get up, Akane. I doubt we'll have any more interruptions for the rest of the day."
Akane nodded solemnly. She didn't know what was going on between the two of them, but they seem to hate each other a little more everyday. Facing Cane she sank into an offensive stance.
******************
Ukyo and Shampoo cried Akane-chan's name in unison and watched in horror as the tiny blades slid right through...
...a black and red blur. There was a sound of cloth ripping and a few drops of blood splattered to the ground. Both blinked with surprise.
"You Idiots!"
Ukyo and Shampoo turned to see Ranma standing on a nearby roof. He cradled a trembling Akane-chan in his arms. There was a rip in the right sleeve of his shirt and blood slowly oozed out of his arm. When he spoke to them again his voice was dangerously low. "Don't you get it? I don't want to marry you. Any of you! I just want to be a normal guy. Is that to much to ask?"
Neither of the girls said a word, they were both too stunned, after all, Ranma had never talked to them like that before.
Ranma continued despite his unresponsive audience. "Would it kill you to give it a rest for...Oh, I dunno...three months? Just till we get Akane back? Well?"
Both girls tried to speak at the same time but Ranma turned his back on them. "Just forget it." he muttered over his shoulder. Giving Akane one last gentle squeeze, he started for home.
Ukyo sighed. What a day. She turned toward her rival with a weak smile. "Hey Shampoo? Remind me to never have any kids."
Shampoo smirked. "That go double for Shampoo!"
Ukyo's expression became thoughtful. "Ya know, if Ranma and Akane ever did have kids, they'd probably be a lot like that..." She shuddered.
Shampoo smiled. "Akane-chan not that bad." She yawned. "Shampoo beat. Go home to take baby nap."
Ukyo grinned wickedly. "Good 'cause I want you nice and fueled up for our rematch."
The Amazon smirked. "Ha! Shampoo could take Spatula-girl even if weak as kitten."
"Oh, yeah?" Ukyo raised an eyebrow. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards a bucket of water sitting by an alley. "That can be arranged you know..."
Shampoo stuck out her tongue.
***********************
Ranma was still upset when he reached the roof of the Tendo dojo. He didn't know who to be angrier at, Shampoo and Ukyo for fighting so dangerously in front of the little girl, or Akane-chan for interfering in something that had nothing to do with her...yet. Why does Akane always got to butt in on other people's fights all the time? Its bad enough when she does this as a seventeen year old, but at seven? Doesn't she realize the danger! Its not your responsibility to protect people, Akane! "You, Idiot, you could've died!"
Akane-chan began to cry.
Ranma hadn't realized that he had spoken out loud until she started to fuss beside him. He suddenly felt like a jerk, he hated making girls cry. He tried to think of something to say that would both remind her of what kind of danger she had put herself in and let her know that he was angry because he cared. Without warning Akane suddenly leapt at him.
"I'm s-so s...s...sorry!" She cried out into his chest, her arms around his waist tightened painfully. "Y-you got hurt *sniff* 'cause of me! I wish you had never met me! Then everything would've been better!"
A lump formed in Ranma's throat, it was as if a year's worth of pain and regret had just stabbed through him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Don't say that Akane. Don't ever say that!" He buried his face in her hair. "I don't care how much trouble you are, or how many times you get kidnapped, or yell at me, or hit me, or call me pervert! Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me!"
Akane-chan frowned and pushed away from him. "I've never been kidnapped. I've never called you pervert either...um...what's pervert mean?"
Ranma blushed. "Uh...say, maybe we should go in now and see your sisters. I bet they'd like to hear about the adventure you had today," He winched at the thought of Kasumi's and Nabiki's reaction to the news of Akane's near scrap with danger. "Uh...then again, maybe we should just keep this a secret between the two of us."
Akane-chan rubbed her eyes, and gave him a watery smile. "Okay." She held her arms out towards him in anticipation. "I like it when you carry me *blush* you're almost as handsome as Mousse."
Ranma's left eyebrow ticked. "Almost...as...handsome..."
She giggled. "Yup."
Grumbling he picked her up. 'Mousse isn't so great...' He gracefully leapt to the ground and reaching out a hand slung open the front door. "III'm HoommACK!" Ranma nearly fainted, sitting at the table was his father in panda form and Akane's dad Soun Tendo. 'I am so dead!'
***************
Dr. Hob sat in a small basement room of his museum. With nothing but a slowly swinging light which hung by a rusted chain casting eerie shadows and strong orange fluorescent light across the tiny room. An old desk sat crammed in one corner with piles of papers and news clippings scattered across it. He was currently pouring over them inspecting every word and memorize every picture to memory. He shifted in his highly uncomfortable little wooden chair that was no doubt older then he was. He brought a fist down hard in frustration, causing the table to shake and dust to spill on the floor. He could find plenty of information concerning Ranma Saotome, but very little when it came to his fiancee Akane Tendo.
He sat back in his chair and rubbed his pointy chin with calloused fingers. All he could gather on her was that she was a school girl and that she lived at the Tendo dojo. He shrugged, she wasn't really all that important anyways, she was just the means to an end. The bait he needed to capture his real prey, the boy, Ranma.
Getting up he walked over to the wall and lifted a the staff of eons out of its frame. Slowly the green light energy leaked out as if it were swirling smoke, and began to slowly circle his withered figure. The small room began to quack and the papers formed a cyclone around him. The tiny light bulb exploded under the pressure, and the room was engulfed in a green glow. He didn't know when he'd attack the boy, but he knew this, with the staff of eons in his hands he was unstoppable.
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Later that night Cane found a melancholy Shinnosuke standing by a lake staring at his reflection. She felt the need to apologize to him, but couldn't think of a thing to say. "Hey." she murmured hesitantly.
"Hey," he muttered back. "How did the rest of Akane's training go? She's still alive I hope."
She swallowed the biting retort that had surfaced at his remark and placed a hand on his shoulder turning him around. "Despite what you may think I don't hate you. I just...want you to be happy. You need to go home, Shinnosuke. Back to your hutch in the woods, back to where you truly belong. China's not for you. Just like I'm not for you."
"You can't know that! Don't you know that I love you! I've always loved you, nothing can change that. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't feel the same!" he reached out and pulled her close to him. Their bodies so close that he could feel her racing heart beat against his chest. Her face was a whispered breath from his. "I love you." He repeated huskily.
Cane sighed and allowed herself to succumb to his warm embrace. She had been alone for so long that his strong arms were an oasis to her dry, parched heart. It would be so easy to believe him. To just go back and tell Akane to forget it, that the war was over, that she was tired of questing, that she was finally settling down to join in on the matrimonial bliss that all her friends and family shared, but she knew better. In a patronizing voice she murmured. "You don't love me Shinnosuke, not really."
"You couldn't possibly know the way I feel. I love you like the moon loves the night, like a fish loves water! I would...kill for one of your smiles and I would die for one of your kisses."
She pushed away from him. "Jeeze, Shinnosuke, listen to yourself. Your starting to sound like Kuno!"
He grabbed her hand. "I do love you." he whispered.
Cane stared at the ground for a moment in contemplation before turning towards him. "What if I could prove that you don't love me."
Shinnosuke smirked. "Impossible."
"Okay," she looked him in the eye. "what's my name?"
"Akane." He said without hesitation.
"No, Shinnosuke, not my old name. My current one."
He faltered. "W-well...it...its...uh...come on that's an unfair question! You know I can't remember it!"
She shrugged. "Fair enough. What's my favorite color?"
He gave her a blank look. "Uh..."
"Orange." She tried again. "What style of martial arts do I practice?"
He shook his head wondering where she was going with this.
"Anything Goes. What are my sisters names?"
He sighed. "No clue."
"Kasumi and Nabiki. What kind of music do I like?"
He frowned at her, already irritated with this game.
"Jazz. Which one of my breasts are larger the right or the left one?"
A look of relief touched his face. "The right one, although, its not really bigger, its just a little firmer then the other."
"Where am I most ticklish?"
He chuckled. "behind your knees, of all places."
She smiled. "I have a distinguishing mole. Where is it?"
"On the curve of your left hip."
"What was my pet pig's name?"
"Uh..."
"P-chan." She murmured. "Oh, Shinnosuke, Your not in love with me your in lust with me. I'm probably the only girl that has ever crawled out of your bath tub with nothing but a thin towel to keep your eyes off of my skin."
"Your wrong!" He insisted, but his voice had only half the fight that it did before.
"I do love you," She confessed. "but as a friend. Its the same way I love my sisters. And I love Ryoga the same way to, and I love Mousse, and I love Ukyo and Shampoo, and I love..." She frowned suddenly.
"What is it?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing, just a weird sense of de ja vue. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that you need to let go of me and move on."
He turned and sank to the ground in front of the lake. "If this is just lust and friendship, I don't think I'm ready for a feeling as strong as love."
Cane stared into the star glittered sky. "I know I wasn't." She whispered to herself.
"Akane?"
Cane looked down at the man beside her. "Yes?"
His eyes held and unreadable expression. "I want to help you with...uh...Akane."
She smiled. "Good 'cause I'm gonna need it. Tomorrow the first month of her training ends, and now I want to step it up."
"How?"
"Tomorrow I'm unraveling the staff, and this will be the hardest part of her training for all of us, to learn to endure great amounts of pain..."
**************
Kasumi beamed a smile at him. "Father and Mr. Saotome came home early from their training trip. Isn't it wonderful!?"
Ranma fell to the floor. He had forgotten about them!
Nabiki stared at Ranma with interest. "Relax, Ranma, I've already told Daddy about Akane's strange predicament. Heh, I'll just add it to your tab."
Ranma made some gurgling noises.
"WHAAAA!!" Sobbed Soun holding his arms out to his youngest daughter. "MY LITTLE GIRL IS *sniff* A LITTLE GIRL!!"
"Daddy!" exclaimed Akane-chan running for her father's arms. Then looking over his shoulder something else caught her eyes. Changing her directory, she jumped over her father instead, and latched onto the something behind him. "Wee! A Panda!"
Genma freaked and ran around the table, franticly waving his arms, holding up a sign that read: Get it off! Get it off!
Ranma lay twitching on the ground. This was gonna be the worst three months of his life!
End of Chapter 12
HA HA HA!!! I DID IT!!! I didn't think I could but I did! *Whew* I had just about givin' up hope of ever finishing this. Don't worry kids, its almost over now. Just a few more chapters to go...
Thanks for all the great reviews.
(b/t/w. You might have noticed that time moves differently in the different time frames, but actuality it's not. It was just to difficult to keep them on the same track. Both will skip time collectively. Thanks.)