* * * *
~…There is a face inside of me
That haunts me as I sleep
You'll never know how hard I try
To escape that face inside…~
* * * *
Day 4: Monday Early Afternoon
"Who are you?" Silence. "What do you want?" Silence. "Why won't you answer me?" Still nothing. Emptiness, confusion, loneliness. "Speak to me. Please, I want to know. I have so many questions. You said you used to be called Yuri… You never said anything like that before. Is that what…"
"Don't ask me! Don't ever ask me about my past. It has nothing to do with you."
"But it does. How could it not?"
"The present is all that matters. All that you need to know about my past is that circumstances have caused me to seek my revenge."
"I already knew that much. Revenge consumes your very soul. It dictates your every action, every movement, every thought." Pause. "We are so different. Why did you choose me?"
"You're right. We are different. You are so full of life, and energy and… love. I am the exact opposite. I am completely void of all emotion, all life. I don't know why it was you. Sometimes I think it should have been someone else. Yet for some reason this feels right. As if we share the same goals."
"Were you always this way?"
"No."
"Then why…"
"I said don't ask me!"
"I-I'm sorry. I won't ask again. But it still concerns me. About you and me. What are we? And us being together… What purpose does it serve? I'm not a fighter. Ever since I was little. I hated the thought of fighting. That's why I can never bear to see you fight."
"Yet your presence is still there, holding me back."
"I can't let you hurt anyone. Especially not him."
"The sooner you come to terms with things, the better. I will kill her, and he will die along with her. Then he will no longer be able to control you."
Pause. "I'm nothing like you. But slowly that changes, and now, I'm beginning to wonder…" Everything began to grow hazy and the other figure began to drift away. "Who I really am."
The dream ended, and suddenly the boy's eyes shot open and he gasped out in pain. His breaths began to spasm as he clutched his stomach and leaned forward.
The old man walked up behind him and handed him some kind of drink. The boy quickly took it and began to drink the contents. When he finished, his breathing began to return to a normal rate. After he was done recovering he began to laugh in a manner contrary to his typical stoic demeanor. He shook his head. "Wow, that Ranma. He really messed me up."
"I told you not to fight him."
The boy didn't answer.
"I told you before! You can't beat him yet."
"Maybe not. Then again, maybe I can."
"What's that supposed to mean?" The boy stood up and turned around to face the old man. His face was gentler than usual, and the old man's expression softened in response.
"You're absolutely right. I can't defeat him right now. I probably never will be able to." He brushed past the old man and began to walk over to the tent.
"What happened to you? You've changed. You no longer act like my son."
The boy cringed at the word. "I was never your son," he said firmly before disappearing into the tent.
* * * *
~…It's there deep inside of me
A face I've never seen
But in some way that face is a part of me…~
* * * *
Monday Early Afternoon
"I'm back! Hello? Anyone here?" Ukyo entered her restaurant and began looking around. "Sachiko? You here?" Further inspection proved that she wasn't. "Huh. That's strange. But then again, she did come to Nerima for a reason. I can't expect her to sit around here all day and do nothing." She stood in the empty space, feeling the loneliness suppress her. She thought about Ranma. "Am I losing him?" a voice in the back of her mind asked as a tear ran down her cheek, falling to the floor. She angrily wiped away the trail it had left on her face. "Geez, what's my problem anyway? It's not like I got dumped or anything. So they went to a movie. He said himself it wasn't a date." Suppressing her emotions, she walked over to her grill and began preparing to open her restaurant. "It's a good thing Sachiko isn't here. She'd think I was ridiculous getting upset over such a trivial matter."
She began to hum as she made her way behind the grill and switched on her burner. She grabbed some ingredients and began to mix up some batter. She tried to busy herself with thinking of all the things she needed to do, but eventually her thoughts kept going back to Ranma. "Why?" she wondered, as the song she was humming began to fade, and she drew further and further within herself.
"Stupid Ranma. Why's he hanging out with Akane so much lately when he has me? After all, I am his cute fiancé. And Akane can't even cook! She hits him, she yells at him, she never listens to what he has to say…"
"Whoa. Okay, calm down girl. It's the batter you've got there, not Ranma." Ukyo snapped out of her reverie and looked to see Sachiko standing in front of her, trying to coax her back to reality. Sachiko smiled once she saw the light returning to Ukyo's eyes. "Alright now just hand me the bowl and step away from the batter, okay? Nice and easy now, that's it." Ukyo noted a sense of playfulness in Sachiko's tone, but couldn't understand what she was talking about. She looked down to find her counter splattered with batter as she was rapidly mixing up the contents in her bowl.
"Oh!" she exclaimed quickly putting the bowl down and stepping back to examine the mess. There were pale, sticky splotches all over the floor, her counter, and even herself. "I uh, guess I just got a little carried away there," she said to Sachiko trying to laugh it off. She quickly grabbed a sponge and began cleaning up the mess.
"I'll say. Where'd you go there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I don't know. You were in your own little world there for a minute."
"Oh, I uh guess I was just thinking about some stuff," Ukyo said, trying to brush her off. However, Sachiko was not so easily discouraged.
"You were doing more than thinking there."
"Oh I don't know. Don't you ever do that? Where you just get lost in your thoughts or something and everything else just kind of stops?"
"Sort of. But it's a bit different with me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't know. It's just that… Hey, wait a minute! I thought we were talking about you here, not me."
"Sorry. Not really anything to say though," Ukyo said while turning her back to Sachiko.
"You sure you're okay Ukyo?"
"Of course."
"Let me guess. You don't show your sad face to anyone."
"Sachiko! Really, I'm fine."
"No, don't worry about it. I understand. I'm the same. I always smile because I don't want people to see what's really going on. So I hide. But I feel like I could show that face to you. It's kind of like we have this connection, you know?" Sachiko waited for Ukyo to say something, but she simply kept scrubbing relentlessly at a spot on the floor that had already been washed clean. "I don't know. I guess I'm babbling." She sounded hurt. "I can understand though. If you don't want to talk it's fine. Just, if you do, remember I'm here for you, okay?" She started to turn away. Ukyo hesitated, with her back to the retreating girl for a moment and then sighed.
"Sachiko, I'm sorry. It's just, kind of something that happened at school today."
Sachiko turned back but remained silent, waiting for Ukyo to continue.
"It's about Ranma. And Akane. They just seem to have gotten a lot closer lately. They even went to a movie the other day. And I was talking to him earlier, and he just didn't seem to be listening. It was as if I wasn't even there."
"But I thought you were like Ranma's closest friend!"
"Well, yeah. I am. Or at least I was. It's just that I don't see him as much as Akane. I mean she lives with him. They're always together, and for a while that kind of worked to my advantage because they drove each other nuts. But now it seems like they're starting to get along better. It's just that lately I don't have any time to spend with him. I've been so busy with school and work. I can't get close enough to him."
"I don't think that's it."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Honestly? I think you're burying yourself in your work so that you can avoid him."
"That's ridiculous! I want to be with him!"
"Of course you do. But subconsciously you're avoiding him."
"Why would I do a thing like that?"
"Think about it Ukyo. You know perfectly well if you wanted to you could go and see him right this moment. But you don't. Why?"
"I-I don't know…"
"Because you're afraid."
"That's silly. What would I be afraid of?"
"You're afraid to find out that your suspicions are correct. That he doesn't love you. That he's in love with someone else. And you figure as long as you avoid him you can deny that reality."
"N-no. That's not it."
"Are you sure? Look, I understand what you're feeling, but you have to face reality eventually. Besides…"
"Um, Sachiko? Can we do this later? I appreciate it and all but I really need to get set up to open in a few minutes."
"But Ukyo, I was just trying…"
"I know. Really, I'm okay. Don't worry about me alright?"
"Oh, um, alright. I'll help you. I'm just going to go clean up a bit."
"Okay. Oh, and Sachiko, by the way. I know you're going for the whole tomboyish 'I don't care how I look but I'm beautiful anyway' look, but I think that headband you're wearing today's taking it a bit too far."
Sachiko rolled her eyes up to try and get a look at her forehead. "Ack! You're absolutely right! I completely forgot I was wearing this," she said while pulling it off. "I was just using it this morning while I was doing a few chores and forgot to take it off before I went out. Ah how embarrassing."
Ukyo smiled a little as Sachiko walked out of the room. She began to think a bit about what Sachiko said but quickly tossed the thoughts aside. "My subconscious? What's that all about anyway?" She sighed. "Sachiko's just way off base." She nodded to herself. "Yep, that has to be it. It just has to."
* * * *
~…Who do you belong to?
What do you have to do with me?
You that's in my dreams…~
* * * *
Monday Night
"Well, that's it. Last customer's gone and the restaurant's all clean."
"Wow, you got done kind of early tonight, didn't you?" Sachiko asked as she walked into the room, caring two cups of tea.
"Yeah well, I..." She sighed and took a sip of her tea. What she had meant to say was that she always worked quicker when she was trying to keep her mind off things, but she was distracted as Sachiko walked over to the sink and began to do the dishes. "Here, Sachiko, let me do that, you don't have to."
"No really, I enjoy it. And I just want to help you out, it's the least I can do."
Ukyo sighed. "Well, at least let me help you then." She reached into the sink to grab a dish before Sachiko could reply, but as soon as she touched the water, she withdrew her hands. "Ouch! That's hot!"
Sachiko giggled. "Well duh, silly, you can't wash dishes with cold water!"
"I know that!" Ukyo mumbled, somewhat offended. "But it doesn't have to be that hot!"
"Oh really? Hmm. Guess I'm just used to it or something. Don't worry about it though. I'll do it. You can just relax okay?"
Ukyo watched her for a few minutes and then sighed again and pushed herself up to sit on the counter. She took a sip of her tea. "It's just that when I'm upset I like to work."
"Hey, I know. You have some extra time, why don't you go visit Ranma?"
"Oh, no, it's too late now."
"No it's not. It's still early."
"Well, yeah but things are always so crazy around there you know. Besides, knowing Ranma and Akane they're probably in the middle of some fight right now." She smiled a little at that thought. "I wouldn't want to get in the middle of it."
"Yeah, but what if they're not fighting? You could go over there and stir something up, you know? I mean after all, you are worried about them getting along and all."
Ukyo creased her eyebrow and looked at Sachiko suspiciously. "Why are you so interested in me going to see Ranma?"
"I'm not. I just think you should stop avoiding him and go…"
"I already told you! I'm not avoiding him!" Ukyo said, her voice growing irritated.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to help!"
"Well don't! My personal life is none of your business!"
"But Ukyo, I…"
"You don't know anything about it, okay?" Ukyo yelled. "So just stay out of it!" She quickly pushed herself off the counter and ran out of the room leaving Sachiko alone in the kitchen staring after her.
Sachiko listened as she heard Ukyo run upstairs and slam the door, and then the sound of her collapsing on her futon and crying. She tossed her hair to the side and turned back to the dishes. "Poor Ukyo," she said with genuine sympathy. Oh!" She picked up the half full teacup Ukyo had left. "Hmm, she should have finished her tea." She paused to look in the direction Ukyo had left for a moment then shrugged her shoulders and downed the rest of the cup in a few sips. She then sighed and looked at her reflection in the water.
"She has to learn eventually. I just wish she didn't have to go through this like me."
Then her expression changed and she smiled in a not so friendly manner. "Ah but don't worry Ukyo. I'll put an end to your misery." She began to laugh at the other reflection in the water, until suddenly her expression returned to normal again and she gasped as if waking up suddenly from a horrible dream. She blinked a few times and shook her head to clear her mind. Then she looked back at her reflection in the water and cringed. Quickly she thrust her hands back into the water, distorting the image of herself and continued to wash the dishes with a frown on her face.
* * * *
~…When I dream I see you turn away
Facing away from me
Always just a step out of reach…~
* * * *
Day 5: Tuesday Morning
Darkness. That was all that surrounded him. It was cold, and dark, and lonesome. "Where am I?" he asked, but it was merely a thought, for he found he could not articulate the words. He couldn't even feel his body any longer. He began to panic, wondering how he had gotten there and how he could get away when he couldn't even move. Then suddenly, he began to hear a voice. It was quiet at first, but gradually it began to grow louder. It was the voice of a girl, singing in a language that sounded similar to Chinese. Her voice was so pure and beautiful that he found all his fear and apprehensions disappearing as he was lost in her stunning melody. "Who…?" he wondered. As soon as the question entered his mind his vision began to clear, but still, all he could see was the mist that surrounded him. Slowly, a path began to clear between his line of sight and the direction of the voice and he felt himself being drawn towards the girl. Eventually he began to see a figure outlined within the fog. Then he was in a clearing, and the mists around him disappeared. A short distance away was a perfectly clear spring, where the girl whom had been singing was bathing with her back to him. He felt himself drawn closer, and longed to see her face. As he approached, she sensed his presence and slowly began to turn…
"Ranma!" Another voice drifted into his mind, and the figure of the girl before him began to fade away.
"Wait!" he called, but she was still disappearing.
"RANMA!" the other voice persisted.
The girl had almost completely disappeared, but at the last second he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him.
"AH!"
Ranma woke as something heavy landed on top of him. He opened his eyes and began to focus on the object before him, only to find a completely bewildered Akane lying on the futon next to him, her wrist tightly grasped within his hand.
"Wah!" he yelled quickly distancing himself from Akane. "Akane! What are you doing!?!"
The confused girl slowly began to gain her wits. "Wh-What am I doing!? You're the one that grabbed me!" she shouted.
"I-I what?"
"You were mumbling something in your sleep so I was trying to wake you up and you just grabbed me!"
"I-I did?" He asked growing reflective.
"What is it?" Akane said, forgetting her anger that had been growing up until that moment.
"Nothing, I was just having this weird dream," he said more to himself, barely acknowledging Akane's presence. "That's funny. I can't remember a thing about it though…" he shook his head and turned back to Akane. "Oh well. Guess it couldn't have been that important." He stood up and helped Akane to her feet. "Um, sorry if I scared you."
"Oh, no, that's okay." She looked at him and smiled. "We handled that well, didn't we?"
He smiled as well. "Yeah, didn't get into a big fight this time."
"We must be improving."
"I guess so." Silence. "Um, do you um, sort of…"
"Miss fighting? Um, yeah actually. I do a bit."
"Me too. Maybe we should have another one for old times sake or something? Oh, which reminds me, what were you doing in here anyway?"
"Oh, well because I needed to wake you up. It's time to go to school and… Oh no! We're going to be late! Ranma you idiot!"
"Me? How's it my fault?"
"Because you're going to make us late!"
He looked at the clock. "But wait, it's still early."
Akane sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I know, I woke you up 5 minutes earlier just in case something like this happened."
"Oh. Well that was smart."
"Yeah I know!" She turned for the door. "You're still an idiot by the way," she called while exiting the room.
"And you're an un-cute tomboy," he called after her.
She sighed again. "It's just not the same!"
Ranma laughed to himself as he started to get ready for school. However his mood soon changed. For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had. It seemed as if there was something he needed to know. Something that his dream had been trying to tell him.
* * * *
Who does that face belong to?
What does it have to do with me?
You that's in my dreams
* * * *
Tuesday Morning
Sachiko lay on her futon and stared up at the ceiling. "Any minute now," she said to herself.
There was a knock on the door and a confident grin crossed her face momentarily before she called to her visitor. "Come in!"
Ukyo timidly entered the room. "I'm uh going to go to school now."
"Oh, okay Ukyo," Sachiko said in a cautious but friendly manner as she rolled over onto her side. "Um, Ukyo look, about last night, I'm really sorry, it wasn't my place and I…"
"No, really I was the one that was out of line. You were just trying to help. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"But Ukyo…"
"No really. Let's just forget it ever happened, okay?"
"Alright," Sachiko smiled.
"Anyway, I'm going to go now. What are you going to do today?"
"Oh I don't know. Don't really have anything planned. I picked up a few leads on my fiancé the other day. Might follow up on them or something. I'll probably be home when you get back from school though."
"Okay, I'll see you after school then."
"Alright. Have a nice day, Ukyo."
"I will. You too."
"Alright, bye!"
"Bye," Ukyo finished closing the door behind her.
Sachiko sighed and put her arms behind her head staring at the ceiling again. "Aah, that was a little awkward. Hmm, can't have that, can we? I'll have to think of something." With one fluid motion she jumped to her feet and began to stretch and yawn. "But first things first. Today's going to be a very busy day."
* * * *
~…A face unseen
Haunting my dreams
Filling my thoughts
Day and night
Could you be, a part of me?…~
* * * *
Tuesday Morning
Splash.
"DAMMIT! Stupid, stupid, lady with the ladle…"
"Ranma! Calm down, it's just a little old lady. She couldn't know!"
"I know but it's just so annoying! And I've been doing so well about not getting wet lately! Agh! This is not going to be a good day. I can just tell."
"Ranma, it's just the beginning of the day. It could still get better…"
"But, every time I get wet because of that stupid old lady I have a bad day."
"Oh… Really?" Ranma nodded and looked at her reflection in the newly made puddle. Akane sighed and tried her best to cheer up the red headed girl. "Well come on Ranma, try and be optimistic, okay? We still have time. We're early for once, and Doctor Tofu's clinic is just around the corner. Come on," she said while walking ahead. "We can just get you some hot water and then…" She trailed off and stopped walking as she noticed Ranma wasn't following her. "Ranma?" She asked curiously. She turned around to see Ranma still standing motionless while staring down at her reflection in the puddle. "Ranma, what's wrong?"
Ranma shook her head to clear it and looked up with a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't know, it's just, my reflection." She looked back at the puddle again and sighed. "I guess it's gone now."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know, it's just for a minute that face looked familiar."
Akane giggled. "Well of course, silly. It's your own reflection!"
"That's not what I meant. For a minute there, I thought I saw someone else." Akane stared at her in confusion until Ranma shook her head again. "Anyway, I guess we should get going now. Don't want to be late."
"Right." They resumed walking and made their way towards the clinic in silence. "Doctor Tofu!" Akane called out as she entered the clinic. "Doctor Tofu!" She waited and then dropped her voice. "Hmm, I wonder where he could be?"
"I wouldn't worry about it. I'll just go use the hot water tap. He won't mind," Ranma said as he disappeared into the next room. After a moment Akane called after her. "Ranma?"
"Yeah?" Came the still female voice.
"Is something wrong?"
"What do you mean?" Ranma called back from the other room.
"I don't know. It's just that you've been really quiet since breakfast. And then on the way to school you seemed really distracted. I think that's why the ladle lady was actually able to catch you off guard."
Ranma slowly walked out from the other room, now male with a towel around his shoulders to dry himself off. He looked at her for a few seconds as if trying to decide whether or not to shrug the conversation off. "I don't know. I guess my mind's just been wandering a bit."
She sighed and turned making her way out of the clinic. "Alright. If you say so."
He threw the towel on a nearby chair and started following her out the door. When they reached the street again he jumped up onto the fence as they continued their walk to school.
Akane looked up at him in disappointment. It was the first time since Jusendo that he hadn't walked beside her on the way to school. "I guess it was all too good to be true," she thought to herself. "I mean, us getting along. Getting closer. I should have known it wouldn't last. It never does." Falling back on old habits, she began to grow angry with his inability to open up to her. But then she remembered his promise from earlier that week when he had told her he'd explain what had been going on. "He wants to open up to me. He just doesn't always know how. And I did say I would try to trust him... I guess the least I could do is tell him I'm here for him."
"Ranma," she said in an awkward voice. "If you don't want to talk about what's going on, that's fine. I just wanted to let you know that you can talk to me, you know. About whatever it is that's bothering you."
Ranma looked down at her for a moment. Then a slight smile began to form on his lips as he realized just how nice it was to have her carrying about him. "I know Akane. Sorry for worrying you. It's no big deal or anything though. I really was just thinking. I don't know, I just have this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I can't stop thinking about that dream I was having this morning."
Akane blinked not quite sure what to make of what he said. "Oh. That's strange. Well, have you remembered what the dream was about?"
"No! That's the thing, I don't quite remember, but somehow it felt as if it was something important."
"Do you think it had anything to do with that guy from yesterday?"
"I don't know… Maybe." He stopped for a moment. "To tell you the truth, that's been bothering me too. I didn't really get the chance to address it before, but why did he dodge my Hiro Shouten Ha at the last moment?"
"I'm not sure. Right before he jumped out of the way he looked over at me. He must've realized something was about to happen because of my expression. I'm sorry," she said, hanging her head.
"Don't worry about it. You may have tipped him off, but I don't think that's the only reason he moved. After he looked over at you he looked back to the fight before withdrawing."
Akane gasped. "You don't think he knows about the Hiro Shouten Ha, do you?"
Ranma nodded. "Maybe."
"But how's that possible? The Hiro Shouten Ha is one of the safely guarded techniques of the Amazons. How could he know about it?"
"The only thing I can think of is that he must have some connection with the Amazons."
Akane grew excited. "Well then that would mean that Cologne must know something about him! That's great! Now we have a lead on this guy. We'll have to go talk to her after school today."
He didn't say anything for a moment. "Maybe I should just go by myself."
"Why? Afraid I'll get in an argument with Shampoo or something?"
"Well, yeah, sort of. But that's not all. I just don't know if I really want you getting involved with this."
"Ranma! I'm a martial artist too, you know. I can take care of myself!"
"I know that, Akane. But there's something not right about this guy. He was seriously planning on hurting you."
Akane shuddered at the memory but took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm prepared to lay down my life for the art."
"Why?" He asked in somewhat of an angry voice.
Akane was baffled by the question. "Why? Well, because that's what we're supposed to do. It's part of the code."
"Forget about the stupid code. If you don't have a better reason there's no point in wasting your life trying to be brave when you don't need to be."
"But that is a good enough reason for me. And if I need to give up my life in order to save someone else or take care of some creep like that Yuri guy, well that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," she said trying to sound noble.
Before she knew it, Ranma had leapt down from the fence and pinned her against the wall. She gasped in surprise while Ranma looked down at her with a stern look in his eyes. "If that was him, you'd be dead by now." She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off. "Look," he continued. "I know you pride yourself on your martial art skills and all, and I hate to have to put you in your place but you're simply not good enough to protect yourself from everyone. You might think you're willing to sacrifice your life for nothing, but your life is not something I'm willing to sacrifice."
Akane looked away and drew a shaky breath. "I realize I'm not nearly as good as you or Shampoo or Ukyo or most of the other people we've come across," she said her voice barely a whisper. "I know that, you don't have to say it."
"Akane…" he said, loosening his grip. As soon as he did, Akane grinned, and grabbed his arm, ducking below it and pinning it to his back while shoving him up against the wall.
"OW!" He shouted as she twisted his arm upwards.
"But now I think there's something you should know. Before you came along I was practically the best martial artist in the area."
"Well yeah, but consider the competition you had. They were nothing compared to Ryoga or Mousse, or me," Ranma said, not fully realizing the danger of the position he was in. "Ow!" He shouted again as Akane twisted his arm up slightly to remind him.
"That's my point. I learned about as much as I could from everyone around here. The only reason I'm not better than I am is because I ran out of people to fight and things to learn." He didn't respond, and Akane let go of his arm, still pinning him against the wall. "What do you do when someone beats you?" she continued.
"Well, I keep trying until I beat them."
"Exactly!" Akane momentarily relaxed her grip and Ranma took the opportunity to break free and distance himself from her. "And that's what I used to do," Akane continued. "If I fought someone and lost I trained and I worked hard so that next time I could win. And so I improved. But then you came along and decided to fight all of my battles for me. And you're so afraid of me getting hurt. So how am I supposed to get any better if you keep holding me back?"
"But Akane, you don't need to fight anyone. I can protect you."
"Like you did in Jusendo?" He flinched. She knew he didn't like to talk about that, and she felt guilty for bringing up something that upset him so much, but it needed to be said. "Ranma," she said softly. "I have great faith in you and your abilities as a martial artist, but no matter how good you are, you're not always going to be able to protect me. And I'm not about to sit at home and wait while you're off risking your life. Just like you protect me, I want to be able to at least be of some help to you. Besides, martial arts is a part of me, just like it's a part of you. I'm not about to give it up just because someone better comes along. Would you?" He didn't answer, but she took his silence as acknowledgement that he wouldn't. She took a deep breath and raised her voice slightly to make her final point firm.
"So you can either let me fight my own battles, or you can help train me. Either way, I'm going with you after school today and I don't want to hear another word about it or else we're going to be late for class." Having satisfied herself she spun on her heal and resumed walking to school. He paused in bafflement for a moment to reflect on what she had said and then hurried to catch up with her. He fell into pace along side of her and glanced over at her stern face a few times. She was stubborn, and he knew perfectly well that there was no way he could convince her not to go with him.
He sighed. "I'm still worried about you arguing with Shampoo, though," he mumbled.
She laughed a little and the harsh look on her face began to disappear. "Alright, I promise not to pick any fights with her. But you have to promise to try and keep her from hanging all over you. And if she decides to start a fight with me…" she prompted, a stern note reentering her voice.
He sighed in defeat. "I won't stop you." She began to smile triumphantly. "But," he interrupted her celebration with a stern voice of his own. "As soon as things start to get out of control, I'm stepping in."
"Ra…" she began to protest.
"You're right. You do need to have fights in order to get better," he cut her off. "But some people are just way out of your level for now. I don't want you getting injured over nothing. And you aren't ready to take Shampoo just yet." He paused in contemplation. "But I'll help train you so that you can," he finished, somewhat reluctantly.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah," he sighed.
"Okay then, it's a deal." She offered her hand and he shook it, much less enthusiastically than her.
"Very well. For your first training exercise, you have to run to class."
She laughed. "Silly, we always do that."
"True, but now we're going to make it a little more interesting." She creased her eyebrows and looked at him confused. He grinned devilishly and pointed to the top of the fence.
* * * *
~…You, you are somehow a part of me
What I wouldn't give to do away with you
That face which hides
That face which lies
Behind the mask that is me…~
* * * *
Tuesday, Noon
"Have you seen Ranma?" Ukyo asked Ranma's friends, Hiroshi and Daisuke while scanning the classroom with her eyes.
"Um, I don't know. I think I saw him heading up to the roof," the one with the curly hair answered. She could never tell the two dimwits apart.
"Yeah, said he needed some time alone or something," the other one contributed.
"Oh, okay. Thanks guys," she said while turning and leaving the room. She sighed. "I wonder if I should go talk to him. Maybe he really does just want to be alone... I sure hope he's okay." She ran her fingers through her hair absently staring over towards the stairs in a whimsical manner. A slight smile began to creep onto her lips. "Maybe he had a fight with Akane? If so, I should be the one there to comfort him. That way I can show him how much better I am for him than she is." The smile grew, unhindered. However, she couldn't help feeling the slightest bit of guilt for actually hoping her fiancé was miserable. Nonetheless, she found her feet trudging towards the stairs, and she found herself unwilling to halt their progress.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she opened the door leading to the roof a crack and peered out. There he was. She could just make him out, standing in the middle of the court staring off to his right. He looked to be just fine she noted, half glad and half disappointed. Just as she had made her mind to go out and talk to him he moved.
"No, no. Stop. Not like that, like this, see?" He fell into a simple stance and began to slowly walk through the movements of a kata that Ukyo vaguely recognized. Despite the simplicity of the routine, Ranma executed it with great concentration, flowing through the steps perfectly. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "See? You're over rotating your fist here."
"You mean like this?" A voice asked that sounded slightly aggravated.
Ukyo moved to see whom the other voice belonged to. She gasped slightly.
"Better, Akane," Ranma said while rushing over to her. "But see," he carefully changed the position of her arm. "If you have it like this you're able to block better. Now try the whole thing again, from the top."
Akane sighed in frustration. "Ranma, this is silly. I thought you were going to train me!"
"That's what I'm doing!"
"By going over these stupid katas? I mean I've known them forever!"
"Well yeah. Your dad's a great teacher and all, but he neglected to stop you from developing some of your bad habits. If you really want to get better, you're going to need to fix them, and I can't really help you with anything else until you do."
"But I don't see what the problem is with my blocks! They've always worked perfectly for me."
Without warning, Ranma threw a punch directly at her face. Akane didn't really block, but merely flinched away, throwing her arms up in front of her. Ranma's fist halted a mere centimeter away from her nose. "That's why. You're too slow. When you get attacked by someone who's really fast and you're not expecting it, instead of relying on your reflexes and what you've learned, you panic."
She groaned. "Well you're a lot faster than I am!"
He laughed. "Well of course I'm fast. That's no excuse though. You're supposed to be prepared to fight anyone, right? And besides, that was nowhere near Amagurinkan speed. That was merely at a speed that you should be able to block. But the fact that you can't shows that you need to learn how to do your blocks correctly."
She sighed. "Alright," she said in defeat while resuming her stance and starting the kata over. She flowed through the first half perfectly until she reached the part with the blocks she was having trouble with. Her pace slowed ever so slightly as she concentrated on the first set, trying to get them perfect. Each step increased in speed and confidence until she had resumed the pace she had started with. She flowed through the remainder of the kata with a grace and perfection that was entirely different from Ranma's, but undoubtedly artful nonetheless.
Ranma started by watching every movement meticulously, critiquing every step with his eyes. However, as her movements began to blend together in one fluid motion, his gaze shifted from one of critique, to one of admiration. He continued to watch her dance like movements as if lost in a trance.
Finally she reached the end of the kata. She assumed the final position and lifted her eyes to meet Ranma's for approval. "Beautiful," he breathed, almost in a whisper.
She smiled. "So I did it right this time?"
"Oh… um," he shook his head to clear his mind. "Yes, perfect. But now the true test." He blurred and materialized behind her. She spun around and blocked just in time to stop a punch aimed for the back of her head. Ranma smiled at her. "And now we can move on."
She smiled as well and bounced up and down. "Yea! Can we work offense now? I'm sick of doing defense."
He frowned. "This isn't working."
"What do you mean?"
"You want me to teach you whatever you want to learn. That's not how it's supposed to work. I am the teacher here, so you either do what I tell you to do, or I don't train you." He turned and began to head for the stairway door.
Ukyo, who had been silently watching the whole exchange began to panic and quickly rushed down the stairs a few steps. However, Akane's voice stopped both her and Ranma.
"No, Ranma, wait. I'm sorry. You're right." Ukyo crept back up the stairs to peek back outside just in time to see Ranma turning back to Akane. "You're my instructor and I guess I need to get out of the mentality of thinking of you as a training partner. And my friend." Akane paused for a moment and then bowed very low, trying not to giggle. "Please continue to teach this lowly student."
He laughed. "Okay, well you don't have to go that far."
Akane stood up straight and smiled at him. "Well, I am sorry. And, you are a really good instructor actually. I'm impressed."
"Well now you're just trying to suck up to the teacher."
"No really it's true! You're really good at explaining things so that they make sense. And of course you're excellent at demonstrating."
"Well, thank you. I guess that's good news if I'm going to take over your father's dojo," he said, nonchalantly.
Ukyo's eyes widened as did Akane because of the implied meaning behind his words.
"Y-you've actually thought about it?"
He put his hand to the back of his head and began to fiddle with his pigtail, awkwardly. "Well, yeah, I guess. I kind of like the idea of teaching. So yeah, I have been thinking about it a bit." Somehow he gathered the courage to look directly at her. "Especially lately," he said. They both began to blush slightly while looking straight into each other's eyes.
Unable to watch any longer, Ukyo turned away from the crack in the door and leaned up against the wall. "It doesn't mean anything," she told herself. "It's not over yet. He hasn't made up his mind. I still have a chance. I just have to make him see."
"Anyway," Ranma coughed in an attempt to break the tension. "About your blocks, they can be almost as damaging to your opponent as a direct attack, if you do them correctly. They're meant to be more like a strike than anything else. Plus, a block can leave your opponent open so you can execute a follow up attack."
"I know that. It's one of the first things I was ever taught."
"I don't think you do. I mean for the most part you're strong and very aggressive, but comparing your blocks to the rest of your fighting, you look as if you were swatting at a fly or something!"
She giggled. "I do not!"
"Oh you don't do you? See, this is you." His voice raised a few octaves and spoke in a whiny voice. "Oooh, my name is Akane, and this is how I block. Eeh, ouch, that hurt! You idiot, you're going too fast."
Akane laughed. "Hey! Stop it! I'm nothing like that!"
"Hey! Stop it! I'm nothing like that!" he repeated mockingly.
"Stop!" She said, her voice still containing laughter.
"Stop!" He whined in response.
Ukyo wanted to gag. Unable to listen any longer she quietly closed the door and made her way carefully down the stairs, fighting back the worry that was settling in her stomach. As she rounded the corner at the bottom of that flight of stairs she bumped into someone and jumped back startled.
"Ah! Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there," she said trying to recognize the person leaning against the wall seemingly unflustered.
"It's Ukyo right?" The boy asked.
"Right," Ukyo said feeling strangely unsettled. "You're Tori, right? The new guy in homeroom."
He smiled a somewhat devilish smile. "I'm pleased you remember me."
"Right, well anyway," she said, trying to hurry past the strange boy. "I'll see you around…"
"Hey, not so fast. I have a proposition you might be interested in."
Ukyo was in a hurry to get away, but halted anyway. She slowly turned back to him and crossed her arms against her chest trying to look intimidating. The boy was fairly well built, but Ukyo felt she could easily take him in an actual fight. However, she felt somewhat on edge around the boy in the same way she did around Nabiki at times. Still, she hid her nervousness well. "Alright, I'm listening, but make it quick."
"It concerns Ranma and Akane," he began, undaunted by her front. Ukyo couldn't help thinking there was something familiar about the look he gave her, though she couldn't quite place it.
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Well, let's just say that I think it would be in both of our interests if they were to, I don't know, split up?"
"I thought you were with Sayuri."
"I don't think I'd put it like that exactly. Sayuri's just a pawn for me to get closer to Akane."
"So you're just using her then?"
"Oh please. Don't be so vulgar. Sayuri knew from the start that I was interested in Akane, and she still decided to date me. It is her choice after all."
Ukyo shook her head. "Say it anyway you want, it doesn't make you any less of a jackass. Whatever proposition you may have for me, I'm not interested," she said while turning and walking away.
"Oh, well. Have it your way. But you should know, I always get what I want. Let me know if you change your mind."
Ukyo continued walking. She wanted to be far away. Far from Tori, and even farther from Ranma and Akane and the image of them laughing together.
* * * *
As soon as Ukyo left, Akane perked up suddenly and halted her laughter. "Was someone…?"
Ranma just nodded. "I think it was Ukyo."
"How long was she there?"
"At least five minutes."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice. It's part of the training."
"Ranma! You mean to tell me you used her as part of a training exercise?"
"Well yeah, so? She wouldn't have minded. Besides, what she doesn't know doesn't hurt her."
"Are you seriously that dense? Ranma, that girl's in love with you! How do you think it feels for her to see us together?"
"Hey! Since when are we together?"
"We're not, but it most certainly looks that way to her I'm sure." She let her words sink in and then sighed as he made no attempt at a response. "I'm going to go talk to her."
"No, don't, I'll do it. She is my friend after all."
"What are you going to say?"
"I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something. What difference does it make?"
Akane sighed and shook her head. "You really have no idea how to handle girls, do you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Gee, I don't know! Try utilizing your brain to figure it out!" Akane retorted as she rushed past him.
"Hey, wait a minute!" he shouted, catching her arm.
Akane pulled her arm free and looked at him defiantly. "Do you honestly think she's just going to come right out and tell you how she feels?"
"Well, yeah."
"So what, you're just going to go right up to her and ask her if she's okay?"
"Yeah. What's the problem with that?"
"See! You are dense! No girl's going to come right out and admit they're upset!"
"But if she says she's fine she obviously doesn't want my help!"
"That is SO not true! Not girl is going to come right out and say what they're feeling to a guy! Especially not someone like Ukyo! It would make her look too desperate!"
"But that's so stupid! She should just say what's on her mind! If she's not going to open up, what the hell am I supposed to do about it?"
"Well you can start by acting like you really do care."
"I do care!"
"Like hell you do, if you cared, you wouldn't have just let her stand there watching us the whole time."
"Why are we arguing about this anyway!? You're always yelling at me for being too close to all the other girls, and now you're mad at me because I don't act close enough? Since when have you been on Ukyo's side?"
"Since I realized that she's my friend. Besides, I'd like to think that she would do the same thing for me."
* * * *
Ukyo had no desire to stay at school. She didn't even pause to contemplate whether or not she should leave. All she knew was she wasn't about to stay. She rushed out of the front gate and almost bumped into Sachiko as she rounded the corner.
"S-Sachiko? What are you doing here?" she asked completely shocked to find her new roommate at her school.
"Ukyo! I wasn't really expecting to see you here."
"Well, yeah, I go to school here. What's your excuse?" she asked suspiciously.
"Oh, this is your school? Huh. I didn't know that."
"I'm sure I mentioned it."
"Oh, well, silly me. Guess it slipped my mind. Quite a coincidence huh?" Just then the bell rang signaling the students to return to class. "Aren't you going to be late?"
"I um, actually wasn't feeling so well. I thought I'd just go home."
"Oh really? How dreadful. I hope you're not coming down with something. Come on, I'll walk you home, I'm headed back anyway, and then I'll fix you a nice cup of tea…" She put her hand to Ukyo's forehead checking for a temperature. "Then again, you look perfectly fine to me."
"What are you a doctor?" Ukyo shouted while batting her hand away, her temper rising. "And what right do you have to regard me suspiciously when you've craftily been avoiding my question? Now, are you going to tell me what the hell you're doing here or what?"
Sachiko reeled back, looking hurt and frightened by Ukyo's sudden outburst. "I was just checking to see if my ex-fiancé went to this school." She hung her head. "I-I did know you went here, but I didn't want to trouble you with my problems. And I was especially concerned that maybe you might know him. I wouldn't want something like that to come between us or anything. But I guess I should have been straight with you from the start. I'm sorry Ukyo."
Even though Ukyo was already upset about her own problems, she couldn't help feeling guilty. She sighed. "Ah, gee Sachiko, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted your motives or anything."
"It's alright Ukyo. Friends?"
Ukyo smiled a little. "Sure. Friends. So, uh… Did you find anything new?"
Sachiko sighed looking disappointed. "Nothing I didn't already know."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." She took a deep breath and stretched. "Right then," she said smiling. "I'm not going to let it get me down right now." Ukyo smiled a little at the girl's energy. "But you're going to have to tell me why you're leaving school early, now."
Ukyo's smile faded as she remembered the scene on the roof. She thought about brushing it off and not talking about it, but she knew that Sachiko wouldn't let her do that. "I just saw Ranma and Akane together again…"
"Oh! Were they kissing?"
"Of course not!" Ukyo shouted. "Why on earth would they do that?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. It just seems that you keep talking about how close they are. I just sort of figured…"
"Well you're wrong! They were just talking on the roof. And Ranma was training her. They just kind of seemed really close again. That's all."
"Ukyo, that's silly. You can't just keep getting upset every time you see them together. I mean for one thing, they live together, and from what I can tell, you and Akane are the only ones that have really been around him lately. And you're always avoiding him. It makes sense that he would be leaning towards her."
"I suppose…" Ukyo mused, still slightly unconvinced.
"Now, you love Ranma, right?"
"Well, yeah," she said blushing slightly.
"And you'd do anything to get him right?"
Ukyo paused unsure. "I… guess…"
"You guess? Come on! You have to be more certain than that! No wonder you're losing him. Seriously, if I were you, I would do absolutely anything to win. Even getting rid of his other fiancées. Starting with Akane."
"What are you talking about!? I mean sure, I want Ranma to love me, but isn't it more important that he's happy?"
"And you think he's going to be happy with this Akane girl? You said it yourself, she hits him, she never listens…"
"I know, I know! But still…"
"But nothing! You're perfect for him! You said it yourself. You've got to do what ever it takes to make sure he realizes that before it's too late. And if he refuses to realize that, you have to try something else."
"I-I don't know. Maybe…"
"You're problem is that you're too nice. If it was me I'd do absolutely anything to get what I wanted."
Ukyo looked at the determined look on Sachiko's face and came to a realization of her own. "You love him don't you?"
"What?" Sachiko jumped back slightly in surprise.
"You're ex-fiancé. Even after everything that happened, you're still in love with him, aren't you?"
Sachiko blinked as if realizing it for the first time, and then smiled a somewhat sad smile. "Yeah, I guess I do," she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Ukyo smiled a little as well. Finally she was beginning to understand Sachiko a little better, and she was finding more and more, that at heart, Sachiko was just like her. They were both unable to do anything about whom they loved, no matter what the circumstances.
Sachiko looked over to Ukyo and smiled, trying to break out of her sad expression. "Well, I guess we can both use some of that tea then, hmm?"
Ukyo nodded and smiled back at the girl that had so quickly entered her life and become her friend.
* * * *
Tuesday, Early Afternoon
Akane knew she should wait for Ranma and try to make up with him. She knew this, even as she rushed out of the classroom at the end of the day while the other girls in the class detained her fiancé for trying to skip out on his cleaning duties again. Things had been so much better between them, she thought, even as she made her way down the stairs. The best thing would be to make up right away, she told herself as she entered the room where everyone's shoes were stored in tiny lockers. Yet old bad habits returned easily. Besides, he was the one at fault, not her. Why should she be the one to try and make things right?
"Hey Akane," said Sayuri, as Akane entered the room.
"Oh Akane! Hi!" Yuka chimed in.
"Oh, hi you guys. What's up?"
"Akane? Where's Ranma?"
"Um… He had cleaning duties, so…"
"Aren't you going to wait for him?"
"Yeah Akane, like we're always telling you…"
Both of the girls fell into silence as Akane opened her shoe locker. There, lying on top of her shoes was a dark purple, almost black rose. The two girl's silence was short lived.
"Kya! Oooh Akane! You're so lucky! Getting a rose in your shoe locker! How romantic!"
"Shhhh… Yuka, be quiet! Come on Akane, who's it from? Tell us!"
Akane blushed, slightly stunned as she lifted the rose. "I-I don't know."
"I bet it's from Ranma."
Akane blushed deeper. "Oh wait, there's a note!" She pulled the carefully folded paper out of her locker and opened it.
"The thought of not always being there for you scares me.
I always want to be able to protect you,
Because you are the one that matters the most,
And I could never stand to lose you."
"That's it?" Yuka asked. "No signature? Who's it from?"
"I-I don't know."
"Here, let me see." Sayuri snatched the note from Akane's grasp.
"It must be from Ranma," Yuka continued as Sayuri examined the note.
"I-I don't think so. I was with him most of the day. He never had the chance to…"
"Huh? Now that's strange!" Yuka suddenly gasped.
"What is it?" Akane asked.
"Well, here," Yuka pointed. "How come this is written in katakana (1)?"
"You're right!" Sayuri interjected. "The rest is in a different style."
"Protect the one that matters the most," Akane said, reading the parts written in katakana. She creased her brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Yuka and Sayuri shrugged. "Do you think it's some kind of hidden message…"
While the girls discussed the strange letter, Ranma entered the room. His eyes rested on Akane immediately. "Maybe she did wait for me after all," he thought. However, as he made his way over to her, he saw that she was holding a dark rose and talking to Yuka and Sayuri in a confused manner. He frowned wondering where the rose had come from. As he approached he saw Akane bring the rose up to her nose and inhale its scent. A curious expression crossed her face and she blinked a few times. Then, her eyelids began to droop. Suddenly they fluttered shut and she began to fall. Ranma quickly sprang forward and rushed across the rest of the room, catching Akane just before she hit the floor.
"Akane!" He shouted, shaking her. There was no response. "Dammit, Akane, wake up!" When she still didn't respond, he turned to Yuka and Sayuri. "What the hell happened?"
The two girls looked as shocked as he did. "I-I don't know. We were just talking, and…" Sayuri stuttered.
"The rose!" Yuka exclaimed.
Ranma looked at the rose that had fallen to the floor and picked it up. "Where'd she get it?"
"It was in her locker, along with this." Sayuri handed him the note. Ranma read it and frowned.
"Who's it from?"
"We don't know. We kind of assumed it was from you, at least until she fainted."
"But look, this parts written in a different style. If you just pick out those parts, it reads 'Protect the one that matters the most.'"
Ranma gave up on the note. "Ah, that makes no sense. Besides, that doesn't matter now anyway. The rose must have been poisoned or something." He lifted Akane into his arms. "I'd better get her to Doctor Tofu's," he said. Without waiting for any response from the two girls, he lifted Akane and dashed out of the room running as fast as he could.
"Akane, please be okay!"
"You can't always protect me." The words rang through his head. She had said them just that morning, and now he realized just how true those words were. He recalled the words of the note. "The thought of not always being there for you scares me. I always want to be able to protect you, because you are the one that matters the most, and I could never stand to lose you." Those words explained his feelings perfectly, as if he had written them himself. "You have to be okay," he said to the girl's lifeless face. "I'm not going to lose you now."
* * * *
Tuesday Afternoon
Ryoga looked around his surroundings in utter confusion. "Now, that's strange," he muttered. For once, Ryoga wasn't confused because he was lost. There would have been absolutely nothing special about the day if he had been lost. No, that was not why he was confused. Actually, he was confused for the opposite reason. As he looked around him, he realized something. He knew exactly where he was.
Granted it wasn't where he wanted to be, but it was close. "I can't believe it! It only took me a few days to find my way back here! Now if I can just get to Akane's house from here I can settle things once and for all!" He smiled as he entered the familiar restaurant, hoping Ukyo would be willing to give him something to eat and maybe direct him to the Tendo Dojo.
Unfortunately, as he entered Ucchan's, he was not greeted with the sight he had expected. Instead of Ukyo standing behind the grill flipping okonomiyaki, he saw a girl with long black hair with golden zigzags flirting with one of the customers from behind the counter.
"S-Sachi!" Ryoga stammered. The sight may have been unexpected, but the girl was far from unfamiliar.
Sachiko looked up at the mention of her name and spun around. As her eyes settled on Ryoga, the plate in her hand slipped to the ground. Ukyo rushed into the room at the sound of the broken glass and froze at the scene before her.
"R-Ryoga!" Sachiko stuttered, her voice barely a whisper.
* * * *
End of Chapter 3
(1) Katakana - The Japanese have two alphabet systems as well as numerous kanji characters. One of the alphabet systems is called Hiragana and the other is called Katakana. Hiragana is the main system and is used for basically ever circumstance. Katakana is used when writing words of an origin other than Japanese, or when someone really wants the words to stand out, like in an advertisement.
Anyway, so the story begins to get interesting! But then this is just the beginning. Hope you're enjoying it, and even more, I hope you're confused.
Chapter 4 is... Coming along... I really have no idea how long it's going to be. I have the idea outlined but I'm kind of stuck at this one point. Once I can get past that though it should be smooth sailing. I actually have the majority of it written, well at least the ending. I don't want to rush it though since chapter 4 will probably end up being the most important chapter in the whole story. It's the one where all of the details are revealed. Yeah I know, now I'm really making you anxious, huh? Anyway, bear with me. I'll probably get it done over Winter Break.
PICTURES! - If you're interested in what Sachiko, Tori and the 'Yuri' look like, check out my webpage. I have a few character sketches up. I know we're not really supposed to advertise other sites on here, so just check out my biography if you're interested, or email me.
Anyway, please R/R. Maybe it'll encourage me to get the next chapter done faster! :-) Ja ne!
Coming Soon: Chapter 4: Fragments
