Ohayou!!! How are all of my wonderful readers doin?
Anyway, before I respond to all of you lovely reviews, I have a few announcements.
A/N: Starting now, I will only be able to update each of my stories every two weeks. Because of the length of all of my chapters, I only have enough time to update one story every weekend, so I'll switch off between Abandoned and Real Love is Just a Dream.
I'm sorry about that, but I don't have much of a choice. School is taking up too much time, and my driver's test is coming up. The behind-the-wheel one, not the written. And I'm not really a good driver, hehe, so I'm gonna have to practice like heck in the next two weeks.
My birthday is coming up too!^^ I'm starting guitar lessons, and the swim team season has started, so I have a LOT to do in the next couple of months, so bear with me.
I was EXTREMELY happy with the way the rewrite for this story turned out, no body complained too much, and I didn't get any flames!! Yay!
Here's my responses to the reviewers for the previous chapter;
AnnechanB- hehe, that's true. Even though Akane most often brags about her prowess and skill as a martial artist, she's always being captured! I guess the rape isn't that unbelievable, after all, hehe. Thanks for the compliments; I'm glad that my portrayals of the character's emotions are good. I promise I'll keep writing, and please keep reviewing!
Megan Ewing- Thanks so much! I'm a huge Ranma ½ fan too; I've got lots of Ranma DVD's, including all of season 4, hehe. After I finish this story, I plan on starting another Ranma story, or maybe an Inuyasha fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please keep reviewing!
AnimeObsessionFantasy- yep, I'm slowly bringing all of the old characters back for a big ol' reunion! It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out, huh? Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter and enjoy this one!
Final-Fan- hehe, read on to discover Ukyo and Ryouga's situation. Oh, and the two week thing was just me jumping ahead in the story. I wanted Ranma to get settled a bit before I started bringing everything back, and before they start to confront their emotions. Thanks so much for the apology about my tone in chapter one, don't worry about it. And yes, I realize now my mistake with Nerima being a small town, and I deeply apologize for that ignorant mistake. Thanks for your reviews. Enjoy this chapter!
Elysium and Lonely Soul- I'm so happy you liked the chapter so much!! I was so happy that the changes didn't affect the readers' opinions either. Hehe, Kenji is my most KAWAII character ever!!!!! Hehe, well, except maybe Ayna, but she's in my other story...anyway, hope you like this chapter too! Please continue your wonderful reviews!
Arcia- hehe, this chapter will explain Ukyo and Ryouga. And don't feel bad, hehe, I didn't know it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Monday until my biology teacher at school told me. Hope you like this one!
Alex - here's the update. Sorry that I have to wait two weeks to update, but school just takes up too much of my time..I'll try to update as soon as possible. The only real problem is that I write so much that one chapter usually takes about four hours to write. Usually longer for my other story, hehe. Enjoy this update, and I hope it'll last for two weeks.
Erisu L.- That's my favorite line too!!! I got so many compliments on just that one line, hehe. I'll post it on my profile just 'cuz I love it so much...Go ahead and get married to it! I wish you two much happiness together, hehe...
Twisted Words- Thanks so much! I'm glad that it's an interesting plot line, even if it is unlikely. I liked your review a lot and I hope this update wasn't too long in coming, enjoy it!
Nikka- Yay!! My story is fixed!! I'm soo happy! Hehe, Ranma just is a motorcycle guy in my mind, but I can see where you're coming from. He could just roof-hop anywhere he wanted to go, lol. Good point with the leather jacket too, I didn't think about that. Oh, and by the way, who is the author of this fic, "Forever" ? I'd like to read it. Enjoy this chappie!
Silvrei- hehe, I'm glad you liked that line, I did too. Actually, so did a lot of the readers. I didn't expect it to be so popular, hehe. Keep reading and reviewing please!
AmayaSaria- I'm very happy that the changes did not affect your opinion, and that everybody seems to agree that they improve the story. Thanks for the review, and I hope that this update is quick enough for you. Enjoy it!
Star- HERE'S YOUR UPDATE! Don't worry, Ranma will still have plenty of people to kick their butts, especially the guy who raped Akane!!! Things will get a heck of a lot more interesting from this point on, I hope you like it! Please keep reviewing!
Goku905041- Thanks for the advice. I went back and rewrote the earlier chapters now so that they make more sense. I hope you like this chapter, and please please keep reviewing!!
2t girl- I always love getting such enthusiastic replies to my stories! Hehe, Sorry about that fake ending, but I couldn't resist, lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please keep reviewing!
Maximara- I'm so sorry. I don't know anything about Japan, I didn't even realize that Nerima was a real district in Japan. That was terribly ignorant of me, and I must apologize. I promise to do more research in upcoming chapters and stories, and for now I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm just going to have to keep writing under the pretense for this story that Nerima is a small town. Thanks for the advice, and please keep reviewing, especially if I make any more mistakes like that.
Okay, done with that. Sorry if I missed anyone, if I did, it was by accident.
By the way, if anybody knows of a good, solid rp site, please let me know! I'm sick of roleplaying sites that are either really inconsistent, or people get so obsessed with them that if you join them you have to stay on for 24 hours, you don't have a life!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rumiko Takashi characters or story ideas. Some characters, however, are of my own creation, such as Kenji, and I reserve the rights to those characters.
Hope y'all like this chapter! Enjoy and keep reviewing!
....................................
A loud slap echoed across the town of Nerima.
Students on their way to school stopped their conversations, people shopping on the street paused for a moment in their bargaining, and even the birds in the trees silenced themselves to tune their ears toward a certain familiar dojo..
"ITAI!!!!!OUCH!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!!!!!!" was the shout that soon accompanied the slap.
People slowly returned to their business.
Meanwhile, an extremely angry Ranma clenched his fists, staring at the brown-haired girl in front of him.
"FOR DISAPPEARING FOR SIX YEARS YOU BAKA!!!" she yelled, her hands on her hips.
"You're just now doing this? You just hugged me out there!" Ranma exclaimed.
"Yeah, well.you still deserved it."
"Jeez.." Ranma muttered under his breath. Things would never change. Suddenly, a part of Ranma grinned. 'That's right, things never change.' He thought happily. After the upset of finding Akane with a son and everything he knew gone, it was refreshing to find that some things were still exactly the same way they were six years ago.
Suddenly, Ranma hesitated. 'Just the same as they were six years ago...'
"Um, Ukyo, ..uh...you..you still don't...you don't think that we're..um.." Ranma stumbled over his words.
Ukyo gave him a blank look. "Still what?"
Akane suppressed a laugh, realizing what Ranma was trying to say as he continued to try in vain to ask a simple question.
"He wants to know if you think that you two are still engaged." Akane said simply.
Ukyo's jaw dropped. Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to cover up a laugh, but it was too much. After a few moments Ukyo was on the ground, holding her stomach as her face turned blue from lack of air.
Ranma frowned, crossing his arms across his chest. "What's so funny?" he demanded, his pride slightly hurt, even if he was slightly relieved that she seemed to be answering in the negative.
Ukyo slowly recovered, pulling herself up and settling herself back in her chair at the small table in the dojo. She sighed, wiping a tear of laughter from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ranma-honey, I guess it makes sense that you'd ask that. But seriously, you really think I would have waited six years just for you?" she mocked.
Ranma scratched his head, still frowning slightly. "Well.I don't know, you waited for me for a long time when we were kids..."
Ukyo waved it off. "We were just kids. After you didn't come back, pig-boy here decided to go after you." She said, gesturing towards Ryouga's back, who was currently engaged in washing the dishes from breakfast in the sink behind them. (A/N: Ha! As if anybody could picture pig-boy in an apron doing the dishes, hehe...I'm so evil..)
"Since he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag, I switched to an Okinamiyaki cart and decided to go with him. We've been all over the place, even with my help that baka still manages to get us lost every two seconds..." she grumbled.
"So, we're not engaged anymore, right?" Ranma confirmed.
Ukyo nodded. "No, we're not engaged anymore. Are you done asking questions?"
Ranma thought for a moment. "For now, I guess."
"Then it's my turn to start asking questions. Where the hell were you for the past 72 months?!!!!" she demanded.
Akane sat up straighter. She hadn't been able to ask him that question for the entire two weeks that he'd been with her. She usually had no problem with direct questions like that, and it bothered her that such a simple question was such a challenge for her.
Ranma immediately grew serious. He hadn't been able to explain it to Akane yet, every time he tried, his courage slipped through his fingers.
Ranma sighed. "It's a long story."
Ukyo leaned back in the chair. "Start telling."
Just as Ranma was about to start, Ryouga suddenly cried out.
"OUCHOUCHOUCHOUCHOUCH!!!!!!!" he yelled, nursing his right hand.
Akane stood up from her chair and went over to him. "What happened Ryouga?"
Ryouga turned the water off and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, nothing, 'Kane, just burned my hand a bit in the hot water..."
Ranma rolled his eyes, but not before Ryouga noticed.
"You making fun of me, Ranma?!" he yelled.
"Of course not, pig-boy, I was just thinking that you seem to have gotten even stupider since the last time I was here.." he muttered.
"RANMA! You're going to regret it this time!" Ryouga yelled, brandishing his fists.
The two of them stopped to hear an odd sound behind them. They turned to see Akane with tears in her eyes, her head lowered to the ground.
"Akane, what's wrong?" Ranma asked, suddenly worried about her.
Akane brought her head up, and they were even more surprised to see a small smile on her face.
"Are you alright Akane?" Ukyo asked, her face showing her concern as she stepped towards her.
Akane nodded, and then broke down in sobs, hugging Ukyo abruptly and crying on her shoulder.
(A/N: I know it's not very believable that Akane would just start crying, but this is supposed to be more realistic, and in the real world, she would start to cry under all this stress..)
Ukyo awkwardly held Akane. She turned her head back to the two very confused guys.
"I'm just gonna take her outside for a minute, you two stay here." She said, leading Akane outside.
Ryouga turned his anger on Ranma. "Now look what you did, Ranma! You made Akane cry!"
Ranma shook his hands defensively. "Me?! What did I do?!"
"How am I supposed to know?! But whatever you did was bad enough to make someone as tough as Akane start crying, and that's pretty bad!" Ryouga growled.
"Ah, C'mon! Don't tell me you still have a crush on her!! After six freakin' years!" Ranma yelled.
Ryouga blushed. "Of course not! I'm not that pathetic!! Not that Akane is pathetic or anything," he amended, "but I'm not about to wait six years without doing anything!"
"So you told her?!"
Ryouga's face turned crimson. "How is that any of your business?!"
Ranma grinned. "She turned you down, didn't she?!"
Ryouga's fist clenched. "I'm warning you, Ranma..." he managed to growl.
"Ah, poor wittle Ryouga got turned down..are you gonna cry now? Do you want your mommy?" he teased.
"Shi Shi, HokoDon!" (sp?)
....................................
"Akane, what's wrong? Are you okay? Is Kenji alright? What happened?" Ukyo asked worriedly.
The two girls sat on a bench behind the dojo. Akane was trying in vain to clear away her tears and get over the embarrassment of her sudden breakdown.
Akane sighed shakily, calming herself.
"It's nothing. I'm perfectly alright, I just...I was just really, really happy for a second there...you know, it was just like when we were in high school." She turned to Ukyo. "Do you know how many nights I wished for that? Every single night, and it never came true. And just when I give up..he just waltzes right in like everything is fine and nothing's changed..." she started crying again. "Except it has changed! I can't go back to that anymore! I have a son, I have two jobs, I can't do this again, not anymore..." she faltered. "I don't have the strength to go through all of this again"
Ukyo sympathized. Poor Akane, she was just getting used to her life as it was, and he had to come and bring everything back to the surface. She didn't blame her for crying.
"Akane, I know it's hard, but it was going to happen sometime. And I don't just mean Ranma. You know what I'm talking about, Akane."
Another tear escaped Akane's chocolate brown eyes. "No! I'm not going! I've left that all behind me, and I won't go back there again!" she cried.
Ukyo sighed, finding this very hard to say. "Akane, you know why we came back."
Akane lowered her head, still stubbornly denying it. "No, I can't, I'm all that Kenji has, I can't leave him.."
"You won't leave him! Stop talking like that, you will come back to him once it's all over and live your life in peace. You can't continue with all of this hanging over your head."
"But..." Akane had nothing left to argue with.
"We found him, Akane, and I know that you already know where he is. You have to go take care of this, or else you're always going to keep running away. You can't keep hiding from him forever. Maybe Ranma can help..."
Akane abruptly interrupted her. "No! This is my problem, and you are not going to drag him into this! I don't even want you two getting involved.."
"Don't even think about it, we're going with you whether you like it or not."
The two girls were silent for a few moments. Ukyo said softly. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?"
Akane didn't answer.
Ukyo nodded. "I can't imagine what hell you've been through in the last two weeks, having him around again.."
Akane gave a sad laugh. "You couldn't imagine."
Ukyo was happy to see a smile again, so she continued. "And I'm betting that our return isn't exactly helping, is it?" she smiled.
Akane laughed, wiping a tear away. "No, it isn't."
They were silent again. Akane broke the silence this time. "What exactly happened between the two of you?"
Ukyo stuttered. "Nothing, of course."
Akane smiled. "Then why are you blushing?"
Ukyo glared at her playfully. "I'm not blushing, and you know it. It's just hot out here..."
" *cough* yeah right.*cough*"
The two girls were interrupted as the west wall of the dojo was suddenly blown to pieces and Ranma flew out, crashing into the west wall.
The two girls sweatdropped anime style.
"I warned you Ranma!" Ryouga called from inside.
Ranma stood up, throwing the rubble off of himself. "Stupid Ryouga.." He muttered under his breath.
"And this is what you wanted?" Ukyo whispered to Akane.
Akane sighed. "Number of Holes in my wall; two."
....................................
"So, is he where I think he is, then?" Akane asked.
Ukyo nodded. "You were right, of course. He should be here in about three weeks. We can cut him off on his way to Osaka." She replied
The two of them were talking quietly while Ranma and Ryouga were trying hopelessly to fix the entire west wall of the dojo.
Akane nodded resolutely. "You're right, Ukyo. I have to go and get this over with, I'm sick of having nightmares every night."
"Good for you. We'll go take care of this, and then you can come and live in peace finally. Maybe you and Ranma.."
Akane's glare silenced her with a laugh.
"So, what'll you do with Kenji for now?" she asked.
"Kasumi and Dr. Tofu will take care of him while we're gone. And when they can't do it, Cologne can help out too, she loves Kenji."
"Actually, no. The old lady's coming with us."
"What?! Since when?!" Akane exclaimed.
"Since we ran into her on our way here and she somehow got us to tell her everything. She cares about you too, and she said she wasn't about to let us go without her."
Akane sighed. "Great. Anybody else coming that I should know about?"
"I don't think so, but you know how it is with our group, we always end up with a bunch of weirdoes wherever we go."
Akane laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So, we leave tomorrow then?" Ukyo confirmed.
Akane nodded. "I still don't know what to tell Ranma. Not a word of this to him, yet, ok?"
Ukyo sighed. "Fine, I promise. We've already got supplies, we left them at Cologne's. So, today, we'll relax. Ok?"
Akane nodded, giving her a true smile.
Ukyo grinned. "So let's go see those videos!"
"What videos?" Akane gave her a blank look.
"Ah, c'mon! You haven't forgotten, have you?! You promised you'd show me all of those home videos of you when you were pregnant when we came back, remember?"
Akane sweatdropped. "I don't know how entertaining seeing me with morning sickness will be."
Ukyo laughed. "Very entertaining, believe me. C'mon! I missed out on the past six years of Kenji's life!"
Akane sighed. "Fine. Why didn't I burn those when I had the chance?" she muttered, leading Ukyo to the dojo without a west wall.
....................................
-Video-
*Akane walks into the living room, three months pregnant.*
"Nabiki, get that stupid camera off of me! Nobody's going to want to see me like this!"
-Reality-
"OH, how cute! Look, you're belly was just starting to get big!" Ukyo pointed out.
Akane nodded sheepishly. "This is when Nabiki was still with us." She said sadly.
-Video-
*Nabiki answers from behind the camera screen*
"Ah, come on, how can I miss an opportunity like this?" she said sardonically.
"Just turn it off!"
"Fine, it's off."
"No it isn't! The little red light is still blinking!"
"That means that it's turned off,"
"It does not!"
"Does too."
"Does not!"
"Oh dear, please stop fighting, you two. You can't get so worked up, Akane, it's bad for the baby."
*Kasumi walks in from the kitchen.*
"Yeah, well, then this baby probably won't live for very long if it's in danger every time Akane's mad."
"Shut up Nabiki!" Akane yelled.
"Jeez, someone's not in a very good mood."
"Yeah, you try being pregnant, see how you like it." Akane muttered sarcastically.
"No thanks. Being pregnant is way too domestic for my lifestyle."
"As if it's any better for me?!"
"Akane, calm down, here, sit down here on the couch." Kasumi said.
-Reality-
"Jeez, and I thought you had a temper when you weren't pregnant." Ukyo observed.
"Oh, shut up."
Ranma and Ryouga had stopped their work and were watching from behind the two of them, without them knowing.
-Video-
"There, that's better, isn't it?" Kasumi asked.
"Uh, will you excuse me for a minute..." Akane disappeared through the bathroom door.
"Oh dear.."
---Flash forward---
*Akane is now about seven months pregnant, looking for maternity clothes at an old thrift store.*
"What about this one, Akane?" Kasumi said, holding up a large, purple dress.
"C'mon, Kasumi, I don't wear dresses like that!"
*Nabiki is the one filming*
"Yes, but you can't exactly fit into a good pair of pants with your size.." Nabiki said from behind the screen.
"I swear, one more word Nabiki.."
"What about this one?" Kasumi asked, holding up a large, blue dress.
"No dresses!" Akane yelled, and the other people in the store turned and stared at her.
Akane smiled sheepishly.
---Flash forward---
*Hospital room*
"Breath, Akane, breath!"
"I am breathing!!!!Get that stupid camera out of my face!!!!" Akane screamed between contractions.
(A/N: Don't worry, they're just filming her face right now, I don't want Ranma fainting at a sight like that, hehe)
"Just one more push! C'mon Akane, you can do it!!" Dr. Tofu encouraged.
Tears of pain streamed down her face. "I can't, I can't do it" she panted.
"Yes you can! Now push!" Kasumi helped, squeezing her sister's hand tightly.
"Arghhhhhhh!!!!"
---Flash forward---
"Here's your son, Ms. Tendo." A nurse said, gently placing the small baby wrapped up in blue blankets in Akane's arms.
"What are you going to name him, Akane?" Kasumi asked.
Akane looked down at her son lovingly. "I like the name Kenji."
-Reality-
"Where did you get that name from, anyway?" Ryouga asked.
The two girls jumped and immediately turned their heads to see the two guys standing behind the couch, watching the video.
"What the hell are you guys doing in here?! You're supposed to be outside, fixing my wall!"
Ryouga shrugged. "We couldn't fix it, so we came in to see what you guys were talking about."
Akane blushed crimson. She didn't want Ranma to see her fat!
"Get out!"
"C'mon, Akane, let 'em see it. There's no harm in it, is there?" Ukyo smiled.
Akane glared at her, knowing full well how much Ukyo was enjoying this.
"Fine..." she growled, turning back to the screen.
"Wait, you never said how you thought of that name."
Akane thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't remember where I'd heard that name before, I just remember that it sounded so right for him."
-Video-
"Kenji it is then." The nurse nodded, writing it down on the birth certificate.
....................................
Okay, that's all for now. Hehe, did you guys like the home videos? I was thinking of doing some more of the video stuff with Akane raising Kenji, but I'm not sure. Review and tell me if you want me to do a little more video stuff or just get on with the story now.
Next chapter should be interesting. You'll get to learn about Akane and Daigosuke's relationship before he raped her. Should be interesting...
I hope you guys all liked this chapter! Please go review and tell me what you think!! Next chapter will be up in two weeks. See ya then! Sayonara.
~Vixie
Anyway, before I respond to all of you lovely reviews, I have a few announcements.
A/N: Starting now, I will only be able to update each of my stories every two weeks. Because of the length of all of my chapters, I only have enough time to update one story every weekend, so I'll switch off between Abandoned and Real Love is Just a Dream.
I'm sorry about that, but I don't have much of a choice. School is taking up too much time, and my driver's test is coming up. The behind-the-wheel one, not the written. And I'm not really a good driver, hehe, so I'm gonna have to practice like heck in the next two weeks.
My birthday is coming up too!^^ I'm starting guitar lessons, and the swim team season has started, so I have a LOT to do in the next couple of months, so bear with me.
I was EXTREMELY happy with the way the rewrite for this story turned out, no body complained too much, and I didn't get any flames!! Yay!
Here's my responses to the reviewers for the previous chapter;
AnnechanB- hehe, that's true. Even though Akane most often brags about her prowess and skill as a martial artist, she's always being captured! I guess the rape isn't that unbelievable, after all, hehe. Thanks for the compliments; I'm glad that my portrayals of the character's emotions are good. I promise I'll keep writing, and please keep reviewing!
Megan Ewing- Thanks so much! I'm a huge Ranma ½ fan too; I've got lots of Ranma DVD's, including all of season 4, hehe. After I finish this story, I plan on starting another Ranma story, or maybe an Inuyasha fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter, please keep reviewing!
AnimeObsessionFantasy- yep, I'm slowly bringing all of the old characters back for a big ol' reunion! It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out, huh? Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter and enjoy this one!
Final-Fan- hehe, read on to discover Ukyo and Ryouga's situation. Oh, and the two week thing was just me jumping ahead in the story. I wanted Ranma to get settled a bit before I started bringing everything back, and before they start to confront their emotions. Thanks so much for the apology about my tone in chapter one, don't worry about it. And yes, I realize now my mistake with Nerima being a small town, and I deeply apologize for that ignorant mistake. Thanks for your reviews. Enjoy this chapter!
Elysium and Lonely Soul- I'm so happy you liked the chapter so much!! I was so happy that the changes didn't affect the readers' opinions either. Hehe, Kenji is my most KAWAII character ever!!!!! Hehe, well, except maybe Ayna, but she's in my other story...anyway, hope you like this chapter too! Please continue your wonderful reviews!
Arcia- hehe, this chapter will explain Ukyo and Ryouga. And don't feel bad, hehe, I didn't know it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Monday until my biology teacher at school told me. Hope you like this one!
Alex - here's the update. Sorry that I have to wait two weeks to update, but school just takes up too much of my time..I'll try to update as soon as possible. The only real problem is that I write so much that one chapter usually takes about four hours to write. Usually longer for my other story, hehe. Enjoy this update, and I hope it'll last for two weeks.
Erisu L.- That's my favorite line too!!! I got so many compliments on just that one line, hehe. I'll post it on my profile just 'cuz I love it so much...Go ahead and get married to it! I wish you two much happiness together, hehe...
Twisted Words- Thanks so much! I'm glad that it's an interesting plot line, even if it is unlikely. I liked your review a lot and I hope this update wasn't too long in coming, enjoy it!
Nikka- Yay!! My story is fixed!! I'm soo happy! Hehe, Ranma just is a motorcycle guy in my mind, but I can see where you're coming from. He could just roof-hop anywhere he wanted to go, lol. Good point with the leather jacket too, I didn't think about that. Oh, and by the way, who is the author of this fic, "Forever" ? I'd like to read it. Enjoy this chappie!
Silvrei- hehe, I'm glad you liked that line, I did too. Actually, so did a lot of the readers. I didn't expect it to be so popular, hehe. Keep reading and reviewing please!
AmayaSaria- I'm very happy that the changes did not affect your opinion, and that everybody seems to agree that they improve the story. Thanks for the review, and I hope that this update is quick enough for you. Enjoy it!
Star- HERE'S YOUR UPDATE! Don't worry, Ranma will still have plenty of people to kick their butts, especially the guy who raped Akane!!! Things will get a heck of a lot more interesting from this point on, I hope you like it! Please keep reviewing!
Goku905041- Thanks for the advice. I went back and rewrote the earlier chapters now so that they make more sense. I hope you like this chapter, and please please keep reviewing!!
2t girl- I always love getting such enthusiastic replies to my stories! Hehe, Sorry about that fake ending, but I couldn't resist, lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please keep reviewing!
Maximara- I'm so sorry. I don't know anything about Japan, I didn't even realize that Nerima was a real district in Japan. That was terribly ignorant of me, and I must apologize. I promise to do more research in upcoming chapters and stories, and for now I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm just going to have to keep writing under the pretense for this story that Nerima is a small town. Thanks for the advice, and please keep reviewing, especially if I make any more mistakes like that.
Okay, done with that. Sorry if I missed anyone, if I did, it was by accident.
By the way, if anybody knows of a good, solid rp site, please let me know! I'm sick of roleplaying sites that are either really inconsistent, or people get so obsessed with them that if you join them you have to stay on for 24 hours, you don't have a life!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rumiko Takashi characters or story ideas. Some characters, however, are of my own creation, such as Kenji, and I reserve the rights to those characters.
Hope y'all like this chapter! Enjoy and keep reviewing!
....................................
A loud slap echoed across the town of Nerima.
Students on their way to school stopped their conversations, people shopping on the street paused for a moment in their bargaining, and even the birds in the trees silenced themselves to tune their ears toward a certain familiar dojo..
"ITAI!!!!!OUCH!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!!!!!!" was the shout that soon accompanied the slap.
People slowly returned to their business.
Meanwhile, an extremely angry Ranma clenched his fists, staring at the brown-haired girl in front of him.
"FOR DISAPPEARING FOR SIX YEARS YOU BAKA!!!" she yelled, her hands on her hips.
"You're just now doing this? You just hugged me out there!" Ranma exclaimed.
"Yeah, well.you still deserved it."
"Jeez.." Ranma muttered under his breath. Things would never change. Suddenly, a part of Ranma grinned. 'That's right, things never change.' He thought happily. After the upset of finding Akane with a son and everything he knew gone, it was refreshing to find that some things were still exactly the same way they were six years ago.
Suddenly, Ranma hesitated. 'Just the same as they were six years ago...'
"Um, Ukyo, ..uh...you..you still don't...you don't think that we're..um.." Ranma stumbled over his words.
Ukyo gave him a blank look. "Still what?"
Akane suppressed a laugh, realizing what Ranma was trying to say as he continued to try in vain to ask a simple question.
"He wants to know if you think that you two are still engaged." Akane said simply.
Ukyo's jaw dropped. Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to cover up a laugh, but it was too much. After a few moments Ukyo was on the ground, holding her stomach as her face turned blue from lack of air.
Ranma frowned, crossing his arms across his chest. "What's so funny?" he demanded, his pride slightly hurt, even if he was slightly relieved that she seemed to be answering in the negative.
Ukyo slowly recovered, pulling herself up and settling herself back in her chair at the small table in the dojo. She sighed, wiping a tear of laughter from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ranma-honey, I guess it makes sense that you'd ask that. But seriously, you really think I would have waited six years just for you?" she mocked.
Ranma scratched his head, still frowning slightly. "Well.I don't know, you waited for me for a long time when we were kids..."
Ukyo waved it off. "We were just kids. After you didn't come back, pig-boy here decided to go after you." She said, gesturing towards Ryouga's back, who was currently engaged in washing the dishes from breakfast in the sink behind them. (A/N: Ha! As if anybody could picture pig-boy in an apron doing the dishes, hehe...I'm so evil..)
"Since he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag, I switched to an Okinamiyaki cart and decided to go with him. We've been all over the place, even with my help that baka still manages to get us lost every two seconds..." she grumbled.
"So, we're not engaged anymore, right?" Ranma confirmed.
Ukyo nodded. "No, we're not engaged anymore. Are you done asking questions?"
Ranma thought for a moment. "For now, I guess."
"Then it's my turn to start asking questions. Where the hell were you for the past 72 months?!!!!" she demanded.
Akane sat up straighter. She hadn't been able to ask him that question for the entire two weeks that he'd been with her. She usually had no problem with direct questions like that, and it bothered her that such a simple question was such a challenge for her.
Ranma immediately grew serious. He hadn't been able to explain it to Akane yet, every time he tried, his courage slipped through his fingers.
Ranma sighed. "It's a long story."
Ukyo leaned back in the chair. "Start telling."
Just as Ranma was about to start, Ryouga suddenly cried out.
"OUCHOUCHOUCHOUCHOUCH!!!!!!!" he yelled, nursing his right hand.
Akane stood up from her chair and went over to him. "What happened Ryouga?"
Ryouga turned the water off and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, nothing, 'Kane, just burned my hand a bit in the hot water..."
Ranma rolled his eyes, but not before Ryouga noticed.
"You making fun of me, Ranma?!" he yelled.
"Of course not, pig-boy, I was just thinking that you seem to have gotten even stupider since the last time I was here.." he muttered.
"RANMA! You're going to regret it this time!" Ryouga yelled, brandishing his fists.
The two of them stopped to hear an odd sound behind them. They turned to see Akane with tears in her eyes, her head lowered to the ground.
"Akane, what's wrong?" Ranma asked, suddenly worried about her.
Akane brought her head up, and they were even more surprised to see a small smile on her face.
"Are you alright Akane?" Ukyo asked, her face showing her concern as she stepped towards her.
Akane nodded, and then broke down in sobs, hugging Ukyo abruptly and crying on her shoulder.
(A/N: I know it's not very believable that Akane would just start crying, but this is supposed to be more realistic, and in the real world, she would start to cry under all this stress..)
Ukyo awkwardly held Akane. She turned her head back to the two very confused guys.
"I'm just gonna take her outside for a minute, you two stay here." She said, leading Akane outside.
Ryouga turned his anger on Ranma. "Now look what you did, Ranma! You made Akane cry!"
Ranma shook his hands defensively. "Me?! What did I do?!"
"How am I supposed to know?! But whatever you did was bad enough to make someone as tough as Akane start crying, and that's pretty bad!" Ryouga growled.
"Ah, C'mon! Don't tell me you still have a crush on her!! After six freakin' years!" Ranma yelled.
Ryouga blushed. "Of course not! I'm not that pathetic!! Not that Akane is pathetic or anything," he amended, "but I'm not about to wait six years without doing anything!"
"So you told her?!"
Ryouga's face turned crimson. "How is that any of your business?!"
Ranma grinned. "She turned you down, didn't she?!"
Ryouga's fist clenched. "I'm warning you, Ranma..." he managed to growl.
"Ah, poor wittle Ryouga got turned down..are you gonna cry now? Do you want your mommy?" he teased.
"Shi Shi, HokoDon!" (sp?)
....................................
"Akane, what's wrong? Are you okay? Is Kenji alright? What happened?" Ukyo asked worriedly.
The two girls sat on a bench behind the dojo. Akane was trying in vain to clear away her tears and get over the embarrassment of her sudden breakdown.
Akane sighed shakily, calming herself.
"It's nothing. I'm perfectly alright, I just...I was just really, really happy for a second there...you know, it was just like when we were in high school." She turned to Ukyo. "Do you know how many nights I wished for that? Every single night, and it never came true. And just when I give up..he just waltzes right in like everything is fine and nothing's changed..." she started crying again. "Except it has changed! I can't go back to that anymore! I have a son, I have two jobs, I can't do this again, not anymore..." she faltered. "I don't have the strength to go through all of this again"
Ukyo sympathized. Poor Akane, she was just getting used to her life as it was, and he had to come and bring everything back to the surface. She didn't blame her for crying.
"Akane, I know it's hard, but it was going to happen sometime. And I don't just mean Ranma. You know what I'm talking about, Akane."
Another tear escaped Akane's chocolate brown eyes. "No! I'm not going! I've left that all behind me, and I won't go back there again!" she cried.
Ukyo sighed, finding this very hard to say. "Akane, you know why we came back."
Akane lowered her head, still stubbornly denying it. "No, I can't, I'm all that Kenji has, I can't leave him.."
"You won't leave him! Stop talking like that, you will come back to him once it's all over and live your life in peace. You can't continue with all of this hanging over your head."
"But..." Akane had nothing left to argue with.
"We found him, Akane, and I know that you already know where he is. You have to go take care of this, or else you're always going to keep running away. You can't keep hiding from him forever. Maybe Ranma can help..."
Akane abruptly interrupted her. "No! This is my problem, and you are not going to drag him into this! I don't even want you two getting involved.."
"Don't even think about it, we're going with you whether you like it or not."
The two girls were silent for a few moments. Ukyo said softly. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?"
Akane didn't answer.
Ukyo nodded. "I can't imagine what hell you've been through in the last two weeks, having him around again.."
Akane gave a sad laugh. "You couldn't imagine."
Ukyo was happy to see a smile again, so she continued. "And I'm betting that our return isn't exactly helping, is it?" she smiled.
Akane laughed, wiping a tear away. "No, it isn't."
They were silent again. Akane broke the silence this time. "What exactly happened between the two of you?"
Ukyo stuttered. "Nothing, of course."
Akane smiled. "Then why are you blushing?"
Ukyo glared at her playfully. "I'm not blushing, and you know it. It's just hot out here..."
" *cough* yeah right.*cough*"
The two girls were interrupted as the west wall of the dojo was suddenly blown to pieces and Ranma flew out, crashing into the west wall.
The two girls sweatdropped anime style.
"I warned you Ranma!" Ryouga called from inside.
Ranma stood up, throwing the rubble off of himself. "Stupid Ryouga.." He muttered under his breath.
"And this is what you wanted?" Ukyo whispered to Akane.
Akane sighed. "Number of Holes in my wall; two."
....................................
"So, is he where I think he is, then?" Akane asked.
Ukyo nodded. "You were right, of course. He should be here in about three weeks. We can cut him off on his way to Osaka." She replied
The two of them were talking quietly while Ranma and Ryouga were trying hopelessly to fix the entire west wall of the dojo.
Akane nodded resolutely. "You're right, Ukyo. I have to go and get this over with, I'm sick of having nightmares every night."
"Good for you. We'll go take care of this, and then you can come and live in peace finally. Maybe you and Ranma.."
Akane's glare silenced her with a laugh.
"So, what'll you do with Kenji for now?" she asked.
"Kasumi and Dr. Tofu will take care of him while we're gone. And when they can't do it, Cologne can help out too, she loves Kenji."
"Actually, no. The old lady's coming with us."
"What?! Since when?!" Akane exclaimed.
"Since we ran into her on our way here and she somehow got us to tell her everything. She cares about you too, and she said she wasn't about to let us go without her."
Akane sighed. "Great. Anybody else coming that I should know about?"
"I don't think so, but you know how it is with our group, we always end up with a bunch of weirdoes wherever we go."
Akane laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"So, we leave tomorrow then?" Ukyo confirmed.
Akane nodded. "I still don't know what to tell Ranma. Not a word of this to him, yet, ok?"
Ukyo sighed. "Fine, I promise. We've already got supplies, we left them at Cologne's. So, today, we'll relax. Ok?"
Akane nodded, giving her a true smile.
Ukyo grinned. "So let's go see those videos!"
"What videos?" Akane gave her a blank look.
"Ah, c'mon! You haven't forgotten, have you?! You promised you'd show me all of those home videos of you when you were pregnant when we came back, remember?"
Akane sweatdropped. "I don't know how entertaining seeing me with morning sickness will be."
Ukyo laughed. "Very entertaining, believe me. C'mon! I missed out on the past six years of Kenji's life!"
Akane sighed. "Fine. Why didn't I burn those when I had the chance?" she muttered, leading Ukyo to the dojo without a west wall.
....................................
-Video-
*Akane walks into the living room, three months pregnant.*
"Nabiki, get that stupid camera off of me! Nobody's going to want to see me like this!"
-Reality-
"OH, how cute! Look, you're belly was just starting to get big!" Ukyo pointed out.
Akane nodded sheepishly. "This is when Nabiki was still with us." She said sadly.
-Video-
*Nabiki answers from behind the camera screen*
"Ah, come on, how can I miss an opportunity like this?" she said sardonically.
"Just turn it off!"
"Fine, it's off."
"No it isn't! The little red light is still blinking!"
"That means that it's turned off,"
"It does not!"
"Does too."
"Does not!"
"Oh dear, please stop fighting, you two. You can't get so worked up, Akane, it's bad for the baby."
*Kasumi walks in from the kitchen.*
"Yeah, well, then this baby probably won't live for very long if it's in danger every time Akane's mad."
"Shut up Nabiki!" Akane yelled.
"Jeez, someone's not in a very good mood."
"Yeah, you try being pregnant, see how you like it." Akane muttered sarcastically.
"No thanks. Being pregnant is way too domestic for my lifestyle."
"As if it's any better for me?!"
"Akane, calm down, here, sit down here on the couch." Kasumi said.
-Reality-
"Jeez, and I thought you had a temper when you weren't pregnant." Ukyo observed.
"Oh, shut up."
Ranma and Ryouga had stopped their work and were watching from behind the two of them, without them knowing.
-Video-
"There, that's better, isn't it?" Kasumi asked.
"Uh, will you excuse me for a minute..." Akane disappeared through the bathroom door.
"Oh dear.."
---Flash forward---
*Akane is now about seven months pregnant, looking for maternity clothes at an old thrift store.*
"What about this one, Akane?" Kasumi said, holding up a large, purple dress.
"C'mon, Kasumi, I don't wear dresses like that!"
*Nabiki is the one filming*
"Yes, but you can't exactly fit into a good pair of pants with your size.." Nabiki said from behind the screen.
"I swear, one more word Nabiki.."
"What about this one?" Kasumi asked, holding up a large, blue dress.
"No dresses!" Akane yelled, and the other people in the store turned and stared at her.
Akane smiled sheepishly.
---Flash forward---
*Hospital room*
"Breath, Akane, breath!"
"I am breathing!!!!Get that stupid camera out of my face!!!!" Akane screamed between contractions.
(A/N: Don't worry, they're just filming her face right now, I don't want Ranma fainting at a sight like that, hehe)
"Just one more push! C'mon Akane, you can do it!!" Dr. Tofu encouraged.
Tears of pain streamed down her face. "I can't, I can't do it" she panted.
"Yes you can! Now push!" Kasumi helped, squeezing her sister's hand tightly.
"Arghhhhhhh!!!!"
---Flash forward---
"Here's your son, Ms. Tendo." A nurse said, gently placing the small baby wrapped up in blue blankets in Akane's arms.
"What are you going to name him, Akane?" Kasumi asked.
Akane looked down at her son lovingly. "I like the name Kenji."
-Reality-
"Where did you get that name from, anyway?" Ryouga asked.
The two girls jumped and immediately turned their heads to see the two guys standing behind the couch, watching the video.
"What the hell are you guys doing in here?! You're supposed to be outside, fixing my wall!"
Ryouga shrugged. "We couldn't fix it, so we came in to see what you guys were talking about."
Akane blushed crimson. She didn't want Ranma to see her fat!
"Get out!"
"C'mon, Akane, let 'em see it. There's no harm in it, is there?" Ukyo smiled.
Akane glared at her, knowing full well how much Ukyo was enjoying this.
"Fine..." she growled, turning back to the screen.
"Wait, you never said how you thought of that name."
Akane thought for a moment. "Actually, I don't remember where I'd heard that name before, I just remember that it sounded so right for him."
-Video-
"Kenji it is then." The nurse nodded, writing it down on the birth certificate.
....................................
Okay, that's all for now. Hehe, did you guys like the home videos? I was thinking of doing some more of the video stuff with Akane raising Kenji, but I'm not sure. Review and tell me if you want me to do a little more video stuff or just get on with the story now.
Next chapter should be interesting. You'll get to learn about Akane and Daigosuke's relationship before he raped her. Should be interesting...
I hope you guys all liked this chapter! Please go review and tell me what you think!! Next chapter will be up in two weeks. See ya then! Sayonara.
~Vixie
