Couple's Therapy
Pointless tales of pairing off
NonStandard Issue Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 is not mine to do with as I please. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and some other people whose names I don't recall. Please don't sue me!
[Everything is going to be okay. Ermm... yeah, okay. That's it]
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CASE 7: Soun Tendo and Nodoka Saotome, OR On Honor and Obligation
Part 3: Self Destruct
Akane had hoped that the crisp morning air would clear her head and put things into perspective, but that just hadn't been the case.
It had been four days since Ranma had left her. For the first day she refused to accept it. She told herself that this was all just a cruel joke, something Shampoo or Ukyo must have perpetrated. Somewhere along the way, she just lost it. She had only the vaguest of memories of destroying the Cat Cafe, then collapsing into a weeping heap amidst the rubble. Once she realized the truth, that Ranma had left of his own free will, it was like it was happening all over again.
For the next two days she didn't do much more than cry.
This morning she had come to a decision. She wouldn't cry anymore. She'd accept that Ranma didn't.... didn't want her. She'd get on with her life.
Through shear force of will she got most of the way through breakfast without breaking down, but it was just too hard. Everything she had been trying to keep inside just broke free. Once again she got lost in the pain, the tears she had promised herself she wouldn't shed pouring with abandon.
Once she had come back to herself, she decided to take a walk.
"How could I have been so stupid?" she asked herself as she walked. "I can't believe I ever told him I..."
She felt a lump in her throat, felt the tears returning. No, she could believe it, and she had meant it. She'd meant every word when she told Ranma that she loved him. She'd finally just let her heart go, finally let those feelings that she had kept inside free without being afraid of what would happen (or without being under supernatural influence).
That's what made it so hard...
The tears were running down her cheeks, but she fought against them. No, she told herself, she would not cry anymore!
"Akane?"
Akane looked up to see who had spoken. "Shampoo!" she uttered, surprised. Shampoo was supposed to have left on her search for Ranma two days ago. Why was she here now? Had something happened?
Akane's heart took a brief, irrational leap. Had she found Ranma already?
And it just as quickly came crashing down again. What if she had? What could Akane say to him? If... if Ranma didn't want her after all...
Something flashed through Shampoo's eyes. Something Akane had never seen before. Was it... weakness? Regret? Sadness?
Shampoo looked away. She quietly uttered something in her native tongue that Akane didn't understand.
"Did..." Akane said softly, "did you find Ranma?"
"I..." Shampoo began to say, then stopped. "No," she said finally. "Shampoo no find Ranma."
Akane felt a cold dagger in her chest. Shampoo's words had been so simple, so straightforward, but something about them...
"I see," she said, feeling empty inside. Was this it? Did this mean that it was over? Was there no hope left?
Shampoo started walking away, but she stopped after a few steps.
"Akane," she said softly without looking. "Shampoo need you to always remember no matter what happened, Ranma loves you. He... He just too stupid to understand what that mean. You never forget, okay? Some day he come to his senses."
She then started walking once again, this time without stopping.
Neither of them saw the man watching them from a distance, his gaze intense and his stomach rumbling.
*****
Mousse said nothing when Shampoo entered the hotel room. Instead he watched her with cold, wary eyes. Why was she back so soon? What had happened to her?
"Where is Great Grandmother?" she asked him.
"She's out buying food," Mousse replied. Shampoo looked so worn out, so drained... Mousse smiled a grim smile as he puzzled out the meaning. "You found him, didn't you? You found him and you tried to get him for yourself."
Shampoo looked away. "Yes," she said softly.
"It didn't work, did it, Shampoo?" Mousse badgered relentlessly. "I told you, didn't I? I told you that nothing was different now, that you hadn't changed one bit, and neither had he. You just wouldn't believe me. So noble, so pure your intentions were, weren't they?" He laughed darkly. "How did it feel to get rejected by him again? To get tossed aside?"
Shampoo said nothing.
"So," Mousse said. "Your bed or mine?"
Shampoo gave Mousse a cold stare. "You're an idiot," she snapped. "You have no idea what you are talking about."
Mousse stepped forward and took Shampoo into his arms, his hands wandering with abandon. "Whatever you say, Shampoo," he said, feeling her shudder in his grasp. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You'll keep coming back to me because I'm the only one who will ever really love you. Even though I hate you for what you've turned me into, and I want to kill you so I can finally be free, I'm still trapped by yo..."
Shampoo delivered a knee to Mousse's groin, which cut off his ranting quite well as he dropped to the ground in pain. "Everything has changed, Mousse," she said. "I don't need you anymore. You have to learn to get on with your life. You can't keep chasing after something that will never be."
Something inside Mousse just snapped. What was she saying? How could she claim... what could have changed... Is she saying she... HOW DARE SHE... "BITCH!" he screamed as he lunged at her with a dagger drawn, unthinking, ready to strike her from existence.
Shampoo easily sidestepped his attack and Mousse buried the dagger up to its hilt in the wall.
And as he stood there, grasping the dagger that he had just tried to kill the woman he loved with, the full realization of what he had wanted to do came down on him. It was a terrible, unbearable epiphany. In a flash he realized the twisted, monstrous thing he had become.
"WHAT HAVE I DONE!" he cried. Without thinking he just started running, fleeing the room without looking back, no even hearing Shampoo's call for him to stop.
*****
"Excuse me, miss."
Cologne turned to see who was addressing her, setting her basket of groceries aside. She wasn't accustomed to being called to in grocery stores, and was as a result immediately on her guard. Surprisingly enough, it appeared to be some kind of priest that had addressed her. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Can I bother you for something to eat?" the priest asked.
Irritation flashed through Cologne's eyes. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "If you want something to eat go buy something."
The priest hrmmed then seemed to stare into Cologne's soul in a way that made her nervous.
"You need not question the future," he said suddenly. "Your granddaughter shall get what she seeks, though perhaps not as she imagined."
"What?" Cologne demanded, surprised. She had, in fact, just been thinking about Shampoo and wondering what would come of everything. To be accosted by a priest in a presumably random location, then to be told essentially what she was thinking, was something of a shock to the Amazon Matriarch's system.
"I have seen love in her future," the priest continued. "She will know the love of a boy with a pigtail." His voice got a little more grave. "However I see death surrounding this affair. Someone will die before this matter is resolved, someone who is dear to one of the involved parties."
Shampoo will know the love of a pigtailed boy? Someone is going to die? What was the meaning of this? Was this man seeing the future, or was he just a fraud or rambling lunatic?
"You are a fortune teller?" Cologne asked. The priest nodded. "What else have you seen?"
"Can I have something to eat?" the priest asked.
Cologne scowled. "Get on with it!" she demanded.
"I see now that you will have a role to play in this affair as well," the priest said. "When an adversary who you cannot trust comes to seek your aid, you must be prepared to give it, no matter how dangerous it seems. If you do not the matter will come to ruin."
He then turned and walked away.
Cologne thought about the man's words. Was he telling the truth? He hadn't seemed like a charlatan, and there was something about him...
Still, even if it were true, what did it mean? An adversary she cannot trust? The death of someone dear to the involved parties? This sounded all too ominous to her.
In the meanwhile someone else had stopped the priest.
"Hold it right there Gendo," the short, squat little ninja said as he dropped in front of the priest. "You can't just run off after telling me I'm in danger! What do you mean I face danger from he whose position I usurped? What kind of divination is that?"
"Sasuke..." the priest responded gravely. There was a moment of dramatic pause. "Isn't it time to eat?"
*****
Akane was lost in thought as she arrived at the front gate of the Tendo home, going over what Shampoo had told her. Despite what the Amazon had said, Akane was certain that there was something that she wasn't being told. Shampoo had been... different. Something had happened to her while she was out looking for Ranma, there was no way around it.
But what? Did it have something to do with Ranma? Had she found him after all?
No matter what had happened, Shampoo had told her, Ranma loved her. What did Shampoo mean by that?
So lost was Akane in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the panda sneaking over the wall. Almost.
"Mr. Saotome?" she said in surprise. Genma seemed rather nervous, though Akane didn't have a clue as to why that would be.
(Of course, she'd been more or less out of it for the past few days, and as a result didn't really know what had been going on lately)
Genma for his part was clearly startled, now that he had been spotted making his escape.
"What are you doing?" Akane asked.
Genma scratched his head sheepishly, then presented a sign. "I have a few errands to run," it read.
"Genma dear," a voice from inside called.
"Gotta go," the next sign read. Genma took off like a rocket.
"What was that about?" Akane wondered to herself as she entered the grounds.
"Why hello Akane," Nodoka said, standing next to the front door wearing her white robes and carrying a steaming kettle of water. "Have you seen my husband anywhere?"
Akane in the meanwhile had been struck dumb as soon as she realized what Nodoka was wearing.
"Oh bother," Nodoka said. "All the trouble I had getting this water and now my husband is nowhere to be found."
"What... what... are you... doing!" Akane managed.
Nodoka got very solemn when she realized what Akane was asking. "This is a matter of honor, Akane dear," she said. "There is a stain of dishonor upon the Saotome family now that has to be removed. I have no choice but to atone for this dishonor."
"You CAN'T!" Akane cried. This can't be happening! First Ranma leaves and now...
"I know this is difficult, child," Nodoka said, "but you have to understand that there is no other choice..."
"FIRE!"
Both ladies turned to see what was going on just in time for an old, wizened blur of a dirty old man to shoot towards them.
"The refrigerator's on fire!" Happosai cried as he snatched Nodoka's kettle from her grasp before she could react.
"Wait Grandfather Happosai!" Nodoka called as Happosai shot back into the house at lighting speed. The ancient founder of the Anything Goes School did not respond. "And after all I went through to get that hot water too..."
*****
"So, Kasumi," Nabiki asked as the family sat down for lunch (takeout okonomiyaki), "how exactly did you manage to accidentally set the refrigerator on fire?"
"These things happen I'm afraid," Kasumi replied.
"And who would have thought that the fire extinguisher was no good either," Nabiki added. "How convenient that Nodoka had that kettle of water, wouldn't you say so, Akane?"
Akane sat there in virtual shock, just trying to come to terms with all of this.
"Akane," Kasumi said. "You aren't eating."
"It's like it's some kind of game to you," Akane said almost in a whisper.
Nobody else at the table responded.
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON!" Akane suddenly screamed. "EVERTHING IS FALLING APART!" She fled from the table, running for her room without looking back.
*****
Mousse didn't know how long he had been running when he finally stopped.
He'd done it. He'd actually tried to kill Shampoo.
"What have I become?" he asked himself. "How could I..."
He tried to kill her.
"Shampoo, I love you! How could I..."
He'd wanted her dead.
Mousse looked around himself. He was on some kind of cliff facing the sea, a heavy wind ripping through the air and driving the waves to enormous heights.
Why did he come here? He hadn't thought that he had been running to any specific destination, but as he peered over the edge of the cliff at the seas lashing against the rocks below, he felt something, a sense of rightness.
Was this what he was looking for? What he had really wanted from the start?
"I can't go back to the way things were," he said as he stepped closer to the edge. "I can't go on as I am. Shampoo, this has to end."
He readied himself as best he could, taking a deep breath before preparing to step into oblivion.
He hesitated when he heard the sound of someone approaching, but only for a moment. Nothing was going to stop him! He lifted his foot over the edge of the cliff.
The sound of panicked growling once again caused him to pause. He recognized that voice! In a flash he felt himself overcome with rage. "It's all your fault," he uttered in a low growl. "You brought him into this!" He spun to face the new arrival.
"I'M TAKING YOU TO HELL WITH ME!"
*****
"Oh dear," Kasumi said as dinner (also takeout okonomiyaki) arrived. "Mr. Saotome has been gone for some time now. He's going to miss dinner."
Darkness had since crept over Nerima. Akane remained in her room, lost in misery all over again. Nabiki was nowhere to be seen, having left on an errand of her own without a word to anyone.
Nodoka sat clutching the Saotome family sword in both hands, a look of regret and concern on her face.
"Genma is a good man," she said softly. "Isn't he, Kasumi?"
Kasumi thought for a moment. "I suppose he is, in his way," she said.
"He doesn't want to be responsible for my death," Nodoka said. "He's looking for another way, I know he is."
Kasumi said nothing. It didn't surprise her that the Saotome matriarch had an idea of what her husband was up to. Nodoka Saotome wasn't half as oblivious as some might believe.
"I'm afraid, Kasumi," Nodoka said. "I'm afraid there is only one way for this matter to be resolved. This isn't what I wanted, none of this. I... I don't want Genma to die for me..."
Then the phone rang.
*****
"Sometimes I hate this job," Detective Iwamoto said as he looked over the scene.
"Getting any good forensics is going to be impossible," Detective Nagara said. "It's going to be hard enough to get the car out of the sea. No way we're going to be able to figure out what happened."
The two detectives stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. Around them was scattered an assortment of chains and blades, along with a great deal of blood splatter. In the seas below them was the wreck of a car and, presumably, two bodies.
Nagara stopped to look at one of the blades lying on the ground. "What the hell went on here? What kind of guy carries these kind of weapons around?"
Iwamoto shook his head. "You're new to Nerima, right?"
Nagara nodded. "Moved up from Yokohama two months ago."
"First thing you need to learn working in this town is don't worry about things like that," Iwamoto said. "How's the witness?"
"Can't figure her out either," Nagara said. "Seems kind of cold about the whole thing, even though she just saw a family friend get hit by a car."
"People deal with it in different ways," Iwamoto said. "She sure about what she saw?"
"Yeah. No doubt," Nagara said. "She says she saw this Mr. Saotome and Mousse get hit by a car and fall off the cliff. From the description she gave, I doubt she could be much mistaken."
"Have you contacted her family?"
"Someone's on it," Nagara said.
"All right," Iwamoto said. "They were fighting?"
Nagara nodded. "That's what Ms. Tendo said. She doesn't know what about, but all this," he waved his hand to indicate the assortment of weapons and blood spatters everywhere, "seems to indicate that it was something major."
The blood maybe, Iwamoto thought. The weapons were pretty much par for the course though. Iwamoto was a long time resident of Nerima, and he was well familiar with what went on in this town, but this was the first time that he knew of where the endless fighting between the varied martial artists had resulted in fatalities. Iwamoto suddenly felt himself longing for the time when his biggest concern was trying to catch a panty thief.
"Should we be notifying them this soon?" Nagara asked. "The family I mean."
"They'll either hear it from us or Ms. Tendo," Iwamoto said. "You saw how the car got all smashed up down there. With the weather how it is, there's no way anyone could survive getting bashed on those rocks, not even one of these guys."
"These guys?" Nagara inquired.
"You'll understand soon enough," Iwamoto said.
*****
Time passed, two weeks to be exact.
"I feel like I killed him," Shampoo said as she sat in the doctor's waiting room. Cologne had just gotten back from talking privately to the doctor about Shampoo's health (something that normally would have Shampoo worried, but right now she had too much on her mind).
"Nonsense child," Cologne said. "It was a tragic accident, nothing more." A tragic, stupid accident. As near as the police had been able to uncover, the car that had hit Mousse and Genma and sent them to their deaths had been stolen mere hours before. Their conclusion? Some punk stole a car for a joyride and had hit the... victims... while they were busy fighting each other. Of course no bodies had been recovered, but considering the state of the sea that day, that wasn't necessarily surprising.
Still, there was a whiff of implausibility...
"But I..." Shampoo began to say.
"I'm sorry, Shampoo," Cologne said. "I know Mousse was a friend since childhood, but you cannot blame yourself for events outside of your control, especially now that you have other, more important things to think about."
Shampoo looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked. "What did the doctor say?"
"You have nothing to worry about Shampoo," Cologne said. "You are in perfect health. It appears the herbal remedies I gave you did an excellent job." Better than you know, she didn't add. "It seems your search for Ranma went better than I could have hoped as well."
Shampoo gave Cologne a look of complete and utter non-comprehension. "I don't understand Great Grandmother."
Cologne smiled a smile of victory.
"Shampoo," she said, "you are pregnant."
*****
TO BE CONTINUED!
Author's Notes:
"Nothing easy is ever simple!" ~Plucky Duck
No I'm not just making this up on the fly as I'm going along. Yes I do have everything planned out (though I recently made some extensive changes to said plan).
No I'm not going to tell you what said plan is :)
However I will tell you this:
*What happened between Ranma and Shampoo? What could have happened to make Shampoo unable to look Akane in the eye?
*Did Genma and Mousse really get killed in a tragic accident?
*What the heck is up with that crazy prediction about Shampoo and the love of a pigtailed boy?
*Who's marked for death?
*What will be the ultimate fate of Ranma and Akane's relationship?
Answers to some of these questions are coming up in the next chapter, the long anticipated and repeatedly re-written not-so-final chapter of Couple's Therapy: Ranma and Akane Re-Revisited, OR Unsaid.
Get ready for it! :)
Pointless tales of pairing off
NonStandard Issue Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 is not mine to do with as I please. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and some other people whose names I don't recall. Please don't sue me!
[Everything is going to be okay. Ermm... yeah, okay. That's it]
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CASE 7: Soun Tendo and Nodoka Saotome, OR On Honor and Obligation
Part 3: Self Destruct
Akane had hoped that the crisp morning air would clear her head and put things into perspective, but that just hadn't been the case.
It had been four days since Ranma had left her. For the first day she refused to accept it. She told herself that this was all just a cruel joke, something Shampoo or Ukyo must have perpetrated. Somewhere along the way, she just lost it. She had only the vaguest of memories of destroying the Cat Cafe, then collapsing into a weeping heap amidst the rubble. Once she realized the truth, that Ranma had left of his own free will, it was like it was happening all over again.
For the next two days she didn't do much more than cry.
This morning she had come to a decision. She wouldn't cry anymore. She'd accept that Ranma didn't.... didn't want her. She'd get on with her life.
Through shear force of will she got most of the way through breakfast without breaking down, but it was just too hard. Everything she had been trying to keep inside just broke free. Once again she got lost in the pain, the tears she had promised herself she wouldn't shed pouring with abandon.
Once she had come back to herself, she decided to take a walk.
"How could I have been so stupid?" she asked herself as she walked. "I can't believe I ever told him I..."
She felt a lump in her throat, felt the tears returning. No, she could believe it, and she had meant it. She'd meant every word when she told Ranma that she loved him. She'd finally just let her heart go, finally let those feelings that she had kept inside free without being afraid of what would happen (or without being under supernatural influence).
That's what made it so hard...
The tears were running down her cheeks, but she fought against them. No, she told herself, she would not cry anymore!
"Akane?"
Akane looked up to see who had spoken. "Shampoo!" she uttered, surprised. Shampoo was supposed to have left on her search for Ranma two days ago. Why was she here now? Had something happened?
Akane's heart took a brief, irrational leap. Had she found Ranma already?
And it just as quickly came crashing down again. What if she had? What could Akane say to him? If... if Ranma didn't want her after all...
Something flashed through Shampoo's eyes. Something Akane had never seen before. Was it... weakness? Regret? Sadness?
Shampoo looked away. She quietly uttered something in her native tongue that Akane didn't understand.
"Did..." Akane said softly, "did you find Ranma?"
"I..." Shampoo began to say, then stopped. "No," she said finally. "Shampoo no find Ranma."
Akane felt a cold dagger in her chest. Shampoo's words had been so simple, so straightforward, but something about them...
"I see," she said, feeling empty inside. Was this it? Did this mean that it was over? Was there no hope left?
Shampoo started walking away, but she stopped after a few steps.
"Akane," she said softly without looking. "Shampoo need you to always remember no matter what happened, Ranma loves you. He... He just too stupid to understand what that mean. You never forget, okay? Some day he come to his senses."
She then started walking once again, this time without stopping.
Neither of them saw the man watching them from a distance, his gaze intense and his stomach rumbling.
*****
Mousse said nothing when Shampoo entered the hotel room. Instead he watched her with cold, wary eyes. Why was she back so soon? What had happened to her?
"Where is Great Grandmother?" she asked him.
"She's out buying food," Mousse replied. Shampoo looked so worn out, so drained... Mousse smiled a grim smile as he puzzled out the meaning. "You found him, didn't you? You found him and you tried to get him for yourself."
Shampoo looked away. "Yes," she said softly.
"It didn't work, did it, Shampoo?" Mousse badgered relentlessly. "I told you, didn't I? I told you that nothing was different now, that you hadn't changed one bit, and neither had he. You just wouldn't believe me. So noble, so pure your intentions were, weren't they?" He laughed darkly. "How did it feel to get rejected by him again? To get tossed aside?"
Shampoo said nothing.
"So," Mousse said. "Your bed or mine?"
Shampoo gave Mousse a cold stare. "You're an idiot," she snapped. "You have no idea what you are talking about."
Mousse stepped forward and took Shampoo into his arms, his hands wandering with abandon. "Whatever you say, Shampoo," he said, feeling her shudder in his grasp. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You'll keep coming back to me because I'm the only one who will ever really love you. Even though I hate you for what you've turned me into, and I want to kill you so I can finally be free, I'm still trapped by yo..."
Shampoo delivered a knee to Mousse's groin, which cut off his ranting quite well as he dropped to the ground in pain. "Everything has changed, Mousse," she said. "I don't need you anymore. You have to learn to get on with your life. You can't keep chasing after something that will never be."
Something inside Mousse just snapped. What was she saying? How could she claim... what could have changed... Is she saying she... HOW DARE SHE... "BITCH!" he screamed as he lunged at her with a dagger drawn, unthinking, ready to strike her from existence.
Shampoo easily sidestepped his attack and Mousse buried the dagger up to its hilt in the wall.
And as he stood there, grasping the dagger that he had just tried to kill the woman he loved with, the full realization of what he had wanted to do came down on him. It was a terrible, unbearable epiphany. In a flash he realized the twisted, monstrous thing he had become.
"WHAT HAVE I DONE!" he cried. Without thinking he just started running, fleeing the room without looking back, no even hearing Shampoo's call for him to stop.
*****
"Excuse me, miss."
Cologne turned to see who was addressing her, setting her basket of groceries aside. She wasn't accustomed to being called to in grocery stores, and was as a result immediately on her guard. Surprisingly enough, it appeared to be some kind of priest that had addressed her. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Can I bother you for something to eat?" the priest asked.
Irritation flashed through Cologne's eyes. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "If you want something to eat go buy something."
The priest hrmmed then seemed to stare into Cologne's soul in a way that made her nervous.
"You need not question the future," he said suddenly. "Your granddaughter shall get what she seeks, though perhaps not as she imagined."
"What?" Cologne demanded, surprised. She had, in fact, just been thinking about Shampoo and wondering what would come of everything. To be accosted by a priest in a presumably random location, then to be told essentially what she was thinking, was something of a shock to the Amazon Matriarch's system.
"I have seen love in her future," the priest continued. "She will know the love of a boy with a pigtail." His voice got a little more grave. "However I see death surrounding this affair. Someone will die before this matter is resolved, someone who is dear to one of the involved parties."
Shampoo will know the love of a pigtailed boy? Someone is going to die? What was the meaning of this? Was this man seeing the future, or was he just a fraud or rambling lunatic?
"You are a fortune teller?" Cologne asked. The priest nodded. "What else have you seen?"
"Can I have something to eat?" the priest asked.
Cologne scowled. "Get on with it!" she demanded.
"I see now that you will have a role to play in this affair as well," the priest said. "When an adversary who you cannot trust comes to seek your aid, you must be prepared to give it, no matter how dangerous it seems. If you do not the matter will come to ruin."
He then turned and walked away.
Cologne thought about the man's words. Was he telling the truth? He hadn't seemed like a charlatan, and there was something about him...
Still, even if it were true, what did it mean? An adversary she cannot trust? The death of someone dear to the involved parties? This sounded all too ominous to her.
In the meanwhile someone else had stopped the priest.
"Hold it right there Gendo," the short, squat little ninja said as he dropped in front of the priest. "You can't just run off after telling me I'm in danger! What do you mean I face danger from he whose position I usurped? What kind of divination is that?"
"Sasuke..." the priest responded gravely. There was a moment of dramatic pause. "Isn't it time to eat?"
*****
Akane was lost in thought as she arrived at the front gate of the Tendo home, going over what Shampoo had told her. Despite what the Amazon had said, Akane was certain that there was something that she wasn't being told. Shampoo had been... different. Something had happened to her while she was out looking for Ranma, there was no way around it.
But what? Did it have something to do with Ranma? Had she found him after all?
No matter what had happened, Shampoo had told her, Ranma loved her. What did Shampoo mean by that?
So lost was Akane in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the panda sneaking over the wall. Almost.
"Mr. Saotome?" she said in surprise. Genma seemed rather nervous, though Akane didn't have a clue as to why that would be.
(Of course, she'd been more or less out of it for the past few days, and as a result didn't really know what had been going on lately)
Genma for his part was clearly startled, now that he had been spotted making his escape.
"What are you doing?" Akane asked.
Genma scratched his head sheepishly, then presented a sign. "I have a few errands to run," it read.
"Genma dear," a voice from inside called.
"Gotta go," the next sign read. Genma took off like a rocket.
"What was that about?" Akane wondered to herself as she entered the grounds.
"Why hello Akane," Nodoka said, standing next to the front door wearing her white robes and carrying a steaming kettle of water. "Have you seen my husband anywhere?"
Akane in the meanwhile had been struck dumb as soon as she realized what Nodoka was wearing.
"Oh bother," Nodoka said. "All the trouble I had getting this water and now my husband is nowhere to be found."
"What... what... are you... doing!" Akane managed.
Nodoka got very solemn when she realized what Akane was asking. "This is a matter of honor, Akane dear," she said. "There is a stain of dishonor upon the Saotome family now that has to be removed. I have no choice but to atone for this dishonor."
"You CAN'T!" Akane cried. This can't be happening! First Ranma leaves and now...
"I know this is difficult, child," Nodoka said, "but you have to understand that there is no other choice..."
"FIRE!"
Both ladies turned to see what was going on just in time for an old, wizened blur of a dirty old man to shoot towards them.
"The refrigerator's on fire!" Happosai cried as he snatched Nodoka's kettle from her grasp before she could react.
"Wait Grandfather Happosai!" Nodoka called as Happosai shot back into the house at lighting speed. The ancient founder of the Anything Goes School did not respond. "And after all I went through to get that hot water too..."
*****
"So, Kasumi," Nabiki asked as the family sat down for lunch (takeout okonomiyaki), "how exactly did you manage to accidentally set the refrigerator on fire?"
"These things happen I'm afraid," Kasumi replied.
"And who would have thought that the fire extinguisher was no good either," Nabiki added. "How convenient that Nodoka had that kettle of water, wouldn't you say so, Akane?"
Akane sat there in virtual shock, just trying to come to terms with all of this.
"Akane," Kasumi said. "You aren't eating."
"It's like it's some kind of game to you," Akane said almost in a whisper.
Nobody else at the table responded.
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON!" Akane suddenly screamed. "EVERTHING IS FALLING APART!" She fled from the table, running for her room without looking back.
*****
Mousse didn't know how long he had been running when he finally stopped.
He'd done it. He'd actually tried to kill Shampoo.
"What have I become?" he asked himself. "How could I..."
He tried to kill her.
"Shampoo, I love you! How could I..."
He'd wanted her dead.
Mousse looked around himself. He was on some kind of cliff facing the sea, a heavy wind ripping through the air and driving the waves to enormous heights.
Why did he come here? He hadn't thought that he had been running to any specific destination, but as he peered over the edge of the cliff at the seas lashing against the rocks below, he felt something, a sense of rightness.
Was this what he was looking for? What he had really wanted from the start?
"I can't go back to the way things were," he said as he stepped closer to the edge. "I can't go on as I am. Shampoo, this has to end."
He readied himself as best he could, taking a deep breath before preparing to step into oblivion.
He hesitated when he heard the sound of someone approaching, but only for a moment. Nothing was going to stop him! He lifted his foot over the edge of the cliff.
The sound of panicked growling once again caused him to pause. He recognized that voice! In a flash he felt himself overcome with rage. "It's all your fault," he uttered in a low growl. "You brought him into this!" He spun to face the new arrival.
"I'M TAKING YOU TO HELL WITH ME!"
*****
"Oh dear," Kasumi said as dinner (also takeout okonomiyaki) arrived. "Mr. Saotome has been gone for some time now. He's going to miss dinner."
Darkness had since crept over Nerima. Akane remained in her room, lost in misery all over again. Nabiki was nowhere to be seen, having left on an errand of her own without a word to anyone.
Nodoka sat clutching the Saotome family sword in both hands, a look of regret and concern on her face.
"Genma is a good man," she said softly. "Isn't he, Kasumi?"
Kasumi thought for a moment. "I suppose he is, in his way," she said.
"He doesn't want to be responsible for my death," Nodoka said. "He's looking for another way, I know he is."
Kasumi said nothing. It didn't surprise her that the Saotome matriarch had an idea of what her husband was up to. Nodoka Saotome wasn't half as oblivious as some might believe.
"I'm afraid, Kasumi," Nodoka said. "I'm afraid there is only one way for this matter to be resolved. This isn't what I wanted, none of this. I... I don't want Genma to die for me..."
Then the phone rang.
*****
"Sometimes I hate this job," Detective Iwamoto said as he looked over the scene.
"Getting any good forensics is going to be impossible," Detective Nagara said. "It's going to be hard enough to get the car out of the sea. No way we're going to be able to figure out what happened."
The two detectives stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. Around them was scattered an assortment of chains and blades, along with a great deal of blood splatter. In the seas below them was the wreck of a car and, presumably, two bodies.
Nagara stopped to look at one of the blades lying on the ground. "What the hell went on here? What kind of guy carries these kind of weapons around?"
Iwamoto shook his head. "You're new to Nerima, right?"
Nagara nodded. "Moved up from Yokohama two months ago."
"First thing you need to learn working in this town is don't worry about things like that," Iwamoto said. "How's the witness?"
"Can't figure her out either," Nagara said. "Seems kind of cold about the whole thing, even though she just saw a family friend get hit by a car."
"People deal with it in different ways," Iwamoto said. "She sure about what she saw?"
"Yeah. No doubt," Nagara said. "She says she saw this Mr. Saotome and Mousse get hit by a car and fall off the cliff. From the description she gave, I doubt she could be much mistaken."
"Have you contacted her family?"
"Someone's on it," Nagara said.
"All right," Iwamoto said. "They were fighting?"
Nagara nodded. "That's what Ms. Tendo said. She doesn't know what about, but all this," he waved his hand to indicate the assortment of weapons and blood spatters everywhere, "seems to indicate that it was something major."
The blood maybe, Iwamoto thought. The weapons were pretty much par for the course though. Iwamoto was a long time resident of Nerima, and he was well familiar with what went on in this town, but this was the first time that he knew of where the endless fighting between the varied martial artists had resulted in fatalities. Iwamoto suddenly felt himself longing for the time when his biggest concern was trying to catch a panty thief.
"Should we be notifying them this soon?" Nagara asked. "The family I mean."
"They'll either hear it from us or Ms. Tendo," Iwamoto said. "You saw how the car got all smashed up down there. With the weather how it is, there's no way anyone could survive getting bashed on those rocks, not even one of these guys."
"These guys?" Nagara inquired.
"You'll understand soon enough," Iwamoto said.
*****
Time passed, two weeks to be exact.
"I feel like I killed him," Shampoo said as she sat in the doctor's waiting room. Cologne had just gotten back from talking privately to the doctor about Shampoo's health (something that normally would have Shampoo worried, but right now she had too much on her mind).
"Nonsense child," Cologne said. "It was a tragic accident, nothing more." A tragic, stupid accident. As near as the police had been able to uncover, the car that had hit Mousse and Genma and sent them to their deaths had been stolen mere hours before. Their conclusion? Some punk stole a car for a joyride and had hit the... victims... while they were busy fighting each other. Of course no bodies had been recovered, but considering the state of the sea that day, that wasn't necessarily surprising.
Still, there was a whiff of implausibility...
"But I..." Shampoo began to say.
"I'm sorry, Shampoo," Cologne said. "I know Mousse was a friend since childhood, but you cannot blame yourself for events outside of your control, especially now that you have other, more important things to think about."
Shampoo looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked. "What did the doctor say?"
"You have nothing to worry about Shampoo," Cologne said. "You are in perfect health. It appears the herbal remedies I gave you did an excellent job." Better than you know, she didn't add. "It seems your search for Ranma went better than I could have hoped as well."
Shampoo gave Cologne a look of complete and utter non-comprehension. "I don't understand Great Grandmother."
Cologne smiled a smile of victory.
"Shampoo," she said, "you are pregnant."
*****
TO BE CONTINUED!
Author's Notes:
"Nothing easy is ever simple!" ~Plucky Duck
No I'm not just making this up on the fly as I'm going along. Yes I do have everything planned out (though I recently made some extensive changes to said plan).
No I'm not going to tell you what said plan is :)
However I will tell you this:
*What happened between Ranma and Shampoo? What could have happened to make Shampoo unable to look Akane in the eye?
*Did Genma and Mousse really get killed in a tragic accident?
*What the heck is up with that crazy prediction about Shampoo and the love of a pigtailed boy?
*Who's marked for death?
*What will be the ultimate fate of Ranma and Akane's relationship?
Answers to some of these questions are coming up in the next chapter, the long anticipated and repeatedly re-written not-so-final chapter of Couple's Therapy: Ranma and Akane Re-Revisited, OR Unsaid.
Get ready for it! :)