A/N:
***
Suruyoroshi: Had better... Might as well...
***
Akane gasped and clasped her hands to her face in mock terror and went back to tying her shoes for her date. Soun watched in confusion, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Daughter! Why are you doing such idol things when my best friend is missing? Why won't you help me?" Soun startedto cry as he whined.
Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. She grabbed her coat and walked to the window peering out to look for Suru's car. Lacking a car to get away from this in, Akane walked over to the couch and waited for the inevitable knock on the door from her boyfriend. He was nothing like Ranma, at least that was what Akane told herself.
Ranma had been exciting and new. Suru was reliable and loving. He really cared for her and he made her realize that since the day they met. Whenever she was feeling blue, just seeing him reminded her of what was good in life. He was known as an eternal optimist. They had met when Akane was at her worst, drunk and vulnerable, a lesser man would have taken advantage of that, but not Suru. He treated her like a real woman, like a real person. He was her salvation, he was the peak of normality in her life and she truly loved him for that.
Although, sometimes when she was feeling really tired and would lower her defenses, she'd dream of Ranma and how everything around him livened up and got interesting. Oddly enough, Akane didn't feel like having a fast, exciting life. It would get annoying never settling, being in the eye of everyone you met. Getting captured and learning how to use a sword wasn't normal stuff for a girl. She was a lot stronger than she would have been though.
After Ranma left she had gotten serious about her training, and even her father's pleading didn't stop her from getting outside lessons from other trainers. She had told her father she would never quit doing what she loved, and after awhile he accepted it because it was the only thing he could do. She would never tell him the truth; that for a bra a week, Happosai had been teaching her. It was hard but it made her so much stronger, and the desperation she had gone through was in her past, away from her now.
"Dad, I know you and Genma are probably just trying to get me married to Ranma again. Remember the last time you did this? I did end up alone in a room with Ranma, unfortunately not Ranma Saotome. How sad, I can't believe you actually looked the name "Ranma" up and took the first one you saw that even half resembled Ranma to me. And let's not even talk about the Ranma made of cheese,." Akane laid back and laughed to her self.
They had tried so hard to get Akane and Ranma in the same room, but every time they tried Ranma wouldn't come. Nobody had heard from him in years. Of course, there were other people who had left, important people, that they never spoke of who she wanted back just as bad. It wasn't her fault that her sister had left. Besides, the topic was Ranma.
He had left for China so Shampoo and Cologne had decided to look for him, Mousse trailing behind. Ukyo had been offered the chance to travel the world and enter okonomiyaki contests throughout the vast countries, including a large amount in China. She had reluctantly agreed after deciding that Ranma was not coming back. Ryoga disappeared two and a half years ago vowing to go to China for some reason.
"Akane, I just want you to be happy. Plus, if your husband just so happens to be a martial artist that is the son of my best friend then that is just a plus. If you don't marry a martial artist then I'll have to leave the dojo to Kasumi and Dr. Tofu, and I can't do that," Soun admitted. He had sat down and was looking at Akane with big, puppy-dog eyes. Akane looked right back at him and took his hands slowly, smiling softly.
"I don't know Dad, I think Dr. Tofu has some great moves. Just sit Kasumi down in front of him and he's invincible," Akane joked as she lifted an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side. Her father thought about this long and hard and Akane could see the crazy moves he was inventing for Tofu in his head, the poor guy.
"Akane, I need you to take the dojo after I'm gone, but you need Ranma behind you. It's only right; you were made to be together. Fate was on our side the night Saotome and I made that pact and I cou-" Soun was stopped by a furious Akane.
"STOP! I AM NOT A PIECE OF PROPERTY YOU CAN JUST GIVE TO ANYONE!" Akane fumed. She gradually cooled down, letting the warm glare of the sun hit her and fill her with content. Taking a deep breath she continued, "Listen, I will marry who I choose, martial artist or not. Stop dreaming that Ranma and I will end up together. First of all, it wasn't fate that brought you and Genma to that pact, it was sake. Second, if it was fate that Ranma and I would end up together than why did we fight all the time? And why is he gone? Just drop it!" After she had finished Soun started bawling to himself.
"Why? Why? Why does this happen to me?" Before Soun could blubber another word there was a light knock at the door. Akane got up and took her purse.
"Sorry to break the tension but I've got a date," Akane replied. She smiled sweetly and walked to the door.
"Will you be coming home tonight?" Soun asked through sobs.
"No, I'm goin' to my place. Tell Genma that you guys shouldn't even start! Call me tomorrow, bye," Akane yelled over her shoulder as she walked outside and grabbed Suru, pulling him into a deep kiss.
"Nice to see you too," He said happily, replying to her kiss. He took her hand and guided her to his car. As they started to drive Suru looked over to Akane's worried face, "you okay, honey?"
"I'm fine," Akane lied, "it's just . . . my Dad is going on and on about fate and this paper that I'm writing is dealing with the same bull, it doesn't exist and that's that. He keeps saying that he needs a martial artist to marry me and carry on with the dojo," Akane turned the air conditioning to high and shifted the panel to face her.
"Can't Kasumi do it?" Suru asked, as politely as Akane thought was possible.
"Her husband is a doctor, not a fighter. Hell, he's not even a real doctor, he's a chiropractor," Akane explained practically.
"What about Nabiki?"
Akane was taken by surprise when Suru asked this. Usually no one even mentioned Nabiki's name. She hadn't been back since before Akane wanted to remember, "She can't, Dad would never allow it and I don't think Nabiki would either. She might not even be alive. Dad found out that Nabiki had talked to Ranma that night and had decided it was all her fault, he had concocted this scheme that he thought she'd made to make a few bucks; she would get his money so he could get out without her telling a soul. Nabiki was pretty offended and took it harshly, after they fought and fought. The next day she left and gave me an envelope of money to help out with the dojo," Akane started to cry, but stopped immediately after noticing Suru watching.
"How could your Dad know? Who told him that?" Suru asked bitterly, he looked to Akane for a second then back on the road.
"Me."
"I thought you loved your sister? You never really spoke of her, but when you did it was crystal clear that you loved her. Did she actually do that?" Suru held Akane's hand and smiled, trying to lighten the mood as he asked. He knew he was touching in on a delicate subject and Akane didn't understand why he couldn't just drop it.
"No, I told him what I heard and he took it his own way. I feel horrible now; it's my fault he's gone." Akane looked down as she said this.
"You mean "she" right?"
"Right!" Akane rushed and looked at the passing cars. She hadn't caught herself that time. She hoped that Suru didn't think anything of it. Why should he? It was a simple slip of the tongue.
"Sorry I brought up your sister. How about you tell me how that essay's coming along," Suru apologized, trying to change the subject. He wanted to stop each fight before they started so no one would ever have to get hurt. Ranma would start the fight before it started. Akane had to laugh at the difference in them; they were like day and night. Akane decided that she wasn't one for nightlife.
"Right, the paper. It's only going to take me a sec to write. I'm just gonna write down my belief about fate," Akane said this as coolly as she could but was still angry at Suru for bringing up Nabiki. She wondered what Nabiki was up to right now.
"Ready for food?" Suru asked.
"Oh yeah!" Akane smiled. The good thing about Suru was that he knew how to take her out of most of her bad moods, in the form of food.
* * *
Akane threw her bag on the floor of her apartment, it was dark and empty. She walked over to her answering machine and looked at the blinking numbers. Three messages, what a night. She pressed the play button and listened to them as she took dinner out of her fridge. She had a bottle of water and a twenty. She smiled and took the twenty out of the fridge along with the note attached.
Dear Akane,
Treat yourself to a pizza, you deserve it!
Yours truly, Suru
Akane smiled but started to wonder what Ranma would write if he did this. First of all, he wouldn't do anything this romantic. He'd probably write that she could have a piece but he'd get the rest. She listened to the messages again and sighed; they were all from her Dad, telling her to help him find Genma and crying into the phone. Akane pressed the erase button before listening to the third message. Her father had been cut off after the second one and Akane gathered that he phoned back to complete his rant.
Akane phoned the pizza place and a squeaky voice answered and asked for her order. She knew the guy and they shared a healthy relationship. After all, he did supply her with pizza.
"Hi, I'd like a medium pizza."
"Okay Akane, and what kind would that be?"
Akane hadn't thought about that yet. She was about to answer when the phone began to float out of her hands. Her heart skipped a beat and she sensed a presence behind her. She was about to turn when the person spoke into the phone.
"Pepperoni," She heard from behind her, the phone clicked and she saw, out of the corner of her eye, the blue phone being put down on the table. Akane was frozen in one place. The person moved their head right by Akane's right shoulder.
"You can have one piece, I get the rest."
***
Suruyoroshi: Had better... Might as well...
***
Akane gasped and clasped her hands to her face in mock terror and went back to tying her shoes for her date. Soun watched in confusion, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Daughter! Why are you doing such idol things when my best friend is missing? Why won't you help me?" Soun startedto cry as he whined.
Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. She grabbed her coat and walked to the window peering out to look for Suru's car. Lacking a car to get away from this in, Akane walked over to the couch and waited for the inevitable knock on the door from her boyfriend. He was nothing like Ranma, at least that was what Akane told herself.
Ranma had been exciting and new. Suru was reliable and loving. He really cared for her and he made her realize that since the day they met. Whenever she was feeling blue, just seeing him reminded her of what was good in life. He was known as an eternal optimist. They had met when Akane was at her worst, drunk and vulnerable, a lesser man would have taken advantage of that, but not Suru. He treated her like a real woman, like a real person. He was her salvation, he was the peak of normality in her life and she truly loved him for that.
Although, sometimes when she was feeling really tired and would lower her defenses, she'd dream of Ranma and how everything around him livened up and got interesting. Oddly enough, Akane didn't feel like having a fast, exciting life. It would get annoying never settling, being in the eye of everyone you met. Getting captured and learning how to use a sword wasn't normal stuff for a girl. She was a lot stronger than she would have been though.
After Ranma left she had gotten serious about her training, and even her father's pleading didn't stop her from getting outside lessons from other trainers. She had told her father she would never quit doing what she loved, and after awhile he accepted it because it was the only thing he could do. She would never tell him the truth; that for a bra a week, Happosai had been teaching her. It was hard but it made her so much stronger, and the desperation she had gone through was in her past, away from her now.
"Dad, I know you and Genma are probably just trying to get me married to Ranma again. Remember the last time you did this? I did end up alone in a room with Ranma, unfortunately not Ranma Saotome. How sad, I can't believe you actually looked the name "Ranma" up and took the first one you saw that even half resembled Ranma to me. And let's not even talk about the Ranma made of cheese,." Akane laid back and laughed to her self.
They had tried so hard to get Akane and Ranma in the same room, but every time they tried Ranma wouldn't come. Nobody had heard from him in years. Of course, there were other people who had left, important people, that they never spoke of who she wanted back just as bad. It wasn't her fault that her sister had left. Besides, the topic was Ranma.
He had left for China so Shampoo and Cologne had decided to look for him, Mousse trailing behind. Ukyo had been offered the chance to travel the world and enter okonomiyaki contests throughout the vast countries, including a large amount in China. She had reluctantly agreed after deciding that Ranma was not coming back. Ryoga disappeared two and a half years ago vowing to go to China for some reason.
"Akane, I just want you to be happy. Plus, if your husband just so happens to be a martial artist that is the son of my best friend then that is just a plus. If you don't marry a martial artist then I'll have to leave the dojo to Kasumi and Dr. Tofu, and I can't do that," Soun admitted. He had sat down and was looking at Akane with big, puppy-dog eyes. Akane looked right back at him and took his hands slowly, smiling softly.
"I don't know Dad, I think Dr. Tofu has some great moves. Just sit Kasumi down in front of him and he's invincible," Akane joked as she lifted an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side. Her father thought about this long and hard and Akane could see the crazy moves he was inventing for Tofu in his head, the poor guy.
"Akane, I need you to take the dojo after I'm gone, but you need Ranma behind you. It's only right; you were made to be together. Fate was on our side the night Saotome and I made that pact and I cou-" Soun was stopped by a furious Akane.
"STOP! I AM NOT A PIECE OF PROPERTY YOU CAN JUST GIVE TO ANYONE!" Akane fumed. She gradually cooled down, letting the warm glare of the sun hit her and fill her with content. Taking a deep breath she continued, "Listen, I will marry who I choose, martial artist or not. Stop dreaming that Ranma and I will end up together. First of all, it wasn't fate that brought you and Genma to that pact, it was sake. Second, if it was fate that Ranma and I would end up together than why did we fight all the time? And why is he gone? Just drop it!" After she had finished Soun started bawling to himself.
"Why? Why? Why does this happen to me?" Before Soun could blubber another word there was a light knock at the door. Akane got up and took her purse.
"Sorry to break the tension but I've got a date," Akane replied. She smiled sweetly and walked to the door.
"Will you be coming home tonight?" Soun asked through sobs.
"No, I'm goin' to my place. Tell Genma that you guys shouldn't even start! Call me tomorrow, bye," Akane yelled over her shoulder as she walked outside and grabbed Suru, pulling him into a deep kiss.
"Nice to see you too," He said happily, replying to her kiss. He took her hand and guided her to his car. As they started to drive Suru looked over to Akane's worried face, "you okay, honey?"
"I'm fine," Akane lied, "it's just . . . my Dad is going on and on about fate and this paper that I'm writing is dealing with the same bull, it doesn't exist and that's that. He keeps saying that he needs a martial artist to marry me and carry on with the dojo," Akane turned the air conditioning to high and shifted the panel to face her.
"Can't Kasumi do it?" Suru asked, as politely as Akane thought was possible.
"Her husband is a doctor, not a fighter. Hell, he's not even a real doctor, he's a chiropractor," Akane explained practically.
"What about Nabiki?"
Akane was taken by surprise when Suru asked this. Usually no one even mentioned Nabiki's name. She hadn't been back since before Akane wanted to remember, "She can't, Dad would never allow it and I don't think Nabiki would either. She might not even be alive. Dad found out that Nabiki had talked to Ranma that night and had decided it was all her fault, he had concocted this scheme that he thought she'd made to make a few bucks; she would get his money so he could get out without her telling a soul. Nabiki was pretty offended and took it harshly, after they fought and fought. The next day she left and gave me an envelope of money to help out with the dojo," Akane started to cry, but stopped immediately after noticing Suru watching.
"How could your Dad know? Who told him that?" Suru asked bitterly, he looked to Akane for a second then back on the road.
"Me."
"I thought you loved your sister? You never really spoke of her, but when you did it was crystal clear that you loved her. Did she actually do that?" Suru held Akane's hand and smiled, trying to lighten the mood as he asked. He knew he was touching in on a delicate subject and Akane didn't understand why he couldn't just drop it.
"No, I told him what I heard and he took it his own way. I feel horrible now; it's my fault he's gone." Akane looked down as she said this.
"You mean "she" right?"
"Right!" Akane rushed and looked at the passing cars. She hadn't caught herself that time. She hoped that Suru didn't think anything of it. Why should he? It was a simple slip of the tongue.
"Sorry I brought up your sister. How about you tell me how that essay's coming along," Suru apologized, trying to change the subject. He wanted to stop each fight before they started so no one would ever have to get hurt. Ranma would start the fight before it started. Akane had to laugh at the difference in them; they were like day and night. Akane decided that she wasn't one for nightlife.
"Right, the paper. It's only going to take me a sec to write. I'm just gonna write down my belief about fate," Akane said this as coolly as she could but was still angry at Suru for bringing up Nabiki. She wondered what Nabiki was up to right now.
"Ready for food?" Suru asked.
"Oh yeah!" Akane smiled. The good thing about Suru was that he knew how to take her out of most of her bad moods, in the form of food.
* * *
Akane threw her bag on the floor of her apartment, it was dark and empty. She walked over to her answering machine and looked at the blinking numbers. Three messages, what a night. She pressed the play button and listened to them as she took dinner out of her fridge. She had a bottle of water and a twenty. She smiled and took the twenty out of the fridge along with the note attached.
Dear Akane,
Treat yourself to a pizza, you deserve it!
Yours truly, Suru
Akane smiled but started to wonder what Ranma would write if he did this. First of all, he wouldn't do anything this romantic. He'd probably write that she could have a piece but he'd get the rest. She listened to the messages again and sighed; they were all from her Dad, telling her to help him find Genma and crying into the phone. Akane pressed the erase button before listening to the third message. Her father had been cut off after the second one and Akane gathered that he phoned back to complete his rant.
Akane phoned the pizza place and a squeaky voice answered and asked for her order. She knew the guy and they shared a healthy relationship. After all, he did supply her with pizza.
"Hi, I'd like a medium pizza."
"Okay Akane, and what kind would that be?"
Akane hadn't thought about that yet. She was about to answer when the phone began to float out of her hands. Her heart skipped a beat and she sensed a presence behind her. She was about to turn when the person spoke into the phone.
"Pepperoni," She heard from behind her, the phone clicked and she saw, out of the corner of her eye, the blue phone being put down on the table. Akane was frozen in one place. The person moved their head right by Akane's right shoulder.
"You can have one piece, I get the rest."