Chapter 2 First Response
Soun stared in disbelief as his daughter Kasumi and her husband stormed out of the room after exchanging words with Nodoka Saotome. He couldn't believe what had gone wrong. When Nabiki had told him she was pregnant, and showed him all of the documentation, all he could think of was to see that she was married to the father. Honor demanded that happen before all Nerima knew, and they lost face. He turned to his middle daughter, now only daughter, and said, "Don't worry Nabiki. I'll make sure that worthless cur pays for deserting you and his child! No one hurts my little girl like that."
Nodoka looked at him in shock. "Soun, what do you mean by that? Didn't anything that Ranma or Kasumi say mean anything to you? Nabiki isn't pregnant, and Ranma isn't going to marry her. He's in love with Akane and actually proposed to her," she said, not believing that he could be that delusional.
Soun ignored her, instead turning to talk to his old friend. "How could you have raised your son to be so dishonorable that he would run out on my child in her time of need, Gemna?" Soun cried, "Unless you change his mind, the schools will never be joined!" The Tendo Waterworks Company began churning out tears at high rate.
Gemna looked at him blearily, after spending the entire afternoon slowly getting drunk on Soun's sake. He thought to himself, 'My retirement is in jeopardy. How could that ungrateful boy do this after everything I have done for him!'
In a voice as cold as ice, Nodoka said, "The only dishonorable actions in this whole sorry episode have been done by the four of us in this room, Soun. We caused this situation, not Ranma. We drove him to this. I should have listened to him. I knew he loved Akane and only her. I should never have allowed myself to be swayed by the three of you."
Soun roused from his crying to say, "So you're siding with your son after all, Nodoka. In that case, you are no longer welcome in this house."
A sudden chill enveloped the room as the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Nodoka gazed at Soun. A trick of the light made her eyes appear as if they were now amber in color. She bowed and said, in a dreadful, emotionless voice, "Very well, Tendo." She turned to leave.
A tired, quiet voice said, "Auntie, stop, please. I'll talk to Father and make him understand." Nabiki threw herself to the floor, and bowed, pressing her face against the floor, as she said, "Gomen Nasai. Father, I can't do this anymore. I've done too much damage already. Father, I'm not pregnant, I've never even slept with anyone, much less Ranma. I lied to you so that you would force Ranma to marry me. I was desperate because I love him and I knew that he was engaged to Akane. When I saw the ring on her finger last night, something snapped inside me. Do you think that if I had been in my right mind that I would have come up with a plan this stupid? I didn't care if I hurt Akane. In fact I wanted her to hurt. She stole the man I loved away from me, and she needed to pay! And then, he turned that angry look on me, and for the first time, I was actually afraid of Ranma. I couldn't say anything and I watched my scheme fall apart around me."
Soun's world collapsed as he was forced to face the reality he had been ignoring since his wife had died. "Then," he said, in a shaky voice, "Everything that Ranma and Kasumi said was true?"
"Hai," Nabiki whispered. She turned to Nodoka and said, "Auntie, please, I beg of you, don't hate me. I've already driven four of the people I care about away. I couldn't stand it if you left too. I bribed your husband into supporting this fiasco. He didn't care who Ranma married out of the three of us. He just wants control of the inheritance when it happens. He didn't think Ranma and Akane would wed soon, and I promised not to stand in his way if he helped. I'm so sorry Father, Auntie."
Soun stared at his daughter in dismay and then suddenly his shoulders slumped appearing very, very old at that moment. "Oh, Nabiki, child, what have we done?" he said in a broken voice, "You're my only daughter now." He started sobbing again.
Nodoka said coldly, "Nabiki, I can't forgive you for what you did. What you did was horrible, but I can't forgive myself either. I don't hate you, child, but right now I'm not particularly fond of either of us. I think it is best that I leave. This place has become hateful to me." She turned to her drunken husband and said, with a voice that left frostbite behind in its wake, "As for you, husband of mine, it's a good thing that I gave Ranma my sword; otherwise you would be dead. Until my son returns to me, it would be best if you stayed out of my sight." Gemna began cringing, shocked into soberness by the sting in her voice. She turned and left the room, leaving the remains of the Tendo family and her worthless husband behind her.
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Ukyo answered the phone at her restaurant, "Hello, Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant, how can I help you?"
The voice on the other end of the line said, "Ucchan, Hi. It's me, Ranma.
Ukyo replied, "Oh, hello, Ranchan. What's up?"
He replied, "There's no easy way ta say this. I asked Acchan to marry me last night, and she accepted. I wanted ya to be the first to know outside the family." There was dead silence on the line for a while. "Ucchan, you still there?" he asked.
Then he heard a tired voice say, "Thanks for having the courtesy to tell me first. I thought you were going to be just boyfriend and girlfriend. What caused you to change your mind?"
"Nabiki was showing signs of not accepting that I love Akane. So long as we stayed boyfriend and girlfriend, she was thinking that maybe I wasn't serious. I was tired of all of that. I love Akane and I decided ta ask her," Ranma replied.
"Well, I'll be honest, Ranchan. This isn't totally unexpected. You've been leaving clues behind for a while. I won't deny that it still hurts. The surprise is that it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would," she replied.
Ranma said, "One other thing, it didn't go real well today; so don't believe any rumors you might hear."
"What do you mean by that, Ranma?" Ukyo asked.
"We hadn't had a chance to tell the parents that I had asked Akane to marry me. Nabiki tried to force me ta marry her and got the parents to back her up. I refused so Akane, Kasumi, Tofu and I left the Tendo home," Ranma said, tiredly.
"I'm sorry to hear that, sugar. How's everybody taking it?" Ukyo asked, concern showing in her voice.
"About as well as can be expected, I suppose. We're all extremely angry at our parents at the moment. I need ta talk ta Ryoga if he's around, too," Ranma said.
"Yeah, he's right here," Ukyo said.
"Ucchan, thanks for being so understanding," Ranma said, softly.
Ukyo handed Ryoga the phone and said, "Ranma wants to talk to you." She disappeared upstairs.
"Ranma, what did you do to Ukyo?" Ryoga snarled.
"Told her that Akane and I are engaged," Ranma said with a sigh, "She's still not completely over me and it hurt her feelings that I picked someone else."
Ryoga said, "Well, congratulations, both of you. I'll go up and talk to her. Maybe I can calm her down."
"Thanks, pal. We owe ya one," Ranma said, sounding relieved, "She needs someone's shoulder ta cry on, I'm glad your there for her."
Ryoga said, "Goodbye," and hung up the phone.
He went upstairs feeling strangely relieved, and knocked on Ukyo's door. As Ryoga entered the upstairs apartment, he saw Ukyo sitting on the couch, looking sad. He walked over and sat down next to her. She threw herself into his arms and began crying on his shoulder. Ryoga closed his arms around her and held her close. She said haltingly, between her sobs, "I knew he was going to ask her to marry him, I just didn't think that he was going to ask her this soon. We just dissolved our family agreement, after all. I know he doesn't love me the way I do him. I just didn't think it would hurt like this. The funny thing is I was also feeling relieved when he told me."
"Just let it out, Ucchan. You'll feel better when you do," Ryoga said gently into her hair. Ukyo began to feel the warmth of his embrace. To her surprise, she had begun to feel better as soon as he had held her.
She pulled herself away from him and gazed into his eyes. She saw the concern for her reflected there. Just the fact that he was here for her seemed to break the band of ice that had formed around her heart when she had head Ranma say those words.
Ryoga whispered, "Ucchan, I can't bear to see you unhappy. What can I do to help you get over this?" Ukyo surprised both of them by reaching up and kissing him. He started to pull away, afraid for her, but then succumbed to the moment. They kissed for what seemed like forever.
Finally, Ukyo pulled herself away. "Ryoga, I'm sorry for using you like that. I shouldn't have done that to you. I just felt so happy in your arms," she said.
Ryoga replied, "Ukyo, you didn't do anything that I didn't want you to do. I'm just afraid that you may be rushing things a bit, is all."
Ukyo smiled, a little sadly. "Thanks, Ryoga. You're right; I am feeling confused right now. All I know is that I needed someone to hold me and help me through this and I hoped it would be you. What that says, I don't know," Ukyo said.
"Ukyo, just give yourself a little time. I'll be there waiting for you when you're ready," Ryoga replied.
She gazed at him, her eyes shining. Then she said, "Ryo-chan, I don't think you'll need to wait a long time. I don't want to be alone tonight. Would you mind staying up here in the living room in case I need a shoulder again?" she asked.
Ryoga smiled and said, "Sure, if that makes you feel better. Now, do you think you're ready to face the rest of the world?"
"Yes, just let me go wash my face, and I'll come right down," Ukyo replied. She rose from the couch and went into the bathroom. After washing her face, she stared at the mirror for several minutes. 'Okay, Ukyo girl, pull yourself together. It's not the end of the world, after all,' she thought. She walked out into the living room and said, "Okay, sugar. We've got a restaurant to run. I've indulged myself long enough." She smiled fondly at her friend and they walked downstairs.
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That night, Ukyo and Ryoga finished cleaning up after their dinner. She asked, "There's a couple of good movies on tonight. Do you want to watch one of them with me? Later on, I can make some popcorn."
"That sounds like fun, Ucchan. I could stand a shower, first, though. Can I borrow your bathroom?" Ryoga asked. She nodded as he headed toward his room. He came back out carrying some clothing and she led him up to the apartment.
Ryoga went on into the bathroom. Soon, Ukyo heard the sound of the shower running, so she went into her room and grabbed something to change into. She walked back out in time to see a freshly scrubbed Ryoga walking out of her bathroom and heading towards the door to the stairs. She caught him and pointed him toward the futon. After watching to make sure he made it, she went into the bathroom and showered herself. She dressed in her pajamas and put her robe on over that and walked out and sat down on the futon next to Ryoga. She turned to him and said, "Ryo-chan, thanks for being here with me. You're a real friend."
He put his arm around her and said, "Ucchan, like I told you this morning, I'm here for you. I enjoy being around you." She leaned her head against his shoulder.
Ukyo smiled, as she said, "That means a lot to me, Ryo-chan. I enjoy being with you, too. Maybe we can go out dancing or something this week, while school's out."
"I'd like that. All I can do is slow dancing, though. Is that all right with you?" Ryoga asked.
"Sugar that would be nice. It would give me an excuse to hold onto you so you couldn't wander off," she said, giggling. She reached over and turned the television on using her remote control. She changed the channel to the one the movie was going to be on.
"Oh, the movie 'Titanic' is the one you wanted to watch," he said, "That's supposed to be pretty good."
She slowly got up and poured the two of them a glass of red wine and brought them over to the futon. She snuggled back into his embrace, and handed him his glass. She proposed a toast, saying, "To good friends." He echoed her toast as they clinked glasses and then sipped their wine. They sat back in companionable silence and watched the movie.
Finally, the movie was over. Ukyo had gone through several tissues, crying at several of the scenes, especially the one toward the end where the hero had frozen in the icy waters and drifted away. Ryoga reached over and turned off the television with the remote. He smiled at Ukyo, and said, "You're just a sucker for these romantic shows, aren't you?"
"Hey," she protested, "I thought I saw a tear or two in your eyes, too."
"Yeah, I'm a sucker for them. I like the ones where the guy gets the girl better, though," Ryoga said.
"You do, huh," she said, an odd light in her eyes. She reached up and kissed him hungrily. He returned the kiss, and then reluctantly broke it.
"Ucchan, let's not rush this. I want this to work, but I need to know that it's because you like me, not because you're rebounding from Ranma," Ryoga said gently.
"Ranma, who?" she said with a giggle.
He smiled, and said, "Good answer, but it's too soon. I think it's time for us to go to bed." He blushed as he saw the way she looked at him, and said, stammering, "To sleep, separate beds, you minx."
She kissed him again, and said, "Good night, Ryo-chan."
"Good-night, Ucchan. Have pleasant dreams," he replied. He watched as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door, swaying her hips seductively as she went.
He sighed, turned off the light and went to sleep on the futon.
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April had come, so the new school year had started. On their first day of class, Ranma and Akane walked hand-in-hand into their classroom. Their classmates had gotten used to that sight by now. They weren't expecting the Four Horsemen of the Christian Apocalypse to ride through the schoolyard anymore. Stars weren't falling from the sky, the sun was still rising in the east, no natural disasters were happening.
As they made their way to their respective desks, Ranma was glad to see that Ukyo was sitting at her desk. She smiled at him, a little wanly, her beautiful face a bit sad, but the pain that he was afraid that he was going to see was missing. 'Thank you, Ryoga. I don't know what ya said ta her, but I owe ya one,' he thought. Ryoga was sitting next to Ukyo, watching her intently.
As Akane sat down, a stray ray of sunlight came through the window and caught on one of the facets of her ring, causing the ring to glow. Yuki saw it and squealed in excitement. "Akane, what's that?" she said, pointing.
"Nothing much," Akane deadpanned, "Just my engagement ring." All of the girls, except for Ukyo of course, rushed to her desk. Everyone oohed and ahed in amazement and wonder. The guys started to approach Ranma but when they saw the stormy look on his face, they all scattered to their desks, wisely deciding that he wasn't in the mood for being teased. Finally, the sensei walked into the room and called it to order. Ranma and Akane refused the notes their friends tried to pass them.
At lunch, Ranma and Akane snuck off for some privacy. He had picked her up and bounded out to the windowsill of their classroom and then up to the roof of the school. There they sat down to enjoy their bentos. Ranma opened his and looked at it suspiciously. Feeling his fiancées gaze upon him, he closed his eyes and ate the first bite. He opened his eyes in surprise and said, "Acchan, this tastes really good. It looks a bit odd, but that's okay." She sighed in relief, and then bristled slightly. Ranma quickly finished the rest of his lunch and smiled at his lovely fiancée. "Akane, it's all good. You did a good job," he said warmly. He leaned over and kissed her. Suddenly, she felt so much better.
"Ranma," she said hesitantly, "now that we're engaged, there's something that we need to change."
Ranma gulped.
"It's about your speech habits. Do you really want to sound like a dumb jock the rest of your life?" she said sweetly, hitting him with her most winsome look.
Ranma stared back at her, like a pole axed ox and said, "No, dear, whatever you want."
"Promise me you'll try to use proper grammar. I know you can do it," she said, batting her eyes at him.
"Sure, Acchan," Ranma said, and then he added with a smirk, "You're right, though, I do need ta learn ta talk, er I mean, to speak correctly."
'Well, that went easier than I thought it would,' Akane thought to herself.
"I'm getting tired of sounding like Pop, anyway," Ranma continued, "He's definitely the dumb martial artist in person. That's not a good role model. It'll take a while, but I do need ta, sorry, to change my speech if I want to impress people when we start to really teach. You'll need to help, dear."
She leaned over and kissed him. "It's a deal," she said, "I'll just glare at you if you backslide."
"I thought I'd find you two up here," a quiet voice said behind them.
They turned to see Nabiki approaching them from the rooftop door. She suddenly stopped as if she had run into a brick wall, recoiling from the cold expressions on the two faces in front of her.
"Do I know you?" Akane said, icily.
Ranma sat there with his arms folded across his chest, and said, "What the hell do you want?"
Nabiki closed her eyes as if in pain, and then said, bitterly, "I can't have what I want. I can't even have what I need. I need your forgiveness and I want my family back. Neither of those is going to happen, at least not easily. I came to apologize to both of you. Not that an apology is going to be enough."
"No it's not," said a stone-faced Akane, "Now leave, before I get angry."
Nabiki sighed, and said, "Ranma, your mother is hurting very badly. She's very mad at herself for not trusting you. She left last night and went back home. If you can't forgive me, can you at least talk to her?"
"We need some time apart first, Tendo," Ranma said. Then he added, "Thanks, you didn't have to do that."
"Yes, I did. You can hate me all you want. But she didn't deserve what I did to her, either," Nabiki said, sadly, "Sis, you need to talk to Father as well."
"Sorry, I'm not your sister anymore, remember. He's not anyone I want to talk to, ever," Akane said, starting to get angry.
"Akane, I'll always be your sister and he will always be our father. Nothing I did can change that fact. You know that Father has always been weak since Mother died. I used that to manipulate him. Just think about that," Nabiki said. She bowed stiffly to them and left.
The bell signaling the end of the lunch period sounded, so Ranma picked Akane up and jumped to the next level down. From there he jumped to the top of one of the covered entryways and then down to the ground. He was about to set her down, when they were interrupted by Kuno's voice. "Hold, varlet, unhand the fair Akane Tendo. A vile rumor has reached my ear. I, Tatewaki Kuno, upperclassman, the Rising Star of Furinkan High, the undefeated champion, also known as the Blue Thunder, forbid this engagement. I will soundly thrash you, Saotome, and free the fair Akane from your sorcerous grasp."
"Right, Kuno. You and what army?" Ranma smirked as he swung Akane down to the ground. Akane was glowing bright red she was so furious. Kuno charged Ranma, swinging his katana blade, attempting to cut Ranma down where he stood. Ranma dodged but the blade caught his arm, cutting it deeply. Before Ranma could do anything, Akane fired a ki blast with all of the energy she had gathered to protect the man she loved. The blast hit Kuno dead on in his chest and knocked him into a nearby tree hard enough to drop the tree on top of him.
Akane stormed over to Kuno and screamed at the semi-conscious Kuno, "You don't tell me who I can date, much less who I can marry!!! What I do with my life is none of your business, you samurai-wanna-be. The next time you pull a stunt like this, I won't hold back!" Kuno stared at her, his eyes beginning to glaze over, and then he passed out from the pain. With that, she claimed his sword, stormed back and grabbed Ranma by his good arm and dragged him off towards Tofu's clinic.
A total silence fell. One of the braver students finally walked over to Kuno and checked on him. He said, "We'd better get the nurse. He's out cold, fortunately. He's got a broken arm for sure."
Akane burst through the door of her brother-in-law's clinic. Tofu looked up startled and then sprang into action. He quickly disinfected the wound and stitched it up with several very neat strokes. "What caused this, Akane? It looks like he was cut by that sword blade," he asked.
"That's what it was, all right. That baka Kuno attacked Ranma with this katana blade. Ranma didn't dodge quickly enough, because I took too long to get out of his arms. I want to call the police and press assault charges. I'm tired of this," she said, angrily, "I may have really hurt Kuno when I hit him. He needs to be stopped before I do something I'll regret."
Tofu called the local precinct office and spoke briefly to someone there. He came back and said, "They'll send someone over here to take your statement, Akane. They already have an officer going over to the school. Kuno is already at the hospital. I'm afraid you broke his arm, and he may have a cracked rib or two as well, according to the desk officer."
Akane stared at him in shock. Ranma winced as he put arms around her and hugged her. "Acchan, it's not your fault. You were trying to protect me," he said gently as she began to cry on his shoulder.
"I know, Ranchan, I should have kept it under control. But when I saw all that blood coming out of your arm, I got so angry with Kuno. I just lost it, I'm sorry," she said, sobbing.
"It's okay, dear. You may have overreacted a bit, is all. Remember what I said about staying in control of your emotions," Ranma replied, chiding her gently, "I think this lesson will teach you that. I'm just sorry it had to happen this way."
"Ranma, you need to take it easy. Once the officer is done with you, both of you need to go upstairs. You need some rest. You did lose a lot of blood," Tofu said.
A middle-aged officer walked into the clinic. He asked, "Is there an Akane Tendo here?"
Akane lifted her head from Ranma's shoulder and said, "Here." The officer looked aghast at the bloody katana blade that Akane had dropped on the floor. Akane related what had happened, with Ranma and Tofu adding comments as appropriate. The officer took down the statements from all three of them, and took photographs of the damage to Ranma's arm. He then carefully collected the katana blade.
Ranma said, "When your done with that katana blade, I believe it belongs to us now."
"I understand, sir. I'll need your shirt as evidence as well, Mr. Saotome," the officer said politely. Tofu helped him pull it off and then Ranma handed it to the officer. After taking Akane's fingerprints, he said, "Miss Tendo, I suggest you go home. You look pretty shaken yourself." He handed her his business card and then bowed. He then turned and left the clinic.
Akane helped Ranma off the exam table and then, with one arm around his waist, helped him climb upstairs. "Thanks, Acchan. I am a bit woozy," Ranma said, a little groggily. By the time Akane had gotten Ranma to the apartment, he was feeling a bit better.
As they entered, Kasumi greeted them. She looked at the shirtless Ranma and saw the stitches in his arm. Then she frowned when she noticed his pale color and said, "Tofu came up to let me know what had happened. Let's get him into bed where he can warm up. I've got some broth cooking downstairs in the kitchen to help with the blood loss." Akane helped Ranma into the futon. She crawled in with him and held her fiancé in her arms. Kasumi entered the room, carrying two bowls of broth.
Akane helped him sit up while Kasumi fed him. After finishing the first bowl, and nearly the second, Ranma said, rustily, "Enough, Kasumi-chan. Believe it or not, that bottomless pit I call a stomach is full." His color was back to near normal, and he grinned at her weakly. Kasumi sighed in relief that he was bouncing back from what could have been a serious injury. Ranma leaned forward and kissed her lightly, and then turned and kissed Akane. "Thanks for worrying about me, Kasumi-chan. You too, Acchan. Between the two of you though, I'm in good hands," he said.
"You need to get a little sleep, Ranchan. That will help you heal quicker as well," Kasumi said, "I'll make sure no one disturbs you. If it's all right, I'm going to call your mother and let her know what happened."
"Sure, go ahead. She moved back home, though. Please tell her that we'll come see her tomorrow. This changes things a bit," Ranma said.
"Don't worry, Sis. I'll take care of him," Akane said. The two girls left the room, Akane going to the bathroom and Kasumi going back downstairs to the kitchen with the bowls. Ranma was just starting to get comfortable, when Akane came back in. She had changed out of her school uniform. She climbed into the futon next to him, blushing as she realized he was just wearing his boxers and t-shirt.
"Acchan, not that I mind, but what are you doing?" Ranma asked in surprise.
"Like I told Kasumi, I'm taking care of you," Akane replied. Ranma thought about that for second and then smiled. Akane snuggled up to his back. "Now, you just close your eyes and try to get some rest, Ranchan," she ordered.
"Acchan, thanks for helping today. I could have beaten him, even with this arm, but I would have lost a lot more blood," he said sleepily.
She smiled happily and said, "I'm going to be your partner, Ranchan. That means I'll guard your back, just like you'll guard mine." She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of his breathing as he drifted off to sleep.
Author's notes: First thanks for all of the reviews on the first chapter. I enjoy constructive criticism. I'm always interested in how I can improve what I've written. Hopefully, this chapter indicates that. Secondly, I didn't use this in the original story because I didn't know where to go with it without destroying the mood of that story. I wanted it to stay WAFFY, and putting this arc into it would have prevented that. This one will stay angsty for a while, at least. Thirdly, there will be some similarities in the two stories as you can already tell from this chapter. Anyway, thanks again. Read and enjoy, I hope.