Chapter 8 Of Pandas and Men
Nabiki woke up from a deep sleep, feeling refreshed. She had actually slept the entire night, something she hadn't been able to do since she had tried to betray her sister by trying to steal Ranma away from her. Opening her eyes, she gazed around the pleasantly appointed guestroom, trying to gather her thoughts. 'I feel better today than I have felt for a long time,' she thought, 'I wonder why that is? Hm, maybe it's because I'm actively trying to help Akane and Ranma now.' She sat up in her bed, and stretched. Even though it was still relatively early in the morning, she could hear someone moving around in the kitchen downstairs. Nabiki thought, 'I wonder if they have any coffee. I could sure use some caffeine right about now.' She got out of bed and threw on her robe over her pajamas and padded down the hall to the bathroom next door. After brushing her hair into something resembling submission, she went to check on her sister. Opening the door to the bedroom Akane was sharing with Ranma, Nabiki sighed. There she saw her sister, still asleep, snuggled up next to Ranma, who was holding her in his arms.
'Down girl! He doesn't belong to you. He never did. You've got a chance to make things right again, so don't blow it,' she told herself, 'Look at them there, they look like they belong together. And to think you wanted to destroy that happiness.' Closing the door, she walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she found Nodoka working on breakfast. To Nabiki's immense pleasure, Nodoka already had a pot of coffee ready and waiting.
"Good morning, Nabiki. You're up awfully early for you," Nodoka said pleasantly.
"Actually, I feel very rested for some reason, Auntie. I can call you Auntie again, I hope?" Nabiki replied.
"Yes dear, you can call me Auntie. I missed that from both my girls," Nodoka said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Darn onions," she said, "They always make me cry."
Nabiki turned politely away and poured herself a cup of coffee. After doctoring it with the appropriate amount of cream and sugar, she sipped the hot liquid in appreciation.
"When you're done with that, would you wake up Ranma and Akane? I'll have the meal ready here shortly, and I want to start making wedding plans with Akane," Nodoka asked.
"Sure, Auntie," Nabiki said, then she drained her cup and set it down on the counter. Leaving the kitchen, Nabiki headed back upstairs to wake up the other two members of the household.
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Ranma slowly opened his eyes after he was sure Nabiki had left the doorway and had shut the door behind her. 'I wish I knew what that sigh meant. I hope she's gonna be okay with all of this. Seeing Akane and I like this had to hurt,' he thought. After a few moments gazing at the woman in his arms, he reluctantly untangled himself from her, and rolled out of bed. He found some clean clothing and began to change into them. He had changed into new boxers and clean pair of pants, and had just taken off his shirt, when he heard the door to the room open. He looked up to see Nabiki staring at him, her eyes gleaming in frank appreciation at the sight in front of her.
"Sorry, Ranma, I thought you were still asleep. Auntie asked me to get you two up since breakfast is nearly ready," Nabiki said.
"Not a problem, Biki-chan," Ranma replied, "I'll get Acchan up, and then we'll come straight down. Thanks."
Nabiki closed the door, and headed back to her room to change into her school uniform. 'I will not lust after my sister's fiancé, I will not lust after my sister's fiancé,' she thought as a mantra as she left.
Ranma leaned over Akane and kissed her gently, and as he suspected, her eyes opened. "It's time to get up, Acchan. Nabiki said breakfast is almost ready," Ranma said softly.
"She's still not over you, Ranchan. You know that don't you?" Akane asked.
"Yes, but so long as she doesn't try to come between us, it won't matter, will it?" Ranma replied, "You can't expect her to turn her feelings off overnight."
Akane sighed as she got out of bed. "You're right, Ranchan. But it doesn't make it any easier," Akane said, "I'm trying to trust her again, but it'll take me some time." Walking over to the dresser, she found some panties, and then got her school uniform from the closet. Ranma blushed as she began to change out of her pajamas, but to Akane's secret delight he didn't turn away. Once they were finished dressing, Ranma caught Akane in a quick hug, and then the two went downstairs to join Nabiki and Nodoka.
After Nodoka had served the meal, she said, "I was wondering when you two wanted to get married, and what kind of wedding you wanted."
Ranma looked at the meal his mother had served a bit dubiously, and then took a bite. His face relaxed, as he tasted the food. "Mom, we want to get married as soon as we can make the arrangements. As far as the wedding itself is concerned, if we have a ceremony, I'd vote for a Western ritual," Ranma said, "By the way, this is pretty good. What is it?"
"It's called a Western Omelet, Ranma. I like to try different things occasionally, and I've had this before and liked it. Stop trying to change the subject, though. Why a Western ceremony?" Nodoka asked.
"Akane is too pretty to hide under a traditional wedding kimono. I want everyone to see who I picked. Besides, do you really think she would act submissive?" Ranma replied.
Akane blushed hearing those words, and hugged Ranma. She said, "I do want a ceremony, Mom. Just going down to the city hall and registering there won't mean as much. This is the only time I'm going to get married, and I want to do it right."
"When you get back from school, we can start making the arrangements. Now, though, it looks like you need to run if you're going to get to school on time," Nodoka said.
Ranma looked up at the clock in alarm, and then relaxed. "We still have plenty of time. Nabiki, are you sure you're up to going?" he asked.
Nabiki grimaced and said, "Yes, I need to go. If I don't, there's no telling what kind of rumors will get started. Besides, I wouldn't miss you beating up on Saotome this afternoon for anything."
"That's the spirit, Sis," Akane said. The three youths first hugged Nodoka and then picked up their school bags and headed out the door for the long walk to Furinkan High School.
As they headed toward school, Akane asked, "Ranchan, can you give Nabiki and I a few minutes alone? I'd like to talk to her."
"Sure, Acchan. Tell you what, why don't I meet you in the schoolyard?" Ranma replied. At Akane's nod, Ranma started running, quickly vanishing from sight.
"Sis, how are you doing with all of this? I'm worried about you," Akane asked.
Nabiki frowned briefly and replied, "Akane, I won't lie to you. I still love Ranma; I can't turn those feelings off. And it still hurts a great deal to see you two together. But, the two of you chose each other, and I've accepted that. I want him to be happy, and that means he needs to marry you, the woman he loves. Kasumi saw that before I did, and accepted it. I just need to do the same."
"Kasumi?" Akane asked, stunned at that news.
"She still loves Ranma as well, Sis. I thought you knew. She doesn't regret marrying Tofu; don't get me wrong there. She very definitely loves Tofu and wants you and Ranma to have the same happiness that she has. For all our sakes, don't ever give Ranma a reason to regret picking you," Nabiki said softly.
"I can't believe I missed the fact that both of you fell for Ranma," Akane responded sadly, "Did Ranchan ever know about Kasumi?"
"Kasumi said he did, and that he deliberately pushed her toward Tofu. Even then, I think he subconsciously had picked you as the one he wanted. It just took a while for it to surface," Nabiki replied, "Don't ever regret that he picked you. Kasumi didn't lose anything because of it and neither will I." She shivered as she heard what she had said, and then continued, "Well, I'm not going to lose anything else. Once the two of you are happily married, then I can finish healing, Sis."
Akane hugged Nabiki with unshed tears in her eyes. "Sis, I promise that I'll take good care of him for all of us. And I won't be jealous of you when the two of you are together," Akane said gently.
"Akane, you don't have any reason to ever be jealous of me. That was part of my problem before. I was so jealous of you, that when I saw that ring on your finger, I wanted to hurt you. I think I went a little insane," Nabiki confessed.
Akane looked puzzled, and asked, "Why would you be jealous of me? You're prettier than I am, a lot smarter and have a better body. I was always jealous of you because of that."
Nabiki started giggling, and then replied, "Because you had most of the guys in school chasing you, and you didn't want any of them, and I had no-one. You had tons of friends at school, and I just had a few acquaintances. So I spent all this time being jealous of you, and you've been jealous of me. What a couple of bakas we are!"
Akane began giggling as well. Finally, she calmed down, and said, "I guess we are at that, Sis. Don't tell anybody else, it can be our little secret!"
Nabiki hugged her sister and smiled, saying, "You got it Sis. I don't think I could handle the embarrassment if anyone else found out. Friends?"
"Friends!" Akane said with a smile.
As they approached the school, Ranma intercepted them before they could enter. His expression was a little stormy as they approached, but he smiled at both of them and asked, "Did you two clear the air between you?"
"Yes," Akane said as she snuggled up next to him so he could put his arm around her. "We drifted apart over the last couple of years, but the last two days have made us realize what we were doing to each other. We decided to be friends again," she continued.
"I've heard a lot of people talking about what happened the other day, Nabiki," Ranma said soberly, "You'll have some damage control to do, I'm afraid. We can take care of some of the stories about you and Akane hating each other now though."
Akane looked worriedly at Nabiki who smiled tiredly and said, "We can get through the day if we stick together, Sis. Ranma's right about shutting down the one set of rumors. All we have to do is be friendly toward each other and that will take care of that."
Akane held out her hand to her sister and said, "Tendo's against the world, huh? I feel sorry for the rest of the world."
"So do I, Acchan, so do I," Ranma said with a laugh, as he placed his hand on theirs. The three of them entered the schoolyard on that cheery note, laughing in amusement, walking hand-in-hand. As they walked by the gossiping students, a wave of quiet began to radiate out from around them, stilling the talk. As they reached the steps into the school, they separated, with Ranma and Akane each hugging Nabiki. As they separated, you could hear the sound of the proverbial pin drop, as the entire courtyard full of students face-faulted. Nabiki headed to her classroom, a secretive smile on her face as Ranma and Akane headed toward theirs.
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Akane and Ranma found their favorite spot for lunch and sat down against the tree in the grassy area around the school. Nabiki soon joined them, amid the buzz of the other students' conversation. Nabiki looked thoughtfully at Akane and asked, "Where do you want to hold the wedding, Sis?"
"I was thinking we should have it at our house, inside the dojo. I don't want a real large wedding, just family and friends. Since it's going to be a Western ceremony, I thought I'd ask Kasumi to be my Matron of Honor, and you would be my other bridesmaid," Akane replied.
"I was thinking of asking Doc to be Best Man, and I thought about asking Ryoga to be a groomsman," Ranma said, "What about Ukyo or Shampoo, though?"
"That might be a problem, Ranma. You don't really have any other male friends that you are really close to," Nabiki said. Then her eyes lit up in mischief as she continued, "Unless, you were planning to ask Ukyo to be a groomsman, of course."
Akane giggled and then suddenly looked serious. "Actually, that's not a bad idea, Sis. She is a good friend to both of us, and I'd like Shampoo involved as well. She's almost family as it is," Akane responded.
"I'll ask Ukyo and see if she wants to be in the wedding, then," Ranma said.
Ukyo looked from across the schoolyard and saw Ranma, Akane and Nabiki sitting together peacefully talking to each other. She saw Ranma look up and wave at her, motioning her to come over. As she neared them, she heard Akane giggling at something Nabiki had said.
"Hey, you three. Looks like the rumor mill was wrong. They were saying that you two were acting like you hated Nabiki," Ukyo said as she sat down with them.
"Well, we were. You and some of Akane's other friends know some of what had happened because we called you when we moved out. We never really hated her though," Ranma said with a sigh.
"Well, there was some truth to what they were saying, Ukyo" Nabiki replied, "I said a few things to Ranma that made him mad at me. Akane wasn't real happy when she heard about it either."
"Yeah, but that's water under the bridge, now, Sis. You've apologized for what you said, and neither of us could stay mad after you showed how truly sorry you were," Akane said.
"They were also saying you tried to kill yourself, Nabiki. At least that's what some of the girls were saying they had heard from someone at St. Hebereke," Ukyo said.
"Well, I did have a bit of an accident with a knife the other day. Ranma got me to the hospital in plenty of time, so there really wasn't anything to worry about," Nabiki replied.
Akane smiled and said, "We've got more important things to talk about than that, though. We're trying to plan a wedding. We were thinking about a Western wedding."
Ukyo's eyes grew wide as she asked, "So are you planning on it happening soon?"
"Yeah, Ucchan. As soon as we can make all of the arrangements. Speaking of which, I was wondering, well, I don't have a lot of friends that I would want standing with me. You're one of my best friends and well, Ukyo, would you do me the honor of being one of my groomsmen?" Ranma asked earnestly.
Ukyo began laughing but soon stopped when she saw that they were serious. "You're not kidding me, are you?" she asked quietly.
Ranma gazed at her, as he replied, "No I'm not kidding. Like I said before, you're one of my best friends, and even though it's not traditional, I want you standing up there with me. I'm gonna ask Doc and Ryoga to be the others."
"I don't know what to say, guys. I'm gonna have to think about it for a while," Ukyo replied. Then she said teasingly, "Though this wasn't how I thought I would be involved in your wedding, Ranchan."
Akane growled warningly and said, "He's mine, Ukyo."
"Sorry, Akane, I guess that wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. Looks like Ranma isn't the only one who can put a foot in their mouth," Ukyo replied contritely.
"No, it wasn't very funny, Ucchan," Ranma said with a sigh, "You should have known better than that, especially after everything that's happened recently."
"It's okay, Ranchan. She's allowed to be a baka, too," Akane said with a titter.
Ranma hesitated and then said, "There's something else happening today that you might be interested in Ucchan. I have a challenge match at five o'clock this afternoon at the sports field. You might want to see me beat this challenger."
"Who is it, Ranchan," Ukyo asked.
"Genma Saotome," Ranma said flatly.
Ukyo gasped and said in shock, "You challenged your father to a match!"
"No, I challenged the current master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. That person is no longer my father," Ranma said in an icy tone, which indicated he wasn't going to talk about it anymore.
"But," Ukyo began only to stop as she saw the warning looks from both Nabiki and Akane. "Sure, I'll be there. I want to see him get what's coming to him for everything he's done to all of us," Ukyo growled.
The bell rang indicating the end of the lunch period, so the four friends separated, Nabiki going back to her class, while the other three rejoined theirs.
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After school, Ranma waited at the sports field for Saotome to show up. A bit to his surprise, Mr. Tendo escorted his father to the field, showing up almost late. When Genma saw him, he blustered, "My boy, you don't have to do this. You're not ready to be the master of this school. I have much more to teach you about martial arts."
"I don't much like your training methods, old man. It took me entirely too long to recognize that. I can't let you hurt anyone else the way you've hurt me, and you've freeloaded off my family for entirely too long as well," Ranma replied.
Genma growled and asked, "What family are you talking about? You're my son, and I've never taken advantage of you."
Ranma stared at him icily, and replied, "Oh, selling me for food, engaging me to who knows how many women, throwing me into a pit of cats, getting me cursed, stealing my food every chance you got. No, you've never tried to take advantage of me at all. In front of these witnesses, I disavow being your son. You have no son anymore. Now are you ready to fight, or are you the coward you appear to be?"
"We fight!" Genma shouted as he rushed Ranma. As he neared Ranma, he swung a blow that would have knocked Ranma into another prefecture if it had landed. However, Genma telegraphed his swing so much that Ranma wasn't there when it went by.
Shouting, "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken", Ranma hit his father several hundred times in the chest, staggering the old man. Springing back, Genma angrily shook his head to clear it, wincing at what was probably a broken rib from the pain he was feeling.
"Nice try, Ranma, my boy, but not good enough," Genma rasped. He sprang into the air, soaring toward Ranma. Ranma leapt toward him, and then planted both feet into his father's face, knocking him backwards into the ground. Genma lay there stunned for a second, the wind knocked out of him. Genma struggled up, wiping the blood from his face. His nose was obviously broken, but ignoring the pain, and the blood pouring from both his nose and his mouth, Genma sprang at Ranma, and grabbed him in the Jigoku no Yurikago, however, Ranma head-butted him, and freed himself.
Springing back, Ranma allowed Genma to charge again, swinging wildly. As the fist approached, Ranma grabbed it, throwing Genma forward, dislocating the shoulder as he released the flying Genma. Genma landed hard, and bounced twice. Staggering to his feet, his right arm hanging limp by his side, Genma shook his head again, trying to clear his blurry vision.
Bellowing in fear, Genma attempted to run away, only to be struck by a blast of ki from Ranma who was yelling, "Möko Takabisha!!!" The blast knocked him forward and into the ground, where he lay still and unmoving.
Finally, groaning, Genma rolled over, and then stood up, swaying from side to side. "This ends now, old man," Ranma said as he came in with a Möko Ichigeki-tai, driving Genma to his knees, and then followed with another round of Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken to the face. When Ranma was finished, Genma's eyes glazed over and he collapsed, unconscious to the ground, blood pouring from his battered nose and mouth.
Ranma stood there panting; privately sickened by the battering he had given the man he once called Pop. Walking away from the beaten figure laying on the ground, Ranma approached Mr. Tendo. Soun looked at him, and asked quietly, "Are you okay, Son?"
"No, I'm not. I'd rather not talk about it, though," Ranma replied, tiredly.
Soun nodded in understanding and then proclaimed, "Ranma Saotome, I hereby name you Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes. May you bring honor to that school by your actions in the future."
Tofu approached Genma and rolled him over. "He'll need to go to the hospital, Ranma," he called.
Nabiki waved her cell phone and said, "There's one on the way. They should be here soon."
Ranma walked back over to Genma and asked, "Is he conscious, or still out cold?"
Tofu replied, "No, he's out cold."
Ranma sighed as he said, "Good, at least he's not feeling too much pain right now. I'll be by the hospital later with Mom to talk to him once he's conscious."
The ambulance rolled up to the sports field and the two attendants rushed out, carrying a medical kit and a stretcher. They quickly examined the unconscious figure before them on the ground, and then took him to the ambulance on the stretcher. Tofu went with them as they drove off to Nerima General Hospital.
Akane rushed over to Ranma and hugged him, saying, "Are you okay, Ranma? You look horrible."
"I feel lousy Akane. I brutalized him. He was so outclassed it wasn't even a contest. I didn't realize how much better I had gotten between sparring with all of you, and how bad he had gotten. I don't think he's really practiced much other than the half-hour or so we would let him every afternoon," Ranma said sadly, "I guess we need to go to your place and pack up all of his clothing so we can take it to him."
Akane gazed compassionately at Ranma and said, "You had to do it, though, for all our sakes. He has harmed so many people, including you, for so long that I don't think he would ever change."
"Yeah, I know, Acchan. But between Mom and I, we're gonna take everything that he ever wanted away from him. I've taken the school, and Mom has taken his family. I know he deserves everything that we've done, especially after what he tried to do to us and Nabiki, but I still feel bad about it," Ranma said. Finally, he sighed and said, "Let's go, we still need to swing by your place, and then head over to Mom's. We've still got a wedding to plan with her."