Interminable

Chapter 2

The Lives We Lead

Akane cleaned up the spilled water, and replaced the kettle on the stove. Sighing, she sat down to eat her solitary snack. You know, it's really not bad at all. I don't know why he had to be such an idiot about it. She frowned grumpily, then turned when she heard a small scuffling sound. Behind her, P-Chan approached cautiously, concern evident in his little piggy eyes.

"Bweee?"

P-Chan looked at Akane hopefully, saddened on her behalf, and angry with Ranma- but he'd deal with that later, when he was back in human form. He rubbed his black head against Akane's ankle, and she reached down to pet him.

"Aww, are you worried, baby?" Akane looked at her pet lovingly. "I'm alright," she told him, though the lie was evident in the pain behind her brown eyes and the slight quiver of her lower lip, which she managed to keep in check. Standing up, she placed P-Chan on the chair she had just vacated, and walked to the sink to clean her dishes.

Drying her hands, Akane walked through the silent house to the front door, retrieved her brown bookbag, and walked up to her room. She changed silently into a pair of gray sweatpants and a form-fitting blue tank top, then seated herself at her teak desk to start her homework. It was Friday, so there wasn't too much, since they had 3 tests that afternoon. The teachers who had given them exams gave the students a one-day reprieve from homework in that subject.

Forty minutes later, Akane put down her pencil, and slipped her English paper into a folder. Closing her books, she placed them back into her bag and set it beside her desk. She stood and stretched, then stared out the window for a few minutes. It was relatively early, her journey home, subsequent fight with Ranma, and lonely snack and homework had only taken about an hour and a half total. She still had about half an hour or so until Kasumi came home, and she had no idea when the others were going to show up, nor did she care. It was not her concern what her mercenary sister did with her time, nor did she care to bail her histrionic father and annoying future father-in-law out of the local pen.

The sky was a soft powdery blue, broken in places by wispy white clouds that look like stretched out cotton balls. Akane watched them pass for a moment, then turned back to the pink interior of her room. Passing her bed, she reached for the dumbbells by her closet, and spent the next quarter hour lifting free weights, trying to tone her arms. "Sixty...sixty-one...ugh...sixty-two...I am not weak, Ranma-you-jerk! Sixty-three, sixty-four...you stupid baka, my arms are not flabby! Grrr....sixty-seven...wait...dammit! Oh well, I'll switch arms." And she proceeded to lift with her right hand, then finished and exited her room toward the bathroom to wash her face.

After cleaning up, Akane reappeared downstairs, and sat on the back porch. She drew her knees up to her chest, and supported her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs. P-Chan, who had been noticeably absent for a while, followed the sound of her movements to the porch, where he hesitantly stepped out. He had been trying to look for the bathroom, but ended up in the closet, the living room, under Nabiki's desk, in Ranma's underwear drawer- which had been a mortifying experience, to say the least, and then finally found himself back in the kitchen where he had started. He was rather disappointed to still be in pig form, he had hoped to change back into the fanged man, leave the house, and reappear as outside as Ryoga, to "chance" upon Akane, and comfort her. Mentally shrugging off how things never seemed to go his way, Ryoga watched Akane stare at the slightly purpling sky, then seated himself next to her, his piggy head resting on the side of her hip. Together, they watched the sun sink slightly in the sky to their right.

The front door creaked, and Akane broke her thoughts to turn towards the sound. She couldn't see who was in the main hall, and was about to call out when a voice pre-empted her.

"Hello, I'm home," Kasumi's soft voice floated through the air. Akane heard her take her shoes off, and then a gentle face bearing a sweet smile drifted into the kitchen, and towards the porch. "Good afternoon, Akane," Kasumi's nose crinkled slightly, as she smiled harder, thinking that she was glad to see her younger sister. "How was school today?"

"Um, it was okay, onee-chan," Akane replied hesitantly. She knew what the next question was going to be. And sure enough, "Where's Ranma?" was the next thing out of Kasumi's mouth. Err, I don't want to tell her what happened. She'll just feel sorry for me, and then I'll be embarrassed. I don't want her to think I care about that idiot or anything.

"He's um, helping the Amazons design new items for their menu," she told Kasumi. There, that's not exactly a lie, Akane rationalized to herself. She plucked a stray blue strand out of her eye, and smoothed her hair back.

"Oh, that's lovely. How nice of him to do so," replied Kasumi. She smiled again, beatifically, and then turned slightly toward the kitchen. "I bought some beef at the market, and some yummy vegetables. I was thinking of making teriyaki tonight. Would you like to help?"

Akane cringed, then shook her head. "Um, not tonight, thanks. I think I'm going to work out in the dojo for a few." "But you love cooking!" Kasumi exclaimed, a look of concern entering her light brown eyes. "And just think, wouldn't it be lovely if you helped make dinner for Ranma? You know, when you two are older, I won't be living here, and you'll have to cook for him, unless you want to eat frozen dinners for the rest of your life."

Akane couldn't bring herself to argue with her sister about the future. "I know, onee-chan, but, well, just for today, I think I'd like to skip cooking. I'll definitely set the table for you, okay?" "Well, alright," Kasumi replied. She walked toward the bathroom, and P-Chan followed, glad that he'd finally have a chance to turn back into Ryoga. He'd been in animal form for almost two days straight, and it was wearing on him. He waited outside the door to the bathroom, and when Kasumi stepped out, he scuttled in, past the main room and into the furo. Jumping into the large tub, he made a small splash, then displaced more water as his form changed into a naked boy.

Now, where did I leave my extra clothes? He mused. Climbing out, he reached behind the hamper and pulled out a copy of his usual black pants and yellow shirt. While pulling on his shirt, and then toweling his hair, he heard Akane come down the stairs and walk towards the back door.

In her yellow training gi, Akane trotted towards the dojo. She entered, and slid the almond-colored door closed behind her. Walking to the equipment closet, Akane reached in and pulled out a practice dummy, then placed it near the far wall. In the middle of the room, Akane stretched and followed some simple moves, followed by a few flips toward the far side of the dojo. Facing the practice dummy, Akane closed her eyes. She crossed her yellow arms over each other, then started some breathing practices. Opening her eyes, she slid into a basic stance. My focus feels kind of off, she thought to herself .

Straightening slightly, Akane began punching exercises, first hitting the left side of the dummy with her right hand, then the right side of the dummy with her left, then crossing over with each hand. She continued, oblivious to the added presence of a new individual.

Ryoga followed the rhythmic "thump-thump" of Akane's punches over to the dojo. He opened the door and stepped in, watching Akane practice. She's actually pretty good. Much better than Ranma gives her credit for. When nobody is taunting her or making her angry, she has good control. And she's really got a lot of power, especially for a girl. He winced slightly as the dummy shook with the force of one of her blows. I'm sure glad that's not me, he thought to himself.

Walking towards Akane, Ryoga tried to think of a way to approach her without scaring her, and thus saving himself a punch to the face. He decided the best way would be to simply enter her line of vision, so he walked to the wall that stood behind the dummy, then made his way over to Akane. At first, she was too caught up in her practice to notice, but after the dummy swayed a little to the left from a slightly off-center punch, Akane noticed a person behind it.

"Ryoga!" She exclaimed. A genuine smile lit up her face. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in almost a month. I got your letter last week about the literature workshop you were taking in Australia, I didn't expect you back here so soon."

He put his hand behind his head, and smiled sheepishly at her, dark hair hanging in one eye. "Well," he began, "the workshop only lasted a week, and after the last day, I left to go back to my hotel, and ended up in Okinawa. So I tried to go south, to get back, and somehow ended up back in Tokyo this morning. I kind of got here by accident."

Akane laughed, and Ryoga smiled internally at the lilting sound. "Hey, it's your birthday in a few days, isn't it?" She asked him. Ryoga nodded. "Why don't you stay here, we can have a little party!" Ryoga looked slightly uncomfortable, but inside he was rejoicing. Yes, I get to be with my Akane for days! Oh happy day! Opening his mouth, he belied his inner joy, stating politely, "well, I wouldn't want to be a burden on you, or anything."

"Nonsense! You aren't a burden at all. You know you're always welcome here, Ryoga." Akane smiled at him, turning her head slightly to get a better look. He's pretty cute...especially those fangs. Just then, the dojo door slammed shut, and the two teens heard a stomp. Turning, Akane saw Ranma standing at the door, scowling at them. "Whatcha doin here, P-Chan?" he growled.

"Ranma, don't be a jerk. Ryoga's our guest for the next couple of days. We're going to have a birthday party for him." Ranma looked at her disdainfully. "I don't care about his stupid birthday. I didn't even know pigs had birthdays." Ryoga interrupted. "Ranma, prepare to die! I will fight you. But first," he turned back to Akane. "I can leave. I see that I'm causing trouble." Akane shook her head.

"Yeah, why don't you leave her alone, porkbutt. Nobody wants you here." Ranma smirked.

"BAKA!" Akane yelled at him. "He's more welcome here than you are!"

"Well if ya like him so much, why don'tcha marry him?!" Ranma taunted.

"Better that than marry a sex-changing pervert like you!" Akane screamed back.

It never changes, she thought. No matter what happens, everything always comes back to this.

"Yeah, well, you're an un-cute, sexless dummy and you'll never find a husband with your fat stomach and your poor excuse for cooking!" With that Ranma stuck his tongue out at her, then turned and exited the dojo.

Ryoga looked at Akane with sympathy on his face. Poor Akane. Why does she take this from him? Why doesn't she just leave him? Unbeknownst to him, Akane was having similar thoughts.

Staring forlornly at the door, Akane sighed. It never ends. And to think, if they actually do make us marry each other, I'm going to get this for the rest of my life. How on Earth do I find a way out of this?

A/N: Thanks for the review, Don't Eat Yellow Snow. I don't think this fic is appropriate for Akane to be a punk, but I am planning another fic in which she plays pranks on Ranma, so maybe I'll make her dress like that for an episode of that one.

Review!!!!!!!