A/N: o.O Okay. My first attempt at writing something remotely serious for Ranma ½ and I have to say, the reviews are 'stronger'. Or maybe that's just me. In any case, though they were 'stricter', they were definitely more constructive, so thanks! I'll try my best to improve. Though, honestly, I am really surprised that some people actually like the story!
I understand for some of the earlier people who read the fic the formatting screwed up and went Really Weird. No idea how that happened, but it should be okay now, I think...
And if you think Ranma's callous... then good! breaks into wheezing evil laughter Err. Right. Seriously, all will elaborated upon. So relax.
Now I add. This is going to be a Ranma x Akane story. There will be quite a bit of development, but ultimately it is going to end up as an RA pairing. Sorry, but I proudly admit to be a fan of this pairing. If you're not comfortable with it, then you'd better stop reading, okay? Or at least don't start scolding me or anything. I did warn you, hmm?
Lastly, Ghost in the Machine pointed out that Tofu is Dr. Tofu's personal name, and not his family name. stares quizzically at webpages which list his first name as Ono Either my resources are mixed up, or I'm just puzzled. Will someone kindly enlighten me? In any case I'll just use Tofu for the time being.
A big thankyou goes out to dennisud2015, Tenkuu, Lorilynn1, ManaChan, CleverWitch, pieeee, Tornado (Reviewer, Silent Tears of Agony, Old Fool, Ghost in the Machine, kakashi-fan, otakufanatic, RobinofYJ, Jade30, Califpinay3001, soda-cola-pay, Rio Grande, Nw!
Mellow
Chapter 2
The night was cold. Ranma padded out onto the patio and blew out his breath, choosing to stare grimly out at nothing in particular. Night had long settled, along with a still silence that he wasn't sure could be associated with Nerima. Still, in any case, he didn't think he could deal sensibly to anything hectic that Nerima could throw at him right now.
Ranma let his eyes slide shut.
He didn't know what he had been expecting. Certainly not a red carpet welcome. But perhaps... a little more civility?
"Hello Ranma. It's been a long time since we last met."
"Hey, Doc."
He opened his eyes, aware of the good doctor the moment he had walked down the stairs. He waited as the older man walked calmly to his side and stopped, a sizable distance between them. Tofu adjusted his glasses and carefully folded his arms.
"How's Kasumi?" Ranma offered, as though that was the least he could do.
Tofu's eyes seemed to take on a benign glint. "She's a bit shocked, but it's nothing that a bit of rest and calming down can't cure."
Ranma nodded, satisfied that the older woman was fine. He closed his eyes once more, not really willing to talk at the moment. Unfortunately for him, it seemed that Tofu wasn't feeling the same way as he did, for he spoke then, his voice calm and kind, but very much firm.
"I heard you and Akane talking just now." It wasn't probing, nor reproaching, but it certainly helped to dig up the strangest memories. Ranma was sorely tempted to wave his arm in a show of nonchalance, but for some reason his arm wouldn't really wave very well today... Or come out from his pockets in any case...
"Yeah, well," he replied, somewhat grim. "No worries for her. Once Nabiki turns up, I'll be free to go."
Tofu looked mildly surprised. Removing his glasses, he began to clean them slowly. "You're waiting for Nabiki? What for, Ranma? To see her?"
He nearly didn't catch onto the hidden meanings behind Tofu's words but began to splutter the moment he realized why Tofu seemed so shocked. "Not that way. I owe her a favor, and she's making me return it to her by keeping peace here," he explained steely, hoping to clear up any misconceptions or wonky ideas that might just be floating around in the good doctor's head...
Tofu chuckled. 'Wonder what she was thinking then, sending Ranma over when Akane's around?' he thought to himself. "We will be fine, Ranma," he spoke reassuringly. No more was said, and abruptly the conversation lapsed into a flimsy silence.
"Hey, Doc?"
"Yes, Ranma?"
He was quiet for a while, before he spoke up, voice strangely subdued. "Mr. Tendou's death hit them hard, didn't it?" It was a stupid question really, since obviously it would hit them hard. He was, after all, their father, for Pete's sake! And even though, spiritually, the real Tendou Soun ceased to exist after his wife had passed on, he knew the sisters had always continued to love and protect him in any way they could, before deep down, they had always believed there was a spark of something that remained, and continued to love them like they did him.
Tofu took a long time before he spoke. "I'm quite sure it did, Ranma," he answered quietly, and suddenly Ranma had no way of knowing the man speaking to him was the young Tofu he knew. For all he knew, Tofu sounded like much older and wearier than he could ever believe, like an man who'd seen too much, too much in his life...
"Grief manifests itself in the queerest forms, Ranma," he continued, and his voice dropped to a soft murmur, almost as though he were talking to himself than to the younger man. "Kasumi didn't cry, as far as I know. Akane didn't cry, at least not to my face. She didn't even sound depressed. And Nabiki, I'm sure, isn't crying at the moment.
"But Kasumi grieves." He pointed vaguely at the vacuum machine and various housecleaning products left in a corner of the room. "Evidently she has been doing housework all day. It's a strange way of grieving, isn't it, Ranma?" He didn't wait for Ranma to reply, merely continuing. "But it's the only way she can calm herself. Taking care of the house is something she's done for years. It's something familiar.
"Akane grieves too. Kasumi tells me that Akane took care of everything, at least until Kasumi could get up again. How she revived Kasumi, informed Nabiki, called the undertakers and attempted to cook lunch." Tofu chuckled. "That didn't go too well, hmm? Grief brings out the strangest things in people, and apparently, Akane's decided to grow up.
"And Nabiki..." His eyes held a poignant smile. "It's no wonder she asked you to maintain some peace around here, isn't it, Ranma? She may seem cold, but even, as a child Nabiki has been fiercely protective of her family. And now..." He smiled then, albeit sadly. "Now her sisters are the only ones she has left."
There was silence.
"Why do you tell me this, Doc?" Ranma's voice was subdued.
Tofu smiled serenely. "Just so you know, Ranma. Keep that in mind, won't you?" he chuckled and turned around to enter the house once more. Walking towards the stairs, Tofu stopped, his hand resting lightly on the banister. "Come inside, Ranma. The night is cold."
It was a long time before the pig-tailed man followed.
-
It was past midnight. Akane was not asleep.
Actually she had been asleep, a result of crying too much, she guessed. But sometime after the clock struck twelve, her stomach had been instantly awake, and cheerily grumbled at her to get up. Akane, rudely awoken by the grumbling of her stomach, had no choice but to comply, and showed her displeasure by grumbling back at it equally loudly.
"Shut up. I'm up. I'll get some food..." Mentally she sighed. One of these days, someone was going to see her talking to herself and call up the mental hospital. Then when they came to pick her up and she'd say, "I'm from Nerima!" and they'd nod in understanding and go, "Ah... So that explains it."
She shook her head. The joys of talking to oneself in the dead of the night.
She passed by Kasumi's room and listened in. Hearing nothing, she relaxed and walked on.
She passed by her father's room and did not stop. But she would admit she shook then, as she walked past, and an urge to pull open the door to check that her father would be sound asleep on his bed, like what everyone would expect, welled up inside her.
Of course, the room was empty.
She swore her hands trembled.
Soun was dead. Soun was gone. And so was the little bit of Akane inside her that had always claimed herself as 'Daddy's little girl'.
And in that dark hallway, in the middle of the night, Akane suddenly realized it was time to grow up. A trivial, bizarre thought, really. Of course she was grown up. She was a twenty-six years old woman, for goodness sake!
She had long learned to grow up and take responsibility six years ago, when she left Nerima.
But... there was always something inside her that sought the safety of home, of her family, of Daddy, of her dear big sisters who would all rally around her and take care of her should the slightest thing ever happen. Her Daddy who loved her, and wanted what he thought was the best for her, even though he didn't do it very well. Her beautiful sister Kasumi, who held her when she cried, loved her when she was lost, took care of her when she was young and ignorant, and healed her when she hurt. And even Nabiki. Nabiki who loved her in her own little aloof ways, who always made sure she had enough to spend, enough to eat, enough to enjoy. Who quietly, if not secretly, made sure she was safe.
But today. Today Daddy was dead, Kasumi was a nervous wreck and Nabiki stuck all the way on the other side of Japan. And that only left Akane. Once the baby of the family, the spoilt one, the helpless one, but now it was obviously her turn to return the care that her family had given her.
Now it was obviously her turn to shoulder some responsibility in the family.
It's time to grow up, Akane.
It took Akane five minutes to walk down to the kitchen, despite the fact that she had lived in this house all her life and once upon a time would probably have managed to make her way around blindfolded.
Strangely, the young woman felt ashamed.
A quick check into the guest room showed that it was empty. She didn't know whether she ought to be happy or upset that Ranma evidently chose not to stay for the night. So many things... and the stupid jerk just had to choose this time to come back to Nerima too. Sometimes, she swore the man lived just to annoy and hurt her.
Stupid jerk.
She felt abruptly cold then, and her hands reached up to hug herself tightly, as though grasping desperately for a chance to protect her from something. Then, she dropped them limply at her side and walked into the kitchen.
Cold night, this is.
Akane was hungry. Not bothering to turn on the lights, she strode over to the refrigerator door and pulled it open carefully, instantly met with a blast of cold air and warm eerie orange light that poured out of the fridge. Now... about those leftovers... surely Tofu-sensei hadn't thrown them out yet? She wrinkled her nose. That would be a complete waste of food! Not to mention excellent cooking...
"Hungry?" the quiet voice spoke out.
Akane whirled around with a frightened yelp. No, no, not again, it couldn't be him, mustn't be him, he was gone, she checked and the room was empty and he... he couldn't, he wouldn't have stayed, there wasn't anything in the room, he should have left and let her be and leave her family alone and...!
"Ranma," she spoke simply.
He detached himself from the shadows and walked over, keeping a considerable amount of distance between them. She stared at him without a word.
He had grown; her traitorous mind spoke up snidely. She agreed. Not merely in the physical sense. Sure, he had filled out nicely. He was taller than she remembered, and his shoulders were broader. When he had first appeared she had been too clouded with hurt and anger to even think about observing him, but now as the orange light from the refrigerator hit his face, she saw with a detached air that his features had sharpened.
But it was more than that. Much more. The Ranma she knew would have tried to comfort her the moment he arrived. He would have been kinder, less callous and he would have made her feel safe. Now he was nearly a stranger, someone whom she had not seen for over half a decade and who evidently had grown up plenty during this time. He still brought with him the aura of security, but now she felt oddly vulnerable around him.
He was different now.
Gone was the boy. This was Saotome Ranma the man.
"We need to talk, Akane," he said. It wasn't a request. It was a statement.
She would have flinched, but didn't. "We have..." she started to say, but faltered for a moment before she strengthened. "We have nothing to talk about, Ranma."
Oh, but we have.
Ranma was silent for a moment. "Tofu threw out the leftovers. Cook yourself some instant noodles or something," he said, as though she hadn't said anything.
"I can't cook, Ranma." Akane laughed, the sound oddly choked. "Or have you forgotten?"
He gave a lidded gaze. "Just checking. Thought you might have learnt something now." Without really waiting for a reply, he pointed to a chair at the table. "Sit."
She sat. And watched wonderingly as he flicked on the lights and began to bring out pots and pans. The scene was almost surreal; her sitting obediently at the table, still wrapped in a bathrobe that she never changed out of and her ex-fiancé preparing to cook instant noodles at one in the morning.
"How's life been to you these six years?" his voice was quiet as he filled the pot with water from the tap, but nonetheless managed to jolt her out of her own private thoughts.
Such a simple question, it was. Unfortunately, Akane wasn't quite ready for the influx of memories that abruptly barged right to the front of her mind. All of a sudden she didn't know what she wanted to cry, or break out in hysterical laughter or smack Ranma with the chair she was sitting on. All three, perhaps. Gripping the table tightly, she breathed in deeply, forcing herself to calm down. Ranma... Ranma brought out the worst in her. Not once in her six years away from home had she ever been so agitated... Well, maybe just once. But... it couldn't be denied that Ranma was the main cause of her muddled feelings, could it?
"Fine. I moved out after..." She paused. "I moved out. Finished university. Became an actress. And you?"
Ranma nodded silently, setting the pot on the stove. "So I heard. Nabiki says you look set to be quite famous," he commented off-handedly.
Akane's eyes widened. "You keep in touch with Nabiki onee-chan?"
He smirked somberly. "Internet helps. She gave me a few favors," he answered shortly, bringing the water to a boil.
She did not reply. Nabiki never told me...
It appeared she fell asleep at the table then, because before she knew it someone was shaking her lightly. "Hey Akane... The food's done..." Blinking blearily, she lifted her heavy head and looked right into Ranma's stormy blue eyes.
Well, that woke Akane up quickly. Was that amusement she saw in his eyes?
Mumbling a soft 'thank you', she began to eat, blatantly choosing to ignore the man sitting across her who had also begun to eat. The food seemed to disappear entirely too fast and before she knew it, Ranma had whisked the empty bowls off to wash.
She wished he wouldn't be so nice. It was hard to hate him when he was so nice.
"Guess you found out about Daddy through Nabs, didn't you?" she asked, breaking the silence then.
He nodded, drying the bowls off.
Akane cast her eyes down at the floor sadly. "Are you sad, Ranma?" she questioned. It would be too difficult for her to accept should Ranma say 'no'. She wanted to know, no, needed to know if somewhere inside this stranger there still resided a glimpse of the young man she always had a tender spot for. Maybe he was like her. It took her ages for the truth to sink it; the shock had been too great, to the point that she had wandered up and down the house making arrangements before the sight of her father's dead body had jolted her into a fresh new plane of grief and mourning. Perhaps Ranma was shocked... perhaps he just didn't show it...
Ranma placed the dishes into the rack, before turning to regard her carefully. "Akane," he spoke, watching her with a strange intensity. "You're tired. Go to bed."
Her head snapped up and she felt her ire stirring. She would be damned if she let him trick her once more and worm his way out of it.
"Answer me, Saotome," she barely managed to say, her voice turning frostily cold.
He sighed and turned away, looking out the window. "Tendou Soun isn't one of my favorite people in the world, Akane. You, of all people, should know that."
"Oh." That was enough for her. She had thought... well she didn't know what she had thought... but obviously the rude but nonetheless kindhearted Ranma she had once knew wasn't here anymore...
He wanted to admit to Akane then, that despite not really liking Tendou Soun very much, he would miss the old man. All the games of shogi. All the demon heads. All the teary bawling. After all, he had lived under the man's roof for nearly four years. The man had grown on him.
Too bad Akane already left the kitchen.
-
The sun rose.
Well, of course the sun rose every single day of the every single week. Nothing surprising or astonishing, really.
Akane awoke to the sounds of activity going on downstairs. It took her a few seconds to orientate herself, before she realized she was in the Tendou Doujou. She sighed. Maybe she should have stayed asleep.
It still hurt to think that her father wasn't around anymore.
Not thinking clearly, she opened the windows and looked out, sleepily rubbing her eyes. That was when she noticed Ranma, without a shirt on, running through a kata down on the lawn.
And any peace she had flew right out the window.
Abruptly, as though Ranma noticed her gaze, he stopped, the motion seemingly as fluid as his katas itself, and looked up at her.
She looked away at the intensity then. Shutting the windows, Akane fell back into bed.
She really, really, really didn't want to deal with anything at the moment.
The slim young woman dressed smartly stepped out of the cab and retrieved her bags. Slamming the door of the vehicle shut, she watched stoically as the cab rumbled away, hands resting lightly on her hips. Frowning slightly, she picked up her bags from the pavement, wishing that her skirt didn't show off as much leg as it did. Normally she wouldn't have minded; after all, nothing wrong with flaunting a bit of a woman's sexuality was there? But the weather had become much colder here in Nerima, and she seemed to have forgotten that...
No matter. She would soon be warm. At the moment she was weary, disheartened and more than a little irritable. Still, she knew for sure that her family would receive her warmly. With a shake of her bob of dark brown hair, the woman glanced up at the sign proclaiming Tendou Doujou and smiled briefly.
Tendou Nabiki was back in Nerima.