Michael Gutin


Disclaimer: Let's get this over with…characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, there are you happy now?
And now I gets to talkie!

Renzuko: See the thing about the chapters, is that I pretty much stop when I get to a point that feels…cliffhangy (Which may not be a word, but shut up.) And yes, I have made Ranma quite mean. As I'm sure I've said before, he deserves to be. I mean I know that a fair share of the stuff is his fault, but a lot of it really isn't. And in some other fanfics I've read, he has to apologize for the stupidest things. So yeah, I decided I'd write a fic where he stopped taking it up the ass (I can say that, right?) and actually did stuff. So yeah…that pretty much lead up to where we are now…so…that's it.

Nikisha: First off, turn of caps lock next time, I mean, emphasizing certain words, and even entire sentences is one thing, but if everything is in caps, nothing gets emphasized, and you might as well have not used caps at all. Anyway, onto your actual comment, the main thing I'm going to address is the 'Who does Ranma get paired up with' part. Because there have been a lot of comments about it. To answer it, I can only say that it doesn't matter. This was never intended to be, nor ever will be a WAFF. So who Ranma ends up with will not be that important to the story. If you're reading this story because you wanted to see Ranma be with (insert your favorite pairing here) I would suggest you stop reading because I'm not going to spend much time on it.

nonengel: So the scene with Kodachi intrigued you the most, eh? Like I said, probably because most fics just say she's insane and get on with it. Actually now that I think about it, Kodachi did realize that Ranma was just being nice during the whole White Lily ordeal, which would actually make her the only fiancée of Ranma's that can take a hint. And as for your name, while it is pretty nice, it's rather undescriptive, I mean, we're all non-angels here, oh well.

Wanderer: Gah! You're review is taunting me. I mean, usually when I get short review, they'll at least give me the important information, i.e. "Good Fic", but just "interesting" that's cruel. I mean, is it a "This story is unique in a good way, which I find interesting" or more of a "That insane person and his rantings are quite interesting"? Just wondering.

I'm getting bored of this, so that's all the responses this time. Onto the story.

Hurrah!

(Is what you better be saying.)


"…" means speech

(…) signifies thoughts

If it's in italics it must be a sound effect

>…> shall be the lovable panda signs

#...# means it's writing.


Sick of It
Chapter 7

Lies Undone


Akane walked in front of the others as they neared her house. The three entered and were surprised to find Ranma there, looking like he had been waiting a long time. The three immediately started to talk, all at once.

"Ranma, we found you, now we…"

"Ranma, you must listen to me, y…"

"Good you're hear, we have to ta…"

He silenced them all with a look. It was a cold, dead look. As if he really didn't care what happened next. It was always hard to imagine Ranma killing someone, but when he got that look, it didn't seem so impossible. Akane had seen that look several times, directed at Herb and Saffron. It always scared her. Now that it was directed at her, it so frightening she could do nothing but shut up and stare.

"Akane we have to talk…" Ranma said, his voice every bit as cold as his expression. He looked at Mousse and Ukyo as if he had just noticed them.

"You two can come as well, though it doesn't really concern you."

With that he turned and headed for the dojo. Akane let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and turned to look at her two companions. They exchanged looks, and it was obvious they were all thinking along the same lines.

(This is definitely very bad…)


Shampoo was confused. (Why Airen say he fight great grandmother? He no can really want Shampoo gone. Must have talk with Airen.)

She biked as fast as she could to the Tendo Dojo, trying to push back hear doubts and fears. As she got there she looked into the Dojo, which was empty except for something covered in a blanket, and saw Ranma walk in with Mousse, Akane and Ukyo following him. Shampoo did not miss the looks of fear on all their faces. (Maybe not good time to talk to Airen. Come back later, when he alone.)

So she decided to sit outside, and wait.


Nabiki eventually stopped crying, and her sadness was replaced my shame. (I can't believe he got under my skin like that, I promised myself that I wouldn't ever cry again…)

She sighed. (But he was right, about a lot of things…so the question is, what do I do now?)

She looked over at her bed. (Sleep, right now, I really should go to sleep.)

And she did.


Ranma looked around. He saw three pairs of eyes looking back at him. He noticed the trace of fear they all shared, a back part of his mind satisfied that he could instill this in them so easily. He took a deep breath. (It's one thing to say that I've rejected the traditional views of honor, and another to act like it.)

He sat down with his legs crossed, and his eyes closed, as if he were meditating, he didn't know why, it just felt right.

"I'm going to tell you all a little story." He said after a slight pause.

The three looked confused but said nothing.

He opened his eyes and began to talk. "There once was a man…no, a boy, apart from a few quirks, this boy lived a relatively normal life. One day, this boy got…he got a curse. At least, that's what he called it. He seemed to hate that curse. Telling anyone who would listen how horrible it was. He would say that it made his life hell."

(Well, there's my first hint…)

He looked at the three once again. They looked just as confused as when he had begun. He sighed. (It's never easy, is it?)

He continued in the same steady voice, "But his actions didn't match what he would say. For every time he had stated how much he despised his condition, he took advantage of it. For you see, his curse, allowed him to take a different form under certain conditions.

(Well, there's another one.)

This time Akane looked up, and whispered "Jusenkyo?"

Ranma merely nodded, and gave her a quick smile before resuming his neutral expression. (Not much, but it's a start.)

Ranma once again continued his story, "His attitude and habits left him with little friends, and even less people who truly cared about him. This changed one day. He met someone who showed him something he had been lacking, love. Unfortunately, this love was shown to his cursed from, as the girl had no idea of his true form."

(C'mon people…it's not that hard…)

Silence.

"He fell in love with this girl, or so he said. But once again he actions did not match his words. You see, the girl, she knew him…as her pet."

(If that doesn't help…)

This time Ranma noticed that Ukyo had paled a little, and took a quick glance at Akane.

(Finally!)

He looked at Akane, who was still had the exact same expression of confusion.

(Damn!)

"He took advantage of her ignorance. As her pet, he saw and heard things that he should not have heard. He saw her undressed, he heard her confess secrets that she didn't want any person to know. He said that he loved her, but he continued to dishonor her by remaining as her pet…pig."

(She can't possibly be that dense…)

By now Ukyo was pale as a ghost. Mousse remained almost the same. But Ranma saw that his face shifted ever so slightly.

(They get it.)

He chanced a glance at Akane, who was now starting to get impatient.

(Ugh, I'm getting sick of this.)

He got up. "I think it's time to introduce the star of this little story."

With that, he turned around, and stepped to the side, revealing something covered in a blanket. He threw it off, and now they could see P-Chan in a cage, along with a kettle. "Here's Ryoga!" Ranma exclaimed as he opened the cage, tossed P-Chan to the ground, and poured hot water on him.


As Ranma threw P-Chan to the ground and splashed him with water, Akane went through a spectrum of emotions. First confusion at his story, then concern when Ranma had thrown P-Chan. When she first saw him change, she felt shock, which quickly gave way to blinding rage. Images came to her. All the things P-chan had seen, had heard. They came faster and faster until they were a blur, a blur that lost all meaning and all purpose except to feed her anger.

She glared at Ryoga. She wanted to scream at him for what he did. She wanted to insult him, and demean him, and pay him back for what he did to her. But she couldn't, not then. The same fury that demanded this made it impossible. It clouded her mind, and consumed it, until she could only slowly utter "Ryoga…no…BAKA!" and then hit him as hard as she could.

But she was not satisfied. Her wrath wanted, needed a new target. She turned to Ranma.

"And you…you knew…and you never…you…you were doing it as a joke, weren't you? You were just laughing at me behind my back!"

She once again got out her mallet. As she brought it down she was yet again stopped by him.

He looked at her, the hurt evident on his face.

"I…you really think that? That…that I would do that…to you…to anyone?"

She was silent.

"I…but you…have you learned anything? I thought that maybe…maybe I finally got through. I…I had a reason for not telling you. I realize now that it was not a very good one. But you have no idea what it was. And you didn't even bother to find out, did you? No, you just assumed it was my fault, like you….like everyone does. I told you I was sick of it. I told you I wasn't going to let you take your anger out on me anymore. But you didn't learn did you? Maybe you never will…"

With that, Ranma turned to leave. As Akane watched him walk away, all her anger faded.

(This is just like last…no, I won't let my anger rule me anymore, I won't!)

She ran after him and threw her arms around his torso from behind to stop him.

"Wait Ranma…don't go…please…"

Ranma turned around and looked at her.

A tear rolled down Akane's cheek. Akane hated to cry, but she didn't make a single move to wipe the tear.

(I can't screw this up…if I do, my temper will have won, and I'll be the violent tomboy Ranma always accuses me of being.)

She looked up at him. "Ranma… I'm sorry…"

Ranma just continued to stare at her.

"You…you're right Ranma. I…I really do blame you for things that aren't you fault. But please Ranma…please don't go…I realize I have a temper problem…I can…I'll try to fix it. I promise I will…just don't leave…please…"


Ranma had planned to reveal Ryoga's secret for a long time. He ran the different scenarios through his head, coming up with all the ways he though it could go, figuring out what would be the best way to respond. But he was not prepared for this.

(Wha…what do I do?)

So he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his hands around the now sobbing Akane, and whispered "It's okay…"


Authors Notes: Gah! The ending to this chapter is so cliché. But the rest was pretty good, I think. What did you guys think of the way Ranma revealed P-Chan's secret? Truth be told, I did it that way mostly to be unique, because this has already been done a thousand times, and I'm not a good enough writer to make it stand out if I made Ranma reveal it in an ordinary way, so I went with this. I'm guessing some of you have noticed that my updates are getting more spread apart, which is something I'm trying to work on, honest. Actually I've got most of the rest of the story either in my head or on paper, it's just a few scenes that I'm finding hard to write. So yeah...bear with me, I am planning to finish this story and it's only got a few chapters to go. Thanks to all you people who have reviewed, without you I probably would have quit writing this around chapter four. And that's it. Buh bye now.