Dsiclaimer: I don't own any anime characters. . . .
Chapter 3
I came back to myself slowly, to the sounds of muted conversation. At first, it seemed like the buzzing of bees around me, but as my eyelids got lighter and I felt the lethargy lifted from my limbs the buzzing became words.
". . . didna have to conk the lassie so hard, mutton brain."
"Better mutton than pork, bacon breath."
"Would you get off that?" That last one was screamed, and the sharp sound went through my ears like a red-hot poker. I must have moved, or made some noise, because the conversation stilled for a moment. A warm hand touched my neck, just where the blood flowed closest to my skin.
"At least she's no hurt verra badly. Wakin', mebbe?" said the one who had shrieked, his voice a soft burr in my ears. Some one else snorted, and the warm hand retreated from my flesh.
"I hope not. Little miss "jumps off bridges" isn't exactly fun to deal with, you know."
"An' how would I be knowin' that? What was she doing out here, anyway?"
"Hell if I know."
"Walking," I muttered, opening my eyes. A soft yellow light hovered at the edge of my vision. I turned towards it, and saw that it was made by a small fire. There was a man between my body and the dancing flames, he was dressed all in yellow and his face held such soft concern that it almost. . . not quite, but almost, distracted me from the oddity on the other side of the fire.
There was a panda. A big, fluffy, fat panda. No chains or cages in sight.
And next to the panda, his eyes the color of ice in the light of the fire, was Ranma Saotome.
"You," I breathed. "What are you doing out here in the woods?"
-
"You," she rasped, her black hair falling in her eyes. She glowered at me across the flames. As if I were the one who sprang out of no where, attacking people's fathers. I'm just glad I got the water heated before she woke up. I really, really wouldn't have wanted to explain, to her of all people, about the Jusenkyou curse.
"What are you doing out here in the woods?" she demanded. I felt the muscles in my hands clench, involuntarily. I really, really should have hit her harder. Who knew she had such a thick skull?
"The lassie doesna favor ye much, Ranma," Ryouga chortled, glancing at me over his shoulder.
"Bet she doesna favor you either, rocks-for-brains." I turned my attention to Akane. She was already rising to her feet, looking around to get her bearings. Tough girl, eh? "I was going to ask you the same question. You're not strong enough to wander around the woods on your own."
"Not. . . strong enough?" she repeated, her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. I nodded.
"Not nearly. There are wolves out in these woods, you know, and I bet a few of those could finish you off easily. Not to mention all the guys who might hang out in the woods, just waiting for someone to prey on. You don't really look like a girl," I gestured towards her baggy clothing, "but you'd still be pretty small for a . . ."
A sharp, sudden pain splintered through my head. I tried to open my mouth to yell, but I found it was pushed to the ground, rather hard. It swallowed me. Plain and simple. I sank into oblivion.
When I returned to the world, the forest was swimming in the soft blue light of very early morning. My head hurt so much I could feel each individual expanding, throbbing capillary. I raised a heavy hand to my face and made sure my face was still on right.
"She's a braw lass, no?" came the sardonic voice from my left. I opened my eyes just wide enough to glower at Ryouga.
"Aye, that she is. And a dead one, when I get to her. Where is she?" I groaned, rolling to my feet. He clucked his tongue in disapproval.
"Took her back to the town. Sweet enough, really, once you get her talking. And, notably, single," he said, with a wide grin in my direction.
"Why notably? You have a thing for her?" I asked him, grinning a little. "You know, as my fiance', you're not really allowed to look at other girls."
As far as that went, anyway. I first met Ryouga Hibiki in my home village—I was a girl at the time. And, prior to that, I had been a girl for about. . . eleven years, barring baths and the occasional soup accident. When I was four, my parents took me to see the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo—and I fell into one. The Spring of Drowned Girl, as it happens. So I became cursed by the spirit of a girl who had drowned there long ago, and whenever I was hit with cold water I turned into one. My mother, who'd despaired of ever having a daughter to inherit her property in the Tribe, was ecstatic. That didn't mean she was going to refrain from punishing my father—he got his own curse out of it.
Amazons like my mother are very vindictive toward their menfolk.
Which is why, for most of my life, I was raised as a girl. My father told me I was really a guy, but I didn't really think it mattered. All that mattered was being strong. All that mattered was the Art—the art of killing, the art of protecting.
Which is why, about a year ago, I was training with one of the village elders out in the woods—and she broke my arm. I sort of lost my temper at that point, and Ryouga—the idiot, wandering in to "save that poor old lady"—beat me up. Beat me in a fair fight.
According to the laws of our Amazon village, any man who can beat an Amazon warrior must marry her, to provide strong children for the Tribe. That's how my mother got saddled with Pops. And so she saw nothing wrong with me having to marry Ryouga—despite my repeated protests that I really, really DON'T like men. I like women. I've always, boy or girl, preferred women. Call it a quirk.
"Call it a quirk of mine, Ranma, but I'd really rather you didn't talk about that when you're a guy," Ryouga winced. "Besides, you've hit on my exact point."
"You actually have a point?" I asked, feigning shock. He punched me in the arm, not lightly.
"Aye. Tell me, what are the Amazon marriage laws?"
I thought about that one for a moment. If you're a woman, you must marry any man who beats you, and kill any woman who beats you. If you're a guy. . . the laws are somewhat more complex, dealing with rights of ownership your mother or sister has over you, but the basic idea is the same. You marry strong women, ot bring them and their children into the Tribe.
And the little manic-depressive HAD beaten me.
"You think I should marry the little fire-spitter?" I asked, eyes going wide. He made that all-purpose Scottish sort of noise, best rendered phonetically as "Mmmmmmphmmm."
"Better than marrying me, aye? Dinna fret, ye'll find a way out of it soon enough. But would it not be best if you at least had another engagement to cancel ours, should your mother find you?"
That, that's my biggest fear. I don't want my mother to find me. That's why I traveled across oceans and learned a new language. I can face her wrath, fine, but I don't want to face her disappointment.
My mother's disappointment is often deadly.
-
"Akane?" Iris asked, when I showed up for writing class that morning. I smiled at her as I sat down, ignoring the tone in her voice. She tapped me on the shoulder and I turned, just enough to see her face.
"Good morning, Iris," I muttered.
"Akane, you have a black eye," she said, as if, perhaps, I hadn't noticed.
"I know. I got into a bit of a brawl last night."
"With who?"
No one. Just your pretty boy Saotome and his pet panda bear, that's all. Oh, and a random Scottsman who'd give you wet dreams for the rest of your life if you met him. Lost of muscles on that one. Too bad he's a borderline psychotic.
"A stray dog," I muttered. As soon as I said it, the "stray dog" in question walked through the door. He was wearing a white Chinese-style shirt now, a drastic change from the red, but otherwise identical, shirt he'd worn yesterday. Mr. GQ, that one.
Mr. GQ did not walk over to the seat he'd inhabited yesterday.
Instead, he walked over to me.
I thought for a moment that he was going to apologize. I thought he was going to inspect my black eye. I did not think he was going to bend down, slid his hand around my neck and into my hair, and kiss me.
So when he did, I was in such a state of shock I didn't move. He tasted like woodsmoke, and the cool black earth in the forest. He pulled back, but kept his face close to mine. Blue eyes, bluer than the clearest sky on the brightest day.
"In my mother's village, there are two sorts of kisses after a fight—the Kiss of Death, and the Kiss of Marriage."
That was about as far as he got before I came out of my shock and slapped him across the face. Hard. With every ounce of strength in my body.
I've never hit someone that hard. The only time I even came close I knocked the poor boy across the room, and nearly broke his neck. Saotome just turned his head with the force, and absorbed the blow. A big, angry red mark was forming, in the shape of my hand.
"What in the hell is wrong with you?" someone asked. To my great surprise, that someone wasn't me.
