Disclaimer: I in no way own Ranma ½ or anything associated therein. I am not making a profit on this story, and never will. Not copyrighted so if something's taken from this story it's not like I can do anything to the person responsible.
A/N: This is a definite AU since I haven't been able to see the late episodes or read the mangas, but I'm working on it. Once I have I'll probably fix some mistakes I'm making in the characters and story, but since a blind person could see Ranma loves Akane this story will always be AU.
"RANMA NO BAKA!"
Not a single person in the Tendo household paid attention to the familiar battle cry or the crash that came after it as it was a familiar scene that had repeatedly happened each day, in fact with increased frequency, since the failed wedding. The only person that seemed to acknowledge Ranma's now airborne journey was Kasumi, and her only reaction was to sigh before getting out the first-aid kit once again. She figured it would be needed once Ranma had made it back home from wherever he had been hit to this time. Both Kasumi and Nabiki had tried many times to get Akane to think about what she was either seeing or hearing before choosing to hit Ranma, but their little sister didn't listen to a word they said. She had just told them, "Why? He's just a pervert, he deserves it!" The thing that bothered the elder sisters the most about it was the malicious look that Akane had in her eyes when she said that. Unfortunately, since they couldn't stop the actions at the source, they just did what they could to make sure Ranma knew not everyone blamed him when he returned.
Nabiki for her own part never saw her coming to like Ranma like a little brother, but it happened. He had come in to talk to her about the pictures she constantly took of himself and Akane and how he wanted her to stop, but when she showed him the financial books and how they were still just skimming by he acquiesced to let her take more pictures of his own girl side as long as she left Akane alone. He even agreed to pose for them since a picture that he was posing for should be able to go for more money than one he wasn't. Kuno began happily paying 3,000 yen a shot once he did that. Ranma also started helping out at Dr. Tofu's on the weekend to help bring in some more money to help with the repair bills that he and his father were causing with all the fights that were going on. With that help the Tendo family began to sit more comfortably on their finances instead of barely scraping by.
She had explained to him that the life insurance policy that they had on their mother had dried up years ago and that she had been forced to do the things she did just to keep the roof over their heads since her father became practically catatonic for a while and once he came out of it didn't even try to bring money into the house. He just saw that the house was staying afloat and didn't bother thinking about it. Plus with all the extra food costs and repair bills since the two Saotomes moved in had gone through the roof. That was why Ranma started helping her out, both with bringing in money and doing the repairs around the property he could to help lift some of the strain on the family.
"Where's the boy," Genma asked once they were all sitting down to dinner.
"Probably out being a pervert with one of his hussies," Akane replied angrily. Soun burst into tears whining about the schools never being joined while Genma muttered about ungrateful brats who didn't hold up their family honor. Ever since the failed wedding whatever sliver of trust she had had for Ranma was shattered because she thought he invited his other fiancées to the wedding to ruin it. Mix that with the fact that she was using anger to power her chi way too much and it was inviting disaster. The more she used it the more unstable she became. It was too the point where the only people that would come near her were Kuno, who wasn't near her long due to his own flights, Ranma, and her family. She would generally take whatever blunt object was near whenever her anger got out of control and hit Ranma into LEO for some perceived insult or sin.
"Akane, how far did you hit Ranma? It may just be taking him a while to get home, or he may be taking his time," Nabiki asked as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. She normally didn't openly take sides with Ranma, but she felt that enough was enough. She was half tempted to ask to have the engagement switched to her, not out of any feelings, but so that he would have an easier time. Both her and Kasumi could see that he never tried to get into the situations that he did, Shampoo would show up and glomp him, or Ukyo would show up and offer him some lunch like a friend would. He was usually innocent, not that the Saotome foot-in-mouth disease helped, but Akane always jumped to the wrong conclusions.
"I'm home," Ranma called from the doorway.
"Where you been boy," Genma yelled angrily, "You shoulda been here with your fiancé!"
"I was at Dr. Tofu's, I landed badly trying to avoid some bystanders when I came down," Ranma answered tonelessly. Kasumi and Nabiki shared a look when Ranma came in, because the look in his eyes said he was one step away from breaking down. And they didn't think he'd be crying when he broke down.
"LIAR! Which of your hussies where you seeing? RANMA NO BAKA," Akane yelled as she swung the table at him again. To everyone's amazement the table never made contact with Ranma. He had side-stepped the blow and plucked the table out of her hand before setting it down.
"Please don't do that Akane," he asked politely before walking out of the house again.
"Oh my," Kasumi gasped, taking the words out of everyone's mouth. Even Akane stood there gaping at the turn of events. Not that the look in his eyes or the lack of tone from his voice meant anything to her, but he always let her hit him. For him not to…there must be something wrong! Either that or he really is seeing one of his hussies! Akane's red battle aura began to show once again when that thought crossed her mind. Any thought that there might be something wrong was severely beat down and shoved in a tiny little box in the corner of her mind as her rage grew.
"I'll get that baka," she screamed before running out of the house. Less than five minutes later Ranma walked into the door on the porch looking around confused.
"Where'd Akane go," he asked confused.
"Where were you boy," Genma asked angrily.
"The roof," Ranma answered as if it were obvious, "Is there any dinner left Kasumi-chan?"
"Of course Ranma-kun," she replied happily. She was glad he wasn't talking tonelessly anymore, even if his eyes didn't look any better. She gave him one of her radiant smiles before dishing up some of the dinner for him and happily watched him inhale it. It had taken her a while to get used to the way that the Saotome's ate, but once she did she realized that the faster they ate the food the more they liked it.
"Thank ya Kasumi-chan, would ya like help with the dishes," Ranma asked once he had finished. He began clearing the table before she even had a chance to respond to the continued shock of everyone at the table. They were having a hard time dealing with the way Ranma acted earlier and the way he was acting now, well, except Nabiki. She knew that he was acting most of the time when he was around everyone else, but she wasn't about to spoil the good dinner show by telling everyone else that.
"Thank you for helping me Ranma-kun," Kasumi told him before giving him a sisterly hug.
"No prob' Kasumi-chan, any time ya need help jus' ask," he replied before walking out of the room towards Nabiki's room. Knocking on the door quick so he didn't catch her…indecent, he walked in as soon as she gave the all clear.
"What can I do for you Ranma," she asked.
"The roof's repaired, I had enough stuff left from the last time to fix it so you don't need to worry about buying anymore tomorrow," he told her. That was another nice thing about the changes that had happened after their talk. Ranma had begun doing what repairs he could on his own as long as he had the materials which cut down on the cost of hiring contractors to come in by a lot. She made deals to get the materials cheaper with the company she had been using since she had been one of their better customers and anytime they needed an extra man Ranma was willing to help. Nabiki really couldn't understand why Akane was so blind as to the type of person Ranma really was.
"Ranma, can I ask you a question," she asked tentatively, totally out of character for Nabiki, so this put Ranma on guard a little bit.
"Of course Nabiki-chan," he responded warily.
"Why do you bait Akane? I know most of the times, ok, almost all of the times she hits you that you don't do anything, but you also call her names a lot too. Like uncute tomboy and such, I was just wondering why," Nabiki asked.
"It's my way of arguin' agains' the engagement, and also my way of defendin' myself. While I can't hit her back, I can tease her," Ranma answered easily, "It started out as a way of arguin' agains' it, but that stopped once she started hittin' me, then it just became a defense."
"I see, I can't fault you for that," Nabiki replied.
"Can I ask you a question," Ranma returned, "Free?"
"Sure," Nabiki told him with an amused grin.
"Why'd you and Kasumi shove me and Akane together that night? I mean, I could understand none of ya wanting to be engaged to someone you don't know, I didn't either, but why did you force it on your youngest sister," he asked.
"Sorry about that Ranma," she told him sincerely, "I can't speak for Kasumi but I was scared. I know, the Ice Queen scared, not supposed to happen, but I was. My first reaction was to push you off onto Akane since you two had already spent some time around each other."
"I guess I can understand that," Ranma told her with a small smile.
"If you had to choose one of us now that you know us, who would you choose," Nabiki asked curiously.
"Honestly? It'd be between you and Kasumi, but that'd be difficult because I see you both as older sisters. Akane lost any chance she's had with how she treats me. It's not only how much she hits me, it's that she doesn't trust me, and the fact that not once has she apologized for being wrong or thanked me for helping her. You and Kasumi make sure you take me aside and thank me for helping around the house or if I've saved Akane again, but she's never said thank you to me. She treats me like I'm a possession she owns, not as a fiancé or even a friend," Ranma explained to her. He was quite surprised at the hug he got from her after that. Before either of them could let go from the hug the door slammed open and a familiar battle cry rang out.
"RANMA YOU PERVERT! QUIT MOLESTING MY SISTER," and with that he was launched into LEO (Lower Earth Orbit) once again.
"AKANE! Why on Earth did you hit Ranma," Nabiki yelled.
"He was molesting you," Akane defended.
"No he wasn't! I was giving him a hug for all the help he's been giving around here, and for telling me he thought of me as an older sister," Nabiki her icily.
"Why are you taking that pervert's side," Akane asked surprised. Everyone knows it's always Ranma's fault, she thought to herself.
"Because he didn't do anything wrong you brat! In fact he'd already fixed the roof from the last time you sent him from the house today," Nabiki responded.
"Yeah right, he was off with one of his hussies when he left," Akane shouted.
"I wouldn't have blamed him if he did have some with the way you treat him," Nabiki told her angrily, "But he wasn't, he had been on the roof repairing it and came in less than five minutes after you left. And do you know why Kuno hasn't bothered you as much lately? It's because Ranma let's me take pictures of his girl half exclusively and even poses for them so I don't have to sell pictures of you! It's because of him that we've been living half as good as we have been for the last two months!"
(Break)
"Well, I might as well go break the news to Ucchan," Ranma told himself gloomily. He didn't want to break his best friend's heart, but he honestly felt that it was time for him to walk away from the Saotome family. His father had given him nothing but trouble.
"Ucchan, you here," he called as he walked into her restaurant.
"Ranchan! Take a seat, want anything," she asked happily. It was rare that Ranma actually showed up after dinner time of his own volition. Most of the time if he was going to show up it was at dinner time, or before, if he knew Akane was cooking.
"I need to talk to you Ukyo," he told her seriously. Thankfully the place was empty so she could put the closed sign up without problems. Konatsu was done for the night after the dinner rush so he had already settled in upstairs, albeit reluctantly.
"What about sugar," she asked somewhat scared.
"I'm afraid you're not gonna like this, but I'm canceling all engagements," he told her seriously.
"Why Ranchan? Is something the matter," she asked. The fact that she didn't hit him right away scared Ranma, but he was willing to take the blessing while it was offered.
"The fact of the matter is I don't know how many other engagements are out there and there ain't no way for me to satisfy everyone's honor, including my own, so I have to break off all engagements by leaving the Saotome family," he told her.
"Are you sure there's no other way," she asked with tears in her eyes.
"Don't cry Ucchan, please don't cry," he asked desperately, "I don't want ta hurt ya, but I don't know how else to fix this mess my pops got me into. I feel like I'm bein' pulled in a dozen differen' directions and nobody cares about what I feel. I know ya always been a friend Ucchan, and you haven't really contributed to the problem as much, but the fact of the matter is with so many fiancés I'm in a no-win situation."
"I understand Ranchan, is there anyway I can help you," she asked hopefully.
"Just continue bein' ma friend, that's what I need righ' now," he told her seriously before giving her a quick hug. "I'll see ya later Ucchan."
"Bye Ranchan," she told him as he was on his way out the door. Once the door was closed she finally let her tears escape at the thought of losing her chance with Ranma, although she was glad that he still wanted to be friends with her.
"Well, that's Ucchan, now I gotta talk to the old ghoul," Ranma said to himself.
"You wanted to talk to me Son-in-law," the old woman's voice said from behind him.
"Yeah," he said before turning to face her and making sure it was only her before continuing with a serious look on his face, "What do I have to do to get out of the Kiss of Marriage?"
"Do you truly want out of your obligations Son-in-Law?"
"Yes Elder Khu Lon, I do," Ranma answered wearily.
"After your defeat of Saffron I received a letter from my fellow Elder's, we would rather have you as an ally of the tribe than an enemy, and as headstrong and stubborn as you are if we keep pushing you we know we'll make an enemy of you. We agreed to dissolve the Kiss of Marriage so long as you agree to be an ally to the village and come to us if we are in need of aid," she explained, "Don't answer immediately, because my Great-Granddaughter will need to hear all of this."
"Elder Khu Lon, thank you for your help, I will be stopping by your café tomorrow to speak with you," Ranma told her respectfully with a bow before walking away. Cologne just gave a respectful nod and smiled while thinking, it is too bad you're not joining the tribe Son-in-Law, but I understand your reasons. With that thought she hopped her way back to the café to begin packing since without Ranma there wasn't a reason for them to stay here.
Thankfully Kodachi has given up, Ranma thought, I wouldn't want to have to call the police and try to convince them to arrest her. If I leave then I don't have to worry about Kuno either, only Ryoga and he seems to be honing in on Nerima now, or rather Akane, so I don't need to worry about him finding me. He's the only one that'd bother me as long as I'm not 'going after' my fiancés. Was the last thought he had before knocking on the door to his mother's house.
"Ranma," she yelled when she opened the door before hugging him tightly, "What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a bit," he asked nervously, while making sure to talk with a little more sophistication. His mother had told him it wasn't manly the way his father talked.
"Of course," she told him before ushering him inside and quickly making some tea, "What did you want to talk about son?"
"You know how Pops got me engaged to so many different girls right," he asked unsure of exactly how much Nodoka knew of his training trip.
"I know that you're engaged to those three lovely girls," she replied with that gleam in her eyes that said 'My son is so manly!'.
"Well, I'm pretty sure there's more than that, and I was wondering if you could see of a way for me to retain my own honor while not making any of the girls lose their own," he asked.
"What brought this on son," she asked curiously coming out of dream land.
"I'm sick of all the fights between 'em, I just want it to end, and I don't know of a way that I can do that without making all but one girl lose their honor, except becoming a ronin," he told her seriously.
"That's what you want to know," she replied knowingly, "You want to know if I would still love you if you became a ronin?" All Ranma could do was look down and nod at her perceptiveness.
"Ranma, son, I am your mother, and I will always love you. I told you before that I wasn't going to hold the contract over you, only your father, and that I'm proud of you," she told him tenderly, "I think there is a way that we can avoid you becoming a ronin, although I can't answer that immediately. When were you planning on telling your father this?"
"When I returned ta the dojo," he told her.
"Where were you going to sleep tonight," she asked shocked that he would do it that soon.
"I figured I could crash under a bridge or maybe stay at Ukyo's, she agreed to stay friend's with me when I talked to her, and Elder Cologne told me that she's gonna dissolve the Kiss of Marriage so she don't make an enemy for the tribe," he told her with a relieved look on his face. For the first time Nodoka realized what all these engagements and fights were doing to her son, and she was even angrier than she had been when she found out about Genma getting her son cursed.
"If Ukyo won't let you stay then you best come right back here young man, because I will not have you living on the street when I have a room prepared for you," she told him sternly which shocked Ranma. He didn't figure that she had any room for him given the fact that he was still living at the Tendo's, but put it all down to his father.
"Sure Mom, but I better get going, when do you think you'll be able to find out on your idea," he asked her.
"Before you go, I need you to tell me about your training trip. I know you've avoided it until now, but I might need to know about it for my idea to work," she told him honestly. And the next two hours tried her patience more than anything she had previously experienced. Listening to everything Genma had put her son through while she had not been able to help him both depressed her and enraged her. By the end of the story she was sharpening her katana ready to head straight to the dojo and pass judgment on Genma.
"Uh…hehe…Mom, what are you doing," Ranma asked nervously.
"Getting ready to see my husband," she ground out.
"Why don't you let me talk to him first, and you talk to whoever you need to and then you can have your revenge? If it's any help he did train me ta be the best," Ranma replied nervously.
"Fine, but don't you dare warn your father that I'm coming for him," she told him sternly.
"Gotcha, I'll see ya later Mom," he told her before hugging her and leaving.
(Break)
"Where is your son Saotome," Soun asked as he made his move on the shogi board.
"Probably thinking of a way to apologize to Akane," Genma responded thinking about his next move.
"Yes, those two are so in love, don't you agree Saotome," Soun said wistfully.
"Yes, sure takes you back doesn't it Tendo buddy," Genma replied with a laugh.
"Genma Saotome," a yell came from the front gate prompting everyone in the house to look at each other quickly before abandoning what they were doing and rush to see what was going on. When they arrived they were surprised to see Ranma standing there with his pack sitting next to him.
"Boy! What do you think you are doing," Genma yelled.
"Genma Saotome, from this day forth I renounce the Saotome name! All promises made by you in my name are null and void! I would rather follow the path of the ronin than continue being known as your son," Ranma shouted out shocking everyone enough to make them fall flat on their faces.
"You would abandon your family honor? Then you're no son of mine," Genma shouted, "A real son would've married Akane right away!"
"No, a real father wouldn't have sold his son repeatedly to fill his own stomach and then preached about family honor and pushed him to marry someone who treated him as a possession," Ranma replied scathingly.
"RANMA NO BAKA," Akane yelled before charging at him in an attempt to hit him for both the insult and leaving her. Right as she swung Ranma appeared to just disappear from view and the cinder block she was swinging broke in half.
"Kasumi-chan, Nabiki-chan, I'll miss both of ya. At least you'll save money on repairs this way," Ranma told them from his position 10 meters to the left of them before picking up his pack and walking away.
"Where do you think you're going Ranma," Akane yelled.
"Away from you and your constant temper tantrums, oh by the way, have fun sleeping with Ryoga. Since I'm sure you've figured out he's P-chan by now," Ranma called back before leaping onto a roof and roof hopping away.
"What is he talking about," Akane asked stupidly.
"Oh come one Akane, you can't be that dense," Nabiki practically screamed, "The amount of times Ranma climbed into your room with hot water when P-chan was there, or calling Ryoga P-chan! Everyone else in the house figured it out the first week after Ryoga showed up! He even hopped into the furo with dad to change back!"
"Why didn't anyone tell me," Akane screeched.
"We figured you were smart enough to figure it out when we did," Nabiki answered coldly, "Ranma gave you more hints than times you've hit him I think. Is it our fault that you didn't want to face the truth? Or were you really cheating on Ranma with Ryoga and don't want to fess up?"
"That's not very proper Akane," Kasumi said before Akane could respond, "But it does make a certain amount of sense now that I think about it, you were always defending Ryoga and P-chan and taking their side over the man that was supposed to be your fiancé."
"W-what? I would never do that," Akane replied shocked that they would think that. Her father immediately burst into tears crying about his daughter being unfaithful to her fiancé.
"No wonder you accused my son of cheating so often, because it is you doin' the cheatin' and you don't wanna admit it," Genma said sounding wise for once. With everyone against her Akane burst into tears and ran into her room. Less than a minute after she entered her room the sound of a pig squealing and a wall breaking was heard before a tiny black speck was seen in the distance and the scream "RYOGA NO BAKA," echoed throughout Nerima.
(Break)
"Ucchan," Ranma called out after knocking on the front door, "Are you there?" After a few minutes the door was opened and the sight nearly made Ranma faint from blood loss. Ukyo was standing there sleepily in a very short sleeping gown that came down to above mid thigh and didn't leave much else up to the imagination.
"Ranchan? Oh my," she said sleepily before realizing what she was wearing and grabbing a robe to cover up in. "Are you alright Ranchan?"
"F-fine Ucchan, do you mind if I stay here for the night? I already talked to Genma and gave up the Saotome name so I didn't wanna stay there tonight," he asked nervously.
"That's fine, wanna cuddle sugar," she purred before laughing at the fearful look Ranma got on his face, "I was kidding Ranchan. Konatsu has his own futon so you can have the couch for the night if you want."
"Thanks Ucchan," Ranma replied relieved that he'd have a roof over his head tonight.
A/N: Wow, my last note sounded snarky. Oh well, it did apply. I'm not begging or pleading or holding out for reviews before I write another chapter. I still don't know if I'm gonna continue this story. With all the constructive criticism I got after the first post (thanks by the way, the ideas really helped) I decided to refine the chapter somewhat. I hope it's better than the first time around. The speech part is hard to do, so if I do continue it I don't know if I'm gonna keep dummying Ranma's speech down because it's quite a bit more work to go back through the whole chapter after I've written it and correct his speech patterns to appear more stupid than I want him to be. Since I'm not gonna respond to reviews you don't need to give 'em, but I really do appreciate the constructive criticism, and I'm glad the people in this category are giving it readily as opposed to the last one I wrote for. I'm really trying to improve my skills more and the ideas and things your pointing our are helping. Thanks everyone!