Knock, knock
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, and I ain't makin' a dime off of this. Rumiko Takahashi owns this wonderful world I'm playing with.
Protecting At Any Cost
"Come in," a voice called from the opposite side of the door. Ranma half walked, half staggered in due to the rather enthusiastic beating he had just received. It had started out normally with Akane going to hit him due to Shampoo glomping him, but when he attempted to defend himself Shampoo joined in and before he knew it all of his fiancées and rivals were a part of a mob taking their time to work him over.
"You look like hell Saotome, what'd you do this time," Nabiki asked, visibly trying to hold in her mirth.
"Nothing," Ranma replied flatly, which surprised Nabiki quite a bit. It wasn't that he didn't normally say it wasn't his fault, but normally he was ready to shout from the rooftops that it wasn't his fault that the 'uncute tomboy' misunderstood the situation. That's when she looked into his eyes and didn't like what she saw, he was one hit away from giving up, maybe permanently.
"What can I do for you," Nabiki asked, "I won't even charge to help." I couldn't charge, not after seeing that look in your eyes, she thought to herself.
"I want out, out of all of the engagements, out of all the honor contracts pops has put me in, most of all I want out of the chaos," he told her, his voice still flat.
"That's going to take a bit of work, but, with the exception of Shampoo, there is an easy way out. I don't think you'd want to take the easy way though," Nabiki answered.
"Not particularly, but let's keep it as a last resort. What is it," he asked.
"Leaving the Saotome family register. I could probably get you registered in another family without too much difficulty, but that still wouldn't take care of Shampoo," she told him.
"If we can't come up with anything else we'll have to go with that. If we do, do you know how we can handle Shampoo," he asked, still no apparent change in the tone of his voice. Although his physical wounds seemed to look slightly better. It seemed he had gotten better at using his Ki to heal himself.
"No, but I can find out. If nothing else I can talk to Mousse and find out more about the marriage laws. I read through that law book that Shampoo left when she showed up and it turns out that that's not a real copy of it, it's just one that they leave for 'outsiders' who need to know why something is happening. I would put money on half of those laws not being worded or copied right to seem as if there is no way around it," she informed him. I have to do something! I can't stand seeing Ranma like this! Where's the old Ranma, the brash, overconfident, egotistical, cocky Ranma?
"'k, what should we try before that," he asked.
"Ukyo once let it slip that marriage wasn't the only way to satisfy her honor, all she had to do was become a Saotome, and that can be done by adoption into the clan," Nabiki told him, hoping it would give him some hope.
"That works for her, but what about your sister," Ranma asked.
"Akane is easy enough to manipulate, so all we have to do is get out fathers to agree to something that they don't think will happen again," she said with a wry grin.
"What's that," he asked with a little hint of hope in his voice.
"Since Kasumi and I have already passed on the engagement, we have to get them to sign a contract to the effect that the family agreement only rests with you and Akane. We can also put in a clause, that they won't read, that says if Akane breaks the engagement you won't lose any honor should you agree," Nabiki explained.
"If I know my pops and yours, that contract wouldn't matter, he'd still harp on me to apologize to Akane and get her to 'take me back'," Ranma replied.
"True, we'll just have to put in the contract that once broken the agreement to join the families cannot be resumed during this generation, and any agreement to join future generations will be done by the parents of that generation," she thought out loud.
"Um, what's that mean," Ranma asked confused. His voice had finally stopped being completely flat, although it had a lot of sad undertones to it, it was coming back to normal.
"It means that they can't push you to marry me or my sisters and they can't force any of our children to marry either," she told him.
"That sounds good, but how are we going to get Akane to break the engagement again," he asked.
"Leave that up to me," she replied.
"I really appreciate the help Nabiki, I'm gonna go grab some food before anyone wonders why I've spent so long in your room," he told her.
"Wait Ranma, I have one last question for you," she said quickly, wondering if she really wanted the answer.
"Sure, what is it," he asked.
"If worse comes to worse and we can't get you out of this, what are you going to do," she asked. She wanted to know exactly how serious he was about getting out of the engagements and honor contracts. The honor contracts would be easy enough, it was the engagements that would be difficult.
"If there is no other way then I'll end it on my terms," he told her with a look in his eyes that scared her to the core. She knew what that look meant, she'd seen it when she looked in the mirror back when she first started blackmailing people. If he could find no other way out, Ranma would take himself out of the picture to ensure that nobody had a loss of honor and the fighting stopped. It also had the benefit of being an end to his pain, but she knew enough to know that wasn't the foremost thing in his mind. While she was thinking over this she didn't even notice Ranma leave the room, nor did she notice the tears that streaked down her cheek after he had left.
(Break)
Two weeks later
Dammit, I've spent two weeks researching a way around those damn Amazon laws and I can't find one! Mousse hasn't been any help, all he could tell me was that one of the Kisses needed to be satisfied or an Elder had to revoke both. The chances of Cologne revoking the Kiss of Marriage are null, Nabiki ranted in her mind. So far everything had been set up correctly and the plan had only to be put into action, but the Amazon laws were the tricky part.
She got both the fathers to sign the contract, although they were drunk at the time, and set up one of her flunkies to manipulate Akane into breaking the engagement again. Nodoka seemed willing to bring Ukyo into the Saotome clan, and only needed the go ahead from either Nabiki or Ranma to file the paperwork. The only obstacle left was Shampoo and Cologne. I'm running out of time, and I don't think Ranma will wait much longer before ending things his way, she thought near hysterically to herself. When did I start caring so much about Ranma? I mean for so long he was just a means for me to bring in more money, but now I don't think I could imagine him not being around and not just from a financial standpoint. It would hurt too much if he were to leave and never come back, either by moving away or something more…permanent. When did I start to care about anyone? I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter right now. I swear on my mother's grave, if I cannot get him out of this there WILL be hell to pay!
"Hey Ranma, can I get you to do something for me," Nabiki asked. Normally she'd have to put up her normal façade but since they were the only two home it didn't quite matter right now.
"Sure, it's the least I could do since you're doing so much to help me," Ranma replied with a sad smile. He knew that she was losing sleep over the problems with the Amazons, and he knew exactly how she felt about it.
"I've been trying to figure this out whenever I needed a break from your problem and I figured you were the person to ask. I need you to talk to Doctor Tofu," she told him.
"About what," he asked confusedly.
"His feelings for Kasumi, it's ridiculous that he can't act like a sane man around her or even at the mention of her name. She deserves better than that, and I want you to talk to him about it and see if you can't figure out a way to snap him out of it," she explained. Ranma got a feral look on his face, not unlike when he was under the Neko-ken, when she finished.
"Oh I have just the idea to snap him out of it," he told her before sauntering out of the house towards the clinic. Taking his time to plan everything out Ranma made sure that the place was cleared out with the exception of Tofu, and put up a sign indicating Kasumi was inside to keep anyone else out.
"Hey Doc, got a minute," Ranma asked innocently.
"Sure Ranma, what can I do for you," Tofu asked obliviously. Knowing that Tofu was a superb martial artist Ranma worked at his Amaguriken speed to tie the good doctor's hands behind his back to prevent any pressure points from being hit.
"What are you doing," Tofu asked hysterically.
"I want you to listen and listen good Doc," Ranma told him looking Tofu straight in the eyes. "I'm here to talk to ya about Kasumi," and just as Tofu's glasses began to fog up he knew the meaning of pain. Ranma slammed a fist into his gut to keep his attention.
"That's what I'm talking about. She deserves for you to be coherent around you, not some blubbering man who tears up the place and dances a skeleton around town at the mere sight of her," Ranma told him coldly while Tofu wheezed trying to regain his breath. "She's an amazing woman, and for some reason she seems to want to be with you despite the fact you can't keep it together when she's around or at the mere mention of her name! So we're going to work you through that today." What commenced was a training method that was so stupid it was up there with Genma's training, but like Genma's it was just as effective. By the end of two hours Tofu was able to not only hear Kasumi's name but think about her in a rational manner. The ultimate test would be whether or not he'd be able to see her, but Ranma had faith that he would. After treating the wounds he inflicted on the doctor he decided to relay one last parting message.
"And Doc, if I so much as hear about you making her cry…" The following threat has been censored due to the graphic nature of said threat and the delicate sensibilities of the readers. Suffice it to say, it began threatening certain parts of Tofu's anatomy being ripped off and shoved down his throat and degraded from there. By the end Tofu was truly fearing what Ranma would do should he even consider hurting Kasumi, but he knew that if he felt his rational mind start to slip all he had to do was think about this moment and it'd snap back quicker than Akane jumping to a conclusion.
"I can't say much for your methods, but thank you for the help Ranma," Tofu said sincerely once he regained his wits, "I've been searching for a method that would work for so long that I'd almost given up hope."
"I figure that's why ya'd left, but now that yer back you can be with Kasumi, just don't pull a stunt like that again," Ranma told him before walking out so Tofu could bathe to clean up a small bowel problem he had during the threat session.
(Break)
A few days later
"Elder Khu Lon of the Joketsuzoku, I require an audience with you," Nabiki announced from the front door of the Nekohanten. This proclamation spurred several actions, Mousse scurrying out of the room, Cologne barking out orders for Shampoo to close the restaurant, and Shampoo herding every customer out with promises of a discount on Ramen either later that day or tomorrow.
"What mercenary-girl want," Shampoo asked confused.
"I require a private audience with your Elder," Nabiki replied coldly without even looking at Shampoo.
"Great-Granddaughter, leave us," Cologne ordered, "And do not even think of eavesdropping."
"Yes Great-Grandmother," Shampoo responded subdued before heading to her room to sulk.
"What can I do for you Miss Tendo," Cologne asked after showing Nabiki to a seat.
"What do you know of the events that happened nearly three weeks ago now," Nabiki asked. She hadn't wanted to come here, but felt as if this was her final option.
"I know nothing save that the normal chaos that surrounds my future Son-in-Law happened as usual," Cologne responded while watching Nabiki carefully. She knew that the event couldn't have been as normal as she had thought if Nabiki of all people was coming to see her, but she wasn't going to let on that she figured as much.
"This wasn't your normal Shampoo glomping Ranma and him being hit into the stratosphere by Akane," Nabiki replied without even hinting at wanting money for this information. Cologne was starting to become very nervous at this point. What could have been so different as to get the infamous Nabiki Tendo to give out information for free, she wondered to herself without letting any emotion show outwardly.
"Just your presences tells me this child, tell me, what was so different about that time," Cologne asked.
"Not only did Akane beat Ranma, as usual, but so did every fiancée and rival he has. From what I understand it started out with him defending himself after getting glomped so Shampoo joined Akane in beating him, and escalated from there," Nabiki explained.
"That doesn't tell me much, Son-in-Law has been beaten many times, what was so different about this time," Cologne asked.
"That if these occurrences do not stop, and he doesn't find a way to become release from every engagement he will, in his own words, end it on his terms," Nabiki told Cologne, and from the look in Nabiki's eyes Cologne could tell that there wouldn't be any fighting involved in the way Ranma handled it. That could only mean…NO! Has he really been pushed that far, would he really do that to put an end to this seemingly endless feud, she asked herself, but she already knew the answer. Ranma Saotome would do anything to protect those he cared about, and if he felt this was the only answer to stop the fighting and let everyone live in peace then he would go through with it.
"What do you require of me," Cologne asked, for once without the look of manipulation in her eyes.
"I need a way to get Ranma out of the Kiss of Marriage and the Kiss of Death. I can get him out of everything else, by taking him off the Saotome family register if nothing else, but I couldn't find a way to get around the Amazon laws," Nabiki told the matriarch.
"I will absolve the Kisses provided Ranma come here and talk to me. He truly is the best pupil I could have asked for and no matter what the beliefs of my tribe he truly is the best fighter of his generation. Maybe even the greatest fighter alive today," Cologne responded after a moment of thought.
"I believe we can do that," Nabiki replied, "I'll let him know as soon as I see him. What are you going to do once the Kisses are dissolved?"
"Unfortunately I do not see any way for us to return to the village, Shampoo has become far too much like an outsider to be able to truly fit into the village anymore. As much as it pains me we will remain here and sever ties with the village as returning would mean disgrace anyway."
"Maybe we can work together in the future then," Nabiki suggested before standing up and bowing, "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me Elder Khu Lon of the Joketsuzoku."
"You are welcome child, thank you for bringing these things to my attention," Cologne replied before returning the bow. After walking out the door Nabiki ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards her home to tell Ranma the good news. Finally, finally, they could carry out their plans to rid Ranma of the engagements so he wouldn't have to worry about all the problems that he faced day in and day out. Once she got there she searched all over the house to no avail, she couldn't find him anywhere! She took one more look in her room only to find a letter on her desk addressed to everyone in Ranma's handwriting. Her scream tore through the entire neighborhood rattling everyone to the bone and making every single person wonder who had hurt the poor girl. Of course her family immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and ran to her room ready to berate Ranma for hurting her. Their shouts died on their lips as they took in the scene, Nabiki was on her knees weeping as she read a letter and from the writing on the back of the paper it was addressed to them all.
"Dear Everyone," Kasumi began after extricating the letter from Nabiki.
"After nearly three weeks of futile searching I have realized there is no way for me to settle things peacefully, save one.
I have spent the last three weeks, with Nabiki's help, trying to find a way to satisfy everyone's honor while getting out of all of the engagements because no matter who I chose the chaos wouldn't end. People would be hurt, emotionally and physically, and I couldn't do that. Look at the failed wedding that happened months ago. There were bombs being thrown around there for crying out loud!
I want you all to know that I love you all, even you Oyaji, you have been my family for nearly three years now. You've taken me into your home, fed me, and most of all put up with me and my pops. I care for all of you, including the other fiancées, and I don't want to see anyone else getting hurt over this.
By the time this letter is found it should be sunset which means the fiancée war will be at an end. I wanted to watch it one last time before I went through with this, and my only regret will be not saying goodbye to all of you in person. I know though, that if I did so I would never be able to go through with what needs to be done. There is a letter for each of you in your rooms that is addressed to you personally as my way of saying what I couldn't say to you in life.
I'm sorry it had to end this way.
Ranma Saotome"
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT," Nabiki screamed moving past Kasumi and stalking towards her father, Genma, and Akane. "You never listened, you never gave him a chance, you always hit first and never asked a question later! You jumped to conclusions that were 99 percent wrong! How could he be a pervert when this tub of lard probably never told him what sex even was," she screamed in Akane's face pointing at Genma. "And you! You harped about honor but do you even know what it means? How many times have you sold your son? He was your flesh and blood and you SOLD him! You abused him and he took it because he loved you and wanted to make you proud of him, but did you ever once tell him that? NO!"
"Now Nabiki," Soun began, hoping to placate his daughter. Where his spine came from nobody could guess, but he didn't get much more of a chance to use it.
"DO NOT EVEN TRY TO TELL ME THAT IT ISN'T THEIR FAULTS! YOU'RE JUST AS MUCH TO BLAME AS THEY ARE," Nabiki screeched, "You abandoned us for 10 years, and if that wasn't enough the moment that he shows up you try to give us away! You never listened to anything anyone had to say except the PANDA and AKANE! How many times did Ranma get abused right in front of your face and you decided to help gang up on him to force him to apologize to Akane? How many times did you yell at him with that stupid demon head technique for supposedly 'cheating' on your 'precious little girl' when RANMA DIDN'T DO A DAMN THING WRONG?"
"WAAAAAAAH! My daughter hates me," Soun wailed.
"Don't yell at Daddy, you're just as guilty as the rest of us, you blackmailed him and abused his trust to make money," Akane yelled in her defense.
"Do you honestly think I'd be able to sneak up on a martial artist of Ranma's caliber, and not only take pictures of him, but dump water on him first," Nabiki asked coolly, "He was helping this family so we had a house to live in due to the amount of repairs constantly needed because you were always sending him through a wall, ceiling, or otherwise. Or his other fiancées showing up and wrecking the place. Didn't anyone notice how much time he spent around me in the last two and a half weeks? I'm the only person in this house who took the time to actually talk to that man and find out what he was feeling and try and help him! So don't harp to me about guilt, I know I've done my share, but at least I took the chance to apologize and try and make up for it!"
"Excuse me," a voice called from the hallway.
"Oh my," Kasumi said wiping some tears from her face, "Yes? Oh, Auntie Nodoka, what can I do for you?"
"Kasumi, I was wondering where my son is," Nodoka asked politely before noticing the despondent looks on everyone's faces, "What's wrong? Where's Ranma?" In reply Kasumi just handed the letter to Nodoka and whispered that she probably had a personal letter sitting in her room at her home. When Nodoka finished the letter she tore out of the house like the hounds of hell were after her towards her own house balling and not sure what to make of what she had read. True, she had a warped sense of honor, but she never really would have held Ranma to the seppuku contract after meeting him. She loved her son too much for that.
Later that night, after everyone had been tracked down and read their own letters, they set out to search for the body of Ranma Saotome so they could begin the funeral arrangements. Not a single person in the group, other than Nabiki, had a look of open hostility towards anyone else. They all felt partially responsible for what had happened, and only wished that they could have one more chance to try and make it up to the person who meant so much to them all. The only person Nabiki didn't look at menacingly was Kasumi, as she had at least tried to make Ranma feel welcome and do what she could to brighten everyone's day. She never actively participated in the torment of Ranma.
After several hours of searching they finally came upon the site of Ranma's release. It wasn't hard to miss in itself, but they hadn't actually thought to look under the bridge before. The concrete had been stained red with his blood as it ran from his body running all the way down to the river from where his body lay. His head was severed and grasped into his hand, it appeared he didn't want to be buried, or cremated, without it. Upon seeing the brutality in which Ranma finished his life every person there promptly lost what little food they had been able to consume before leaving on the search. In the low light they couldn't tell what color clothes he had on, but none of them thought they would be able to tell anyway with all the blood that had been spilled. Every inch of his clothing had been soaked through with blood. After turning over his body they discovered that he followed seppuku as closely as he could. He had used a tanto to cut open his own stomach before using the Saotome honor blade to take his own head.
After wrapping him in clothe they quietly made their trek back to the Tendo home, not one person saying a word, as they were all still in shock over what Ranma felt he had to do to protect them all from the fighting.
Once they were all settled into the dojo Kasumi left to call the police and inform them of what happened as it would need to be filed immediately, and although she didn't want to, she seemed to be the only one capable of it at this time. Back in the dojo everyone seemed to be getting their wits back and ready to begin talking things out when the door slid open again. They expected to see Kasumi back, but they saw Ryoga with a manic grin on his face.
"Is it true? Did Ranma kill himself? Am I finally rid of the man that made my life hell," he asked, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room seemed to now be emitting a red battle aura due to their sheer anger at Ryoga. "Finally, I can profess my love for you Akane!"
"SHUT IT P-CHAN," Nabiki yelled, her fists clenched, and her left eye twitching.
"Mercenary-girl right, you act like the pig you turn into," Shampoo yelled, which caused Akane's battle aura to disappear and her face to pale as she began to piece things together slowly.
"Hehehe, what are you talking about," Ryoga asked nervously.
"Oh, you mean you haven't told Akane about your trip to Jusenkyo," Mousse asked. During his talks with Nabiki he had finally given up his rivalry with Ranma realizing that he truly didn't want Shampoo, and had felt bad for every time he had attacked the man. He felt sick that he had acted so dishonorably, and had even partnered up with someone as dishonorable as Ryoga!
"Y-you have a curse," she squeaked.
"Why do you think Son-in…no Ranma, why do you think Ranma kept calling him P-chan? Did you never notice that the little pig had the same bandana as Ryoga," Cologne asked, "Are you truly that dense or did you really want to avoid the truth that much?"
"RYOGA NO HENTAI," Akane yelled before setting a new world record for distance with an uppercut. Ryoga wouldn't stop flying until he landed in Kyoto.
The funeral and cremation proceeded without much fanfare, only his 'family' showed up as they seemed to be the only people that truly mourned his passing. While everyone was walking away Nabiki kneeled at the shrine displaying a picture of Ranma and as her tears fell whispered her one regret, "I wish I could have told you that I love you."