Ohayo! I don't have much to say, so just go on reading. Wait, actually I do have to say one thing. From now on, if you have a question or a comment, I will answer it in a special section at the end of the story starting this chapter. In addition, I am still taking guesses for the identity of Akane's new fiancée. Since Ranma is coming back in this chapter, I guess I will keep my other fake money myself. Laughs evilly That's all folks!
IMPORTANT NOTE! EVERYONE MUST READ!!! : This chapter will have a part where you will totally feel like you would want to abandon this story, but DON'T. Read this until the end and you'll see.
......................................................
Ai Shite Nai Wake Ja Nai Chapter 4: Love never dies.
Ranma packed his things and stood up. It was finally time to return to Nerima -- to return to her. For the past twenty years, every single day had been like hell to him. But his suffering would soon be over; he was finally going back to Nerima. Even if it was not for a long time, he just had to see Akane again. See how her life turned out without him to interfere it. Ranma ran his fingers through his dark, raven hair now full of dirty gray streaks and sighed. He regretted every moment of his life ever since he left, but at least Akane was happy now.
Thinking no more, he took off following the same route as when he first left. After countless days of running, he reached the edge of Tokyo. The sight of the city left him spellbound. He knew that things would change during his absence, but not as much as they did. Most of the insignificant buildings were transformed into colossal skyscrapers. Huge signs bearing advertisements for various companies had been hung everywhere. All of the beautiful traditional style Japanese houses stood there no more. Instead, apartment buildings were built so close to each other, it looked as if even a human could not fit in between.
He slowly walked through the unfamiliar city that had once been his hometown. When he reached Nerima, a friendlier sight greeted his now weak eyes (Author's Note: For those of you who are confused right now, Nerima is a neighborhood inside of Tokyo.). While most buildings appeared modern, some of them still possessed the same structures. He walked past the building that had been Ucchan's Okonomiyaki: it was almost identical, except the big sign in the front now said 'Uchi no Sushi'. (Author's Note: The name means House of Sushi and I basically just made that up with the help of my Japanese dictionary.) There seemed to be plenty of customers, but Ukyou was nowhere in sight.
The building where the Nekohanten had stood so many years ago had been turned into an office of the Nissan car corporation. There seemed to be no trace of the Chinese Amazons, but it was all for the better. Now that he thought of it, Ranma had not seen a single human being since he'd entered Nerima. All life appeared still; no crazy contests, no ridiculous challenges, just absolute silence.
As Ranma neared the Tendo dojo, doubts began to slowly crawl into the back of his mind. If he saw Akane, what would he say to her? After twenty years, he was certain that Akane despised him for being such a coward. Nevertheless, Ranma could not live without her a minute longer. Even if it were just a quick glance, it would still be worth it.
The building looked exactly like it had looked when he left it, except the dojo sign now read 'Hibiki Martial Arts' instead of 'Tendo Training Hall'. Ranma was taken aback by the sight of that, but decided that there must be an explanation for everything. Without further hesitation, Ranma walked into the garden and opened the door to the dojo. A group of young Martial artists were practicing katas under the guidance of Ryouga inside.
"Hey, pig boy!" Ranma blurted out almost unconsciously as soon as he saw Ryouga. All of his insults had still been held deep in the back of his mind. He remembered the pain he'd felt whenever he'd seen Akane holding P- chan. Even after twenty years, it still hurt to think that Akane loved P- chan more than him.
Ryouga glanced around as if he thought that he had only imagined the voice. After a few seconds, however, his gaze met Ranma's. "Don't stop the exercises," he ordered his students and walked out to meet the other marital artist.
Now Ranma had a chance to fully look at Ryouga. Age had changed his appearance, but the pig boy's facial features remained the same. Same melancholy look, same determined face, even the same bandana. One thing changed though, he could see it in Ryouga's eyes. They alone told him that something sinister had happened, something that would shatter his heart -- but what?
"So you came, Saotome," Ryouga muttered angrily, his fists clenching. "You coward! Do you know what you have done?!" Tears came pouring down his cheeks slowly. "Saotome, you... you...you..." Without finishing his sentence, Ryouga launched his fist into Ranma's stomach. Ranma dodged it, but Ryouga's ki still hit him with a force that sent him flying into the koi pond.
"Slow down there, Ryouga" a female Ranma said as she got out of the pond "What did I do? Besides, the real question is: what the heck are you doing here at the dojo?" Driven with rage at that comment Ryouga launched another attack, but terminated it moments before his foot connected with Ranma's skull. He walked inside the house and brought out a kettle of hot water.
After Ranma changed back, Ryouga took a deep breath and began. "Perhaps I should explain everything to you before I kill you. After you left Nerima, many things happened; terrible deeds were done. Ranma, because of your cowardice, Akane is dead."
Ranma stared at Ryouga with an expression disbelief and pure horror, but Ryouga did not pause. Instead, he continued with the story trying to suppress more tears as he talked. "My account of how everything happened might not be true to the last detail -- I was training in Osaka after the failed wedding in order to defeat you and marry Akane myself -- but this is what Nabiki told me. After a month had passed since you spinelessly ran away, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Kodachi went insane. They had decided that it was Akane's fault that you left them. One day, when Akane was walking home after school, they killed her, blinded by their anger. No one had seen them afterwards, some had said that they went off to find you, but no one knew for sure."
"It can't be true Ryouga, you're lying!" Ranma cried, although the tone of his voice confirmed that he believed every word of what Ryouga had told him.
Once again, Ryouga ignored him. "After Akane's death the whole Tendo family fell apart. No one but Akane could run the dojo and Soun knew that. However, he still tried training Kasumi and Nabiki in the Anything-Goes martial arts. It was futile though. No amount of training could bring them up to Akane's level. Besides, they both had different goals for their lives. As Nabiki said, the training was excruciating. When they became fed up with it, both of them ran away. I met both of them just outside of Nerima and that's when they told me everything. Two weeks later, I reached the dojo. At that point, Soun was mad enough to burn it, which he almost did, had I not stopped him. He told me it was no use for him anymore, and I decided to take it in memory of Akane. I have been teaching students martial arts ever since. Things have changed in Nerima and it is entirely your fault Ranma. Prepare to die!!!"
Ryouga launched an attack, but Ranma was already gone. This time he was not fleeing Nerima, this time Ranma was fleeing the truth. Akane wasn't dead. All of it was a lie. Nevertheless, Ranma knew that it was not. Why hadn't he thought that his suitors might unleash all of their fury on Akane? Nothing had gone as Ranma had planned: Akane did not have a better life. She had no life at all, and it was his fault. If only Ranma had stayed, at least Akane would still be alive at this moment.
Ranma was not planning to have a definite destination, but somehow his legs had brought him to the cemetery at the northern edge of Nerima. He entered slowly, carefully walking through the dirty grass, neglected for decades. Eerie silence filled the territory; minutes seemed like hours in that desolate place.
None of it affected Ranma though. He kept walking until he saw what he came for. There, a few feet from him stood Akane's grave. He quietly crept closer to read the hiragana sloppily etched onto the front. In memory of Tendo Akane 1971-1988 Brutally slaughtered at the hands of Kyonji Ukyou, Kuno Kodachi, and Shampoo Over an idiot and a coward named Ranma. Curse you Saotome!!!
At that moment, all strength left Ranma and he collapsed to his knees. He stared at those frightful words reading them over and over. The last line alone made his heart ache so much that death would have been a better refuge. Thunder had begun to rumble softly in the distance and clouds gathered over Tokyo; soon a heavy rainstorm raged over all of Nerima.
Onna-Ranma looked up at the sinister sky. In a way, she was somewhat glad that it was raining. The wet raindrops obscured her tears and for that, she was glad. The salty tears mixed with the raindrops burned her eyes. That sensation was almost unknown to her, Ranma had not cried in more than twenty years, but she could not stop herself know. Everything was lost, Akane was dead, and in was all her fault.
"No more" she thought, she was going to take charge of her life and try to live on without Akane. Even though she know it would not be possible. Ever.
Ranma looked up at the sky. The menacing clouds remained above Nerima, but the rain had abruptly ended. A small ball of light emerged from the deep shadows, Ranma watched as it became bigger and bigger in diameter. As the sphere expanded, it illuminated the sky turning it bright white instead the bluish gray it had been before. Ranma closed her eyes to prevent the brightness from blinding her. When Ranma opened them again, she was a he.
Everything had been a frightening dream. No, more like a frightening nightmare. The remains of it were vague, but Ranma carefully pulled all of the missing fragments together and everything came flooding back into his mind. Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyou killed Akane, all because of him. All because he was a coward and a complete idiot.
Whether he wanted to or not, Ranma would have to go back, to protect Akane and keep his other fiancées away from her. He still had time, only a month passed since he left, but to him it seemed like years. Who knew what might have happened to that clumsy tomboy already?
Ranma sat up and looked at his surroundings. Same old Chinese landscapes, a tent, and a campfire. It had been the same for countless amounts of days. If he continued traveling like that, he would reach Jusenkyo and become a full man in a day or two. His cure was so close, but Ranma could waste any more time. Akane might have been in danger already. Ranma hurriedly packed his belongings and set off. It was going to be a long swim back to Nerima.
Maniacal laughter echoed from somewhere deep inside the forest. Now it was going to be an even longer swim to Nerima
......................................................
I cannot believe I am actually done with this chapter! This was so hard for me to write. I hadn't actually planned the dream part, but what I was going to write sounded too crappy, so I thought of a completely different chapter. You would not believe how hard it was to think of everything as I went along. I hope none of you are angry with me for killing off Akane (even if it was only in a dream), so all of you die-hard Akane fans: GOMENASAI!!!
Here are the replies to your reviews as promised.
Alex Ultra and Karburator: Yes, at first I planned to have the argument between Soun and Genma be different, but after rewriting it about 5 times I've finally settled on what I had. I wanted to emphasize the fact that Genma does not care about Ranma at all and of course, Soun acted the way he did because he always wants what is better for his daughters (Who could ever forget his demon-head attacks?) and a failed wedding was definitely not on his list. Besides, I had to end Ranma's and Akane's engagement somehow and this was the only was I could think of.
Frameofmind: I have finally brought in Ryouga! I hope you're happy. By the way, he will definitely be in the next chapter too.
DogbertCarroll: Thank you for the criticism. If you find more mistakes, please let me know. One thing though, the springs were not destroyed. They had overflowed when Ranma left China, but when the guide sent the Nannichuan, he said that everything was back to normal.
Mlink: Do you have ESP? Cause you've completely guessed what this chapter was about in your review. Anyway, I am sorry for not updating.
Everyone else: Thank you so much for reviewing my story! Every one of your reviews makes this a whole lot easier to write.
Sneak Peek at Chapter 5: What is the identity of Akane's fiancée? Will Ranma reach Nerima in time to stop the new engagement?
IMPORTANT NOTE! EVERYONE MUST READ!!! : This chapter will have a part where you will totally feel like you would want to abandon this story, but DON'T. Read this until the end and you'll see.
......................................................
Ai Shite Nai Wake Ja Nai Chapter 4: Love never dies.
Ranma packed his things and stood up. It was finally time to return to Nerima -- to return to her. For the past twenty years, every single day had been like hell to him. But his suffering would soon be over; he was finally going back to Nerima. Even if it was not for a long time, he just had to see Akane again. See how her life turned out without him to interfere it. Ranma ran his fingers through his dark, raven hair now full of dirty gray streaks and sighed. He regretted every moment of his life ever since he left, but at least Akane was happy now.
Thinking no more, he took off following the same route as when he first left. After countless days of running, he reached the edge of Tokyo. The sight of the city left him spellbound. He knew that things would change during his absence, but not as much as they did. Most of the insignificant buildings were transformed into colossal skyscrapers. Huge signs bearing advertisements for various companies had been hung everywhere. All of the beautiful traditional style Japanese houses stood there no more. Instead, apartment buildings were built so close to each other, it looked as if even a human could not fit in between.
He slowly walked through the unfamiliar city that had once been his hometown. When he reached Nerima, a friendlier sight greeted his now weak eyes (Author's Note: For those of you who are confused right now, Nerima is a neighborhood inside of Tokyo.). While most buildings appeared modern, some of them still possessed the same structures. He walked past the building that had been Ucchan's Okonomiyaki: it was almost identical, except the big sign in the front now said 'Uchi no Sushi'. (Author's Note: The name means House of Sushi and I basically just made that up with the help of my Japanese dictionary.) There seemed to be plenty of customers, but Ukyou was nowhere in sight.
The building where the Nekohanten had stood so many years ago had been turned into an office of the Nissan car corporation. There seemed to be no trace of the Chinese Amazons, but it was all for the better. Now that he thought of it, Ranma had not seen a single human being since he'd entered Nerima. All life appeared still; no crazy contests, no ridiculous challenges, just absolute silence.
As Ranma neared the Tendo dojo, doubts began to slowly crawl into the back of his mind. If he saw Akane, what would he say to her? After twenty years, he was certain that Akane despised him for being such a coward. Nevertheless, Ranma could not live without her a minute longer. Even if it were just a quick glance, it would still be worth it.
The building looked exactly like it had looked when he left it, except the dojo sign now read 'Hibiki Martial Arts' instead of 'Tendo Training Hall'. Ranma was taken aback by the sight of that, but decided that there must be an explanation for everything. Without further hesitation, Ranma walked into the garden and opened the door to the dojo. A group of young Martial artists were practicing katas under the guidance of Ryouga inside.
"Hey, pig boy!" Ranma blurted out almost unconsciously as soon as he saw Ryouga. All of his insults had still been held deep in the back of his mind. He remembered the pain he'd felt whenever he'd seen Akane holding P- chan. Even after twenty years, it still hurt to think that Akane loved P- chan more than him.
Ryouga glanced around as if he thought that he had only imagined the voice. After a few seconds, however, his gaze met Ranma's. "Don't stop the exercises," he ordered his students and walked out to meet the other marital artist.
Now Ranma had a chance to fully look at Ryouga. Age had changed his appearance, but the pig boy's facial features remained the same. Same melancholy look, same determined face, even the same bandana. One thing changed though, he could see it in Ryouga's eyes. They alone told him that something sinister had happened, something that would shatter his heart -- but what?
"So you came, Saotome," Ryouga muttered angrily, his fists clenching. "You coward! Do you know what you have done?!" Tears came pouring down his cheeks slowly. "Saotome, you... you...you..." Without finishing his sentence, Ryouga launched his fist into Ranma's stomach. Ranma dodged it, but Ryouga's ki still hit him with a force that sent him flying into the koi pond.
"Slow down there, Ryouga" a female Ranma said as she got out of the pond "What did I do? Besides, the real question is: what the heck are you doing here at the dojo?" Driven with rage at that comment Ryouga launched another attack, but terminated it moments before his foot connected with Ranma's skull. He walked inside the house and brought out a kettle of hot water.
After Ranma changed back, Ryouga took a deep breath and began. "Perhaps I should explain everything to you before I kill you. After you left Nerima, many things happened; terrible deeds were done. Ranma, because of your cowardice, Akane is dead."
Ranma stared at Ryouga with an expression disbelief and pure horror, but Ryouga did not pause. Instead, he continued with the story trying to suppress more tears as he talked. "My account of how everything happened might not be true to the last detail -- I was training in Osaka after the failed wedding in order to defeat you and marry Akane myself -- but this is what Nabiki told me. After a month had passed since you spinelessly ran away, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Kodachi went insane. They had decided that it was Akane's fault that you left them. One day, when Akane was walking home after school, they killed her, blinded by their anger. No one had seen them afterwards, some had said that they went off to find you, but no one knew for sure."
"It can't be true Ryouga, you're lying!" Ranma cried, although the tone of his voice confirmed that he believed every word of what Ryouga had told him.
Once again, Ryouga ignored him. "After Akane's death the whole Tendo family fell apart. No one but Akane could run the dojo and Soun knew that. However, he still tried training Kasumi and Nabiki in the Anything-Goes martial arts. It was futile though. No amount of training could bring them up to Akane's level. Besides, they both had different goals for their lives. As Nabiki said, the training was excruciating. When they became fed up with it, both of them ran away. I met both of them just outside of Nerima and that's when they told me everything. Two weeks later, I reached the dojo. At that point, Soun was mad enough to burn it, which he almost did, had I not stopped him. He told me it was no use for him anymore, and I decided to take it in memory of Akane. I have been teaching students martial arts ever since. Things have changed in Nerima and it is entirely your fault Ranma. Prepare to die!!!"
Ryouga launched an attack, but Ranma was already gone. This time he was not fleeing Nerima, this time Ranma was fleeing the truth. Akane wasn't dead. All of it was a lie. Nevertheless, Ranma knew that it was not. Why hadn't he thought that his suitors might unleash all of their fury on Akane? Nothing had gone as Ranma had planned: Akane did not have a better life. She had no life at all, and it was his fault. If only Ranma had stayed, at least Akane would still be alive at this moment.
Ranma was not planning to have a definite destination, but somehow his legs had brought him to the cemetery at the northern edge of Nerima. He entered slowly, carefully walking through the dirty grass, neglected for decades. Eerie silence filled the territory; minutes seemed like hours in that desolate place.
None of it affected Ranma though. He kept walking until he saw what he came for. There, a few feet from him stood Akane's grave. He quietly crept closer to read the hiragana sloppily etched onto the front. In memory of Tendo Akane 1971-1988 Brutally slaughtered at the hands of Kyonji Ukyou, Kuno Kodachi, and Shampoo Over an idiot and a coward named Ranma. Curse you Saotome!!!
At that moment, all strength left Ranma and he collapsed to his knees. He stared at those frightful words reading them over and over. The last line alone made his heart ache so much that death would have been a better refuge. Thunder had begun to rumble softly in the distance and clouds gathered over Tokyo; soon a heavy rainstorm raged over all of Nerima.
Onna-Ranma looked up at the sinister sky. In a way, she was somewhat glad that it was raining. The wet raindrops obscured her tears and for that, she was glad. The salty tears mixed with the raindrops burned her eyes. That sensation was almost unknown to her, Ranma had not cried in more than twenty years, but she could not stop herself know. Everything was lost, Akane was dead, and in was all her fault.
"No more" she thought, she was going to take charge of her life and try to live on without Akane. Even though she know it would not be possible. Ever.
Ranma looked up at the sky. The menacing clouds remained above Nerima, but the rain had abruptly ended. A small ball of light emerged from the deep shadows, Ranma watched as it became bigger and bigger in diameter. As the sphere expanded, it illuminated the sky turning it bright white instead the bluish gray it had been before. Ranma closed her eyes to prevent the brightness from blinding her. When Ranma opened them again, she was a he.
Everything had been a frightening dream. No, more like a frightening nightmare. The remains of it were vague, but Ranma carefully pulled all of the missing fragments together and everything came flooding back into his mind. Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyou killed Akane, all because of him. All because he was a coward and a complete idiot.
Whether he wanted to or not, Ranma would have to go back, to protect Akane and keep his other fiancées away from her. He still had time, only a month passed since he left, but to him it seemed like years. Who knew what might have happened to that clumsy tomboy already?
Ranma sat up and looked at his surroundings. Same old Chinese landscapes, a tent, and a campfire. It had been the same for countless amounts of days. If he continued traveling like that, he would reach Jusenkyo and become a full man in a day or two. His cure was so close, but Ranma could waste any more time. Akane might have been in danger already. Ranma hurriedly packed his belongings and set off. It was going to be a long swim back to Nerima.
Maniacal laughter echoed from somewhere deep inside the forest. Now it was going to be an even longer swim to Nerima
......................................................
I cannot believe I am actually done with this chapter! This was so hard for me to write. I hadn't actually planned the dream part, but what I was going to write sounded too crappy, so I thought of a completely different chapter. You would not believe how hard it was to think of everything as I went along. I hope none of you are angry with me for killing off Akane (even if it was only in a dream), so all of you die-hard Akane fans: GOMENASAI!!!
Here are the replies to your reviews as promised.
Alex Ultra and Karburator: Yes, at first I planned to have the argument between Soun and Genma be different, but after rewriting it about 5 times I've finally settled on what I had. I wanted to emphasize the fact that Genma does not care about Ranma at all and of course, Soun acted the way he did because he always wants what is better for his daughters (Who could ever forget his demon-head attacks?) and a failed wedding was definitely not on his list. Besides, I had to end Ranma's and Akane's engagement somehow and this was the only was I could think of.
Frameofmind: I have finally brought in Ryouga! I hope you're happy. By the way, he will definitely be in the next chapter too.
DogbertCarroll: Thank you for the criticism. If you find more mistakes, please let me know. One thing though, the springs were not destroyed. They had overflowed when Ranma left China, but when the guide sent the Nannichuan, he said that everything was back to normal.
Mlink: Do you have ESP? Cause you've completely guessed what this chapter was about in your review. Anyway, I am sorry for not updating.
Everyone else: Thank you so much for reviewing my story! Every one of your reviews makes this a whole lot easier to write.
Sneak Peek at Chapter 5: What is the identity of Akane's fiancée? Will Ranma reach Nerima in time to stop the new engagement?