I was very afraid of not meeting my deadline, since my exams are coming up, my teachers are giving me so much more homework, and my worst fears came true. I am very sorry, but I have to put my schoolwork before fanfiction. Sadly. By the way, does anyone know where I can find the English version of "Valenti" (by BoA)? Your help will be greatly appreciated. Read on…
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Ai Shite Nai Wake Ja Nai Chapter 8: Words from the heart.
In the Nerima district of Tokyo, inside the Nekohanten Café business was going as usual. A steady line of hungry people was coming in waiting to get their orders, while Shampoo darted from customer to customer in a hurry, not wanting to agitate any of them. A slow-paced waitress could not bring new customers.
Nor could she put her great-grandmother in a better mood, although on that day Cologne was not contented with the number of customers that came to the café. The Amazon Elder had been in the kitchen from 5 a.m. cooking various Chinese dishes and muttering curses in Mandarin for almost half of that time. The stream of customers seemed to have no end. The enraged elder was so engrossed in her cooking, she almost missed the ring of the telephone. In a hurry, she picked up the receiver and prepared to lash out at the poor victim who must have been suicidal to call during the peak hours. The voice at the other line, however, brought a small smile to her face. Something significant must have occurred for that person to want to call them.
"Shampoo, it's for you! Make it real quick." Cologne yelled out remembering that the food could not prepare itself. She quickly went back to her work muttering more curses under her breath and managing to make ramen at the same time.
Shampoo ran up to the receiver, picked it up, and cheerfully answered, "Nihao!"
A cold, female voice answered her. "Hello Shampoo, I have a proposition that I think you would be very interested in."
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As Akane continued to quietly sob, Ranma pondered the situation that was unfolding before him. Akane had every reason to be angry. He deserved it after leaving her. Had she wanted him to stay? Leaving Nerima must have been the wrong decision. This time he would not run away from his problems. Once was more than enough to realize his mistake. He would approach the chaos in his life in a different way.
Ranma looked at Akane's crying figure and pulled her into a tight embrace, doing the first thing that came into his mind. To his great surprise, Akane did not pull away or resume her yelling at him. Instead, she slowly and hesitantly put her arms around him gradually pulling him closer to her shaking body.
"You idiot, I thought you would never return," she mumbled quietly into his shirt for once forgetting her anger. For the first time in more than a month, Akane did not feel alone. "I was so afraid…"
"I'm so sorry, I…" Ranma stopped and paused, he was overwhelmed by his sudden boldness, but maybe after so many years of denial it was finally time for him to tell Akane the truth. He would not mess up things once more. Even if Akane despised him, he would tell her that he was in love with her. He did it once back at Jusendo, so he could do it again. And, if the mallet came, Ranma would always be able to hide somewhere until Akane found a way to channel her anger at another poor victim.
"Damn it, I should have told you this long ago. Akane, I … I…" his voice faltered.
"Love you?" Akane inquired. She did not know why she had done that, but saying those words felt like letting go of 5,000-pound weights that she had been carrying for many years.
"Yes," Ranma softly whispered. He could feel the blush rising to his cheeks. Looking down into Akane's tear-stained eyes Ranma smiled weakly doing his best to hide the panicked feeling that was slowly creeping into his mind. He had confessed his feelings to Akane. It was not as difficult as Ranma thought it would be. What would she do now? Would she mallet his out of Japan, or …
Akane could feel him tensing up and slowly loosening his grip. Just as Ranma was about to slip away, she pulled him closer to her and said "Ranma, I'm not going to hit you, please stay with me." Her tone was almost pleading; it forced all Ranma's thoughts of escape to fly out of the window. Instead, he opened his mouth hoping to finally ask the question that had haunted him for years.
"Akane, do you lov…" Before he could finish the question, he heard the response he had been longing with all of his heart to hear.
"Yes"
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That day, Ranma and Akane were not the only contented people in Nerima. Back at the Nekohanten café Shampoo put the receiver down, and shouted happily as she ran into the kitchen, "Great grandmother, airen come back for Shampoo!" A few of the customers stopped their casual conversations and curiously looked over at the pretty, Chinese waitress, wondering what was going on. Upon hearing Shampoo's cheerful cry, Cologne once again smiled to herself. She knew that her son-in-law was an honorable man, who would not leave unsolved problems behind. Even if he did not come back for her great granddaughter, Cologne would do anything in her powers to make Ranma marry her. They had been in Nerima for a long time and time was running out. The other elders from the Joketsuzoku village were growing impatient with her, demanding them to either come back with Shampoo's husband or face their wrath.
Cologne remembered Akane's victory over Shampoo. She would not allow such a thing to occur again. Her great granddaughter would win Ranma's heart no matter what and bring him back with them to China and she had just the item to make it happen. It was one of the most treasured possessions of the Amazons and Cologne had been saving it for a desperate time and now was as desperate as it could be. She turned to her beaming granddaughter and croaked out, "Shampoo, tell all of the customers to leave and close down the restaurant! We have lots of work to do now that my son-in-law has returned." She grinned; this was going to be a fun day.
Meanwhile, in the back room the atmosphere was not as high-spirited. Mousse sighed; they were devising another hopeless plan to win Ranma's heart. When would the foolish Amazons learn that a human heart was not an object that they could manipulate? Every e previous attempt had failed. What made them think that this time it would work? Maybe it would be better if he warned the Tendo family. Nah, it was not worth the trouble. Mousse was certain that whatever the old ghoul was planning would not work. With another sigh, Mousse returned to scrubbing the floors, still worried about the plan, but feeling almost certain that it would surely not work on Ranma. How wrong he was.
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After hours of pointless pursuit, Kodachi began to grow tired. The lowly red-haired girl must have directed her in a wrong direction. Many hours passed, but her Ranma was nowhere in sight. She turned in the direction of Tokyo leaving a small trail of black rose petals behind as she sprinted.
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Trying to hold back tears of regret, Ryouga began to pack. Deep inside, he had always known that Akane had feeling for Ranma, but he could never admit it to himself. In a way, he was just like Ranma, full of foolish pride and with an ego the size of the planet. It was unfortunate that they were rivals. For once in his life, Ryouga set off on a journey wanting to get lost and escape his misery.
He did not want to leave without a fight; it was very much unlike him. However, a small voice inside his head told him to just give up and not cause Akane more pain.
Glancing back at the Tendo house Ryouga softly whispered, "Good bye Akane" And set off on his last journey. The journey home.
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I know that you were probably expecting something longer and better, but for the reasons above and my health problems, I was unable to finish this chapter until now. A special thanks to my proofreader frameofmind and Tama-chan's Girl, who always helps me with the chapter titles. Here are your review replies!
Tendo Nabiki-chan: Your review was very inspirational. Of course you can use the cliffhanger, but please give me credit for it somewhere in the story, so people do not think I copied it from you. Friendster? What's that? I will definitely try to incorporate your idea somewhere later in my story. Thanks!
Renzuko: Please don't hit me! I will do anything!
Reader: So, does your review mean that you like my story, or not?
Daouid: Trust me, I won't.
A sneak peek at Chapter 9: The Amazons succeed in their plan. What does it do?