Living the Martial Way
Chapter 4
'He…He really wants to be friends?' I can't help but smile. I'm the first one to speak, "Ranma, I…I would be honored to call you my friend." The tension in the air leaves immediately. I can tell that he's happy to hear my answer, God I wish I could see his face.
"Me too." Says Akane. "It'll be nice to have a fresh sparring partner. None of Daddy's students will fight me anymore." We all have a good laugh at that.
"I would also be glad to call you a friend Ranma." This comes from Kasumi. "It's not often I meet someone your age with such excellent manners."
The silence that follows is as calm as the last one was stressful. Even Daddy's argument with Genma has taken on a new light, causing us to chuckle at some of what we overhear. After a few moments, Ranma speaks,
"Thank you. Thank you all very much. You don't know what this means to me." He sounds so grateful, the thought of why that might be makes me so sad. I reach for his hand, it takes a moment of grasping air before I feel both his hands enclose mine. His hands…they're so warm, so strong. I'm blushing so much I almost forget what I was going to say.
"I…I mean," I take a breath to calm my nerves. "I don't have many friends either. Not many people are willing to be friends with…with someone like me." For the first time since he arrived, I lift my head and let him see my eyes. Or at least, what's left of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I won't lie. I was shocked when I saw Nabiki's face. The scarring around her eyes was small, but noticeable. It crossed the bridge of her nose as if something had gone straight across her face. The shocking part was that her eyes lacked pupils or irises, it had all blended together. Making it seem as if she was looking through a brown fog.
I could feel her hand tense when she looked up. She was trusting me, by simply showing her face to me she was showing me her greatest fear. I could tell that she had been rejected before, many times. I couldn't do that to her, not after I had been through the same thing. I did the only thing that I could think to do, the only thing that felt natural. It felt, to do it felt…right.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought he might flinch away. It was so…wonderful when he didn't. When he instead squeezed my hand in support. No one had done that at their first look at my face. They were always scared by the scarring, by the mess of what used to be my eyes. I nearly started crying from the joy I felt.
I don't know how much longer he held my hand. He probably would have kept holding it, knowing that I needed it just by the look of gratitude on my face, when Akane cleared her throat.
"Now that we're all friends, maybe we could start to get to know each other." She teasingly added, "Although, it seems you two don't feel like talking."
One advantage to being blind, is that I don't have to see how much I was blushing. One disadvantage, I couldn't see how much Ranma was. I pulled my hand back and kept my head down until the blood left my face. But I couldn't stop smiling.
"Uh, well." It sounded like Ranma was pretty flustered. "Not much to say really. I've been traveling for the past twelve years. Eight years with the old man and four on my own. I think I managed to visit every dojo in Japan, all the ones on the main island if nothing else. I've studied six different martial arts, only three being from Japan. And I received my academic education from the masters of the dojos. Other then that…What? What are you all staring at?"
Akane is the first to find her voice, I'm still trying to find my lower jaw. "You've been traveling on your own since you were what, twelve? And you've studied six different martial arts…And you don't have much to say?" I can feel her shift to face me and Kasumi, "He's certainly humble, that's a good trait."
We all laugh at that, though Ranma seems a little embarrassed again.
"Don't feel bad Ranma, she's only teasing." I can hear him sigh in relief at Kasumi's words. "But still, that is quite the accomplishment. If you don't mind, please tell us what schools you've studied in."
Ranma is much more relaxed with this topic. It seems martial arts is one of his higher passions in life. "Well, and don't stare this time. I've achieved mastership in all six arts. Akido, Ninjutsu and Karate are the Japanese schools I've learned. I've also studied the Chinese schools of Shaolin Quan Kung Fu and T'ai Chi Chuan, as well as the Korean school of Tae Kwon Do…I thought I told you not to stare."
I'm the first to recover this time. "I'm sorry Ranma. It's just that that is very impressive. What else did you study at the dojos?"
"Just the basics really," he replies. "History and philosophy, math and science. I took up calligraphy and brush painting as a hobby, and when I wasn't reading for academic reasons I'd usually have my nose stuck in a fiction novel of some kind."
"And your father approved of this?" I ask.
"…No. No he didn't."
The silence that follows is as somber as the first one. 'Way to go Nabiki, first friend you've had in years and you manage to insult him.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't even realize how quiet it's gotten. I'm too busy trying to ignore my memories, some more painful then others. 'I thought selling Sensei Amano's book was bad. But when he robbed Sensei Reisan. "That woman needs to be taught a lesson." "A lesson? She's a Sensei, why are you punishing her for that?" All that question earned me was a beating. God, I was so furious with him. And I couldn't do anything! I was just a kid, I couldn't stop him!' My thoughts are interrupted my Nabiki's movement. She, she's bowing?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." She really sounds upset. "Maybe I should go." She starts to stand.
"No wait," 'Good, she stopped.' "You didn't upset me, I was just…thinking. Thinking about things…that I don't want to remember. Please, don't go. I'd like to hear about you…About all of you."
She blushes slightly, but sits back down. It's a relief. I really didn't want her to leave. There is another silence as I wait for one of the Tendo girls to start talking. Kasumi is the one to break the quiet.
"Well, I guess I'll go first. Let me see, well, mostly I just take care of the house. But Auntie Nodoka helps me so that I have time to go to nursing school. I only just started this year so I'll be attending classes for awhile. Other then that, I help out at my fiancé's clinic and, mmm, Oh, I also like to read when I have the time." She gives a happy smile when she's done and turns to her sisters, waiting for one of them to speak.
"I'll go next," Akane says. "Umm, aside from school, most of my time is spent helping Daddy teach in the dojo. And in my free time I like to practice on my own. I don't have any other hobbies really. You know what they say, 'Do what you love and love what you do.'"
After a few moments, Akane nudges Nabiki. "I, um…I mostly just go to school and do my homework. It takes me longer then most people because it's all in Braille. I spend most of my time alone, I'm really nothing special." The entire time she and her sisters were speaking, Nabiki hadn't lifted her head. Akane nudges her again.
"Come on Nabiki, you know that isn't true. Tell him about your hobby."
I can't hear Nabiki's reply but Akane says, "No, it is worth telling and no, I won't say it for you."
"She doesn't have to tell me if she doesn't want to." I say. "It's ok, I don't mind." 'But I am curious.'
Nabiki lifts her head slightly, "No, it's alright. I, I…I play music. A…A few different instruments." She's started to blush, "But I'm not very good. Like I said, it's nothing special."
Again silence fills the room. Our conversation has more silences and awkward pauses then actual talking. Mr. Tendo stopped yelling at the old man awhile ago, he's probably stayed outside so that he doesn't disturb us. 'Man, was it the dumb bastard who made her this self-effacing? I hope not. I don't like seeing anyone like this…How can I get through to her?"
Nabiki's hands have disappeared into her hair again, she really must be upset. At this point, I can only think of one thing to say.
"If it's alright," I say as I reach over and take her hand again, "I'd like to be the judge of that."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And this makes four. After receiving several comments (which I agree with fully) about the chapters being short, I increased the length on this one. Again, as always, I was thinking about making it longer, but I was hit with the idea for a good stopping point. Let me just say once again that I love the reviews I've been getting. You have all been wonderful in your responses. Be they one word or one thousand words. A lot of the reviews have been what has motivated me to keep working on this story, especially this chapter that was trapped by a case of writers block. For those of you who have placed anonymous reviews (and for those who haven't for that matter) please feel free to contact me directly. Some of the anonymous reviews have been the best ones (not that any were bad, again they have all been great) and I would love to speak with you more directly to get feedback. If nothing else, I could get beta readers. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope to hear from you soon.
