Living the Martial Way

Chapter 7

"You know that neither of you had to come with me right?" I say as Nabiki, Akane and myself walk to my…house. 'I don't remember it at all. Having a place to call home will take some getting used to.'

Nabiki looks at me with a smile. She'd been doing that all throughout breakfast. I don't think Soun noticed, being buried in his newspaper the whole time. But judging by Kasumi's own smile and the mischievous sparkle in Akane's eyes they've both realized that something is happening between me and their sister. 'I hope I don't let them down…I hope-No, not hope, I won't let Nabiki down.'

"I know I didn't have to come, but I wanted to visit with Auntie Nodoka. We've never been to her house. She always comes to the dojo and I'd like to surprise her." Says Nabiki.

"And I'm here to help her home afterwards." Turning to me with an expression that clearly states her intent to tease me, "And to make sure you don't ravage my sister like you did this morning and last night."

"Akane! He did not ravage me. And furthermore I EEP-" Nabiki squeaks in shock as I pull into a hug.

"You know Akane, if you call this ravaging, then you really need to get out more." I mimic her mocking smile, letting it grow as her jaw drops and she starts stuttering.

"I…That is…Come on. We don't want to keep Auntie waiting." She moves ahead a bit, probably to regain her composure. I let Nabiki out of the hug, but I'm surprised when she keeps her hand in mine as we walk along.

After we catch up with Akane I ask, "I've been wondering, why is your aunt living at my dad's house?" The only word for their expressions is incredulous. Akane recovers first.

"Umm…she's…not our aunt. She just asked us to call her that when she learned that one of us was going to marry you."

"Oh," I can tell I'm still missing something, "…why'd she do that?"

Nabiki stops walking and turns to me. "Ranma?…you know she's your mother right?"

I can feel the blood drain from my face. "Nabiki…I…My mom is dead."

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I'm so stunned by Ranma's reply that I barely catch his hand as he tries to take it away. "Ranma…She…Your mom isn't dead! Why would you think that?" I'm nearly hysterical and I can tell that I am not going to like the answer.

To my relief he doesn't try to take his hand back again. "Dad told me. He said that that was one of the reasons we left. I always figured that I didn't remember her death 'cause I was so young."

"Ranma…" I'm nearly crying. "How…how could Genma lie about that? Even for him that…that's…" I can't finish.

Ranma's lets my hand go only to grab me by my shoulders. "So…he was lying? My…my mom is alive!" I can only nod, my hands over my mouth to try and hold back my sobs.

He must have realized how upset I was because his grip immediately loosened as he shifted it to a hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

I shake my head. "That's not it, I'm just…I'm just upset for you." In a small voice I whisper, "…Don't be mad."

He pulls me closer for a moment before letting go, "Akane, please take Nabiki home. I'd rather that neither of you see what's going to happen when I get…home."

"Ok," I feel Akane take my arm. "Come on Nabiki…let's go home"

I'm so numb that I hardly notice we're walking away. "Wait! Ranma?"

"He's already gone sis. He took off at a full sprint when we started walking."

I can't hold it back. I sink to the ground as I burst into tears, body-wracking sobs rolling through me. Akane is trying to calm me down with no success…I don't want her to calm me down. I want Ranma to be here. Akane is asking me what's wrong but I can't even form the words to tell her. To tell her that I'm not crying for me. That I'm crying for Ranma.

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The house is, unfortunately, exactly what I was expecting…a mess. The paint is peeling, the windows are cracked, shingles are missing, the yard is torn…in a word, the place is horrid.

What does surprise me is the sight of a middle aged woman attempting to make minor repairs. 'Is…is this my mother?' I don't know how long I was standing there before she noticed me. I couldn't think of what to say to get her attention anyways, and I was still winded from running here.

"Hello, can I help you?" I can't respond…I can't think of what to say. "…Can I help you with something young man?"

I can hardly raise my voice above a whisper. "…Mom?"

She drops her tools. "…Ranma? Ranma is it you?"

I nod. She runs to me and throws her arms around me, I barely manage to keep from being knocked over. "Oh Ranma I'm so happy to see you. Oh let me get a good look at you." She pulls back slightly. "Oh you're so grown up. I had no idea you were coming today, you should have written and let us know."

I manage to get a word in, "Mom, I got in to town yesterday. Didn't dad tell you?"

She stops talking immediately. Her hand goes to her cheek without her seeming to realize it. "…No. He didn't."

I notice something odd about her face, especially where her tears have washed away her make-up. "Mom…hold still." Pulling out a handkerchief I go to wipe away the foundation but she flinches away from me.

"Oh, don't…don't mind me, they're tears of joy. I…I'm alright." I ignore her and wipe away the thick layer of make-up…and see several bruises.

"…Dad…Genma did this to you. Didn't he." I don't need to see her nod, I already know the answer. "…Where is he."

"Ranma…Don't…Don't make him angry. Please don't make him angry. You don't know what he can do!" She's nearing hysterics. I want to help her…and this is the only way. I rip the front of my shirt open, revealing the nightmare of scars.

"…Yes, I do." Her face pales, eyes wide with shock. "Mom…He told me you were dead."

I think that that was too much for her. She sinks to the ground weeping quietly. "No, no no no no. He wouldn't. How could he? Why would he?" I kneel down, wrapping my arms around her. Right now, I don't care about Genma, I don't care that I'm crying as well. The joy of seeing the mother I've always thought dead overridden by the anger I feel towards my bastard of a father. None of that matters right now, right now I need to make sure my mother is alright…I would have stayed there as long as she needed me to. But Genma staggered out into the yard.

"Dammit Nodoka!" He's clearly drunk. "Where the fuck are you? I'm out of sake!" He sees me. "Oh, it's you." He sneers. "Make yourself useful boy, start fixing this place up." He turns to go back inside when I speak.

Calmly, frigidly, I simply say, "No."

He stops, and turns to me. "Now you listen to me you little shithole. I fucking raised you and you will fucking do as I say!"

"No."

He stumbles towards us. I still haven't moved, mom shrinks into me as I hold her.

When he is standing over us he yells, pointing at me he says "You will fucking do as you're told!" Pointing at mom, "And you will get your bitchass inside and pour me some more fucking sake!"

I set mom to the side, she seems torn between staying in a crouch and running to do what Genma told her. I solve the problem for her. Turning to him, I say "Leave. Now."

He sneers at me. "Or what boy, you'll make me? HA!"

"Yes."

His sneer fades as his anger roars to the surface. "Why you little fucker-" He tries to hit me as he says this…he never had the chance.

With no effort I twist and catch his hand, while kicking his legs out from underneath him. I use the combined momentum from my twist and his punch to send him over my shoulder into the outer wall. As he attempts to get up I grab him, lifting him off the ground I say "You. Will. Leave." I throw him out into the street. "Never come here again. You were never my father."

That seemed to get through the drunken haze, or maybe I just beat him sober. Either way he seems to have gotten the hint since he runs off down the street. I'm not worried. I can scare him off if he comes back, and if he tries something stupid like bringing the police he'll only doom himself. I turn back to mom, she's looking at me in awe.

"Mom, are you alright?" She nods but doesn't say anything. "Um…do you want to go inside and talk?"

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I can hear them outside my room. Whenever I pause in my playing. I haven't been able to leave my room since getting home. I've just sat here, playing my instruments. It's not helping though. The tears are still pouring down my face in a steady stream. I haven't been able to bring myself to respond when they ask me what's wrong. Kasumi brought me dinner but I couldn't bring myself to eat it. I can't stop thinking about Ranma. I can't stop thinking about him and how betrayed he must have felt. I can't stop thinking about how happy he must be to be reunited with his mother…and while that makes me happier then I thought possible…it tears me apart because I'll never be with my mother again…

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"So that's pretty much the whole story." I finish telling mom about my life since leaving her. I hold back at some parts, just because I'm not ready to tell anyone. She didn't get upset when I told her that in response to her asking about my scars. She understood that, for all intents and purposes, we've just met. I'm just glad she calmed down, thought she's still stealing glances at the door as if she expects Genma to burst through it.

"Sweetheart, I have to say how proud I am of you. I'd love to get in touch with some of the people in your life. Especially that Sensei Amano. I have to thank him and all of them for doing such a good job raising my son." She looks like she's about to say more when the phone interrupts us. "Oh, just a moment dear." She goes to the next room to answer the phone. "Hello? Oh Kasumi dear how are- What? Why, yes he's right here. Just a moment. Ranma? Kasumi would like to speak to you, she says it's about Nabiki."

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Sorry for the delay in posting. This chapter took a lot of effort. As you saw there was a lot of emotional situations and I wanted to make sure I had them properly planned in my mind before writing them. Even with that I still did some heavy revisions but I'm pleased with how it turned out. As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing from you all. The reviews have been phenomenally supportive and motivating. Thank you all for taking the time to respond.