Late June
Over a week had passed since Ranma's arrival back home and life was beginning to gain a semblance of normalcy, both prior to his departure and after he left. The two former fiancées managed to remain civil around the other, getting on fine as far as conversation went:
How was your day?
What did you do?
This show/movie/manga/magazine had an interesting article/funny part/scene
Did you want another helping of (insert food here)
Beyond that they were both fine with casual familiarities and general pleasantries, Akane worked and Ranma trained in the dojo most days. They interacted at breakfast and dinner and sometimes at night and things were fine.
Egregiously awkward and stiff, but fine.
The loss of connection wasn't ignored by the parents, they watched as their children played their respected parts, staying out of the other's way as they went about their lives. It was strange to watch and for Nodoka specifically, difficult to see the two interacting this way. She knew at one point they cared deeply for each other, so to see the two of them treat the other like a neighbor in an apartment complex was particularly painful to her heart. Her son had loved this girl once, she'd seen it in his face and demeanor around her. And now he was still her strong son who'd grown into a man, but his stony resolve and overly polite self made her feel as though she'd lost even more time with him than she felt previously.
During a cooking lesson with Akane she'd tried to casually pry into their current state and Akane had answered they were glad to be able to see each other and know that the other was safe. She then immediately asked if they could focus on the cold noodle dish so Akane wouldn't mess it up because she wasn't concentrating. Nodoka took the hint. She also knew that her boyfriend hadn't been returning her calls for the last couple days and that must be getting to her as well.
Nodoka thought Shingo was a very nice boy, he was smart and clearly cared for Akane but she didn't think he was right for her. Of course, she thought that position was her son's but with him out of the picture, it wasn't right to not let Akane carve her own romantic path. She'd been nervous to bring him around all of them, but they had assured her that all was well. The parents assumed she'd told him everything.
Unfortunately, a few days ago proved that hadn't been completely true.
So Akane continued leaving him message after message for a few days asking to talk but after some advice from Nabiki finally gave it up. She was such a novice to relationships compared to her older sister and didn't know what was the right move when. Accepting the fact that he needed time to think, without her voice reaching out for him, Akane focused instead on work and training.
Once or twice, Ranma had walked in on her sessions with his father as he ran through basic moves that he himself had learned when he was just an early teen. He had to remind himself that Soun had stifled some of her training as a teen and had only taken her so far, so his father had stepped in to further her training.
And just as when he left, she was good and getting better. Her movements became more fluid, her stance less rigid, her strikes were more focused and less wild. He assumed that was due in part to her anger management classes his mother had told him she'd been taking.
He typically kept his opinion to himself unless he noticed something, then he'd bring it up to his father afterwards to work on with her, not wanting to make her upset or make her feel as though he was trying to criticize her abilities.
At the end of her work week Akane was returning home from Tofu's exhausted. It had been a long day, several massages between the number of little kids coming into the clinic for bumps and scrapes. She entered the gate and looked up at the sky and saw the clouds rolling in, some summer storms coming tonight. She didn't notice the sound of her dropping her wallet from her bag as she rummaged for the front keys to the house. The soft drips of the rain fell behind her as she got inside.
"I'm home!" She called out to no one in particular, taking her shoes off and heading upstairs, Ranma rounded the corner, wiping his hands on his pants. He'd just been in the dojo it looked like.
"Hey 'Kane. How was work?"
"Fine, just really tiring. I'm gonna go upstairs and rest a bit before dinner, be down later!" She moved upstairs as she yawned and listened to him walk away. She still felt a little nervous around him but it was getting better, he could be almost pleasant to be around now. Even if all they did was politely stay out of the other's hair for the most part. She'd only have 3 months or so left of this anyways.
She got into her room and removed her work scrubs, throwing them aside she walked to her window and peaked outside. She covered her chest as she looked out into the sky and saw the gray clouds float by and realized they hadn't gotten rain in a couple days. It had been a lovely summer so far weatherwise. She rubbed her chest in the space between her bra cups and went to her closet and pulled out a black summer dress, it was likely going to be humid tonight and she wanted to stay cool. She sat on her bed and went looking for her wallet, finding it nowhere to be found. She was slightly panicked; she'd locked up Tofu's for the weekend and would hate to go back there and get it. She huffed and walked downstairs in a hurry, an exasperated sigh as she got to the bottom of the stairs.
"What's up?" He asked her coming back out from the family room. She pushed her hair to the side and put on some slip-on shoes.
"I lost my wallet and I have to go out and retrace my steps, starting here." She peaked around and heard him move around her.
"I'll help you look, what's it look like?" She fumbled with her straps of her shoes, annoyed. "It's uh small, square, black leather. Gold zipper all around about the size of my palm. But it's probably at Tofu's." She didn't realize she was speaking to herself as he'd left the room. She sighed and checked the stairs again once again when she heard him call.
"Yo, 'Kane got it!"
Her head shot up at the stairway as she heard him from the outside.
His voice.
HIS voice.
She quietly walked to the open front door, the paddling of water droplets hitting the grass and stone. A feeling like fear gripped her, grabbed her through her stomach to her spine. Her eyes wide open as she walked to look out into the front yard. Her mouth slightly open and dry as she peered out, one foot in front of the other.
He was outside in his tank top and training pants, still fitted to his body, his large arm waving to her with the wallet looking comically small in his hands. His hair was wet and the black strands looked like threads stuck to his neck and clavicle. Her heart felt like it could stop at any moment.
I never asked. I never asked about the curse. The most "Ranma" thing about Ranma and it's not there. It's not there. It's gone.
She felt warm liquid behind her eyes as he made his way back towards the house from the gate, a goofball smile on his face as he waved the accessory in his hand. She didn't realize she was moving.
"'Kane you clutz. You gotta be more careful, I-" He was cut off when he felt the rush of her body meeting his. Arm still outstretched, her arms encircled him and she pressed her face into his chest, he realized now just how much larger than her he'd become. His breath caught in his sternum and he could've sworn the water evaporated even before it hit his body as it grew warmer.
Akane hugged him tightly, smiling into his white tank top. He had done it. The curse was gone and he hadn't bothered saying anything, this was the biggest thing he sought out to do for all the time she'd known him. She had known how much he wanted to lose this curse, even after Jusenkyo and his acceptance of it. He'd struggled with this identity privately and for moments in time with her he had wished for normalcy, never fully accepting his female side, whether because of its "less strong" form or how the world treated him when he was a her.
And here he was, flat chested and large and undeniably male as the rain came down on both of them. He allowed himself one arm to go around her shoulders as the other came down to his side.
Akane laughed, laughed even through her tears. No matter the problems between them, she knew how much this must've meant to him, this was life changing for him regardless of their past. Unthinking she lifted her head and hands to his face and placed them on other side of his head, holding it there.
"You're...not cursed. It's gone." She smiled big at him as he watched rain drops mix with her tears along her cheeks.
She's so beautiful.
"I've been cured about a year or so now. Guess it still takes gettin' used to." He licked his lips and smiled, holding his neck in place as stiffly as he could. Her smile grew, the happiness she felt for him, for his sake had her break out into a large toothy grin as she laughed.
"Akane..."
Behind his frame the sound of plastic hitting the ground caught Ranma off-guard and he turned his upper half behind him to see another young man. Akane's hands fell from his face to his chest as she peeked behind his large frame to see Shingo standing at the gate, shaking his head in a sort of disbelief. She pushed herself off Ranma.
"Shingo! What are you doing here?" She rushed over to him but he put a hand up and picked the bouquet off the ground, the cellophane covered in water and dirt now.
"Akane." He breathed out. "I was coming to see you because I needed time to think about things and had come to a decision but...I think you've made that decision already." He looked from her to Ranma who looked back at him shamefully.
"Listen man, nothing happened really. It's...something...you wouldn't believe it, but it's a family friend thing. Kinda personal. But there's nothin' going on. No matter how it looks."
"Please, Ranma. Could I get a second with Akane, alone?" Shingo asked calmly, but firm.
"Sure. I'll letcha be." With that he headed inside as Shingo suggested under the roof of the connecting bridge of the dojo for them to speak. Akane was quiet on their walk over. Shingo ran his hands through his hair and pushed his bangs out of his eyes, a gesture she'd grow to love so much.
"Akane. I think we have to end this." The words were so straightforward she almost missed it. "I don't want to keep dwelling on this, I think there's been too much in the last few days and it's getting worse."
"Shingo, please. I was...I just hugged him. It meant nothing. He overcame something and I just...I was happy for him and..."
"I don't think I'm what you really want Akane and I think you need to come to terms with that."
"No! What? What I really want? I want you Shingo! I want to be with you!" Her eyes were darting around his face. She grabbed his hands, gripping them tightly. "I only want to be with you, you know me!" He watched her with sad eyes as he placed both hands under her face and kissed her forehead.
"You've meant everything to me Akane, but I am not everything to you." He looked down at her. "Akane, you realized that you've never once told me you loved me?"
"Shingo, I just, that's a big...commitment. We've only been together for a little over a year."
"Akane, I've loved you for a long time. And you know that. I even thought I may be ready to propose soon I was so certain." He placed his hands on her shoulders as her body began to quiver and new tears developed in her large chestnut eyes. "But I couldn't get passed how you didn't tell me how you felt, what you were feeling. You hid so much of yourself from me and then I find out all this about your past that you felt you couldn't tell me? Akane, I can't be with you."
"I didn't think you'd understand or...want a girl who was engaged before. I didn't think you'd like me anymore."
"I wouldn't have cared. But you never gave me the chance to make that decision and now all I can do is respect the fact that I think you need time to figure things out with yourself. I'll always care for you, but I can't be with you. I'm sorry. I hope you find what you're looking for."
With that he gave her a final hug, as she tucked her head under his chin her arms limply went around him. Her tears freely fell from her eyes, as she turned her head to allow her mouth to not be muffled.
"Were you always going to break up with me or was it because of that hug?" She asked honestly. He took no time to hesitate.
"I was coming here to end things, finding you like that simply made the decision easier." She sniffed deeply and sobbed quietly. He held her a moment longer before giving her the flowers and letting her know he'd drop off her things at his apartment over the weekend and that he'd call ahead. He smiled down at her and looked up to see Ranma watching from the house, gave him a nod and neutral look as he stepped away and left her holding the bouquet out of the rain. She gripped the bouquet harshly before flinging it out towards the yard and stomping her way to the dojo.
She saw crimson, a nearly magenta cloud her eyesight as she caught her breath from the rain and the pain inside her chest. Rage, unbridled grossly vivid rage. The monster living inside her for months now, years buried. She nearly broke the door off as she went inside the dojo. She had to break something.
Eyes bloodshot, the tears she'd been crying were already drying on her face. Her lips quivered as she placed block after block of cement bricks on top of the other as she steadied her breathing.
Pain.
All she thought of was pain. And she lifted her hand.
And as she had for years, she spliced through the rock and hardness with her small hand and felt that rage consume herself in the moment. That by destroying these she was releasing a part of herself she couldn't handle anymore. She dropped to her knees, eyes running over the remnants, picking up rocks and breaking them in her palms. Crushing them in her hands to feel, to hurt. A jagged side caught the thick part of her palm and it caused a small cut. She watched and teared up, thinking that the only good relationship she'd had in years had been ruined by herself. That it wasn't other suitors or fiancées or princes or any outside problems.
The problem had been her. It was her the entire time.
She made a fist as the blood fell out of her hand onto the dojo floor. She closed her eyes, steady. Find it. Find the rage.
Find it and hold it down. Accept and beat it.
The door opened.
And it was him.
HIM.
HIM. WHO LEFT. Who up and went away. And ran off with her heart and her soul and her love and had stunted her.
HOBBLED HER FEELINGS.
Made her weak and simple.
"Akane?" He looked so sad, so full of pity.
Like they looked at me when he left. Like I was half a person.
Her eyes grew wild and sharp as she stood up and flung the bloody leftovers of stone to the side of her.
"You." She moved to him. "This is because of you." He held his hands up to his chest as his eyes glared down at her. She moved in closer to him. "Everything always comes back to you!"
"I don't, what are you talking about Akane? I've only been here a few days!"
"You left me here! You left and never bothered saying anything! You're just like your father, you left when things get hard and left me to figure it all out!" She shoved him, finding that his strength had grown much more than before when she could've easily slammed him into anything. It made her madder. He stood his ground his chest rising quickly.
"Would ya listen for-"
"NO! Shut UP, Ranma! I was a fool to wait for you, I should have thought about what happened to your mother, to wait for the man in my life to return home to me. It was stupid! All of this is stupid. Why did you come back?"
His own eyes had started getting warm and found himself flustered, trying to find the words. She stood there, feral and twisted in anger.
"Did you EVER think about me, about how I FELT?"
"Of course, I did!"
"Bullshit, Ranma!" They were closer to each other now than they had been since he'd arrived. Nose to nose in anger, blazing blue eyes, enflamed chestnut eyes bore into the other.
"God! Could you listen for two seconds?! This isn't my fuckin' fault Akane!"
"You're right Ranma, it's all YOUR fault." He reached out to grab her shoulders and she slapped his hands away. "Don't TOUCH me. I'm leaving." He tried grabbing her arm as she walked past him and she whipped herself out of his grip, her wet dress clinging to her body and tense muscles as she glared back at him. "I said don't TOUCH me, idiot!" She went inside to the hallway phone to call Nabiki and he stood outside fuming. He took no time to calm down.
"You fuckin' tomboy!"
Akane dialed Nabiki who thankfully picked up right away.
"Nabiki! I have to come over."
"Akane is everything alright?"
"No, Shingo broke up with me and I cannot stay here. I... I can't stay here tonight, please Nabiki."
"I don't have Chisa tonight, pack a bag. Get over here. Do you need a cab?" Akane, looked through her wallet on the table, pulling out cash.
"No, ordering one now. See you soon."
Akane called a local cab company, confirmed a ride and rushed upstairs and packed a quick overnight bag like a bat out of hell, shoving underwear and clothes as needed into a backpack. She slammed the photo of herself and Shingo down on its face as she went through her desk. Flinging the bag around her body, she quickly went downstairs, seeing Ranma for a moment before going into the bathroom and slamming the door to grab her toiletries. Exiting the bathroom, the two of them caught the eyes of the other before she tore away and headed to the family room.
"I'm going to Nabiki's for a while. I'll call when I get there." She didn't wait for a reply before leaving the room to wait outside for her ride. She thought for a moment and turned back around, stomping back inside. She saw his angry face and shouted back.
"I know about P-Chan too, you asshole!" His face dropped.
"Akane!" Her father yelled out first, followed by Nodoka as they walked to the entrance. Luckily for Akane, the cab was pulling up and she ran out to meet it and gave the directions as it headed into the city.
XxXxXxXx
Nabiki had taken the time to hit the liquor store below her apartment as soon as she got off the phone with Akane. A couple bottles of wine ought to do it. Upon her arrival, Nabiki poured her a glass four fingers deep of white wine and let her sister talk. Sipping on red wine herself she listened as Akane played out the last few days, last few months. Laying the cards out and allowing herself to see the patterns there.
"Did you?" She interrupted her sister, now on her second full glass.
"Did I what?" Akane was much less angry now and getting much more comfortable. She wasn't cooled off, but she was absolutely much calmer.
"Did you love Shingo?" Akane groaned.
"I... I don't know Nabiki." She sunk into the couch. "I thought maybe I did; he was so incredibly sweet and smart and logical. So comfortable." She swirled the drink in her hand. Nabiki nodded in her love seat and took a sip.
She wasn't stupid. She knew how her sister felt about that pigtailed idiot. How she'd felt about him for years, even before he left. Her sister had adored him, though she never gave away those feelings. And she knew Ranma loved her just as much, maybe even more because of the fact she didn't worship the ground he walked on. She grabbed the bottle and poured more for herself and then grabbed her sister's bottle and poured out more into hers.
"Akane, let's talk for a second, hm?"
XxxXxxXxxxXx
Back at the Tendous, Ranma had spent most of the night in the dojo, calming himself down through any means. Going through kata after kata, trying to push himself through as much as he could take to get through his frustration, he moved from move to move. After a few hours he looked over and saw the bloodied rocks Akane had left behind. He rubbed his face, she had been angrier than he'd seen her in years. Visceral hurt, she was in pain and wanted him to feel it too. He couldn't blame her, she was running on so many emotions and was dealing with it with him around.
Him around.
He walked out of the dojo and looked over the fence. He didn't have many things with him, it wouldn't take much to pack up and before he'd know it, he could be back on the road, like he'd never even been there. He shook his head and tugged his ponytail, that wasn't right. He came here for a reason and would see it to its conclusion, no matter the end result.
It was late and entering the kitchen he sought after some leftovers and pulled out some cold dumplings and some meat from earlier this week. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he didn't notice when his mother entered the room.
"Oh, Ranma I wasn't sure if you were still awake. I can heat you up something?"
"Ah no, ma don't worry. I'll be heading to sleep soon." He offered up a halfhearted smile. They stood in silence for a bit before his mother placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She's strong but she's a very soft-hearted woman. I know she's happy you're here. But she's a little overwhelmed I think."
"Ma..." He drawled out. He didn't want to hear this.
"She just needs a little bit. You'll see." She patted his chest and placed her hand down on the counter. "We're all headed to bed soon. Sleep well son." She left, quiet enough that you wouldn't even notice she had left. He looked over onto the counter and noticed a small slip of paper.
He walked over and turned the paper over, revealing an address and marked.
"Nabiki."
xXXxXxXxXxX
The two sisters sat together and Nabiki watched as Akane's finally wiped her last tears on her tissue. They'd spent the last two hours discussing her relationships and the place where her head and heart were currently. Obviously, the shock of Ranma's return was still weighing heavy on her, something she never fully allowed herself to process in Nabiki's opinion. He had been a massive part of her life and nearly her husband and for him to leave her like he did had clearly burned her and the way she looked at relationships. It was a hard enough hit for someone who's biggest romantic relationship was already complicated and difficult.
But Akane wasn't a total victim either, being stubborn and unwilling to express how she felt and what she needed from him had done nothing for their relationship either. Nabiki emphasized the importance of expressing what she needed and maybe, showing even just a slight bit of weakness. She couldn't believe what she was telling her younger sister, but Akane was even more headstrong and unwilling than even herself. And that inability to show weakness or be more open had led to the ending of her and Shingo's relationship. Her sister's inability to even admit what kind of feelings she had for her ex, even after hearing his interest in marriage made it all make sense.
Akane was now exhausted from crying, her long day at work and now had finished off a bottle and a half of wine herself. She pouted on the couch until Nabiki came over and gave her a big hug and held her for a moment.
"I wish I had a relationship like you and Chisa or Kasumi and Tofu." She spoke lowly to her sister.
"Eh, Chisa and me only get to see each other so often with her job and Kasumi and Tofu are already like an old married couple. You deserve much more fun, sis." Akane pulled away and looked up at her sister, looking much more like her 6-year-old self than her adult self.
"I was supposed to be married by now, Nabiki." Her whisper was thick with emotion. Nabiki rubbed her thumbs on her cheeks, smiling softly, trying to make sure she didn't cry Agan.
"Sh, it isn't so bad not being married." Akane smiled a little and Nabiki grinned back. They both jumped at the sound of her buzzer. Nabiki got up to answer.
"Didja order food Nabiki?" Akane slurred, feeling much less sad and much more tired.
"No... must be some drunk outside." She buzzed to answer the bell. "OYE! Not interested, get outta here or I'll call the cops!" She didn't wait for a reply. "Akane, you want to take my bed tonight? You look exhausted."
"Mm..no you don't have to do that Nabiki." She yawned. "I can just stay out here tonight. But I do have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back. Would you pour me one more glass of wine?" She got up and excused herself from the room. Nabiki moved to pour her another glass as well as refresh her own when she heard something on her balcony that was attached to her living room. Curious she walked over and drew the curtain.
Bright blue eyes waited behind the glass.
"Ranma?!" She hissed. "What the hell are you doin'?!" He crouched on the small railing like a lost cat trying to paw his way back in.
"I... uh wanted to talk to Akane." Nabiki rubbed her temples.
These two are going to send me to an early grave.
"Do you actually think I'm going let you in, right now to talk to her? Really?"
He cocked his head to try to look past Nabiki and see if she was around. Nabiki poked her finger against the glass to get his attention.
"Not happening Saotome, she needs to rest." She glared at him and heard Akane coming out, she yelped, mouthed "STAY THERE" and shut the curtains again.
"Everything okay Nabiki?" Akane walked to her glass on the counter and sipped it, her sleepiness washed all over her face. Nabiki walked over to her and tried to move her away from the curtains and balcony pushing her to her room.
"Fine, fine. But you've had an exhausting day Akane. Here." She helped her lay down on her bed and placed the wine on her nightstand as she put a light blanket on her. "You rest and get some sleep, you're gonna have a hell of a hangover you're gonna need to nurse. I'll leave some water here too in case."
"You're acting like Kasumi, it's so weird." Akane chuckled as she nuzzled into the pillow.
"Shut up you mess." Nabiki teased back.
"I'm gonna...talk to him like you said Nabs...tell Ranma." She whispered to herself as she softly began to snore. Nabiki got up and closed the bedroom door behind her. She grabbed her wine glass, sighed and opened the curtain. He was still there crouched and waiting. She opened the glass door and held her arm out allowing him inside. She rolled her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen. "I forget you can do that.
"Want something to drink?" She offered as she went to the fridge. He scratched his head.
"I dunno, guess I'll have a beer?"
She placed a bottle of red wine and scotch on the counter.
"Got wine or scotch. Your choice."
"Uh, the scotch?" She made him a small glass and handed it to him as he took a seat on the couch. "Could I get some ice?"
"You're gonna need to stop asking for things when you've got the balls to show up here tonight." He stopped his sip and put the glass on the table. She tsked and gave him a coaster. "Like you grew up in the woods." He gave her an annoyed look and she smiled back.
"Where's Akane?"
"She's asleep, as she should be. She's had a long day." A pregnant silence hung over them. "So Ranma, why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to Akane."
"Neither of you are fit to talk right now. Her, because she's drunk. And you, because I don't think now's the time to tell her what you want to."
"What would you know about what I wanna talk to her about Nabiki?" He scoffed and took a sip of his drink.
"That you want to tell my sister you love her." He coughed up his drink. "I'm not stupid Ranma but now is not the time for that. At all." She glared at him as she took a sip and placed her drink down. She sat down across from him on her loveseat. "She is so emotionally drained and vulnerable right now that if she heard that from you, I think it would destroy her. Her longtime boyfriend just broke up with her, her fiancée who broke things off and she hasn't seen in years is back in her life and under her roof and she's just finished school. These are big stressors Ranma."
"But they broke up and I, we could..."
"Could what? Get engaged again? Do you think she wants that now? Maybe a couple years ago but not now." She sighed. "I know my sister could be a bitch in the past, but you could also be a real asshole to her at times. And the relationship you two weaved was so messy and complicated, I just...I don't get it." Her eyes pinned his and she could see a mix of anger and shame in them. "And what Akane feels and what Akane felt are two different things now, whether or not you want to accept that."
"She talked about how she feels about me?"
"In no way am I going to tell you how my sister felt or feels for you Ranma. Not even if you paid." She grew hot then cooled off. "Why did you call it off anyways?"
He went through the whole story top to bottom, to the letters to the other girls, to his letter to Akane and his plan. That he wanted her to have a chance at doing things she wanted, that he wanted her to be with him because she wanted to, that he'd become a whole man and wanted to show her that he was a capable heir to the school and an even more capable partner.
"You really fucked this up royally, didn't you?" He looked away and took a big gulp of his drink. She offered him a refill but he asked for water instead. "Gotta say I never took you for a big romantic, Saotome." He rolled his eyes and laid back onto the couch, observing the room and the apartment, a lot less lavish than he would've imagined.
"I think you should apologize and tell Akane the reasons why you left. I think she deserves to know." Nabiki softened her voice. "She's a owed an answer, I think we both agree there." He nodded as she took a deep breath. "I do not think you should tell her how you feel."
"Tofu said I needed to tell her, that I should tell her everything."
"Tofu is a kind, gentle soul. He's also an eternal optimist and doesn't understand how the world works. Akane is not ready to hear that because she needs to sort her own feelings out. She couldn't even admit tonight she'd loved her boyfriend, a dude who would've walked on water for her, wanted to marry her Ranma." His face went white and he felt sick. Nabiki felt herself getting anger on her sister's behalf and stood up, grabbing a cigarette from her purse and lit it in her connected kitchen. "Put yourself in her shoes, her betrothed returns with no warning, no communication with her for years. And he's just here now, in her home, in her personal space. On top of that this ex-fiancée, because that is what you are now, has a complicated history where he'd rather tease her than admit he has feelings for her. That telling her she looked nice would be like pulling teeth, that in order to get close to her one of you has to be on the verge of death or some other extreme circumstance. What's she supposed to choose? The imaginary you that she'd think about while you were gone that you actually acted like 2% of the time or the you that was here, that left her, that she could rely on you actually being." She took a long drag, looking so much like her father in their shared vices, processing her thoughts. The drinks had gotten her angrier than she was used to, sure people would still think she was a stone-cold bitch at times, but the truth was with age she had become more and more protective of her family. Especially Akane. She hadn't been a great older sister a few years back so she was working on being better for her. She let out a long whisp of smoke from her nose.
"You know sometimes I wish you and I would've been engaged." He gave her a shocked look, worried on where this was going. "I wish that because if she hadn't been engaged to you, maybe she could've had a chance at being a normal teen and having a regular dating life." She took a long drag and blew out, never breaking his eye contact. "And I would've kicked you to the curb the minute those other girls had shown up." She stubbed out the cigarette as she sighed feeling like she was kicking him a bit too much while he was down.
Nabiki's got a point, I wasn't the best guy to 'er when I lived here. And we never could be on the same page, on anything. Ever really. But I know what I feel and that's never changed, hell I don't know if it ever will.
But what if she had been engaged? It's like I woulda been like Shampoo or Kodachi, I could have been tryin' to break 'em up because I wanted her. What if she'd been married?
He ran his hands over his face and groaned.
"I don't know what to do Nabiki. This shit is so confusin'." She took a seat back down, she was gonna have to be everyone's big sister tonight.
"Maybe just...get to know her again? Be friends? I know that's not what you want to hear but you have to start somewhere. You two started off hating each other and engaged, now you're not engaged anymore, no pressure. Just...give it a shot." She reached across and put a hand on his knee. "Akane cares about you. I know this, I've known this for a long time. But she's also had to deal with a lot from you in the past and she hasn't processed this where it matters. And I know you have a lot to process from her too, so now that you're home and here, why not try? What's the worst that could happen?"
"That she hates me and never wants to see me again?" He pouted and looked away to play with the arm of the couch. Nabiki sighed.
"Since when are you such a pessimist, Ryoga?" His eyes shot up and glared at her and she smirked. "But what if that doesn't happen? What if you two idiots actually figure it out?" She offered up and he made a face but nodded lightly. Nabiki nodded and sipped her wine. She knew she could've unloaded more on him, starting on how stupid and selfish he was to abandon her sister without so much as a goodbye, how she knew her sister never stopped loving him, that she probably still carried that flame to this day, that if he had just used his head and instead of grand gestures of love like he thought she "deserved" if he actually tried just telling her how he felt and be nice to her, they'd probably would've been married by now.
But she couldn't bring herself to treat him so badly. Not now. She could see in him how he got into his own head, how he couldn't express himself how he wanted. Everything had to be the biggest and best for it to be his.
A man among men.
He needed to just be the man she wanted.
"You should probably head home, you've had a day too and I don't think Akane would appreciate you crawling in next to her. I only have so much room."
"She told me she knows about P-Chan too." Nabiki flinched in pain at that.
"Oh god really?" He nodded "Well you kind of have that one coming. But if it helps your cause, she's on speaking terms with Ryoga. Even welcomes him in the house...now..." She offered up. He nodded; he knew he'd eventually have to fall on the sword for that one. He got up and headed towards the balcony. "You can leave like a person, you know." He gave her a beaming smile.
"Not my style."
She huffed out and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Can't believe I'm offering but do you want to wish her goodnight?" He stopped climbing and blushed. She groaned and turned away. "Just be quick and don't be weird, okay?" He walked over to the bedroom and peaked in.
She was sprawled over the bed, snoring softly as she had one arm over her head and the other open wide across the other side of the bed. He crouched to get closer to her and smiled, moving a hair near her mouth.
You beautiful pain in my ass.
"Night 'Kane." He whispered. He stood up right away and left, Nabiki was smoking again and waved him out. "Thanks, Nabiki."
"Anytime, now get out of my house freeloader." He laughed lightly at that and gave her a handsome grin as he saw himself out and headed back home.
Enough angst for you guys? Man, writing these two dumdums I swear! I promise things start turning around.
Thank you all for the reviews so far! The feedback has been wonderful, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it!