Ranma ½
Love Note
Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.
For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.
Quick comments:
Since Naomi will be called pretty much by everyone Maho for the time being, that's how I'll refer to her for now. Just a reminder so people don't get confused.
I see that a number of people share my disgust with Light for what happened to Naomi, which is pleasing to hear. Any fragment of sympathy I had for Light was lost with what he did there. Grumble, grumble.
As to Naomi and Penber, hard to say just yet. I have 2 endings plotted out in my mind, and a couple other possibilities I'm toying with, although all are just variants on the same theme. As such, Naomi's ultimate fate, as far as love life goes, may well change.
Now obviously, since I just said that, I do have an ending or two in mind. Problem is bridging the gap between here and there. Deciding which ending I will ultimately use depends largely on how that proverbial bridge is built (and yes, one of the key components in such is just who exactly is Kasumi going to end up with).
Though I wonder who the mysterious person who took the Love Note could be...
I'm guessing you missed it and for anyone else who missed it, you may want to check out chapter 6, I posted it at the same time as Naomi's intro so a few may not have realized that and skipped it. If you didn't miss chapter 6, then just to be horribly blunt it was actually Nabiki.
Chapter 7
In what was by now a very uncomfortable routine for both parties, Akane and Ranma were walking home from school together. To most appearances this was no different than it had been for months, with both thoroughly ignoring the other, Ranma walking atop the fence at the road side, and Akane along the road. In truth, what was making it uncomfortable was the raging thoughts both were having.
At this time, both were intimately familiar with the situation, and the cause. However, that Cupid was involved did not make these new feelings easily dismiss-able. And, despite knowing this, neither could muster the self control to talk it out straight with the other. In fact, over the past several weeks, every attempt to do so had quickly ended in one or the other bringing up the situation, then other getting defensive, an argument as a result, a lot of hurt feelings (often accompanied in Ranma's case by a hurt body), and with nothing getting resolved. This had lead them to where they were now, an uneasy silence between them being the best either could manage.
However, today was different in one important regard, both of them were determined to end this silence. Only a combination of pride and uncertainty had kept them both silent up till now, but finally the necessary level of courage and humility had been reached for Akane to take the initiative. Clearing her throat, Akane began with a simple declaration. "I know it's not your fault." Immediately Ranma took noticed, and redirected his full attention to his fiancée. "I know Cupid is the one responsible. I'm sure you know that too."
"Yeah," Ranma quickly replied.
"So, there is no reason for us to be blaming each other," Akane continued on, feeling more confident.
"Of course not," Ranma agreed, also feeling some of the tension ease between them. "It's not like either of us chose this."
"Right, exactly," Akane replied, and took in a deep breath. However, as she did, she came to a rather disturbing realization... she had nothing more to say. 'What more is there to say?' she thought desperately. 'Do I say I'll promise never to see Mousse again... I'm not sure I can even keep such a promise, and he certainly can't seeing as it is Kasumi... oooh...'
"So, what do we do about it?" Ranma finally asked after a moment, but Akane had no answer. Taking Akane's silence as a chance to lead on, Ranma thought aloud, "I've tried denying it. I've tried ignoring. I've even tried reasoning it out. The feeling just refuses to go away."
Taking a second to stifle the pangs of jealousy that just wouldn't go unheard, Akane nodded her agreement. "Yeah,"she said sadly.
Another moment of silence passed between them before Ranma finally spoke up. "Maybe we need to... accept it."
"Accept it?!" Akane exclaimed in a mix of shock and anger. "You mean you want to be with Kasumi, is that it?" she accused before she could rein in her temper.
Ranma desperately waved his hands to avoid Akane's glare. "No, that's not what I... I mean... wait, isn't that kind of the point? Yes, I do want to be with her," Ranma finally admitted.
Akane could feel her anger boiling over at the declaration, but this time she was determined not to be a slave to it. 'I just have to remember, this is Cupid's fault, not his... not his...' she repeated to calm herself.
"I didn't chose that but I do. You can't tell me you don't want to be with Mousse," Ranma added after a moment.
"I..." Akane reflexively started to deny, but stopped herself and let out a deep buff of air to ease the tension. 'He's right, that would be an outright lie. That is the point. We love them.' Hanging her head, Akane let her anger abate. "No, I can't tell you that. I do. But, you can't mean to just... give in."
"I didn't say that," Ranma replied in annoyance.
"Then, what do you mean by accept it, then?" Akane asked in equal annoyance.
"I... don't really know," Ranma admitted after a second of thought. "All I know is fighting it doesn't seem to work. And... uh... nevermind."
"What?" Akane asked, looking at Ranma but he dodged her gaze. "What?" she asked again, more insistent.
Finally, Ranma looked back at her, a downcast look on his face. "And... I'm not even sure the feelings I have... even the old ones, are real... or different at least."
"What? What old feelings?!" Akane accused.
Ranma quickly distanced himself, realizing the extent of the verbal hole he was digging himself. "Wait! I just mean, you know stuff like Shampoo and Kodachi-"
"You mean you loved Shampoo and Kodachi too!" Akane almost roared.
"No, that's not what I meant!" Ranma shot back.
"That what do you mean?" Akane demanded, her anger barely in check.
"Think about it. We can't be sure when Cupid really started. Maybe it was Cupid... that... you know, got to them... and maybe others too," Ranma tried to explain.
The haze of anger hanging over Akane nearly obscured what Ranma was driving at but Akane forced herself to run over the thought. As she did her anger began to transform into uncertainty. 'I never even considered that,' she thought in shock. 'No, we're different... I'm sure of it... or... damn it...' Akane hung her head once more as doubt started to overcome her. With a sudden feeling of depression overcoming her, Akane realized she was near the point of bursting. Desperate for an escape, she suddenly turned and ran off.
"Hey!" Ranma called out after her, but did not give chase. "Where you going?" he asked quietly, obviously going unheard by anyone but himself, then let his shoulders fall. "Stupid idiot," he quietly cursed, slapping his forehead. Then, shoving his hands in his pockets he continue walking down the street, staring at the pavement.
Maho leaned back against the wall of a large commercial high rise, using the extra support to allow her to lift and massage one of her feet. She had been walking around the area of the parking garage for nearly 5 hours, and with very little to show for her effort. '33 minutes doesn't seem like much until you realize you have no idea which way he went, never mind how far,' she thought with a sigh, reseting her aching foot on the pavement. 'There has to be an easier way. This will take me days to cover the area at this rate, and I have no guarantee of talking to the right people either.'
She paused to look at her reflection in one of the building's many windows. Earlier that day she had finally managed to get herself some proper clothing. However, despite having a nearly unlimited expense account thanks to L, she had ended up playing it safe and going with her usual look, a black woolen tops with matching black slacks, with a leather jacket. She already had one person ask her who died. 'Maybe I should go with a bit more color... but I like this look,' she thought, but decided to dismiss fashion concerns for a later time. She was on the job.
Breaking out her map, Maho began walking once more while examining the area within the large red circle she had drawn on it. The circle denoted the distance on foot, she could reach in 33 minutes herself. Being conservative she had assumed a brisk walking pace, but that still left her with nearly 50 square kilometers to cover. It would be even worse if the director had run at all. Frowning, Maho couldn't help but find the situation hopeless. 'The odds of me finding a witness to the director's whereabouts, now over a week ago, are next to nil,' she thought in despair, but wouldn't let herself give up. 'I supposed to be L's lead in the area. I can't declare defeat this easily. There has to be something... someway to narrow this down.' As she stopped at a nearby street, her mind focused back on the reports from the interviews. 'Most all those affected who were noticed acted fairly normally. However, when it came to the goals Cupid had likely put on them, like watching that show, they went about them very methodically,' she thought as she waited for a crossing signal.
'If L is right, Cupid didn't expect us to get this far. She probably would then have had the director come directly to the meeting place from the garage... no, she probably didn't even specify how he got here, just that he got to the meeting at a set time. It would have been up to the director to actually get there. If that's so, he wouldn't have wasted time, and would haven take the route that would get him there the quickest. Okay, so if I'm right, that means the meeting place was somewhere on the perimeter of the zone,' Maho concluded, but a quick look at her map disappointed her. 'That's still a lot of places though, especially when I don't know his exact pace... Wait, there is another garage here... and one here...' Touching each in turn, Maho began to see promise. 'I can eliminate most of this area because it would have been quicker for the director to park at other places. In fact, that pretty much only leaves the southern area... that's mostly park area. Could she have met him openly in the park? It's possible I guess, but this Cupid has been pretty careful till now. You'd think she'd want someplace with some more privacy... or maybe not,' Cupid suddenly thought as she noticed a bus depot symbol at the edge of the park, very near the edge of her circle. 'The next best thing to being in private is to be in a crowd. In fact, that seems a lot more this Cupid's style. A bus depot at that time of day would be pretty busy. Lots of people coming to and from work, and students too. In a crowd like that, it would be highly unlikely that anyone would take notice of two people meeting up, even if they were watching for it.' Nodding to herself, Maho adjusted her path and headed over to bus depot to take a look.
A short time later Maho arrived and was not too pleased with what she was seeing. The bus depot was a larger one, and enclosed. Unfortunately, it had no regular staff, and only a single camera watching over it. Worse, that camera was clearly broken. Seeing a nearby bus driver on break, Maho walked over. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know how long that camera has been broke, do you?"
Looking up the driver frowned. "That? Oh, over a month now. Damn kids. Still, you'd think they'd get around to fixing it. Been a few incidents around here," the driver replied.
"Thanks," Maho said in return and pulled out a picture of the director. "You wouldn't happen to have seen this man here last Tuesday, would you?"
"Sorry Mame, I don't work Tuesdays," the driver answered, taking only a glance at the picture. "Besides, we tend to keep our eyes on the trouble makers. This guy looks like the sort who would just blend in with the rest."
"Yeah, I suppose so," Maho sadly agreed as she returned the picture to her purse. "Thanks anyway."
Defeated, Maho had to console herself by grabbing up a nearby bus schedule and looking it over before leaving. 'There has to be a half dozen buses going through at that time. If this is where Cupid met him, she picked a good spot and time. No surveillance, and busy time of day. That would make it easy to get in and out without being noticed at all.' Sighing to relieve her frustration, Maho decided to take a break. Looking out into the nearby park, she spotted a cart selling noodles. Having not eaten in many hours, Maho headed over and ordered up a quick snack while she considered the situation.
"Order up," the vendor said after several minutes, handing over a cup of noodles to Maho.
"Thanks," she replied, graciously taking the food and paying for it. As she ate, she decided to continue about her task, questioning the vendor. "You always set up shop here?"
"During the week, yeah," he replied. "Not a bad location near the depot and all."
Nodding, Maho once more produced the director's picture and gave it to the vendor. "You happen to recognized this man? He would have been by here last Tuesday." Fully expecting a negative reply, Maha looked off at the depot, but was shocked when she got the answer she least expected.
"Oh yeah, I remember him," he replied.
"You do?" Maho asked in shock. "You sure?"
"Yeah. Definitely. I wouldn't normally notice, but he walked practically right by my stand. I said hello, but he completely ignored me. Probably would have forgotten him, but about... I guess, 5 minutes after that he walked right back the way he came, and ignored me again. First time I let off, but I thought it was awfully rude the second time."
"Was he going to the depot?" Maho asked.
"Yeah, I think so. That's another reason I thought it was so weird. Generally you see people going to, or coming from, not both in just a few minutes," the vendor noted. "What's this about, anyway?"
"Oh... ah, to be honest, I'm a friend of his wife's. She's under the impression that he being... you know," Maho answered.
"Ah," the vendor said with a knowing nod. "Didn't see anything of that nature, but hopefully that helps some."
"I think it did. Thanks," Maho replied, and quickly finished her noodles and headed out. As she walked, she pulled out a cell phone L had delivered to her, and dialed a special number he had given her.
"This is L," the usual electronic voice replied.
"L, this is Maho. I found a witness who spotted the director enter and leave a bus depot near here. He didn't see anything else, but I think that's where he met Cupid. Unfortunately, I've already checked and the camera at that depot is not working and hasn't for some time."
"No doubt a strong contributing factor for choosing that location," L replied. "Well done."
"Shall I try to talk to the bus drivers-"
"No, that's not necessary. Please return to your room for the time being. I think we can proceed from here." With that, as Maho was being accustomed to, L abruptly ended the conversation.
Frowning slightly, Maho returned the cell phone to her pocket. 'Why do I get the feeling that he somehow already knew this?' she wondered, but decided to drop the issue for now. She had had quite enough foot work for the day, and a rest would be much appreciated.
It was about an hour after leaving Ranma's side that Akane finally found herself outside Dr. Tofu's clinic. Her earlier wanderings had not helped her state of mind, especially when she had discovered that instinctively she had been heading to Ukyo's, the current residence of Mousse. It took a fair bit of her will power to resist the urge to see him in her current state of mind. Coming to Dr. Tofu's seemed the next best thing. She desperately needed someone to talk to.
So, with a heavy heart, Akane walked up to the front door and entered. Inside the front waiting room, she quietly sat down and sighed, waiting for the doctor to make an appearance. However, the first person she saw was probably the last one she expected, Shampoo. Unaware that it was Akane that had entered, Shampoo had entered the waiting room with a wide smile and started to greet her, saying, "Nihao. Doctor be right... oh is you."
"What are you doing here?" Akane asked suspiciously.
"Shampoo help Doctor while restaurant closed. Great grandmother in China," she explained then looked Akane over. "You no look hurt. Why you here?"
"None of your business. I just want to see Dr. Tofu," Akane replied in annoyance. Shampoo frowned, but then shrugged, apparently not interested enough to care and walked into the back. Once more alone, Akane sighed again, debating whether speaking to the doctor with Shampoo present was wise, but finally decided she didn't care.
After another minute, an older man walked out, apparently ending his appointment, and Dr. Tofu stepped out to greet Akane with a smile. "Hello Akane, what can I do for you?"
Getting up, Akane hesitated, but finally asked, "Can we talk?"
"Talk... oh sure," Tofu replied.
"Uh... someplace else..." Akane hinted with a nod to the examination room where Shampoo was.
"No problem," Tofu said with a nod. "Shampoo, I'll be out for a few minutes. Can you keep an eye on things?"
"Okay," Shampoo called out to reply, and with that Tofu lead Akane outside and the two started walking down the street.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Tofu asked.
"What is Shampoo doing there, anyway? Really?"
Tofu smiled. "Just as she said, although I think it is more because she is feeling a bit lonely than anything else. Don't worry about her. Now, what is bothering you?"
Akane took a long moment to gather her thoughts before responding. "I... you know about all this Cupid stuff, right?"
"Vaguely," Tofu replied. "Shampoo mentioned that she was affected. She said she thought Mousse did it, although I doubt that myself."
Akane nodded. "She wasn't the only one," she said, her tone making all too clear who she was hinting at.
With a sudden realization, Tofu nodded knowingly. "I see. So who-"
"Mousse," Akane answered quickly. "Doctor, I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried everything I can think and I can't shake it. Shampoo was lucky. I don't know how she shook it off, but I can't."
Once more Tofu nodded. "That is a tough one. How is Mousse taking it?"
Akane shook her head. "I know he knows, but it's not like he's encouraging it. I think he's still hung up on Shampoo. Doesn't seem to matter though. Actually, that kind of makes it worse. Before I was just annoyed at Shampoo for Ranma, but now I get mad just thinking about the way she treats Mousse," Akane explained, balling up her fists in front of her to emphasize the feeling before sighing and relieving the tension. "I can't go on like this."
Tofu rubbed his chin in thought. "That is definitely a complicated situation. Have you tried talking to either of them about it."
"Ranma... sorta."
"Oh?" Tofu responded, surprised how Akane didn't seem angry about that. "And what did he say?"
"He thinks we should just accept it," Akane replied, looking down at the ground.
"Accept it?!" Tofu repeated in shock. "Are you sure that's what he meant. I mean, with the way he normally acts-"
"Oh, you don't know about him either then?" Akane asked suddenly, to which Tofu could only shake his head. "I thought Kasumi would have mentioned it."
"Kasumi?" Tofu repeated, suddenly dazing out before quickly shaking his head to reassert his attention on the moment. "Uh, no actually. I haven't... come to think of it, I've haven't seen Kasumi in quite a while," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Doesn't she usually visit every couple days?" Akane asked to which Tofu nodded. "I'm sure she just been busy... lately," Akane said after a moment, but worry showed through on her face. "I... I should be going..." she said suddenly, and just as quickly started to jog off, but Tofu called out to her after only a few feet.
"Akane, all I can think to say is if you can't trust your feelings anymore then perhaps it is time to look at what other qualities you want," Tofu said, pulling Akane up short.
Akane looked back at the doctor, thinking. "I... I'll think about that. Thanks Dr. Tofu."
Tofu waved goodbye as Akane took off, and headed back the way he came, once more rubbing his chin. "So, if Ranma has been affected too, I wonder who it is? If it was Shampoo, I'm sure she would have mentioned it by now. Ukyo was by the other day too, and all she talked about was Kodachi bugging her, so I doubt it is either one of them. Hmm... Nabiki maybe?" Tofu pondered aloud, finally reaching the clinic once more, finding Shampoo waiting for him, curious. "I miss anything?" he asked as he entered to which Shampoo only shook her head. 'Come to think of it, Ranma is usually in here at least once a week with some injury or another, but he hasn't been by lately either. Hmmm...'
"Doctor?" Shampoo asked, noticed his perplexed expression.
"Oh, it's nothing," Tofu responded. 'I wonder if Shampoo knows?' he thought, but dismissed asking. 'Probably not a good idea to ask. If she doesn't, then whoever Ranma is in love with now could get into trouble. Hmmm... why would Akane get so worried all of a sudden like that anyway?' he wondered. As he considered this, the pieces finally fell into place, sparking his usual casual and friendly air to diminish sharply. 'Nah, that couldn't be it... but she hasn't been by lately... could she and he... no... no... she's not interested in... that... sort...' he continued to think, but with each thought, his doubts increased.
"Doctor?" Shampoo once more asked as his mood quickly deteriorated.
"Stupid Akane," Ranma mutter continuously as he wondered the streets of Nerima aimlessly, kicking a lose soda can ahead of him with every few steps. He didn't truly mean the insult, but it was a habitual thing that served to calm him somewhat. Today, it wasn't working too well. "Why'd she go and have to take it like that? That's not really what I meant," he argued, but inwardly even he couldn't really see how she would take it any other way. "Darn it."
His thoughts so occupied, and his attention on the can in front of him, Ranma just barely noticed the incoming danger before jumping aside. As he refocused his attention he noticed he had avoided by a mere hair's width the impact of a huge mallet that spider webbed the pavement on impact. A instant later he focused on his attacker, and was quite surprised to see Kodachi, dressed in a cloak covering her usual gymnastic leotard. As Ranma landed, he quickly reconfirmed that he was indeed still male, and looked back at Kodachi in confusion.
"Drat, I missed," Kodachi cursed under her breath, and let go of the mallet to land and turn to Ranma. "Ranma... darling, how good it is to see you today," she greeted, although Ranma could sense quite a different tone to the greeting than usual.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Ranma asked, taking no risk and setting himself to be ready for another attack.
"Oh... that?" Kodachi replied, looking briefly back at the mallet. "It slipped."
"Like I'm going to believe that!"
Kodachi sighed and pulled out her ribbon, twirling it in the air absently. "I suppose it was inevitable that I would be found out. Such a sad ending."
"Ending?" Ranma repeated in confusion.
"Yes. I'm sorry to say, Ranma, that I have reconsidered our relationship," Kodachi answered, and looked off to the sky. "I have long thought that we were meant to be together. Ever since that night when you so gallantly saved me from that fall... but alas, I was mistaken."
"Are... you dumping me for Ukyo?!" Ranma asked with a cringe.
"Mmmm... how to phrase this..." Kodachi considered aloud then nodded. "I suppose simple and direct is best, then yes," she finally said.
"What?!" is all Ranma could think to reply.
Clasping her hands together, and looking to the sky with wide eyes, Kodachi explained. "I've long denied my feelings, hiding them beneath false hate and resentment, but on that day I could not deny it any more. Seeing her through that window that day... so dedicated to her work, I couldn't help but be moved."
"You do realize it is just Cupid-"
Kodachi sharply looked back at Ranma, but not with disdain, or realization, but rather determination. "Oh yes, but my goddess Cupid has only shown me my truth path to happiness."
'Oh brother, Ukyo isn't going to like hearing about this,' Ranma thought as Kodachi continued on.
"That day, I truly appreciated my darling Ukyo's beauty. I gazed at her for hours..."
"More like ten minutes the way Ukyo tells it," Ranma commented, but Kodachi ignored him.
"I came to realize where my heart really lies, and that it is not with you, Ranma," Kodachi concluded, looking back at him, now with menace in her eyes. "Of course, my dearest Ukyo has yet to truly acknowledge our mutual destiny together, and I know now why that is. It's you. Unlike myself, who has been given Cupid's guidance, Ukyo has yet to see the light. So, I find that task left to me."
'Oh great. I don't know whether this is better or worse than before,' Ranma thought with a sigh.
Pointing her finger accusingly at Ranma, Kodachi continued on. "I shall not have you stringing along my dearest Ukyo any longer, Ranma Saotome. Renounce your false engagement to her and I will be lenient, but continue on as you have and you shall know the full fury of the Black Rose."
'You know, I could just renounce Ukyo like she wants and get her off my back... but I'm thinking Ukyo would be even more pissed if I did that... hmmm,' Ranma thought for a second. Finally, deciding that anything he could say would only lead him into more trouble, Ranma did what comes naturally in such situation, run for it. Jumping suddenly to the nearby roof tops, Ranma caught Kodachi off guard and managed to put several house widths between them before she could react.
"Get back here, Saotome!" Kodachi called out as she tried to make chase, but quickly fell further behind. "This isn't over!" she said as Ranma made good his escape.
At about the same moment, Maho was just in the process of fishing out her room key to unlock her door when the cell phone L gave her rang. Quickly she grabbed it and answered. "Hello."
"Maho, good. Where are you?" L's electronic voice asked over the phone.
"I'm just at my apartment-"
"Good... good..." he replied but then the line was silent, puzzling Maho. "Have you had dinner yet?"
"What? Ah... no, not real-"
"Excellent. I believe I have discovered something and wish to discuss it with you."
"Just give me a moment and I'll-" Maho started to say as she once more went for her keys.
"No, in person," L suddenly said, startling her.
'L wants to talk with me... in person?!' Maho thought in shock as L started to give her instructions.
End Chapter 7
As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.
Sorry about the long delay on this chapter. Been thrashing over various ideas. In particular how to get L actually in here. Decided to stop trying to over think it and just go for it.
