These are the words of Hung Nguyen. I just have permission to post. Just want to help give this story the recognition it deserves.

Disclaimer: Well, what can I say except that it still applies.

italics: Thoughts

(" "): Chinese thoughts

Chapter 8

Akane and Her Sisters Part 3 (Repercussions)

Akane was still thinking about what she had learned about Ranma as she and her sister Nabiki were preparing for school. Taking the advice of both Cologne and Dr. Tofu, she had taken a couple more days off from school to recuperate from her ordeal. Fortunately, she had asked a couple of her schoolmates to take notes for her so she wouldn't be too far behind. Her father had coddled and bawled over her since she came home. He wouldn't give her a moment's peace, and Kasumi had to almost resort to physically tying him down when Akane began resuming her martial arts training. To her relief though, Soun and Genma had not been pressuring Akane to go marry Ranma during her recovery.

On their way to school, Nabiki looked at her sister and saw her in deep concentration.

She's probably thinking about Ranma. I don't blame her. I mean, I didn't believe it myself when I found out he was blind. He had us all fooled for a while. The question is what now?

Akane was indeed thinking about the Unseen Light martial artist. Ranma is blind. I just can't believe that I can't beat someone who can't see. How does he do it? Hmmm, that Unseen Light martial arts must be really something if he could all that stuff he did. Maybe I can learn it, too. Akane smiled at the image of her being able to fire off the Spirit Seeker. Well maybe if I'm nicer to him, I can get him to teach me what he knows.

Akane nodded as she started to come up with some ideas. It was then that she and Nabiki approached the school gates. There, in front of a small crowd, was a familiar scene.

Ranma was once again dancing around Kuno's attacks as if they were nothing. To him, they WERE nothing. Akane became fascinated by how easily he evaded each of Kuno's efforts to hit him, despite the fact that he couldn't see them. This observation also made her think of something else. Her father had always taught her that it was a martial artist's duty to defend the weak. Though Ranma was far from the concept of being a weakling, attacking a blind opponent was still considered dishonorable. Kuno also had a bad habit of attacking from behind, though he still bragged that he followed the samurai code. Akane made a decision to help Ranma. Perhaps in doing so, he might become more willing to share his secrets with her.

At the gate, Ranma evaded yet another series of blows from Kuno with nary a care. On the sidelines, Shampoo, Lilac, and Perfume watched casually. They knew that Ranma was only toying with Kuno for the fight to be lasting this long. Kuno was getting madder by the instant with every miss. Occasionally, the blind boy would land a blow on his opponent. They wouldn't be done with much force, only enough to sting a little, but the way he would do it would be insulting to the wannabe samurai.

"Fiend! Stand still!" Kuno yelled as he tried a stab to the head.

WHAP! Kuno received a slap to the face.

"You dare mock me?!" Kuno tried a slash to the midsection.

Ranma flicked his finger to Kuno's nose.

"How dare you?!" One diagonal swing to the shoulder.

WHOMP! Ranma somehow got behind him and booted him in the rear.

"Arrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!" The kendoist turned around and charged at his foe.

Ranma ducked the swing, grabbed outstretched arm and flung Kuno like a rag doll. The insane bokken user flew headfirst into the front gate.

CLANG!

Kuno slumped to the pavement and began seeing stars. Ranma shrugged as he turned his back and motioned for the other Amazons to follow him to class. The crowds, thinking that the fight was over, began to disperse. Just as Akane and Nabiki approached Kuno's prone form, they heard him groan.

"Saotome, I fight on!"

Using his rage to fuel his body, Kuno got up and charged at Ranma while his back was turned. Akane, seeing this, acted and rushed to intercept him. Not knowing about Ranma's sixth and seventh senses, the youngest Tendo thought that there was no way for a blind person could detect such a cowardly assault.

Ranma had already sensed Kuno's approach and was about to reply with a reverse roundhouse kick, when he had to halt his counterattack with Akane's interference. Stopping short in a half-turn, his seventh sense picked up Akane as she came between him and Kuno.

Kuno's face brightened as he caught sight of his love. "My sweet Akane! How I've missed thee for the past two days! Though my heart rejoices at the sight of your loveliness, I fear that I must stay my passion for you until I have dispatched this fiend and free you from your unholy engagement!"

"I told you before Kuno! I'm not interested!" Akane threw an uppercut to Kuno's chin and sent him up. When Kuno became a distant dot in the sky, she turned around and faced with Ranma, who happened to have an annoyed look on his face.

"I could have handled him. You didn't have to butt in."

"I was trying to help." Akane protested. "He was about to hit you from behind."

"So what?"

"So what?!" Akane asked incredulously. "What do you mean? There's no way you could have seen him coming. Not with your handicap."

Ranma stiffened at the mention of the word handicap. The other Amazons also became silent at this. When the crowds heard this, they became very interested.

"What... are... you... talking... about?" Ranma asked slowly.

It was then that Akane's mouth acted before she could think about the consequences of her words. "Kasumi told me that you were blind and I was only trying to keep Kuno from-"

It was then that Ranma's world came tumbling down around him.

"Ranma's blind?!"

"No way!"

"Really?!"

"I can't believe it!"

"Man! If that doesn't take the cake!"

"Is it true?"

"If Kasumi said it, then it must be true."

"Kuno can't beat Saotome, even though he's blind?"

"He can't be blind!"

"Wow! He's kept us from it for this long!"

The words of the crowds, some of them were whispers, some were shouts, and others were just regular voices. All of them rang as loud as sonic booms to Ranma's sensitive ears. He stood in absolute shock as the crowds continued to murmur amongst themselves. He began reaching out with his senses to detect the emotions of the people around him. He could sense disbelief in many, but he then began to feel something else from them. It at first started out from the girls, then spread out to the boys. They began focusing on him and the blind boy could feel it like a raging tidal wave. It was the one emotion that he hated the most. The one emotion that he had to strive all his life to avoid. It was the feelings of pity for him.

Ranma came home at around two o'clock and stomped his way into Pepper's restaurant. At the moment, the owner of the establishment was talking on the phone.

"Ranma! What are you doing here so early?" Cologne asked.

Ranma neither answered her question nor acknowledged her presence as he went up to his room and slammed the door. He didn't want to be talking to anyone at the moment.

Cologne was about to reprimand the boy for his blatant lack of respect for an elder, when Pepper placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let him be, Cologne."

"What?"

Pepper took a deep breath and sighed as she replied. "I just got a call from Furinkan. They... know he's blind. They've suggested on making... arrangements for him. Things like getting textbooks in Braille and such, perhaps even transferring him to another school since Furinkan doesn't have many facilities for... people with Ranma's condition."

At the mention of other arrangements, Cologne could understand why Ranma was so upset. Cologne shook her head with sadness. She knew that Ranma hated to be pitied or treated differently from anyone else because he was... visually challenged. That would be like admitting to his disability. That was one of the main reasons why he shunned Braille books and refused to carry a cane. The boy had fought too long and hard to be reduced to this. He hated to be seen as someone who is helpless. When Ranma had gained mastery over the Unseen Light techniques, he had found great joy to able to fit into a normal society without having others look down at him as someone who cannot do the simple things that they take for granted.

Though the Joketsuzoku had nothing but the utmost respect for what the blind boy had accomplished over the last eight years, Cologne knew that the outside world would pity him and not believe in the miracles that Ranma could accomplish. Ranma had every reason to be proud at his successes, but the narrow-minded school board couldn't see past Ranma's blindness. Cologne had honored Ranma's request not to tell the school board about his condition so he wouldn't have to reveal some of the secrets of the Unseen Light. Now, with his blindness known, he may have to tell them about his abilities in order to keep going to Furinkan.

In his room, Ranma angrily paced back and forth. His thoughts were of anguish, rage, and despair as he thought about it all. Damn it all, this is what he wanted to avoid! He could feel the emotions of sympathy and pity emanating from the people who passed him by. In the girls it was even stronger as they already had developed a liking to him. Learning that he was blind only strengthened their feelings toward him as it made his sensitive side even more attractive.

However, Ranma wanted them to like him for who he was, not out of pity. He had been hearing students' whisper of his inability to see. Rumors on how he had been able to function were rampant and Kuno was the worst of them all when he was told of it. The kendoist had become an object of ridicule over his numerous defeats to a blind person. As a result, he had been attacking Ranma repeatedly, saying that he was some foul sorcerer that lived in darkness. The unseeing martial artist didn't pull his punches as much during those attacks.

Damn it all! This is all Akane's fault! If she had kept her big mouth shut, then everything would have been fine! It was at that time that Ranma thought about what she had said when she interfered. Even though Akane's choice of words was the wrong thing to say, it wasn't all her fault. No, there was another person who partly to blame. With that in mind, Ranma leapt out his bedroom window and headed for the Tendo dojo, oblivious to the danger of going there.

At the Tendo household, Kasumi was busy hanging up the wash. She was silently humming a small tune as she finished up with one of the many chores of running the household. Currently, her father and Genma were involved with another one of their games of shogi in the parlor. As she put up the last article of clothing to dry, her mind began conjuring up images of Ranma. She sighed as she remembered his gentle nature and amazing ability to overcome such a disability as a lack of sight. She also blushed a bit when she recalled his comment about her face matching the beauty of her soul. That was something that she could never forget.

Despite all these happy thoughts, Kasumi did feel guilty about telling her sisters about his blindness. Ranma had requested that she keep that secret to herself, but she just couldn't stand the thought of him being manipulated by Nabiki and abused by Akane's temper. She just couldn't keep something that important to herself and had hoped that they would be a bit more understanding toward him if they knew of his disability. So far, it had worked and Kasumi had not heard an unkind word about him from Akane, nor had Nabiki tried to profit off him.

"You just couldn't keep it to yourself, now could you?"

Kasumi whirled around at the sound of Ranma's voice and saw that he was leaning against the backyard wall.

"Oh! You startled me!" Kasumi had not heard him approach. She smiled serenely at Ranma, but then noticed that his expression was anything but friendly. In fact, it looked as if he was having great difficulty in keeping his temper in check. "Is... something the matter?"

Ranma didn't answer her immediately as he slowly walked up to her. When he came to about five feet from her he said, "It was a simple request. I can't understand why you had to tell Akane about it."

"What do you mean..." Kasumi then realized what he meant. "Oh! Then Akane told..."

"Yes... she did." Ranma said with a tight lip. "But the problem was that the whole school was there when she blabbed it out."

"Then... everyone knows...?" Kasumi's voice began to waver.

Ranma nodded. "Yes." Though his eyes weren't focusing on her or anything at all, Kasumi felt as if those blue depths were burning right through her. "It seems that I was wrong about you. I thought that if there were anyone in the Tendo family that I could trust, it would be you. Now I realize that I put too much faith in your abilities to honor a simple request."

Kasumi couldn't believe that Ranma was becoming angry with her. She just couldn't believe that this was the same gentle, sensitive and caring individual who had told his life's story and had rescued Akane. Then again, he did have a right to be annoyed with her.

"Please, try to understand." Kasumi pleaded. "I didn't mean to reveal your secret, but I thought-"

"You thought what?" Ranma interrupted, a slight edge forming in his tone.

"I thought... that if Akane knew, then she wouldn't be so quick to judge you and she might treat you better. You don't... no, no one deserved to be subjected to that kind of abuse."

Ranma's expression softened a bit at Kasumi's well-meaning motive, but then hardened as he said, "Maybe, but it was my choice whether or not to accept her abuse. At least when she didn't know, she treated me just the same as all the other boys. If there's one thing I don't like, it's being treated differently because of the fact that I can't see! She patronized me, Tendo-san! She thought I was some helpless dope who couldn't fight against a wimp like Kuno, despite the fact that I could beat him in my sleep! You had no business in telling Akane and I rather suspect that you told Nabiki as well! You may have thought that it would be better if Akane knew. Well I'm sorry to say, but it all backfired! I have become the one thing that I cannot abide and now because of this, I may not be attending Furinkan for much longer!"

"What do you mean?" Kasumi became fearful at that implication.

Ranma turned his back and then hopped up to the top of the wall. He then paused. "I had thought that you and I could have had something."

"W-What?!" Kasumi was startled by this confession. Then again, deep in her heart, she too had wanted to get closer to Ranma as well.

Ranma nodded as he continued. "I meant it when I said that your face matches the beauty of your soul. You have something that is very rare. I've only encountered it once before... with my mother Jasmine. In a way, you're a lot like her."

"I..." Kasumi was close to tears at the sound of Ranma's voice. He was opening up his heart to her and the closed part of her mind, the part that kept her from expressing her own feelings, began to break down.

"When you deduced that I was blind, you gained my respect. Although I had no desire to fulfill the pact between the Saotomes and the Tendos, it was after meeting you that I began to rethink about it."

Kasumi didn't know what to say. Ranma's words had rendered her speechless.

"You truly are special, Kasumi Tendo. Any man who has you for a wife would be very lucky indeed. I... had been thinking about being that person."

The eldest girl's heart stopped at this. Was this it? Was he going to say...?

"But a relationship is nothing without trust. I gave you mine, but you betrayed it. I was considering the pact between our families, but now I truly realize that all of Genma's promises are not worth it."

Kasumi could feel her heart shatter like fragile glass. Her breath that she was holding came out as a gasp. She was stunned beyond belief.

"Goodbye Miss Tendo." He then took a leap and was gone.

"Ranma! Wait!" The brown-haired girl started running toward him, but before she reached the wall, the blind boy was long gone. She stopped and stared up at the place where he disappeared. She fell to her knees as his last words to her rang in her ears.

But a relationship is nothing without trust. I gave you mine, but you betrayed it.

Unable to control her emotions, she began weeping in her hands.

It was then that Genma and Soun burst onto the scene after hearing Ranma's name.

"Ranma? Where is he?" Genma said as he looked around for his errant son. It was at that time he and Soun saw the eldest daughter sobbing on her knees near the back wall and mumbling.

"Oh Ranma... I'm... so sorry!"

Some distance away, Ranma was in anguish as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop. He had immediately regretted his words to the Tendo girl. Of all the people that he didn't want to hurt, Kasumi was very high on that list. Yet he could feel nothing but anger at her and the problems she had inadvertently caused with her well-intentioned motives. Now his fellow classmates saw him as some helpless person. The school board had suggested Braille books and perhaps be moved to a place for the blind, despite his abilities to compensate for his handicap. He didn't want to be pitied, damn it! He wasn't helpless! He wasn't...

Ranma stopped on a rooftop and slumped down. Running about all over town wasn't helping his current situation, though he couldn't think of anything else to do. So he did what he always had done when he was like this. He made his flute appear and began to play.

Sometime later, the Amazons were out looking for their missing member after Cologne had discovered that Ranma was gone from his room. After visiting the Tendo home and finding out that Ranma was not there, the warrior females split up to search for him. It was about six o'clock when Shampoo had found him.

The purple-haired girl had heard the sorrowful music of Ranma's flute. Following the melody, she soon spotted her cousin sitting on top of a roof of a restaurant. She noted that the customers of the establishment were ignoring their meals, as they listened with great interest to the haunting tunes that the blind boy played. Shampoo then hopped up to the top of the roof and slowly approached her distraught adopted relative.

"Ranma?"

The blind boy did not seem to hear her as he continued to play.

"Ranma?" Shampoo asked again but still didn't get any indication of being heard. "Ranma, please stop. We need to talk."

Ranma paused for a moment, turned his head toward Shampoo then went back to his playing. Shampoo became mildly irritated that he was intentionally ignoring her, then remembered what Pepper had told her about how Ranma had been when he came home. Taking a deep breath, she addressed her cousin once again. "All right Ranma. Keep playing. Shampoo will do all the talking."

Ranma did just that.

"Ranma... Shampoo knows that you don't like what happened at school, but it already done. You can't change it. Makes no sense to keep moping about it. The problem will not go away by itself."

Ranma stopped in his playing as he considered Shampoo's words. Letting off a tired sigh, he silently nodded.

Shampoo continued. "Shampoo knows that you don't like pity. No one in the village pities you. We all know you are just as good as anyone else. Even better in many cases."

"Damn straight." Ranma agreed as a little of his pride returned.

"But..." Shampoo added. "People at school don't KNOW you. They've never seen a blind person do what you can do. They don't know about the Unseen Light. So it's only natural that they feel sorry for you. They can only see with their eyes. You once said that a person should LOOK with the eyes and SEE with the heart and mind."

Ranma had to smirk at that remark as he remembered his bout with Kuno when he demonstrated that point.

"When you became an even better warrior than Mousse, you prove to all in the village that you are not helpless! You never gave up! You kept on trying and trying! That is the true way of an Amazon! Everyone in the village now think of you as an Amazon and not as an outsider! It didn't matter that you were not born in the village! It didn't matter that you were blind!"

Ranma began to feel a little better as Shampoo reminded him of all he had accomplished in Nieuchiezu. It was true. No one contested his rights as a member of the tribe. He had worked long and hard to gain the respect of his fellow warriors and that of the Council of Elders. However, he still asked his cousin as to what was the point of reminding him of all this.

"The point is, the Ranma that Shampoo know of would never give up, even now. You proved to all in the village that it makes no difference that you are blind. You were just like Koga."

At the mention of his former mentor, Ranma was reminded of the trials that the blind master had also endured before he was accepted in the Joketsuzoku as someone to be reckoned with.

Shampoo noted Ranma's introspection. "Yes, Koga had to prove to my great-grandmother that the Unseen Light was just as good as Amazon Wu Shu. He also had to prove to the others as well. When he trained you, he succeeded. Now, it's time that you proved that you don't need anyone's pity. You're just as good as anyone else. If they cannot see that, then they're more blind than you are."

Ranma shook his head while smiling. He had to admit that Shampoo was right. He didn't help matters by moping about and feeling sorry for himself. If he had conformed to the limits of the school board's perceived notions of blindness, then all the training that he had undergone would have been for nothing. He had already proven himself in the village. Now it was time for the rest of the world to open its eyes.

Ranma put away his flute and reached out with a hand. His fingertips lightly caressed the purple-haired girl's face. Shampoo closed her eyes and reveled in his touch. She had always enjoyed the way his fingers caressed her skin. So strong, yet so gentle and sensitive. A true reflection of the person she cared about and hoped to be something more than just a cousin.

Ranma withdrew his hand and said with a lopsided grin. "You haven't changed in appearance Shampoo, yet you have just shown me a wisdom that is beyond your years. You do Cologne proud."

Shampoo smiled as she said, "Shampoo had to have learned something from hanging around Great-grandmother all this time." She gave off a small laugh in which Ranma joined in.

It was around ten o'clock when the two returned to Pepper's Place. After assuring the others that everything was going to be all right, Ranma was taken aside by Cologne.

"Ranma, I have some news for you that may cheer you up."

"What is it, Cologne?"

"I received a phone call while you were gone. It seems that we may be able to find your blood-mother soon."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have just gotten a message from that detective that I told you about. Ryo Saeba is currently busy on another case, but he says that he will be able to get in touch with us in a week or so."

"Hey, that's great!"

"I have some more news. It seems that Jasmine and a few others will be coming here next week for a visit."

"Mom? She's coming here?" Ranma's mood became better at hearing this.

Cologne nodded. "Yes. She'll be arriving with Honey, Silk, and Satin. She's very anxious to see you again."

Ranma smiled as he recalled the other Amazons. Honey, Silk, and Satin were all older than he was, at least five or six years his senior. They were among the unmarried women of the tribe over the age of twenty-one. Though his mother preferred that he married someone closer to his age, that didn't stop older girls from flirting with him. The blind martial artist blushed a bit at those thoughts. Still, with his adopted mother coming to visit and a chance of finding his real mother, Ranma was in good spirits.

Meanwhile, in the Amazon village, a small group of women were discussing their upcoming trip to Japan in Jasmine's house.

("Oh, I can't wait to see Ranma again. I've missed him so much.") Jasmine said as she poured Honey another cup of tea.

("Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Japan.") The voluptuous blonde smirked as she crossed her legs.

("Oh, admit it Honey. You just want to see that handsome boy of Jasmine's. Just like the rest of us.") Silk was a shapely brunette with green eyes.

("And why shouldn't she be?") Asked the magenta-haired beauty named Satin. ("He may be a bit young, but they don't make males any better than him. Jasmine, you have raised a fine boy.")

("Thank you.") Ranma's mother frowned a bit as she looked at the three women. They were all very aggressive when it came to competing for males. The three of them were stunning and had figures that models would kill for. Honey was the bouncy and very vibrant blonde, who was also a healer. Her chest was very ample and many of her patients, most of which were males would frequently drop by her hut for healing sessions, some of which were not at all physical. Satin and Silk were the village seamstresses. They were identical sisters with only their hair colors being different. They didn't have quite as much... er, upper-body strength as Honey, but their long legs and shapely curves (especially around the hips and derrieres) were often the cause of several cases of eyestrain and whiplash. That and the fact they liked to wear revealing clothes. With so many of the village men panting after them, one would think that they wouldn't have any interest in a teenager. However, when they had set their eyes on Jasmine's son, they had made it into a sort of game to see who would be able to snare his heart. Also, it wasn't unusual for an Amazon female to take a younger husband.

Ranma had encountered the three women at one time or another and had politely turned down their overtures toward him. However, his natural shyness, innocence, and gentle nature was so endearing and attractive to them, that they continued to pursue him. That was another reason why Ranma had left the village. Despite living in a village that was female dominant, he was still very inexperienced in dealing with his amorous suitors.

Jasmine decided to put away her thoughts about her companions for a while as she contemplated her reunion with her adopted child. According to the letters that Ranma wrote to her, it seemed that Genma was stirring up trouble again and this time he was determined that the blind boy carry out one of his crazy schemes. This time, the insane panda-man wanted Ranma to marry up with one of the daughters of the Tendo clan and he even got the father of that family involved. Her son had already stated that he would never marry a Tendo, in which Jasmine wholeheartedly agreed.

Not if I can help it! Jasmine thought as her memories and disgust for that Jusenkyo-cursed martial artist came back to her. The vows and promises that Genma had made had caused nothing but trouble for Ranma and the village as well. Ranma would marry a girl that he loved and not because of some half-baked oath of his father's. Jasmine wanted nothing more than her son's happiness and she wasn't going to let that panda screw up his life even more. He had done enough damage.

Jasmine smothered her angry expression as she looked out toward the setting sun. In a week's time, she and Ranma would be together again and then she would deal with Genma.

To be continued...

Author's notes

Wow! It took me longer than I thought to finish this. After all the revisions I made to parts 1 and 2, I realized that I needed to expand on the chapter. Hence we have part 3. Now, for those of you who thought that Kasumi should be the one to get Ranma, I'm still very partial to the match. However, with Ranma's resentment of her telling Akane and Nabiki that he was blind, it looks like Kasumi will have to work even harder to win him. Now don't get me wrong. I think she's a wonderful person, but I didn't like the way the original series had portrayed her. Not much on character development and she didn't seem to ever get hurt.

Well, I'm sorry but one must realize that she's human, just like the rest of us. She's not perfect and she'll make mistakes. Although she had good intentions, her little blunder had some serious consequences and now Ranma is a bit distrustful of her. As of now, the only person he could really trust are the Amazons and it seems that Shampoo has now been moved up the list with her little talk with our Unseen Light fighter.

Now for those of you who thought Akane might be able to get Ranma, think again. She may have a grudging respect for him, but her little outburst may also make Ranma resent her for patronizing him.

As for Nabiki, well who knows?

I had been taking the advice of several of my readers not to have Ranma just pick a fiancee very quickly. I decided to give all potentials a chance to get him. However, they will all have to overcome some obstacles. Kasumi will have to rebuild Ranma's trust of her. Akane will have to think before she acts and be more understanding. Nabiki well, she hasn't done anything detrimental yet, but it's possible that she could screw up. Shampoo still has to convince Ranma that she wants them to be more than just cousins.

As for Ranma, I decided to expand on his character by having him confront a problem that he can't solve with his fists. That's his inner fears of being pitied and treated like he's helpless. Ranma had fought long and hard to get to where he is now and to be pulled back down like that would be a serious blow to him. I also promised to get City Hunter involved soon and the eventual confrontation between our blind boy and Nodoka.

Please read and review!