Torn Chapter 11 Falling down, a ranma fanfic

Notes: So I managed to clean up another chapter for this story to get it posted. Also, this chapter was a six-page chapter originally I decided to combine two chapters into one to make this a bit longer.

I have several more chapters worth of content for this story waiting in the wings its just a matter of having the time between my various projects to get it all released so I am quite backed up with a lot on my plate so to speak.

With all that said on with the show! -Zeltronica

Ranma 1/2: Torn

Chapter 11: Falling Down

By Kit'ari

Ranma-chan felt a presence move up behind her. It stopped a few steps shy of her position.

It was evening now. Ranma it had not been long since he had recently changed back after Cologne had left, but a spilled drink after dinner had ushered the return of her feminine form.

Their fathers returned shortly after lunch, which had upset Oyaji. Taunting her panda-bear father had actually helped cheer her up a little or at least forget for that while.

By unspoken agreement, none of the Tendo sisters nor Ranma had informed the two men of Cologne's visit. That would have started the two on planning the wedding. She was in no mood to deal with that right now.

She gazed deeply into the koi pond. Although her father had taught her from an early age how to meditate on her fights and sparing sessions, deep thinking was not something she had regularly practiced.

Akane had been extremely apologetic all afternoon. She had made sure Ranma knew she was always nearby. Their fathers had even started whispering between themselves and it didn't take an information broker to guess what they were talking about.

After dinner, Ranma had finally had enough and made it clear she wanted some time alone. So here she stood out by the koi pond, trying to think.

She had completely lost it earlier, in the dojo. She hadn't meant to say all of that to Akane. She certainly didn't want to breakdown like that. She hated herself for needing to be held by Akane.

Everything had just become so overwhelming. It had felt so good, being held, being told she was loved. But it didn't make any sense to her. She was a guy, a man. Men don't need that stuff. She certainly didn't deserve it.

Though Had she pushed Akane away enough she inwardly wondered to herself with a slight breath before exhaling.

"Ranma-kun?" Kasumi questioned from somewhere behind her.

Ranma took a deep breath and let it out slowly, inquiring over her shoulder.

"Kasumi?"

Kasumi then proceeded to speak "I wanted to apologize for how I treated you when you first got here."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "What'd ya mean?" she questioned.

Kasumi hesitated. "You know,"

Ranma could almost hear the blush in her voice. She turned to face the older girl.

Kasumi then explained "When you first got here, I didn't know what to think. So I helped push you off on my little sister."

"It's okay, Kasumi." Ranma smiled half-heartedly as he said it, but still felt confused why the elder girl was doing this now.

Kasumi then continued further explaining, "And when Shampoo first showed up, I told father that she was your girlfriend from China even though I was there and knew you were as confused as the rest of us."

"Well, it did look bad," Ranma admitted.

"Yes, but you were expecting her 'Kiss of Death'," Kasumi said as she looked straight into Ranma's eyes. "And there were other little things I did."

Ranma shrugged her shoulders, speaking up in question. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Ranma," Kasumi began, then paused. "I want you to know that I have come to love you like a little brother."

The small curvy pig-tailed girl blinked. She didn't feel very brotherly at the moment.

"I don't know what's wrong, but I want you to know that I'm here if you need someone to talk to." Kasumi offered with genuine concern.

"Thanks," Ranma answered softly, unsure how she should respond to that. A soft cry broke from the house, grabbing both of their attentions.

"That sounds like a baby," Kasumi noted with a curious brow raised.

Ranma turned a shade of pale, as both she and Kasumi headed for the house.

The crying died down just as the two entered the living room. From the opposite side of the room, Akane lead Dr. Tofu into the room. She was cooing at a bundle of blankets held in her arms. Both of the fathers were sitting off to the side where they were playing shoji.

Ranma could feel the blood draining from her face. Slowly, she began shaking her head, trying to deny the sight before her.

"So, Tofu-sensei, here to check up on Akane and Ranma?" Mr. Tendo asked.

The good doctor began. "Well, sort of..." trailing off as the Saotome Patriarch posed a question of his own aimed at the blue-haired Tendo, "Akane, is that a baby in your arms?" Mr. Saotome asked.

XXXX

Nabiki opened her door and trudged out of her room. She had been trying to think of how to reunite a certain mother and child without too much trouble. She needed to do something to make up for the way she had treated Ranma since he arrived.

"Akane, is that a baby in your arms?" Nabiki heard Ranma's worthless father inquire.

'When it rains, it pours,' Nabiki thought as she approached the top of the stairs. She thought she had heard a baby crying and though she couldn't hear it now, she just knew who it had to be downstairs.

"Well, she is part of the reason I came," Tofu-sensei began.

Tendo with a curious brow raised "Yes, go on,"

"You see, Himiko here, was left at the temple I have been staying at for some time now." Doctor Tofu explained finding himself interrupted.

"Abandoned you say?" Soun inquired.

Nabiki was now at the top of the stairs. She could see Tofu and Akane near the hall entrance. Akane appeared to be holding the child in question.

"K-Ka-Kasumi," Tofu said.

Ranma-chan popped into view around the wall at the base of the stairs from the other side of the room.

"Um, yes," Tofu said, apparently getting a hold of himself.

Ranma stopped in what Nabiki guessed would be about the center of the room. The middle Tendo wondered just what Tofu was up to or why he'd bring Himiko here now.

"We, the temple priest, priestess, and I, have been taking care of her since."

"Go on, Dr. Tofu," Soun said from outside of Nabiki's view.

"Well, Ranma has been helping me by passing letters between your daughter, Kasumi, and myself."

"Is that true, Boy?" came Genma's gruff reply, also outside of Nabiki's view.

"Maybe." Ranma shrugged non-noncommittally. "What's it to ya, old man?" Ranma had already lapsed into her normally slouched stance and was glaring a dare at her father.

Nabiki needed to stop this before something bad happened. She took the first step down, her mind working in overdrive to come up with something to say.

"Listen here, Boy..." Genma began.

"What does that have to do with the baby?" Kasumi asked.

Nabiki flinched. So did Ranma and Akane. Nabiki suddenly deeply regretted the decision not to tell her. She quickly took the next step.

The Tendo Patriarch then seconded "Yes, please tell us,"

"Well, two detectives stopped by to ask me a few more questions, regarding the other night. Little Himiko began to cry, and her story just sort of came out."

Ranma whirled to face the good doctor, her eyes narrowed and calculating.

"They wanted us to take her to child services." Tofu explained.

"What!" Ranma and Akane both cried out. Akane clutched the little girl protectively to herself.

Soun then sagely pointed out, "Well, they would be able to care for her, and maybe even find her a nice home,"

"Well, from Ranma's visits, I know he has- that is I believe he has become somewhat attached to her. I was hoping maybe..." Tofu trailed off.

Both Ranma and Akane stared wide-eyed at the doctor. Nabiki rolled her eyes. He was a worse liar than Ranma. He hadn't even technically lied yet and she could tell he was avoiding looking at everyone.

'But the plan has merit,' Nabiki conceded. Taking on the girl without their parents becoming any the wiser. 'At least until we're ready to tell them.' She took the next couple of step while quickly trying to plan how best to help.

"Absolutely not!" Genma said.

Ranma spun again to face her father.

"What!" Akane called out.

"Saotome, old friend, let's think about this for a minute."

'Oh no,' ran through Nabiki's head as she skipped the next step in her hurry to get down there and stop this.

"If Ranma is as taken by the girl as Tofu-sensei says, and it looks like Akane has become quite taken with the girl," Soun began to whisper loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Ranma began to glower at the two fathers.

"She might just be what we need to get those two together," Soun finished with a flourish.

"No! I will not allow you two to use my daughter as a pawn in your little fantasies!" Ranma yelled at the top of her lungs. Her eyes narrowed to little slivers as she gazed at her father, as if to dare him to say something.

Nabiki panicked. This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. She missed the next step in her haste. After a painful tumble, she landed rather unceremoniously at the bottom, giving her a front-row seat to what she could only think of as a train wrecking in slow motion.

XXXX

"Your daughter?!" Genma demanded, his head swirling with possibilities.

"Yes! My daughter!" His son, turned daughter, challenged. Her eyes flashed with a dangerous flame. The Boy obviously wasn't thinking clearly.

Genma Bellowing "And just what makes you think she's your daughter?" He knew the Boy had too much honor to ever cheat on his iinazuke.

"I carried her for almost ten months! What do you think?!" the Boy turned girl yelled right back.

Genma furiously bellowed "What!"

"You heard me, old man!" Ranma exclaimed, gritting her teeth glaring at her father.

The Boy leaned back into a defensive stance. She kept up the glare, but Genma could see the pain behind that anger. Something in the Boy's expression seemed to beg at him to stop this before it became too late.

"And just who's the father?!" Genma returned to his own horror. This could not really be happening. "That boy you let sleep with your iinazuke? Maybe that boy that plays with sticks?"

Ranma looked as if she had been slapped.

"Well? Perhaps it was that waitperson of Ukyo's?" Genma questioned.

Shaking her head negatively Ranma said "N-no." Something in his son's voice stabbed deeply in his heart.

"Well then, tell us? I'm sure everyone here would like to know just who you decided to spread your legs for!" Genma questioned feeling betrayed and though he wanted to he just couldn't stop himself.

His son turned daughter replied "I- I don't know." she couldn't even look at him when she said that.

Genma felt his right hand fly up.

'Somebody stop me please!' he inwardly yelled in his head. A mallet, a punch in the gut, he would even take a firm word from Kasumi, however no one moved.

Genma's hand went flying toward his cursed son. He closed his eyes, but that couldn't block out the sound or sting as he backhanded his son as hard as he could.

"Have there been so many you can't remember?! I know I didn't raise my son to be a slut!" he bellowed righteously.

"I-it wasn't like that," Ranma stuttered out,

Genma opened his eyes. His son lay across the room where she landed. Her eyes filled with tears as they met his. He could see the pain and hurt there. His son's betrayal by his own hand. There was something more there.

"Well, what was it like then, Boy?!" Genma challenged. 'Are we the only two left in the room? Why isn't someone stopping me?!' he inwardly cried wishing someone would stop him.

Ranma looked away. She still hadn't gotten up from where she landed. Suddenly and horrifyingly he got it.

"Don't try to tell me someone took advantage of you!" Genma bellowed shaking his head negatively in disbelief at what he was starting to grasp.

Ranma visibly flinched.

"That's a woman's excuse! I know for a fact you are better than that!" Genma shouted since he had thought for sure nothing of the sort could happen to his son.

Oh, there were other voices now, but he couldn't make them out. Once, a long time ago, they were as close as father and son could be. However, Genma had ruined it all. He knew just when it all fell apart. It was the day he decided it was time to complete the Nekoken training.

Not since that first day had he held his son. No longer did they talk about life or where snow came from. Never again had he asked about his mother. He had lost his son that day, and he never realized it until just this moment. Was he upset for that loss?

Did he blame this female curse for what he did? His son had become the man he never could, did he hate him for that too? Or was this all just the inevitable end between the two of them? Was he locked into the role he had taken for himself? He didn't know.

He did know what he was about to do. Even if there was some way he might have been forgiven for everything before, there would be no forgiveness in what he did next. He wanted to stop, but couldn't. Silently, he prayed that someone or something would strike him down before it was too late, but divine help had never been very close for the Saotome's.

He was committed to a path and could not change what was about to happen any more than he could take back every pain he had caused his son.

"You are no son of mine," he almost whispered; his throat felt like sandpaper. The room instantly quieted around him. "No son of mine would have allowed such a thing to pass. I hereby cast you out. You are no longer my son. You are no longer a Saotome. My son is dead to me."

With that, Genma turned and left the house. There would be no forgiveness from anyone that was there, least of all from himself. He would not stay. His only hope, was that they would find it in their hearts to care for and love Ranma as he should have all these years.

XXXX

'This is not my house,' Nabiki thought to herself. 'It can't be.' She felt nothing. Maybe it was surreal of this nightmare. Maybe she had played the part of a heartless money-grubbing girl too long. Maybe she was just in shock.

She looked over at her father who stood, not in tears, but glaring at the place his old friend had just been.

Off to the side, her sister, Kasumi, broke down into tears. Not the fountains of tears one would expect of their father, but those of deep heart-wrenching sobs, almost as if she were making up for years worth.

Tofu Ono practically jumped across the room to pull her in his arms. Hardly the gibbering laughing manic he should have been in her presence.

Ranma-chan jumped up and tore off, past her, and up the stairs. Behind her she heard the slam of a door, followed by the tinkle of a wooden duck bouncing against its perch.

'It's a good thing he ran to Akane's room,' she thought out of the blue. 'Sliding doors just aren't as satisfying to slam.'

Akane appeared in front of her. "Here, will you watch over Himiko?" her younger sister asked.

Nabiki barely nodded before she found the little girl in her lap. Behind her, she heard Akane bound up the stairs and into her room.

'No, this is not my house. I don't know anyone here,' Nabiki thought. 'Any minute now, I'm going to wake up. Akane is going to be yelling at Ranma for something or other. Kasumi will have breakfast ready. Father will be playing shoji with the panda. And everything will be all right.'

Himiko began to squirm in her arms. She looked down into twin pools of brightness. Nabiki couldn't help but try to smile for the girl.

"Somehow, I don't know how yet, but somehow everything will turn out all right. You'll see," Nabiki promised; for herself or for Himiko she wasn't sure.

XXXX

In her room, Akane found Ranma-chan sobbing on her bed. After closing the door, she moved to her iinazuke's side. As she got closer, she could hear Ranma mumbling, "Not going cry, not going cry," between sobs.

"Ranma?" Akane questioned as she placed a hand on the trembling girl's back. "No!" Ranma screeched. Suddenly the red-head was curled up in a tight ball on the opposite side of the bed. "Go away! Leave me alone."

"Ranma," Akane tried again, softer than she had the first time. "I want to help."

Ranma half screamed out "I'm a ronin! Worse than that, I'm just trash to be thrown out when every body's done." her heart feeling as if it was being squeezed tight by an unseen force.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Akane asked; her heart leaped up into her throat as she was genuinely worried about her iinazuke.

Ranma then returned in a muffled reply, "Pops sure dropped me fast enough,"

"Don't you dare listen to that fat lazy..." Akane trailed as her iinazuke continued

"And the Amazons?" Ranma interrupted. "You heard Nabiki. Mouse told 'em everything an' they certainly didn't want me anymore." she sniffled, not quite crying now, but Akane didn't think she could hold it back much longer.

"We care!" Akane countered. "I care."

Ranma then continued with "Any minute now, your father's gonna come up an' kick me out."

"No he isn't!" Akane assured her iinazuke.

Ranma shook her head negatively saying, "Like he's gonna wanna keep a ronin slut under his roof."

Akane pounced on Ranma. It wasn't the brightest thing she could do, but it was the only thing she could think of at the moment. The smaller girl shrieked under her and began wiggling trying to getaway.

"Listen to me Ranma! Listen to me!" Akane hissed into Ranma's ears. "You're not a slut! You're not any of the things your father said downstairs. He didn't know! He doesn't know!" she pleaded. "And no one is going to take you away from me, Ranma Saotome. I don't care what anyone else says." she proclaimed.

Ranma calmed down, uncurled enough to clutch onto Akane's shirt, and continued sobbing onto her shoulder.

"I love you," Akane cooed in Ranma's ear. "Don't you ever forget that," she assured.

XXXX

Akane awoke with a yawn and snuggled closer to...

Akane's eyes snapped open as she bolted upright in her bed. Ranma was laying next to her, in her bed, in her room. Akane felt a moment of panic; then, quickly her anger rushed in like an inferno, burning away that moment of helplessness.

She reached back to pound the invader to her private sanctum when suddenly, the previous night came crashing through her thoughts like a megaton hammer.

Akane sat there staring at the lithe form of her iinazuke. It was almost impossible to believe this girl could smash through stone walls and bend metal bars with her bare hands. How could this small girl change into the man that both terrified her and made her feel safe all at the same time?

Akane's eyes searched the slumbering figure, seeking answers to questions she couldn't voice yet. There was only a slight hint of the ugly bruise around Ranma's right eye from the night before. Easy to overlook, if one didn't know what to look for. The bruises along her forearms also seemed to be fading quickly.

Softly, Akane reached over and brushed her hand along Ranma's side. Under the silky red shirt, she could feel the bandage that covered her right hip. Akane's eyes glanced down where she knew another bandage covered a ragged leg. She wondered how much of a scar would remain or if the only scars left would be of the invisible kind.

Ranma had always been a quick healer. It was so easy to believe that as long as he looked okay, there was nothing wrong with him. As long as he was a rude sexist pervert, there couldn't be anything wrong with him, right?

She brushed a lock of hair away from the slumbering girl's face.

Akane thought back to the first time she saw this face. She had hoped for friendship, then tossed it back in his face not half an hour later.

She closed her eyes as unwanted emotions bubbled up at the stirring of those memories.

She was just standing there - naked, in front of a boy.

She had entered, wanting to befriend this girl, only to be confronted by something from her worst nightmares.

He was nude - standing there - in her furo – an uninvited intruder staring at her. There shouldn't have been a boy standing in her furo. There shouldn't be a boy anywhere in the house. Daddy was the only male around besides Genma or so she had thought.

Part of her wanted to disbelieve what her eyes told her.

She looked down and saw his thing. He was definitely nude. She had never seen a naked boy before. The first and only coherent thought up to that point had been to intellectually point out what that thing was used for. It looked huge; thoughts of that thing getting anywhere near her sent waves of mind-numbing panic throughout her being.

Slowly, she stepped back out of the furo and slid the door closed. She reached for her gi top and mechanically slid it on. She stepped out into the hallway and slid the outer door shut.

Then what just happened broke through her shock. The morning fights. She told them no. The boys responded by trying to force her. She didn't want to date any of them.

They felt they had the right to beat her into agreeing. The only reason she could imagine for a strange boy to be naked in her furo was that he must have been apart of the hentai horde of the boys from school; he must not be content to wait for the morning beatings. He obviously planned to force himself onto her in her own home.

He invaded her home - invaded her private world - seen her naked. Never before had she felt so violated.

She screamed her head off as she ran to her family.

As she ran down the hall, it occurred to her 'what if it had been Nabiki or Kasumi who had decided to wash up at that time?' There was no way any boy could have known she would be bathing then. With those thoughts, anger burned in her anew, fueling her strength as she hefted the table, fully intent on killing the would-be rapist.

Akane blinked her eyes open. She could feel the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly, Ranma's body stiffened and several expressions passed through her face, too quick to identify.

XXXX

"Good morning, Akane," a voice greeted Akane on her way into the dining room.

Akane glanced up to find Dr. Tofu setting at the table with Himiko. He cradled her with one arm while the other held a plastic bottle used for feeding. She didn't seem interested at the moment.

"Good morning, Dr. Tofu," Akane returned after a moment. She was still feeling emotionally raw from last night and this morning. The sight of Himiko brought on even more emotions that she just wasn't prepared to deal with yet.

"You're planning on going to school today?"

Akane blinked a couple of times before looking more closely at the good doctor. She couldn't tell from his tone whether he approved or not. Truthfully, she didn't know. She only grabbed her uniform from as much habit as to a reason to escape the site from her room.

"Akane," a surprised tone drifted from the kitchen doorway. "Would you see if Ranma and Nabiki are going to be up for breakfast?" Kasumi finished with a tired voice.

"Uh," Akane responded. "Sure." Inside, she felt her chest clench.

She turned toward the stairs in trepidation. She didn't even know why she felt the way she did. Each step churned her stomach in unpleasant ways.

The first door she came to was Ranma's. She knew he came here when she left for the furo.

She knocked on the sliding door but received no answer; though she could hear movement within.

"Ranma?" she probed, as she slid the door open.

Inside, Akane found that Ranma had yet to change forms or clothes. Instead, she seemed to be playing with her pack.

"Going somewhere?" Akane asked, a whole new fear coming over her.

"Just gettin' ready for when Pop comes back," Ranma replied, keeping her back to the door and Akane.

"You think he might return?" Akane responded. At the thought of Genma returning, anger washed over her apprehension.

"Sure," Ranma replied with certainty. "He's always leavin' me alone when everybody gets upset at him. But he always comes back for me. Sometimes takes a couple o' nights, but he'll pop back in and we'll both be off ta train some more."

"Don't you want to stay?" Akane responded, hurt. "What about Himiko? What about me?" she asked in a small voice.

Ranma looked down. "Akane..." trailing off, she stood up, but still didn't look at her. "I think breakfast is ready."

Akane gasped, as Ranma spun and walked past.

Pain, fear, hurt, anger, guilt, and many more emotions stormed within Akane's soul. She spun around and found herself staring at a stone-faced Nabiki.

"Does nothing ever affect you!" Akane screamed with the full force of the maelstrom raging within her.

Not waiting for an answer, Akane turned and marched back downstairs.

Nabiki remained behind, silently shaking from the force of her own emotional tempest.

XXXX

As Soun Tendou contemplated the last of breakfast, he cast an unusually observant eye over the table.

Akane sat on his left and Nabiki on his right, both dressed for school. He didn't know what to think about that. Should he insist they stay home for the day? He knew they had skipped yesterday; and Akane really couldn't afford to miss much more. He watched their stolen glances of his friend's son and wondered at Akane seemingly ignoring his middle daughter.

Kasumi sat on the other side of Nabiki. At a glance, she appeared as happy and carefree as one expected of his eldest child; however, there seemed a definite weariness about her that he wished he could honestly say didn't belong.

Guiltily, he wondered whether it really was something new or something that may have been growing for some time. The quiet loving-awe on her face whenever she cast a glance toward her right only further emphasized that fatigue he now observed.

A tired Dr. Tofu feeding Himiko the last of her bottle was the target of Kasumi's glances. Mr. Tendou more than understood those feelings. He couldn't help remembering better times, when it was him holding Kasumi, Nabiki, or Akane. The memories that washed over him, left him feeling warm, yet paradoxically empty. He wanted to be there for each of his daughters; but in his grief, he missed out on so much of their lives.

'No wonder my little baby girl resents the engagement so,' Mr. Tendo thought sadly. He truly thought he was doing what was best. Now he was not so sure.

Opposite the good doctor, lay an empty space that embodied much anger and pain. 'How could you, old friend?'

Ranma sat, as was the custom, next to Akane; though, with or because of Genma's absence, he sat further away than normal. He was dressed in his everyday wears that left no real indication of his plans for the day. He sat there slurping up the last of his meal, apparently oblivious to the pain around him.

He fought down a wave of anger. His family - his girls were hurting, and he wanted to punish someone for that. Ranma just sat there, like nothing was wrong. He knew that was not true. He knew the boy was hurting.

Mr. Tendou took a slow deep breath. He was well aware of just whom Akane received her quick judgment. Himiko, his Himiko, had always been a paragon of patience and understanding; while he was always quick to jump to conclusions with little or no evidence. And he knew well just how much that could hurt someone.

He never told anyone of that last day with his wife. Sick and weak in the hospital, she needed to be sponge bathed each day. When he learned of that, he accused her of cheating on him. He said many angry hate-filled words.

Doctors told him she was terminal, that there was nothing they could do for her. Those words meant nothing to him. She lived weeks longer than the doctors said. To him, she was a fighter who would have beaten the odds. Instead, she died before he could apologize. She died with those words between them; and to him, he was responsible for her death.

Last night, he helplessly watched that scene unfold again, this time between a father and son.

"Hey, it's time for school!" Ranma announced, breaking into Soun's thoughts.

"Before you go, I would have a word with you," Mr. Tendo said.

"All right," Ranma responded with a puzzled expression.

His daughters looked at him with questions in their eyes. Dr. Tofu stood up with little Himiko.

"Stay, everyone," Mr. Tendou said. At first, being a family matter, he thought of asking Dr. Tofu to leave. However, considering how much he had done for their family and Ranma, Soun couldn't bring himself to alienate the good doctor, especially if what he said last was true.

"Ranma, I would like to adopt you into the Tendou clan," Mr. Tendou stated formally.

Ranma stood there for a moment, surprise clearly written across his face.

"I, uh, that's, um, I mean, thanks for the offer and all," Ranma said, trailing off.

Mr. Tendo then insisted "I mean it, Ranma,"

"Ya don't have to trouble yourself," Ranma responded.

Quickly Mr. Tendo replied, "It wouldn't be any trouble, Ranma," This really wasn't going the way he imagined.

"No; really," Ranma insisted. "It's not a problem," Ranma said, slightly more forceful. "You'll see."

Ranma hopped over the dining table, grabbed his books, and started for the door. Akane followed him a moment later, worry and anger warring plainly on her face.

Mr. Tendo looked toward his eldest daughter, wondering what he had done wrong.