Disclaimer: I do not own either Ranma or Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi has that honour. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
"I . . ." he swallowed, his mouth bone dry, "I don't . . ." He looked around to those sat in the room with him. "I need to think about this."
And he was gone.
Inuyasha couldn't stop the small whine that left his throat as he watched Ranma disappear out of the door, hating how needy he sounded.
"Ssh, brother," Sesshomaru whispered, his forehead once again resting against Inuyasha's temple, a show of support for his hurting sibling. Kagome knelt back down on his other side and he pulled her to him, smelling her tears. They had known that something like this could happen. They couldn't really have expected much different from the teen.
They would have to wait for him to come to them.
Until then, they would keep watch at a distance.
~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~
"Look, I've already told you, he's not here!" Akane stood in the doorway that led from the Tendo home into the back yard, facing off against an angry Amazon and an equally angry okonomiyaki chef who didn't seem to be getting the hint. "I don't know where he is!"
Okay, that last bit was a lie. She had a feeling she knew exactly where Ranma was but she wasn't about to spill that to them. Being the only one who knew where he went to meant that she had to cover for him more often than not but most of the time she could say she either didn't know or that he was off training somewhere. No one had called her out on it yet so she wasn't too bothered.
Except when they didn't seem to get the hint!
For some reason, Shampoo and Ukyo had decided they weren't going to use the front door like normal people would but instead, they were going to jump over the back wall and try to creep into the house that way. If Akane hadn't been on her way back from the dojo, she wouldn't have seen them and they would have most likely snuck into Ranma's room.
Only to find a snoring panda probably.
The fact that Ranma wasn't here wasn't the point. It was the fact that they had taken it upon themselves to enter the Tendo property uninvited.
She knew exactly why they had done it as well. Her and Ranma's relationship had been developing ever since their talk on the roof. His words had made her realise that she had actually unfairly judged him. She reasoned that her only real experience with boys had come from the hentai horde that had attacked her every morning before school and Kuno, who was more a few screws short himself. Her past experience had caused her brain to go into overdrive when she had seen him for that first time in the bathroom.
She had come to the realisation that that night had been her fault and she should have read the sign on the door, not just assuming by the clothes in the hamper outside that she could walk in. But by the time she had realised that it had been too late and the first seeds of their tumultuous relationship had been sown. Add into that their father's wishes for them to get married it was a recipe for disaster from the beginning.
Since then, they had both quickly found what buttons to push and did so with regularity. However, she had to admit, when it came to the other girls, he was right. She hadn't listened to any explanation he'd given, always jumping to conclusions.
She knew that the whole thing with Ukyo wasn't his fault. That was his father being the scheming and underhanded asshole he could be sometimes. The fact that he had thought Ukyo was a boy until she reappeared in his life should have shown that. He had explained to her during one of their talks over the last few weeks that Ukyo had been the first friend he'd had and he didn't want to hurt her. He had tried to tell her that he wasn't going to marry her but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Shampoo on the other hand. Shampoo was only pursuing Ranma due to her tribes own ridiculous laws. There was no way to tell whether Shampoo actually cared about Ranma or just didn't want to go home empty handed, meaning she had to either kill him or marry him. Neither one of which sounded good to Akane.
Or Ranma for that matter.
He had been more forceful with Shampoo but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other and the fact that she had her great-grandmother backing her up and forcing Ranma into impossible situations didn't help. Like the whole episode with the Cat's Tongue. That had been unnecessarily cruel. Even though they hadn't gotten on at that point, Akane had still felt sorry for the guy. Stuck in a form he hated because some decrepit old crone wanted him to marry her great-granddaughter. Insane.
She froze as she heard the front door snick closed and knew that Ranma had just gotten home. She turned to glance over her shoulder at him, seeing a somewhat distressed look on his face. She blinked quickly, never seeing a look like that on his face. Not even when they thought that his mother had come to take him to live with her. She didn't think that Ranma had forgiven Happosai for that one.
"Airen!"
"Ranma-honey!"
She cringed at the high pitched voices coming from a few inches away from her and she knew they were seconds away from barging past her towards Ranma. She turned around, fixing the both of them with a glare.
"Look! I don't care what the hell you two want!" She growled, pushing the both of them back. She could see them gearing up for a fight but she didn't want to waste time on them. "This is our home and you need to get lost! Now!"
"Just go." The three girls froze at the detached voice from across the room. Akane turned to see Ranma standing there watching them with that look still on his face. "Shampoo, Ukyo, just go."
With that, he turned to walk up the stairs and Akane fixed them with another glare before slamming the sliding door shut and flicking the hook to ensure it stayed closed. It wouldn't keep them out if they really wanted to get in but she could only hope that they were as stunned as she was.
She turned, seeing that Ranma had disappeared. She slowly made her way up the stairs before knocking on the door to the room Ranma shared with his father. She waited for a moment before slowly sliding the door open, glancing around. She didn't see Saotome-san around but she quickly found Ranma sitting in the corner, knees pulled up to his chest kept in place by the vice grip his arms had on his legs, forehead dropped onto his knees. She wondered what had happened to cause this kind of reaction from him. It was as though he was trying to make himself as small as possible which was completely out of character for him. Normally he was boisterous and loud, you knew he was there or that he was coming. It was only if he was purposefully trying to hide from you that he kept quiet.
So this was unnerving.
"R-Ranma?" Akane quietly slid the door closed, flicking the hook into the door so no one else could get in. She went over to the window, checking below to see if the two girls were still there. She couldn't see them anywhere but that didn't mean that they hadn't snuck up onto the roof. She listened intently for a moment. If there was someone on the roof, even a shifting of weight could be heard if all was silent in the room below. She didn't hear anything so she moved away from the window, slowly approaching the other martial artist, ensuring he knew she was there so he didn't lash out.
"Ranma?" She knelt down in front of him, "are you okay?"
He let out a sigh, bringing his head up to rest his chin on his knees. "Have you ever found something out and . . . it just . . . completely changed the way you thought about everything?" His voice was so quiet, barely more than a whisper.
"Well, finding out that I had to marry you was pretty life altering," she chuckled, becoming more worried when it got no reaction at all. Usually there would be something but not this time. Something really big must have happened for him to be like this. "Ranma, what's happened? Are you okay?"
"No, Akane, I don't think I am." He whispered looking up at her. The blue eyes that were so usually full of life and mischief were detached and lifeless. What the hell had happened to him?
"What happened?" She asked, shifting so that she was sitting beside him, rather than in front of him. She didn't want him to feel as though he was being boxed in. That was one thing you quickly learned about Ranma. When he felt cornered, he was at his most dangerous. "Ranma," she placed a hand on his bicep and he turned his head to look at her. "What happened?"
He took a breath, steadying himself. Did he tell Akane? Could he tell Akane. Kagome and Inuyasha had never said that he couldn't tell anyone what they had told him, that he couldn't tell anyone what Inuyasha was but what if it was like some kind of unwritten rule or something? He didn't want to see what could happen if they found out he'd told Akane and wasn't supposed to. Especially considering they were convinced they were his ancestors.
And what was with that whole bark thing? He had seen Inuyasha react immediately as if on high alert but why had it made him feel the same way. Sesshomaru's words tumbled through his mind. "Though it has been buried for many of your human generations, the Inu blood of InuTaisho still runs through your veins. It will still recognise the call of family and the call of the pack Alpha." Did that mean that Sesshomaru was supposed to be his 'Alpha' or whatever? And who the hell was InuTaisho?
He looked back to Akane to see that she was waiting for some kind of answer. He had the feeling that she wasn't going to let it go.
Letting out a sigh he closed his eyes and thought for a moment before throwing caution to the wind.
"I don't even know where to start," he whispered, his eyes opening as he felt Akane place a hand on his shoulder, a worried expression on her face.
"Wherever's easiest," she gave him a small smile and he nodded.
"Well, that would be the last time you hit me with your mallet," and with that he told her everything that had happened over the last few weeks. From when he woke up at Inuyasha and Kagome's house to how Inuyasha had been able to smell his male scent even though he had been female at the time. He told her about how he had discovered that the young man was not in fact human but inu-hanyou, not looking at her as he described seeing him for the first time in his true form. He told them all that they had told him about their meeting five hundred years ago – although he knew there was a lot more to their story than they had told him so far – the other youkai that he had met including Inuyasha's older brother Sesshomaru. Finally, he told her about what he had learned earlier that evening, reciting the story they had told him and how they believed that he was the descendant they had spent the last fourteen years searching for. He told her about his reaction to Sesshomaru's loud bark, or 'Alpha call' as Kagome had termed it and how it matched Inuyasha's response and how he had left the shrine and pushed himself as fast as he could go back to the dojo, his feet taking the practised route home without any cognitive input from his brain. He finished by telling her how confused he was and even though he had been able to accept the knowledge that youkai and hanyou's existed where humans did, hidden from them, he didn't want to believe what they had told him.
She sat for a long time, silence thrumming through the room, seeming almost deafening as she processed what Ranma had told her. She knew that there had been something going on over the last couple of weeks with the other martial artist but she had had no idea it could have been something anything close to what he had just told her.
How could she have come to that conclusion? His story seemed like something out of a fairy-tale. But looking at him, she knew that he was telling her the truth. Ranma was a horrific liar and would not have been able to make up a tale like that if his life depended on it.
She mulled over what he had said. Somehow, after everything they had seen and been through together, the thought that there were other things that weren't human wandering around made sense to her. Hell, if a place like Jusenkyo could exist, why the hell wouldn't youkai? She had a feeling that that wasn't what was troubling Ranma, though. It was their claim that he was actually descended from the child they had been forced to give up to the humans to keep her and the rest of their kind safe from the hunters he had mentioned. She wondered how they had known it was Ranma. Had they somehow engineered things so that they would come into contact with him?
She shook her head, dispelling that thought. No. They had first met him after she had sent him plummeting through the roof and to the canal with her mallet. There was no way that they could have engineered those circumstances.
It still left Ranma at a loss though.
He had been growing closer to these people, learning their secrets, the secrets of their world and now that had been thrown into disarray.
"So . . . what are you going to do?" She asked, bringing her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs, sitting in the same position Ranma had been in since she had found him.
"Huh?" He turned to look at her, disbelief in his eyes as he watched her closely. "Wait . . . you're saying that . . . you believe me?"
She let out a small chuckle. "Why wouldn't I?" She questioned and he blinked at her. "Look, we've both seen things that can defy logic. Ghost cats, cursed pools . . . any of those ring a bell?" She shrugged and rested her chin on her knees. "I don't think it's that that's bothering you though. I think that what's bothering you is . . . what if they're right?" She looked at him again, finding him staring a hole in the floor. "You said that this Sess-whatever guy-"
"Sesshomaru."
"Yeah, him, you said that he did this bark thing, right?" He nodded, his eyes drifting back over to her, barely able to make her out in the dark even though she was sitting right next to him. "And that for some reason, you responded." He nodded again. "And you also said you saw Inuyasha respond in the same way." Another nod. "But did Kagome?"
"Huh?"
"How did Kagome respond?" She asked and he sat for a moment, thinking about it.
He remembered that she had been sat next to him and she had seemed disoriented after he had managed to calm himself down. She had been shaking her head, grumbling, rubbing at her temple as though the loud noise had hurt. It had been a stark contrast to Inuyasha's response, the hanyou's body instantly at attention, his ears perked, focused completely forward and his eyes wide, shining with adrenaline. Much like Ranma had felt.
"She . . . she was different." He said softly, seeing where Akane was coming from. "It didn't seem to affect her at all, apart from looking like it gave her a headache."
"Then that would suggest that it's not effective on everyone." Akane shrugged, giving him a small smile. "And that it's only effective on those who are related to them by blood or have-"
"Inu blood." He finished, whispering and she nodded. He buried his face again, unsure about what to do with his newfound knowledge. "When did you get so reasonable and level-headed?" He grumbled and she laughed.
"It's something I've been working on the last couple of weeks." She shrugged again. "How's it working out?"
"It's weird." He mumbled and she laughed again. "What do I do?"
"I can't tell you that, Ranma," she said softly, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder again. "But, if you want me to, I'll be there with you."
"Thanks," he gave her a small smile, placing a hand on top of hers, causing the girl to blush lightly, thankful he couldn't see it in the dark.
She didn't remove her hand though, hoping that Ranma would take it as the show of support that it was.
She just hoped he didn't feel so alone.
~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~
Akane and Ranma spent a lot of time together over the next few days. Something that greatly pleased their fathers, seeing the teens grow closer. The two men could see their plans to have their children wed coming into fruition.
The teens in question were currently in the dojo, Akane finally having relented and allowing Ranma to help her train. When he had offered before she had thought he was only doing it to throw in her face that she was better than she was. Now that she had made a conscious effort to think before she spoke or acted, she could see that he was actually doing it out of a genuine want for her to improve. He didn't gloat and wasn't smug as she'd afraid he would be, much as he had been when she had offered to help the gymnastics team against Kodachi.
She reasoned that his aloof attitude and subtle snide remarks about what she was doing and doing wrong was most likely due to her very vocal dismissal of his offer when he had first arrived. She couldn't blame him to be honest. Thinking back, if she'd been rebuffed like that, she wouldn't be too inclined to offer assistance either.
"I have to talk to them again, don't I?" he asked from where he was lying spread eagle on the dojo floor. He leaned his head back, looking up at Akane who nodded and he groaned. "What the hell do I say to them? 'Sorry I ran out of here but I was too freaked out'? Don't think that's gonna cut it."
"I'm sure they'll understand." She reasoned, settling on her knees next to him.
He sighed, focusing on the ceiling again. "I guess," he bit his lip, turning to look at her. "Come with me?"
"To the shrine?" He nodded and she felt her heart beat ramp up. What would happen if she went with him? There wouldn't be any choice in admitting that Ranma had told her everything about them. How would they react to that? "I don't know-"
"I'm gonna tell them that you know, anyway." He shrugged and she blinked at him. "Look, I trust you, Akane. You didn't tell anyone where I was when I went to the shrine even though it would have probably made your life a lot easier if you had." He placed a hand on her knee and she felt a light blush run over her cheeks as she looked down at it. "Please?"
"A-alright." She whispered softly and he grinned in response.
It was the next day before they found themselves on the way to the shrine. Akane could see that Ranma was nervous about going back after what he had found out but he needed answers. He knew that and the only way to get them was to ask.
She looked at the steps leading up to the shrine wide-eyed before Ranma grasped her hand and starting running up the steps. She felt the tell-tale blush on her cheeks as she followed, relieved that he was in front of her.
They stopped when they reached the top and Akane turned to look back down the steps, seeing how far they had actually climbed. "How many are there?" She asked turning to look at Ranma who shrugged.
"Dunno," he shook his head, "never counted and never thought to ask." He turned around, facing the shrine and the house that lay nestled just behind it. Akane looked around, not having been there before. She, like Ranma, noticed the barred gate of the well house, but unlike Ranma, after what he had told her, she knew what was in there and why it had been closed off. He started towards the house, not having dropped Akane's hand. He didn't seem to notice he still had his fingers intertwined with hers and she wasn't going to make him aware.
They slowly approached the house and Ranma took a deep breath before knocking, glancing at Akane who gave him a small smile. They both looked at the door as it opened, Kagome standing there, a look of surprise and relief on her face.
"Ranma-kun," she sighed and he nodded, looking away from her. "Akane-chan?"
"Hello, Taisho-san," Akane gave a small bow to the older woman in front of her.
"Kagome, please," she looked to Ranma again, seeing him looking at her in a way she hadn't seen before. He was doubting her. "Ranma-kun, you know you don't have to knock."
"Yes, well . . ." he trailed off as she stepped back gesturing for them to enter. They walked into the living room to see Inuyasha sitting with Kagome's mother and younger brother. He was wearing his concealment ring. Whether he had been wearing it before they'd arrived or because he'd heard and smelled Akane, Ranma didn't know. Probably the latter considering he rarely wore it while in the house.
"Hello, Ranma-kun," Natsuko smiled at him, standing up before noticing Akane. "Oh, and who is this?"
"Obaa-san, this is Tendo Akane, Akane meet Higurashi Natsuko, Kagome's mother," Ranma introduced the two. "And that's Higurashi Sota, Kagome's little brother."
"Hello, Higurashi-san," Akane gave the same small bow she had to Kagome and just as she had with Ranma, Natsuko waved her off.
"Just as I told Ranma-kun, we're very informal around here. Call me Obaa-san."
"O-okay," Akane looked to Ranma who shrugged. He wasn't going to argue with her.
"I'm sure you all have a lot to talk about," Natsuko motioned for Sota to follow her. "We'll leave you to it."
"Thanks, Okaa," Kagome said quietly, motioning for the two of them to sit down at the table as Inuyasha settled himself on the cushion in his usual spot. Ranma sat where he usually did at the table, Akane settling next to him.
They didn't say anything as Kagome quickly gathered what she needed for tea in the kitchen. She seemed very much like Kasumi in that way. She believed that tea could ease a world of stresses.
"So, how are you?" Kagome asked quietly as she sat down, glancing up at Ranma.
"Been trying to figure stuff out, going through it my head." Ranma looked between Kagome and Inuyasha, the latter nodding in understanding before he turned to look at Akane. "Akane's been a really big help actually." Kagome looked at him, a little worried while Inuyasha's eyes narrowed minutely, figuring out where the teen was going. "I um, I told her everything. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to but . . . I just . . . I needed someone to talk to about everything you told me the other day and it wouldn't have made any sense if I didn't tell her everything and . . ."
"Hey, if you can trust her, kid, that's all I need," Inuyasha gave Akane a stern look which silently told her that she'd better not abuse that trust. She gulped slightly, seeing the dark brown eyes glance at her coldly. "Don't need to wear this then." He muttered, pulling off the concealment ring and sliding it into his pocket.
Ranma turned to look at Akane as Inuyasha's appearance changed immediately. He heard her let out a small gasp as she watched the changes that took over the hanyou. Ranma had become so used to it now that it didn't faze him anymore. Seeing someone else's reaction to it was different though. She sat there, her eyes wide as his hair bled from black to silver, his eyes turned from brown to the bright amber Ranma had become used to, the blunt human fingernails turned into vicious looking claws and the fangs and facial markings of the Inu appeared on his face. He couldn't help but grin as he noticed her eyes veering upwards and he knew that she had seen the ears perched neatly on the top of his head.
Inuyasha had apparently noticed as well.
"What the hell is it with the ears?" He grumbled and Kagome giggled.
"Well, they're so damn cute," he growled softly in response, his amber gaze settling on Akane. Kagome also watched the girl closely, noting her reaction to Inuyasha's true appearance. She seemed entranced by him, as many others were when in the presence of an Inu. They were enchanting creatures, the more beautiful of the youkai species and her mate was no exception. She also noticed the girl's proximity to Ranma. They were sitting closer together than they had been at the dinner at the Tendo's those weeks prior and they weren't as tense. She reasoned that if Ranma had been opening up to Akane, their relationship must have been improving.
As long as she kept that damn mallet away from him.
Kagome decided to wait and see what the girl did and act accordingly. She was still dubious but as Inuyasha had said, if Ranma trusted her then, well, she would see from there.
Ranma let out a sigh, looking down at the table. "How did-?" He took another breath, trying to steady himself. "Why did you think it was me?"
"Your scent," Inuyasha stated simply and Ranma looked to him. "When I found you at the canal, all I smelled at first was blood from the cut on your head. It wasn't until I got closer that I picked up your scent."
"But how did . . ."
"We'd kept an eye on all of our descendants from Honoka to you. I made sure that I knew each one of their scents, including yours. There's no way I would ever forget it. The only confusing thing was that you were a girl."
"When we knew that you were a boy."
"Obviously, the curse explained that." Inuyasha picked up his cup, taking a sip. "And then of course, your name."
"You knew from that first night then?" Akane asked and the two of them nodded.
"Obviously we couldn't come out and say 'hey, I've a good long sniff and did you know you're our great-great-great-grandson?'" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and she nodded in understanding. "It took us a long time to figure out how to tell you."
"Scaring the crap out of me with your brother part of the plan?" Ranma asked and Inuyasha scoffed.
"Hardly," Akane found her attention drawn to the top of his head again when his ears flicked and twitched, "that ass shows up whenever and wherever he wants to."
"Isn't he supposed to be your Alpha or something?" Ranma asked, confused over Inuyasha referring to his older brother as an ass especially after his own response to the bark thing he had done the last time Ranma was here.
"He's the only one Inuyasha answers to," Kagome grinned at her husband.
"Doesn't mean I bow down to him every time he shows his face, though." Akane looked between Ranma and Inuyasha, seeing similarities between the two. She remembered pretty much the same situation with Ranma and Happosai. Ranma refused to bow down to the grandmaster martial artist. Mostly because he didn't agree with his underwear theft and he had a general dislike for the small man but essentially it was the same thing.
"So . . . what now?" Ranma asked, looking between the couple in front of him.
"What do you mean?" Kagome's brow furrowed, belying her confusion.
"If I am him, what happens now?"
"That's completely up to you, kid," Inuyasha gave him a serious look.
"What do you mean?"
"As we told you the other day, we sealed away the youkai blood in Honoka." He reminded the boy and Ranma nodded. "And we're also able to release it."
"You can do that?" Akane's jaw dropped at the thought that they might be able to do that. If Ranma was the one they were looking for, they could turn him into a hanyou, like he would have been if the hunters hadn't appeared in the first place. But then again, she had no idea about youkai and how often they had children so it could also have resulted in Ranma not being born at all.
"We can," Inuyasha nodded, glancing between the teenagers in front of him. "But only if that's what you want, kid."
"Me?"
"Of course," Kagome gave him a soft smile, her brown eyes sparkling as they had been the other day. "We're not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."
"The choice is yours, kid. You can either have us release your youkai blood and become a hanyou or you can stay a human. It's completely up to you. We're not going to shut you out if you want to stay human." Ranma swallowed, looking down at his hands, blinking when Akane's appeared in his line of sight, her fingers interlacing with his. He looked up at her, seeing nothing but support in her eyes. "We don't want a decision now, kid. You need to really think about this. Cause if we do it and release your blood, there's no going back. We can't reseal it."
"Ever?" Inuyasha shook his head, his expression serious.
Ranma was in a position he didn't find himself in too often. The position of having a choice. Throughout his life so much had already been decided for him that sometimes it didn't feel like it was his life at all. And now someone was giving him a choice and it was one that would affect him for the rest of his life, however long that may be.
Hanyou or human?
Can I flip a coin?
Okay, so Akane is out of character and I'll admit, she's going to stay that way. She's going to be a support system for Ranma when he needs it the most.