I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
It can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
Hey, we touch
This place is so quiet, sensing that storm
Akane had never told anyone about the strange dreams she experienced in and after the events at Jusenkyo. When she had been there, kidnapped and fearful, in the moments of sleep she had allowed herself as a small doll, tucked in Ranma's shirt. The dreams she'd had were strange and vivid. She would find herself in places of complete darkness, sometimes as her present self, sometimes as a child. At times she was in bright places she didn't recognize, fields of green and flowers she couldn't identify. They could be tremendously peaceful or terribly frightening, to feel bright moments of love and at other times depths of despair.
But when she came home, they stopped. And hadn't returned for months, nearly a year.
Until recently.
She chalked it up to it to the stress of graduation, maybe just too much was on her mind and now it's manifesting as these dreams.
But they weren't the same as before.
Akane walked into a large natural spring, it reminded her of the pools found in Jusenkyo. She walked timidly by the springs, spotting one that reminded her of the spring of drowned Akane and shivered. The air was foggy, like it was just past dawn on a rainy day. She listened for signs of anyone else around her, her eyes going towards the sky then back around as she walked. She looked ahead and saw a flash of bright red and she began moving faster towards the waterfall she saw, the red bleeding down a thin back. She picked up her pace, realizing she was barefoot, the ground beneath her feet grassy, woody.
She touched the rock of the waterfall and could only hear the crashing water around her, overwhelming her ears. The small figure walked through the waterfall and turned around, growing several inches taller. His hair was dark and loose around his shoulders, she felt nervous to see him like this. He was topless and one could assume he was nude below where the rushing water obscured him. She felt shame coming over her, that she shouldn't be seeing him in such a state.
It was then she noticed her long hair, longer hair than she'd ever had in her life covering her breasts and saw she too was nude in front of him. She wanted to slap him or herself but couldn't help but look into his face. He looked older than he currently was, his boyish features having grown solid and mature. He watched her in silent admiration, his face neutral. Until he grabbed her hand and pulled her under the falling water with him.
He started speaking to her in something she couldn't understand. It sounded like Mandarin or Cantonese. He kept speaking to her and she shook her head as he shook her arms to make her understand.
'I...I don't know...what are you saying?' But he never stopped speaking to her, sterner and sterner, his eyes trying to convey his words so she could understand. He grabbed her hand and put it on his chest, speaking slower and more in a way meant to convince her of something. She didn't feel a heartbeat there. Her eyes widened and he grabbed her face in both of his hands, his face dropping into a mask of sadness. Her lips trembled, she was cold, and his hands were colder, harsh against her head. He hunched down to her.
'Akane!' A familiar female voice rang out. 'You can't go with him!' She tried to turn her head and he held her there, the tendons of his fingers stressed against the pressure he was applying to her. She looked down and saw he was standing on the edge of the falls, water down below him. She looked at him before he dropped his hands and instead wrapped them around her naked body and pulled her down into the dark waters below with him.
She woke up when her face hit the surface.
The rest of the week seemed to pass by as normal, studying together, walking home together, some small amount of training.
But Akane didn't seem like she was completely herself, her teasing was no longer there, her touch becoming more foreign. At this point he'd take a slap in the face or a punch to the gut if it meant she just acknowledged him in some way physically.
She wasn't giving him the cold shoulder by any means; she was still talking to him, was friendly even. But it was like how she had been months ago, years ago. Like overnight whatever progress had been made between them had never actually happened.
It was infuriating, to feel like they had progressed so well that her chilly demeanor melted away when he joked with her or touched her. He had poked her in the side to get her attention that morning and she groaned and swatted his hand away, complaining she just wanted to get through today because tomorrow was finally a day off.
But on the walk to class, she was cheerful and open to chatting.
As long as he was several feet from her as they did so.
Infuriating.
Ranma normally would've been more attentive to those around him but the issues with Akane over the past days seemed to be taking up most of his time. So bad was it that he hadn't noticed that the two of them had a pair of eyes on them, following him, following her. Getting to know them as separate people, the engaged couple in school.
And it was obvious how they felt about each other even if they were oblivious and the people around them.
But the way he pouted, then relaxed above her bedroom, the way she'd smile softly at him when he wasn't looking. It was clear their feelings.
Perfect. It would make things all the easier.
And everything would go into motion this morning, why waste a weekend?
At PE that morning, classes were combined in the gym, the boys playing a large game of basketball that caught the attention of most of their female classmates. Akane spoke to her girlfriends as they told her of plans for the weekend. She tried paying more attention to that over the yelling and cheers for her fiancée who was currently dribbling up and down the court, helping his team retain a lead. She peeked over as he made a shot, running backwards down to the other side, forced into a basketball uniform for at least this class. She watched his cocky grin grow wide and he took a moment to look her way, his heavy bangs sticking to his head as his ponytail bounced behind.
She smiled for a second at him, small and knowing. His grin grew wider, and she looked away, still smiling, mouthing the word "idiot". He blocked a shot and went to his basket and scored one last shot before the quarter was called and he returned to the bench.
He took a seat and tried looking for his water bottle. A small hand pushed it out to him.
"Here you go Saotome-san, it rolled beneath the bench when this side was cheering!" The new girl, Dariole. She smiled wide and handed it to him.
"Ah... thanks! We're bustin' ass out there, so I need this." He took a long drink and she watched and nodded.
"Keep up the good work! We're all cheering for you." She dropped her voice slightly as she watched his final, large gulp. "Me especially, Ranma." He looked at her and suddenly felt a weird tingle throughout himself. He wanted to talk to her more, noticing her bright eyes and soft features. Her button nose and cute mouth. She didn't carry herself like all these snobbish girls at school, she brought sweets and was adorable and quiet and sweet. Why didn't he notice it before? She blushed and he leaned in enough to make her turn her head away.
"EY Saotome! Come on we're back on!"
"Gotta go but...let's meet at lunch. Out by the park, alright?"
To say Ranma had been cold since the game was an understatement. Akane had tried talking to him about his performance, but he was distracted, quick with answers and even short with her. She felt herself slip a bit into her old self, huffing away as he gave no real response. She rushed off to the classroom and wanted to just finish the day, it had turned rotten and she just wanted to get out of school. Just get back home.
When they were heading to class she watched as Ukyou came up to him and immediately thought he'd start flirting with her until he too just kind of brushed her off, leaving her dumbstruck. He would be rude to Akane plenty, but never had she seen him do the same to Ukyou. She had a dull, sick feeling that sat in the pit of her stomach that attached itself to her spine. At lunch she'd talk to him.
When the time came, he was out the window and she looked on shocked as he moved down below the rest of the school. She took a deep breath, looked at her lunch and decided to make a run for it herself. She moved quickly downstairs, her ponytail bobbing behind her head as she hit each step with fervent movement. She'd seen him move into the park by the school and moved quietly through the bushes and trees, trying to remain out of sight or out of earshot.
She stopped when she saw him, him and... the new girl?
She drops into a crouch behind a snow-covered bush. She hopes the colors of her uniform and hair don't give her away. She looks on, the feeling from earlier returns.
They stood near one another talking, her against a tree with his arm above her head leaning down to listen to her. She smiles and he laughs, and she blushes.
Akane feels herself beginning to experience vertigo and is convinced this morning's breakfast is about to make a reappearance on the ground next to her. She's so nervous and feels nauseous.
She thinks about their talk in her room the other night, how it ended.
This is wrong. It has to be.
Her eyes are wide, her chest is constricting, her heartbeat is in her ears and her mouth and throat have never been drier.
She thinks maybe there's someone or something behind her, she feels it, but she can't focus on anything else. This girl puts her hand on his arm. And he looks at it and smiles.
She giggles.
And he kisses her.
A soft, perfect, storybook style kiss.
And time stops around her, sounds are muffled and the hand that was holding the earth to keep her in place releases, nails accumulating dirt under are no longer digging into her palm. Her eyes are dry, why are they dry?
Everything feels like it's in slow motion, the world doesn't feel real anymore. Her eyes tick up and she sees Ukyou slowly leaping over a brush near her and she's screaming. Akane's eyes slowly tick back and she slowly sees her rip him away from the black-haired girl. She's furious with him and he's just looking at her, rolls his eyes at her, trying to get her to calm down. The other girl is scared and covering her mouth.
Akane's feet move and she doesn't realize what's happening, she accepts that this is an out of body experience. She's entering the clearing they're all in. Her head tilts towards Ukyou who is yelling, looks like on the verge of tears and she hears someone "Ranma!" and it brings her back into the moment, into her body. She looks towards Dariole and quietly asks.
"What are you doing?" Akane is not very Akane in this moment. The girl looks at her with wide eyes.
"I... I came to Furinkan because Ranma is my fiancée. We've been engaged since we were 4, I've been trying to find him and his father since then. We lost track of them years ago and...and-"
Akane stares at her, motionless, no emotion and remembers her previous words. 4 Fiancées.
"And... I guess he remembered me and how much we liked each other for those years we knew one another." Her eyes are welling up and Akane just continues to look at her. "I'm so sorry, Akane. Ukyou, I'm so sorry I didn't mean for it to be like this." Ukyou swings around, enraged.
"What? Sorry for trying to take my Ranchan?!"
"This doesn't make any sense." Akane murmurs. Ranma butts into the discussion.
"C'mon Ucchan, Dariole is...was my first fiancée, I have to respect that and... talking her today, I just remembered so much about her, I don't know what else to say."
Ukyou balks and looks over to Akane who hasn't said anything.
"Akane?! You wanna back me up here?!"
"Why is this the first time you're bringing her up?" Akane quietly, slowly asks him. "You've been saying all along you don't know her. That you thought maybe you recognized her but now all this comes out of nowhere?"
"Well, I mean I forgot about Shampoo...forgot about Ucchan, didn't really even realize it to be honest. But then I started talking to Da-chan today and remembered everything." He shrugged it off.
She felt ice run through her, fast, painful.
She takes a step towards him. He stares her down with a neutral look.
"So now you've chosen her? You suddenly remember and it's her you've chosen?" She looks into his face, and he looks away from her, a cocky grin to Da-chan.
Like he's mocking her to her own face.
She grips his jaw and forces him to look at her. Her fingers dig into his cheeks.
Into the face she found so handsome.
"Show me a miniscule of respect when I am speaking to you."
He looks at her like she's something he's stepped in.
"Yeah. She's who's I've chosen. Dariole is cute, she's kind, she isn't violent or loud, she can cook and doesn't bother me. She's technically my real fiancée after all, my first one. And she even said we can have our own dojo that I can lead because her family actually has money. So why would I choose someone else? So I'm stuck running some rundown training hall with a bitch for a wife?"
Ukyou gasps but it's not as fast as Akane's hand comes across his face. He grips his cheek and curses, she hasn't hit him like that in ages, maybe ever that hard. He moves his jaw back and forth thinking she's possibly broken it. His face is still turned away and she looks at him head-on.
Everyone is silent. A small pile of snow falls from the tree behind him onto the ground.
"Akane?" Ukyou asks behind her.
"Akane-san?" Dariole asks.
Akane feels her heart begin to speed up and the feeling warms her entire body as if engulfed in an icy fire. Cold kerosine seems to have replaced her blood as flames lick in her center. The feeling of frostbite begins at her crown, and it falls around her body like a cape to protect her.
Her fingers spread and twitch, this is an angry Akane but it's not an anger they've seen. This Akane is enraged, is beyond a point of rage they know.
Her breathing spikes but slows, her chi grows but drops suddenly, the energy is slipping, it's being muffled by something else. But the rage, the rage sits. For a moment it's just her and Ranma looking at one another, there is no joking, no teasing, no coming back to what's been said and done.
He's about to say something but Akane gets her words in first.
"The engagement is over."
Her eyes watch him for a moment more but she's not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in any way besides like this. If she had it her way it's the only way, he'll ever see her again, filled with disdain. And in time, it'll be discontent and after that, it will be with indifference.
She walks away, quiet. Until she's running.
She cuts across the way and vomits into a garbage can. She'll cry when she's home.
We cross the street
You hold my hand
Afraid to let go and if I walked away
And left you there
Would you know why
He wakes up on his futon, it's early and the sunlight makes his vision fuzzy. Come to think of it, everything is fuzzy, his vision, his thoughts, his memory. He shakes his head, it's throbbing, like what he imagines the worse hangover of all time must feel like. He rubs his temples and works his way down to his jaw and holy shit is that tender. He shifts it back and forth and confirms it's not broken.
This has got Ryoga or Akane written all over it, but he can't remember getting hit by either of them. Actually, he can't remember the last day. He remembers school...playing basketball, maybe he got hit by something then? He gets up and grabs some clothes, he heads downstairs to use the bathroom and it's quiet in the front room. He looks at the clock and sees it's 8am, no earlier than most days.
His bath is a little longer than normal, he wants to soak a bit, let his mind plays back the last day and realizes he can't place anything. He must've really had his bell rung.
He dresses and puts his dirty clothes in the laundry. He steps out running a towel over his hair to dry it more.
"Mornin' everyone." He greets.
The room is freezing, he would've sworn someone left the sliding door open and let nothing but cold air in. But the door was closed. The coldness comes from the looks of his father and Tendous that are present.
"Good morning Ranma." Kasumi is neutral. Is indifferent even. There's even a slight edge of anger in her normally light, friendly voice.
"Uh...is everything okay? Did something happen?" He looks over the faces of his father and Mr. Tendou, Nabiki and Kasumi. But there's no- "Where's Akane?" he asks rushed, feeling a sudden rise in his nerves.
"She's not here son." His father answers solemnly. Everyone stays looking at him with icy stares. It doesn't take much for him to lose his temper.
"Well where the hell is she? Is she alright?"
"You've got a lot of nerve to ask where she is, Ranma." Nabiki sneers at him. Her anger drops instead into a cruel smile. "Or are you trying to still keep tabs on her? I knew you were selfish, but I didn't think you were that egotistical."
"What's that mean Nabiki?" He growls, waiting for anyone to tell him what's happening. Why's he being iced out so bad.
"It means when your fiancée calls it off because you chose another girl, you let it and her go and be on your way." She smiled but with no humor or friendliness. This was the Nabiki only someone way over their head got to see. "Guess you'll be leeching off some other family soon, huh? All for the best, I'm sure."
He broke out into laughter, this was ridiculous!
No one joined in.
"What the hell are you talkin' bout? I didn't choose a fiancée."
"It's true Ranma, a girl named Dariole." His dad pipped up, his longtime friend behind him looking sadly down into his tea, contemplative, not crying or yelling as he typically did. "Akane and Ukyou both told us that you've chosen this girl as your fiancée. But not before..." he coughed, trying to spare his friend from hearing those words again. "Saying some particularly cruel things to Akane."
"I don't...I..." He felt like it was a bad dream, what was happening in front of him.
"Ranma." Kasumi spoke up. "I think it's best if you and your father pack your things for the night, Akane will be returning home this afternoon and it would help everyone here if you found new lodgings for the time being."
He felt himself go numb; everything overwhelmed him.
"I've called your mother, son. It's best if we head back home while this gets sorted." His eyes dropped and he looked back at Soun who took his tea and left the room to the other members of the home.
"Or go stay with your new girlfriend! You certainly made it clear that she had much more than we had to offer you!" Nabiki chimed in.
"Nabiki." Kasumi was short with her sister, a sternness rarely seen. She turned back and looked at Ranma with a strange look that could've been interrupted as sadness.
"Where is she?"
Nabiki scoffed.
"Like we'd tell you."
"I'll give you 3000 yen for it." He opened negotiations. When money was discussed Nabiki tended to buckle.
"No way."
"5000 yen."
She considered for a moment, while Kasumi sighed and stood up and left the room. She also knew her sister's weakness to avarice. Nabiki cracked her knuckles, ready to talk.
"Well Saotome-"
"I'll give you 10000 yen right now. It's everything I have, just tell me where she is."
Nabiki stopped in her seat, her eyes squinted. He went upstairs in a flash, returning with the cash for her, slapping it on the table.
"10000. Give me the address."
"Yuka's. She's there."
He didn't bother saying anything else as he left, while she reached over and took the money across everyone's breakfast.
Three tremendously large knocks are heard from the inside of Yuka's house. It's midmorning and they aren't expecting visitors. One or two of the other girls from school who recently went through breakups were invited over because she thought it would be good to get all their disdain for boys out together.
Yuka leaves Sayuri and Akane upstairs in her room with the rest of the girls and walks to the front door. She should probably put something together for breakfast but maybe she'll tell them that they should all go out instead.
She opens the door.
And her face drops.
Ranma's standing there, breathing hard, sweat running down his face, looking haggard. She crosses her arms.
"Yu-Yuka, can I talk to Akane?"
"Go to hell Ranma." She tries closing her door on him as he sticks his foot out to prevent that.
"I need to talk to her, it's important."
"Think of more things to insult her about?" She stares at him with nothing but disgust on her face.
"Yuka, please. I don't know what's going on, I don't know what happened, but I need...I have to talk to Akane."
"Somehow, I don't think your girlfriend would appreciate that. Oh wait! Your fiancée!" She pulls on the door to close or smash his foot whichever comes first. He presses his face closer to the entrance.
"Yuka, please! C'mon!"
"Ranma, get out of here!" Yuka yells and a noise is heard upstairs.
"Akane!" He calls out from the doorway. "Akane! I hafta talk to you!" His voice is loud and rings throughout the house, there's no way she didn't hear him. Yuka lets up on the door, he takes it as a good sign. Her stony resolve melts a bit.
"Ranma, just go home." Her features soften a bit. "She won't come down and talk, not here." She opens the door and sets his foot free. "Just go home." He just stares at her; her face has moved to one of pity.
She quietly closes the door on him.
He spends the rest of the day stewing in his feelings and everything going on. No one is straight with him; they keep talking about this other fiancée. Or that Dariole girl. He'd only spoken to her a handful of times, none of it serious and yet people were insinuating that he was with her? Or someone else?
In his room he desperately tries to remember anything over the last day but there's nothing there and worse he has no one to ask. And no one to talk to who will believe him or at least hear him out.
Staring up at the ceiling of his room he contemplates the last two years he's spent here and how that'll all be over soon. Returning to a home he doesn't remember anymore, how far was it from here? Would he still attend Furinkan or would he be attending some other place now? Would he still see the same people, would he still see Akane?
In the back of his head, he knows there's absolutely no way he would've chosen someone else. There is no other choice for him, never has been another choice.
He closes his eyes and grimaces.
I should've told her in China.
I should've just told her then it was her. That I had chosen her.
That she didn't have to marry me right away, we could've just tried...being together. But that it was over, all the other engagements. All the suitors and nonsense and bullshit. I just wanted to be with her.
And like his mind willed it, he heard the door open.
And he was rushing downstairs to see her.
She stood at the doorway, her overnight bag in one hand, her hand on the knob. Her face was pale and her eyes sunken in. She looked like...
Jusenkyo.
He shook his head.
"I thought you said they'd be out of the house by this afternoon." She turned to Kasumi, disregarding his presence. It gave him a pang in his heart, but he didn't have it in him to fight, there were more pressing matters.
"Akane..." He started.
"I do not want to talk to you." Her eyes and voice flash towards him. Her stance is solid and unmoving, she's eyeing him like a combatant. His face drops and he takes a step towards her.
"Akane." He's sterner this time, but his body gives away that he's not confident in his actions. She takes her coat off and walks to the stairs to go to her room. He grabs her arm but immediately drops it like it burns him when he realizes what he's done.
"I just...I wanted to talk..."
"Don't ever touch me. Don't." Her voice and face are short and pointed and drips with the remnants of crying. She pulls her arm back and continues upstairs. He takes a moment before she reaches the top of the stairs, almost to her room, and he begins to walk up behind her. She rushes inside and tries slamming the door on him before he catches the door, nearly splitting it where he grabs it. Still, she pushes it against him.
"Akane, I'm pretty sick and tired of getting doors slammed on me today and nobody telling me what the fuck is going on. Can we please talk?"
"I told you, don't want to talk to you Ranma, not now, not ever."
"Akane, just...tell me what happened. I don't know. I honestly don't remember the last day. Please. I'll...never bother you again I promise." He swallows, his throat trembles.
She looks at him and knows he's lying; he's spent the better part of two years bothering her every single opportunity he could. But it's her that made the decision, her that told the family everything, her that has taken control of her life finally. And even with all the spite and malice she holds for him in this moment, to throw his words back at him and see faced with the consequences of his own actions feels like a punishment for him.
She opens the door but does not invite him inside. She throws her overnight bag onto her bed and turns herself towards him.
"Okay. You don't remember and you want to know what happened? Fine. You went with Dariole into the woods near school during lunch and told her how much you liked her, you kissed her until you were interrupted by Ukyou and then me. We both saw everything. Dariole said she was your fiancée as well, from earlier than even Ukyou. You said you didn't remember her, like you didn't remember Ukyou or Shampoo at first. But the two of you had been talking and it hit you and you remembered how much you had liked her when you knew her. So you chose her."
She spoke so matter of factly that it felt to him as though she was reading off some passage in class, like this was nothing, meant nothing.
"I asked where all of this came from and you shrugged me off with bullshit answers. When I asked again, you told me she has everything you want, easy going, not violent or loud, she cooks, that she promised you a dojo, she has money after all." She smiled, cruel. You could see how she was Nabiki's sister. "You said how could I expect you to pick to lead a rundown dojo with a bitch for a wife."
"Akane..." his face went white.
"It was then I decided to end the engagement. For both of our sakes." Her eyes watered slightly until she blinked, and the tears and emotions went away. "You didn't have much argument there, so I left. I came home, told our families that you had chosen someone, and that the engagement was over. I was sure to use your words verbatim in case there was any confusion and told them if they didn't believe me to ask Ukyou. She conveniently showed up as I was packing my bag for Yuka's that night looking for you and went ahead and corroborated my story."
He stood still, the feeling of emptiness growing over his body.
She mimicked the look.
"So, we are no longer engaged." She sucked in a breath or a tear, he couldn't tell. "You're free to do whatever you'd like. It's what you wanted right? You have your wife now."
He felt nausea swim over him, he wanted to scream, he wanted to grab her and shake her. He wanted to pull her to his chest and collapse to the ground, refusing to let her go. He wanted to run inside her room and kiss her, proclaim his feelings, devote himself to her in every single way she could want.
He looked at her face, she looked so much older. Like she had become a woman overnight, her beautiful expressive eyes, so many emotions there, her full though chapped lips.
"I... Akane."
"Leave me alone Ranma, it's done." She closed the door and he waited a few moments until he heard her slump to the ground of her room. He stood at the door, the crushing realization of his new reality and what had happened weighing on his back. He stared at that little duck with her name on it, his left eye twitching, not realizing it was producing tears behind it.
He blinked.
And the rage inside him grew to a boiling level.
He turned and went looking for who could help.
He knocked on the door nearest hers.
And an annoyed brunette answered.
"Yes, oh dearest former brother-in-law? Looking to say your last goodbyes?"
"Cut the shit Nabiki I need your help."
"Oh really? What do you want, a ticket out of here with your new bride? I'm sure when auntie Nodoka gets back she'll want to talk to you about how unmanly this was of you so I understand wanting to get out while you can." She put her fists on her hips and mocked him. She laughed darkly. "What makes you think I would possibly ever help you again Saotome?"
"Because I'm a cash cow for you here and you don't want me gone."
She grinned.
"We did plenty fine before you and now that we don't have to feed you two freeloaders, we'll be right back on track. Besides, Akane is single again and has grown into quite the looker wouldn't you say. Why I bet I could charge what I charged for pictures of you, maybe even more!" She crosses her arms against her chest. "So, no Ranma that's not a reason for me to help you. Why don't you get your bags packed and get ready to go." She begins to try to close the door on him and he finally has the day catch up with him. He pushes himself inside and slams her door behind him. She stares at him ready to scream as she sees the rage painted on his face.
"You know I would never say those things or do that to Akane. I would never be that cruel to her."
"You've been plenty cruel in the past." Her voice slightly trembles but tries to remain stoic.
"I've been a prick at times, but this is beyond that. You and I both know I would never act like that to your sister, not unless I was under something."
Nabiki straightened up.
"I don't know who this 'we' you're talking about is, but I think you are definitely capable of treating her-"
"We both know how I feel about her, Nabiki."
She looks at him. He's not his bumbling idiot self, quick to deny or pretend. He's decidedly the opposite, confident, sure. Broken at what's happened and filled with an anger she can see holding a grip on him. But still unable to say the words. Maybe he only wants to say them to her.
She remembers for a moment of a time before her mother died, when she knew she was sick. How she held her in her lap, telling her to be a good sister. Listen to your father, follow Kasumi, watch over your little sister.
Protect her.
Looking at this man in her room, is this a moment to protect her sister?
She feels like they're playing chicken at who will blink first, drop their guard first.
He won't move.
He won't backdown.
When it comes to her, he probably never will.
"Alright Romeo, what do you need?"
"I want you to find out every single fucking thing you can about that Dariole girl."
"Your fiancée?"
"She ain't my fiancée. I don't know who or what she is, but something ain't right there, I can feel it."
Nabiki narrowed her eyes on him.
"What do you know Ranma?" He sighed.
"I don't remember the last day; everything is foggy and lost. Like I was there in body but nothing else. I remember the morning, walking with Akane, I can remember everything until PE, then I just go blank. And I think she has something to do with it."
"And what do you want with this information on her?"
"I want to know who tried fucking my life up and how I can ruin theirs's."