"Of Loss, Life, & Love"
A Ranma ½ Fanfic by Luna12
Chapter 24: "Matsuri"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was Saturday, normally a joyful day of relaxation and fun for a high school student. Not for Akane Tendo. Even her morning jog didn't uplift her mood. She had been praying for rain, but today of all days Nerima was to have perfect weather; sunny, low humidity, and pleasantly warm. Why couldn't it have rained just a little, when Ukyo would be doing her damnedest to seduce Ranma on their date to an outdoor cultural festival.
At first, she tried to distract herself. She was making a concerted effort to trust Ranma. There was no need to jump to conclusions, like she had in the past. Too much had happened in the past few months: The True Love Mirror, their own first kiss, and Ranma's latest actions and words showed that he really wanted Akane as his only fiancée. Ranma was just stuck going through the motions of this date to mollify Ukyo's honor...right?
Akane couldn't fully rid her mind of doubts, though. Some thought patterns were too old to change so quickly. Desperate to regain her center, Akane poured her anxious energy into an intense workout in the dojo, distracting her body with training while going through a mental litany of "I am not jealous. I am not jealous. It's just a stupid festival."
Each thought was punctuated by shattered cement blocks.
Just before lunch, Nabiki sauntered to the outdoor practice area where Akane had switched over to kendo. The yard was a flurry of destroyed bamboo and straw.
Nabiki sucked loudly on her popsicle before commenting. "Sheesh Akane, you're making me sweat just watching you."
Akane grumbled, in no mood for her sister's verbal banter. "Then don't watch."
Nabiki slurped again at her popsicle before teasing. "Yeah, clearly you're not at all worried about Ukyo showing Ranma a good time. It's not like she's desperate and might try to kiss him again."
Akane gritted her teeth and with her dull, wooden practice blade sliced through another huge pile of bamboo and straw stuffed dummies. "Are you waiting for me to thank you for making me feel even worse about this rotten situation?"
Nabiki nipped off the end of her cold treat, not at all fazed by her sister's irritation. "I'm just surprised you're here while Ranma's doing who-knows-what with you-know-who."
Akane glared, what little calm she had tried to attain was quickly unraveling with her sister's goading. "It's just a festival! And I'm trying to trust the big idiot. You of all people should know how much Ranma's tried to fix things between us lately."
Nabiki waved dismissively. "Oh, I'm not doubting Saotome...but can you trust Ucchan?"
Nabiki sauntered off without waiting for her sister's response, but an hour later Nabiki was happy to see Akane fully dressed in a flowery yukata kimono and leaving the house.
The middle Tendo daughter smiled to herself. Oh the clever prodding she had to do to get everyone where they needed to be!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ukyo felt her patience fraying. Not only had Ranma carelessly forgotten to compliment her appearance - a very striking change for her and a rather attractive one, she had to admit - but he hadn't even bothered to dress up himself. He was wearing a very worn and familiar Chinese sleeveless top and black pants. She knew her Ranchan didn't own that much, but even he had a few more formal pairs of slacks and tops.
Even worse, he wasn't even holding up his end of the conversation. He seemed under a dark cloud, ignoring the beautiful open blue sky and sunny weather. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring her, as well.
Ukyo gritted her teeth and tried to scrounge up some extra forbearance. "Ranchan honey, have you heard a word I've said?"
"Hmm," was the only response as he nodded absently.
Ukyo's hands twitched and she instinctively reached behind her back for her spatula - and then silently cursed. She just had to leave her bandolier behind. At the time, she thought it would help her look more feminine - and it would certainly leave her far more embraceable without a bulky weapon strapped to her body. Now, though, she just wanted to whack Ranma over the head. Anything to get him to wake up and realize this was a date! A very romantic, wonderful date with his cutest fiancée. Why didn't he get that?!
Ukyo took a deep calming breath, hating the confining fit of her yukata. Men's clothes were so much more practical. Still, she wasn't about to let their date continue this way. A statue would be better company. Determined to salvage the situation, Ukyo put on a bright smile and placed her hand over Ranma's chest.
Ranma was vaguely aware of Ukyo chattering at him, but his mind was too occupied to bother focusing. More troubling than Akane's aloofness, something was very wrong with his mother. He should have trusted Akane's instincts from the start, but a large part of him didn't want to believe something was wrong. He'd barely had a few months together with his mother knowing him as a man, not as Ranko. It would be an even crueler joke than usual if fate took her away from him after all that heartache.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his chest. He stiffened and stopped walking. Lately, Ukyo kept violating his personal space. As much as he was a master of his body via training in the Art, he didn't feel comfortable with physical affection and casual touching. Maybe it was from his rough upbringing with his Pop, or the lack of a mother's care in his childhood, but it just turned him off and made him feel edgy. It was one of the main reasons he learned to loathe the sight of Shampoo. Now Ukyo seemed to be taking every opportunity to pull at him, or touch him unasked.
The only exception to that rule was Akane, but likely it was because she never forced herself on him. She seems to inherently understand. He had mocked her plenty of times for being even more defensive than he was about her personal space - the hentai horde probably had a lot to do with it, he imagined - but when she did touch him...wow. Even though it tended to be subtle, (outside of sparring and fighting) it was electric. Warm. Happiness and excitement and … home. More than any place on earth, Akane's touch made him feel at home.
Ranma carefully removed Ukyo's hand from his chest. Ukyo's eyes were boring into him expectantly. He rubbed at his head bashfully. "Sorry, Ucchan. What were you saying?"
Ukyo's right eyelid twitched in annoyance, but she managed to keep a superficial smile on her face. "You're supposed to be having fun, sugar. It's a beautiful day. You got me by your side. What could possibly be bugging you?"
Ranma sighed. Being edgy and distant wouldn't help his mother, but maybe Ucchan could. "I'm worried about Mother. She flipped out today when I mentioned Akane."
Ukyo shrugged dismissively: "That doesn't mean something's seriously wrong with her, hun. She was perfectly nice and normal when I was there. Don't worry so much."
Ranma frowned. "You weren't there when she went off. Trust me, she's not actin' 'normal'."
It was Ukyo's turn to frown. Just because Nodoka was in a snit with Akane didn't mean it had to ruin her date. If anything, shouldn't that show Ranchan how much better she was for him? "Your ma certainly likes me, though. It's so important for a mother to like her daughter-in-law, don't you think?"
Ranma's shoulders slumped. So much for Ukyo being of any help. His mother was only behaving more friendly towards the chef lately, so he guessed it wasn't too surprising that Ukyo felt so unconcerned - and worse, unwilling to take any action.
Ranma reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged around the festival while Ukyo oohed and awed over the parade. Normally he liked festivals well enough, but the gaiety was at odds with his mindset.
While Ukyo eagerly pulled his arm towards the karaoke contest, they began to pass an ameutur sumo wrestling match. Ranma stopped and for the first time since arriving smiled. "Hey, let's watch," he told her. He never knew when he might be able to pick up or incorporate a new martial arts move, and it certainly never hurt to check out another fighter's style.
Ukyo made a face. Sumo wrestling? There was nothing romantic about that. "Ranchan, that's so boring. Why don't we try some games over there?"
Ranma was disappointed. Ukyo just didn't get into all the different aspects of the Art like he did. He remembered the last few times he attended similar festivals. For the past two years, it had always been with the entire Tendo family. While Uncle Tendo and his dad would saunter off to drink and play Go, (or plan some other crazy matchmaking scheme), he'd stick by Akane and watch the sumo matches. The Tendo-ryuu used a lot of footwork and throwing, something in common with sumo. He fondly remembered teasing her about having the same brute strength and figure as a rikishi sumo wrestler - that remark got him a stick of yakitori shoved violently in his mouth - but even that hadn't extinguished the light twinkle in Akane's eye as she watched the bout as excitedly as he did.
Obviously, that wasn't the same with Ucchan. She only cared about her particular Art, and even then it was second in her passion for cooking.
Ukyo saw disappointment line Ranma's face. The guy sure did have a one track mind. Or was it two-track? Ukyo brightened at the thought. There was something they both shared in common. "C'mon Ranchan. We can watch a fight any old time. Let's get some hot takoyaki!"
Ranma looked up briefly and did a double take. Across from the fighting ring, he'd caught a flash of short, raven hair nearly blue in the sunlight. He strained his neck to see, but the crowd of spectators was thick and there was no trace of what - or more precisely, who - he thought he saw.
Before he could move to confirm, Ukyo was dragging him away. Ranma sighed. It was probably just his mind playing tricks, anyway... and takoyaki wasn't that bad an idea.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Akane was dressed appropriately for the matsuri, and blended in perfectly among the crowds of happy people. Regardless, she suddenly felt lost and foolish. Her temper and jealousy had flared enough to lead her here, but that surge of adrenaline had worn itself out, leaving her feeling drained and self conscious. She crossed her arms and stood back near a goldfish scooping booth to reassess the situation.
Even though it was a small, local festival compared to the Tanabata Star Festival, it was still a lot of ground to cover to find Ranma. And then what? She couldn't feign coincidence in bumping into him, and Ukyo had made a pact with Ranma's mother to be able to court him. As much as Akane hated to admit it, Ukyo was within her rights to have this date. If they caught her here, she'd just be mercilessly teased by Ranma for being jealous; hardly high on her wish list.
Akane frowned. Her original impulsive plan of tracking them down to spy and make sure Ukyo didn't overstep boundaries now struck her as horribly immature and foolish. Hadn't that been what Ranma had done to her and Ryoga last year? Still, Akane couldn't bring herself to leave. She was already here, so she might as well try to enjoy herself.
She wandered aimlessly, taking in the colorful decorations and souvenir booths before she came to the wrestling ring. A local amateur sumo club was performing for the festival goers. Akane stopped to study the footwork, secretly glad her father and Ranma were not sumo wrestlers, but admiring the skill and dedication nonetheless.
Then, from across the other side of the ring, Akane thought she saw a flash of a familiar black pigtail. Her heart leapt into her chest, and even she wasn't sure if the adrenaline rush she felt was from panic or excitement. She quickly ducked behind a taller spectator, and covertly peeked out. It was Ranma! And Ukyo, looking similar to how Akane remembered her at the failed wedding, with her hair arranged up and garbed in kimono. The okonomiyaki chef was tugging intently on Ranma's arm, leading him away from the match. Ranma didn't look enthused, and Akane couldn't help but feel a little bit better. Ukyo may have her date, but it didn't look like Ranma was having a good time.
Now that the opportunity had presented itself, Akane felt compelled to covertly follow. Nabiki's taunting from before was ringing in her ears. Trusting Ranma was one thing…
...but she wasn't going to trust Ukyo.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranma couldn't shake the itchy feeling that he was being followed, but everytime he whipped his head around, there was no sign of anyone out of the ordinary. Children were running and laughing (many donning masks from the souvenir shops), a few couples walked side by side, and various others were enjoying the street food or playing games. Nothing conspicuous.
Despite his distracted and anxious mood from before, he was starting to enjoy himself. Even if he did have Ukyo clinging to his arm a little too possessively, he always had fun at the street games.
The booth next to him had a balloon-filling racing game with colored water shot from high powered squirt guns. He immediately turned to find a different booth. He knew better than to tempt his curse over there. The stand across used beebee guns to strike the target, a much safer move.
Ucchan cheered him on, and before long he had won a large stuffed panda for a prize. Ukyo hugged him in celebration, then boldly tilted her head up, her lips pursed and ready to steal a kiss.
A freezing cold blast of water hit Ranma from behind, stinging sharply with concentrated impact. "Aiee!" Ranma hopped up and away from Ukyo as if stung by a bee, his voice a high soprano as his body transformed from muscular and tall to short and curvaceous, the jet black of his hair slowly filling into a bright red. Even worse, his (now her), clothing was drenched and stained with green dye.
Ranma turned to face his attacker. It was some girl wearing one of those character masks. By her short stature, Ranma guessed it was likely a middle school student pulling a prank, but just because it was a girl didn't mean he was gonna let the kid get away with it!
Soon as the dripping wet redhead made eye contact, the prankster immediately dropped the squirt gun and ran. "Not so fast, twerp!" At once, Ranma initiated chase.
Ukyo tried to run after and keep up, but the unfamiliarity of the yukata and sandals tripped her up. She caught herself before falling, but the delay made her lose sight of Ranma. Ukyo glared around at the bustling crowd of festival goers, then sighed. She had been so close, too! She hugged her newly won panda bear closer. At least she got a nice consolation prize out of it.
Ranma's delicate female skin chafed under the wet clothing as he chased after the masked girl in the flowery yukata. Damn, that kid - or was it a young woman? - could move, but she would be no match for his - uh, her - speed. Just when Ranma was about to claim victory, the prankster grabbed a large walking stick from a souvenir stand and pole vaulted into the air, landing on the roof of a yatai stand, then quickly roof-hopped across a few more stalls to drop down into a busier street.
Ranma smirked. The kid wanted to give him a real challenge, huh? She had no idea who she was messing with! Without any need for a launching aid, Ranma leaped into the air and landed lightly on the same yatai stand, but instead of dropping down to the street level, Ranma followed the flowery-yukata from above. Using superior balancing skills, Ranma took up the stance of the umi-sen ken. Within moments all trace of his - uh her - ki vanished, and Ranma knew he was in just the right state to apprehend the culprit.
The masked prankster looked around nervously, then resumed walking at a normal pace. Ranma smiled smugly, then waited for when his soon-to-be-victim turned the corner. Once it seemed the girl's guard was down, Ranma dropped quickly from above. "Got you!" Ranma chirped triumphantly as he ripped off the girl's mask. Ranma's eyes widened in shocked surprise.
"Akane?!"
Akane's face flushed in embarrassment, but she tried to act casual despite being caught red handed - or in this case, masked. "Uh, hi Ranma. How'd your date go?"
Ranma crossed finely shaped arms, but there was a triumphant look on his face. "Too jealous to stay away, huh?"
Akane stuck her tongue out at the cocky redhead. "Get over yourself."
Ranma wrung out the ends of his shirt, which was now a hodgepodge of red and splotchy greenish brown from the dye in the squirt gun. "You didn't have to ruin my clothes," Ranma complained.
Akane felt her temper reignite, her voice biting with sarcasm. "Well excuse me, I didn't realize you were so eager to kiss Ukyo again!"
Ranma's frustration rose like a volcano. Did Akane really not get it? Before he could stop himself, he was shouting. "The only one I want to kiss is you, dummy!"
Akane's face turned crimson as several other festival goers stopped to stare and whisper. As verboten as it was to show too much PDA in Japanese society, having it proclaimed loudly as a girl for a girl made it so much worse!
Akane slapped her hands over Ranma's mouth. "You idiot, we're in public!" Suddenly realizing her faux paux, Ranma's face started to resemble a tomato.
Akane shook her head ruefully. "Come on, let's get you some hot water…."
They had nearly left the festival grounds by the time they found a stand with hot water available, and at that point Ranma just wanted to go home and get out of his wet clothing. He had already taken off the ruined red shirt; he had it folded and tucked under his arm, leaving only part of his pants wet and chaffing. If it wasn't chafed breasts, it was a chaffed groin. He just couldn't win.
Akane had seen Ranma topless plenty of times, and even back when she fought against the arranged marriage, she knew that Ranma was breathtakingly handsome. Now that they had grown so much closer and started to genuinely embrace the engagement, Akane felt her face grow warm with forbidden thoughts.
Ranma watched Akane's cheeks pink delicately, and wondered what she was thinking. He had to admit, she looked really cute in the traditional kimono attire. Although it didn't complement her curves the way Western style clothing did, Akane carried herself well in it. It seemed to soften all her harsh edges, and she allowed her girlier side to shine out.
Akane cleared her throat, doing her best to get her thoughts on a topic far away from his chiseled, muscular chest. "Sorry about your shirt. I could take it home and try to fix it for you."
Ranma shook his head. His previous frustration over it had vanished. Instead, it became a physical reminder that Akane cared enough to be jealous. "Nah, it's okay. It'll probably come out in the wash."
The rest of the walk was quiet, but pleasant, as they shared the remains of the late afternoon walking side by side. Ranma's face turned toward Akane's a couple of times, a contemplative expression etched on his features. Then slowly, tentatively, he reached out with his free arm. Akane's smile radiated warmth as she allowed her fingers to grip his hand back, and Ranma's heart immediately felt a lot lighter. It took him a few seconds to remember how to breathe.
Before long they found themselves outside Ranma's apartment door. Both were hesitant to end their stolen time together, and Ranma made no move for the handle. Ranma wished he could invite her in, feeling lost. His thumb absently caressed the back of her hand.
Akane glanced at him shyly. Her voice was quiet and hesitant. "So did you mean it, before…?"
Ranma looked at her curiously. "Mean what?"
Akane felt tempted to give out a mere "nevermind" and race home….but after the emotional roller coaster of the day, she wanted her answer. Her voice was nearly a whisper, but it came out. "About only wanting to kiss me…"
It was Ranma's turn for his cheeks to get darker.
For a moment he contemplated a teasing response of 'you wish' or 'oh, you'd like that?', but the shy, vulnerable glint in her eyes stopped him. Unconsciously, his voice became huskier. "Yeah," he answered, bashful but honest.
He cupped one hand along her cheek, the fingers just touching her hair. She closed her eyes and moved closer to him, until they were no more than a few inches apart. Her heart began to beat a little faster, and she felt a warm glow on her cheeks.
"Let go of my son, you witch!"
Startled they broke contact. Ranma's eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise and concern at the unexpected arrival of his mother.
Akane could sense the approaching, violent intent, but coming from Nodoka, the woman she had come to look on as her own mother, she felt frozen in place. Her limbs refused to move, and as if in slow motion Akane saw the hand strike out and connect.
!SLAP!
Her face stung, hot and throbbing from the impact of Nodoka's open palm.
Instantly, Ranma had his mother pinned gently but firmly at the shoulders, his arms holding her in place. Nodoka was squirming, red in the face, ferocious determination poured from her.
"What the hell are you doing, Mother?!" Ranma's voice was a mixture of pain and seething protective anger. No one, no one, got to hurt Akane.
He realized how uncharacteristically quiet and unreactive his fiancée was being. "You okay, Akane?" He tried to get a good look at her, his view partly blocked by his mother's aggressive struggling. He finally could make out Akane's face; the flesh sported a handprint as visible as if Nodoka had dipped her palm in ink before stamping it on the girl's face.
Although Akane's left cheek was stinging and inflamed with heat, the rest of her felt numb. Auntie had struck her. Even now, Nodoka was nearly foaming at the mouth, fighting fiercely - if inexpertly and without effect - against Ranma's secure hold.
Ranma's voice barely penetrated through Akane's shock. She carefully touched the rapidly swelling cheek with her hand. She gave Ranma a shaky nod, and faced the struggling woman. "Auntie Saotome, please, calm down and tell us what's wrong."
Nodoka's eyes were wild and at Akane's words, she spat at her.
Ranma shook with the effort to control himself. "That's it, Mother. We're taking you to Dr. Tofu's now."
In one motion, Ranma swung his mother over his shoulder. He positioned her gently, but also in such a way she couldn't wiggle free.
Nodoka squeaked indignantly. "Son, you let me go this instant!"
Ranma's voice was flat. "Nope."
"Ranma, I am your mother! You put me down!"
"You'll thank me for this later, Mother. Until then, sorry I gotta be a little rough, so stop squirming. I don't wanna hurt you."
It was an awkward march to Tofu's clinic. Akane hung back, watching with worry etched into every feature. She tried to see if Nodoka was wearing a strange piece of jewelry, or had any visible horns. After their experience with the Reversal Jewel, it was hardly a stretch to assume similar artifacts existed, and Akane was would never forget the time sweet Kasumi got possessed by an oni.
There was no obvious indications of foul play, but Akane remained hopeful. If anyone could help the Saotome matriarch, it would be Doctor Tofu Ono.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Notes:
This chapter would not have been at all possible if it weren't for Angela Jewell! She threw out the idea of Ukyo dragging Ranma off to a date at a carnival.
Good ideas often repeat themselves, and PurseMonger's fic "Tomboy No More" deserves a special shout out. We chat and agree a lot on character interpretation and background motivations. Although I had already written a few drafts of Ranma contemplating how he didn't like being touched well before she had published, it was as if she had read my mind and wrote them first! So if you like my portrayal of Ranma and Ukyo, you'll probably love her fic, too.
Original Publication Date: Oct. 10, 2014
Exciting personal news: I'm pregnant! Expecting baby #2 in June!
