Arc III: Engagements
Chapter: Taken
Ranma couldn't believe it. These people wanted a fiancée who had been trained as a martial artist. It meant that they wanted Akane. His Akane. Ranma had a moment of shock before he became angry. His hands began to shake in rage and he had to clench his hands around the loose material of his pants as he tried to calm his breathing.
Who were they to come in here and demand his fiancée marry their son? He glanced over and finally took a good look at Sota and he mentally scoffed. The guy was a complete pretty boy with his pressed clothes, his clean cut hair, and his polished manners. He could take the guy easily. Hell, Akane could probably take this wuss. He narrowed his eyes as he stared daggers at the boy sitting opposite him without a care in the world.
He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. He had already embarrassed his parents by making a scene once and he would not do it again. He didn't care about how his father felt but he refused to have his mother ashamed of him.
The rest of the room had stilled as what had been announced was absorbed. Nabiki and Kasumi glared at their father, who had stopped crying and was now cowed by their stares. Genma looked at his friend in pity while Nodoka looked sadly over to her son who was now looking at Akane worriedly. She had not reacted at all and sat motionless with a blank look on her face. She should have been furious but there was absolutely no reaction.
Mr. Chihari was the first person to break the silence, having grown annoyed at not receiving an answer. "Well, which ones of you have been trained?" he asked impatiently.
When both Nabiki and Kasumi looked over at Akane, Mrs. Chihari turned her head to examine the blue-haired girl.
"Oh, is it you, dear? Are you the only one who has been trained?" When Kasumi and Nabiki nodded automatically at her question, the older woman clapped her hands together excitedly. "Why, you are just beautiful!" She got up and went over to Akane and asked, "Can you please stand up, dear?"
Ranma watched as Akane stood and walked over to the older woman. He knew something was wrong as she seemed to move automatically and he knew Akane was not someone who would just allow other people to tell her what to do.
Mrs. Chihari circled the younger girl, taking a good look at her before declaring, "You are just perfect! You look almost like a doll with your petite height and that adorable dress. You have a wonderful hour glass figure that will look lovely in our clothes. I can't wait until you are trained in Martial Arts Tailoring. We're going to have so much fun together!"
A pair of eyes narrowed at her comments.
"Just think about all the things we can do together! Between you and me, I need another woman in the family to help keep these two in line." Mrs. Chihari gestured to the two Chihari men and impulsively hugged Akane, not noticing or acknowledging her lack of response.
A pair of fists clenched, the knuckles going white with the strain.
"You're going to have to come see the store and we can get you outfitted with some new clothes. Oh, we are going to get along wonderfully!"
A low growl was emitted behind gritted teeth.
"I've always wanted a daughter!" Mrs. Chihari exclaimed and emphasized the statement by clapping her hands together excitedly and bouncing on her toes.
That pushed the angry Saotome over the edge and suddenly Akane was grabbed by the arm and pulled backwards as a figure stepped in front of her like a guard.
"I think you are mistaken, Akane is already set to marry my son Ranma."
Mrs. Chihari could not miss the hostile tone and aggressive posture of the woman standing suddenly before her. They appraised each other, taking in the other's clothes and general appearance before they narrowed their eyes at each other.
Ranma had never seen his mother that worked up and the anger he felt was momentarily forgotten as he became frightened as both ladies seemed to exude small, barely visible battle auras. Instinctively, Genma and Ranma scooted closer to each other, huddling together for protection. Across the room, the two Chihari men did the same as they stared at their matriarch with fear.
"Well, your son has already stated that he has at least one other engagement, so it shouldn't be an issue if you break this one."
Mrs. Chihari reached around Nodoka and pulled Akane so that she was now standing next to her.
"We will not. Our agreement was created before any of the children were born."
Nodoka grabbed Akane's upper arm and tried to pull her closer but was stopped by Mrs. Chihari, who still had her other arm.
"Does yours have a clause in it that requires the fiancée to be trained in the Arts?"
"No, it was one to combine the Tendo and Saotome schools into one."
"That just means that the agreement can be fulfilled by another Tendo daughter. They both look lovely, and I am sure one would make an excellent wife for your son."
"Well, Akane and Ranma have been getting to know each other over the last two years and it would be improper to change the arrangement now. Since your son has no attachment to her yet, it would be as easy for your son to change to one of the other girls."
With each successive statement, Akane was pulled back and forth between them, her arms stretched out to the sides, as the older women played tug-of-war, using her as the rope. Kasumi and Nabiki watched the two older women like they would a tennis match, their heads swinging left and right as each woman spoke. The Saotome and Chihari men had shrunken further back in fear, the fathers having had pushed their sons to the forefront and taken to hiding behind them. Soun sat and tried to watch the events but the tears pouring out of his eyes made it difficult for him to see.
"No, we own several stores where we sell our clothes and need someone who can be easily trained in Martial Arts Tailoring so she can help run our stores."
"Well, Nabiki would be perfect then. She loves fashion, understands finances, and is smart enough to help run any shop."
Nodoka had not wanted to call out either of the other Tendo daughters but she knew that Kasumi was dating Tofu and since Nabiki did like nice clothes and liked to be financially secure, it seemed to be a good fit. But her main goal was to secure Akane as her daughter-in-law!
"Yes! That's a wonderful idea, why don't you pick one of my other daughters. They are both lovely and I am sure you will like them just as much," Soun exclaimed, excited at the prospect of getting all the engagements settled amicably.
Kasumi and Nabiki glared at their father, their heads ballooning in size until they loomed over him, giving him menacing looks at being regarded like consolation prizes and for his callousness in treating them like they were trading cards that could be easily exchanged.
This went completely unnoticed by the two women in the center of the room, who having let go of Akane, were now standing nose to nose. Ranma swore he could see lightning bolts shooting out of their eyes as their vision locked.
None of the men were willing to get in between the two matriarchs.
"No, our agreement was very specific, we would like Akane."
"Well, that isn't an option!" Nodoka snapped.
The room had gone completely quiet as the women glared at each other.
"Mrs. Chihari, Aunty Nodoka, would either of you like more tea?" Kasumi said sweetly, popping up right next to them, holding a teapot on a small serving tray.
She had regained her composure and felt things were getting out of hand. Before anything could be addressed, everyone would need to calm down and the women needed a gentle reminder of proper decorum to help them do so. She was amused by their behavior, especially that of Aunty Nodoka. It seemed that Ranma's jealous nature was inherited from his mother.
They both turned to the serene young woman and immediately dropped their aggressive stances and acted as if nothing unusual had happened and began smoothing out invisible creases on their clothes. They both gave her a wide smile that didn't quite reach their eyes.
"Yes, that would be lovely, dear. Thank you," Nodoka said.
"Yes, thank you," Mrs. Chihari added.
They both sent one last glare at the other before walking to their seats. The Saotome and Chihari men relaxed from their cowed positions and scrambled to their original seats, not wanting to be on the receiving end of either woman's fury.
Once everyone, including Akane, had been seated again, Kasumi began to pour more tea for everyone before sitting down. The group drank their tea in silence as Nodoka and Yoko continued to scowl at each other from across the room.
Surprisingly, it was Sota Chihari who broke the silence.
"If I may speak to Miss Tendo alone for a moment, I am sure we can get the issue settled," he said charmingly as he smiled at the room in general.
Yoko gave an adoring smile to her son, happy that he was behaving properly and seemed ready to woo the youngest Tendo.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at the other male, getting over his temporary shock at his mother's behavior. There was no way in hell that he would allow him anywhere alone with Akane.
"You ain't going nowhere with her, buddy!" Ranma growled out, earning an approving nod from his mother at his defense of his fiancée.
Sota turned to Ranma, with one eyebrow arched high. "I'm just asking to speak to her in another room..."
"And I told ya, that ain't gonna happen!"
"What do you think I am going to do to her?" Sota asked with a smirk on his face.
Ranma didn't know what he thought was so funny and was about to stand up to smack that smile right off his smug face when the other boy turned his attention to Akane.
"Besides, it's not your decision to make, it should be her decision, don't you think?" Sota asked as he looked expectantly at Akane.
When she didn't respond, Ranma turned his head and was surprised to see his fiancée with the same blank look on her face. "'kane?" he asked worriedly.
Ranma watched as she turned her head towards him and shook her head a little. Suddenly he saw the spark return to her eyes before she turned her head so she was staring directly at her father.
In a sugary sweet voice she said, "Oh I'm sorry, I was just surprised that anyone thought I would like a say in who I am to marry." She turned her head to Sota and said, "Why don't we go into the house to have our talk?"
Ranma just stared at her with a hurt expression on his face, surprised at her response. He had no idea why she was willingly going anywhere with this stranger but it was clear he had no say in the matter. It was only then that he realized she had not spoken a word before now. He watched as she walked out with the other boy and a feeling of apprehension filled him.
It had been almost half an hour since she had left. Ranma had no idea what they could have been speaking to each other about for so long, but he didn't like it.
Was Sota trying to convince her to marry him? Did he really think that he could get Akane to fall for his charms in such a short time? Had he been confident in getting the issue resolved because he had experience in seducing women? Was he now trying to touch or kiss her? The thought had Ranma seeing red and it took all his will power not to go storming out of the room in search for the pair. He was slightly mollified at the knowledge that Akane could take care of herself and would break Sota's jaw if he tried to make a move on her. Although if someone were to break the other boy's face, he wanted to be the one to have the pleasure.
The entire time they had been gone the room had been tense, the older women had continued their silent glaring contest but thankfully remained seated and out of each other's faces. When his mother had learned that it was Genma who suggested the engagement agreement between the Tendos and Chiharis, she gave him a murderous look and Genma began to sweat.
He found out that the two older Anything Goes martial artists and their master had been on a "training journey" when they ran across the Chiharis' shop. Happosai had been distracted by negligee in the window display and had run in and looted the store. He had fled before the Chiharis could stop him and left Soun and Genma there to take the blame. The men had been bound with fabric and rolled up like sushi before they could escape.
Genma was now sitting as still and quietly as possible, hoping to be forgotten. Ranma had mentally termed this the Saotome Super Secret T-Rex Defense.
He glanced back at his mother, still surprised at her earlier reaction. He knew that she preferred Akane to the other girls but he didn't know until now how attached she was to the blue-haired girl. It was clear that she was more concerned about losing Akane as a daughter-in-law than at him losing her as a fiancée.
But that wasn't going to happen. There was no way that Akane would ever just ditch him. They had been through too much together. Even though their relationship was still undefined, he knew that she had feelings for him. What those feelings were exactly, he couldn't say. But she cared for him, that much was obvious.
He straightened up when he saw Akane and Sota entering the room. Everyone had turned to look at the pair expectantly and Ranma was completely blindsided by what happened next.
"We have decided that for now, the engagement between Akane and I will stand," Sota said, looking towards his parents.
"Oh, how wonderful!" Mrs. Chihari exclaimed and went over to hug her son and then Akane.
Mr. Chihari had followed his wife over and slapped his son on the back saying, "That's my boy! Way to use that Chihari charm on her!" He reached over and clasped Akane by the hand and said enthusiastically, "Welcome to the family."
Ranma was in his usual thinking spot; the roof over Akane's room. This time, he had to admit, he was definitely brooding. But he was doing it in a manly, stoic sort of way.
He couldn't get over what happened earlier. He had no idea why Akane was okay with being engaged to a stranger. When it was him she was introduced to, she fought the engagement tooth and nail. What was different this time? Why was this guy special?
Was it because Sota was normal, while he was cursed to turn into a girl? She used to call him a pervert all the time but she had gotten over that. He had thought she had become used to his curse and sometimes it felt like she preferred "Ranko" to Ranma.
Maybe it was because that pretty boy seemed to be able to actually talk to women. A skill he had still yet to master. He remembered the things he had said to Akane when they first met. He had been angry at being called a pervert and had lashed out at her. But that was so long ago, he didn't think she would hold it against him now.
It could be that the Chiharis seemed well off. Living on the road, he was used to carrying everything he owned on his back and had never felt poor. Hungry sometimes, but not poor. After living with the Tendos he realized just how little his family had. It was sometimes embarrassing but it was the life of a martial artist. Or so he thought until he met the Chiharis.
He hated to think about it but wondered if she was attracted to Sota. That thought more than any of the others made Ranma's heart ache and his hands fist in his lap.
He leaned back and tried to relax. He had only felt like this once before; when he thought she had left him for Shinnosuke. Back then, he felt confused and hurt but ultimately wanted her to be happy. Although it hurt him, he would have let Akane marry the forgetful boy but he had needed to know why she had chosen Shinnosuke over him.
It seemed things hadn't changed that much. He would step back if she wanted to be with Sota but he still needed to know why.
Even if it hurt.
It had been such a long day and Akane was just exhausted. All she wanted at the moment was to curl up in her bed but she knew she couldn't yet. After Sota announced the engagement was to go forward, Ranma had sat there momentarily shocked until he suddenly stormed out of the room. His mother had followed shortly after with a hurt look on her face. Genma realizing he was no longer needed, had left immediately after her.
She knew he would be mad but she didn't count on the hurt look in his eyes. It made her heart break a little. She never wanted to hurt Ranma and hoped that he would be willing to talk to her.
She wanted to follow him out of the room but was unable to because she was stuck talking to the Chihari family to work out some details. Since Sota was four years her senior, they had agreed to wait until she turned at least eighteen before a wedding would even be considered. The delay would also give the newly engaged couple a chance to get to know each other and get used to the idea of being engaged. No one in the Chihari family had addressed her engagement with Ranma, Sota's family assuming the engagement would be transferred to Kasumi or Nabiki. The two other Tendo sisters had stayed in the dojo but had remained mostly silent with frowns on their faces. Soun had been both relieved that things were seemingly settled and upset because he would have preferred to have her marry Ranma. He did not say anything in front of the Chiharis but Akane could tell that he was tense.
When she had walked into the dojo with Nabiki and Ranma earlier that day, her danger senses had started tingling and a sense of foreboding came over her. She just knew something idiotic was going to happen, and in her family, it was her that bore the brunt of the crazy going ons.
When she learned about the engagement, she had gone blank. It was like her mind had shut itself off to protect her from something she couldn't understand. She felt like she had watched everything happen through someone else's eyes. She was oddly removed from the entire situation. Part of her had wanted to rage at the injustice but that part was easily ignored. If she listened to that part, she knew that she would be flooded with emotions that she couldn't handle. She moved automatically and just went along with what people wanted her to do.
The worst part was that no one even seemed to notice her lack of participation. Like she wasn't even a real factor in her own engagement.
It was exactly what she was trying to do at the park the other day but this just came automatically. She wondered if it was some sort of delayed defense mechanism from all the chaos in her life.
It was easier to just feel nothing, but that was over now, she had to deal with the aftermath of her decisions. She stared at the ceiling above her, knowing Ranma would be up there. He had been very cold during dinner, not acknowledging anyone and only having stayed for one serving. She sighed and hoped the following conversation was going to go well.
After jumping onto the roof, Akane sat down next to Ranma, who did not acknowledge her. She sighed and thought, This is going to be harder than I thought.
"Ranma, are you okay?" When he didn't respond, she added, "Can we talk about it?"
"Why, Akane? Why? That's all I want to know. Why did you fight our engagement for so long and then just go along with this? Just tell me what it is. Do you like him? Is it because his family has money? I just don't understand," Ranma said through clenched teeth.
Even by the dim light given off by the moon, Akane could see the strain on his face, how his hands were clenched tightly, and she was surprised that he had not started screaming at her.
"He's nice and all but I don't like him, not that way. And I hope you would know that I don't care about the money. I agreed to go along with the engagement because he doesn't want to marry me."
Ranma looked over at her, shocked. "What?"
Akane began to tell him about the conversation she had earlier.
After coming into the main house, she had shown Sota into the family room.
"Please, have a seat."
"Thank you."
After sitting down across from each other, Akane said politely, "So, Sota, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, you don't seem to be very excited about the situation and I can't really blame you since you are already engaged to someone else. I was just hoping you would accept the engagement. See the thing is, I actually don't want to marry you."
While Akane was relieved to hear that, she was also confused.
"I'm sorry, I just don't understand. If you don't want to marry me, why do you want me to accept the engagement?"
"Because I need to buy some time. My parents don't know it, but I've been dating someone for over a year already. I was planning on asking her to marry me before my father told me about the engagement."
"Why haven't they met the girl you've been dating for over a year?"
"She's also a martial artist but her family has a different style, they practice Martial Arts Haberdashery."
"Isn't that a store that sells men's items?"
"Yes, technically that is the name of stores that sell men's items. Their family art is based off of that but they have expanded the store, and their martial arts to include women's accessories. They have a very popular line of handbags and shoes."
"Well, that's great, it seems like that would work out for you guys. The martial arts seem complimentary and you can combine the stores, right? She could easily adapt to your style and you can to hers."
Sota sighed. "Theoretically, yes. But her grandfather and my grandfather used to be friends and then had a falling out. Our families have been rivals for years. My dad...he can be really odd about some things."
Akane laughed for the first time since she came home. "Trust me, I know all about weird fathers."
"Yeah, I kinda had that feeling after I heard the details of how the engagement came about. So do you think you would be able to help me out?"
"For how long? And what happens if she says no to you, are we stuck with the engagement?"
"Only a little while, I promise. I will propose soon and if she says no, then I will talk to my parents about breaking the engagement. I'd do it now, but I don't want them to become suspicious to why I am so against it."
Akane thought it over and could only see one reason not to help Sota, but she hoped that reason would be understanding after she explained it to him. If this worked out, the engagement would be dispatched easily. Which was more than could be said of his extra fiancées.
"All right, I'll help you."
"Great, but can you keep this between us? I'm worried that the more people who know, the easier it will be for my parents to find out."
"Well, I can keep it from everyone but Ranma. He isn't going to be happy when we announce the engagement and I want to be able to explain it to him without having to lie to him."
"Yeah, he did seem a little protective of you."
Akane rolled her eyes at his understatement.
"That was it. He just wants to use me as a cover."
"So he doesn't want to marry you?"
"Not even a little bit."
A weight felt like it fell off Ranma's shoulders as a sense of relief filled him. With his history, he wasn't ready to believe things could be settled that easily but he felt much better knowing that Akane didn't have feelings for the older boy.
"So what else did you talk about? You were gone for quite a while."
"Nothing really, just working out what to tell his parents and he told me all the details of the agreement and how it came about." She paused and looked over to Ranma, glad to see that he no longer looked angry. "So, are you still mad?"
"Feh, I wasn't mad."
"Okay good, for a second there I thought you might have been jealous, but that'd just be silly, right?" She teased with a smile.
"Right, why would I be jealous of a pretty boy like that? He probably can't even fight. I bet even Kuno could kick his butt."
Ranma looked over to see her roll her eyes at him before sending him a small smile. They spent a few moments together enjoying the stars before Akane went to bed.
It had been a long day for the pig-tailed boy, but he was glad it had ended on a somewhat good note. It could have been so much worse. He really could have lost her. He wondered if Akane had been living with these same feelings for the last two years. Did she fear that he would just leave her for one of the other women in his life? He sighed at the thought. She probably had. He cursed himself at the thought of how much pain that would have caused her.
For a while this afternoon he had honestly thought that he had lost her and the pain had been almost unbearable. He had wondered if she saw something in Sota that he didn't have. That maybe she realized that she was too good for him and that she deserved better.
He tried not to think about it but he knew that he didn't bring much to their relationship. When they got married - because they would get married if he had anything to say about it - it would be her family home that they would live in and it would be her family dojo that they would work in. Even now, his family was dependent on her family for the roof over their heads. Despite how it may seem, he was grateful to the Tendos for their generosity, but he had no real way to repay them.
Ranma only had one thing that he could provide for Akane that no one else could; he could protect her. He was stronger and more skilled than any of her other suitors. He was the only one able to keep her safe from the dangers that they both found themselves in. He had almost failed once and he would not let that happen again.
"Tendo, you know what the solution to this whole problem is?" Genma asked, in a loud voice, pretending that he had just had an idea.
"No, Saotome, what would that be?" said Soun with exaggerated excitement.
"Why, Ranma and Akane must be married immediately!"
"Genius! Yes, that's it!"
The two fathers looked expectantly at their children who just glared back at them.
Both families had gathered for breakfast the next morning and they had barely begun to eat before the playacting began.
Kasumi, as usual, made no indication that she had even heard the two men. Nodoka had looked worried, but slightly hopeful. This actually would be the best solution to their problems but she had learned her lesson from the last wedding and did not want to push the two before they were ready. Nabiki rolled her eyes before she looked away, knowing some things would never change.
"No." Akane said firmly before turning to her food.
"No?" Soun said, "But Akane! We must unite the schools and you cannot be engaged to two men!"
"Oh, what, so only Ranma is allowed more than one engagement?" she retorted.
"Hey!" Ranma exclaimed indignantly.
Akane gave him a small shrug and a dismissive gesture with her hand.
"Boy! You're going to let that guy steal your fiancée? What kind of man are you? You didn't even challenge him for her hand!" Genma said, deciding it was time to join the fray.
"Pop! Why would I want to marry a..." Ranma stopped his automatic denial and looked at his fiancée, who was looking back at him expectantly, her eyebrow slightly raised. Clearing his throat, he said, "You heard Akane; no."
Five sets of eyes whipped over and looked at Ranma in surprise. Akane gave him a small smile and began to eat calmly.
"Whh-what do you mean, no?" Genma sputtered.
"Exactly what I said, no." Ranma replied as he too began to eat.
"B-b-but, the schools!" Soun exclaimed as he whipped his head back and forth to look at his daughter and her fiancé.
Akane looked over to her father and said firmly and a bit coldly, "Daddy, I am too young to be married, and will not be pushed into it because of a mistake you made years ago."
Soun looked at Genma, both completely lost as to what to do. Even though their children had always fought the engagement, they had never before done so as a united front. Without the possibility of bullying, tricking, bribing or cajoling at least one of them, there seemed to be little they could do to force a wedding.
Nodoka looked over at her son proudly, thinking that it took a real man to be able to support his fiancée while standing up to his father. It seemed that they were both finally growing up. Kasumi had shown her approval by smiling warmly at them both and refilling Ranma's bowl with twice as much rice as normal. Nabiki had just smirked at her sister and gave a small nod of her head to Ranma, giving him a toasting gesture with her tea cup.
Later that day, Ranma found himself at the Ono clinic. Akane was spending some time with Nabiki in her room. He had no idea what they were doing but when he walked by on his way out, he heard the middle sister laugh uproariously. It was strange hearing that sound coming from the normally stoic girl.
Ranma left the house and wandered around aimlessly, feeling restless. Normally, when Akane was busy he would stop by Ucchan's for a snack but that wasn't an option now; he still had not forgiven the chef and did not want to deal with her. His agitation from last night had not gone away, and despite Akane's reassurances, he did not trust Sota in the slightest. The guy had done nothing to earn his suspicion but it had been unheard of for a guy to not want to date his fiancée. However, there was nothing he could do about it.
Oh how he wished for something he could pound on. Instead, he was sweeping the clinic floor and helping Tofu clean up so he could take Kasumi on a date. She had told the family that she was meeting a friend for dinner, being purposefully vague.
Ranma had told the doctor about the new engagement and other than Tofu turning slightly pale at the news that Soun had offered up the other two sisters instead, Tofu had been pretty non-pulsed at the idea, telling Ranma it would work out.
It's an easy thing for him to say, Ranma thought viciously, it isn't his girlfriend engaged to another man.
Not that Akane was his girlfriend or anything! She was just his fiancée.
"Nabiki! It's not that funny!" Akane exclaimed in exasperation.
"Oh, but it is!" Nabiki said through her laughter.
Akane sent another glare at her sister before crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away with a 'hrmph.' She just told Nabiki about her pathetic attempts at flirting with Ranma and became completely indignant when her sister had started laughing loudly, tears forming in her eyes. So much for the sisterly understanding she was looking for!
"I give up, this is never going to work," Akane whined.
After calming down, the middle Tendo sister added in her usual cool tone, "Don't give up so easily, it's not like you. Your problem is that you've never had to try before."
"Huh?"
"You've had boys falling at your feet for so long that you haven't needed to try to get one of them to like you."
"Oh. Umm." Slightly embarrassed, Akane just shrugged her shoulder and said, "I guess."
Nabiki rolled her eyes at her sister's modesty. "You've got to stop trying so hard, try to let things come naturally to you. Encourage him when you think it feels right, not when you think you have to."
The blue-haired girl nodded but was still unsure of herself. Nabiki spent some time giving her more advice, this time demonstrating what she thought the petite martial artist should be doing.
Akane Tendo looked at her opponent with a little fear in her heart. With her sensei looking on, she wanted to do her best and make them both proud. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before getting into a battle stance. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked straight at her opponent.
This was going to be a piece of cake.
Or more correctly, some chocolate chip cookies.
"Okay, Akane, the first step is to gather all the ingredients and put them on the table."
"Yes, Aunty."
Akane didn't know if it was because of the visit from the Chiharis, but Nodoka seemed to have changed her tune about Akane's cooking lessons. Today was the first time she was allowed to try making something all by herself.
The petite martial artist ran around the kitchen gathering all of the ingredients and placing them on the counter in front of her. She looked up expectantly at Nodoka, who was not helping but was there to oversee her charge.
Nodoka looked over the ingredients before saying, "Very good. But this recipe calls for baking soda, not baking powder. It is an easy mistake to make but the two have very different results in recipes. And may I ask, why did you pull out the dumpling sauce?"
Akane looked down and realized that the bottle she thought was Vanilla Extract was actually a spicy dipping sauce for dumplings. She gave Nodoka a sheepish smile before replacing the two items.
"Now, measure all the ingredients before combining them."
Akane looked over the recipe and measured everything out, putting each item into their own little bowls. She was about to mix them together but Nodoka's words stopped her.
"Akane dear, can you taste a bit of the sugar and tell me what you think?"
Akane took out a teaspoon, dipped it slightly in the sugar before putting it into her mouth and immediately making a face.
"I guess I confused the sugar with the salt."
Nodoka watched as Akane tried to pour the salt back into the container through the small metal spout and tried not to laugh at the poor girl. She had gotten some salt back in - with a majority landing on the floor - before giving up and throwing the remainder in the trash. She then measured the correct amounts of sugar and salt.
"Now read the instructions and begin mixing the ingredients together."
Luckily, Akane had no more mishaps and soon had some very nice looking cookie dough in a large bowl. After she scooped out the cookie dough onto a baking sheet, she realized that some of the balls were bigger than others and hoped they would turn out okay. She put the cookies in the oven, set the timer, and wiped her hands together in satisfaction.
She had done it!
"Wonderful. Why don't you go clean up? I can pull the cookies out for you," Nodoka said, giving her a wide smile.
Akane looked down and realized that she had somehow gotten flour all over herself. Glancing around the kitchen, she was happy to see that it wasn't too messy.
"Let me clean up the kitchen really quick before putting in the next sheet of cookies. I really want to pull out the first batch myself."
When the timer rang, Akane pulled out the cookies and was happy to see that although the cookies weren't uniform in size, none of them were burnt. After putting in the second tray of cookie dough and setting the timer, she went upstairs and took a quick bath. When she came back down into the kitchen she froze at the sight in front of her.
Ranma was in the kitchen with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in front of him. The amazing thing was he was eating her cookies and smiling.
Ranma had just finished a workout and headed towards the kitchen, hoping that his mother or Kasumi had made a snack. He walked in to see his mother plating some cookies and snuck one from the tray. Before his mother could protest, he had already taken a big bite. He sighed as the flavors hit his tongue, his mother made the best cookies.
"Thanks, Mom," he said after swallowing the first bite.
Nodoka smiled at him indulgently before turning around to grab a small plate and a glass. She handed him the plate and then went to the refrigerator to pour him some milk and put it in front of him.
Ranma had just taken another bite of his cookie when he noticed Akane standing in the doorway. He drank some milk and swallowed before saying, "Hey 'kane, Mom made some chocolate chip cookies, you want some? They're still nice and warm!"
The pig-tailed boy had the cookie half way to his mouth when he stopped and stared at his fiancée. Ranma had never seen Akane with such a big smile on her face before. She looked happier than he had ever seen her. She was practically beaming and he couldn't help but stare.
He snapped out of his daze when she began to walk his way. She opened her arms for a hug and she was headed straight for him! He gulped as she came closer, the anticipation making his heart beat faster. He didn't know what he did to deserve it and he didn't care. She was going to hug him! She was a step away and he closed his eyes, eagerly awaiting the embrace.
He stood there for a moment before realizing that it was taking her an awfully long time to reach him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Akane wasn't headed for him but for his mother! He had been so distracted that he didn't notice his mother had moved to stand beside him. Disappointment washed through him and he grudgingly took a bite of his cookie, which picked his spirits up a bit. They were really good cookies.
"Thank you, Aunty!" Akane exclaimed in excitement.
"Nonsense, you were the one who made them."
"But I couldn't have done it without your help."
"Well, you did a wonderful job and I couldn't be prouder of you," Nodoka said smiling.
Akane stepped out of the hug and gave Nodoka another beaming smile as Ranma looked on confused. During their conversation he had finished his first cookie and had started another.
Turning to face him, Nodoka said, "Ranma, I didn't make the cookies, Akane did." She then turned to Akane and explained, "My son came into the kitchen and saw me arranging the cookies and assumed I made them."
Ranma looked at his mother, then at Akane, then at the cookie in his hand, then back at his fiancée, then back to the cookie before shrugging and looking back at her. He couldn't believe that Akane had baked these cookies. He was surprised that they were just as good as his mother's. However, he didn't think it wise to express his shock.
Instead he said, "Good job on the cookies, they're great."
Akane gave him another big smile and said 'thanks' before she reached over and grabbed one for herself, eager to see what they tasted like. She bit into it and it was indeed still warm. The cookies were sweet but not overly so, they had the nice chewy texture that she loved, and the chocolate chips were still slightly melted. They really were yummy, if she did say so herself.
Ranma watched as Akane took a bite of her cookie and he could see the happiness and excitement reach her eyes when she tasted it. She made a soft moaning sound as she closed her eyes and chewed on her cookie that made his breath hitch in his chest. He stared at her, mesmerized, as her tongue darted out to lick the crumbs from her mouth, his eyes locked on her plump lips. He noticed there was a tiny bit of chocolate still left on the corner of her mouth.
She looked back at him confused and he motioned to her mouth, and said quietly, "You've got some..." He then gestured towards his own mouth. Ranma watched as a light blush formed on her face and she looked down embarrassed. His eyes had locked on her mouth once more as her tongue darted out to lick the corner of her mouth. He was completely mesmerized by the sight.
She looked up at him through hooded eyes, still slightly embarrassed and said, "Thanks."
She worried her bottom lip for a second before deciding it was a good time as any to take her sister's advice.
She reached her right hand up and gently - Nabiki had emphasized that point repeatedly - cupped his face and ran her thumb along the bottom of his mouth. She saw his eyes widened and she removed her hand quickly before he could feel her shaking from nerves.
"You had some crumbs..."
She turned to her plate so he couldn't see her face as it grew red in embarrassment and grabbed a cookie and shoved it in her mouth, almost choking on the large bite she had taken. Ranma was still frozen, staring at her and remembering the feel of her thumb running across his mouth.
Nodoka had subtly put a plate and glass of milk in front of Akane and stepped back as she quietly watched the interaction between the two. She had never seen her son and his fiancée together like this. She could clearly see the love and longing his son had for the blue-haired girl, and unless she was wrong, she saw a similar look in Akane's eyes.
They were so lost in each other's presence that they seemed to have forgotten she was still in the room with them. She walked quietly to the kitchen doors and looked back. They made quite a lovely picture, the two of them huddled together over a plate of cookies, smiling at each other. They both looked happier than she had ever seen either of them. She was determined to help both of them rid themselves of their other engagements.
Nodoka's heart warmed and she assured herself that she had been right. Akane was the right woman for her son.
On Tuesday night, Mousse had surprised Ranma and Akane by coming over with a large order of take out; ten bowls of noodles, dumplings, meat buns, egg rolls, and sticky rice for dessert. It had seemed that he had called the house to prearrange the dinner as neither Kasumi nor Nodoka had been surprised by the visit. The women had placed the food on the table, with a bowl of noodles placed at each seat (two in front of both the male Saotome's usual spots) and the rest of the food in the center. When everything was set and everyone seated, the families enjoyed the wonderful meal.
Mousse had wanted to thank the family for their hospitality during his recovery, and although he didn't say it, he wanted to spend more time with people who enjoyed his company and vice versa. It still amazed Mousse that he could be so comfortable around the eccentric families. They all had such different personalities and quirks that instead of feeling like he fit in, he felt more like he didn't stick out with his own eccentricities. Especially since they seemed to accept him so easily.
After dinner he had asked Akane if she could meet him in the dojo. He was already working at Dr. Iguchi's office in the mornings to help pay off his surgery but he had yet to do anything for the youngest Tendo. He wanted to repay her for her kindness, but by Amazon law, he was not allowed to teach any outsiders secret techniques - that right was reserved only for the elders. However, he had found a loop hole he could exploit; he could teach her how to use weapons as long as he stuck to general principles.
Once they reached the dojo, the hidden weapons expert divested himself of his own personal arsenal, which took considerable time. He laid each one against the wall for Akane's perusal.
They quickly discovered that Akane had a natural affinity for blunt weapons and he decided to focus on teaching her how to quickly judge the weight and balance of a weapon. Since she never actually carried her own weapons, it was important that she be able to use any that she could get her hands on in battle.
They had finished their basic instructions when Mousse said, "So, if you end up with mace and chains, nunchucks, boomerangs, hula-hoops, or anything else that requires you to catch the item or it swings back to you in anyway, then just throw it at your opponent. Don't try to actually use it, all right? The last thing we need is to have you knock yourself out during a battle."
"I wasn't that bad with the nunchucks!" Akane said, exasperatedly.
"I disagree and the split lip you have should tell you I'm right."
"Fine!" Akane threw her hands up in the air before crossing her arms over her chest. When one weapons expert told her she was inept with certain weapons, she could possibly ignore it. But when two had the same separate assessment, she would be stupid to disregard it.
"If you can get a weapon from your opponent, then test it first if you can. Take a swing with it to test the weight so you can adjust your balance to the new weapon. In the meantime, practice with as many different weapons as possible, that way you can gauge a weapon's capability quickly. It'll also let you know the weaknesses in an opponent's weapon and how to divest them of said weapon during battle."
"Okay. Thank you for the lesson."
Akane had taken a seat with her back at the wall and placed her water bottle against her lip to help stop the swelling. She watched as Mousse put all his weapons back into his sleeves. It still amazed her how he could hide all those things on his person at any one time. She had one burning question she needed to ask him.
"Why do you fight the way you do, throwing all your weapons en mass like that? Wouldn't it be better to save some of them for later use?" She was confused when she saw a blush form on his face.
Clearing his throat, he said, "You are right of course, it would be better to keep some weapons for a long battle." When she looked at him expectantly for him to continue, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before adding, "Well...ummm...before I couldn't really see my opponent. They were a moving figure that I often confused with other objects, so I created the Hidden Weapons technique to compensate for my eye sight. My aim wasn't that great, so I targeted the general location of where I knew the opponent to be and hoped that one of the weapons would make contact."
Akane thought that was actually a pretty smart way to work around his previous disability and it explained why he didn't attack the way normal people would.
"Well, now that you can see, will you be adjusting your fighting style?"
"Yes, I have already begun to do that. I've been working on my aim and am pleased with the progress."
"Good." Akane gave him a big smile before asking, "I do have one other question, why do you use that porta-potty in your arsenal?"
"Oh, that. I use it as a distraction technique. Most people are so surprised it gives me a split second advantage."
"Yes, but during that split second you are stuck using something that makes no difference in a fight. Wouldn't it be better to save the space and pack smaller weapons? Konatsu has been teaching me how to use kunai and they would do more damage and take less space than the potty."
Mousse had finished packing away all his weapons and sat down across from Akane, Indian style. He thought over her suggestion and admitted that it had some merit, especially now that his eyesight had greatly improved.
"I will take that into consideration, thank you."
It had been a relatively quiet week and the only thing that Ranma could really complain about was that he saw Mousse more often than he would have liked. Mousse came by twice this week, the first time to deliver dinner and today to give Akane a gift.
The latter had Ranma up in arms, thinking that Mousse was trying to win her favor but he relaxed when he realized the gift was a weapon. When Akane had opened the package, she found what looked like a normal six inch club with a small leather strap on one end. Mousse had then demonstrated the uniqueness of the weapon by slipping his hand through the strap and holding the club in his palm. He brought his arm up then down in a quick swiping motion. To Ranma and Akane's surprise, the shaft extended, creating a two foot long baton. The entire thing was made out of metal and proved to be very strong. What was more surprising was that Mousse had designed and fashioned the club himself. They learned that he often made his own weapons at home.
Ranma began to bristle again as he watched Akane fawn over the device the way other women would fawn over diamonds. He didn't know about Amazon traditions and hoped this wasn't some form of courting ritual. When Akane ran to the dojo to try out her gift against some dummies, Ranma pulled Mousse aside.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled at Mousse.
"I'm going to go watch Akane try out her new baton," the Amazon said, confused. It seemed rather obvious what he was planning to do.
"Not that! What the hell are you doing giving Akane gifts?"
Mousse raised an eyebrow at the question and took a good look at Ranma. Saotome was agitated to be sure, his hands were balled into fists, his blue eyes were narrowed, and the vein on his forehead was throbbing. Mousse laughed at the turn of events; after all the time he had spent being jealous of Ranma, the tables had turned. He was sorely tempted to goad the pig-tail boy. It would be such a fitting retribution and would have been fun at the same time. However, he came over to give a gift to Akane, not cause her trouble.
Mousse cleared his throat and said, "I am merely giving Akane a gift as a token of my appreciation for all her help. I have no other designs on her."
Ranma glared at the other boy and realized that he was being sincere. He gave him a curt nod of understanding before heading off to the dojo but was stopped in his tracks by Mousse's next words.
"You know, green isn't really your color, Saotome. Instead of being worried about other men showing interest in your woman, why don't you focus on showing her your interest instead?" Mousse chuckled at Ranma's wide-eyed look as he headed towards the dojo.
The next afternoon, Ranma was in the family room, reading a manga. Akane had, once again, had plans for after school. She had told him that she was meeting Yuka and Sayuri for some 'girl time' - whatever that meant - but she had to first speak to one of their teachers about a project. He was glad that she had kept her promise and told him exactly where she would be, even if he knew she didn't want to. She would be home for dinner and until then, he was bored. She had been so busy lately that Ranma had really begun to miss the time they spent together.
The phone started ringing, which he studiously ignored. No one ever called for him. If someone wanted to talk to him, they usually just came to the house unannounced, rarely even using the front door.
He vaguely heard Kasumi answer the phone but she caught his attention when her voice became high and worried.
"What do you mean someone took her?"
At her words, Ranma ran over to Kasumi to see her visibly shaken, "Kasumi, what's wrong?"
"It's Sayuri, she said someone's taken Akane!"
"What?!" Ranma quickly grabbed the phone from Kasumi and frantically asked, "Sayuri, what happened?!"
"Ranma, is that you?"
"Yes, what happened?"
"We-we were walking down the street to meet Akane. She was a block away from us when a car pulled up and someone opened the door. Suddenly they grabbed Akane by the arms and pulled her in! And then...then they just drove off!"
Ranma felt the fear welling inside of him and he viciously pushed it down. This was not the time to panic. He needed to find her and fast.
"Where are you?"
"We found the nearest pay phone and called you as soon as we could."
"Where was she taken?"
"Right in front of the Neko Hanten."
A/N: There was some concern with how Akane reacted to the engagement but I hope that I explained it well. There has to be some fallout from all the things she has gone through.
I always thought Mousse fight style was strange and this was the only possible explanation for it.
Huge thanks to alwaysZutarian who told me (in the nicest way possible) that my first draft was slightly disappointing and needed some work. It works so much better now. Also, thanks to PepperonyOwl for her comments and taking the time to read this on her phone.
Original Publication Date: September 7, 2014
Revised: May 22, 2015