Arc III: Engagements
Chapter: Goodbye
It was his fault.
All his fucking fault.
After Jusendo, he had known exactly how far Shampoo was willing to go to get what she wanted. He wouldn't forget the malicious look in the Amazon's eyes while she held a dehydrated Akane in her hands and threatened to kill her. Then after the lengths Ranma had gone through to save his fiancée, Shampoo had thrown bombs at her at the wedding.
And what had he done about it?
Nothing.
He hadn't done a damn thing and now they had taken her! If Shampoo or Cologne had done something to Akane, he would never forgive himself.
Ranma ran full out towards the Neko Hanten when Sayuri had told him that Akane had been taken from their front door. His anger grew with each step, until the ball of rage festered in his chest.
If they did anything to her, they would only live long enough to regret it, Ranma thought viciously.
Soon, Ranma burst through the doors of the restaurant and stood in a slightly defensive position as he scanned the restaurant. It seemed that they were still setting up for the dinner rush as Shampoo was setting the tables and the restaurant was empty.
She looked up in surprise at the sudden intrusion and her eyes narrowed at the sight of her airen. Normally, she would have loved a visit from Ranma but she was still angry at the incident with the egg tarts.
After she had run off, Happosai had started to chase after her and was surprisingly fast for an old pervert. He had been gaining on her and she knew that she couldn't take the Grand Master on her own. With very few options, she had ran towards the canal and jumped in, turning instantly into her feline form.
What was worse was she had to spend two days as a cat to wait for the potion to wear off. Happosai had been persistent in stalking the restaurant and even her great-grandmother had been unable to get rid of him. Not that she tried that hard. She had cackled when she found out about the failed plan and told Shampoo that she would just have to hide out until the potion was out of the old coot's system.
If things had gone her way, Shampoo would have spent those two days in a much more favorable way. As it was, she was still angry at Ranma for giving away those tarts and completely ignored the fact that it was her fault she had been stuck in such an embarrassing position.
However, she knew that if she wanted to win Ranma, she would have to play to his ego and wait to make him pay for his part in the debacle.
Putting on a seductive smile, she sashayed towards him and said, "Ranma, you come take Shampoo date now?"
The pig-tailed boy looked directly at her and narrowed his eyes as he growled out, "Where is Akane?"
Shampoo bristled at the mention of her rival. "No know where Pervert Girl is. No matter, we go out, yes?"
"Dammit, Shampoo! I know she was taken from here. Tell me where she is!"
Suddenly, the Amazon thought of a brilliant idea to finally get some time alone with her airen.
"Fine. You take me on date and I tell you where kitchen wrecker at," she said slyly.
Having been solely focused on herself and her own anger, she didn't notice the state of agitation Ranma was in and completely missed the warning signs that this was not a time to mess with the pig-tailed boy.
Ranma narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw tight. He knew it! It was their fault and if they hurt Akane in anyway, they would pay. With an angry growl, he grabbed Shampoo by the arms, and before she could blink, he drew her up until she was eye level to him. He was gripping her so hard that she winced at the pain. It was then that Shampoo finally took a good look at Ranma. Her eyes widened at the sight. Ranma's battle aura had turned black, and for once in her life, Shampoo became a little frightened.
"Don't FUCK with me, where is she?!" he snarled furiously as he shook her.
"Son-in-law, what is the meaning of this?" Cologne called out sternly from the entry of the kitchen.
She had come to the main dining area as soon as Ranma stormed into the restaurant, sensing his dangerous battle aura, and came out to investigate. She had watched their entire interaction and only interrupted when she realized that her great granddaughter was in danger.
"Shampoo has taken Akane and I want her back!" Ranma spat out, not letting go of the female warrior. In his anger, his grip tightened around her arms, causing her to wince.
"She has done no such thing. She has been here with me all afternoon."
"Then why did she say she would give her back?"
Cologne sighed, "My granddaughter just wanted to use this as an opportunity to get herself a date. Isn't that right, child?"
"Yes. I no know where she is," Shampoo said nervously.
"Then who could've taken Akane?" Ranma growled. "She was kidnapped right in front of your door!"
"Shampoo does not have Akane and I swear to you that we were not involved," Cologne said firmly.
She had no idea that the blue-haired girl was even missing and had no clue who would have wanted to do her harm. The Elder Amazon just hoped the girl was safe. While Akane was a rival for Shampoo, Cologne had no ill will towards her. She even liked her a little bit, despite having previously used her as bait. With her natural talent and spunk, she would have made a good Amazon, which was high praise indeed.
Ranma glared at the elder for a long moment but did not sense any deception. Looking back at Shampoo, he let go of her quickly, as if she was contagious, and took a step away.
"Where is Mousse?"
"Stupid blind duck go out sweep doorway, no come back," Shampoo scoffed, trying to regain her composure. Amazons were not to show fear.
"I told you, we were not involved. Mousse had no hand in this."
Ranma was confident of that. After spending time with the Tendos, he was sure Mousse would not harm Akane, but he was hoping to find the male amazon so he could get some help in finding his missing fiancée.
Now that he found out that the Amazons had nothing to do with the kidnapping, he was starting to feel desperate again. He needed to find her before anything happened to her. He turned around to leave but was stopped by a tug of his arm. He turned back around to see Shampoo holding his left arm with a determined look on her face.
"No! You no leave! You stay with Shampoo and leave stupid pervert girl..."
Whatever Shampoo was about to say, Ranma would never know because suddenly she was sprawled on the floor, clutching her cheek, her eyes wide as she looked at him in fear and shock.
Ranma looked down at his right hand, slightly confused as to what happened.
He had slapped her across the face.
He reacted so instinctually that he was a little surprised by his reaction. He had just felt such rage that she would speak about Akane like that that he lashed out. She had said degrading things about Akane before and he had always brushed it aside.
But not this time.
Not when he was already furious at Shampoo and sick with worry over Akane. And when he needed to be out searching for his fiancée, the Amazon warrior was just wasting his valuable time making up lies and now trying to stop him from leaving.
He felt absolutely no guilt over the act.
He looked back at her with cold blue eyes. "Don't touch me again." He turned to walk away but stopped and added threateningly, "If I find out you had something to do with this, I will hunt you down and I will give you my own kiss of death."
He walked out without looking back.
There was a small part of Ranma that doubted Cologne's honesty but he didn't want to waste valuable time getting into a fight with the Amazons. He needed to find Akane fast and any further confrontations with them would have only wasted more time.
With no other leads, he headed over to Ucchan's to see if she had seen or heard anything. He didn't for a minute think she had anything to do with the kidnapping but maybe he would get lucky and she would know something.
He had still not seen Ukyo since that disastrous "date," having still been upset at her comments. But this was no time for hurt feelings or whatever awkwardness there may be between them. Akane was in danger and that took priority over everything else.
Unlike the Neko Hanten, Ukyo did a bulk of her business with the after school crowd hoping to get a quick snack before headed home or to their various activities. When he walked in, the restaurant was crowded and Ukyo was already busy at her grill, preparing okonomiyakis. She looked up to greet the new arrival and smiled when she saw it was her Ran-chan. She hadn't seen him since their disastrous date and was glad he finally got over his snit and came in for a snack. She knew he couldn't resist her cooking.
"Hiya, Ranchan! Why don't you…?"
"Do you know where Akane is?" Ranma gruffly interrupted.
The smile dropped from the chef's face as she narrowed her eyes. Why the hell was he asking her about the blue-haired girl?
With a roll of her eyes, she said, "Why would I have any idea where she is? Now, if you're gonna eat, sit down..."
"Where's Konatsu?"
Her temper flaring, she said, "First, you ask about her, then you ask about him. What the hell did you come in here for, Sugar? Do I look like an information booth?"
"Damn it, Ukyo! Where the hell is he?!" Ranma screamed.
The restaurant went silent at the outburst as the okonomiyaki chef and the patrons looked at him in concern. Most of the customers were students at Furinkan and were used to Ranma's antics but they had never seen him in this state. The normally jovial martial artist was uncharacteristically furious.
Ukyo, being the only trained martial artist in the room besides Ranma, saw his battle aura as he stood in the doorway of the small restaurant. She gulped at the sight of him.
This was not her Ran-chan. Her Ran-chan was easy going and fun, even when he was stressed out. This man in front of her looked dangerous and capable of doing some real damage in his current state.
The chef cleared her throat nervously and said, "I-I don't know where he is. I sent him to hand out some fliers and he hasn't come back yet."
Ranma growled in frustration and walked out, not noticing all the stares he got from his classmates.
The only other piece of information that Sayuri had given him was the general direction that the car had traveled. He ran down the street but with no idea where to look, he felt lost. There were no signs of Akane and he didn't even know what to look for. There was nothing in this general direction but shops and he had hit another residential area before he decided to check the park.
The panic was welling up inside of him. All the other times Akane had been kidnapped, he had at least found some sort of clue as to who had taken her or her whereabouts. But this time he was completely lost. He didn't even know what kind of car was used to take Akane. He had left so quickly after hearing about the Amazons that he didn't even bother to listen to anything else Sayuri had to say.
After searching the park, Ranma was at a loss as to what to do. His heart was thumping in his chest and his palms were sweating. He was wasting so much time running around in circles! Maybe he had been too naive in believing the Amazons. Maybe Ukyo did know more than she let on. He was getting desperate and he punched a large rock near the kids' playground, smashing in into small bits.
That had made him feel slightly better.
He decided to head home in hopes that Akane had somehow freed herself and was there. If nothing else, he could get any details he missed from Kasumi or call Sayuri to see what else he might be able to find out.
He was making his way quickly towards the Tendo compound when he noticed a quartet of very well dressed individuals walking towards him. He paid them no mind until the lone female smiled at something one of her comrades said and he stopped dead in his tracks.
He would recognize that smile anywhere.
He rushed forward and grabbed her tightly into his arms as his body trembled in relief.
She was there. She was fine.
"Ranma...can't...breathe..." Akane gasped out.
Ranma quickly let her go and took a step back and took perusal of her. She looked fine. Better than fine actually. She was wearing a blue shift dress with an asymmetrical cut at the neck with a pair of black pointy toe kitten heels and carrying a matching handbag that he had never seen before. Other than the fact that she was breathing heavily, she seemed to be in perfect health.
"Where were you?! What the hell happened?! Sayuri called and said you had been kidnapped."
"Oh, I totally forgot about Sayuri and Yuka! I hope they aren't too worried," Akane said, her brows furrowed.
Closing his eyes, the pig-tailed boy took a deep breath. She was definitely fine if she was more worried about her friends than herself.
"Focus, Akane! What the hell happened?!"
His fiancée shook her head and gave him a smile, waving her hand dismissively. "I was kidnapped, but it was a misunderstanding."
Ranma sputtered at that. "A misunderstanding? How the hell can a kidnapping be a misunderstanding?"
"Well, you see, Mrs. Chihari told her husband that she wanted to see me immediately and that he was not to take 'no' for an answer. In his...eagerness to please her, Mr. Chihari got a little...overzealous in...retrieving me," Akane said, carefully choosing her words so she would not anger her fiancé. He was always so touchy when it came to things like this.
"Damn it! I knew they couldn't be trusted! What the hell did Sota want with you? He didn't touch you, did he?" he growled out through clenched teeth. If he so much as touched a hair on her head, Ranma planned to break that pretty boy's hands.
"No," Akane quickly reassured him, "I told you, his mother wanted to talk to me. Sota had nothing to do with this."
"That's right, we heard all about it. Mrs. Chihari was very apologetic for her husband's behavior and her son was embarrassed to say the least. I'm afraid that Mr. Chihari will be in the dog house for a while."
Ranma looked around to see who was talking to him. He had been so focused on Akane that he completely forgot that she had been walking with three other people. He had recognized the voice but the kunoichi he had been expecting to see was not there. Instead, standing in front of him was a rather dandy-looking male in a charcoal three piece suit, white dress shirt, wide knotted stripped tie with a matching pocket square, top hat and cane, hair pulled into a low ponytail.
Ranma moved away from Akane and put his face directly in front of the other man's, taking a good look at his features and then stepping back to run his eyes over the his attire. He bent over and poked the man slightly on his face with his forefinger.
"Konatsu?"
The man in question gave him a wide smile and waved his right hand at him frantically back and forth, saying, "Hiya, Ranma!" He then gave Ranma a flirtatious wink and blew him a kiss.
Yup, that's Konatsu alright, Ranma thought. He then looked over to see who else was there.
On the other side of Akane was Taro, also in new clothes. He was wearing some dark-wash jeans, a black leather motorcycle jacket with a dark blue dress shirt underneath, black boots and silver aviators perched on his nose. Next to him was Mousse wearing a dark blue suit, a black dress shirt with mandarin style collar underneath, with black dress shoes and a knee length black wool coat. The only thing about him that hadn't changed was his hairstyle.
"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on? How come you three are with her?"
"Well, you see, I was delivering flyers near the Neko Hanten when I saw Akane being pulled into a car!" Konatsu began, waving his arms wildly as he spoke.
"I was walking towards the dojo on the way to see Nabiki when it happened," Taro added in a bored tone.
"And I was out sweeping the sidewalk in preparations for the dinner rush. I looked up just in time to see the car stop and Akane dragged inside. The car took off before I could do anything but I dropped my broom and started running after it when suddenly I was joined by these two," Mousse added calmly.
"We chased after them but the car was going too fast! I had to rip off my kimono during the chase so I could keep up."
"I told them I was going to change into my Chimera form to follow the car from the air."
"But I thought it was a bad idea. His form is too easily detected. I thought it better to follow them in my cursed form since no one looks twice at a flying duck."
"I agreed with him. Not knowing who the culprit was, I thought we needed the element of surprise."
"So I splashed duck boy with my water bottle and he flew off after the car."
"I made sure to keep the car in my vision while also allowing these two to follow me."
"We had only gone a few miles when we found Mousse circling outside an empty store that I have been dying to see open! That chain makes the cutest little dresses!"
"When we reached the store, Donald here was waiting for us near the alley and I splashed him with my thermos."
"When I got there, they had already gone inside and I had no information on Akane's well-being. So I circled the building trying to look inside but I couldn't see anything."
"We quickly made a game plan and decided to sneak into the building. Oh, it was so exciting!"
"We followed the Princess of Power over here inside and quickly found Akane with a group of people we had never seen before."
"I took out my lasso and had it wrapped around Akane, pulling her back towards us, as the other two moved forward to fight the group off."
Ranma listened and watched with rapt attention. He felt like the three men were talking with some sort of script as they had been talking in sequence going from Konatsu to Taro to Mousse and back again in a sort of perfect harmony. Somehow this unlikely trio had managed to pull off Akane's rescue without his help and bonded at the same time.
"It was quiet jarring to be pulled back and suddenly surrounded. The Chiharis had acted quickly, thinking I was being attacked and they had all taken defensive positions. Luckily, they had been surprised and took a split second to respond, or they wouldn't have heard me scream at everyone to stop. They all just stared at me while I tried to explain what was happening. I can only imagine what would have happened if everyone got into a fight," Akane added.
She had been listening to the story just as attentively as Ranma. Her three friends had just begun to tell her the story when Ranma had pulled her into the bone crushing hug. While the hug itself was nice – being held by her fiancé always felt good – she did feel badly that he had been worried about her.
"As it was, Mr. Chihari was the only one to get hurt from the incident. After Akane had told everyone that the confusion was caused by him abducting her, Mrs. Chihari had slapped him on the back of his head and Sota then punched him in the arm, sending him flying across the room, and yelling at him for his stupidity," Konatsu added with a giggle. "It was amazing! We totally worked together like a well-oiled machine!"
Konatsu had pursed his lips together and moved his arms exaggeratedly in some karate chopping motions before he moved down so that he rested his weight on his back right leg, his left leg extended in front of him, his right arm at a right angle over his head and his left arm extended over his left leg. His back was now facing the group.
Mousse then walked towards Konatsu and balanced himself on one foot, the other brought up at a right angle with his foot tucked beneath him. His arms were raised wide and up over his shoulders his wrists angled down and his hands imitating claws. His back towards Konatsu's back.
Taro rolled his eyes at the other two's antics before he walked over to the pair and stood in the empty middle spot. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, keeping his legs shoulder distance apart.
A car drove by right then, illuminating the trio from behind so all that Ranma could see was the outline of their forms.
Akane giggled at the sight. Unlike Ranma, she was in a great mood. While her day was definitely strange, it had turned out to be rather fun. When Mr. Chihari pulled his car over to say hello to her, she was pleased to see him and greeted him warmly. Even after he had pulled her into the car, she had been only slightly annoyed, thinking she would be late to meet her friends. When Mr. Chihari had explained the situation and insisted she come with him, she relented. It had just seemed so important to the poor man. She promised herself that she would make it up to her friends for standing them up and she hadn't for a moment thought that people would think she had been abducted.
Ranma just rolled his eyes at the trio and thought, At least someone enjoyed themselves today.
"You guys done? Can we get back on topic now? Why did Mrs. Chihari want to see you so desperately anyway?" Ranma asked as he turned to look at his fiancée.
Akane's eyes widened in excitement. "Oh! Sota finally asked his girlfriend to marry him, and Tatsuki - that's her name - said yes! He told his parents today and explained everything to them. The Chihari's were very understanding about it. When Sota told them about our agreement, Mrs. Chihari wanted to talk to me and apologize for any problems she may have caused. I even got to meet Tatsuki, who is very nice. Mrs. Chihari then asked me if I would still like to have that shopping day with her and Tatsuki. She even asked if your mother would join us. I think she wants to make up for their first meeting."
"And they invited me too!" Konatsu said, bouncing up and down, clapping his hands together, and added, "It's going to be a total girls' day! I just can't wait."
"They were very apologetic over the entire thing and tried to make it up to us. They outfitted us with all these new clothes using Martial Arts Tailoring, even adding personal touches to everything. My coat has easy hooks for all my weapons on the inside and easy to remove straps for the items in my sleeve," Mousse added. To emphasize his point he opened his jacket wide and Ranma was surprised to see that every inch of the jacket was completely lined with different weapons. He couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of the design.
"Yeah, they were cool about it. My jacket has pockets for my water bottle and my thermos, both are insulated to keep the water temperature cold and hot for longer periods," Taro said, pulling out both a water bottle and thermos from the inside of his leather coat.
"My jacket has built in lining too but the best part is this!" Konatsu put his bag down and pulled out a purple dress. He draped the top part over his arms and poked them gently, "Look, built in Pepper Breast Bomb slots!"
Akane piped in next, "My new dress has a hidden band of ninja stars". She brought her hands to the center of her dress and pulled on the center to reveal a band lined with stars. "They even modified my school uniform so that I have the same hidden band and pockets to hold the baton that Mousse made me and some kunai."
Everyone seemed just so freaking happy which only pissed Ranma off.
"So what? We are just going to forget what happened? You are just going to forgive them? They kidnapped you, Akane!"
Behind Akane, Mousse and Taro eyed each other.
"What kind of sick bastard kidnaps someone?"
The pair sweat-dropped.
"I mean, it takes a real sociopath just to take someone off the street like that!"
The duo hunched over, black waves of misery wafting off of them.
Konatsu stood next to them, smiling innocently. Akane had been kidnapped when they first met, but unlike the other two, he was not involved in the process.
Akane cleared her throat, "It was an honest mistake. There's nothing to forgive, there was no harm done."
"Yeah, they didn't seem so bad," Taro chimed in.
"Forgive and forget is what I say," Mousse added.
Ranma rolled his eyes and glared at the two.
At that point Taro decided it was best if he left. "Alright, I'm already late meeting Nabiki. She may be mad but I'm sure she will appreciate my new threads. And once I tell her how I heroically tried to save her sister, I'm sure she'll be very appreciative." He wiggled his eyebrows in a lascivious way at Akane before taking off, a huge grin on his face.
"Yes, I must be going too. The dinner rush should have started by now." Mousse gave them a short bow before walking off in the other direction.
"Oh yes! I'm sure that Miss Ukyo will need my help too! Ta!" Konatsu said, wiggling his fingers at them as he rushed to join Mousse.
Still smiling, Akane looked over to see Ranma still glaring and her smile faltered.
"You're not still upset are you? I mean, I'm fine. Nothing happened."
Yes, Ranma was definitely still upset. Now that the danger was over and she was safe, he felt...useless. He had done absolutely nothing to save her. It did not matter that she never needed saving, he should have been there to find her. It should have been him at the store rescuing her. He should have been there to confront the Chiharis. But he had done nothing. He had just been spinning his wheels, wasting his time with the Amazons and Ukyo while Taro, Konatsu, and Mousse had been there for her.
She was his responsibility. She was his to protect. She was HIS, period.
He had never felt so impotent before and he didn't like it.
"I-I wasn't...there...I should've been..." he sputtered, frustrated.
Akane, wanting to comfort him, said, "It's okay, I didn't need you to save me, I was never in danger."
Unfortunately, selective hearing wasn't just a trait only Akane suffered from and all Ranma heard was, "I didn't need you."
He stiffened. His world seemed to spin around him as the words repeated in his head over and over again, as if they were neon signs flying around his head.
She doesn't need me, Ranma thought grimly.
Akane stared at Ranma, her concern growing. She couldn't understand why he was so upset. It was a good thing that she hadn't been in danger, right?
She walked slowly to him and put her hand on his arm, "Ranma, are you okay?"
Ranma looked up at her and she could see the confusion on his face. He said slowly, enunciating each word, "You don't need me."
Slowly, it dawned on her that he was hurt. It made sense that Ranma, who had always been at the center of all the activity in their lives, would have felt left out at not being part of her "rescue," as it were. It made it worse that she had been "saved" by someone other than him.
She took a deep breath and chose her words carefully, saying, "I don't need you. I never needed you."
Ranma felt sharp pains in his chest at her comment, almost like she were stabbing him with each word.
"The truth is, I was fine before you came here and if..." Akane closed her eyes as the next words would hurt her too. "If you left today or tomorrow, I would still be fine."
Ranma's breath became ragged. He couldn't understand why she was saying these things. Why she would just dismiss him like that. He stared at her until she brought her gaze up to lock eyes with him.
"But...My life is better with you here. Wouldn't you rather than I want..." Her face growing red she looked down at her hands as she began to ring them in nervousness. "Isn't it better that I...like having you around? Instead of only wanting you here because I need you to protect me?" she said softly.
Ranma's expression softened as he looked at her. He could tell how nervous and embarrassed she was at making such a declaration. Hell, he felt nervous just listening to it. He knew just how hard it was for her - for both of them - to admit to anything involving their emotions. His heart warmed at her admission. He was almost giddy by what she said. It was a little overwhelming actually, like an emotional whiplash going from one extreme to another.
Of course she was right. One of the things that was unique about Akane was she liked him for him. Not as some prize, property, or something to win. She saw him as a person who was more than just his martial arts skill or good looks. She, more than any of the other girls, knew all his faults but still liked having him around. She didn't need him to fulfill some engagement contract to restore her honor or to fulfill some self-imposed Amazon laws. Akane wanted him...sort of.
He didn't know what to say, though. He had never been good with words and when his emotions were jumbled up inside wasn't the time when he was suddenly going to figure it out. Suddenly, he became nervous himself and he looked at his shoes, rubbing the back of his neck.
Clearing his throat he said, "Yeah that's..." Perfect. Wonderful. Everything I ever hoped for.
"...good."
He winced at his completely inadequate choice of words. If it were possible to dope slap himself, he would have.
Not that Akane cared. She had finally been able to admit how much she liked having him there…kind of. And he admitted that he liked the idea…sort of. While it wouldn't be much to most people, it meant the world to her and she felt all warm inside.
They stood there a second longer before Akane looked up and said, "Let's go home."
Turning and walking a few steps forward, Ranma asked curiously, "'kane?"
The blue-haired girl paused, wondering if he had something else he wanted to say. "Yes, Ranma?" she asked.
"Um, what's a chimera?"
Once more, Ranma found himself on the roof above Akane's room. At this point, he was wondering if there was a way to make a bed, or maybe a tiny fort out there so he could be more comfortable. As it was, he had brought his sleeping bag and a pillow out with him.
When they finally returned home, they had been greeted by a nervous family, full of crying (Soun), fussing (Nodoka), hand wringing (Kasumi), and yelling (Genma). It had taken them a while to calm everyone down and tell their story. Taro had come by to tell them that Akane was fine but until they saw her with their own eyes, no one was able to relax except for Nabiki, who quickly left the house for her date.
Once the rest of the family learned that the engagement with the Chiharis had been officially resolved, they broke out into cheer. The fathers brought out there ever faithful victory flags and danced around the room. Nodoka had hugged them both and felt sheepish when she learned what Akane had planned, thinking she should have had more faith in her future daughter-in-law. Her already high-opinion of the girl increased at how she handled the problem with such ease. Kasumi was so pleased she rushed to the kitchen to prepare an even larger meal than normal.
By the time dinner came around, things had returned to normal, giving Ranma some time to think about the day. He realized quickly that Akane was still in danger. His actions that afternoon had made her a direct target for the Amazons. He had declared Akane the true obstacle in the Amazons' desire to take him to China, and everyone knew what Amazons did to obstacles. Even if they had known where his loyalties lied before today, his behavior would have been like waving a red cape at a bull.
He sighed, thinking he could have handled the situation better but he still had no regrets. His confrontation with the Amazons had been coming on for a while and he was a little relieved that his "engagement" to Shampoo would finally be addressed. He still felt no guilt in slapping her.
The idea of hitting a girl still turned his stomach but he had enough of her crap. With everything she had put him through - put them through - he was done feeling sorry for her. He knew full well that he was responsible for a lot of the problems he had with Akane but Shampoo had made the situation worse by always putting him in compromising positions. He had done nothing about it before – and winced when he thought of his idiotic reactions to the reversal jewel – but that ended now.
He didn't think they would be stupid enough to make a move on Akane tonight, but he wasn't willing to risk it. One near heart attack in a day was enough for him. So he had decided to sleep on the roof that night. He'd done it before - albeit against his will - and was much more comfortable this time. It also gave him some time to formulate exactly what he wanted to say, for this was one time he had to make his intentions crystal clear.
Right after breakfast the next morning, Ranma snuck out of the house while Akane was helping Kasumi with the dishes. He didn't want to tell her what he was planning to do, knowing that she would want to go with him. Which, in his mind, was the worst thing she could do. He didn't need her presence to flame the fires, and when Shampoo and Akane were around each other, a combustion was almost always guaranteed.
To assuage his guilt - and keep his promise to Akane - he had told his mother where he was headed, but did not tell her his plans. She had frowned at him but had not verbalized any of her displeasure.
It was still fairly early and he was sure he would make it to the restaurant before they began to prep for the lunch rush. While he was determined to go through with it, he began to feel more nervous with each step. Part of him wanted to back out and not have to deal with them and he was ashamed of it. Ranma Saotome was no coward.
But the larger part of him was sick of it all. He didn't want to deal with their scheming and manipulations anymore. He steeled himself as he opened the door to the Neko Hanten. Sitting at one of the tables was Cologne, sipping on a cup of tea.
At the sound of the door opening, Cologne looked up to see Ranma standing at the door. She had been watching Ranma for almost two years now and she had never seen him as angry as and on the verge of losing control as he was the previous night. Not even when she had temporarily taken his manhood away from him. She was glad that he seemed calmer and was surprised at his visit. She thought that he would be avoiding them for a while, but seeing him standing there so early in the morning was not a good sign.
"Son-in-law, what a surprise. Have you come to marry my great granddaughter?" she said in her crackly voice. She knew this standard greeting always annoyed him, but she didn't want to let on that she knew anything was wrong.
Ranma wanted to growl at the greeting, but for once, recognized her need to bait him. There was no way she would just brush aside his treatment of Shampoo yesterday. Ignoring her taunt, he said, "Cologne, we need to talk." Ranma walked over and sat down directly across from her, twining his fingers together and putting them on the top of the table as he looked directly at her. "I'm never going to marry Shampoo. I'm never going back to China with you. It's over," he said bluntly.
There. He'd done it.
Cologne cackled, surprised that Ranma was finally able to express himself so clearly. But that didn't mean she had to give up.
"By law you belong to Shampoo."
"I don't belong to anyone, least of all her. Hell, I barely like her, there is no way I'd marry her."
"THAT NOT TRUE! You want Shampoo! I see it with my eyes!" came a shrill cry that made Cologne and Ranma turn towards the entryway of the kitchen.
Shampoo had also heard the door open from the kitchen where she was beginning to prepare the broth for the day. She walked towards the entrance and stopped when she saw Ranma and had hid behind the parting door to spy on the pair at the table.
Normally, she would have run out to give him a big affectionate kiss, but today was different. For the first time since she had met his male side, she did not want to see him. She had spent all day yesterday feeling uncertain and she didn't like it.
She had been absolutely stunned when he had slapped her across the face. It wasn't a punch or a kick, he didn't even use his fists. He used his open palm and struck her as if she were some meek Japanese woman. It was so humiliating to be treated like that. She was an Amazon warrior. And you did not treat warriors like that.
After getting over her shock, she had become angry. Angry that he dared treat her like that! Angry that he was still rejecting her. Angry that she was stuck in this stupid country. Angry that she could not go home with her prize.
But a part of her had become frightened of him. She had seen him angry before but she had never been on the receiving end of his anger like that. Even before she came to Japan, Ranma could beat her in a fight. But after all the training he received since then, she knew she was no competition for him. She was sure that he could even beat great grandmother if he wanted to; there was no way even she could beat a god.
So when Ranma came in, she stayed in the back, worried about how he would react to her. Another part of her still held out hope that he had come to declare his love for her, she always had that spark of hope in her whenever he came into the restaurant. But what she got was completely the opposite.
Ranma looked directly into Shampoo's eyes. He let the anger and the frustration he'd been feeling since the failed wedding spur him on.
"Yes, you're hot. I get turned on when a completely naked woman throws herself at me," he admitted with a shrug, showing it didn't matter to him. "But even if the sprinklers hadn't gone off that night, I would never have had sex with you. I will admit that when you first saw me as a guy I was tempted by your looks but after getting to know you, I wouldn't have sex with you if my life depended on it. While you are physically attractive, you disgust me."
Shampoo reared back, his words were as effective a slap as the one he gave her yesterday. Ranma, for once, pushed down any sympathy for the girl by bringing up the image of her with a malicious look on her face holding a dehydrated Akane in her hand.
"Did you think that I would ever forgive you for threatening to kill Akane when she was defenseless? That you kept her cure from me for your own selfish reasons? That after I saved her you showed up at her home and threw bombs at her?!" he spat out in rage.
"I...I under Kiima's control. Not my fault!" Shampoo said, trying to defend herself, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
"Don't fucking lie to me! Kiima wanted you to kill me, she didn't want you to use Akane so you could 'make memories' with me. That was all you! You've been wanting to kill Akane since you met her and I don't even want to think about all the times you may have tried!"
Shampoo shrunk back in fear as she watched his battle aura flare and begin to darken. His hands were fisted and his furious gaze never left hers.
"Ranma, she will be punished if she returns home without you. She has now failed in her attempt to kill you when she thought you were a girl and to secure you as a husband. Her punishment will be sever; she could even be put to death," Cologne said, trying to play to his sense of guilt.
Ranma watched as Shampoo paled and she began to shake. He didn't want her to die but he wasn't going to live the rest of his life married to her to prevent it. Turning his head, he looked at Cologne with disgust.
"Whose fault is that? I beat her as a girl in a tournament and she gave me the kiss of death. If she wasn't so fucking petty she would have accepted her defeat and let it go. But no, she chased me to Japan to enact her revenge. Then when she showed up here, I kicked the chui out of her hand and it accidentally knocked her out, and she gave me the kiss of marriage. If you want to blame someone, blame her lack of impulse control!" Ranma yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Shampoo. "And it's your Amazon laws that would force her to be killed over something so stupid! So if you don't like it, blame your tribe, not me."
Cologne looked at Ranma's determination and anger and knew it was over. They had lost. He had not been even slightly moved by the thought that Shampoo could lose her life. The Amazon elder had always depended on his honor and own lack of self-awareness to manipulate him into doing things. She had banked on his refusal to admit to his own feelings to get him into coming with them back to the village.
But it seemed that the events in China had changed things. There was no way that Ranma would ever go willingly with them now, and after his fights with Herb and Saffron, she was concerned at what he would do if they cornered him and somehow forced him along. He could do major damage to the tribe before he was stopped. As much as she wanted him for the tribe, Cologne did not want blood shed over the matter, and she knew from experience how quickly a situation could escalate.
Thinking of the good of the village, Cologne said, "Okay, Ranma. As an elder of the Joketsuzoku, I hereby release you from the kiss of death and the kiss of marriage."
"Great-grandmother, no!"
"Hush!"
Ranma was a little taken aback by how quickly the old woman had acquiesced. He was sure the argument would take more time. He wasn't going to press his luck by pushing the matter, though he had one more concern he needed to address.
"I want the kiss of death Shampoo gave Akane to be nulled too."
Ranma watched as a look of surprise came over Cologne's face as she looked at Shampoo, who had, if possible, gotten paler. It was clear that she had not told Cologne about this part of her adventure. He cursed himself for bringing it to Cologne's attention; had he put Akane in more danger? But then he realized that the issue needed to be handled, he didn't want Shampoo to try to sneak in and hurt his fiancée because the kiss of death had been left unresolved.
Cologne closed her eyes and shook her head almost imperceptibly. She didn't think her granddaughter would be so careless as to give another kiss of death when she had struggled so much to fulfill the first one. She admitted to herself that maybe Ranma was right and Shampoo was too impulsive, which was not a good trait for a warrior to have. Especially if that warrior wanted to be a future leader of the tribe. Before she could figure out how to handle the situation, Ranma's words interrupted her.
"If anything, and I mean anything, happens to Akane and I find either of you had to do with it, I will make you pay, even if I had to chase you back to China."
With another sigh, Cologne said, "Fine. The kiss of death given to Akane is dissolved. I swear, on my honor as an Elder, that no harm will be done to her by any Amazon from our tribe." Cologne looked sternly at Shampoo while she made the statement to make sure she understood the order. Shampoo only nodded mutely in response.
Ranma still didn't trust either of them. He knew that Amazon honor was a flexible thing but Cologne had at least been good to her word in the past. Besides, there was little more he could do short of declaring a blood feud with Shampoo and he knew that would escalate to include her entire village.
Ranma stood up and gave her a short bow saying, "Thank you, Cologne." He turned to leave but stopped when the sound of Shampoo's voice reached his ears.
"Ranma..." Shampoo began but hesitated.
He turned to look at her and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He wavered, feeling sorry for her. A crying girl had always been his weakness. But he only had to think of Akane to firm his resolve.
"Why you no love me? Why never give chance?" Shampoo asked in confusion. She was beautiful and the pride of her tribe, so she couldn't understand why he didn't want her.
"Shampoo, you chased me all across China, trying to kill me. I would have forgiven you that but then you tried to kill Akane. When you came back, you and Cologne only ever tried to manipulate me into marrying you. You have never, not once, given thought to being my friend, to getting to know me. That was all I wanted."
Shampoo was still confused. She had been trained to be powerful and take what she wanted. She knew nothing of making friends, much less with a man.
Ranma could see that his words made no difference, she could not understand him, would never understand him. And that was the crux of the problem. He sighed and said, "Bi Lao, Shampoo."
The two women watched as he walked out without a backward glance. Cologne sighed. She had truly enjoyed her time in Japan and was sad to see it end. After she was sure he was gone, Cologne said loudly, "Mousse, come on out. I know you're there."
Shampoo spun in indignation, her face growing red in anger. She had been so focused on Ranma that she did not sense Mousse's presence. It was one thing to be rejected by Ranma, but it was humiliating that Mousse had witnessed her shame.
"Yes, elder," Mousse called out as he walked forward.
Before her granddaughter could do anything foolish, she said, "Leave. We have much to discuss that does not concern you. Do not return until tomorrow."
Mousse gave a short nod of his head and walked out the door.
Cologne, unlike Shampoo, had seen the changes in Mousse since coming to Japan. He had become a good warrior, and with the eye surgery, he had the ability to become one of the best warriors in their tribe. Not that he would be acknowledged as such. While she never showed it, she did have some affection for the boy and would give him a chance to make his own decisions.
But first she had to deal with her great granddaughter. Ranma had been correct in his assessment of her. Even if Cologne had given her word, it would be too tempting for the young warrior to enact some sort of revenge against the youngest Tendo if they stayed in Japan, regardless of the consequences.
"We will leave for China immediately. Go pack a bag of clothes. I will handle the rest."
At the command, Shampoo finally burst into tears and collapsed to the ground.
Switching to her native language, she begged, "Granny, I love him. I truly love him. Don't make me give up on him. Please!"
Cologne looked at her in understanding. She remembered her own feelings of love and loss at that age when she had to chase Happosai out of her village. While it hurt then, she now knew that it had saved her from much larger heartache and made her stronger. It would be the same for Shampoo and she would just have to get over her pain in time.
"But he does not love you. He never did and he never will. You will learn to accept that."
Cologne's gentle tone softened her harsh words. She watched as her great granddaughter began to weep. It was a pitiful sight from a normally strong woman and the old Amazon wanted nothing but to gather her great grandchild in her arms and comfort her. But Shampoo was a warrior, and warriors were not to be coddled.
"Go upstairs and pack, I have some things to take care of before we can leave."
Shampoo nodded mutely and sluggishly walked upstairs. She had been trained to always do what was ordered of her by an Elder. In this moment of despair, she would follow the orders almost blindly. Cologne wanted to use that to her advantage and get her great-granddaughter out of Japan quickly, before she got over her shock and retaliated against the youngest Tendo girl. The elder Amazon had no doubt that Ranma would keep his word and seek revenge if anything befell Akane and she did not want her great-granddaughter hurt over the matter.
Despite all of Shampoo's flaws, Cologne was proud of her. But she still kept her senses on alert to make sure the young woman didn't sneak out of the house as preparations were made.
When Mousse left the Neko Hanten, he had headed over to the Tendo compound. He had heard Ranma come in and had gone downstairs to investigate and was unsurprised by what he heard. Unlike his beloved, he knew the changes that had come over the pig-tailed boy. While he hated to see her hurt, he knew that the confrontation had been coming for a long time. He wasn't even happy that his main rival was out of the picture.
When he reached the house, he was greeted warmly by Kasumi and was directed to the dojo if he wanted to find Akane and the koi pond if he wanted to find Ranma. He walked towards the pond and found Ranma sitting on the large boulder beside it. He walked to stand next to him and told Ranma he knew everything that had happened. He was surprised that Ranma only asked that he not tell Akane what he knew. That he would explain to her himself when the time was right.
With nothing else to do, he had spent the day with the Tendo and Saotome families. It was rather relaxing getting to spar with Akane, fight with Ranma, and help the ladies of the house with dinner. He watched a movie with Ranma and Akane before bed and discreetly observed how close they sat next to each other and stole glances at one another.
When he came home the next day, he found a letter waiting for him from Cologne. She told him that the pair had left for China and would not be returning. Mousse was to pack their belongings and ship them back to the village for them. He was to continue running the restaurant until he could sell it. Or if he chose, he could stay in Japan and run the restaurant and send a portion of the profits back to Cologne.
There had been nothing from Shampoo. Not a word.
He wasn't surprised. She had left the village without a word to him before. She had never done anything to show him the slightest bit of encouragement and had often disdained him.
But that did little to dull the ache that filled in his heart.
A/N: Yup, that just happened. I may be the only person who thinks introducing a new fiancé is a good way to deal with an existing rival but hey, my brain just works that way. Before anyone skewers me, let me say that I plan on handling the extra rivals/fiancées based on how much of a "threat" they actually pose to the R&A relationship. Shampoo was the runner up for Ranma's affections for a long time. However, after Jusendo and the wedding, I do not think there is anyway Ranma would forgive her for threatening Akane's life. A lot of people have portrayed the Amazons as the ultimate villain, I just don't see them that way. Cologne, while having used manipulation to get Ranma hasn't ever set out to do him real harm and has helped him when she had nothing to gain. This ends the Engagements arc.
Thanks to Flameraven1 for his simple, yet effective solution of Shampoo using her curse to avoid Happosai's advances. My solution was two days of hell for her. Also, shout out to Bob V who is the only one to think it wasn't a real abduction.
As always thanks to the best beta readers ever, alwaysZutarian and PepperonyOwl.
Original Publication Date: September 18, 2014
Revised: May 28, 2015