Arc V: The Breaking Point
Chapter: Resolve
Akane walked as calmly as possible to her room. She resisted - barely - the urge to slam her door. As it was, her entire body was vibrating with...well, everything. She had so many thoughts and feelings running through her at the same time that it was hard for her to keep everything straight. Her mind kept leaping from one thing to another, from one person to another. From Ryoga, to Ranma, to her father, and back again.
She sat on the edge of her bed and grabbed her pillow, clutching it length wise as she brought her face to rest on the top of it. She felt so stupid that she had not seen the truth!
Ryoga. Ryoga was her friend. She trusted him. Besides Ranma, he was one of the first males she had been able to trust since the entire fiasco with Kuno and the hentai horde began. Sure he was hot tempered and volatile, but so were most of the martial artists she knew. Herself included.
Underneath it all, she thought he was an honorable person. Someone who had helped her through some tough times. Someone who was there for her when Ranma wasn't. Someone whom she could depend on.
But that had all been because he had a crush on her. That he thought he had loved her. She scoffed at the idea. He obviously didn't love her or he wouldn't have treated her the way he had.
She should have known, should have figured out that he liked her. Had even an inkling that he had feelings for her, right? But she had no clue! How was she that oblivious?
The problem was there were very few guys that had ever really shown any interest in her. Sure there was Kuno and the entire hoard of boys who used to attack her every morning. But she knew that they saw her as more of a challenge than anything else. They liked the idea of having her, the idea of winning her, but they didn't know her at all. They had no idea what she was really like. What she thought or felt. And they didn't care. If they did, they never would have attacked her in the first place.
All that mattered to them was what they thought she was. So they treated her like a challenge. Literally. If one of those morons had actually beat her one day, she was sure they would enjoy the win. Enjoy lording it over their classmates. But they wouldn't really want to be with her.
She had never had a boy show actual interest in her as a person, so how was she supposed to know when someone finally did?
Looking back she could see the signs. The nervousness in the way Ryoga would talk to her, his shyness. But she thought that was just how he acted with all the girls. He seemed harmless.
Who would have thought that the entire time he was a shy stuttering mess in his human form, he was using his pig form to sneak into her bed?
Nabiki's comments at dinner had thrown her. She had been so shocked and hurt about finding out that Ryoga was P-Chan, she hadn't thought everything through.
Had he snuck into her room to watch her change? Or the furo to watch her bathe? She became nauseous at the thought. She wouldn't have given a second thought of walking around completely naked in front of P-Chan.
After all, she thought bitterly, he was just her pet.
Suddenly it hit her that he could have also taken advantage of her sisters. He could have easily wandered into Nabiki's room to watch her. Kasumi could have easily found him in the street and carried him home pressed against her chest. He could have been taking advantage of them the entire time! And she was the one who had brought him into their home. She insisted he stay.
She could feel the pressure building behind her eyes as the tears began to form. She closed her eyes as the guilt swamped her. If he took advantage of them, it was her fault.
But she didn't want to cry. She was afraid that if she started crying she would never stop. She tried to push away the sadness by focusing on her anger. And she had so much to be angry about.
She had told Ryoga things as P-Chan. She had shared her secrets with him, her thoughts, her feelings. She told him about wanting to be the one who inherited the dojo. How she thought she could carry on the Tendo School. She had told him about how she felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole when it came to her family. About how much she missed her mother. She had told him things as her pet that she never would have admitted to another person.
Akane trembled as she realized how deeply he betrayed her. She had never felt so violated in her life. Invading her thoughts and her feelings was so much worse than him using the curse to just feel her up.
And her father knew about it! He was complacent in allowing it to happen! Not only allowed it but had wanted it to make Ranma jealous in the hopes that it would bring them closer together.
How could he? How could he do that to her? His own daughter.
But the answer was obvious; he didn't really care. Oh, he loved her and her sisters. He would, in his way, do anything for them. But his love was abstract. He didn't really know them or care about them as individuals. He was old fashioned and only cared that they married well. The only thing that seemed to matter more to him was the joining of the two branches of The Anything Goes Schools of Martial Arts.
That was made abundantly clear during the entire fiasco where Nabiki was shortly engaged to Ranma. Hadn't he shown then that it didn't matter who married Ranma as long as one of them did? He didn't even care how much the situation had hurt her. He said nothing while her middle sister had made her miserable, had taunted her. He only started to care when he thought Nabiki would sell his precious dojo. But to go to these lengths...?
He was her father. Fathers were supposed to protect their children. Weren't they? They weren't supposed to offer them up to fulfill some promise or to get a free meal.
But when she found out her father knew about Ryoga's secret, she really hadn't been surprised. Disappointed but not really surprised. She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.
She shook her head and brought the palms of her hands to her forehead. She didn't want to think about her father anymore. It hurt too much. Her chest began to throb and tears streamed down her face.
She wiped them away viciously and tried to think of something else but her mind landed where it had been going all day, to Ranma. She could accept his desire to keep Ryoga's curse a secret after making a promise. She didn't like it but could accept it. It was everything else that made her heart hurt.
Like Ryoga, it was obvious that Ranma had never intended to tell her the truth. He would have continued to lie to her for the rest of her life! That she couldn't accept.
Did he have to help Ryoga hide the secret from her on top of everything else?
Odd things that never made sense had become clear today. She had always thought Ranma was a pervert for sneaking into her room that night she adopted P-Chan, but now she understood that he was trying to get P-Chan out of her room. That incident had led her to believe he was perverted, that he was like all the boys in her school, trying to force himself on her. That single moment had led her to mistrust him for so long. That single moment had caused such a large rift between them. It took her so long to get over that misconception of him, to start trusting him a little. And it could have all been avoided if he had only told her the truth after she found him in her room with that...water kettle!
Her eyes bolted open as she remembered that last bit of information. He was in his male form that night so he wouldn't have needed the kettle. She had been so upset that he was lying on top of her while she slept, she had completely forgotten about it! If only she had thought about it a little more, maybe she would have realized things sooner.
But how would she have linked the water kettle with her pig?
He had tried to protect her from Ryoga, hadn't he? He tried to get him out of her room? He kept trying to get rid of P-Chan every time he showed up. But was that because he was trying to protect her or because he was jealous? And all the while, he could have stopped it all if he had just found a way to let her know! That single lie had caused so many problems!
Damn! It was just all so confusing!
She knew that she had part in making the situation worse. A part of her had been secretly amused about his jealously over something as silly and trivial as her pet. She had been flattered that Ranma was so easily jealous. She hadn't purposefully tried to spark that jealousy, not really.
Okay, maybe his behavior had caused her to be extra affectionate to P-Chan, which made her fiancé more jealous, which she enjoyed. You couldn't really blame her, could you? It wasn't really her fault, was it?
She chewed her bottom lip as she began to feel guilty.
No!
It wasn't her fault. Ranma had always gotten jealous over silly things all the time so why would she have thought it was unusual that he was jealous of her pet. His jealousy was the one thing that had been reassuring to her. It was a sign that he cared. Or she thought it was.
Just like his need to protect her, to come to her rescue had made her feel special. She didn't know when it happened but she had begun to rely on him to protect her. Not that she needed the protection - other than against the occasional super strong baddie or mythological beast - but it had felt nice that he would be there for her. That he was always racing to save her.
Although, she knew that he would do that for any of the girls in his life because she had been there when he tried to save both Shampoo and Ukyo on different occasions. But even during the drama with Ukyo, he had chosen to catch her and not the okonomiyaki chef during their fall. That meant something, didn't it?
So it hurt even more thinking that this time he allowed her to be violated. That he let it go on for years. Did that mean that he really didn't care?
She thought over the last week. Over how close they had gotten and how much they shared with each other, of all the times they talked while on the roof. He could have told her then. Or any of the other times they were alone. She understood that he was afraid that she would be angry, because she would have been. But it would have been easier...no, not easier. It would have been better if she had learned the truth from him.
To have Taro talk about the curse as it were so obvious made her really question her intelligence. So many people knew about the curse and kept it a secret from her. They were probably laughing at her behind her back. She thought for certain that Shampoo had and that thought made her cheeks burn in embarrassment.
I'm so stupid!
How many people had laughed at her expense? Had Ranma? How could she trust him after this?
Her stomach churned as another thought popped into her head.
What else was he hiding from her?
Her throat constricted as she tried to swallow but couldn't. She shook her head from side to side trying to shake the thought from her mind but her eyes began to well with tears. It was getting too hard for her to keep it in.
Ranma, she thought and sighed. An image of the pigtail boy popped into her mind. He had his arms crossed, a cocky grin - that she secretly loved - on his face and she was floored as emotions swamped her. Despite everything, she still loved him. She didn't think that she could ever stop loving him.
At that moment, she wished she could.
Was it possible to find the love of your life at sixteen? She didn't think she would ever love anyone as much as she did Ranma. She felt so much for him and it didn't seem possible that she could feel more for anyone else. She thought he may have loved her back. But with all this knew information she doubted that he even cared for her.
She shook her head as she realized that that was unfair. He did care for her. She was sure he was about to tell her how he felt about her, that he lo...
She pushed the though away, unable to deal with it. The question now was, how do they move forward? Could they, if she couldn't trust him? She had no clue.
Even knowing that he was the one to cause her current misery, all she wanted to do was to go to him. She wanted to have him wrap his strong arms around her. She wanted to find comfort in his embrace. To have him stroke her back soothingly. To lean her head on his shoulder as he held her close to him. To have him tell her that everything would be okay.
To just be with him.
She felt her eyes water at the thought. She felt pathetic for needing the one person that hurt her so much. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smoothed down her hair at the sound of a knock on the door.
"Akane, can I come in?" Nodoka asked from behind the door.
Clearing her throat and putting a stiff smile on her face, she said, "Yes, come on in."
When she entered the room, Nodoka found Akane sitting on her bed. The look on the young girl's face broke her heart. It was obvious she was putting on a brave face but the Saotome matriarch could see the sadness in her eyes behind the strained smile.
Saying nothing, Nodoka closed the door softly behind her and sat next to Akane. She put her arm around the girl's shoulders and brought her close to her side. The older woman rested her cheek on top of the blue-haired girl's head and said nothing.
It had been a long time since she had a mother's comfort but it didn't mean she didn't recognize what was being offered her. She wondered if this was what it would have felt like if it was her own mother who was holding her. If her mother was alive, would she have gone along with the forced engagement or would she have objected? Would she have allowed her father to keep the secret from her?
No. If her mother had still been alive, she would have never let things get this bad. Her mother would have supported her. Her mother would have been the only person who understood her. She just missed her mother so much.
Akane closed her eyes, as she tried to fight back the tears but it was futile. Nodoka's simple gesture of understanding, the simple offer of comfort had broken down the walls she had used to keep her emotions at bay all day.
The anger she felt at being lied to. The stupidity at not seeing what was now so obvious. The guilt that she had unwittingly made things worse. The sheer pain she felt at being betrayed by so many people.
It suddenly hurt so much. Her chest ached with the agony. Her throat felt so thick and tight from trying to keep her tears in that it became hard to breath. Her eyes stung as the tears formed. Her entire body began to tremble.
No longer able to hold back the onslaught of emotions that swamped her, she curled into the older woman next to her, put her hands over face, as she broke down in tears.
After having suffered through a very silent, but mercifully short dinner, Ranma had to endure his mother's grilling of both him and his father. She had been shocked to learn that the two had allowed that "strange boy" to take advantage of Akane.
She made it clear that she was disappointed in both of them. She went on to tell Ranma that she didn't think it was manly of him to have allowed another man to sleep with his fiancée. When both men began to sputter in their defense, she fingered her katana and the martial artists froze in fear. Luckily for them, she had much more to say about honor and respect. Midway through her rant, she had put the honor blade down and the men let out a big sigh of relief.
When she finally finished, she gave them the coldest look Ranma had ever seen on her face and walked out of their guest room. Unsure of where she was going, the pigtailed boy thought it best to wait in his room for a few moments before leaving himself.
He wanted so badly to find some way to make it up to Akane. To make her understand that he didn't intentionally hurt her, but he didn't know how. He did know that he wanted to see her but knew she would refuse to see him. So, using his Umi-Sen Ken, he snuck into her room, so he could check on her. Just to see if she was okay.
He was surprised to see his mother was in her room. But what really shocked him was Akane. He had never seen her look so broken. Her eyes were puffy and red as big fat tears fell down her cheeks. Her face was flushed and splotchy, her nose runny. She looked horrible and it was his fault.
He wanted desperately to reach out and run his hand down her hair. To be the shoulder she cried on. To have his arm wrapped around her shoulders. To be the one to comfort her.
But he knew he shouldn't even have been there. That she would have been more upset if she found out that he saw her this way. So he moved to the corner of the room where he sat with his legs brought up against his chest, his head resting on the top of his knees. He made himself sit and watch as punishment. Each sob from her was a like a lance to his heart.
Ranma stayed until Akane cried herself into exhaustion. She was so tired she made no objections as Nodoka moved her gently onto her back and tucked her in before his mother turned off the light and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
He remained in his corner until he heard Akane's breathing became soft and even. It had taken everything in his power to keep his own feelings tampered so that he could stay in his Umi-Sen Ken state and in the room with her. He was glad to see that she had fallen asleep and hoped that she wouldn't have nightmares.
He allowed himself to run his hand lightly over her blue crop of hair, pushing her bangs aside, and bent down to place a feather light kiss on her forehead. He bound out her bedroom window and headed towards the roof. Once there, he finally released himself from the Umi-Ken Sen.
The Saotome secret technique was only achieved when the user minimized their emotions, making their chi and presence undetectable. Ranma had been able to learn the technique so quickly because it held many of same of the principals as the soul of ice, which he had to master to use the Hiryu-Shoten Ha. What most people didn't know was that once the user released himself from either the Umi-Ken Sen or the Soul of Ice, the emotions and feelings they had suppressed rushed back to them all at once. It had never been a pleasant experience but now he staggered at the rush of emotions that flooded him. He gave himself a moment to gain his equilibrium before he lay on his back. He stared unseeing at the cloudy black sky that seemed to reflect his mood.
He had no idea keeping the secret would hurt her so much. He had thought she would yell at him, rage at him, hit him. It would have been easier than what he had seen. He had never seen anything as devastating as Akane break down in tears.
But he didn't understand why she was so upset. Yes, he lied to her for years. He wasn't going to deny that or try to diminish how much it would hurt her. But he didn't think it warranted this reaction. It was too extreme for someone as strong as she was, and he wasn't thinking about her physical strength.
He finally realized that it was about more than just him. Earlier, she had been very upset when she found out that so many people knew about the curse. Akane had been angry about Shampoo's knowledge of the curse. He still had no idea why the Amazon kept Ranma's knowledge of Ryoga's curse a secret and he would never know if Akane's theory was right. It was the only time since the Amazons' departure that he wished he could see Shampoo. He wanted to ask her if Akane had been right. But even if he found out, it didn't change things. It was still bigger than that.
He saw what it did to her to find out that her father knew about the curse. She seemed so devastated by the knowledge. Ranma himself had no idea that Soun knew about the curse but wasn't surprised by the fact; their fathers were very close. If it had been his father who kept the secret from him, it would have been upsetting but he would have accepted it. But his father had done stupid things to him all his life. Akane and Mr. Tendo seemed to have a different relationship though, so it made sense that his knowledge would affect her more.
How would he have felt if he found out that so many people were hiding things from him? He would have been pissed. And if he thought Akane had kept something that big from him for that long? He would have felt completely betrayed.
Ranma sighed. Now that he figured out what she must be feeling, he still had no idea what to do. He had no idea where he stood. They had finally gotten to a place in their relationship where they were happy! Did this ruin everything? Did she no longer want to be with him? Did she hate him?
His heart throbbed at the thought. He had tried to tell her how he felt while they were arguing but she stopped him before he could say anything. From her response, it seemed that she knew what he was going to say and stopped him. Did that mean she didn't care about how he felt? That she didn't care about him anymore?
He didn't know what he would do if she broke up with him. He didn't think he could live without her. An image of Akane as she lay unresponsive in his arms flashed into his mind and feelings of loss and hopelessness filled him. He hated thinking of that moment, hated the feeling of utter devastation and uselessness. He had been so lost then, had no direction, had no idea what to do if she truly had died.
He realized that he felt like that now. Not as extreme because she was safe and sound in the house. But the idea that she didn't want him anymore tore a hole through him. No, he definitely couldn't live without her. He couldn't. Just the thought had him lifting his hands to his eyes as he tried to knuckle back tears.
Crying wasn't manly.
He took a moment to even out his breathing and try to get his emotions under control. As he took a deep breath the sky opened up and rain began to fall down on him. For once he didn't care about his transformation and was actually glad for it. As water droplets fell on his face, they mixed with the tears that he finally let run free.
Girls were allowed to cry.
The next morning Ranma had come down early for breakfast and was the first seated at the table. As everyone started to come down after him he was happy to see that Akane had decided to join the family for their meal. He wouldn't have blamed her if she wanted to avoid them. He watched her as she walked into the room and noticed that while her eyes looked slightly puffy, she showed no other signs from her emotional breakdown from the night before. When her gaze met his, he gave her a small hopeful smile. She kept eye contact for a moment before she looked away. His heart sank at the dismissal.
When she was seated, Kasumi began to pass out the rice. It was obvious from the barely half-full bowls she handed to each of the men that she was still upset at them. Genma frowned into his portion and was about to ask for more when his wife caught his eye. The look she gave him had his protest dying in his throat and he felt lucky to be fed at all.
When the eldest Tendo sister handed her father his bowl, Soun put on what he thought of as a winning smile and said, "Thank you, Kasumi!"
"You're welcome, father," she said automatically, her voice lacking all warmth. From anyone else, the tone would have been mild, but from Kasumi, it was as cold as an arctic wind.
Soun's lip quivered and his eyes started to fill.
"Stop it, daddy," Nabiki snapped out.
The narrowed eyes and furrowed brow told him that she would not tolerate his outburst for something she considered his fault. He gulped as he looked down to his bowl. His eldest daughters had made it clear to him the night before that they were on Akane's side in this matter and if he wanted their forgiveness, he would need to get hers first. Reaching for his tea, he took a sip before he turned to his youngest daughter.
"Good morning, Akane," he said, his tone as pleasant as he could make it.
"Good morning," she replied, not bothering to look over at him.
"Did you sleep well, dear?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any plans today?"
"Yes."
"Oh, good." He waited a moment, hoping she would elaborate. When she didn't respond, he added, "What are they?"
"Nothing."
Soun looked wounded as he stared at his youngest daughter, who had still not looked at him. Despite her tomboyish ways, she had always been such a loving daughter and this coldness in talking to him hurt him deeply. He had hoped to ease his way into his apology but it looked like that wasn't going to be an option.
"Akane?"
"Yes?"
Soun cleared his throat before saying, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Ryoga's curse. I shouldn't have kept that from you. I hope that you can forgive me."
As the head of the family, he wasn't used to apologizing for his actions, even if what he did was wrong. It was slightly embarrassing but it had to be done.
The entire family watched as Akane put down her bowl and took a sip of her tea before putting her cup down carefully.
"You're forgiven."
A broad smile bloomed on Soun's face. It was easier than he thought it would be to get his daughter to forgive him. He let out a chuckle and said, "Good! Well then, why don't..."
Akane cut her father off by saying, "Thank you for breakfast, Kasumi, Aunty," before she got up and walked out of the room.
At the table, Soun's smile faltered again and he said, "Well, she's probably has a busy day ahead of her." He stared at her back as she walked out. It seemed that he had been forgiven but he knew that he had a long road ahead of him to earn her trust again.
Nabiki rolled her eyes as she muttered, "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She had not missed the fact that Akane had not called him 'daddy' once or made eye contact with him. It seemed that her father wasn't off the hook just yet. It made her a little proud that her little sister was standing up for herself.
The middle Tendo eyed Ranma from across the table and noticed that he had barely touched his food. Good, she thought viciously. Nabiki wasn't going to forgive either her father or Ranma for their part in keeping the secret and she hoped they both suffered since it was obvious her sister was.
She had been shocked at learning the secret and then annoyed. How had she missed something that big? But she was glad not to have been in the know. Now that they had worked things out between them, she wouldn't have wanted to be part of something that hurt her little sister so much.
Ranma put down his bowl shortly after and left the table. For the first time in his life, he wasn't hungry. He went to his fiancée's room, knocked lightly and said, "Akane, can I come in?"
He was greeted with a moment of silence before he heard her reply, "Yes."
He blew out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding and opened the door. He found her sitting at her desk, writing something. She hadn't bothered to look up when he came in and she still had her back to him.
"Can we talk?"
"No."
He was unprepared for that answer and it shocked him.
"No?"
Akane sighed. She knew she had to talk to him, but had no real desire to. But she wasn't one to put things off. She put down her pencil and stared out her window.
"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"I...I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."
"You already apologized yesterday," she said curtly.
"I know...but I just wanted to tell you that I never meant to hurt you. I didn't really think about how it would make you feel."
"You didn't think about me at all, did you?"
"I did! I swear, it just wasn't...I didn't think it through. I thought you would be mad at me keeping the secret but I didn't think past that. It was stupid. I know that now. I know how you must feel..."
"You know nothing about how I feel!" she hissed at him, cutting him off. She whipped herself around to face him but still didn't look him in the eye.
"No, I don't! But it's not like you're willing to tell me. You're barely talking to me and not even looking at me!" he yelled. His anger at himself and the frustration at the situation getting the better of him.
She angled her face up and looked straight at him. The fire he saw there had him staggering a little.
"Like you've been so open and honest with me?"
"I know I haven't! I…I'm trying."
"Well, it's a little too late for that, isn't it? You could have told me at any time about the secret. Even if you didn't think you could at the beginning, we've been...things had changed, hadn't they? We...we spent all that time talking and you didn't even consider telling me, did you?"
"I just didn't want to upset you."
"Well, good job," she said acidly.
"You think I liked keeping this from you? I hated it! I hated that you liked Ryoga more than me. I hated that my curse caused so many problems between us but his curse only brought him closer to you!" he screamed moving towards her.
Akane stood up suddenly, causing her chair to fall to the floor. She walked forward and stood toe to toe with her fiancé.
"I didn't like Ryoga more than you, you idiot! I liked P-Chan! I liked my pet. I loved my pet." She took a deep breath and swallowed audibly. "I loved him. He was like family to me. And now, now it's like he died. It's actually worse! If he died I could still think about all the fun moments we had together. But now when I think about him, I just feel sick."
She took a step back, her chest heaving as she tried not to cry.
"All I feel is disgusted that I was being used. All I can think about is holding him close to me." She crossed her hands over her chest. "Or taking him to bed with me." She gestured to the bed. "And you knew about it the entire time!"
"Do you think I liked that? I hated it!" Ranma waved his hands around and tugged at his hair in agitation. "It made me crazy every time he came around! I always tried to get him away from you!"
"But all you had to do to stop it was to tell me! To let me see the transformation with my own eyes and it would have stopped!"
"Don't you think I know that?! I'm sorry! I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am!" He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. "Just tell me what I can do. How can I make you believe me? How can I make this better?"
"I don't know. I don't. I...I need more time."
He stood staring at her, knowing that she was telling him the truth. If she knew, she would have told him. She wouldn't have held it against him just to punish him. She didn't have that in her.
Unsure of what to do, he stuttered slightly as he said, "Umm...Okay. I'll just...go then."
He waited a moment, hoping to receive a response from her, any response, before he left. He was disappointed and hurt that she didn't so much as glance his way.
A couple days had passed since their last argument. The students at school could not help but notice the change in the way that Ranma and Akane treated each other. The seemingly happy pair was gone and what replaced it scared the students. Before, when the couple fought, it had been loud and often violent. Now, they were eerily quiet. Not a word that was normally used to describe either person.
Some of the more fanciful students had likened it to being in the eye of the storm; they were safe but no one knew for how long. The only person who seemed cheered by the change in their relationship was Ukyo, a fact that surprised no one.
Ranma, though, was at his wits end. He just couldn't take it anymore. Akane barely looked at him nowadays and when she did, he couldn't tell what she was feeling. She wasn't even ignoring him. Instead she was being polite to him. She always answered his questions but with as few words as possible. She never initiated a conversation with him. When he entered a room, she left quickly after.
It was so frustrating!
Her attitude was starting to freak him out. She was acting like a completely different person. She was some weird amalgamation of Kasumi and Nabiki. She kept her facial features as neutral as possible while being as utterly polite, like the eldest Tendo. But she had a coolness that was so much like Nabiki and emitted no joy.
He missed her laugh. He missed her smile. He just missed her.
But it was strange missing someone you saw every day. Missing their company even as they sat next to you. Missed their conversations while they were talking to you. Could you long for someone when they had never left?
It made the situation worse that she was treating everyone the same way. It worried him that she wasn't being friendly to anyone. She had very effectively put up a wall around her that no one seemed able to break. He had watched, from a hiding place behind a bush, as Yuka and Sayuri had attempted to engage her in conversation during lunch. They only received a small smile from her before she looked away and stared off into space. He hadn't missed her friends giving each other worried looks.
And just last night, his mother had asked her if she wanted to help prepare dinner and she had said no. No! Akane, who had never passed up a chance to help with dinner, had said no. He couldn't believe he was actually hoping that she would cook!
Sitting on the bench at school, he thought that he was losing her in more ways than one. He could feel her pulling away from him more and more as time passed. But worse, she just wasn't herself. Where was the feisty girl he fell for? The spitfire that enjoyed life and made the people around her smile?
He had tried giving her space but it didn't seem to make anything better. It had been two whole days and nothing had changed.
Two days!
Something had to be done.
He stood up suddenly and smacked his right fist into his open palm as realization hit.
He would not lose her. He would get his old Akane back! He would win her back. He would woo her!
He stood with his legs slightly apart and crossed his arms over his puffed out chest, confident in his ability to make her forgive him. Behind him two students carrying a Japanese flag stopped as the marching band walked past them playing "Eye of the Tiger." A girl to his left tripped and the box she was carrying flew up into the air as the confetti inside floated around him. Ranma threw his head back and let out a loud chuckle.
Around him, students made warding signs, moved away as quickly as possible, or just shook their heads and they realized the slight reprieve they had from the Nerima craziness was over.
A/N: Sorry for all the angst but Akane's reactions to the issue are complex and varied. There are plenty of fics that just gloss over her feelings and treat it as a minor issue that she should just get over. I wanted to do her justice and I hope I did a good job.
Time for a mini-rant. It was mentioned in a review that Ranma was always trying to give hints to Akane about Ryoga's curse. I don't believe this to be true and the idea is purely fanon based. In the manga, when Ranma calls Ryoga P-Chan or vice versa, he is doing it to taunt him. Ranma was not trying to give Akane hints about P-Chan's true identity. Many authors use this as a way to lessen Ranma's culpability because he tried to tell her, making him seem more innocent. It also serves to put the onus on Akane for not taking the hint, making her responsible for not listening to him, and/or ignoring his warnings. The blame is then shifted to Akane, making her look like an oblivious moron. Despite what many people think, it was not obvious P-Chan and Ryoga are one in the same, not if you look at things from Akane's point of view. She had no reason to connect the two, nor would she have reason to think they are hiding things from her when everyone else's curses were out in the open. As readers, we see it as obvious because we know from the get go. I hope that this doesn't offend any of the reviewers that had mentioned these things, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves in stories and I wanted to let everyone know why I am not using these ideas in this story.
Thanks to my beta, alwaysZutarian for getting this back to me so quickly!
Original Publication Date: January 26, 2015
Revised: July 9, 2015