Chapter 9: Kuno
True to her word Kasumi kept Akane home from school the next day, Ranma wasn't so lucky.
She started the morning by calling the Tendo's, worried about what would happen when Akane arrived at Furinkan. Ranma had planned on being there, new headmaster be damned, but her mother quickly put the nix on that idea. So it came as a great relief to learn that for one day at least she wouldn't have to worry about it.
She had worried all night, trying to come up with a way to protect Akane from Kuno's horde but drew only a blank.
She couldn't depend on Ryouga, sure he would be willing and anxious to help, even with his burgeoning relationship with Akari Unryuu, but he would have gotten lost crossing the threshold of the school gates leaving Akane alone.
Maybe she could ask Mousse? Last night as he shared tea with her and her mother he had been friendly enough. Apparently now that he no longer saw Ranma as a rival for Shampoo's affections he was leaving their previous hostility behind, forgotten in the dust.
That might work. Sure with his eye sight he wouldn't be of much help protecting Akane in a crowd, but everyone at school had seen what the Chinese boy could do and his presence alone would scare off most of the horde. Well, everyone but Kuno that is.
It was something to consider but not right now, right now she had a more immediate problem. Namely one unwanted appointment with a nosy head shrinker.
Kasumi said all the counselor would do is listen but what was Ranma supposed to say, the truth? If she did she would be in a padded room before night fall. It wasn't like anyone could help her anyway, not with her problem. She was glad pops wasn't here, she missed him but hated to think of what he would have to say about her seeing a shrink.
'I don't need no doctor to tell me my life sucks.'
Ranma always was an optimist.
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As Ranma approached the gates of school she did her best to prop up her flagging spirit. Today would be her first full day of classes and she wasn't looking forward to facing the other students after her abrupt departure the day before. It was embarrassing enough to be wearing the dark blue skirt, she didn't need them thinking her a head case to boot. She just hoped no one found out about her appointment with the school shrink that afternoon, that she was sure would be the worst thing that could happen. As soon as she passed through the gate she knew she was wrong, much worse was going to happen.
She was making her way up the walk between the rows of cedar trees when she saw something flying towards her out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't very big or traveling all that fast, so even without chi to boost her reflexes she managed to pluck the approaching object from the air.
She immediately wished she hadn't, for there in her hand was a single red rose.
Her mind was just beginning to grasp what it meant when his words erased all question and hope.
"Pig tailed girl, it is I, your true love, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder and rising star of the kendo world."
It was her worst nightmare, Kuno had found her and she had her suspicions as to how. Rushing to embrace her, Kuno was not surprised when she dodged his attempt but he could see that she did so with less speed then in the past. She also hadn't struck out at him.
'Surely' he thought, 'this is a sign that she does not truly wish to avoid my sweet embrace.'
He was forced to conclude that in spite of Nabiki's assurances that the foul sorcerer was gone, his vile spell yet held his love in thrall. Ceasing his attempts to catch her, he stepped back and bowing drew his bokken.
"Fear not my love, Saotome's foul spell may yet bind thee but I will break it, freeing you to admit your love for me. My honor will accept not that thee be held further, kept from returning my noble embrace with all the passion of a maiden in flower. Though it pains me, I strike!"
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Ranma hadn't attracted any attention when she entered the school grounds. She was just another girl in a school uniform after all. While pretty she hadn't been in school long enough for anyone to recognize her, not after her abrupt departure the day before.
When Kuno came out into the open wearing a traditional Hakima and a bokken, he drew a lot more attention.
Especially from the girls who watched with just a little jealousy as the tall handsome boy approached the unknown red head. When he started spouting off mangled verse in his best stage voice they thought it was kind of romantic, if poorly carried out.
The boys universally thought him a clown but watched to see if he crashed and burned, or if girls really went for that sort of thing. Not that any of them would ever have the nerve to follow his example.
Now everyone in the courtyard was watching and waiting to see the outcome. Their expectant gazes turned to shocked amazement when the self proclaimed Blue Thunder attacked. Frozen in disbelief, they watched as Ranma dodged his repeated strikes. Then their amazement turned to horrified disbelief as he finally connected, a glancing blow to the head sending the poor girl crumbling to the ground.
Now it was Kuno who was shocked, in all the times he had confronted the pig tailed girl he had never once connected and certainly never that easily.
"Pig tailed girl, is this some form of trick? I mean, are you waiting for me to lower my guard?"
When she still didn't answer he knelt down beside her, shaking her shoulder lightly, watching for a response.
"My love, are you...okay?"
When she still didn't respond to his prodding Kuno started to worry that this was the result of a last act of vindictiveness on the part of the foul Saotome, that the spells that once bound her to the sorcerer were responsible. Angered by his goddess' suffering, he raised his bokken to the heavens to declare his oath of vengeance.
He was interrupted as his actions finally drew a response.
Not from the unconscious Ranma, but from the other students watching.
Thinking he was about to finish her off, the others in the courtyard started yelling. The girls screaming for someone to save the poor girl.
Kuno, being firmly wrapped up in his delusion, hearing their cries stood with weapon raised, searching for the one who surely must have returned to invoke such an outpouring of fear and anger. As he searched for Ranma Saotome he was surprised when first the students and teachers, then the arriving police all seemed to focus on him.
The Kuno family lawyers were not surprised to hear from the police, nor were they surprised when they heard the charges, they were dismayed when they learned he wasn't in the custody of the Nerima police. It wouldn't be impossible to effect the young heir's release, but he wouldn't be home in time for dinner.
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Ranma wasn't surprised to wake from unconsciousness, without her chi it was inevitable that Kuno would hit her eventually. No, what surprised her was waking up in a bed instead of on the ground, that was new. Fingers bunching up the sheet beneath her she cracked open her eyes to look around. Bare walls, curtain dividers, antiseptic smell, yep, she was in the nurse's office.
When she tried to sit up it felt like someone had driven a red hot railroad spike into her temple and she fell back, a wave of nausea threatening to reacquaint her with that mornings breakfast. Raising a hand to the pain in her head she found a cold wet cloth draped over her forehead.
As if the raising of her arm was a signal she heard voices, followed by faces looking down at her. First a strange woman in a nurses uniform, then Headmaster Hasegawa followed by a man in a police officer's uniform.
"Lousy Kuno" she muttered, "why couldn't he stay in Nerima?"
She didn't say it out loud but in her head she also added a curse upon Nabiki, there was no other way Kuno could have known where to find her.
"Miss Saotome...Miss Saotome." Mr. Hasegawa placed his large hand over her small one, trying to get her attention.
Ranma opened her fists, releasing the bunched up sheet held within.
"Yeah" she answered, wincing from the pain caused by the movement of her jaw muscles where they passed over her temple.
"I've called your mother, she should be here soon."
Ranma felt a wave of fear wash over her out of reflex, only to have it shatter upon an even greater wave of pain. Fighting to organize her thoughts, she tried to explain.
"Wasn't my fault. Kuno...I didn't..." Her excuse was cut short by nausea, dry heaves robbing her of her voice.
The headmaster sat on the bed beside her, arm wrapped around her for support. The nurse was standing behind him, bucket ready just in case. Officer Sato, the same officer who spoke with Hsiao the day before about her fleeing the school, patiently waited until she was ready to talk.
Once the dry heaves stopped, Hasegawa helped her take a couple of aspirin that had been waiting on the bedside table. After she washed them down with a cup of cool water he helped her lie back down. Giving her a moment to collect herself, he replaced the rag that had fallen when she attempted to sit up with a fresh one from a basin of ice water.
"Relax Miss Saotome, you're not in any trouble."
Distracted by pain, Ranma responded with an "I'm a guy, damn it." out of reflex.
Her cursing evoked a wince from the nurse and a suppressed chuckle from officer Sato. The meaning behind her statement drew a frown from Mr. Hasegawa.
"Ranma, do you know the boy who attacked you?"
"Kuno you mean? Yeah, I know him. Idiot jerk does that every morning."
Hasegawa knew she had come from a bad situation, but he never imagined anything like this.
"Is he from your old school?"
"Uh, yeah. Kuno's from Furinkan. He used to wait for Akane and me every morning. Course I used to be able to beat him. Lousy messed up chi."
Hasegawa didn't know much about martial arts or chi, but he recognized stalking when confronted by it.
"Didn't any of the teachers at Furinkan put a stop to it?"
The look she gave him told him he was an idiot.
"Uh, no...he's a Kuno."
The look on his face told her he still didn't get it. Rolling her eyes, she told him "Kuno's old man is the headmaster and he makes stick boy look sane. Ain't nobody gonna interfere. Should a seen what he did to Akane before I got there. Every morning a dozen guys would attack her, followed by Kuno. I put a stop to that," adding in a quiet murmur "but I ain't there now."
Thinking about the welcome Akane found at school the day before made her angry, so angry she forgot the pain in her head.
Voice firm with determination, Hasegawa promised her that Kuno would not be coming back to Suginami High again. To everyone's surprise, including Ranma's, she responded to his promise with a panicked "Wait!"
The headmaster looked at her, his face screwed up in consternation. "You want him to attack you again?"
"No!" Ranma yelled back, then quieted her voice before continuing. "It's just that...you see, if Kuno is here attacking me, then he won't be at Furinkan attacking Akane and if he isn't there, then maybe the others will leave her alone too."
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Headmaster Hasegawa returned the phone to it cradle with a tired sigh and a heart filled with dismay. He was sitting in his office, Miss Ranma Saotome's school records spread out on the large desk before him. They were a confused and confusing mess, spotty and incomplete with multiple reports of truancy bordering on parental neglect. Several times Ranma had been required to take placement exams after an extended absence. Absences that were usually ended by another truancy report in another town, with another brief return to classes. From the look of it, her father only sent her to school when forced to by the law. At least until Nerima, but then if he intended for his daughter to marry a local boy he would have to stick around and face the consequences of his actions for a change.
Reading the records it was clear that not only had Genma Saotome raised his daughter like a boy, he had even managed to maintain the fiction that she was one right from the beginning. In fact, her birth certificate recorded one Ranma Saotome to be the 'son' of Genma and Nodoka Saotome. It was almost enough to make him wonder if Ranma really was who she and her mother claimed she was.
For years she had apperantly lived under this misrepresentation, even attending an all boys school in her early teens. Studying her records the first deviation from that claim didn't appear until she arrived at Furinkan of all places. Apparently the headmaster there required all students to pass a swimming class and Ranma was listed as having attended the girls class, in which she received exemplary marks. In spite of that, during the same year, she was listed as having attended boys P.E., again receiving high marks. Though her record did contain numerous complaints about her fighting in the boys locker room, most times causing damage to the showers. There was no explanation offered for her presence in that locker room and the only action taken to remedy the situation was apparently regularly subjecting her to detention for being a delinquent.
If Hasegawa hadn't received this copy of her records directly from the Ministry for Education in Shinjuku, he would have thought this all to be an elaborate joke. Now add in this business with the Kuno boy and he couldn't deny that it was all disturbingly real. When Nodoka said her daughter had left a "bad situation" in Nerima, she was clearly engaging in one of the biggest understatements in the history of the Japanese school system.
Hasegawa had just gotten off the phone with officer Sato and the news hadn't been good. In spite of the school pressing charges when Ranma refused to, and regardless of the violent nature of the offence, officer Sato warned him that a small army of solicitors had descended on Suginami Police headquarters immediately, and I mean immediately, after the charges were filled. Their response was so quick, it was like they kept a rapid response team waiting for just such an event. He warned the headmaster that it was expected that young Kuno would be out on the streets before nightfall. Even worse, with Ranma's refusal to participate they weren't even able to obtain a legal injunction preventing him from coming after her again. All the headmaster could do was threaten to charge the samurai wannabe with trespassing if he again passed through the school's gates. He couldn't do anything about the boy accosting her on the city streets beyond.
After all these years in administration Hasegawa was used to feeling frustrated and helpless at times, but this was easily the biggest mess he had ever had to deal with. He could only pray that it didn't end in the death of a beautiful and promising young woman. Picking up the phone again he dialed the number for Dr. Kimura to advise her of the latest development. That and to wish her luck, she was going to need it.
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It was Ranma's second day attending Suginami High and the second day of classes she had missed. For a new beginning, this one was shaping up to be a real winner. When Nodoka arrived to find her daughter waiting in the nurse's office Ranma had tried to argue against going home. She didn't want to attend class, but her pride refused to admit that she could be laid low by one blow from Kuno's wooden sword. Her arguments might have born more weight if Ranma had been able to cross the room without stumbling. As it was she couldn't even cross the threshold without a supporting hand. At least she no longer felt like she was going to throw up every time she moved her head.
The halls were nearly empty as Ranma and her mother made their way through the school to the front entrance, but there were still a few students, teacher's aids and such, in the halls and all watched as the two passed. Word of the morning's events had quickly spread through the school and with her bright red hair Ranma was easily identified as the poor girl who was attacked. Not that the angry bruise spread across her left temple wasn't enough on its own. Unlike Furinkan, here everyone blamed Kuno and none were willing to accept what he had done no matter his name. The samurai wannabe would find a cold welcome at Suginami High School after the events of the morning.
Ranma kept her eyes firmly planted on the floor before her. Partially to stave off bouts of dizziness, but also so she wouldn't have to see the disgust she was sure was in the eyes that she could feel following her down the hall. She knew they were disgusted by her, she was disgusted by her. The knowledge that she had fallen so low that Kuno hadn't even needed to work at defeating her was eating her up inside. All of that work, all the battles won, ten years of pain and deprivation and what did she have to show for it? Tits? Whoopee!
The future before him may not have always been that bright, but now even the train at the end of the tunnel had shut off its lights. When it finally hit her it would be in the dark.
When they left the building they found Mr. Ikeda waiting with his car to convey them home. Ranma fell asleep on the way and he was obliged to carry her in. Just one more blow to her dignity. At least the falling rain blocked out the painfully bright light of the sun.
Damn Kuno, damn that stick he was so proud of, and most of all, damn her for being so weak.
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Akane didn't like missing school. Unlike Ranma, she actually cared about her academic future and knew that missed classes would come back to haunt her. She had already missed too many thanks to their little jaunt to China. That trip had cost her so much, she fumed at the thought that it was still taking more. Kuno wasn't helping make things any better and she swore that the next time she saw him she was going to take his stick and show him exactly what she thought of his love and attention. Then he would have good reason for his stiff posturing.
She did enjoy spending time with Kasumi though and when she learned that they were going to the Saotome's for dinner, she asked if she could help prepare something to take with them. Kasumi did a good job of hiding it, but when her little sister asked to cook something in her kitchen she felt a rush of fear shoot through her. She knew how much it meant to Akane, she didn't want to crush her moment of happiness even at the sacrifice of her beloved kitchen. Fortunately, she was struck by inspiration at just the right moment.
"That would be wonderful Akane, but instead of cooking why don't we take ice cream? I know how much Ranma really likes it, a guilty pleasure he would only indulge in as a girl. Maybe it will remind him that there are advantages to being a girl, help her accept who she is now. Does that sound good to you?" She prayed that any kami listening would save them from Akane's desire to help.
The sun maybe hiding behind the clouds again, but it seemed that the kami were smiling upon them. Akane thought it was a wonderful idea. So it was that the sisters were happily making their way to the market place when Akane was suddenly struck by an intense headache. It felt as if someone had driven a nail into her temple and she almost threw up from the unexpected pain. She stumbled against the fence, only its presence saving her from a painful tumble as a wave of dizziness swept over her.
"Oh my, Akane!" Kasumi cried when she saw her sister's near fall. "What's wrong?"
Akane shook her head, not sure how to answer.
Not waiting for an answer that wasn't coming, Kasumi wrapped her arms around her little sister and then proceeded down the road practically carrying her. They hadn't gotten very far from home when it happened and Tofu's clinic was close by. Kasumi didn't question if it was the right thing to do, she just knew that he could help. She held unwavering faith in his ability to make everything better.
When Akane realized where her sister was taking her she tried to balk, not sharing Kasumi's enthusiasm for the doctor's presence, but another wave of dizziness and nausea thwarted any attempt she might have made to escape.
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When Tofu saw his love enter the clinic a feeling of happiness filled him, bringing a ready smile to his face. That smile and his greeting failed him however when he caught sight of Akane leaning against Kasumi's shoulder, his eyes taking in her pale features and the slight tremors that plagued her. His professional training taking over, he rushed to the stricken girl's other side, taking some of the burden off of the flagging Kasumi.
"What happened?" He asked in his calming, professional voice.
"I don't know." Kasumi answered, a little flustered. "We were on our way to the market and everything seemed fine, when Akane suddenly took ill without warning. She nearly fell and I think she's nauseous."
Akane would have shook the doctor off, telling him she was fine but right now she hardly had the strength to hold her head up and she was afraid if she opened her mouth to speak she would prove her sister's suspicions accurate and in a very graphic manner.
"This way Akane." Tofu said, leading the sisters into the examination room. "Why don't you just lie down and I'll see if I can tell what is wrong, all right?"
Akane didn't want to comply but she was too weak to resist as the older couple pressed her down upon the mattress of the hospital bed.
Carefully examining the girl he already thought of as a little sister, Tofu did his best to figure out what was wrong but he couldn't. He could read the signs but this went outside the boundaries of his training and experience. He was relieved when only a short time later Akane's color returned and with it her strength as the pain receded and disappeared.
When Akane moved to sit up her sister was quickly at her side to help.
"What is it Tofu?" Kasumi inquired, her hands performing the unnecessary task of holding her sister upright. Akane would have complained that she wasn't a little girl anymore, if her sister's concern didn't feel so reassuring.
"I don't know." Tofu admitted, the corners of his lips turned down in concern. "I don't understand what is happening, but I believe it was caused by the thread of manna that is wound throughout Akane's chi."
At his words Akane felt a sliver of fear pierce her heart. That same manna was in Ranma and in larger amounts. What if something even worse happened to him?
"You said that thread was making me healthier." Her fear lent a tone of accusation to her voice. If he had lied to her about that as well...
"I did and it is." He answered, a little flustered. "I'm sorry but I can't explain it."
"You can't explain a lot of things." Was her response, bitterness lacing the words, still angry that he didn't tell her about Ranma.
"Akane..." Kasumi began in reproach, but with a raised hand Dr. Tofu waved her to silence. "No, she's right. I didn't explain but I had hoped you would understand."
This actually came as a relief to Tofu, for now he understood why his love's littlest sister had been giving him the cold shoulder and it wasn't over some lingering jealousy as he had feared. As a doctor this resentment was something he was trained to deal with, something he could handle.
"I'm sorry Akane, I really did want to tell you but Ranma asked me not to. He wanted to tell you himself and as a doctor I have sworn an oath not to violate a patient's confidence. As an artist I would expect you to understand the importance of keeping a promise and upholding duty."
He took off his glasses, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "When Ranma came to me that night in tears and told me that he couldn't change back, I examined him and though I didn't understand what exactly had happened, why his chi had been replaced with this 'manna', I did know that he was no longer cursed. That he was now as much a girl on the inside as SHE was on the outside. I didn't know what to tell him, so I advised him to go see others more qualified than myself. Ranma was afraid of what would happen when he told your fathers. That's why I couldn't tell you about it, not until he knew this wasn't something he could just fix."
He took her hands between his own. "I truly am sorry Akane. I never wanted to hurt or mislead you. I humbly ask you to forgive me for my failure." Tofu waited for her response with his head bowed, eyes on their joined hands, hoping and praying that she wouldn't refuse him.
Akane was still feeling hurt and betrayed, but in her head she realized that Tofu did the only thing he could. That he had followed the only path that honor allowed. She was willing to forgive him, but there was still one thing she didn't understand. One questioned she needed answered before she could move on.
"Why?" Her voice was little more than a whisper. "Why couldn't he tell me? I would have helped. Why doesn't he trust me?"
Kasumi sat down upon the edge of the bed next to her sister. Wrapping one arm around Akane's shoulders, she used the hand on the other to take her sister by the chin, lifting and turning her head to look in her eyes.
"Akane, do you remember the day Ranma came into our lives? The look on her face when daddy fainted after discovering Ranma was a girl?"
Akane nodded quietly, not following.
"Do you remember the shame in his voice when he told us who he was? The humiliation when...when Nabiki and I pushed him off on you?"
The look Akane gave her was puzzled, she still didn't understand where her sister was trying to lead her. "Shame? All I remember was his being angry and anxious to go find a cure for his curse. That's why he wanted to leave. Why he...why he tried to refuse the engagement."
Kasumi gently shook her head, matching action to words. "No, Akane. That's not why he wanted to leave. Ranma wasn't angry, he was afraid."
Kasumi's explanation wasn't helping, Akane still didn't understand what her sister was trying to say.
"Why would Ranma be scared? It's not like being engaged to me is the worst thing that ever happened to him. He was angry that our fathers weren't giving him a choice."
"No Akane, that is why you were mad. Trust me, Ranma was afraid."
Kasumi decided to try coming at this from a different angle.
"Remember how he acted when grandfather Happosai took away his strength. The way he was always obsessed with winning, unable to accept defeat no matter how much he was hurt."
"That is just his baka pride. Ranma is too arrogant to accept being second best, that's all."
Kasumi was still shaking her head no. "That's not it Akane. Ranma refuses to accept being anything but the best because he is afraid that if he isn't, then no one will want him. In Ranma's mind he is only has good as his last fight and if he lost, well then he thinks that makes him worthless. Ranma's pride is the mask he hides his insecurities behind, his arrogance armor to protect him from the pain of rejection. Nabiki and I rejected him, he fights and trains to win his father's approval, he hid as 'Ranko' out of fear that his mother would reject him, and now that he can't turn back into a boy he is convinced everyone is going to reject him. That is why he didn't tell you, why he left after telling us. That is why he...why he tried to kill himself."
Akane stared off into space, her mind struggling to reconcile Kasumi's words with the boy she was so sure she knew. The picture she saw wasn't a happy one.
Author's notes:
This is the last finished chapter I have of this story, I do have a little more written but at the rate I'm going it will probably be a long time before I post another segment. The sad thing is I know what is going to happen in this and my other three stories, I'm just having a hard time putting it on paper. I have to say, sometimes it would be really nice to have a co-author, or at least someone interested enough to hash out ideas with me.