Chapter Five
Akane was not so naive as to assume she could avoid Kuno until after school, but she was hopeful. Too bad once lunchtime came all hope was lost.
If there was one way to guarantee a rumor would spread over Furinkan like wildfire fueled by kerosene, it was to have Nabiki confirm it or start it up. Somehow in about four hours and with few breaks between classes, knowledge of Akane having a fiancee went from just Nabiki's class to half of Furinkan. And as soon as Akane's class was out to eat, they became part of the knowing side.
Akane and Ranma went outside to eat the bentos Kasumi prepared for them, giving Ranma the same thing Akane got since Kasumi didn't know what he favored. As soon as they set foot outside the pair was swamped by students they didn't recognize asking if the rumors were true.
"None of your damn business." Akane firmly told the entire group. "Seriously, how is this any of your business? Tell me."
Unable to answer that, and thus unable to save face if they continued, the majority of the student body decided to drop the issue at least around the new couple.
Only two students could safely approach them, Akane's old friends Yuka and Sayuri, who heard the news thru the grapevine. "Hey Akane. You mind if we talk to you for a moment?" They asked, carefully treading where others had stepped on landmines.
Akane was a bit cautious. 'If I remember correctly, nowhere in my dream did it mention what these two thought about Ranma. So right now they could say virtually anything on the matter. I better play it safe.' "I suppose, though I'm not going to ask Ranma to go away. He has no one but me and Nabiki to talk to and I at least won't charge him for a conversation."
Her two friends looked a bit uneasy. "Umm... you sure about that? It's kind of... well, girl talk?"
"You mean you want to talk about Ranma right?" Akane inquired. Judging from their body language, she knew that was exactly what they wanted to talk about. "All you two need to know is he's someone I can trust and his family is going to be staying with mine for a while now."
"But what about the rumors going around?" Yuka asked.
"So what? Doesn't mean a single one of them is true."
"Then tell us what the truth is." Sayuri insisted.
"I already did. As for if we're more then housemates, that's nobody's business but our own."
Yuka and Sayuri then looked at Ranma. "So how about you tell us who you are and why you're staying with Akane?"
Ranma was nervous but steeled himself. "Why should I? Looks to me like the only reason you care is so you can have a reason to not like me."
"Yuka, Sayuri." Akane said, regaining their attention. "If that is what you're trying to do, then I won't talk to either one of you until you give Ranma an honest chance."
"What? Why?"
"Because even though Ranma is a man, he is my friend and someone who's going to be a big part of my life from now on. I don't want to lose my friendship with you two, but if the price of keeping it is my friendship with him, then I'm afraid that's a toll I will not pay."
Yuka and Sayuri were shocked beyond belief. If the concept wasn't so unbelievable to them, they might have worried Akane was under the influence of some spell or magical object. Fortunately such things had yet to happen in this timeline so the idea was alien to them. And so they had absolutely no way to explain Akane's new behavior.
"Akane, what happened to you? This is not like you." Yuka asked.
"You wouldn't understand. All you need to know is Ranma is a good man and you should give him the chance to prove himself. That's all I'm asking."
Yuka and Sayuri didn't know what to say or think. All they could do was stare dumbly at the two in front of them, unable to piece anything rational together.
Sayuri then did the only thing she felt she could do. "So Ranma, could you tell us a little about yourself?" She then sat down next to Akane to avoid making him uncomfortable, then Yuka followed.
Uncertain about this, Ranma tried telling the two girls about himself without revealing too much.
By the end of the day, everyone was aware of two things, Akane apparently had a fiancee or boyfriend, and Kuno was going to fight for the right to that role. Kuno wanted to strike sooner, but he had rationalized that a battle of this caliber required the entire school to see so no one could contest the victory he was so certain was already his. Thus he did not attack at lunch when students would be preoccupied.
So at one of the fields everyone gathered around. Kuno stood at one end and Ranma the other, the former looking angered yet enthusiastic while the latter looked bored but unyielding.
"Any last words Saotome?" Kuno asked.
"No, but I think Akane has something she wants to say first." Ranma said, then Akane stepped forward and stood beside him.
"Upperclassman Kuno, let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, even if you somehow defeat Ranma here I have absolutely no intention of dating you. So don't think for one second you will win that out of me."
"But Akane, I'm just trying to defend your honor." Kuno countered, confused.
"Defend it from what? Seriously, what is the danger?" Akane insisted.
Already aware that her normal means of getting a message across would not work on the delusional kendoist, Akane had spent all day trying to come up with alternative means. The only answer she could come up with was to trap him with his own words.
'If there's one thing Kuno likes more than me or female Ranma, it's himself. He can't stand having his image tarnished around school. If I can just make it so no one would respect him anymore, he'll have to stop what he's doing. I just hope it works. If it doesn't, nothing will.'
"Surely this fiend has ill intentions for you and must be kept away." Kuno stated like it was common sense.
"How is what you've done any different? You made a whole group of men physically assault the woman you claim to love each and every morning. Why would you want that if you want to date me?" Akane asked. "You're telling one boy to leave me alone yet this year you told every male in school to try and date me. How on earth does that make sense?"
"He has not earned the right to date you." Kuno declared, pointing his bokken at Ranma.
"And what gives you the right to decide that?" Akane asked. "Seriously, what gives you the right to decide who I can and can't date? You're not my father, you're not my brother, you're not even my ex! You have no say over my private life Kuno. You never have."
"But I'm of noble descent. I'm rich and my family has great influence in town. I'm also the best kendoist in Furinkan High." He rationalized.
Akane shrugged. "So what? When did I say I gave a damn about that?"
"But all women want me."
Akane looked over the student body. "Would ANY woman here who would accept a date from Tatewaki Kuno please raise your hand now."
Not a single hand went up.
Kuno looked around in disbelief at the overwhelming show that the female populous did not consider him God's gift to them. "How... how can this be? Surely everybody knows I'm the best there is."
"The best at being pigheaded that is." Akane commented. "Look around you Kuno, no one here wants you as their boyfriend. Heck, not even the gold-diggers consider you worth their time. You hear that? Even the women who only want a man for his money consider you undateable."
'That's true.' Nabiki thought. 'There's only so much you can take from a person before they're not worth it anymore, even if they're rich.'
Kuno looked angry and pointed his bokken back at Ranma. "You! What have you done to turn the school against me? Are thou a sorcerer?"
Akane didn't know whether to laugh or groan at this. "Kuno, you're seventeen years old. You're saying in front of everyone you not only believe in magic, but the only reason we girls could say no to you is if someone was making us?"
She of course knew magic was real, but aside from Nabiki no one else did and she intended to use that ignorance.
"What other explanation could there be?" Kuno asked, genuinely unable to think of an alternative cause for what he was perceiving.
Fuming, Akane faced the student body again. "Boys of Furinkan, this is the man you choose to follow? This is the man you listened to for dating advice? An egomaniac who can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not? A wannabe samurai whose mind is stuck in the Feudal Era? Why are you following his example?"
The male students looked at each other. Up until now they barely thought about it at all. Most of them didn't know a damn thing about Akane but only participated in the Hentai Horde because they figured if someone made that big a deal about her she must be worth something. The rest were basically lonely boys who got swept up in the crowd and didn't have any better way to get a girl to notice them. Now that they stopped to think about it, they had to wonder why exactly Kuno thought he could issue such a challenge in the first place.
"Surely my peers you know I guide you only to fruition. Akane Tendo is the fairest maiden in school and only the man who proves himself most deserving can be with her. That's how it is in the legends." Kuno defended to the crowd.
"This isn't a legend or a fairy tale Kuno. This is real life and the 21th century." Akane argued. "Maidens these days have the right to choose their own suitors with or without a display being required from them first. And I choose Ranma right here to be the suitor I give my affection to. I personally do not care if you agree with it. Maybe you should start spending time in the real world instead of your own little world in your head."
"C'mon is there going to be a fight or not?" One of the boys shouted out, anticipating some action and disappointed in seeing a debate instead.
Akane crossed her arms. "Attack Ranma Kuno and you'll only prove to myself and everyone else here you're a fool who thinks the world is a fairy tale being written about yourself."
There, she'd done it. She had trapped Kuno in a way where he had only two ways out, as an honorable conceder or a dishonorable fool. All she had to do now was wait for his reaction.
Kuno looked at Akane and Ranma then glanced at his audience. He could see many whispering and giving him displeased looks, but what he couldn't see were signs of support. While Kuno may have been a little out of touch with reality, he wasn't retarded or anything and knew that this was one battle where praise would be hard-earned. Maybe a little too hard earned for too little received. Besides, if Akane considered Ranma acceptable then it was likely he was someone who actually could give Kuno a good challenge.
'Hmm... perhaps I should bide my time for a chance when a spar is mandatory and cannot affect my image. Or perhaps I should learn more about him from Nabiki to see how good he is or if there's something about him to take any potential propaganda off myself.'
With that, Kuno sheathed his bokken. "It appears today is not a good day for any such skirmish. But someday I may have to see the skill of the man who's enough to capture the heart of the fierce tigress that is Akane Tendo." With that, he walked away.
"What a bummer." The boy who shouted for a fight complained as he and the others walked away too.
Akane sighed then smiled. "That went better than I thought. I actually worried he was going to do what he always did."
Ranma nodded. "I'm impressed. You did a good job there."
"Thanks. I hope that stops him for at least a little while, because I don't think he's given up completely. But enough about that, let's go home."
Ranma nodded and started walking with her. "Yeah, Shampoo's probably impatient and ready to come get me."
Akane lost her smile but didn't look angry or hurt. "You like her, don't you?"
"It was nice to have someone my own age to talk to for the past month Akane. Doesn't mean I'm in love with her or anything." The pigtailed young man defended.
"But you do like her, right?" Akane repeated.
Ranma sighed. "As a friend yes. But Akane, I've never had any girlfriend before. I've never had a chance to. I don't know what to do in these situations. Making one girl happy is tough enough for me, so pleasing three girls isn't something I have a clue about."
"I can imagine, and sharing one boy with two other girls is going to be tough too." Akane mentioned. "But I care enough about you to try it."
"Akane, not to be rude, but what exactly did you see that made you want me so much?" The pigtailed martial artist asked.
"We went thru a lot Ranma. Too much to simply list. Some of it good, some of it bad, some of it stuff I'd rather not remember. But thru it all we were together, you helping me and me helping you, even if not perfectly. Dream or not, there's no way that could happen without me warming up to you."
"But that's just it Akane, it was a dream. You can't base your feelings for me on a dream."
Akane shook her head. "Ranma, that was no mere dream. It was a sign, maybe even a warning so I'd know what not to do to you. It was real to me, as real as you are. Even if the things I saw haven't happened yet or never happen at all, I know from them what kind of person you are. I still want to get to know you for real and let you get to know me, but I'm not afraid of what may happen for us."
Ranma had no idea what to say there, so he looked away and kept walking. Akane giggled at his embarrassment and hooked her arm around his. Neither said anything else as they kept walking home.
Neither of them saw Nabiki watching them from behind, making sure to keep her distance as to not be spotted. The downside of course being that she couldn't hear anything they were saying. But she could see Akane smile at Ranma and even lean into him as they walked, looking so much like a real couple right then.
'I just don't get it. What is up with her? She practically changed overnight. I want to say those Chinese women are responsible, but she wanted to be with Ranma before they showed up. Why though? I just hope I see some clue before I have to resort to actually asking, because I doubt Akane's just going to admit it to me.'
When Ranma and Akane returned to the Tendo dojo, they were not surprised to see Shampoo waiting for them. She was in human form instead of foxgirl form, likely to avoid confusion with the neighbors since she was waiting outside the estate walls.
"Nihao Airen and Dream Girl." She greeted.
"Nihao Shampoo." Ranma greeted back.
Akane looked at him. "You can speak Chinese?"
"Some Mandarin. We taught each other how to speak during our trip here. Made it easier for us, but she learned better than I did." He told her then turned towards the lavender-haired Amazon. "You find a place to stay yet?"
She nodded. "Yes. Great-grandmother find empty building, make nice restaurant. Open maybe two weeks."
"What will you call it? Cat Cafe?" Akane asked.
Shampoo tilted her head. "Why call it that?"
"That's what you called it in my vision. It was even decorated with lucky cat statues."
"Grandmother say maybe fox statues work well since they have much meaning here." Shampoo countered.
"Fox Cafe?" Akane asked. 'Why did I not see this coming? Of course her curse was a factor in naming the restaurant. There's no way the name Cat Cafe could have been just a coincidence.'
Shampoo nodded. "Maybe. No have better idea. Want come by when open? Free meal for husband and sister-wife."
Despite the implication, Ranma smiled. "Sounds good to me."
Akane nodded. "Hey Shampoo, want to come inside for a bit?" 'I need to see how different she is compared to what I remember.'
Shampoo smiled and nodded, then transformed into her fox form and climbed up Ranma, settling on his shoulders.
"What happens to her clothes when she does that?" Akane asked.
"I don't know. I guess that Chinese goddess has something to do with it, like how my pants disappear and reappear when I use the horse part of my curse." At that last part, Ranma didn't sound too pleased.
Akane patted his arm as she led him and his pet fox/Chinese fiancee inside. "That's good. No need to worry about being unclothed at bad times. For the most part at least. And just so you know, I happen to like horses." Ranma looked a bit more relaxed.
"Welcome home you two." Kasumi greeted, then noticed the fox. 'Well, Father never said she was forbidden from visiting, so for now I'll say nothing.' "Would you like anything?"
"I think we're good Kasumi." Akane told her. "We'll be up in my room doing our homework."
The two went upstairs and Kasumi lightly grinned. 'Akane seems so much happier ever since Ranma arrived. Too her mind right off that nasty dream she told me about. I just hope the two don't rush anything. That wouldn't be proper.'
Moments later Nabiki walked in. "Hey Kasumi, you would not believe what Akane did at school today."
"What do you mean?"
"You know that guy that started that crap about her that no one else would do anything about?" Nabiki asked. Kasumi nodded, well aware of Kuno thanks to Akane and Nabiki. "Well today she announced to him and the entire school she was involved with Ranma and made it so Kuno couldn't ignore it so easily. It was like a double whammy to Kuno-baby."
Kasumi looked impressed. "I guess Ranma is better for her than we thought."
"But don't you think this is a bit weird for her?" Nabiki asked.
"It's different, but I don't see how it's bad yet. Besides, it's about time someone went up and told that young man he went too far."
Nabiki nodded. "But still, I'm going to be keeping my eye on those two. If I think Ranma's more trouble than good-"
"Nabiki." Kasumi interjected firmly. "Try to dictate Akane's love life like that and you're no better than Kuno is."
Nabiki's eyes widened. "But I'm just looking out for her."
"Like Kuno thought he was?"
For the first time in a long time if not ever, Kasumi had effectively made Nabiki shut up.