A.N: So ssssssssssssssssssssoooooooo sorry for the delay. The thanks to my faithful readers are this time written down.
Be my beloved enemy
Stalking
The train sped up and the little droplets ran though the frosty window as rivers of silver on which Ranma's drowsily eyes were set. It had been raining the whole week, hard and none stop; the word "flow" being heard in each and every tv news program. Despite the weather, he admired the lightened Tokio now disappearing in the horizon once more with tired eyes; the hazy light casting shadows nearby; a sight he could portray with closed eyes. A sight he had been seeing for the past whole week…
He yawned and sank deeper in his seat as the train advanced through the fields. The cosy little compartment was empty and he brought his feet up to rest upon the front seat. His hands came to his forehead and he rubbed it soothingly with both thumbs trying to calm his severe headache but at the same time causing himself more pain by moving his arm.
"Shit!" he cursed as the bandage holding his arm in place fell from its position on his shoulder. He hurried himself and adjusted the fabric once more so that it couldn't fall lose again.
'All this because of one mistake' he sighed and brought his jacket up to his chin as his head rested against the cold window of the train. Blue eyes disappeared trough thick dark lashes.
'Just a little. Let me sleep. Just a little'
And as the humming of the train went far away Ranma dozed off to a dreamless sleep but his hands would clutch his jacket harder as her image would ran through his head.
"A-ka..ne" he would mutter in his sleep unaware of it.
It had only been a mistake.
To save her.
And now, it was time to deal with the consequences.
888
Akane awoke once again with a start covered in sweat, she sat up gasping loudly to breathe. She'd had that nightmare again, just as every other night during that week. She always felt disorientated and numb when she woke up and she'd always recall him.
'Where was she?' The last thing she remembered was seeing blue eyes, being held warmly in someone's arms and….
'Gods' she touched her trembling pale lips
'I'll never live this down'
Doctor Tofu waited outside the room; his slick figure standing by the door mirrored his worried stance. There was no beating around the bush where doctor Tofu was concerned; he was straight and to the point and this time it was not different.
"Tell her" it was soft but commanding his dark eyes boring into Shinosuke's "She must know; tell her"
"We can't do that" he said in a breath of air, his head lowering down, his eyes shying away from the tall man in front of him.
"You can and you will. You must" Tofu insisted though his voice was still neither demanding nor harsh.
"The past is the past. It was buried a long time ago; and buried must be kept" Shinosuke's granpa spoke in a rough throaty sound. "You must not wake the dead or they will come and hunt you down."
"Those are stories from the elderly. Planned to keep us away from the truth"
"Planned to keep you away from danger" he spat, he was not used to that kind of reaction from Tofu. His grip tightened where his wrinkled hand rested against his knee as his next words hit a weak spot "It can't be stopped. She… can't be saved"
It was out of the blue that he had even said that, unplanned, unprepared but not unthought-of of him to say it because they were words that had swam to everyone's thoughts. Words that silenced them.
"It might help her understand" Tofu pressed after some minutes
"And what would that be?" Shinosuke said through gritted teeth. "That she is but a puppet? With no choice whatsoever?"
"Well, if you put it that way it surely sounds bad? Why not giving her a romantic view?" It was Ukyo's statement that made them turn and stare at her. It was the first time she'd ever spoken during the conversation.
"You must be kidding" Shinosuke's eyes snapped along with his feelings.
"Actually not. Tofu, I think it's time for them to have them back." She said looking up from her sitting position "oh romance…" she sighed dreamily
"What the hell are you talking about!"
"You'll soon see" Said Doctor Tofu as he handed them a bunch of crumbled yellowish papers.
It was Shinosuke's eyes that snapped opened first though the words came from his granpa
'Et vull'
Ukyo who sat crossed legged leaned against the wall as she breathed in and out before uttering
"It's time for her to know the truth".
8888
The clock had just ticked 7 o'clock; the sun barely visible now, could be seen between some clouds. The heat of the house brought a warm feeling to Ranma's state; his once pale cold cheeks now brimmed red and full of life. The doors to the dinning room were slightly opened and he peered through the little space at the insides of the room before deciding to actually step in.
"You look tired, my boy" Genma addressed himself to a just arrived Ranma.
"I'll be in my room. Don't try to bother me if you don't want any damage to be caused"
"Threatening this early, my… must you resort to this treatment to your own father" he said in faked grim. "You're hurting this old man's feelings" he added mockingly and turned around and dismissedly waved his hand before saying "Sleep well, my boy. Stalking seems to wear you off"
Ranma cringed at his words; the cunning man knew.
His steps halted at the bottom of the stairs as Genma's words sank through his head, pounding at it.
"He knows" he growled
"What had you expected?" Ryouga spat at his cousin suddenly appearing in front of him "You've been mooning over her night and day over the past week"
"Sod off" he pushed Ryouga angrily out of the way but his cousin wasn't done just yet.
"What's with the hero acting? Got tired of it? Poor Tendo…are you taking care of the poor thing? I bet she let's you in her bed every night you go to her, I bet you dream of her when you're eyes are not following her, I bet stalking her turns you on, I bet…"
"Stop betting unless you want to die accidentally" He said having grabbed his cousin by his collar and breathing harshly in his face, he pushed him and Ryoga's but hit the floor.
"Coward!" he shouted all of a sudden
Ranma stepped closer to him and his voice lowered to a wishper
"Now, oh dear cosine, tell me why? Why coward? Because I couldn't let her die?... Don't let my actions fool you; I just wouldn't have enjoyed it if she died by someone else's hands"
It was then that the most unexpected thing happened and Ryouga started to laugh like a crazy man would.
"Now, oh dear cousine…" he said mocking Ranma "Your words are fooling no-one but yourself" and he got up and stormed away. A wicked smirk was on his face as he had just hit the nail and hard…
8888
Akane had felt his presence every night but he had never showed up, had never answered her, had never done anything but send those crazy….
Flying papers that had posed on her lap; the first had just a sole word written on it.
'Die'
And from that day on, during the nights a letter had found her way. Sometimes it was only a word; others only blank notes, rarely full sentences but never, never were they once signed.
8888
The curtains were closed as expected as he entered his chambers and plopped down on his bed, unable even to close his eyes now. He sat up suddenly as if determined to do something, as his legs hung from the bed and his feet touched the carpeted floor. He paced around the room for some minutes, unsure once more of what to do and headed back to his four posted bed. He had enough time later for whatever he needed to do. He closed his eyes; he was going to see her later, as every other night, always later, when no-one else was around…
To save her
To save him
From what? He didn't quite know from what yet.
8888
It was cloudy when he woke up, it started drizzling slightly on his way to Tokyo, it was raining while he sat outside her window, it poured with rain when he sent her a note and waited sitting on a branch, it was storming as their eyes meet through the opened window.
It was storming as he got inside.
It was storming as she held the blotchy paper he had written to her in her pale hands.
It was storming as she asked him.
"Stay?"
It was storming as he replied.
"I'm unable to stay, unwilling to go"
He was socked to the bone as he stared down at how her tears fell…
And the thunder broke down
And he found himself unable to move
And stayed
His calloused hand holding hers as the storm drummed away.
A.N: well…what do you guys think? Just let me know! Please leave a review
Now as promised the thanks to all of you who took your time to review my last chapter:
-The reviewergirl: glad I can leave you with no words…hope its not because its too bad of a story;)
- Apie: yeah? Liked the ending? Great, I hope you just like this chapter too
- Lilaangelita: lol…yeah, bickering is great, but now, it's time for romance…
-Flippys: did you get my email about what a crêpe was? Mmm, I hope you did and tried them out, they are great!
-Lithtys-chan: Shampoo? Well let's say she's nuts and wants to kill our Akane
-Mei & Michael & Lylly-petal: Thank you sssssssssssooo much for reviewing
-Takigirl: thanks for the compliment
-Lyra the sorceress of school: hahaha, sure, Shampoo has to well, pay for what she's done (we'll see in the following chapters)
-Nils: what can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic…sure, love-hate relationships are sooo great!
-Andreiush: ow, muchas gracias! Siento la espera por leer el nuevo capitulo…
- PPMKatie: mmm, yeah, kina of Akane's first kiss-though don't tell her, let's wait untill Ranma does:)
-Iwata-Hatori: I should thank you the most because thanks to your review I got on my pc again to start writing, actually I had forgotten about the story so far-gosh, I'm so bad. Thanks for reminding me that I had to continue it.