Inbetweener:

"Kenma on the Couch"

COMPOSED BY
Akihito Tokunaga

FEATURING THE VOICES OF:
RYO HORIKAWA/MICHAEL DOBSON as Kenma
YUJI MITSUYA/IAN JAMES CORLETT as Dr. Tofu
KAPPEI YAMAGUCHI/RICHARD IAN COX as Ranma
KENICHI OGATA/GARRY CHALK as Genma
MINAMI TAKAYAMA/ANGELA COSTAIN as Nabiki
KIKUKO INOUE/WILLOW JOHNSON as Kasumi

It had been at least two days since the "Fake Mom" incident, and Kenma had shown no signs of improving mentally. If anything, he'd gotten a bit worse in his bout of despair. These past two nights, he had been plagued by an assault of nightmares, all of which involved him either watching his friends and loved ones vanish, or watching them be killed one by one. Either way, they both concluded with him being left completely alone.

That morning, as he woke up, it was clear he definitely lacked his usual vigor and spirit. He quietly washed his face, shaved his facial hair, and trudged downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, Kenma," Kasumi began before she saw how completely broken he looked. Sure, he was there physically, but spiritually he wasn't even present.

"...so what's good about it, huh?" Kenma asked as he trudged to the table and sat down. "Just securing our fuel before we resume our daily cycles."

"Hmmm, you seem to be in pretty low spirits." The elder Tendo sister observed

"Well, apart from the fact I was tricked into believing that my own mother might actually be here, nothing's wrong," Kenma responded. "Everything's…just…peachy."

"Oh my! I'm not really sure what to say about that."

"Well, there's not much that really needs to be said, now is there?" asked Kenma as he accepted his bowl of porridge. "Wasn't your fault."

Kasumi just looked down, not really knowing what to do. Most of the problems her family had regularly endured were usually resolved within a twenty-odd minute timespan—and if they weren't, they seemingly ended up resolved by the next week, or they would vanish as though they'd never been a concern.

This, alas, was not one of such situations.

Genma, having very little in the way of emotional tact, simply regarded this as "just another of the boy's little tantrums", and was more than willing to 'straighten him out for the good of the Anything-Goes School'.

"Kenma! It's been two days!" he exclaimed. "You can't keep moping about something that's long since over with! I mean, Ranma beat me black and blue—or since I was a panda then, blacker and bluer—over that little incident, but you don't see me whining about it! You know why?"

"Because you have no idea what it's like to understand someone else's feelings?" commented Kenma after swallowing a forkful of egg.

"Wrong! It's because I know how to be a man!" Genma declared. "For pity's sake! All this moping and lying about, you're acting like a girl! You and Ranma are meant to be the heirs to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts! So be a man, stuff it down, and eat your breakfast so we can get to sparring!"

"Saotome!" exclaimed Soun. "That was more than uncalled for! Can't you see one of your sons is going through something difficult? What he needs right now is someone who's actually willing to listen to his problems, not a parent who'd rather sweep them under the rug!"

"It's fine, Mr. Tendo," said Kenma as he ate some more. "Besides, what else could I expect from a man who'd sooner use his sons as meal tickets than bother being a parent? I mean, I didn't actually expect him to understand or help."

"Oh, I understand plenty!" Genma retorted. "I understand that I've raised an ungrateful, mewling brat who can't possibly comprehend the great opportunity that he's been given! You're lucky the master isn't here, he'd teach you the proper respect!"

Kenma rolled his eyes. "What, like how he taught you to be a spineless, backstabbing jellyfish?" he remarked. "Oooh, ya got me all a-shiver."

"Dammit, boy! You can't keep thinking about such arbitrary things like a mother's love!" Genma bellowed. "That just gets in the way and clouds your judgment! In order to become a man among men, you—"

"How about you shut up, huh?" snapped Kenma as he got to his feet. " 'A man among men, a man among men, a man among men'..." he repeated in a mocking tone. "GOD, can you imagine how sick I am of hearing that idiotic phrase?! In fact, I'm willing to wager that you wouldn't know the first damned thing about being a man among men! You lie, you cheat, you steal; if you get any sort of power, you'd simply use it to bully and harass anyone you could! What sort of man-among-men constantly gets his sons into multiple engagements so he can feed his fat face? What sort of man-among-men subjects one of his children to a horrible, traumatic experience in some stupid attempt at learning a forbidden technique? You are the FARTHEST thing from a man-among-men that could ever exist, I doubt you're even a man! You blather on about the honor of the schools, but I don't see why—after all, you don't know a thing about 'honor'!"

By then, Kenma had polished off his eggs, put his dish in the sink, and was on his way upstairs.

"And I'm not coming to school," he said as he was halfway up.

Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Jinn, Aki, and Ranma all watched as Kenma left the kitchen, as well as leaving Genma and Soun silent.

"I wish I knew what to do in a situation like this," said Ranma, breaking the veil of silence. "...but I'm not exactly good with emotional matters. This isn't really something I can outwit or out-maneuver."

"Obviously not; what he needs is a good therapist," Nabiki stated.

"A good therapist…" the other Saotome brother started thinking. "...yeah, I got nothin'."

"But maybe I have something!" Akane chirped up. "How about Doctor Tofu?"

"Doctor Tofu?" queried Soun. "I always assumed his expertise was more medically-inclined."

"Well, he's our best shot," stated Akane. "It's not like we know anyone else that we can talk to about this sort of thing."

"Alright, I guess I'll go tell him." Ranma shrugged as he headed upstairs.

As the ponytailed boy entered his twin's room, he saw Kenma lying sideways on his futon, his head turned away from the door. The windows were shuttered, blocking out any light from the sun, making the entire room look darkened.

"Hey bro, you want some company?" Ranma hesitantly asked.

"...whatever…" Kenma replied after a few seconds. OK, good, he's not dead. Not quite a good sign, but it's a decent one.

His older brother sat down "I can tell that you're not in the mood to talk right now, so I'll be brief."

Still no answer from Kenma.

"So we were all thinking, how about we get you an appointment with Doctor Tofu?" Ranma suggested.

"...how come?" Kenma spoke up. "I'm not sick or injured."

"Not physically injured, no. But I know that your spirit's been hurt pretty badly," his brother replied.

Kenma had to agree. "So like I'm getting therapy?" he asked.

"Eh, pretty much." Ranma shrugged.

Kenma cracked his neck and wriggled his arms. "Well…okay," he replied. "I'll admit, I feel more comfortable talking to Doc Tofu about this sorta thing than most people around here."

"So you'll give it a try, then?" The ponytailed boy asked.

"I may as well," nodded Kenma. "Besides…it isn't as though I'm flush with options."

"Great! Good luck, little brother." Ranma said as he opened his arms for a hug

Kenma glanced at him sideways…then wrapped his arms around his brother in response.

"Who loves ya more than I do? Except for maybe Shampoo or Ukyo?" the ponytailed boy asked.

"Well, apart from them, you're at the top," Kenma responded with a small smile.

"That's the spirit, Kenma!" Ranma patted his brother's back.

"OK…maybe I will come to school," stated Kenma. "But I'm not gonna tolerate any of the usual nonsense."

"Kenma, it's high school. Nobody expects ya to," responded Ranma.

ONE SCHOOL DAY LATER…

Ranma and Kenma were walking together as they exited the gates of the building.

"Pick up any interesting news?" inquired Kenma.

"Well, rumor is that Principal Kuno's bringing in a new detention monitor," replied Ranma. "But I don't really believe it too much." [Remember this, it's gonna be important later!]

"This, coming from Principal Kuno," Kenma countered. "There's a 50/50 chance of it being real, or he puts himself or Tatewaki in charge of that job to be a jerk to students…again."

"What, like when he was substitute principal?" asked Ranma. "Sheesh, that was crazy."

"Tellin' me…but I have a strange feeling," Kenma replied. "...that this guy could be one of our toughest opponents yet." (Readers, stay tuned to the story for more developments on that!)

"But for now let's get you to that appointment." the ponytailed boy said as he led the way to Dr. Tofu's clinic, with Kenma following right behind.

Later, at the office of the good doctor…

Ranma and Kenma passed by Shampoo, who was outside sweeping up.

"Hellooooo, nurse!" Kenma greeted as he passed by on his way inside. [We were more than overdue to use that joke]

"Dr. Tofu?" called Ranma. "We're here for Kenma's appointment!"

"Hi!" Betty the skeleton blurted out as she snuck up on the boys.

Kenma immediately turned white with shock as he shrieked and leapt into Ranma's arms. "...well. I wonder who screamed like that," he commented a few seconds later. "Because it wasn't me."

Tofu chuckled to himself as he walked out into the lobby. "Hi boys, I hope Betty here didn't scare you too much," he greeted.

"Who, us?" asked Kenma as he climbed out of Ranma's arms. "No way!"

"Well, glad she didn't scare the nerves out of you. Are you ready for your appointment, Kenma?" Tofu asked as he opened the door to his patient room.

Kenma nodded. "As I'll ever be," he replied as he headed into the room. "Let's do this thing, eh?"

"Good," Dr. Tofu nodded, following behind. Once he entered the therapy room, he saw that Kenma was now sitting on the chaise lounge he'd gotten for Christmas last year—a contribution from a grateful patient, no doubt.

"I'll admit, Kenma; I was pleasantly surprised to know that this wasn't about finding some mystical item or some other crazy challenge." the good doctor admitted.

"Guess it's nice to have a change of pace," shrugged Kenma, gazing up at the ceiling. "For once I'm only hurting emotionally, not physically, so that's an interesting experience."

"Hurting emotionally? That's not good. Care to elaborate?"

"Why not?" asked Kenma. "That's why I'm here."

He cleared his throat. "Doc, it should come as no surprise that my brother and I wouldn't know a thing about normal childhood if it slapped us in the face," he explained. "Thus, we never got to know our mother. Our father took us from her to train, and he believed that 'a mother's love' would make us weak. Just another of the many reasons I long to end his worthless life."

"Wow." Tofu exclaimed, positively flabbergasted at the amount of emotional baggage that Kenma was lugging around. "I'm not sure how to respond to that."

"Merely laying out the foundation, Doctor," Kenma replied. "The house shall come shortly."

"Ok then. Continue."

And at Dr. Tofu's behest, Kenma continued, explaining the situation that had recently occurred (You know, the previous chapter! If you haven't read it already, then go ahead and do it, then come back here. It's okay, we promise to wait.).

"...and the saddest thing is, I was actually beginning to believe it was true," finished Kenma. "Now…it's made me question so many things. Is anything I know genuine? Is what I have with Nabiki genuine, or does she just love me for what I can provide her with?"

"Well, I don't quite know how to answer that last part," the doctor confessed. "But from what Akane's been telling me, she can't get enough of you."

"R-really?" asked Kenma, his eyes widening before doubt wrapped its fingers around his mind again. "...I bet if I didn't have any money, she probably wouldn't give me the time of day."

"I dunno. It really does seem like she loves you for who you are," insisted Dr. Tofu.

"...you think so?" Kenma asked.

"I do. There are moments I hear Akane talk about some of the things Nabiki had done with and for you, Kenma," responded Dr. Tofu. "Apparently one of them was, well in her own words, 'spend her own money to make herself look good for you'."

Kenma's eyes lit up. "...really?" he asked, a smile forming on his face. "I guess it's genuine…there's that fear assuaged. But that just brings me back to the situation involving my mother. Will I ever actually see her? And will she be willing to accept Ranma and myself as we are?"

"Again, I can't say for certain but it's my informed medical opinion that she will," the good doctor reassured the younger Saotome. "And if she doesn't, then you and Ranma have each other to rely on."

"...another solid point," nodded Kenma, feeling a bit more confident. "Maybe I will meet her someday, but whatever happens, I'll take it as it comes."

"That's the spirit, Kenma!" Tofu excitedly exclaimed. "Ya know, I think we've really reached a breakthrough."

"That quickly, huh?" asked Kenma. "Nice."

"Well, I wouldn't say quick," replied Dr. Tofu. "You did spend most of the time recapping some of the events that brought you to this point. So that burned most of it off."

"Alright," nodded Kenma. "So how much time is left?"

"Well, we can keep going if you want. Though, I might have to check the calendar to see if I have any other appointments." he said as he got up and went over to the calendar on the wall.
"By the way, Kenma. Do you by any chance have any conflicted feelings about your brother's female form?"

At that, Kenma's brows shot up and if he'd been drinking anything, he'd have spit it out. "Sorry, Doc; I'm not quite ready to open that can of worms just yet," he said with a casual smirk. "

The doctor let out a small chuckle, "Ok, I understand. No need to get into it right away."

Kenma gave a quiet sigh of relief. "Right then…if there's nothing else you'd wanna talk about, I guess I'll be on my way and come back in a week or two so I can keep you up to speed."

"Alrighty then! Thanks for stopping by, Kenma. Yeah, see ya soon, Kiddo." Tofu said while waving goodbye with Betty's hand.

"Count on it!" Kenma gave a thumbs-up as he headed out of the room and into the front office. "...hey, Ranma. I'm ready to go, man." he said to his brother.

"Glad to see you back to your old self again, Ken." commented Ranma.

"I'll admit, I needed this," Kenma replied. "And…in a way, I've gotten stronger from it. Even if our mom doesn't accept us, we'll still have each other's backs—don't forget that!"

"Without a doubt!" the ponytailed boy stated as he opened his arms for a hug.

"Hug request…granted!" Kenma said as he reached out and wrapped his arms around his brother.

"So, are ya ready to head home?" Ranma asked.

"Is Kuno a deluded bum?" Kenma asked in return. "To put it simply: yes, correct, and YOU BET!"

"OK then, I'll race ya!" the older Saotome brother said as he sped off with almost no warning.

"So, that's how it is, eh?" Kenma called out as he took to his heels and ran after his big brother. "Not on my watch! Get back here!"

As the redheaded boy was in hot pursuit, he felt a new surge of confidence welling up inside him.

It's true that the incident had shaken him up something fierce…but he couldn't let doubts rule his life. He had to take this incident, learn from it…and grow stronger, in body and spirit. Besides, he still had plenty to live and fight for—including his big brother/Ranko.

Then again, I probably owe Akane an apology for what I said, he thought. ...you know what? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The End

Credits music:
Mystic Eyes
by Hiroki Wada