TENSION… RESOLUTION… SOLUTION ?
"Shhhh, here he comes !" warned Nabiki.
They had finished their convo anyway, after about 20 minutes spent evoking the most recent developments, the most notable of which was the unexpected and totally astounding disappearance of Ranma's fear of cats.
As the footsteps were nearing, they just assumed neutral/normal attitudes, as if this was after all a day like any other days…
…but nothing was actually further from the truth.
"Morning, everybody !"
All eyes naturally stuck to the newcomer… and opened slightly wider.
"Ranma, why are you in your female self again ? You had changed back to male yesterday evening… so what happened ?" Akane asked as gently as possible, but starting to feel slightly restless.
The redhead stopped on her way to the table.
"Oh, that ? Well I was splashing water on my face, to wake myself up, and when I wanted to turn off the faucet… I ended up turning it the wrong way ! Water started to spurt out violently, and as I was hurrying to turn it the other way, the jet of water hit my arm and sent many drops to my face. That's how I ended all wet, and noticed that I had become a girl." Then the red-haired put her forefinger to her lips, clearly thoughtful. "Well I'm pretty sure it happened that way, at least…"
"You're not sure, dear Ranma ?" quietly asked a concerned Katsumi.
The petite teen scratched her head.
"Yes… Yes I am. I'm… pretty sure, yeah."
But she didn't appear that sure to the others gathered around the table.
"I don't want to be a killjoy, Son, but to be "sure" is not to know. It just happened, not long ago, so you should know what took place…" remarked Genma.
"Come on, Saotome, it's no big deal if Ranma doesn't remember. She must still be tired, and not fully awake yet. Nothing wrong with that." Soun chimed in.
The blue-eyed girl looked at Soun, but said nothing, walking instead to her "table spot" and settling herself nicely on her cushion to start her breakfast.
"By the way…how come you're all up already, and I'm the last one up ?" wondered the forgetful one.
"I barely slept and therefore got up pretty early…" Akane simply answered, and indeed, her night had been everything but quiet.
"I also didn't sleep as well as usual either…" observed Katsumi.
"Hum… same here, actually…" said Nabiki, which wasn't entirely true, as she had still managed to get some quality sleep at some point.
The reason was identical for the three sisters : Ranma's increasing problems.
As for the two fathers, they pretexted the same thing… although in their case, it was pure lie, but they didn't want to tell the sleep-challenged girls that THEY had slept fine.
"I'm sorry for you all, really…" gently sympathized the Saotome daughter, her face the sheer expression of concern and disappointment.
Akane realized that, while they all felt sorry and worried for Ranma, it was her, in this moment, who was sorry and worried for them all. It felt cruelly ironic… and it's the cruel part of it that brought tears to the brunette's eyes.
She is concerned for us… while she is the one with the most problems right now. And we are the ones who must be concerned, not her, because our sleep issues are nothing compared to her memory losses. She's the one who needs help, not us !
"Akane !" gently said Ranma, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Akane, what's the matter ?"
The youngest Tendo put her hand over the redhead's and smiled through her tears.
"Nothing. Just… just mental fatigue, that's all. Thank you, Ranma."
The puzzled pigtailed teen hesitated, then she made a small smile, but only half-heartedly, as she was still worried about her fiancée's sudden weeping.
They ate in silence for long minutes, the only sounds being those of the chopsticks and the teacups set down on the table after a sip.
"Ranma-chan, I would like to know something. I hope you won't be upset by my question, but… after changing back into a girl, why didn't you change back into a boy ? I'm asking you this because I noticed that it's the third time at least that you remain a girl… Did you actually start to enjoy your female appearance ?" a curious Nabiki asked.
"Well yeah, I do enjoy it. I didn't start to enjoy it, I just usually do." was the reply.
The bobcut girl raised a brow.
"Usually ? But Ranma-chan, you usually hurry to switch back to male when splashed with cold water. You have always done your utmost to revert to boy as soon as possible. That's why I was wondering why you didn't do so these past times, and kept your female body."
The pigtailed female frowned.
"I usually hurry to…?"
But didn't finish her sentence, pondering what she had just been told.
Soun coughed, his manner to indicate he was about to utter something important.
"You don't remember that, Ranma ? You don't remember cursing your female form, and always looking for hot water, to revert to your male form as soon as possible ?"
The red-haired girl silently stared at Soun then made a wince and lowered her head…
…then her hands curled into fists.
"I… don't know… I don't…. I don't wanna talk about what I forgot… anymore."
She painfully gulped, feeling the lump in her throat, yet holding back her tears…
…her tears of helplessness.
"Son, this can't go on like that !" exclaimed Genma, clearly upset. "You've been forgetting too many things lately !"
His child, currently daughter, clenched her fists on the table.
"I said I didn't wanted to talk about what I forgot. Not now, and not later."
She raised her blue eyes, and while the dangerous sparkle of wrath glowed in them, the wetness of sadness was still visible under them.
"I don't want to discuss about my… my recent memory failures… I'm just having a bad period lately… I'm just tired… it will get better soon… just leave me time…"
Genma was frowning at her.
"Son… I'm not sure time will help… what you need is help… someone who can check on you and perhaps find what's wrong in you…"
Ranma's jaw contracted.
"Leave me some time and I'll feel better… it's been only a few days since those problems appeared…"
"More than that ! It has been three weeks, Ranma !" Akane couldn't help correcting.
Her fiancé was still frowning, and the brunette felt uneasy being frowned at by the person she cared the most for.
"Not that long. Maybe a week, no more !" retorted the red-haired female.
"Ranma, I swear that it's longer th-"
"NEVERMIND !" shouted the gender changer. "We have to go to school anyway ! So forget about that and let's go !"
Akane wanted to say something to calm down the incensed redhead who had just got up and was walking away, but on second thought, she decided to just let it go, and merely followed her.
As she was passing by Ranma, who was waiting for Akane at the open door, Nabiki stopped, turned to look at the smaller girl and gently put a hand on her shoulder.
Worried brown eyes met incensed blue eyes.
No words were pronounced, yet their "visual exchange" was meaningful enough…
Blue eyes silently said : Don't start as well about my distraction, I don't need that right now.
Brown eyes silently said : I'm worried about you, take good care of you and get better soon.
Then Nabiki's gaze softened, and her lips parted, about to let out words… but then closed, replaced by a small, sorry smile that soon faded, and the second daughter left, to offer Ranma and Akane some privacy, in case they wanted to have a serious discussion…
-/-
The basketball training, that Tuesday, proved pretty intense and overall rewarding.
Akane was pleased to see Ranma play real good and be in his element. He was focused and didn't appear sidetracked, which was a welcome relief.
Yet, at the end of the session…
"Good job, Man ! You did quite well !" Daisuke congratulated him.
"Definitely !" added Hiroshi, giving him a thumb up.
Ranma smiled, and Akane enjoyed this smile, especially in that troubled period, and even more after the unpleasant moment of the morning, with the outburst of her beloved's female self.
"But… uh… there's just one thing…" started Hiroshi.
The fiancés' smiles vanished.
"It's not serious, mind you… well, not that serious, I think… It's just that… you used to be always ready for the rebound… and this time, you weren't in the opposite basket area when the others tried to score and missed."
"Yeah, Man ! I noticed that as well !" confirmed Daisuke. "It's too bad because you're really good at catching the ball at rebound ! Why did you stop doing it ?"
Akane gulped, knowing the happy moment she had just experienced was now over.
He has forgotten again…
"The rebound ?" Ranma repeated.
"Yeah, the rebound !" confirmed Daisuke.
"Hum…" hesitated the black-haired boy.
"The rebound." Slow, faltering nod from Ranma… that made Daisuke frown. "Ranma, don't tell me you forgot what a rebound is ?!"
"No, no… It's just that I was, uh… wondering why I stopped doing that, if I'm good at it."
The two friends exchanged a skeptical look then looked back at that boy they thought they knew so well, but who was behaving rather strange, lately.
"Hum, anyway, for our next training session, in a week, it would be better that you work on the rebound and make sure to use it as often as possible, that next time, okay ?" proposed Hiroshi, more serious than usual, given the weird context.
"Alright, I will."
"Sure, Man ?" insisted Daisuke.
Their pigtailed buddy raised three fingers stuck together, the classic promise gesture.
"Sure. Don't worry, guys. I'll be at the top of my game !"
The other two gave brief smiles, more as a formality than because they actually felt like smiling, and left together.
"Ranma, have you really forgotten what a rebound is ?"
He blinked at her.
"Ranma ?! Did you hear what I just asked you ?"
"Yeah, well… uh… I… I kind of… hum, I'm too tired lately. And my head starts aching now. Perhaps we should see this at home, no ?"
But she didn't budge.
"I'm not going home until you've answered my question. Have you forgotten about it ?"
He gave a long, exasperated sigh.
"YEAH ! YEAH, I HAVE !" he screamed, then realized his outburst, and continued on a lower yet still livid tone : "Listen, I'm sorry for screaming, but… I'm upset ! My friends tell me about something they're sure I know about, yet I don't anymore. I feel stupid as hell ! How am I supposed to play that match if I begin forgetting about the rules and moves ?!"
Her turn to sigh.
"You're not stupid at all… but, Ranma, you need help ! You've been very absent-minded lately and didn't remember about several things. Or sometimes you remember wrong. This can't go on !"
She looked down and swallowed her saliva with difficulty, because of the lump that had begun aching down there…
"Look, Akane, I'm sorry…"
She raised her head and her dark eyes locked with his lighter ones.
"And me, I'm sorry for you ! You have to accept our help, Ranma ! It can't go on like this ! You have to agree to see Dr Tofu !"
He looked at her in silence, and she felt sad, because she assumed he couldn't remember who Dr Tofu was…
…but then he solemnly nodded.
-/-
Dinner was over, and once again, Ranma had caught people's looks on him several times. It wasn't easy for him to see all this attention focused on him, knowing that all those glances were related to a problem of his, and not to a good thing.
Their gazes reminded him that he had issues lately, and he would have preferred to… forget it.
"Look, I know you're all checking on me because you worry for me. I appreciate your concern, but I'm sad to make you feel that way. And also… I'm sorry getting mad this morning, and for… well, for refusing to admit that my problem is more serious than just mere tiredness or lack of sleep. My memory is playing tricks on me and… I have to find out what's the cause of it and how it can be fixed. So… I'll go see Dr. Dofu tomorrow. I hope he can… What ? What did I say ?"
He had noticed Nabiki's sudden eyebrow rise, Kasumi's surprised stare and Soun's immediate frown.
"What ?" he repeated.
"Did you say… Dr. Dofu, Ranma-kun ?" asked Nabiki.
"Well yeah. That's his name, right ?"
"It's 'Tofu'. With a T. Not 'Dofu'." she corrected.
"I'm pretty sure it's Dofu !" he countered, arms crossed.
"You'll see his name at his practice…" she replied with a sigh. "But it's good thing you decided to go see him, because you need to. And your mistake about his name is just another proof of your memory issues."
"But I was sure…" he couldn't help mumbling.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to the left.
"I'll go with you" Akane softly told him, and smiled.
"Are you sure it's a good idea ? Who knows, you might get scared about his conclusion on my case…"
"I want to be by your side. To support you. You need support, Ranma, now more than ever."
"And I agree with Akane…" Kasumi chimed in. "You need someone by your side in the trying times of life, and she cares for you, Ranma. A lot."
He sighed and looked at the short-'haired brunette on his left.
"It's incredible you care that much for me, after all the nasty things I told you during months and months. I've been horrible with you, and I'm ashamed of ever behaving that way. How can you be so worried for me after all that ?"
Her smile widened, as her cheek's colour subtly changed.
"I think you know why…"
-/-
"Akane ! Ranma ! Hello, my dear friends ! How nice to see you ! How have you been ?"
"Good morning, Doctor ! Well… we were doing good the past months, but the past weeks have been… more difficult…"
Tofu Ono straightened his glasses, a perplexed look now going from the girl to the boy and vice-versa.
"Any accident ? Any headache ? Any cold ?" he inquired, trying to guess the cause of their visit.
"Well…" started Akane, then she turned to her fiancé. "Ranma will explain you."
He took a deep breath, and…
"So… here it is : lately, I tend to forget things, every now and then. And I also remember wrong : I'm certain about something, yet it turns I'm wrong about it. So there are two… uh… two… how do you call them already…"
"Symptoms"
"Symptoms ?" Ranma hesitated, trying to remember about that word, yet coming up with no result. "Alright, two… symptoms, then: oblivion and wrong memories."
Dr. Tofu considered the "patient" for long seconds, then a movement of his mouth briefly gave away his preoccupation, before he regained a neutral, professional composure.
"I see… That sounds very serious. And when did that begin exactly ?"
"Maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago, I can't remember for sure. Probably 3, I'd say."
"And are you forgetting or remembering wrong on a constant, regular basis ? Or do you tend to forget more and more over time ?"
Ranma gulped.
"Well…probably more and more, I think…"
The doctor nodded a few times, then remained lost in thought for long, long seconds.
"Given your answers, I can see you have difficulty to remember things. And what worries me is that it seems to worsen with time. We call this "gradual amnesia" : the difference with "classic" amnesia, if I can put it that way, is that the patient's oblivion augments as time passes by, while standard amnesia implies oblivion that doesn't change. You don't forget more over time : the missing elements remain the same. In your case, they gradually disappear from your memory, so that this type of amnesia is in constant evolution, and it's certainly not possible to know when it might end. I will check in my books, but I'm almost convinced that we cannot predict when gradual amnesia will come to its term. When… or if it will ever."
Akane put a hand over her mouth, and after removing it, she expressed her great worry :
"Doctor Tofu… when you say "if it will ever"… are you implying that it's not even sure that this type of amnesia will cease one day ?!"
He sighed.
"Alas yes, Akane, that's what I meant : it's not sure. And since we know so little about that kind of amnesia, there's therefore little we can in turn know and get certain about. Scientists are still studying it, but given that it's a very rare kind of affection, they only have occasional patients they can examine and "study", if I can say so."
"And… what about my wrong memories ? When I'm sure to remember correctly, yet I don't. How come the brain can produce memories that actually don't exist ?! That's crazy…!"
"This is called "paramnesia", in medical terms. It's also not very common, but still less rare than gradual amnesia. It can be caused by different factors : it can either be hereditary, appear after a violent concussion or be exposed to either radioactive or toxic elements. Can you tell me if you've been exposed to one of these ? And do you know if one of your parents experienced paramnesia ?"
The young martial artist got thoughtful.
"Regarding concussion and toxic elements, I don't think so. Well, at least, I don't recall any of these two. Now, regarding my parents… I can ask Pops, and if he replies no, then it means it could be my mother who got para… paramnesy…"
"Paramnesia"
"Yes. Anyway, I will ask Pops once I get home and let you know what he says."
"Yes, please. And in the mean time, I'll prepare a prescription of vitamins and trace elements, as well as a list of nutrients, all of which favour memory and help maintain a good memory level. You can buy vitamins and trace elements in any pharmacy, and as for nutrients, you'll need to follow a strict diet based on specific foodstuff, and eat several of the nutrients listed during each meal. I'll prepare both prescription and list this evening, and you can pick them up anytime tomorrow."
There was a lull in the conversation.
Then both thanked Dr Tofu and he accompanied them to the entrance. Ranma waved him goodbye and started walking away… but Akane turned once more to the Tendo's physician.
"Doctor… do you think it will work ? Be honest, please : I need to hear the truth, and if there are high risks, don't sugarcoat it and tell me straight away !"
"I didn't intend to sugarcoat my reply, Akane. I respect you a lot and will always be sincere to you. So… to be frank… I'm not entirely convinced it will work, but we have to test this first and see if results are positive before considering taking more serious measures. In many cases, the first treatments given work efficiently, and there's no need to go further. We must try to counter the devastating effects of his two affections, and stimulating his memory by any means possible is the best option we have at hand. I do hope it will be efficient, because if not… Oh, he's coming back ! I'll tell you next time, alright ?"
And indeed, the young Saotome, having noticed he was walking alone, had retraced his steps and was coming in their direction.
Akane nodded and thanked the doctor, before saying goodbye.
Ranma looked at her, then at Dr. Tofu, then back at her.
She grabbed his arm in hers and dragged him away.
"What were you two talking about ?" he asked her.
"I was asking him if he thought it would work, and he said yes."
But what she didn't say is that he wasn't absolutely sure about it, not "entirely convinced", as he had said…
It remained a "maybe"…
As they were walking back home, the black-haired girl cast glances at the black-haired boy, every now and then, as she felt anxious about him… and deep in her heart, she so dearly hoped that either thanks to Dr Tofu's treatment or thanks to a more advanced, more elaborate one, Ranma could be cured.
That he could be saved.
At some point, as he turned to her, he caught her observing him… with visible concern.
Feeling sorry for her, sorry that he made her worry so much for him, he decided to comfort her, and thus offered her a gentle smile.
It wasn't a forced smile, no : it was a sincere one. He intended to frankly smile at her and hoped that it would somewhat alleviate her deep worry.
It wasn't much, a smile against growing anguish… but it was better than nothing.
She indeed felt slightly better and smiled back. And hers was also a sincere one, meant to show her care and support for him.
Both smiles meant : It will be alright, you'll see… it will…
But as always, time would tell if it would be…..
-/-
-/-
This chappy should have been finished sooner, but workload during the second half of past week threw spanners in my works… hence the delay for publishing this one.
Anyway…
A (half-)bad solution is better than no solution at all, don't you think ? Because it leaves you time to think out a better plan, find a better, more convenient solution. We do with what we're given, don't we ? And since we cannot work miracles, and are only humans...
Good thing here : Ranma didn't make difficulty to go see Dr. Tofu. He's clever and realized that his condition was not only abnormal, but also worsening, alas. And that something had to be done before it got too serious, with possible irreversible consequences…
Oh, and did you like that moment when Ranma implicitly apologized to Akane for being such a nasty dude in the past, and she replied "I think you know why…" ? I found it very moving, and it's perhaps my favourite moment in this chapter. When humans want to, they can really make things better… I just wish they wanted it much more often.
Alright, time to conclude this part. Hope you liked it. Thanxxxx as always for reading, favouriting, following, reviewing this fic' ! Your support is a huge motivation to carry on. Gratitude galore, dear readers !
Take care & be happy, as happy as you can possibly be ! :D
Léo