Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that i claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors chapter 18: The Girl in the Mirror
October 19th, Monday 6:30PM, The Kuonji Residence.
Ukyo stretched as she made her way into her humble little place, a smile on her face. It had been three months that they had been dating, but it was going well, she thought. She wasn't able to go on that first trip he asked her to, but the next one made up for it. They had spent time together as a real couple, between his business outings. Even when he was away, he made sure that she was well taken care of. Honestly, he was going to spoil her if she was being honest with herself. They talked, held hands, and spent time together. He even kissed her, right before they went to their separate rooms. Honestly, if there was anything she was unhappy about she had to admit it was the lack of...Physical intimacy. They had kissed, held each other, even slept in the same bed. But, that was it. There seemed to be a line he wasn't willing to cross yet. Not that she wasn't tempted to try and make the decision for him, but he seemed so set on it for now.
She grinned as she looked at her messages, Akane had messaged her again to make sure that she was still going to be available for the girls night next week. That was one of the other things she was rather pleased with. The one time outing had become a monthly thing, and it looked like it might even become more frequent than that. She had even met the reclusive Akiko last month for the first time, and had to admit, for someone younger than herself she really seemed to have it all together.
Akane was also a pleasant surprise. She didn't expect for the two of them to get along as well as they did, but it seemed that dating the mysterious siblings had managed to bring the two of them closer together as well. Honestly, in some ways she already considered the therapist like a sister that she hadn't known she was missing until she met her.
The two had compared notes a few times on the siblings, and neither of them had really made any progress, as it were. It seemed that both siblings were alike in that manner.
Another surprise was the invite she had received before Ranma left, looking more grave than was normal. She had been formally invited to visit the Saotome's on Sunday, when Ranko would be coming. That was a first. Even the nights that she had stayed there on Saturday, she was driven back home before the siblings dinner. One of the many odd mysteries that surrounded the two.
As she read over the invite again, she was interrupted by her phone buzzing. A quick look at the caller I.D. and she answers it. "Hey Akane, always nice to hear from you! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Akane cleared her throat and laughed. "It's not like I don't call you often anymore. So, I just received something in the mail from Ranko… I was wondering if you had gotten one as well?"
"Would that something happen to be a super-odd invite to the siblings dinner?" Ukyo said as she looked over her own invite again.
"It would happen to be that, yes. I take it you were given one by Ranma, then?" Akane asked.
"Yes...And he seemed very nervous about it." Ukyo confirmed.
"Maybe Mr. Stoic is going to propose, and wanted us all there for it?" Akane prompted.
"As...Nice as that would be, I think it might still be a bit early for that. So, I was curious….Is there still a hard line in the...Intimate...aspects of your relationship as well?" Ukyo hesitantly asked.
Akane laughs, and Ukyo can imagine the blush spreading over the other's cheeks. "The fact that you ask tells me you two are at the same seeming impasse. It's the 21st century, it's okay for couples to have sex. Seriously! I love cuddling with her, she is so adorable, but….Sometimes it would be nice to feel like I can be more...Intimate...with her."
Ukyo laughed as well. "Oh, I know what you mean. They both have wills of iron, or we are not nearly as tempting as we would like to think we are."
Akane chuckled at that. "I think we should coordinate, come in our best and see what happens. We will talk more later in the week, okay? See if you can get any details out of your better half, since I can't contact mine right now."
"At least we will get to see them both on Sunday, though!" Ukyo added in.
"There is that…." Akane said with a sigh.
"You have it so bad." Ukyo says with a laugh.
"Like your one to talk! I will catch you later, take care!" Akane says as she gets ready to hang up.
"Take care!" Ukyo said then hung up the phone call, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Okay! Time to go all out!" She said with a determined tone to her voice.
October 25th, Sunday 10:00 A.M. Outside the Kuonji residence. Halloween.
Ukyo fidgeted again, checking to make sure that her kimono was done properly. She wasn't used to dressing up this early in the morning, and was frankly anxious about whatever was about to happen with this visit. It felt different somehow, like some unseen weight was pressing down on her. It felt, honestly, like she was about to be given access to some unseen, private world. And, in a way, she was. Akane and her had been invited to the sibling's dinner, an event that each of them had only heard of, or seen the other arriving for. During the months that they had been dating, never once had either of them been made privy to this most private of aspects of their partner's lives.
Shiro was due to arrive any moment now, after having stopped to pick up Akane already. At least Akane had her sisters to drop by and help her get ready at this early hour. Still, and with hardly sleeping the previous night, Ukyo was as ready as she would ever be.
The car arrived right on time, hardly surprising with the ever punctual Shiro. When the car stopped and Shiro got out to open the door for her, she didn't expect to see Akane and Nabiki inside, waiting for her.
"Good morning, Akane. Good morning to you as well, Mrs. Watanabe. I, honestly didn't expect to see you here." Ukyo says as she is handed in by the ever gracious Shiro.
"Good morning, Ukyo. Ranma, for whatever reason, thought it would be best if Nabiki was here today. I honestly don't get it myself." Akane says as she looked at her unusually quiet and reserved sister.
"I'm sorry Akane-chan, Ukyo, but I can't say anything else on the matter." Nabiki says with a soft smile.
Ukyo shook her head and settled in as the car started to move again. "It's okay, it just makes me even more curious about today."
Nabiki nodded, sipping from her mug of coffee. "It will be okay, just there might be a bit of a shock involved with everything today, so they figured that having a familiar face around would help."
The two other ladies give each other a look, then with a shrug they dropped into small talk, neither really wanting to explore that statement anymore than they were already thinking about it.
Shortly, they arrive at the Saotome's estate, the entire staff waiting outside to greet them, with a rather nervous looking Ranma standing at the top of the stairs.
The three ladies make their way up the steps, stopping before Ranma as the staff bowed formally, then after a moment, departed.
"Sorry about that, what with...Everything that is happening today, they wanted to greet you both formally." Ranma says as he stands there looking more than a bit awkward.
"And what I am, chopped liver? Well, Saotome?" Nabiki groused with a bit of a smirk on her face.
Ranma gave her a long-suffering look. "You and I both know that all of us would have been lost without you, Nabiki."
"Well, what can I say? I'm irreplaceable." Nabiki says with a smirk and a laugh.
"You...are something else, that is for sure." Ranma said before he steps forward, taking Ukyo's hands in his and pulling her in for a gentle hug. "It's good to see you. Thank you...For coming today."
"Thank you for inviting me..Us..Sugar. Are you doing okay?" Ukyo asked, gazing into his blue eyes intently.
He smiled and laughed. "Not really, but I will manage. I'm just...Nervous about today." He conceded as he took Ukyo's hand and led her in, the other two following behind the couple.
"It's never easy, being the odd one out, is it?" Akane asked her sister, watching the two.
"No, but they both deserve some happiness. All four of you do, and that is something you need to focus on, Akane." Nabiki says cryptically as they walk into the study.
Ranma reluctantly let go of Ukyo's hand to go sit behind his desk, as the other ladies found their own seats. At Nabiki's prompting, Akane and Ukyo sit next to each other on the leather couch while Nabiki sits off to the side in one of the comfortable looking sitting chairs.
"So, I imagine you both would like to know why we asked for you to come here today?" Ranma said, looking briefly at them both before looking away.
Ukyo speaks up first. "I would, sugar. But first, is everything okay? You haven't been yourself all week. You know, no matter what is going on, I am here for you, right?"
"I would like to know as well, and...I know that you might not have the same...relationship..with me that Ranko does, I am still here for both of you, if I can be of help." Akane said with a gentle smile on her face.
Ranma sighed and looked at Nabiki, who just nodded as she looked at the time.
It was rapidly approaching 11:30. It was time, he couldn't stall anymore.
"I...We...want to be completely honest with both of you, we want to tell you about what happened to us five years ago. How we ended up like we are, why there are so many little odd things about us, and.. Why we are both afraid that we could lose you both." Ranma said gravely.
The two women look at each other, then at a silent nod Akane speaks up. "So, you are saying that you haven't been honest with us before? That both of you have been lying about something. I would like to know what that is, because I have the feeling it affects us both."
Ukyo speaks up at this point. "I don't like lying, or tolerate it to be honest. If you can't be honest and open in a relationship, then there isn't much to build on. That said, I'm willing to listen to what you have to say before I decide what I need to do. Nothing against you, Ranma...I..care deeply for you, but I don't want to be hurt and lied to again."
Ranma sighed, glancing at Nabiki who just nodded back to him, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"Our story...It's a very odd one, one that I honestly wouldn't believe, if I wasn't part of it. Nabiki and a very few others outside of our household know the truth. Oddly, a fair number of them are related to you, Akane." He said as he steepled his hands. "Tofu and Kasumi Ono, Nabiki Watanabe, Akiko Watanabe and one Doctor Hans Friedman. Those are the only ones outside of our household that know of what I...We...are about to tell you." Ranma said gravely.
The two women look at each other, then nod. "Tell us what you need to, Ranma. We...will do our best to listen and understand." Akane said as she reached over and took Ukyo's hand in hers.
Ranma nods, slowly standing and pacing back and forth in that slow, deliberate manner of his. "The first thing, I guess, is that there wasn't an accident, not...Like what was in the reports."
"What..do you mean, there wasn't an accident?" Ukyo asked.
"I mean, it wasn't a wet road in the dark that caused it. It was a fight between two beings. One of them was the girl we learned was Natsume. Not the friend of Nabiki's you have met, but...A strange, oddly familiar young girl. The other, the only way to describe it was a small oni. A little demon that tore apart the car and killed my parents."
Akane blinked at that. "You..want us to believe that you were attacked by a demon? That both of you were attacked by a demon that killed your parents?"
"I was attacked, yes. It destroyed the car and killed my parents...And almost killed me. Honestly, I should have died that night. I would have, if not for Natsume." He said gently, leaning against the back of the chair.
"And...Where was Ranko in all of this?" Akane asked softly.
"That...is part of the story that I think I will have to let her tell you. She was not present for the attack, though." He said, looking at them both.
"But, I have seen the injuries on her! They almost exactly match the ones you have!" Ukyo said, standing up and facing him angrily. "What kind of sick game is this, Ranma?"
He sighed and looked at the clock again. "Walk with me, I need to show you both something, then we can answer all of your questions." He said, reaching for Ukyo's hand, and sighing when she doesn't take his. "Please, walk with me."
He leads the way out the other door as Ukyo lets Akane take her hand, walking along behind him with Nabiki hanging towards the back looking sad.
They soon arrived at a small, ancient shrine and walked in. Inside, a reflecting pool sits in the middle of the floor, small pieces of glass littering the bottom of it. No, as they get closer, it seems to be small shards of mirrors. The pool reflects the ceiling in a hazy manner, wavering in an odd manner as Ranma slowly approached it, staring into the depths of the pool. One odd thing was the fact that Ranko's chair was here, sitting by the edge of the pool.
"Take a look into the pool, and I think some of your questions will be answered." Ranma says almost sadly as he moves to stand in front of Ranko's chair, staring into his reflection.
The two women look at each other, then cautiously approach, casting worried looks to each other before they decide to humor Ranma, each wondering what kind of game he was playing, or if he had lost his mind.
What they see in the pool makes them both stop and stare for a moment.
Reflected in the pool is not the rugged, handsome visage of Ranma Saotome. No, who they see is the scarred beauty, Ranko saotome staring back at them with a sad look in her eyes.
Ranma reached toward the reflection of his sibling, as she seems to do the same. Time seems to pause as their fingers touch on opposite sides of the reflective surface, then it is no longer Ranma half kneeling there, it is Ranko reaching for her chair as she collapses. The other two women stare in shock at the sight before them, unable to process what they have seen. It is Nabiki who steps forward and helps Ranko settle into her chair, resting a hand gently on the smaller redhead's shoulder.
"Akane, Ukyo…. I'm sorry about this. My name Is Ranko Saotome, and...I don't really belong here."
Nabiki looked at the three distraught other women and sighed. "Let's get you all somewhere you can sit and talk. I've..Heard her story before, and believe me. You want to be sitting down for this."
"Akane… I…" Ranko starts to say, before Alkane holds up her hand.
"Ranko...dear, you...can explain all of this, right?" Akane said in a strained voice.
"I can try. I..hope you both will be a bit more likely to believe me now….And...sorry about this…" The diminutive redhead says as Nabiki starts to wheel her back towards the study.
The other two women follow shakily behind, holding hands for support.
*A/N*
Finally! The big reveal. It has..Been a long time coming.
The next chapter will be heavy, I will warn you now.
Ranma's parents were the GOOD Saotome's.
Rankos….
They might have been crazier than canon's.
Next! Chapter 19: Ranko's tale.