Chapter 32: Questions

A long silence stretched between them, the fire casting flickering shadows across their faces as they sat in the clearing, picking at the small collection of berries and nuts they had gathered. The warmth of the flames barely touched the cold knot in Akane's stomach. She held a berry between her fingers, rolling it absently before finally sighing.

Raya watched her carefully. There was something heavy in Akane's expression, something she had been carrying long before tonight. It made Raya hesitate before he finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Will you tell me about your family? The ones you were protecting?"

Akane blinked, looking up at her as if startled by the question. For a moment, she seemed uncertain, like she wasn't sure she wanted to speak at all. But then she let out a tired breath, dropping her gaze to the fire.

"I have two sisters, Nabiki and Kasumi. And my father, Soun," she murmured. "My mother died when we were young. My dad… he ran a small martial arts dojo. He was a good man. A man of honor. That's why he fought against Gosunkugi in the rebellion with the Wallkan forces." Her voice grew distant, heavy with something unspoken. "He kept me and my sisters out of the war talk, always telling us not to worry about it. That it was a burden he would carry for us. But in the end, it didn't matter. We all paid the price for his choices."

Raya remained quiet, listening.

Akane exhaled, wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't even know if they're still alive. If Gosunkugi still has them or if…" Her voice faltered. She clenched her jaw, shaking her head. "I keep trying not to think about it, but it's always there. If they're suffering. If they're waiting for me to come back, and I'm just out here, running, hiding…" She took a shaky breath, her fingers tightening against her arms. "What if I never see them again?"

Raya reached forward, grasping Akane's shoulder firmly. "You will," she said, her voice steady, sure. "We will make sure your family is returned to you safely if it's the last thing we do."

Akane swallowed, her expression uncertain. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I won't let it end any other way," Raya said without hesitation. "Gosunkugi took everything from you—your home, your freedom, your family. And we're going to take it back."

Akane stared at her, searching her face as if trying to find something to hold onto. And for the first time in a long while, she felt the smallest flicker of hope. "But aren't you worried too? How are you so confident?"

"I… am worried," Raya admitted, her voice quieter now. She stared into the fire, the flames reflecting in her blue eyes. "There are people I care about, people I want to protect. And yeah, I'm angry. I want revenge. I want to make those bastards pay for what they've done." She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms. "But more than anything else, I want to make sure you're safe."

Akane's breath caught at that, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her torn pants. "Why?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "You don't even really know me."

Raya's lips parted slightly, caught off guard by the question. He scrambled for a response, for a way to explain what he felt without revealing too much. "Because…" he hesitated, then shook his head. "Because you don't deserve to carry all this alone."

Akane scoffed softly, looking away. "I don't think that's true. I might not be the villain of this story, but I sure as hell am not the hero either." She exhaled, frustration and guilt thick in her voice. "This isn't just about me or my family or what I've lost. A lot of people are suffering right now, and it weighs on me that I played a part in that. Even if you tell me only Gosunkugi and Toma are truly responsible, I still unintentionally helped bring on what feels like an apocalypse." She wrapped her arms around herself as if bracing against a cold wind. "And why are you trying so hard to comfort me when you don't know me?"

Raya reached forward, gripping Akane's shoulders firmly. "Stop that," he said, his voice sharper than he intended. "You think you should've known what those monsters were planning? That you should've seen it coming? Akane, you were forced into an impossible situation. You were trying to save your family. Anyone else in your place would've done the same. And, I don't have to know you well to see the truth of the situation."

Akane shook her head. "But I was naïve. I thought I could outmaneuver them, I thought—"

"You thought you could find a way to survive for you and your family," Raya interrupted, her grip tightening slightly before she forced herself to relax. "That's not a crime. And it's not something you should be blaming yourself for."

Akane swallowed hard, her throat tight with emotion. She wanted to argue, to tell Raya that she didn't understand, that she didn't know the weight of the choices she had made. But the look in Raya's eyes stopped her—there was no pity there, only conviction.

A long silence stretched between them, the fire crackling softly.

"…What about you?" Akane finally asked. "Your family, your friends… what happens if we lose? What happens if we can't fix this?"

Raya exhaled through his nose, glancing up at the night sky. "Then we fight as long as we can. We survive. I'll see to it that Gosunkugi and Toma don't get what they want."

Akane studied her for a long moment before she dropped her gaze. "You're crazy confident. And you're way too good at making me feel hope," she muttered.

Raya smirked, leaning back slightly. "Eh. I'm just saying what I think Ranma would say."

Akane blinked, surprised by the sudden mention of his name. A shadow crossed her face, and she looked down at her hands. "…You think so?"

Raya nodded, her expression unreadable. "Yeah. I do."

He then smirked, watching the way Akane stared into the fire, lost in thought. An idea struck him—an opportunity too tempting to pass up. He stretched his legs out, leaning back on his hands casually. "So… you and Ranma, huh?"

Akane's head snapped up, eyes narrowing in confusion. "What about Ranma?"

Raya shrugged, feigning innocence. "Oh, nothing. I just figured, since you were married to him and all, you might be thinking about him."

Akane scoffed, looking away. "I've been trying not to."

"Oh, come on," Raya pressed, grinning. "Why? He's your lover. Aren't you worried? You can tell me. It's just between us girls." He winked, barely holding back a laugh when Akane shot him a glare.

Akane crossed her arms tightly. "I don't see how it matters now. Everything that happened… it was all a lie."

Raya hummed, tilting his head. "I dunno, seemed real enough to me. I heard from Tsubasa how you looked at him."

Akane's face turned red. "I did not look at him in any way!"

Raya laughed. "Oh, sure." He nudged Akane's shoulder playfully. "Come on, you must've thought something about him. Spill."

Akane groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Why do you even care?"

"Just curious," Raya said with an easy grin, though his heart was pounding in anticipation of Akane's answer. "I mean, he was your husband. Even if it was all fake, was there any part of you that actually liked the guy?"

Akane hesitated, staring at the fire. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice quieter now. "I mean, at first I thought he was arrogant. Annoying. Completely full of himself."

Raya smirked. "Sounds about right."

"But…" Akane frowned. "He wasn't… all bad. He was strong, and determined. He didn't seem to care about the politics of it all—he was just… trying to do his duty. And I guess I respected that." She sighed. "Not that it matters now."

Raya's teasing expression softened slightly. "You think he hates you?"

Akane hesitated before nodding. "Wouldn't you?"

Raya swallowed hard, a lump forming in his throat. "I think…" He started, then shook his head. "I think Ranma's got a way of holding onto things. I don't think he could hate you."

Akane let out a bitter laugh. "I wish I could believe that."

Raya wanted to tell her the truth. Wanted to tell her that he was Ranma, that he didn't hate her, that he never could. Maybe it was better if she didn't know. He might be like this forever, after all. So instead, he forced a smirk back onto his face and leaned in.

"Well, if you did have feelings for him, what would they be?" he prodded, nudging Akane again. "Come on, you can tell me."

Akane groaned, shoving him lightly. "I don't have feelings for him!"

Raya held his hands up, feigning surrender. "Alright, alright." He hesitated, his mind battling with itself as he debated whether or not to take things one step further. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it…

"So, uh…" He cleared his throat, struggling to sound casual. "How was he? In bed, I mean."

Akane choked on absolutely nothing, eyes widening in horror. "WHAT?!"

Raya shrugged, forcing himself to smirk even as his brain screamed at him for his own stupidity. "What? I mean, I am a courtesan, you know. But Ranma never came to visit me, so I'm curious." He leaned in, wiggling his eyebrows. "Was he any good, or was he all talk?"

Akane's face turned impossibly red. "I—That—We—!" She looked absolutely scandalized, flailing for words. "I never—We didn't—! What kind of question is that?!"

Raya fought so hard not to laugh, but oh, it was difficult. "Ohhh, so nothing happened?" He feigned disappointment, shaking his head. "Man. I thought for sure he would've tried something. Guess he's more of a gentleman than I gave him credit for."

Akane, still fuming, jabbed a finger at him. "You are the worst!"

Raya chuckled, leaning back with a satisfied grin. "Hey, I'm just making conversation."

Akane muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like pervert, and Raya let himself laugh, ignoring the fact that his own face felt slightly warm. He was definitely going to regret this conversation later if she ever found out that Raya was him.

Akane sat stiffly, glaring into the fire, trying to will away the warmth creeping up her neck. Raya really was the worst. Her teasing was relentless, playful in a way that Akane hadn't experienced in what felt like forever. It reminded her of—Tsubasa. A pang of longing hit her.

But it wasn't just Tsubasa she missed.

She missed Ranma.

And it made no sense, because it wasn't like she had ever really had him in the first place. But Raya bringing him up made her chest feel tight

She had no idea if he was okay either. If he was alive. If he hated her. The thought made her stomach churn. She had spent so much time arguing with him, pushing back whenever he got too close, and now she just wished she could see him again—to know he was safe. To know that the last time she saw him wouldn't be the last time.

The weight of everything pressed down on her. She had been away from home for so long, ripped away from everything familiar, everything stable. She missed her sisters, her father—even her old school in Shiryia. She had never realized how much she had relied on her female friends until now. The girls who would link arms with her in the school corridors, who would giggle over shared secrets, who would nudge her knowingly whenever they caught her sneaking glances at Doctor Tofu. And now, here she was, stranded in a war-torn world, with only a courtesan—someone who, in theory, should be her rival—as her companion.

Yet, somehow, it didn't feel like that.

Despite everything, Raya was… easy to be around. Teasing, sure, but there was something in the way she talked to her that reminded her of those schoolyard conversations. A playfulness she hadn't felt in so long. It was comforting. And yet, it made something inside her feel… weird. Because technically, wasn't Raya competition? A woman trained to be a perfect companion for Ranma. Someone beautiful, confident, and entirely not Akane. It should make her angry, make her pull away—but instead, it made something in her bristle, like she wanted to stake a claim before she lost something she didn't even have the right to want.

The thought made her ears burn. What the hell is wrong with me?

Raya's voice pulled her back to reality. "Oh, come on, you can't seriously expect me to believe nothing happened between you two."

Akane's hands clenched in her lap. She didn't want to talk about this. Her pride screamed at her to brush it off, to let Raya keep teasing her. But… she also didn't want to pretend it hadn't meant something to her. That she hadn't thought about it—about him—every single night since she fled the palace.

So, with a deep breath, she forced herself to speak.

"We did," she admitted, her voice quieter than she intended. "Slept together, I mean."

Raya visibly stiffened. "Oh."

Akane looked down at the fire, her fingers twisting in her lap. "It was… nice," she murmured, feeling heat rise to her face. "Ranma was… more patient than I thought he'd be. Gentle. Attentive." Her voice dropped slightly. "I guess I didn't expect that from him."

Silence stretched between them.

Akane, still feeling embarrassed, glanced up—and was immediately met with the sight of Raya's entire face burning red.

She blinked. "Wait." A slow grin crept onto her lips. "Why are you embarrassed?"

Raya turned his head sharply, coughing into her fist. "I'm not!"

Akane leaned closer, smirking now. "Really? Because for a courtesan, you sure look flustered."

"I—I just wasn't expecting you to be so blunt about it!" Raya sputtered, avoiding her gaze.

Akane raised an eyebrow. "You were literally the one prying for details!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting you to actually tell me!" Raya shot back, her voice cracking slightly. She shifted awkwardly, still looking anywhere but at her.

Akane snickered. "Wow. You're really bad at this."

Raya groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "I take it back. I don't want to know. Forget I said anything."

Akane grinned, feeling victorious. "Too late. You pried, and now you have to live with it."

Raya muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like this was a mistake, and Akane couldn't help but laugh.

For the first time in what felt like forever, it actually felt good to laugh.