"All right Akane, repeat it back to me. What are the steps I just took?"
"Hmmm?" Akane blinked and looked up, taking a moment to focus on the Okonomiyaki chef. "Oh, uh… I'm sorry, Ukyou, I missed what you were doing."
Ukyou gave Akane an exasperated look and put her hands on her hips. "This is the third time you've missed it! This is the basic prep for the grill before we start making an okonomiyaki! Look, if you don't want to do this today…"
"No, no!" Akane quickly shook her head. "I do, I'm just…" She sighed, not wanting to talk about the real reason just yet. "It all bleeds together, you know? I can remember the steps, but I get the order wrong, or I leave one step out and it ruins the whole thing… Your hands are just a blur, I can barely keep track!"
Ukyou raised an eyebrow. "This from the girl who counted every one of 500 blows Ranma landed on that figure skating letch in about 15 seconds?"
"That's different. That's martial arts," Akane replied glumly.
Ukyou cocked her head. "Why?"
Akane blinked. "What do you mean 'why'? This is cooking, not martial arts! It's completely different!"
"No it's not," Ukyou said. "This is part of my martial art. Just ingredients and specific actions at specific times. Like… hot ki plus cold ki, mixed in a spiral pattern, plus properly timed redirection of cold ki with your fist equals tornado."
Akane looked past Ukyou at the grill, considering.
Volleyball as a Martial Art! No special rules or nothin'... but seein' the game as it is as a martial art, an' applyin' the Anything Goes precepts to it!
"Let me see you do it again," Akane said, watching Ukyou's movements intently, tracking them as if she were trying to learn a kata.
Ukyou nodded and went back to the grill, restarting her prep.
000
"Owwwwww…" Ranma groaned, feeling the throbbing in her head as awareness slowly swam back to her. Her back hurt. Her legs hurt. Her head really hurt. And something heavy was on top of her.
She cracked an eye, squinting. Her vision was still wavering but she could make out a mop of dark hair and a familiar black-checkered yellow bandana.
"Ugh… geddoff me, Ryouga!" She pushed at him but he barely budged. He also didn't react, still slumped limply against her.
"C-c'mon man, don't do this… someone'll come along and get the wrong idea and Akane will really lose her mind." She pushed again at his shoulder before noticing her hand came away wet. She opened both eyes and turned her hand to see her palm covered in red stickiness.
Her eyes widened and she took another look at Ryouga. His face was pale, sallow, and there was blood running down from his temple. She could see places where blood had soaked through his shirt from the back.
She couldn't tell if he was breathing.
"No… no no no no!" She squirmed out from under him frantically, doing her best to support him and get him onto his side. From the amount of blood she guessed his back was probably a shredded mess. "Come on, Ryouga… breathe! Breathe or I swear to god I'll do mouth-to-mouth on you and neither of us wants that!"
Ryouga coughed weakly.
Ranma almost sobbed in relief. "Good… keep doing that…" she said. Her own muscles ached and protested, and she was fairly sure she was pretty badly beaten up herself, but she ignored the discomfort for the moment. She got to her knees and looked him over.
His back was caked with blood, dirt and bark and he had more than a few sharp shards of rock embedded in his skin, like flechettes from a fragmentation grenade. Blood oozed from dozens of cuts and scrapes but thankfully he didn't seem to be bleeding too heavily from any one spot. Still, it was clear he had lost a fair bit of blood simply from the amount of damage. She checked his pulse. It was weak but steady. His skin was cold and clammy too, and had a greyish tinge to it. Thankfully he didn't seem to have any broken bones, but she didn't like how much he was bleeding from his temple.
She took a breath, satisfied he wasn't in immediate crisis, and checked herself. In comparison, she was the picture of health. She was covered with scrapes, bruises and various contusions, and her Furinkan uniform was shredded, but she'd been in much worse shape before.
She tried to stand, to get a better idea where they were. She winced as she felt her knee buckle. It was definitely twisted but, if she was careful, she was pretty sure she could walk on it. She looked around the forest trying to get her bearings. The sun was still high in the sky, so it was hard to tell which way was north. They were far enough into the woods to be out of sight of any buildings. However, she could tell which direction they'd come from the trees they'd been blasted through and the furrow they had plowed into the earth when they'd hit the ground again. She closed her eyes, trying to visualize which way they had been going when Ryouga's Shi Shi Hokodan had detonated.
"Okay… okay okay… So if we were moving this way, then Furinkan High is back over there somewhere… Doc Tofu's is pretty far… the hospital is closer. Okay…" She took a deep breath, knelt back down and carefully gathered Ryouga up as best she could. She slung his arm over her shoulder to support him and tried carefully to stand. He was a tremendous dead weight, and her knee wobbled again, but she managed to get up.
"Y'know… if by any chance you were thinking of miraculously recovering and being able to walk out of here on your own, now would be the time, buddy," Ranma grunted. She looked at his face but saw only his chest moving as he took shallow breaths.
"Yeah… I didn't think so…" she said. She shifted him, getting one of his arms over each of her shoulders as she draped him over her back, biting her lower lip at the pain. She did her best to ignore it and started slowly hobbling in the direction of the hospital with Ryouga's feet dragging in the soft forest dirt behind her.
000
Ukyou nodded in satisfaction as she watched Akane work.
'Martial Arts' had been the magic phrase. Somehow, it made something click with Akane and the next time Ukyou ran through her prep, Akane got it mostly right, missing only a few small details. What's more, she had been aware she had missed them.
She didn't grasp the why of it yet, of course, but she was starting to separate all of the steps into separate, discrete and precise movements that lead into each other. Like a kata, you had to do all the moves in the proper sequence, or you'd end up in the wrong place or off-balance. Akane was using that mindset to quickly make the prep work into a similar sort of routine.
"Make sure the oil is evenly spread." Ukyou said. "It's what carries the heat to the food and keeps it from sticking to the hot surface and burning. You don't need very much; just a thin layer for it to skate on."
Now that Akane was getting the motions, Ukyou had started to slip in bits of the 'why' behind them, like a teacher would with a martial arts student. First master the movements, then master the theory behind them. Then one could understand and start to adapt them.
Akane had always tried to do that last step first with her cooking - adapting and making substitutions willy-nilly. Ukyou idly wondered if she had been that way with Martial Arts to begin with as well, and if Soun had somehow broken her of it. If that was so, she would have to concede a lot more respect for the man as a teacher.
Akane stopped, having greased the grill to her satisfaction. "All right…" She wiped her brow then reached for the tools to scrape down and clean the grill to start over.
"That's good, sugar," Ukyou smiled, seeing a customer come in. "Leave it, I'll use it as is."
"R-really?" Akane's eyes widened.
Ukyou kept her expression serious, but it heartened her to know that Akane was seeing this as progress as much as she was. She rewarded her student with a small smile and a wink. "Yep. First test passed. Now, be sure to watch the next steps carefully, okay?"
000
"So, this is the place you have your 'Fiancee's Tea' meetings?" Nabiki asked.
Inwardly she was laughing at the coincidence as she looked over the eclectic yet somehow very deliberate jumble that was the front of Clara's Leaf tea shop, feigning unfamiliarity.
"Not look like much," Shampoo said. "Well, look like much, but not sure much what. But is best place to go to talk. Also best tea Shampoo ever have."
The humor of the situation alleviated some of Nabiki's annoyance. Ranma was still nowhere to be found and, given it was Ryouga she was chasing, Nabiki half expected to get a call from New York requesting her to wire plane fare so she and the Lost Boy could get back.
That or Ryouga snapped and went full 'Prepare to Die!' mode on Ranma. At least they got clear of school grounds, but hopefully Himura doesn't find out about it. She could use an altercation like that to cause trouble for Ranma. She sighed and resigned herself to finding out about it sometime tomorrow. For now, Ranma or no, there were some ground rules that desperately needed to be hashed out amongst the Fiancees if she wanted to avert a full-scale meltdown.
The bell on the door chimed faintly as they stepped inside, eyes adjusting to the softer light within. Nabiki had no trouble spotting Akane and Ukyou sitting at a table, as they were the only other patrons present. Oddly enough, Akane was wearing an Okonomiyaki chef's uniform and chatting animatedly with Ukyou.
She walked over with Shampoo pacing her. "When you said you were taking a half day to help Ukyou, I didn't realize you meant that literally," Nabiki said, raising an eyebrow.
Akane looked up, then glanced down at herself and blushed. "Uh… drat, I forgot to change… well…" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ukyou only lets me do prep work so far."
Both eyebrows were up and Nabiki's gaze switched to Ukyou. "Seriously?"
"Hey…" Akane protested weakly.
Ukyou smirked and nodded. "We've done a few trial Okonomiyaki, but we still need to get her spatula work improved so she doesn't shred them when she tries to flip. That typically takes a little while, especially with the tools I use. But not bad progress at all. She's got the steps memorized, she just needs to get the timing and execution right."
Nabiki slipped into a chair, her usual composure somewhat diminished. She leaned forward towards Ukyou. "How?"
"Okonomiyaki preparation as a Martial Art," Ukyou winked. "Took a page from Ranchan's playbook and it's working."
Akane nodded. "It makes so much more sense now!"
Nabiki rocked back in her chair, letting out a deep breath as she rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling. "Okay, I've heard Ranma's tirade on this, but this is actually scary. Either Ranma is a genius, or reality is severely broken."
"The way Ranma tells it, you were the one who first suggested the idea," Akane replied.
"I was just trying to get him to see social interactions as more complex than he was treating them, but at the same time frame it as something he could deal with," Nabiki replied. "I didn't expect his whole life to turn upside down as a result."
"Speaking of which, where is Ranchan?" Ukyou asked. "I thought you insisted that he come to this?"
Shampoo scowled, taking a seat next to Nabiki. "Maybe Akane should explain?"
Akane winced. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I… lost my temper and said something I shouldn't have…"
"Oh Akane…" Ukyou shook her head. "I thought you had this figured out! Did you break the engagement again!?"
"Oh no, it wasn't what she said to Ranma that did it. This was an innocent bystander," Nabiki said, sitting back up and giving her sister a hard look.
Akane scowled. "Ryouga was hardly innocent."
"Oh come off it, Akane!" Nabiki growled. "You accused him and Ranma of the same nonsense you accuse Ranma of whenever a girl happens to look sideways at him, just because, for once, we had them having a discussion like human beings rather than trying to kill each other!"
"What!?" Ukyou's jaw dropped and she stared at Akane.
"You don't know what Ranma does!" Akane started defensively. "It's different when Ranma's a girl! Shampoo, you know what I mean, right? You have a curse too!"
"Not that different," Shampoo sniffed, crossing her arms and turning her head. "Leave Shampoo out of this one."
"No, you don't get to sit this one out, Shampoo. You're the one who wound her up, and you knew you were doing it," Nabiki said sternly. She turned her attention back to Ukyou. "And Shampoo and Ranma aren't the only ones in this with a curse. Apparently Ryouga has one too. And Akane knew about it the whole time."
"Ryouga has a curse?" Ukyou said. "You mean, a Jusenkyo curse, not just the directional impairment? Poor guy… how long has he had that?"
"Apparently since before he arrived in Nerima," Nabiki nodded, shooting her sister a warning glance to keep her quiet. "He's P-chan."
Ukyou was silent a moment as she tried to process that, then slowly turned to look at Akane. "Akane…"
"It's… it's not like that!" Akane said hastily.
"No, it's not," Nabiki continued. "Because apparently my baby sister decided the best way to deal with the situation and get to keep her pet piglet was to stop seeing Ryouga as a human being."
"That's not true!" Akane protested.
"That's exactly what you said, so if you meant something different then you had better explain really quick."
Akane looked nervously around, not finding any friendly faces at the table currently as all three of the girls were glaring at her. She shrank back, feeling that isolation seeping in again. "I… I just… I meant... I knew he wouldn't do anything when he was a pig, because… because…"
"How long have you known?" Ukyou asked slowly.
"A little over a year, I'd guess?" Nabiki answered for her.
"And she said all of this in front of Ryouga?" Ukyou asked Nabiki, incredulous. Next to her Akane shrank down in her seat.
"Like he didn't even exist," Nabiki replied coldly. "All of this was while she was trying to accuse Ranma of trying to seduce him. I think you can guess what happened next."
Ukyou closed her eyes. "Knowing Ryouga? Either he'd bolt and run or fire off a massive Shi shi hokodan. You're not all cinders, so I assume it was the former?"
Nabiki nodded. "And Ranma ran after him."
"So they're in Antarctica by now. Great!" Ukyou pinched the bridge of her nose. "Akane…"
"This isn't fair!" Akane stood up, knocking her chair over and slamming her hands down on the table, eyes wild and tear-filled. "This isn't my fault! If… If Ranma didn't always… If Ryouga had just come clean…! If… if…"
Nabiki just looked at her. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Ukyou was opening her mouth to speak and raised a finger to keep her from responding. She just maintained eye contact with Akane and silently counted down.
Akane ran out of steam and shuddered. She started sobbing as she sank slowly to her knees, and buried her face in her arms. "... What have I done?"
Nabiki took a breath and closed her eyes to center herself. "Akane… For the next couple of minutes, no one is going to yell at you. But I need you to listen to me. Really listen, okay? Because this has been going on for a really long time."
Akane was silent a moment before there was a muffled sniffle and a nod, her face still buried in her arms.
"Good. Akane, you've got a pattern to how you deal with strong feelings. Kasumi and I saw it start happening after Mom died and… we didn't know how to help. I still don't, really, but maybe just getting it out there..." She took a breath. "When you get embarrassed or frustrated or just plain scared… whatever feeling you're not comfortable with... even things like attraction to another person, you bleed it off into anger. After Daddy started training you, anytime you got upset, you'd run into the dojo and start punching bricks. That was fine for a while, but… when Kuno gave his brilliant little speech in front of the whole school, it wasn't just bricks you were punching anymore."
"They deserved it," Akane said, still muffled.
"Yeah, they did," Nabiki replied. "You were hitting them to stop them from forcing themselves on you, and it was scary, so you poured that into your rage and used it to hit them harder. It worked, and it kept working. And when Kuno would try it worked on him, too. But it didn't end there. And I think… I think you forgot how to deal with it any other way. What's more, you started to associate boys with needing to be angry."
Akane looked up. Her eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks damp. "I'm not gay, Nabiki!"
"Akane, come off it!" Ukyou growled. "Do you honestly think after all this time anyone actually cares if you are or not? That there's some kind of judgement you need to ward off? From me!? From Shampoo!?" She gestured at their surroundings. "Does this tea shop scream 'conservative mindset' to you!? Just spit it out already! Or at least stop being so damn sensitive about it!"
Akane winced and fell silent.
"It's guilt on that one, isn't it, Akane?" Nabiki said softly. "Because of Ranma."
"Because Ranma has the curse, and everyone thinks she has to at least be bi or something?" Ukyou furrowed her brow.
"It's because what I wanted from him… wasn't what he wanted to be." Akane replied miserably.
Shampoo leaned forward and touched Akane's hand. "Shampoo understand that. Is confusing, yes? Fall in love with one way, find out is another… but still love. Shampoo do much same as Akane. Feel much the same as Akane."
"Because you feel in love with his guy side, but then found out he turned into a girl, and thought he was a girl with a guy curse?" Akane asked, remembering the misdirection Ranma had used on the Amazon during her first visit to Japan.
Shampoo shook her head. "No. Shampoo take uncomfortable feelings… feelings of love for one Shampoo should not love… and try and make into anger and hate."
Akane blinked. "... Wait, what?"
Shampoo smiled sadly. "Shampoo best of her generation in village. Not have many friends, not think want any. See others as weak. Then strange girl come, challenge, and beat. So angry, so… powerless. Give Kiss of Death. Hunt for long time." She looked down as she relived the memories. "Hunting not about find and attack. Not with such strong prey. Have to watch, to learn about. Have to find weaknesses, then find time to strike. Watched girl very long time. Learn early was no good to attack when asleep; girl somehow know, somehow dodge. Best time when just waking. So, when find, watch sleeping a lot."
"Strange thing happen. Stop looking for weakness. Start watching… just to watch. Girl different. Strange. No friends. Always wandering. Only have old man, or sometimes Panda. Both beat her, both abuse. Saw old man try and sell a few times. Succeed a few times, then steal back. Is sad. Alone, like Shampoo, but unlike Shampoo not have choice. Not because of strength or position. Girl have nothing, always taken by old man or panda. But she not know she have nothing. Not seem to know she should have anything. Seem happy. Shampoo think is idiot."
"Then, one night, girl have nightmares. She toss... turn… not aware like usual. Can hear her cry… beg… plead... not to put in dark place… in pit. She beg old man to help." Shampoo shuddered. "Old man hit her to wake up. Yell at her for tears. Tell her not to wake him up. Tell her to not be weak. She still confused from dream; not know where she is, try to reach out. He toss her away and roll over. Shampoo see then, girl happy because any other feeling punished. Not allowed to be sad. Yelled at or hit if not do what old man want. She fight back, but that usually what old man want anyway. Old man always get his way because she not have anything else."
"Hard to kill then. Keep watching. Shampoo know she must kill, or lose everything. But hard. Next nightmare girl have… Shampoo sneak into bed. Hold girl, comfort. Make nightmare go away. Leave before she wake. Happen… more than once. Shampoo almost ready to forget about Hunt. Not think about village, just want to help girl… protect girl. Then find again in Japan. Big, nice house. Big, nice family. Good food. Think maybe girl lying, fooling Shampoo. Think maybe was all trick. Make easier to try and kill. Shampoo remember village, remember punishment if no complete Kiss of Death. Shampoo convince self so can kill."
"Then meet boy-type. Same eyes as girl. Same house, same family. But see in eyes; boy have nothing. Happy because all allowed to be. Just like girl. Shampoo… Shampoo let boy knock her out so she can comfort, same way always wanted to comfort girl. Is… substitute, but is allowed by law. If Shampoo bring home strong husband then maybe Kiss of Death be forgiven. Shampoo chase him and try and forget girl, but girl keep appearing and not let Shampoo have peace. Shampoo convince guilt she feel is anger, so try and kill. Not try too hard, though. Never try too hard, even at first."
"Shown curse at last. Girl and Boy are same. Boy is curse, only ever was Girl. Shampoo almost angry enough to kill... convince self girl play trick. But then see eyes. No trick. Even after all Shampoo do, not want to fight back. Shampoo… Shampoo understand mistake then. Too quick to give Kiss of Death. Too quick to make law. Not want to kill. Want to hold and kiss and tell 'is okay'. Realize… Shampoo love girl. Realize always know, somehow, Boy was Girl. But no can now, because give Kiss. So… run away. Take punishment. Pretend not to feel that way." She sighed, closing her eyes. "But should have stayed. Should have hugged girl and told her she sorry and she love her. Shampoo… make many mistakes." She smiled weakly at Akane. "Is why give you and Ukyou Kiss of Sisterhood. Not want to repeat mistakes. Want find way to fix."
Akane looked away guiltily. "I don't… I know all that." She said softly. "I know what I want to do. I know what I need to do. But then… then suddenly I don't. I get flustered or embarrassed and then I get angry, and then the only thing I know is that I need to get it out. I…"
"And you learned boys are a really good target for that," Ukyou said quietly. "Because Kuno and the horde taught you they were subhuman and it was okay."
"Not all of them!" Akane said quickly. "Not… not Dad or… or Doctor Tofu, or…" She trailed off, struggling to find examples. "They just… they just all seemed to want something from me that I didn't want from them. And no one seemed to understand that. And the only way to make them stop, even for a little while was… was to hit them. Or threaten them. Or make them afraid of me."
"And then Ranma came," Nabiki said. "And we pushed him off on you, because we figured the curse would fix it."
"It made it worse," Akane hiccuped. "Because… because she was everything I ever wanted, and I didn't even know it until I saw her. She was… she was like me. She understood. I didn't even mind that she was better than me. And then… and then I found out about the curse. And I still wanted her. But she wasn't real. I thought she wasn't real. She was just… a costume some boy was wearing." Akane fidgeted, plucking at her collar with fingers. "I was disgusted at first, but then… then I got to know him. And he didn't try anything with me. At first I thought… heh… I thought he might be gay, you know? He barely raised an eyebrow when the girls looked at him. But… that didn't last long. He was just… confused, and packing it all down, and turning it into something else because he didn't know how to deal with it. Just like me. And he was that way around me, and I liked that. He was part girl and I really liked that and I thought maybe I could work it out with him. But I was so afraid he'd turn out to be fooling me… that he'd suddenly pull off the disguise and be a… a..."
"A boy," Nabiki finished for her. "So… what about Ryouga?"
Akane sighed heavily. "I'm… I'm okay when boys don't… when it's not obvious they… You know. And I don't think Ryouga was really even interested in me until… until I found P-chan. Even then he was just awkward and laughed a lot and brought presents. It wasn't threatening… at first, anyway. He was like a little boy on the playground trying to show a girl he liked her without having any idea how."
"Then came that whole ice skating thing. I saw him wearing that hideous 'Charlotte' collar Azusa had put on P-chan and suddenly it all clicked. I couldn't really deal with it at the time. I was kind of in shock. So I… I convinced myself that… that Ryouga only liked me because P-chan liked me. I figured… he would tell me sooner or later, or Ranma would. But they tried to hide it. So, I didn't let on. Then Ryouga got that waterproof soap and suddenly he thought he was cured, and…" She shook her head. "He scared me. But… but I didn't want him to be a boy like that. I didn't want to think of him that way. So… so I just thought of him as P-chan."
"But he's not. And you weren't thinking of Ranma as a 'boy' either, were you. You were thinking of him as a girl, right?" Ukyou said. "So then one or both of 'em would do something to remind you of the reality, and…"
Akane squirmed. "I know it's stupid. I know Ranma's not attracted to Ryouga, but…"
"Oh no, he is," Nabiki replied matter-of-factly. "But that's not the point."
There was dead silence at the table.
"WHAT?!"
Nabiki sighed and rubbed her ear. "Ow. Ladies, please, use your inside voices."
"What do you mean 'Ranma is attracted to Ryouga'!?" Ukyou demanded, slamming both hands on the table and leaning across towards Nabiki.
"How could you know such thing anyway?" Shampoo asked skeptically.
Nbiki sighed. "I asked him. I asked how the curse worked, how things changed, and yeah, I asked him about how he felt about boys." She shot each of them a glare. "It's amazing what you can learn about someone when you just take the time to ask them questions rather than just demanding answers from them, you know?" She crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair and lifted a finger, going into full lecture mode. "Ranma's perceptions as a girl are different than as a guy. He's actually tested it, to the best of his ability. Taste, sight, touch… all work slightly differently. It's… the same software; it's still Ranma, but it's totally different hardware. And that hardware gives feedback differently."
Shampoo made a face. "Why use technology example?"
"Because it's what I know and grew up with. You should already understand all of this, you have your own curse." Nabiki replied, and then continued. "Ranma's girl side reacts differently to guys. Mikado scared him because he reacted like a girl to the unwanted kiss. I even got different answers when I asked the same question when he was a guy and a girl. The guy side was disgusted. But the girl described it to me as 'something she wanted to happen, just not with them.' Then I straight out asked her… and she wasn't sure. She didn't like being groped or manhandled, of course, nor did she feel anything but disgust for the ones who usually perpetrated it, like Kuno."
"But how do you know she is attracted to Ryouga?" Ukyou pressed.
"Body language," Nabiki replied. "By the way, she's attracted to you when you're full bishonen too, Ukyou." She tossed that out casually, smirking a little as the Okonomiyaki chef blushed and ducked her head. "But… at least on a physical level, Ranma reacts to Ryouga different from almost any other male. Part of that is just the familiarity that comes of them being friends. She certainly doesn't seem to be afraid of him trying anything. But there's an element of attraction there, I'm sure of it."
"So… I am right!" Akane sat up straight.
"Absolutely not," Nabiki replied, cutting her back down. "Akane… It's normal to be attracted to people you have no intention of being with. I'd think you'd have figured this out during the whole transition about how you feel about Ranma. Attraction is a complex thing. Part of it is biology and part of it is mental. It's why 'love at first sight' is such a complete myth; The mental can easily override the biological. You can see a person and think they're cute at first glance… maybe even feel a really intense initial rush. Or you could find someone completely plain and uninteresting. But as you get to know a person, your perception of them changes. The whole physical aspect becomes just a single part of a complex picture."
"That's an awful lot of relationship philosophy for someone who wasn't even interested in Ranma until recently," Ukyou said, crossing her arms and giving Nabiki a skeptical look.
Nabiki smirked. "My whole business is about figuring out how people think and what they want. I dated plenty but I always kept it at the 'initial attraction' stage. Usually because once I got to know most guys they were boring as hell and 'boring and pretty' is still boring." She sighed. "Ranma is very pretty, but far more trouble than he's worth… or so I thought. Then I spent some time with him."
Ukyou grinned. "And how the mighty have fallen."
Nabiki smiled wryly. "Pretty sure the math still says I'm crazy. But the point is, even if Ranma's girl side has a base physical attraction to Ryouga, that's really not likely to change anything. Ranma already compartmentalizes that stuff. And Ryouga… well, naturally he's attracted to her girl side. The entire male population of Nerima is, including the ones that know about the curse. But the mental side of things comes into play and he doesn't even see it because it's Ranma. Hide her identity though, even for a bit, and the hormones come out to play."
"He gets fooled awfully easily…" Akane muttered.
"He might not realize redheads are rare in Japan," Nabiki replied. "He's been all over the world and doesn't even know it. That last care package he sent us came from Germany."
"So… what do we do?" Akane asked nervously.
Nabiki closed her eyes. She could visualize the corkboard in her mind, lines lighting up red as they were 'pulled' by various forces, mapping out the ripple effect of Akane's outbursts. "Long term? We should probably consider a therapist or something." She held up a hand to forestall protest. "For all of us. Including Ranma and Ryouga, if we can convince them. And that's assuming we can even find someone who could believe some of the problems we have. In the meantime…" She considered. "Start a journal, maybe? Find ways to get the feelings out that don't involve breaking things or people. Start developing new techniques for it. Invent 'Anything Goes Martial Arts Emotional Stress Management' maybe."
"You aren't serious," Akane replied, deadpan.
"I'm absolutely serious," Nabiki replied. "Relating stuff to martial arts has been working for everything else. Maybe that's the way to do it. If you're used to relating to problems in martial arts terms, why reinvent the wheel when dealing with other problems? Martial arts is flexible, inventive and disciplined." She shrugged. "There are worse models to use."
"What about Ranma? And Ryouga?" Ukyou asked.
Nabiki sighed. "Akane should probably keep her distance from Ryouga until he's stabilized. In fact, we should probably steer him clear of anyone who was there when Akane revealed his secret to the world. Shampoo excluded due to her own curse." She glanced over, satisfied that her sister looked suitably sheepish. "The rest… is going to take time and careful management. That's a lot of trust in you and humanity in general that got smashed on the floor all at once. When he and Ranma wander back into town we should have an uninvolved party talk to him and feel things out."
"I'll do it," Ukyou replied. "Ryouga is my friend. He talks to me about his problems all the time. Even the stuff that involves Ranma. He trusts me."
"M-maybe I could make him an apology okonomiyaki? Like you do with Ranma?" Akane suggested hopefully.
Ukyou shook her head. "Not a chance, sugar. First off, you're not far enough along to learn the art of okonomiyaki apology letters. And second… Ryouga doesn't take betrayal well."
Akane slumped in her seat. "I know. I just… I wish I could do something to fix this. I feel so awful!"
"Get it under control, then." Nabiki leaned across the table, putting her hand on her sister's arm. "Ranma is going to look, now and then. And so are we, even if we don't realize we're doing it. Doesn't make him or us unfaithful. You have to learn to trust and give Ranma and even Ryouga the benefit of the doubt they deserve."
They were quiet a moment. Suddenly, Akane, Ukyou and Shampoo realized they had cups of steaming tea in front of them, in their personal cups.
"It sounds like you've made some good progress," Jiro said as he placed a cup in front of Nabiki.
"Oh, uh…" Ukyou glanced at Nabiki, unsure how she would react to the odd proprietor of the tea shop. "Nabiki, maybe we should have explained this place a little…"
"Well, that's what you told me this place was for, right Jiro?" Nabiki smiled, unfazed at the effeminately dressed man pouring her tea. She picked it up, revealing the beach scene artfully painted on the white china surface of the cup. "My usual, of course?"
"As you like it," Jiro replied with a smile and a wink.
"You know each other?!" Akane gaped, looking at her sister, then back at Jiro.
"Everybody needs a warm cup of tea now and then, Akane," Nabiki replied cryptically.
"And a sympathetic ear," Jiro added.
"And a quiet place to make a difficult choice," Nabiki finished, sipping her tea. She smiled up at Jiro. "Excellent as always. I noticed the new wind chime out front, too. Very interesting design."
"Oh, I'm glad you liked it!" Jiro beamed. "It was a gift from one of my regulars. It's a Salusian antique. Such delicate craftsmanship, don't you think?"
Shampoo leaned over to the other two. "Tea shop appear out of nowhere, with owner who seem to know everything. Why Shampoo not surprised Nabiki already know all about?"
Jiro noticed and clapped his hands. "Ah, but I'm premature, aren't I? Have the three of you solved your musketeer problem?"
"Musketeer...?" Nabiki frowned for a moment.
"She's definitely d'Artagnan material," Ukyou said, turning to the others.
"You see what I'm talking about now?" Akane said. "We need her for when… when stuff like this happens!"
"Maybe not need so much if Aramis not bundle of issues," Shampoo countered, motioning at Akane with her cup.
"You're one to talk, Porthos," Akane shot back.
Shampoo scowled. "Am reading book now. Still not sure if that name insult or not."
"Let's be realistic. We've all made messes and done stuff bad enough that it's a miracle Ranma still talks to us, much less wants to be with us," Ukyou said, her tone reasonable. "Even when we do get alone time with Ranma, our wobbles screw it up before we get anywhere. We need someone who can… well… balance us."
Nabiki smirked, getting the reference. "Well, Athos, managing you three is something of a full-time job. And that assumes you are willing to listen," she sipped her tea to buy time to gather her thoughts. "I'm not a martial artist. I don't have the power to knock sense into you if you're not willing to listen to it. So I need to know you're going to be willing to listen, even if it's not something you want to hear."
"In other words… You want to be in charge," Ukyou said, leaning back in her chair.
"No, I don't," Nabiki replied, narrowing her eyes at her. "I need to be, if this is going to work."
"That asking a lot of trust," Shampoo said. "Situation already difficult with Amazons before adding girl who no can fight, much less make leader."
Nabiki put down her teacup, steepled her hands, and rested her chin on her thumbs. "You called me here, not the other way around. I'm fully aware that I'm asking a lot up front, and I'm keenly aware of the consequences of failing that trust, believe me. I also know this still leaves huge problems to work through and causes almost as many. There are…" She paused, taking a deep breath, shuddering slightly as she thought of all of the dark paths her imagination had taken her down in the last week, "... so many ways this could go badly. This isn't a short term agreement. This isn't a contract with any sort of 'end'. If we do this, we will, for all practical purposes, be fighting the entire world until we fail, or we die of old age, or by some bizarre coincidence society decides to accept this while we're still alive. Best case scenario, we manage to fend it all off well enough that we can get the occasional cease fire or lull in the conflict to snatch some happiness together. This is not the future I wanted. This is not the future I would ever have chosen. Not because of any of you, but because of all of them." She gestured towards the door. She took a deep breath. "But… this is what I will do. Because being a good businesswoman is about seeing needs, and figuring out how to fulfill them. And as things stand, we've all ended up on roads with nothing but bad ends. Any path forward for any one of us is paved with the wreckage of the lives of the rest. Ranma figured this out and has nearly killed himself trying to keep things from moving forward. But that isn't an option anymore." She gave each of them a look in turn, meeting their gazes. "So… do you want to roll the dice that you'll be the one who makes it out of the wreckage to keep going forward? Or do you want to follow the girl who has the plans for a new road?"
Shampoo smirked. "Sounds like war speech." She leaned forward. "See how Nabiki deal with Himura. Reminds of stories Great-grandmother tell of great warlords and generals. Shampoo time in Japan teach that war not as simple as tournament fight. Complicated. Messy. Confusing. Hard to know what winning even is. But Shampoo think Nabiki know." She put her teacup on its saucer and pushed it into the middle of the table. "All For One."
Ukyou sighed. "I didn't start my own business to work for someone else," She said after a moment's deliberation. "I've been my own boss since I was six years old. I even figured that when Ranchan and I finally got together that I'd be the one wearing the pants in the family." She laughed softly. "Maybe even literally. I spent who knows how long in night school courses and with my nose buried in self-study books to figure out how to handle a business, and learned just how much more there is to it than simply making good okonomiyaki. And I did it all by myself because I didn't want to rely on anyone. And if all of that struggle taught me anything, it's this;" She met Nabiki's gaze. "I know when I'm in over my head. I know when a problem is too big and it's time to get out of the way, get crushed or get help. Everything you're describing here… I can see the edges of it. Not being accepted by society? That's nothing new to me. But that's me going at it alone. But… a family? With kids? I… I always knew it'd be too big. I'd… have to change who I am... hide behind Ranma and let society see me as the housewife. Or force my kids to fight those battles too. I even accepted I might have to give up making okonomiyaki… I wouldn't even do that for Ranma. You're talking about taking on so much more." She shook her head, "and you see more of the picture, too. You understand it well enough to be afraid, and you're not." She shook her head. "Who else is going to lead? I can't." She pushed her teacup forward. "All For One."
Akane looked at Ukyou then glanced at Shampoo and then her own cup. "Part of me is angry about this," She said softly. "This all started before I was even born. It was planned and agreed upon and then trampled on and ruined before I ever heard the name 'Saotome'. And then…" She sniffed. "... and then our parents had the cruelty to deliver my soulmate to me, right when I needed him the most; for me to fall in love with him only to find out it was doomed from the start. They had decided on my future without asking me and then sold it before I realized I wanted it." She scowled, putting her hand over her teacup. "I want this fight. I begged and pleaded and negotiated. I've fought and won challenges, fought myself, fought my own heart, and I'm tired of letting other people decide when and how I can fight, and for what." She pushed her cup forward. "All For One."
Nabiki allowed herself a small smile, though part of her still wondered if this was really a victory, or just a final failure of the last vestiges of common sense, immediately preceding the fall. She looked at the three teacups together and a quote came to her, widening her smile a little and easing her uncertainty.
"'Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures. The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.'" She put her hand on her teacup and pushed it to the center to join the others. "And One For All."
Slowly, Nabiki's grin became infectious as the others starting to smile as well. They looked around the table at each other, a sudden uncharacteristic shyness overcoming them as the import of what they had just agreed upon struck them.
"I kinda feel like… given what we just decided to do… Maybe we're being a little too formal?" Ukyou broke the silence timidly. "Maybe we should have a group hug or something?"
"Only hug?" Shampoo said, mock hurt in her voice and a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Don't push your luck!" Akane growled, then caught herself. She seemed to struggle internally, a flustered blush rising in her cheeks. "I mean… I'm… I'm going to need some time to be comfortable with more than that."
Shampoo's mischievous grin was replaced with a warmer, less threatening smile. "Shampoo understand. Not have many touch so far that not bad touch. Spatula girl have same problem. Sake helped."
"Shampoo!" Ukyou blushed. "Do you have to keep bringing that up?"
Shampoo got up and walked over to Ukyou's chair, draping her arms around her neck from behind and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Keep bringing up because was fun. Spatula girl keep acting guilty, like was something wrong. Maybe worry Shampoo if it only happen the one time."
Ukyou's blush deepened. "... It was cold in Okinawa."
"Okinawa cold. We weren't." Shampoo replied. She kissed her on the cheek. "Is okay, Ukyou shy in public. Shampoo know Ukyou loves. Hug now, take Shampoo to date later."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow as she stood up. "So there was more than one Mandarin lesson?"
Ukyou deflated a bit, then sighed. "I was worried Ranma would think this was weird if we got married and he found out about it. I guess that's kind of a pointless fear, huh?" She slipped out of Shampoo's embrace and stood, then reached a hand out to Akane.
Akane blushed and timidly took her hand, head bowed. She gave Ukyou a watery-eyed look. "This is really hard for me," she said softly, shaking a little.
"Well, uh… remember the roof?" Ukyou said.
"Yeah?"
Good, because I don't! "Ummm, maybe just like that?" Ukyou suggested. Part of her wasn't entirely sure what she was suggesting, but Akane didn't resist as she pulled her into a hug.
"That was a weird day." Akane said, leaning her head on Ukyou's shoulder. "I think I was just desperate for my own kiss."
Ukyou blinked. Then did we…? Her thought was interrupted as Shampoo glomped them both. The Amazon squeezed, then reached out for Nabiki's hand.
"I'm not really a hugger…" Nabiki said as she walked over to them, uncertainly offering her hand and wondering if she could get away with a quick squeeze and roll away.
It was made clear to her that was not going to happen as Shampoo pulled her in, smushing her into the other girls with surprising strength.
Nabiki quickly slipped an arm around Shampoo's waist, as Ukyou did the same from the other side, squeezing back and prompting Shampoo to relax. With the pressure off, Akane was able to slip her arm around Nabiki's waist. The four of them settled into a kind of huddle, with an obvious space in the middle.
"Shampoo think she know what to do when next see Airen." She said.
"Not sure he could handle it," Nabiki replied wryly. "The poor boy still isn't used to physical affection that doesn't result in him getting clocked. Also, that's my butt, Shampoo."
"She knows," Akane and Ukyou said in unison.
"Do you think they're okay?" Akane asked, eyes on the floor. "Ranma and Ryouga, I mean."
"Ranma has my cell phone number. She'll call if they need any help," Nabiki reassured her. "They've both been lost in the woods before."
Akane was silent a moment. "What if… What if you're wrong, Nabiki? About Ryouga, I mean. You said there wasn't anything between them because of the mental side of things, but minds change."
Shampoo rolled her eyes. "What, fall in love in five minutes together they not trying to kill each other?"
"Were Ranma and I much better?" Akane asked.
"Actually, yes. You two fought a lot, but you were like glue," Nabiki said. "Even when you didn't need to be together, you always were. It was like it just didn't occur to you to be apart, and when you were, it was a huge deal."
"I know. I guess… I'd just feel better if I had an idea how we'd handle something like that," Akane said softly. "What do we do if we put aside all our differences to be with Ranma, only to have someone on the outside try and pull him away?"
Nabiki considered a moment, then shrugged. "We get them a teacup. Now, enough worrying about theoretical disasters! We've got enough real ones coming up to keep us busy." She released them and returned to her seat. "Nodoka's interview is this Sunday. We'd better start figuring out how to be ready for it if we want any chance of having Ranma's mother on our side for this."
"Speaking of disasters… who delivered the letter to Kodachi?" Ukyou said nervously.
Shampoo raised her hand, a sour look crossing her face. "Give to stupid pet ninja. Would have put in mailbox, but mailbox explode."
"At least it didn't drop you into a giant washing machine." Akane said.
"Try to do that too, but Shampoo ready for trap door this time." Shampoo huffed. "Hate House of Kuno. Money and crazy bad mix!"
"At least we did our due diligence," Nabiki noted. "Fairly safe to assume Kodachi will be there."
"So, we just watch each others' backs, don't eat or drink or smell anything, and when she starts acting crazy we just punt her over the wall together," Ukyou said, twirling a minispatula in her fingers.
"We have to be careful. If Auntie Saotome thinks we provoked her or something, she'll be mad," Akane said. "We'd have to wait until she's clearly being disruptive on her own before we do anything."
"So, what is interview all about?" Shampoo asked, leaning forward. "Shampoo know about arranged marriages in China, but not know how work here."
"They don't," Nabiki muttered dryly. "No one does this anymore."
"Auntie Saotome is very… traditional in some things," Akane said carefully. "The whole concept of marriage is one of them. The traditional way it's done is called an omiai. She was very upset with how Mr. Saotome handled the omiai between me and Ranma, and spent considerable time telling me how she thought it should have gone. The rest of this I got from the school library. Usually the prospective couple and their families will meet to introduce the bride and groom to one another, with a matchmaker called a Nakōdo to act as a go-between." Akane sighed. "Obviously this isn't going to be your usual omiai since there are multiple parties involved and we all know each other pretty well already."
"Who will be matchmaker then?" Shampoo asked.
"Undoubtably that'll be Nodoka, since she's the one who intends to make the decision," Nabiki said.
"There are matchmaking services these days, but a family member can do in a pinch," Akane continued. "She'll probably want you all to bring a rirekisho… a short personal history. Name, age, where you come from, and a picture or two of you."
"Doesn't she already know all that?" Ukyou asked.
"If Akane thinks she's going to be a stickler for tradition with this, it's probably best we stick as close to the traditions as possible," Nabiki replied. "Better to have it and not need it than to show up and take an immediate black mark. Besides, the more we give her to mull over, the longer we can delay things so we can figure out a way out of this."
"The omiai is just an informal meeting. Usually there are three meetings and then a decision is made. Since Ranma already knows us, I imagine this will be about us getting to know her, so she can decide if we're a good match for Ranma," Akane continued.
"Informal. So… regular dress then?" Ukyou said skeptically.
"Informal by Nodoka's standards," Nabiki corrected her. "Which means traditional kimono. Demure and ladylike to the nines."
"Should dress Japanese? Or wear something formal from home?" Shampoo asked.
Akane winced. "There's a… strong bias against foreigners in these things. I don't know what criteria Auntie Saotome is looking for, exactly, but I know she's very concerned about Ranma's wife supporting him the way she supported Genma, so…"
"... Play the traditional Japanese housewife as best you can," Nabiki finished.
"And then express a willingness to let our husband leave home with our two year old child to wander the wilderness for fourteen years?" Ukyou muttered sarcastically. "With or without the massive cat-induced psychological scarring, do you think?"
"Don't bring that up," Akane added quickly.
"She doesn't like confrontation," Nabiki agreed, remembering that Nodoka had always been dismissive of her concerns.
"Any family members involved should come if possible, but it's not required," Akane added.
"Is good. Great-grandmother plan to come anyway," Shampoo said.
"Does she… know about all this?" Ukyou asked. "I mean, I know this was kind of your idea, the… uhh…"
"Harem?" Nabiki suggested.
"... I really would prefer we use a different word," Ukyou muttered. "But… yeah. The harem thing."
"Great-grandmother… amused by idea," Shampoo said sheepishly. "Like aud… aud… like that is bold plan. Say Ranma have to pass scrutiny of elders. Us too… especially Mercenary Girl." She glanced at Nabiki. "And say we expected to return to village eventually, contribute to prosperity."
"What's 'eventually'?" Nabiki asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Restaurant do well, send money back to village. Ukyou business also do well. Ranma, Akane, Nabiki still have much schooling to do. Cologne want come back with education, make restaurant sufficient, so no have to run ourselves anymore…"
"I think you mean self-sufficient, Shampoo," Nabiki noted, her expressioning softening into one of amusement.
Shampoo cocked her head. "But… is restaurant. No have a 'self', only have kitchen, tables, building. Is place with things."
"I should show you some of the stuff in business law sometime. You might be surprised," Nabiki replied. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to be honest… moving to China is not my first choice."
"It all buys time, right?" Ukyou said. "We keep doing what we're doing, get successful… who knows? At that point we might want to open branches in China anyway."
Nabiki considered, a sly smile spreading. "You know, if we do have to go to China, I do prefer the idea of going as a business tycoon. Especially since we've already got a couple of successful brands to start with…"
"And this is where we start discussing prenuptial agreements," Ukyou said nervously.
Nabiki grinned, wolf-like and leaned forward, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she gave Ukyou a look that could be described as seductively predatory. "Oh no, Ms. Kuonji, now that I've got this idea in my head, you and Shampoo are far too marketable to let go."
000
Ranma picked at the food on the tray in front of her. She put her fork down and sighed. Hospital food technically wasn't as bad as Akane's cooking but her appetite hadn't been that great to begin with.
She rubbed the back of her hand where the IV was. She hated having it stuck in her, but the doctors had insisted and she wasn't about to argue too hard with them for fear of getting separated from Ryouga.
She glanced over at the other bed then slipped out from under the covers of her own, grabbed her IV stand and walked over to the other bed.
Ryouga was laid on his side, bandages covering most of his torso. They had spent almost two hours in the operating room pulling shards of rock out of his back while Ranma was forced to sit and wait. Thankfully, they still had her on file as Ryouga's medical contact. She didn't even blink when they referred to Ryouga as her fiance. There wasn't any acting required this time; she was genuinely scared for him.
She pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down. If anything, he looked worse; dark circles under his eyes, his cheeks sunken. The blood and dirt had been cleaned up, replaced with bandages, but he was still pale and limp and she didn't like it. It wasn't how Ryouga should look. Ever.
Explaining how they had gotten their injuries had been tricky, but Nabiki's guidance paid off once more. Ranma had kept it simple. They had been in the woods together. There had been an explosion. She didn't know what it was. Ryouga had protected her from the worst of it with his body.
It worked. The doctors theorized that it could be anything from a natural gas pocket near the surface to an old, unexploded World War II munition. The authorities were going to investigate but didn't think they'd find much after the fact.
Couldn't really tell them the truth now, could I? Ranma thought, looking at Ryouga's face and remembering that awful, empty look in his eyes as the physical manifestation of his depression threatened to crush them both. Without thinking, she brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. That was too close. I knew things were tough for you but I didn't know you were that close to the edge! I shoulda… I… Her train of thought stalled out. She wanted desperately to help him somehow, but she was at a loss as to how. Everything that should be good in Ryouga's life seemed to just be tangled up in more pain for him.
Is that what you feel all the time? Ranma wondered. She folded her arms on the side of his bed and rested her chin on them, just watching him breathe to reassure herself that he was still there. All that awfulness pulling you down like that? All the bad stuff in your life stuck on an infinite loop in your head?
There was a soft knock at the door. Ranma straightened self consciously as the door slowly opened and the nurse poked her head inside.
"I'm sorry, I'm not disturbing, am I?" she asked, smiling. "I just need to check on Mr. Hibiki."
"Oh, uh… no, not at all." Ranma scooted back.
The Nurse walked over, checked Ryouga's IV's, listened to his pulse and made sure his dressings were clean. Ranma fidgeted a bit, noticing the nurse kept shooting glances at her over her shoulder.
The nurse finished, then turned. "He's doing well. I don't see any reason why he won't be awake tomorrow. Do you need any help yourself?"
"Oh, uh… no…" Ranma shook her head. She felt self conscious in just the hospital gown.
The nurse smiled. "Please forgive me for being nosey, but… have you and your fiance known each other long?"
Ranma blinked. It took a moment for her to remember the nurse was referring to Ryouga. "Ummm… since middle school," she said, not seeing any harm in being truthful.
"Oh! High school sweethearts!" She clapped her hands together.
Ranma rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Uh… not really. We… uh… we kinda didn't get along well then."
She beamed. "Well, passion is passion, after all. The intensity remains even if passionate dislike turns into something else, hmm?" She gave Ranma a knowing glance which succeeded in turning the redhead's face almost the same shade as her hair.
"It's… Me'n Ryouga... it's… complicated." Ranma finished as she fidgeted in embarrassment.
"It always is at your age," the nurse said knowingly. "But… you should know… the doctors were talking about you two the whole time they were working on him. The injuries he took, compared to yours… He sacrificed himself to save you. With no hesitation whatsoever." She leaned in conspiratorially. "You should also know that many of the girls on the floor are terribly jealous. It's hard enough finding a man who's reliable enough to take out the trash these days. This is like something out of a romantic novel."
You OWE me for this, Ryouga! Ranma thought internally as her cheeks burned. You owe me for this FOREVER! "Y-yeah… That's my Ryo… always charging in to protect me. Aheh..."
"And here you are keeping vigil, after carrying him through the woods to safety despite your own injuries." She smiled warmly. "It's not hard to see it goes both ways."
Ranma was fighting a losing battle with her own rising humiliation, the urge to blurt out the truth and set the record straight only restrained by the grim imaginings of the kind of awkwardness that would create.
She clucked her tongue. "Oh, I'm embarrassing you, aren't I?" She put a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear. I forget sometimes how confusing and difficult it can be to be young. It's all so intense and urgent and immediate, isn't it?"
Ranma took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You could say that."
"I'd say 'enjoy it while you can', but age colors the memory. It's all much more pleasant with the comfort and selective memory a few years brings." She gave Ranma a cursory check while she waited. "Would you like a hand back to bed?"
"I'm fine," Ranma replied. "Thank you." She added as an afterthought, trying to soften the slight edge that had crept into her voice. "I… I just… I need to be here when he wakes up is all." To defuse any lingering notions of blowing himself up!
"Would you like a blanket and a pillow then, maybe?" She asked more softly this time.
"I… yeah." Ranma surrendered and nodded, unable to deny she felt cold.
The nurse stepped out a moment, and Ranma folded her arms on Ryouga's bed again, resting her chin on them, fatigue slowly winning out against her self-consciousness.
"... You better still be here when I wake up," she muttered, eyelids drooping closed in spite of herself.
000
Consciousness was pain.
This wasn't a new concept to Ryouga Hibki. Usually his waking hours were defined by some sort of nameless, lonely ache. But in this case it was considerably more literal.
He gasped. His back was on fire, and the smallest movement set tearing, burning pain down his spine. He could feel tightness and constriction of bandages and the familiar tug in his flesh of stitches as each breath pulled on them ever so slightly. He carefully opened an eye, not entirely sure what was going to greet him.
He was on his side in bed. His right shoulder was asleep from laying on it so long, his arm tingling with pins and needles. The room was a sea of neutral whites and pastel shades… a hospital room - a lot like the one he had been in so recently. It was even possible that it was the same hospital.
It took no more than a moment to process all of that.
What held him up was the thing he couldn't make sense of. At the side of the bed, wearing a hospital gown of her own and covered by a blanket over her shoulders, was a beautiful girl. She was asleep, head pillowed on her arms on his bed, right next to him. Her red hair fell in an unkempt wave around her head to frame her face. Her lovely features seemed relaxed as she dozed, but from the dark circles under her eyes and the subtle twitching of her facial muscles, it probably wasn't a terribly restful sleep.
He tried to jog his brain, to remember who she was. His mind was still sluggish, fogged by whatever medication they had him on and probably whatever residual anaesthetic had kept him knocked out this long. He remembered light… pressure… and a face. Her face, smudged with dirt and streaked with tears, her blue eyes pleading… and her words…
I need you here!
The rest was a jumbled mess but he got the notion she had saved him and had endured a lot of pain to do it. That just confused him further as to her identity. She was familiar but he couldn't think of anyone like her who would do that for him. Something nagged at him but it was still hard to string thoughts together and the memories drifted out of his reach. He wanted to sit up, to get off his shoulder, but he couldn't seem to muster the willpower to make his muscles obey him just yet. So he was left with little to do but study her and wait for things to clarify.
She showed signs of injuries too, though not so severe as what he was feeling along his back. That made him feel… better? There was an explosion… He remembered. She cried out. That's right… I tried to protect her. I guess it worked. He felt a small bit of relief at that though he couldn't shake the sense that the injuries she did have were still his fault. It was hard to tell; his emotions felt muted... deadened… emptied. It was an oddly familiar sensation. He knew he had felt it before but he got the sense it usually didn't take so long to come back. It allowed him a certain detachment to think things through that he didn't usually have. He was pretty sure that, under normal circumstances, the panic he'd feel at finding a girl next to his bed would be paralyzing. There was something else there; something in his dim, unfocused memories that told him he wasn't going to be happy when everything finally came back to him.
Too bad. This is kind of peaceful. He simply lay there a while longer, not really thinking of anything. It was odd being in a place with someone else and just being silent. Just being there, with all his usual guards down, being aware of another person and not being afraid of having a thousand nameless emotions wrapped up in it.
Inevitably the discomfort in his shoulder and arm became hard enough to ignore that he decided he needed to move. He tried to will his limbs into motion but they didn't respond at first. It wasn't paralysis as much as just finding the will to make them move. Finally he managed a weak flop of his left arm. A few more attempts and he felt the odd disconnect with his body starting to ease. He used his left arm as leverage and tried to ease himself up without disturbing the girl asleep by his bed.
He felt a flare of pain in his back as his muscles tensed and he struggled. What was usually a trivial, unconscious motion was now a trial, trying to make a movement without using the damaged muscles that usually did the job. He quickly had to trade his careful movements for less elegant flailing as he narrowly avoided flopping onto his back.
The shaking of the bed caused the girl to stir. Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked once; twice. They were in fact blue, just as his blurry memory suggested. He watched, curious what she was going to say or do. She lifted her head and her eyes came into focus as she became aware of him and her surroundings.
"Oh!" She saw him struggling still and threw off the sleep, reached for his shoulder and helped him lever himself fully upright. "Easy there, Ryouga… you don't want to pop a stitch."
Are you real? He found himself gripped with the absurd notion to ask that question even though she undoubtedly was. He had a vague sense of not really believing in her existence before. For some reason just accepting the reality plainly in front of him didn't feel quite right.
I AM real, Ryouga! I'm here, see? I'm real!
"Sorry…" he croaked. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it felt like the right thing to say. He was barely audible, his mouth and throat dry, his tongue swollen and clumsy.
She noticed immediately and reached for a glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed and offered it to him. He felt a flicker of annoyance and an urge to try and take the glass with the protest that he could do it himself but his limbs were still not quite on speaking terms with him and his left arm flopped a bit uselessly. He submitted and let her give him the drink, only to realize just how thirsty he really was.
"Better?" She asked after a few sips. He wanted more but be nodded, his mouth moistened enough that he could wait until he could manage the glass on his own. He didn't know why, exactly, but he didn't want her fussing over him. It was… what was it? He didn't want her to see him this way for some reason.
She seemed to see the confusion in his eyes. "You remember what happened?"
"Kinda fuzzy…" he admitted. "Hard to remember... Something bad. Explosion... My fault."
"They've got you doped up pretty good," she said. "I bet your back must hurt." Her eyes dropped and her voice almost became a whisper. "You scared the hell out of me, man."
She was afraid for me. Am I important to her? He prodded his sluggish brain but couldn't tell for sure. It was maddening how the sense of familiarity only grew but he still couldn't seem to pluck a name or an identity for her from the fog. Is she important to me? That answer was easier. Yes, she is. That thought carried with it a strange mix of emotions, but not what he'd expect to feel regarding a pretty girl his age. Frustration. Anger. A desire for respect. A sense of betrayal. Those feelings were old and strong. Around them were newer emotions - a timid sense of trust. Hope. Confusion. And through it all, binding it all, was the certainty that this person was important to him in some way.
"I'm sorry," he said, more sincerely now. "Were you hurt badly?"
She shook her head. "Scrapes and bruises, mostly. Twisted my knee. They said I got pretty badly dehydrated carrying your heavy ass out of the forest, though." She smirked at him, holding up her left hand to show off her own IV line.
"Sorry…" he mumbled again. She was tiny compared to him; the notion that she could lift him, much less carry him through the forest over any distance was astounding. He wondered what kind of relationship they had that she would do that for him. He kept getting the notion that she didn't like him, that he didn't like her, or that he shouldn't, but his memories, her actions, and how she was treating him now just didn't mesh. Something didn't make sense.
"You can stop saying that." She said sarcastically. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder with her fist. "But… you're not going to do that again anytime soon, right?"
"I don't even remember what I did…" he said, feeling an odd urge to chuckle. It wasn't mirth, though. It was a dark thing, something that came from the black ooze of emotions that were gradually seeping back into him.
"Doesn't matter. Promise me you aren't gonna ever do that again. Swear it on your honor. You owe me that much." Her eyes were hard, and… captivating? There was anger there, but also fear. Desperation? Things he couldn't identify yet. Complexities.
"... Please?" she said finally, holding his gaze.
That broke him. He knew that when he remembered he'd feel differently, that there was something important he was forgetting about her, but right at that moment, had this been a different place or age, he would have pledged his sword to her.
"I swear…" he said slowly.
She seemed to relax, letting out a breath she had been holding. "Good. Look, they only needed to keep me overnight, but they want to keep you a few days longer to make sure that mess you call a backside doesn't get infected. Are you gonna be okay if I have to leave you here on your own?"
He felt a lurch inside him. Loneliness was a familiar sensation. Very familiar. But for some reason right at the moment the notion of it was intolerable. "I don't know…" he croaked.
Her eyes widened a bit, but then softened. Compassion, he recognized in them. He didn't know why there was a little voice inside him that protested every observation he made about her. He wondered what it was that had twisted his opinion about her so much, but he decided at least for now to stop listening to that angry little voice.
"All right. I'll stay. Don't worry, I won't go nowhere." She said. "I gotta make a phone call, though. I wanted to wait until you were awake first before I did."
Who would she call? He wondered. A name bubbled up from his mind, and he gasped a bit at the rush of emotions that came with it. Dark despair, hopelessness, shame, self-disgust, longing. "Akane…" he gasped.
"No!" she said suddenly. She grasped the sides of his face and made him look at her. He had a flicker of memory of her doing this before. "No…" She said more gently. "I'm gonna call Nabiki and ask her not to say anything until you're clear headed enough to decide what you want her to hear, okay? We can trust her."
Nabiki. That name didn't carry any strong feelings for him, one way or another. "Okay…" he said finally. His eyelids drooped, exhausted from fighting the medication.
"Still out of it, huh?" She smiled gently and started easing him back onto the bed, arranging the pillow to help take pressure off his shoulder and arm. He didn't even think to resist, deciding consciousness wasn't as urgent anymore.
She pulled the blanket over him. "You're a lot easier to manage like this. Heh, don't worry buddy, you'll be up and about and yelling at me for this in no time." She patted his shoulder. "I'll be right back, okay?"
"Okay…" He mumbled sleepily, darkness crept into the edges of his vision and he succumbed once more to sleep. As he drifted off, one last thought occurred to him.
I forgot to ask her name…
000
The insistent ringing dragged Nabiki unwillingly from sleep. She groaned and and slowly cracked an eye as gradually, comprehension of the sound intruding on her pleasant dreams trickled in.
Unlike Ryouga, awareness came quickly as soon as recognition of the sound reached her. She had trained herself to recognize the distinctive ringtone she had selected for her phone; only a handful of people even had the number, so if she heard that ring tone it was always important.
She lunged for her side table and managed to snag the cell phone and bring it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Nabiki" Ranma's familiar voice came through. A little subdued, but Nabiki was too relieved to hear from her to care.
"Ranma, I've been worried!" Nabiki rolled onto her back with a sigh. She had figured that it might be a while before Ranma managed to steer Ryouga back to working telephone service but that hadn't made the wait any easier. "Did you manage to corral Ryouga? Do you need train fare or something to get back?"
"No, uh…" Ranma sounded hesitant, which instantly got Nabiki paying closer attention. "We actually didn't go THAT far. There been anything about explosions in the news?"
Nabiki's eyes widened. "Oh no…" Despite not being a martial artist, it paid to have a basic knowledge about the tricks and techniques that were being tossed about, if only to know when to change the odds she was offering or when it was time to use Kuno as a shield. Ryouga's Shi shi hokodan was rather infamous… including his use of it for self-medication. "It was that bad? Are you okay? Is Ryouga…?"
"I'm fine. Just some scrapes and bruises. Ryouga's kinda torn up and dopey as hell on pain meds." Ranma replied. "He's still not in a good place, though. I told him I'd stay with him so I'll be here until they say he's clear to go home."
"Ranma," Nabiki sighed. "They have people to deal with attempted suicide... you don't have to…"
"I didn't tell them it was… look, I don't even know if that's what it was or if it was just a Shi shi hokodan that got out of control, but what am I supposed to tell them? That he makes giant beams of energy fueled with his depression and that he nearly killed himself with one? They think it was a gas explosion or something. Besides, you think that putting him in restraints would make it better? Wouldn't hold him anyway and wouldn't stop him from blowing up. I just gotta stick with him until he levels out, then we can find a more permanent solution."
"Why not call Akari to come stay with him? Wouldn't that be better for him? Or his Mom? You said she was in town, right?"
"Trust me, it wouldn't be," Ranma replied. "Akari is a pile of guilt for him right now and his Mom is liable to end up lost for another four years if she steps out her front door. Speaking of which, can you check on her for me? Make sure she's got food and stuff, so she can stay put? It's important, trust me."
"Yeah… yeah, I can do that," Nabiki replied. "What about you though, Ranma? There's school today. If you take a hit on your attendance, that's grounds for Himura to boot you off the team. Not to mention your Mom expects you to be present on Sunday for her Fiancee Interview."
"I know. I'm hoping Ryo will be okay to go home to his Mom by Sunday. As for school… Well, if Himura plays that card, then she does, and I play volleyball for her for a bit is all. This is more important."
"More important than a martial arts challenge?" Nabiki felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Who are you and what did you do with Ranma Saotome?"
"A good businesswoman has to know how to prioritize, right?" Ranma bounced back. Nabiki could hear the smirk in her voice.
"Touché," Nabiki replied, pleased she had come back with something from her own book. "I've got your back, Ranma. I'll run interference as best I can at school, and I'll see what I can do to buy you a little more breathing room with your mother. What story do you want me to go with on this?"
"Tell everyone we got in a fight or something... 'Cept Ryouga's Mom. She… uhh… she thinks we're dating." Ranma's tone was sheepish.
"Oh? Is that why you've started with the pet names?" Nabiki asked, grinning.
"What pet names? I haven't called him 'P-chan' in forever."
"You called him 'Ryo', Ranma."
"No I didn't!"
"Should I play back the recording for you?"
"You're RECORDING this!?"
"I record all the calls on this line."
"Look, i didn't… I mean, it was a slip, okay! It didn't mean anything! Please PLEASE tell me Akane isn't listening to this call?"
Nabiki started giggling. "Calm down, Saotome. She's still in bed. And I'm sure we can work out a suitable payment arrangement. Though you'll have to do better than just yen nowadays."
"... Dinner and a movie?" Ranma replied nervously.
"It's a start." Nabiki examined her nails. "Or if something does happen with you and 'Ryo' get me a few good pics of it. I wouldn't mind a little yaoi in my personal collection."
"WHAT?! I'm not doing anything like that with Ryouga as a GUY!"
"Okay, so you'll be doing it as a girl then?"
"Yes! I mean NO! I mean… NABIKI!"
"Shhh, you're in a hospital zone, dear heart. Keep it down," Nabiki teased. "Is there anything else you need before I go?"
"Some replacement clothes would be nice. Ours kinda got shredded by the blast. Much as I would love otherwise, better stick with girl side stuff for me. I should have some guy-side stuff that'll fit Ryouga, too. Not the jeans, though."
"Mmmmm, sharing clothes too? Sounds like you and Ryo are more serious than Akane thought!"
"Nabiki!"
"I know, I know," Nabiki giggled. "You have to let a girl have some fun now and then. Speaking of Akane though…"
"Better keep her and Ryouga separated for now. She's basically a lit fuse for him."
"Do you want her to know?" Nabiki asked quietly. "I mean, she has to know what happened eventually, but…"
Ranma was silent a moment. "... Yeah. Tell her now, before Ryouga can say not to. She needs to know what happened and deal with it, and if we let Ryouga just try and pretend this is all okay he'll just try this again somewhere I won't be around to pull him out."
"I'll handle my baby sister, you handle your boyfriend." Nabiki agreed.
"He's NOT my… ugh." Ranma groused. "Fine, it's a plan."
"I'll see you this afternoon with a care package then," Nabiki replied. "I'll tell you about how Fiancee's Tea went. For now though…" She glanced at her clock. "I had better get up if I want to get all this ready before school." She paused, suddenly a little uncertain about how to close the call. Finally she just decided to be an adult about it. "... I love you, Ranma. Stay safe, okay?"
Ranma was silent, but Nabiki could hear the hitching of her breath that typically came when she was flustered. "I love you too, Nabiki. I will. And… uhh… give Himura hell for me, okay?"
"Working on it, trust me," Nabiki replied. "Bye." She hesitated a moment, then pressed the 'end call' button.
She sighed and closed her eyes. Why was the weirdest part of that call trying to end the conversation like a normal boyfriend/girlfriend couple? She paused a moment mentally. Aside from the obvious curse-issues.
To be fair, the curse wasn't actually a factor. Nabiki had long decided that Ranma was Ranma was Ranma. But casual expressions of affection were such a loaded weapon in the household that even saying 'I love you' carried with it the weight of a declaration of war.
We'll have to work on that. Nabiki decided. ESPECIALLY with Akane. She sat up and started a mental checklist of the things she needed to accomplish. It was a disconcertingly long list.
First… coffee.
000
Nabiki sipped her coffee as she checked the backpack she was loading. Thankfully Akane hadn't woken up yet and though she had agreed Akane needed to know about what happened to Ryouga, she wanted backup from Shampoo or Ukyou before she gave her the news, lest her baby sister run off impulsively to do exactly the wrong thing.
"Too many friends and family have been in the hospital lately," Kasumi said, quietly handing over four packed lunches; one for Nabiki, one for Akane, and one each for Ranma and Ryouga. "Are you sure about what you're doing, Nabiki?"
Nabiki took a deep breath. She had been wondering that herself, but the more she mulled over the situation in her mind, the worse any other option she could conceive of got. "Kasumi, you know how when you put on the cover sheet on a mattress you have to do opposite corners, so that it fits evenly and tightly? And how sometimes it can slip and snap back, and you have to start over?"
Kasumi nodded hesitantly, her brow furrowing. "Yes…?"
"This is kind of like that, only… there are many bedsheets and corners, all at once. And it's hard to tell which corners are opposite. And they snap back hard. But… it's the only way to do things to cover it all neatly and evenly - to make sure no one ends up out in the cold at night." She looked at her sister to see if what she said made any sense, suddenly doubting it herself.
Kasumi nodded. "I've always worried about you… Ranma and all of his friends and…" She colored a bit. "... I suppose lovers now, isn't it? I had so hoped that as time went on the urgency of this whole situation would fade; that this could become just a silly story you would all tell at some get-together in a few years." She took a deep breath. "That was naive of me. I want… I want to help more, Nabiki." She looked down at the bento she was holding in her hands. "Cooking meals and making beds isn't enough. It never was."
"Kasumi…" Nabiki blinked, unsure how to respond to her older sister's request.
"Let me talk with Nodoka. I can handle her." Kasumi replied. "She sees me as a fellow housewife rather than a child like you and Akane. I can try and buy you some time as far as her Interview goes."
Nabiki considered that. She still felt a little sheepish trying to explain the whole situation to her sister but Kasumi had consistently surprised her with her dogged supportiveness. "All right, if you're willing, that would be a big help." She paused a moment before adding. "We… the, uh… fiancees… have started meeting at a local tea shop to hash things out and strategize for defusing potentially explosive situations… would you like to come the next time we meet? If you're going to help us out, you at least deserve to know how this all works."
"Oh my… Are you suggesting that I join Ranma's harem, Nabiki?"
Nabiki choked on her coffee and was unable to reply as she tried frantically to clear the hot caffeinated beverage from her sinuses.
Kasumi giggled lightly. "On that I'm afraid I will have to pass. It would just be too odd, though I am flattered you thought of me. But I think tea sounds nice. I would love to join you as a guest."
Nabiki gasped and glared at her older sister, still unable to decide for certain if she did such things on purpose or not. She added a few points to her estimation of Kasumi's deviousness and potential mischievousness just to be on the safe side. "I'll… ~koff~ let the girls know."
000
When next Ryouga Hibiki stirred, the hazy fog of anaesthetic and painkillers had been replaced with a pounding headache and an all-to-clear memory.
Oh god… just let it be a bad dream like all the rest. He held his eyes shut against the pounding in his skull, hoping that if he kept them that way, this reality, whatever it was, would fade and he'd wake up in his tent, on his way to see Akane, with everything the way it was supposed to be.
Unfortunately for him, he had indulged in the pleasant numbness and forgetfulness long enough and the price had now come due; a splitting headache and the clarity of sobriety.
He cracked his eyes open, and saw what he had feared, what he had known would be there. The crisp, off-white linens of the hospital bed, the steady beep of monitoring machines and the smell of antiseptic.
Solitude without even the comfort and familiarity of his own tent and sleeping bag. The world was a dark and lonely place.
"Oh, hey, look who's up!" A familiar, infuriating voice came from behind him, towards where he assumed the door was. Not lonely enough!
"Go away, Ranma," Ryouga growled. I can't deal with this. I can't deal with her-HIM right now! I just need a few minutes to myself to get myself up and get this tube out of my arm, and then I can be gone and…
His mind filled with the image of a dream, the one that had been tormenting him in his sleep. He had sought to expel his pain, realized it was too much, and decided to simply accept it, but unlike reality someone had come. Someone had cared… a girl? An illusion. A fantasy, maybe, conjured by whatever last-minute urge had caused him to try and lurch away from the blast and save himself. Some cruel trick of his stubborn survival instinct.
"There's a coffee machine out there that does hot chocolate. Not sure how good it is but it's hot. Well… warm… ish." Ranma's voice was in front of him now.
That's it. I'm going to strangle him, THEN find my way out of here! His eyes snapped open. "Ranma, go awa...!"
His words died in his throat. The girl from his dream was looking at him. Right in close, inches from his face, peering at him with an expression of concern.
"Gah…!" Ryouga tried to scrambled back on the bed, only for his back to flare up in molten pain. He cried out, flailed and managed to force himself into a half sitting position. He stared at her in uncomprehending terror.
"Are you still loopy on those meds?" she asked with Ranma's voice, cocking her head curiously at him. "I kinda liked it better when you were dopey and agreeable."
She has Ranma's voice! WHY DOES SHE HAVE RANMA'S VOICE?!
She's Ranma? WHY DOES RAMNA LOOK LIKE THE GIRL FROM MY DREAM!?
Ryouga stared at her for a few moments more until his heart rate came back down and the initial rush of adrenaline faded enough for him to look closer. It was like one of those visual puzzles, where you had to unfocus your eyes to see the secret hidden by the unfamiliar pattern, except for some reason he couldn't quite get this one.
"Ranma?" He asked uncertainly. "What… what happened to you!?"
"I got blown up, that's what!" Ranma scowled at him, but it wasn't right, somehow. It didn't look like how he remembered Ranma's scowl. It looked like a girl scowling.
"No, I mean… why do you look like a girl!?" Ryouga demanded. He blinked and shook his head but the illusion wasn't breaking.
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "... Because I'm a girl, dumbass." She winced the instant she said that. "I mean… damnit Ryouga, you know how this works!"
"That's not how you look when…" Ryouga protested, but then he remembered. Brief flashes, a girl claiming to be his fiancee… a girl in a gym outfit crying because she had lost her ball… another fiancee, this one with brown hair, but the same face… They… they looked like her. But… they were all Ranma, and as soon as I realized that the illusion was gone. I KNOW this is Ranma, so why…? "... Look, just get some hot water and change back, okay?"
"No can do, buddy," Ranma said. She took a sip of her hot chocolate then coughed and spit it out. "... Okay, maybe should have gone for the soda machine…"
"Why not?! Just dump that stupid cup over your head and change back!" Ryouga made a swipe for the cup but his movements were slow and she yanked it out of reach.
"I can't! I'm your fiancee, remember?" She scowled at him again as she put the cup on the table on the far side of the room, safely out of reach.
"You're what?!" Ryouga stared at her, uncomprehending. Was that part of the magic? "No you're not!"
She turned and stomped over to him and pointed a finger right at his nose. "Yes I am. Thanks to a certain someone putting me on record as their fiancee the last time they were here!"
Ryouga blinked and then the memory came back to him. Getting changed back in the school with no clothes. The firefighters. All the humiliating poking and prodding with no way to get them to release him unless it was into the custody of a next of kin or equivalent. "Oh… this is the same hospital?"
"Closest one to the school. Still a pretty decent hike with heavy slab of knucklehead on your back." She crossed her arms and huffed. It was disconcertingly cute.
He rubbed a hand down his face, then tried to clear the sleep from his eyes and looked again. Nope... still cute. Not good. "Well… can you stop it then?"
She cocked her head. "Stop what?"
"This!" He motioned at her. "This… whatever it is you do when you're trying to fool me that makes you look like… like a girl!"
She looked down at herself then back up at him, scowl returning. "What? You mean look like hell!? Because I do! Because somebody blew me up!"
He winced. He hadn't intended for anyone else to get hurt. Not even Ranma. "Well… could you at least put your hair back in a pigtail?"
Ranma rolled her eyes. "No. No I can't. Not until I get home and get a hot shower and a chance to wash out all the crap from the forest. What's gotten into you, anyway? You still loopy from the meds?" She moved over to the bed and suddenly took his head in her hands, holding him still so she could look in his eyes. "Your eyes aren't crazy dilated like they were before…"
He froze. The memory of her face, tear-streaked and filthy, the pleading in her eyes. The tenuous, timid notion, somehow pushing through all the self-revulsion and despair, that maybe, just maybe, he would actually be missed.
There were way too many intense and confusing feelings associated with that face now; far more than he was ready to deal with. He pulled back, shaking his head as an excuse to break eye contact, to look away. "I'm fine, Ranma!"
"Well geez, sorry for being worried about you, you jackass," she muttered and sank back into the chair next to his bed. Her ill temper faded as quickly as it had come as she settled in. "How's the back?"
Eager to try and dispel the odd awkwardness between them, Ryouga latched onto the topic like a limpet mine. "Hurts like hell. I've had worse…"
"No you haven't."
He scowled at her, careful to keep his gaze indirect and avoid direct eye contact for the moment. That made it easier. "Hey, you didn't see what I had to go through to beat that jerk Lime."
He shuddered a bit, remembering the other fighter's hands around his throat, strength exceeding his own, crushing his windpipe. He remembered the odd calm that had come as his vision darkened, knowing that the Musk Warrior wouldn't stop with unconsciousness. The peace of knowing it was all going to be over soon. And then the despair at knowing he would never see Akane again that had fueled the ki blast that had finally put Lime down.
Akane. That name had been his mantra over the last year, keeping him slogging forward, pushing through fatigue and pain and fear. The face and the smile that he had struggled endlessly to return to, the promise of welcome comfort, love and acceptance, even if it was all wrapped in a humiliating lie. He clenched his fist feeling the tears starting to come again, the bile rising in his throat as he remembered her words… how she had shattered his heart and stripped him of his humanity without even being aware of him.
"Hey! Hey!"
He felt a small hand on his arm. He blinked and looked up, seeing Ranma looking at him with concern and worry. "Don't, Ryouga… wherever you're going in your head, don't go there, okay? You're glowing."
His breath hitched in his throat. Whatever glamor was on Ranma was still in full force, maybe even stronger now. There was a schism forming in his mind, a disconnect between his notion of his rival-sometimes-friend Ranma and this girl who had saved him… who actually cared…
It was just a pleasant illusion but that was okay. It was something; something to cling to that might save him from the darkness. A dream was better anyway, wasn't it? He couldn't fail a dream. Dreams were all he had in the end, after all.
"It's okay," He said finally. "I'm not gonna do that again, I promise." He took a deep breath, wincing as his stitches pulled. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Yeah, I do," Ranma replied crossly.
Ryouga felt a mix of the guilt that came with being a burden to someone mixed with a confusing blend of anger and… happiness. Anger that Ranma was stubbornly refusing to let him be and happiness over the exact same thing.
He rubbed his temples, wishing he could resolve the paradox that was keeping his mind churning in circles. "Do what you want then," he muttered.
Ranma's expression softened. "Look, Ryouga, I know what you're going through…"
"No, you don't!" Ryouga said forcefully. The last thing he wanted was empty pity, especially from a guy who could do no wrong no matter how much of a jerk he was, and who ended up with everyone loving him! The glamor around Ranma, whatever it was, started to fade. He could just about see his old enemy again. That was better. He latched onto that, feeling his fingers curl into a fist. It'd feel good to hit Ranma. Make it his fault again.
"Yeah, I do," Ranma insisted. "I walked through it to get you!"
The anger flickered. "What are you talking about?" Ryouga asked tightly, trying to cling to it.
"You were saturating the area with your ki," she said gently. "I… I felt it. Not just physically. It… it dug at me - kept dragging up all the bad things in my life and making them worse. It kept going around and around in my head and I couldn't make it stop. By the time I got to you… I was almost okay with letting it crush me." She looked down at the floor, suddenly uncertain. Shy, even. "I didn't… Is that what it's like all the time?"
The anger flickered and died instantly. "Not… not always…" He said quietly. "It… today was a bad day."
"You've had other bad days," Ranma replied. It wasn't a question. She was giving him that searching look again, that disconcerting understanding in her eyes.
"Yeah, I've had other bad days," Ryouga grumbled, looking away from her. It was hard to meet her gaze now. There was too much… there now. "I deal with them and move on. This was… this was a hiccup."
"Hell of a hiccup," Ranma murmured. She reached out and took his hand. "Gimme your hand. I want to try something."
"Whatthehellareyoudoing!?" He squeaked, eyes wide. He wanted to pull his hand back, but his muscles had frozen.
"Shush. Just lemme concentrate, okay?" She closed her eyes, her brow furrowing for a moment with the effort.
Ryouga felt the warmth from her hand, before the glow was even visible. It seemed to flow up his arm and along his shoulder, then up along his spine into the back of his head. He gasped, feeling a trickle of emotions. Warm, like little golden swirls in the usual black mire, swirling briefly, then vanishing. Comfort, warmth, happiness. Not his, but real nonetheless.
Not his. Ranma's.
It took Ryouga a second or two to trace back what Ranma was doing. Somehow she had taken what had happened with the shi shi hokodan and inverted it, drawing upon happy memories and feelings and using her ki to inject them into his aura. Right away he knew it shouldn't have worked, his own ki should have rejected it, unless…
She's my Anchor. That makes the link for it to travel. She… she IS my Anchor… All at once he realized what a special thing he had wasted on something so petty as revenge on a rival. The darkness closed in again as he found a new reason to revile himself. I did this… so I could find him… and fight him… over BREAD…
And now here that rival was, clothed in the illusion of the girl that would likely haunt his dreams for the rest of his life, sharing an… intimacy that he could never know with anyone else. That he could have shared with Akane, with Akari...
It hurt. It was intolerable.
"Stop…" Ryouga gasped. It took him a moment to wrench back control of his muscles, to force himself to break the connection. He snatched his hand out of her grasp. "I said STOP!"
Ranma gasped as the backlash from the sudden break hit her. She reeled back, disoriented, and caught herself on the armrest of the chair so she didn't topple over. "H-hey! What's the big…!?"
"I don't want your recycled happiness, Saotome!" Ryouga snarled. "If I'm going to get a drip feed of joy, I might as well get it from one of these!" He held up his IV line.
"I… I just wanted to help. I thought…" Ranma stammered. She looked genuinely hurt.
That just made the pain worse. STOP HAUNTING ME! He snarled mentally at the illusory girl in front of him. "Do you think it helps to remind me how much happier you are than me, Ranma? How much better your life is? Does it make you feel better about yourself to remind me how broken I am, that I can't even feel these things?!"
His anger faded as he saw the guilt in her face as she looked away silently. He felt his own miserable pang for having slapped away a hand trying to help him, and for needing that hand in the first place.
Why am I such a burden? He closed his eyes, and took a few slow breaths. "Just… go home, Ranma. You can't help me."
There was a knock at the door. Ryouga hurriedly arranged the blanket, mindful that the hospital gowns weren't the most dignified dress, as Ranma rubbed at her eyes a bit.
"Come in," Ranma said.
Rather than the nurse Ryouga had been expecting, a doctor came in. he had greying hair and wireframe glasses, and looked familiar. After a moment, he realized it was the doctor that had examined him the last time he had been here.
He smiled at the two of them. "Well, I would say it is nice to see the both of you again, but with the circumstances I imagine it would be better to say it is nice to see you both recovering." He bowed slightly. "I hope you both remember me? Doctor Masamune Hirano."
"I remember," Ryouga said, cautiously.
He smiled at him. "Good. I am… astonished and dismayed at the course of your luck, Mr. Hibiki. While I understand this incident wasn't necessarily related to your navigational difficulties, I was hoping I could take this chance to renew my offer to you both? We've had several cancellations for the MRI equipment and I have some time today so I can fit you in, if you're willing?"
Good. More attention to the broken state of my brain. Ryouga thought sourly. He felt a hand on his arm, and turned to see Ranma looking at him intensely.
"Ryouga, remember your Mom," she said simply.
Ryouga sighed heavily. Just what I need. More faint hope. All right, everything else has had a crack at this curse, might as well give modern medicine a try. "What do I have to do?"
"Not much. This would just be a basic scan, so I'd just need you to lie in the machine for about 45 minutes." He glanced at Ranma. "Your fiancee can accompany you, if you're at all nervous about small spaces. She can even hold your hand if you like."
"I'm fine." Ryouga said quickly, then sheepishly added, "... with small spaces, I mean."
The doctor nodded. "Good, good, then this should be quick. I'll have the nurse come fetch you when we're ready for you. Trust me, Mr. Hibiki, this is a wise choice. Things can only get better from here."
"We'll see," Ryouga replied, unconvinced.
000
Nabiki was a little surprised to discover both Ukyou and Shampoo waiting for them at the Tendo Dojo gates, both wearing school uniforms. Ukyou was wearing her typical boy's uniform, as was her preference, and Shampoo was subjecting her girl's uniform to curves that it simply hadn't been designed for.
"I didn't realize you two were coming today!" Akane said, running forward to greet her friends.
Nabiki took a more leisurely route. Not having Ranma with them meant they had gotten out the door with plenty of time - which Nabiki suspected she would need.
"Where Ranma?" Shampoo asked, peering past them and through the gates. "Is not with you?"
"He hasn't gotten back yet from chasing Ryouga," Akane said, a little more sharply than she intended.
"He gave me a call early this morning to let me know where he and Ryouga are," Nabiki added, earning a surprised look from her sister.
"You didn't say anything about that when we were getting ready!" Akane's voice held a mix of hurt and accusation, though her expression was more confused.
"No, I didn't," Nabiki replied and started to walk nonchalantly towards school.
"Is… it bad?" Akane asked sheepishly. Her jealousy and suspiciousness were subdued by a sense of dread that only came when Nabiki knew she had screwed up.
"Yeah," Nabiki replied, and continued to walk without offering more.
The other girls clustered around her and waited patiently for Nabiki to either spill what she knew or to announce her price.
"They're in the hospital," Nabiki said finally.
"What!?" All three yelped but Nabiki held up a hand to silence them again.
"Ranma's not badly hurt, but Ryouga is pretty torn up," she said. She kept her eyes forward and her voice low. "After finding out how Akane felt about him he apparently fired off a depression-fueled ki blast that he couldn't control and nearly blew himself and Ranma to kingdom come."
Akane stopped walking. Her eyes were wide with horror, her hands over her mouth.
Nabiki turned and waited. She kept her expression carefully neutral. She would comfort Akane if she needed it, but she wouldn't offer it to her just yet. She wanted her baby sister to feel the full impact of what had happened for a bit.
Akane shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "I didn't… I didn't mean…"
"Is Ryouga okay?!" Ukyou demanded. "How bad? Which hospital is he at!?"
"Furinkan General. He's recovering. Ranma says he should be okay, but he's staying with him because Ryouga apparently really needs a friend right now. Ranma didn't go into details, but apparently Ryouga has had some problems with Akari and even his own mother weighing on him, and this came at a really bad time."
"Can go see?" Shampoo asked.
"Ranma didn't think it'd be a good idea for anyone who was there when all his secrets came tumbling out to come visit just yet. Shampo might be okay, since she has a curse too, but otherwise he suggested we all stay clear for now." She fixed Akane with a stern look as she said that.
Akane just shook her head, hands still over her mouth. Finally she stopped, swallowing. "How do I face him? How could I possibly, after this?"
"We'll figure it out," Ukyou said. She walked over and put a hand on Akane's shoulder. "But you are going to. Ryouga is too big a part of everyone's lives to leave this hanging."
"But… how do I make something like this right?" Akane asked her.
"Apologize first," Ukyou said. "Don't qualify it, just start with 'sorry'. Tell him what you told us; you were trying to find a way around your own issues with boys with him because you wanted to trust him. Even after you found out about the curse. Then… leave it alone a while."
Akane closed her eyes and slumped against Ukyou, signalling a need for comfort that the Okonomiyaki chef provided with a hug.
"I feel like such a terrible person," Akane said, muffled by Ukyou's shoulder. "I keep wondering who else I've been so thoughtless to, without even realizing it. People at school, you all, Kasumi… Ranma goes without saying…"
Shampoo suddenly hugged Akane from behind, earning a startled squeak from the youngest Tendo.
"No can speak for others, but… slate clean with Shampoo." She squeezed gently, showing uncharacteristic restraint. "Start fresh. Akane not bad person. Akane good person who make bad mistake. Can make better."
"But what if I make more?" Akane looked over her shoulder at the Amazon girl.
"Always make more. Is how learn. Great-grandmother say make mistakes is inev… inevit… always happen. So no point in being afraid." She tilted her head and smiled. "Is okay Akane make mistakes. Shampoo still love, and help fix."
Akane blushed. "I… ummm…" She glanced at Ukyou, then back at Shampoo. "You… mean that like a sister, right?"
Shampoo turned her around by the shoulders, and then glanced around quickly, ensuring that there wasn't anyone watching. "Mean like this." She leaned in and, before Akane could protest, kissed her full on the lips.
"Amazon definition of 'sisterhood'," Ukyou commented. "You'd think Akane might have caught on by now."
"I'm not sure she hasn't," Nabiki noted wryly.
Akane had gotten over her momentary shock at the kiss and had decided to accept the subtle challenge. She leaned into it and returned it with no small force of her own, arms tightened around the girl and her hands tangled in Shampoo's lustrous purple mane. Akane seemed intent to give as good as she got.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow and Ukyou was starting to look a little cross.
"It… uh… it seems there's a lot of unrequited tension between those two…" Ukyou muttered.
"Oh you have no idea," Nabiki smirked. "I've been running even odds on this sort of thing happening since they met."
Ukyou coughed to clear her throat and started to fidget uncomfortably.
The kiss had initially started with surprise, moved on to fierce competition, until, slowly, an equilibrium was found; a steady pace that was more comfortable; an almost parallel of their relationship thus far. Finally they broke for air, breathing hard and staring into each other's eyes, a little overwhelmed by where the playful gesture of reassurance had gone.
"I do know a good Love Motel if you two want to get the rest of this out of your system while Ukyou and I head to class," Nabiki said dryly. "Either way we need to get going."
"Nabiki!" Akane blushed and quickly disentangled herself from Shampoo. "Don't make jokes like that!"
Nabiki shrugged. "It's not a joke. I get a spiff every time I refer someone there."
The small group did manage to get moving again though Nabiki noticed that both Akane and Shampoo were considerably subdued and Ukyou was sulking. There were no sparks of conflict or acrimony though so that implied things were stabilizing.
Now if we could just get the Himuras and Nodokas to take a hike, she thought. A common enemy was a nice unifying agent, at least at first, but Nabiki was fairly certain the stresses imposed by all these conflicts were doing far more harm than good at this point.
Sayuri and the other members of the volleyball team were waiting for them at the gates, same as last time.
"Where's Ranma?" Sayuri asked. The whole group was looking nervous. "Don't tell me something happened when that boy ran off?"
"They're okay. It's complicated," Nabiki said. "Ranma should be back by tomorrow."
Hopefully. She added mentally.
"Tomorrow?! We were supposed to practise today!" Sayuri sighed heavily. "Our first game is on Wednesday! How are we ever going to get ready for this if we don't do any training!?"
Shampoo and Ukyou glanced at each other.
"We can help you for today, sugar," Ukyou said.
"That's right, Ukyou is pretty good," Rin said.
"Doesn't change that it's Ranma we're playing with. It's not just practising serves and volleys, we need to figure out team strategies." Sayuri rubbed her forehead. "I guess it's better than nothing though. Thank you."
"Right now we have other problems," Riko said, thumbing towards the gate. "The Horde is back."
"On a Saturday?" Nabiki walked over to the gate and peered through. Sure enough, nearly every male in the school was milling about in the courtyard. "They never used to bother on saturdays!"
"They won't let us past until Akane comes out," Yuka said, scowling. "And with Himura's stupid rule in place, if they so much as tap us we're off the team."
Nabiki's eyes widened. "Uh oh…" She glanced at Akane, then back at the crowd. "They know about the new rule?"
"What wrong?" Shampoo leaned in next to her to look at the crowd.
"Maybe nothing," Nabiki replied. "Hopefully nothing. Just worried they might be just smart enough to do something really dumb."
Akane clenched her fists. "We're not going to find out standing here. Let's just get this over with." She took a deep breath and strode in through the gates.
Truth be told, Akane was not in the mood to fight. After what had happened with Kuno and Ryouga, it was getting harder to see the mass of horny teenagers as nothing more than a faceless horde anymore.
Yes, they knew what they were in for. Yes, they had it coming, and yes, what they were after was reprehensible. But was this really the way to deal with it? Beating them down over and over, only to have them rise the next day, so deeply invested in this madness they couldn't stop?
She strode into the courtyard, stopped and waited for the noise of the milling crowd to die down.
"I'm not going to fight you today," Akane announced, raising her head, and staring them down.
"You surrender?" Someone called from within the crowd, and the murmuring resumed.
"No!" Akane cut them off. "I'm not going to fight you because this is pointless!" She gestured to them. "Why are you even doing this anymore? You, Kosuke…" She singled out one in the front. "You used to be in the drama club, right? Before all of this started? You don't go anymore. Is it because I was in it? You used to love acting! Is it really worth giving all of that up, just to try and force me to go out with you?"
The boy shrank back, flustered, skulking back into the crowd.
Good! Good, Akane, strip them of their anonymity! Nabiki silently cheered from the gates as she watched.
"And you, Daiki. You're in my homeroom. You wear a mask when you do this but I can see it in your desk from where you sit." Akane pointed out another one. "You used to have a girlfriend before all this, didn't you? And you, you're Kosei from chemistry. I remember we did a lab together once. You really worked hard on your midterm project last year. Now you're just making bombs to try and knock me out?"
As each boy was singled out, they slowly retreated in humiliation. Others started to drift back of their own accord, unwilling to face public identification.
"I don't want to fight any of you!" Akane said earnestly. "Many of you have never even talked to me before, much less expressed any interest. Is it really that much easier to try and punch me in the face or hit me with a stick than it is to just talk to me?" She put her hand over her heart. "I'm a person. And you… you're all people. And… if I didn't treat you that way, I'm sorry. I know I've hurt people… friends that way recently. So… please, I promise to treat you all like people, even if I can't always give you want you want from me. All I want is for you to do the same." She held out her hand. "Can I ask for that much?"
The murmuring of the crowd increased. More boys sidled away from the crowd, some taking to the sidelines, others retreating shamefully back into the school. However, a core knot remained.
A taller boy in full kendo gear stepped forward, his face obscured by his kendo mask as he levelled a shinai at her. "What is this? Since when does Akane Tendo talk away her problems?"
The murmuring rose in pitch. Akane winced, unable to identify the boy.
"How dare you try and beg your way out of this now, like a coward!" He said. Akane could feel the glare from behind his mask. "You've always thought you were better than us! Always looked down on us! You're right, you didn't treat us like people! I was always nice to you, always opened the door for you, always smiled when you came into class, and you never noticed me! I'm better than your stupid jock fiance ever was! I'm smart, I'm polite, I always did what I was supposed to! And none of the girls ever noticed me!" He took a step forward. "This is your fault we have to do this! You and every other stuck-up girl at this lousy school! Well… you're right about one thing! You're not going to fight back! Because if you do, we'll beat up your stupid dyke girlfriends on the volleyball team! Then your fiance will belong to Himura!"
The rest of the kendo team stepped forward, as did a fair few other male students.
"First one to pin her gets her for the day," The lead kendoist said over his shoulder to the others. He turned back to Akane. "And if you don't want your girly little boyfriend to become Himura's boyfriend, you're gonna let us win every day. For the rest of the year!"
There was a cheer from the crowd, though it was much smaller. Many other boys were backing away from the group, unwilling to sink to the depths of the core mob. There were still nearly thirty of them, though.
No! Nabiki gripped the wall as her worst fear was realized. They were going to use Himura's new zero-tolerance rule to force her sister into submission.
Akane took a reflexive step back as they started advancing on her, uncertain what to do. She was startled as two figures walked past her on either side, coming to a stop just in front of her. One in a boy's uniform, the other in a girl's. Ukyou and Shampoo.
"Well, I've heard just about enough, haven't you, Shampoo?" Ukyou said, her hand on her hip as she stroked her chin in a nonchalant manner.
"Is good. Finally get to core of problem." Shampoo cracked her knuckles. "Can remove now."
The horde hesitated.
"Y-you think we're scared of you, Kuonji? You're just the same as the rest of these girls! You even think you're a better guy than us!" The lead kendoist cried. "You wanna fight us? You can't stop us all! One of us will get to your little friends!"
"Hard to do that when you're in traction, sugar." Ukyou drew her battle spatula slowly. "Besides, after this, I think me and Shampoo here are going to go and have a chat with Himura's team. Hard to lose a challenge if the opposition is disqualified first, right?"
The kendoist hesitated, seeing his trump card taken from him.
"How bad is allowed to hurt?" Shampoo asked, a grin spreading across her face as she took a ready stance.
"Don't kill them."
"Is all? That not very specific."
Ukyou smirked. "Ever hear the phrase 'You'd be surprised what you can live through'?"
Shampoo raised an eyebrow. "No… but like phrase."
"Good." Ukyou winked at her. "Surprise them."
000
Himura watched from the window, sighing in dissatisfaction as the screams of pain rose from the courtyard.
"We… could always have them suspended for…" Sanae winced as there was an audible crack of bone breaking from the courtyard. "... excessive violence?"
Himura shook her head. "From Furinkan? The Principal would never allow it. Enforcing the rule now would just set the expectation that he do it in the future… and that'd spoil his fun." She made a sour face. "Every student who comes to this school signs a waiver for a reason, after all."
"What about… uh… what Kuonji said?" Umeko said nervously, watching the carnage. It was fascinating not only for its brutality, but the casual efficiency the two girls were displaying. Rather than the usual punting or smacking, they were making precise, debilitating strikes. Most of the remaining horde was going to need medical attention, and would probably be out of school for a while. "About coming after us?"
Himura waved off her concern. "I've already submitted the 'corrected' rule. Hana will be doing the announcement over the school intercom by the time they enter the building. I've ensured rather harsh penalties for those attacking any sports team members unprovoked, so you girls shouldn't have to worry."
"They might come after us anyway," Mineko said, toying with a lock of her dyed hair nervously.
"And if they do, their dear Ranma will be horrified by their dishonorable methods of interfering in her challenge and it will create a wedge between them I can exploit," Himura replied casually. "Unlikely… Nabiki is more clever than that, but on the off chance it happens, it will work to my benefit."
"That doesn't help us!" Mineko said, clenching her fists. "The scouts for the Olympic trainers are out at these games! I can't afford to sit out this season with an injury! How will you make your championship run without us!?"
Himura turned, smiled, walked up to the taller girl and patted her cheek. "Mineko, Mineko… Whatever made you think you're not replaceable?" She cocked her head and smiled widely. "I have half a dozen girls training desperately right now to replace you, or any of the team. You're from a family with no background or connections and there is the little matter of that drug test you failed that I covered up for you. Don't make the mistake of overestimating your importance to me. You need me far more than I need you."
Mineko's breath hitched in her throat.
Himura drew her hand away, trailing a finger along Mineko's jaw as she turned. "Just do as you're told, play well, and all will work out for you. Leave the rest to me."
"You did this on purpose…" Umeko said softly. "You painted a target on us to see if you could goad Ranma's entourage into doing something he'd disapprove of."
"Now, now, Umeko-chan, no need to be so paranoid," Himura replied. "It was merely a poorly worded bylaw. That's all. Now, enough dallying. We should all get to class. I would rather not get detention. After all, the Principal was so nice to allow me to organize an official visit to the hospital on behalf of the student council." She smiled. "I am quite looking forward to seeing how our little Ranma-chan is doing, and wishing her a speedy recovery."
000
Woo! I'm on a roll!
First, on the question that's liable to come up - School on Saturday.
This was common in Japan during Ranma's original run. In the early 2000's (Which is where I've set this) it was supposedly abolished or scaled back, but started to make comeback a few years later. I'm not having a lot of luck getting a CONCLUSIVE answer on it though, so… screw it. I'm gonna run with what the last few Persona games say. I apologize if I got this wrong.
I think that's about the only thing I actually have a defense for. There's plenty of OTHER stuff in here to crucify me for.
