PART 5A
A group of teenagers were ignoring the cries of amazement
from the ordinary pedestrians as they leaped from rooftop to
rooftop across Nerima. To the passer-by's on the streets who saw
them, they looked like two boys and five girls. A closer look,
however, will definitely confirm that they were three boys and
four girls instead, since Konatsu wasn't in makeup nor drag
anymore.
"Ryoga!" Mousse called out to the boy leading the group.
"What?!" Ryoga asked without turning back. He was in a
race against time after all.
"WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE GOING?!"
Ryoga froze in mid-step. "I don't know."
Everybody facefaulted and almost slipped off the respective
rooftops that they were on. After burying Ryoga under a wide
assortment of weapons, the originally frantic group began to
really think hard about the situation at hand.
"We need to stay calm." Akane said, crutching her chest and
breathing heavily. "Think! Where on earth could he be right
now?"
"According to logic, he's probably hiding out at where he is
least expected." Mousse said, trying to show his intelligence in
front of Shampoo.
Konatsu looked puzzled. "Which is?"
"I still think that Ranma-sama would be coming to my place
in search of my affection." Kodachi said matter-of-factly.
"That no good suggestion. It BEYOND least expected."
Shampoo discarded the idea with a serious air, enraging the
gymnast.
* * * * * * *
"You . . . all this time . . . all this time you have been
the pigtailed girl?!"
"That's right. So you have finally got it after all this
time." Ranma-kun smiled viciously, enjoying the shock and
disbelieve on Kuno's paled face. "How do you like my spirit now,
huh? Still think you can keep your big words about LOVE, HONOUR,
and all that JUNK?"
Kuno was speechless. The pigtailed goddess that had
enchanted him so had been nothing more than a beautiful cover for
his hated rival. He had been in love with an illusion all this
time! He fell down onto his knees.
"Even one like yourself cannot stand up to your own promise.
You people are all alike. . ." Ranma lowered his eyes and
whispered to himself. "I wonder if Uc. . ." he closed his eyes
in pain. "Better not take the chance to find out."
"Pigtailed . . ." Kuno mumbled through his rapidly receding
soberness.
Ranma's large eyes snapped open and shot him a cold look.
"It's Ranma Saotome, the *honourless clad* whose *spirit* you had
never liked much before. Now just give me back my backpack and
let me go."
Kuno couldn't move, apparently traumatized. Without a word,
Sasuke walked up with his backpack. Ranma strapped it on, and
left in disgust without turning back.
"Love!" he spat out the word like a curse.
* * * * * * *
Gathering her wits, Ukyou dragged Ryoga out of the pile of
weapons. "Ryoga, you're obviously a much closer friend to Ranma
than we all thought you were in the past." Ukyou was referring
to the fact that he was the one who get the suicide note from
Ranma, and was mildly puzzled by the sudden blush on his face.
She ignored this for the moment. "Have you any idea WHO it was
that he wanted to drag down with?"
"Well. . . not really."
"Think harder! This is a life and death moment for
Ran-chan. Any second now, he might be a goner. If we know who
he is after, then at least we will still have a chance of saving
him by waiting where his target is!"
Ryoga tried, but without much success. After all, he had
never seen Ranma really hating anyone before. Then suddenly, he
remembered something that he didn't think was all that important
in the past. That fateful conversion in that garden of
fluttering sakura petals . . .
###########################FLASHBACK#############################
"Anyway, the reason that I was away was that someone here
was after me, Ryoga. I have been hiding from him all this time."
"Who is that guy? Someone else that you have pissed off
like you did me?" Ryoga asked, jokingly. Ranma's eyes lowered
and Ryoga began to look concern.
"Ranma?"
Ranma looked up at his innocent face. "Can't tell you yet.
You probably won't understand until years from now."
#################################################################
But who could Ranma be running away from? And why did he
say that he won't understand?
Then suddenly, the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
Really, who else could it be?! Ukyou saw his expression and
leaned forward in expectation. "Well?"
"All this time . . . it was his . . . his . . ."
"His what?!"
"His father." Ryoga said as he gritted his teeth.
"W H A T ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?"
* * * * * * *
Inside a corner store, the daughter of the store owner was
allowing a handsome young man to use her phone. Right now, the
young man was deep in conversation in a slightly grave voice.
"Yes, I know shouldn't have just left without telling
anyone. . . I'm sorry to have you worried. . . Anyway, please
come to the Tendo Dojo by the end of the day? . . . You shall
understand everything by then. . ." with that, he put down the
phone with his head down.
"Thanks." he said to the girl, who smiled back with a blush,
and left.
{Cute guy. . .} the girl thought to herself. {I'd rate him a
ninety if he wasn't wearing those weird and gloomy black robes.
. .}
* * * * * * *
The entire group of martial artists were racing back full
speed back to the dojo. It was taking a long time since Ryoga
had a tendency to leapt off to the wrong direction every now and
then.
Mousse yelled in frustration as he pushed Ryoga back to the
right direction. "How could you turn right when everybody was
going left?!"
"I. . ." Ryoga knew that he was getting too nervous to
focus on where he was going anymore.
"Ryoga!" Akane leapt beside him and ran with his speed.
"Why exactly did that baka want to kill his own father?!"
"Yeah!" Ukyou used her spatula to whack Ryoga back to the
right path as he headed off course again. "Mr. Saotome is a
worthless scum of a thief, but that's no reason to kill someone!"
"Could it be that Ranma is really a psychopath under the
guise of an idiot teenager all this time?" Mousse asked as he
ran beside them, and was momentarily slowed down by a bonbori
strike.
"You no say that! Airen must have reason!" Shampoo
shrieked, her originally pretty face distorted in anger. How
could he even DARE to insult her love at a time like this?!
"Sorry." Mousse muttered sheepishly as he put on a pair of
new glasses to replace his own smashed one.
Kodachi skipped past them, self absorbed and absent-minded
as ever. "You're right, lowly illegally immigrated Chinese
waitress! Ranma-sama is always honorable in his actions!"
Shampoo swore in the name of her ancestors that she will
trash this mad girl to average her Amazonian dignity. But not
now, not when Airen needed all of their help so much. . .
Konatsu leapt up to beside Ukyou. "So what are we going to
do when we get there, Ukyou-sama? Gang-up on him and beat him
senseless?"
Ukyou frowned as she continued to run. "I was thinking
about solving this non-violently. . ."
"Not possible." Akane said as she turned to Ukyou. "Ranma
ALWAYS prefer his fists over his brains. . . especially when
under stress."
"Akane's right." Ryoga said as he ran beside her. "We have
to do whatever it takes to stop him from just throwing his life
away like this!"
"And why do you care?" Mousse asked the lost boy with
curiosity as he caught up with him. "I always thought you hated
him."
"I. . ." Ryoga fumbled for an excuse, unsuccessfully.
"Leave him alone!" Akane turned to the Chinese boy with a
sharpness to her voice due to intense stress. "Can't you tell
that Ryoga-kun has been friends with Ranma for all this time?!"
"Well. . ." Mousse was a bit taken back as he mulled over
this in his head.
Ryoga breathed a sigh of relieve as he silently thanked
Akane.
* * * * * * *
The atmosphere of the Tendo dinning room was slightly
unnerving as the leaders of the two schools of Anything Goes
simply sat together and said nothing. Soun tried to get Genma to
play a game of Go with him, but the latter declined.
"What's the matter, Saotome-kun?"
Genma was clueless himself. "I have no idea, Tendo-kun.
Maybe it's just that Ranma had left without telling anyone. . .
not that I can't make him come back. Somehow I just happen to
sense that . . ."
"Great doom shall befall."
The two middle-aged man immediately turned to the origin of
that even voice, and encountered the sight of Ranma leaning
against the doorway, wearing something that was definitely not
Chinese style.
A set of black, traditional, executioner's robes.
"Ranma! Where have you been?! Did you know how worried we
all are about you?!" Genma got up angrily. "Did you know how
Akane had been worried about you for the whole night?! What kind
of a man have I raised you up to be?"
Looking at this man who had fed off his life for so long,
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he tossed back his now free flowing
hair. "The mirror image of your essence, only way better
presented, thus much more profitable."
"What?! Now dare you talk to your father-"
Ranma cut him off. "As for Akane, neither of you need to
worry about HER worrying about me."
Soun got up, his voice holding a hint of thunder. "And what
exactly do you mean by that, Ranma-kun?"
Ranma turned calmly to Soun. "It means that I've already
nullified my engagement with her. From now on, she's free as a
bird."
"W H A T ?! How. . . how dare you dishonour our families
like . . . SAOTOME-KUN!!!!!!" he roared at Genma, who looked
nervous and shamed. "Ranma-kun. . . I don't know what kind of
trick you're trying to pull-"
"What makes you think that I'm trying to pull anything?"
Ranma asked with mock innocence. Soun was growing into demonic
proportions as he advanced on the boy. "DEFIER OF A MOST SACRED
PROMISE-"
"A promise made by HIM, not me." Ranma shot the demonic
being a cold look, and it sagged immediately, returning into a
sobbing mess. "Wahhhhh!!!!! He's so scary!!" Soun cried a
river, as usual.
Ranma looked briefly at the unworthy master of the Tendo
clan with detached amusement, then turned back to his own father,
who was clearly in a rage.
"Let's settle what I've returned for once and for all out in
the dojo, old man, just you and me." Ranma smiled coldly. "It's
what I would call. . . a family affair."
"You. . ." Genma growled, slightly unnerved by the drastic
change in his son. No. . . it can't be. He couldn't possibly
have the backbone to REALLY defy him. . .
Yet the truth was right in front of him.
* * * * * * *
"Finally we're here!!!" Ryoga shouted in triumph as he and
the rest of the top teenage martial artists all leapt over the
exterior wall of the dojo into the Tendo yard.
"Not so loud! We need to take him by. . ." Ukyou's hiss
was cut off by the sight of Soun crying in the dinning room. ".
. . surprise."
"Daddy!" Akane leaped forward, landing beside her father.
"What happened?!"
"MY POOR, POOR DAUGHTER!!!" Soun hugged her as he
continued to cry. "To think that wretched boy would dishonour
his father by withdrawing from the engagement. . ."
"Ranma. . . he's back already?! Where is he?!"
"He is in the dojo, hopefully being given a lesson in honour
and duty by Saotome-kun. . . Daughter?" Soun suddenly realized
that he was talking to thin air as a herd of footsteps could be
heard racing off to the dojo.
* * * * * * *
The teenagers all slowed down upon being close to the
outside of the Dojo.
"Now what we do?" Shampoo whispered.
"We will all soundless tiptoed to the entrance, then rush in
all at once!" Ukyou said as she readied her spatula. "We can
only hope that we came in time. . ."
"It's about time for us to really talk about the dept that
you owe me, POP." Ranma's unusually dark tone of voice could be
heard from inside the dojo. Everybody breathed a sigh of relieve
as they continued to move toward the entrance, glad that he was
still with the living.
"I'm your father!" Genma growled angrily. "Without me,
you won't even exist, boy!"
"Hahahahahahahahaha. . ." A throaty, sinister laugh that
was strangely mixed with the elements of crying seeped out of the
Dojo, sending shivers up everyone's spines. Kodachi finally got
a taste of her own medicine for the very first time, and was
deeply disturbed by it.
Ranma's voice became slightly haggard as he continued to
speak. "I won't even . . . haha . . . exist without . . .hehe. .
.you. . . WITHOUT YOU I WON'T HAVE TO EXIST AND ENDURED THE HELL
THAT FOLLOWED, YOU LEECH!!!!!" The boy apparently had some
trouble catching his breath after shouting like that. "It's
about time... for you to see... what I've been through... because
of YOU." Ranma laughed bitterly again. "I'm beginning to sound
like Ryoga, aren't I?"
"I won't be surprised. . . considering how you used to hang
around that incompetent lost boy ever since junior high."
Genma's voice was dripped in venom. Outside, Ryoga was gritting
his teeth in anger. Genma continued on. "I saw what was going
on that rainy day in the vacant lot, BOY. To think my own heir
will behave in such . . . perverse conduct . . . It is poetic
justice that you got cursed as a girl, for you are not worthy to
be a MAN!!"
Ranma was silent. He knew?!
############################FLASHBACK############################
On that first day in the vacant lot:
The two teens were trapped inside a length of pipe in a
vacant lot. Out of the corner of his eyes Ranma could see Ryoga
looming closer to him. He looked sideways, expecting a sneak
attack.
What he saw instead shocked him to say the least. The . . .
admiration in the other boy's eyes wasn't an alien sight for
Ranma. But HIM?! He who was foul-tempered and macho to the
point of being comical. . . guess one can never stereotype
special groups.
Then a bold plan suddenly came into his mind.
Shocked out of his trance by Ranma's strange stare, Ryoga
immediately backed away. How could he have felt that?! It was
so. . . unnatural. . . Immediately he put on his usual mask of
rage.
"Just thinking of ways to make you pay back, thief."
"Hey, that piece of bread was fair game for anyone around it
who is the most capable." Ranma made himself smile in a boyish
but arrogant fashion that he knew would irritate the other boy.
If he succeed. . .
Ryoga's real rage returned with a vengeance. "Just wait
until the rain stops. . ."
"But what's keeping you now?" he leaned forward and asked,
continuing to push what he sensed were the right buttons.
Ryoga scowled, and with a speed that was shocking even to
Ranma, he pushed the more slender boy down and straddled him.
Grinning in triumph, he raised a fist in such a threatening way
it looked comical.
"Now, you shall pay."
{Perfect!} Ranma smiled, narrowing his large eyes.
Ryoga was confused. Wasn't the kid supposed to be scared or
maybe even angry?
"Wha. . . What are you smiling at?!"
Feeling the strength pinning him down, Ranma felt a sinful
thrill channelling through his body. Yes, Ryoga WILL be helpful
to him. "And how, may I ask, do you expect me to pay? I have no
money. . . none that I can have a hold on anyway." Ranma tilted
his head up, his eyes glistering as he studied up at his supposed
captor. So utterly clueless and dense . . . so lonely . . . so
innocent. . . so unlike those . . .
"A man cannot allow himself to long for another that way."
Pop's pathetic excuse to get him away from Ucchan all those years
ago rang through his head, fuelling his decision. Ranma's eyes
became slightly predatory, which could be easily mistook as a
sigh of passion under this circumstance.
Slowly snaking his now free arms up over Ryoga's back, Ranma
drew the surprised boy closer down to him. "However, if it is
something else that you want. . ." with that, he proceeded to use
every last trick he knew that could have produced the most
powerful response from the teenage Hercules. For once, Ranma was
pleasantly surprised to have noticed that these repulsive acts
wasn't that repulsive anymore when this boy was his partner.
The two spent a long time inside that pipe. Outside, the
rain continued to pour and the thunders continued to roar. At a
far corner of the vacant lot, unnoticed by anyone, a pair of
glasses glinted under a large umbrella.
#################################################################
Outside, everybody turned to look at the lost boy with
quadrupled-sized eyes, who looked like he was under ice water.
Mousse, and even Konatsu, turned slight shades of green.
"Aiya . . ." Shampoo flushed. "No think husband into . . .
this."
"Ryoga-kun. . . you two. . ." Akane whispered with
disbelief.
"You'd better have a good explanation for this, Hibiki."
Kodachi hissed as she took out her clubs.
"Shhhhh!!!!" Ukyou hushed them as she fought to suppress
the intinctive revulsion in her chest. "Not so loud!" she
whispered as she finally reached the entrance to the dojo and
peeked inside. She was surprised to see Ranma's entirely
different fashion style, which she found to be. . . sinister.
His head was lowered, and long hair from behind his short bangs
was obscuring half of his face.
Ranma spoke up again. "Perverse conduct. . . hmph. And
who. . . do you think TAUGHT me . . . to act in such . . .
perverse conduct, huh?" Ranma's voice was clearly shaking with
disgust and anger at the same time. "Who sent me off to . . .
the party for my twelfth birthday. . . where that rich guy . . .
where that rich guy. . ."
Genma's voice seemed to have lost its previous strength due
to a dread of some form. "Now hold on a second there, boy. . ."
"Where that rich guy used me!!!! Over and over!!!!
TOGETHER WITH HIS SICKO PEDOPHILIC BUDDIES!!!!!!!!!!!" Ranma's
head shot up as the memories drilled themselves back into his
conscious mind, prompting him to recount the dreadful tale.
########################### FLASHBACK ###########################
It was a splendidly decorated room, with a classical, long
table occupied with roast beef, roast chicken, and many other
steaming buffet items. Two people were sitting across the table.
One was an expensively dressed man, who we shall call The Man
for convenience's sake. The other side of the table sat a
ponytailed boy who was eating like there was no tomorrow. He was
obviously a much younger version of Ranma, a lot more frail and
innocent than he was now.
The Man smiled, innocent looking in the little boy's eyes.
"So how do you like your birthday party so far?"
"It's the coolest! I've never ate anything like this my
entire life!" The boy said between bites. "If only Ucchan is
here..."
"Ucchan?" The Man asked.
"He is my very best friend!" Ranma said brightly, then his
voice saddened a bit. "My only friend... who I haven't seen for
years... If only Pop didn't have to move around all the time for
training... Actually, Mister, are you Pop's friend? Pop didn't
told me much as he dropped me off here."
"You could say that I'm his business partner." The Man gave
a slightly mysterious smile. Both stayed silent as Ranma
continued his eating.
"Ranma..."
"Huh?"
"Wild horse... Such a special name for a little boy."
"I'm not just a little boy, I'm a martial artist! Look!"
Ranma stood up and proceeded to do a kata, he frowned as he
swayed a bit. "That shouldn't have happened..."
"Very nice." The Man licked his lips. "But can you do it
without clothes on? I want to see how you use your muscles."
"But..." Ranma instinctively turned a deep shade of red.
"What's the matter? I am your friend and I want to study
your technique."
Ranma hesitates, then took off his shirt and tried the kata
again.
"The pants." The Man urged.
The little boy looked scandalized, then steadied himself and
said. "Sorry, Mister. I can't."
"Why not? You are a big boy now, what have you got to hide?
We're both guys. C'mon, it's no big deal." The Man moved
forward, Ranma stepped back. A perfect demonstration of predator
and prey.
"I guess I should wait for Pop outside..." Little Ranma
continued to step back with a nervous expression. The man
smiled, continuing to approach him. Then suddenly, his knees
buckled and he fell on his rear.
The man smiled, scary in his twisted hunger. "Now, little
wild horse, you're obviously too tired to even walk out of this
house. So why not let me carry you off to my bed so we can have
some further fun with some of my friends..."
"I can't move . . . What did you put in those food that you
gave me?!" Ranma looked shocked.
"Just something to help you relax, little man." The man's
voice was devious and the little boy's frightened look was almost
heart-breaking. The Man picked him up and the boy couldn't even
struggle. "If you... do anything... funny to me, Pop WILL kill
you!" Ranma tried to act tough, but his voice wavered
considerably.
The Man laughs as he carried the boy up to the more
frightful chambers of the mansion. "Your *Pop* knows exactly what
is coming to you, daddy's boy. Why else do you think he brought
you here? Besides, everybody knows that horses are meant to be
ridden."
W H A T ? ! That's not possible! Pop is the only person
that he could rely on. . . he wouldn't. . .
In the bed chamber, the thinly veiled mask of respectability
wore off as the demon showed his face, together with his goons.
That night was painful, not only because of the combined
violations of his body, but also the warring voices in his head.
{He wouldn't. . .}
{HE WOULDN'T!!!!}
{. . . would he?}
As if further torturing him, the night stretched on and on,
reaching toward eternity. The boy continued to hang onto the
notion that his father was guiltless like a fish to water. . .
Until finally, after eternity had passed and he was once
again civil and decent, if not back to full strength, his father
came back for him. . .
. . . and happily took a packed envelope from The Man before
picking up the shattered remains of his son and left.
{He would after all. . .}
"That's my boy!" Genma beamed as if his son had gotten a
straight A report card, and the boy suddenly realized the
falseness of his Pop's infamous teachings about being manly. The
man then promised his son that he would never have to do
something like that again.
Even that turned out to be a lie, as the money was soon
wasted away by drinking and gambling. Apparently, all that talk
about how a martial artist must have self-control was a lie too.
"Go make your father proud, son!" Night after night, Genma
would say those words with utmost sentiment before handing his
boy over to less than virtuous adults with ready checks. It
became Ranma's "career", something that his father would place on
the same level with his martial arts accomplishments.
Two years passed by in this most twisted fashion. Ranma
began to find his unorthodox "job" getting easier and easier as
time passed by. Well, when a guy is stuck with doing something,
he would gradually learn to endure it.
In the beginning, he still had the courage to resist his
fate for all that he was worth. Not that it helped, since his
Pop wouldn't let him stop "working". The boy never seemed to be
good enough to defeat his father. His numerous escape plans had
all ultimately failed, gaining him more beatings and numerous
lectures with the old "honour thy father" theme. Gradually, the
drive behind his rebellion died down and he simply didn't care
anymore.
He knew that he could never be accepted by anyone who knew
the truth, not even himself.
Probably not even Ucchan, shall he see him now.
Then one day in a motel room, Genma came to him right after
he had finished his "work". Pop had been putting on weight
lately: not surprising considering the amount of money his son
brought in every day. It delighted Genma to no end seeing how
Ranma's prize was getting higher and higher as he matured,
instead of the other way around.
"Good work, my boy." Pop was so proud of him that he looked
almost fatherly.
"Sure, Pop." The boy replied as he cooly observed his
father's figure. {Getting fat on my blood, I see. . .}
"I've got another good deal for you tonight. It's a GIRL
this time!" Pop smiled in an almost good-natured fashion. "Go
make your father proud, son."
The boy simply twisted his lips in distaste as he began
putting on his clothes. The last "girl" his father set him up
with was a psychotic old hag who insisted the boy to call her
Mommy during the deed.
"By the way, son," Pop said, "you're going to school
starting next week."
The boy looked weary as he looked up at his father with eyes
that were lifelessly dim.
"Why now, when I have done without school for so long?"
"Because one day, you will need it."
"Yeah, right."
"I'm serious, son! One day. . ." Genma stared into the
future with much drama, "you will marry someone whose dojo will
eventually be under the Saotome name! Then you will be clean-cut
and respected once more!! Of course, I'll need to further your
training . . . hmm, a training trip to China after your first
school year should do the trick . . . "
Ranma simply turned around to blush his hair at the mirror,
shutting out the babbling glutton behind him.
#################################################################
Ranma stared coldly at his father, who was trembling with a
red face by now. Whether the cause was shame, or the fury caused
by a discoved shame, could not be determined clearly.
Ukyou could almost felt the burning ache in her chest as her
whole body trembled. A father, a martial artist for that matter,
corrupting his son like this?! How could anyone even stand the
thought of doing someything like this to his own flesh and
blood?! And for such a long time?! How dare anyone torment the
only one that had mattered to her in such a perverse fashion?!
Indescribable fury burned through the girl's body as she clutched
tightly onto her giant spatula.
The fury was not hers alone to feel. Akane was burning with
a red aura, a look of disbelieve on her face. Shampoo took out
her pair of bonbori, her look cold enough to freeze water.
Kodachi's ribbon was already twirling, and for once, there was a
glint of righteous anger in her eyes instead of evil hatred.
Ryoga was still in shock at the moment, while Mousse and Konatsu
were paralysed by one shocking secret after another.
Genma glared at his son.
"You liked being the whore that you were! I saw it with you
and Ryoga: you had obviously enjoyed it!"
"I did, didn't I?" Ranma spoke up, surprising his father.
"In the beginning, I was . . . only trying to be Ryoga's
friend. Just simple, ordinary friends. I had none then . . .
What happened afterwards was because . . . because I was afraid,
afraid that friendship alone cannot get him to help me in the way
I need him to. I was desperate, because I NEEDED him to help me
. . . TO HELP ME GET AWAY FROM YOU!!!!!" The boy shouted. He
spoke up again in a low voice. "I screwed up what could have
been . . . an actual friendship. You have made me a whore,
you've made me selfish and manipulative . . . you've made me just
like . . . just like . . ." He crunched his fists as he spat
out the last word, " . . . YOU."
Before Genma could spoke up, Ranma continued.
"And I'm not the only one whose life you had screwed up
either. If only . . . if only you hadn't dragged me away from
that vacant lot, I would have waited for Ryoga on the fourth day
. . ."
"?!" Ryoga's senses rushed back into him at hearing that
sentence.
###########################FLASHBACK#############################
On that lost day of hope and promise:
With pink sakura petals drifting down all round him, Ryoga's
boyish face had looked sincere as he answered Ranma's request to
stick my his side.
"I promise."
Ranma smiled as a strong breeze blew by, almost burying the
two under an infinite sea of pink. Finally, he could be free,
together someone that he can truly trust and rely on.
Ryoga looked down at the outline of Ranma's body under the
red tanktop, and couldn't start his next sentence as his
attention was drawn to something else entirely. He knew where
his true preference lay, and the number of time that he had nose
bled due to the sight of alluring actresses on TV strengthened
that belief.
But somehow, Ranma had proved to be an irrational exception.
With his large eyes and delicate chin, the androgynous teenager
looked like a girl dressed up and acting as a boy: enough to
arose him, but not quite to the point of making him nose bleed.
Ranma's eyes narrowed in a satisfied smile as he saw Ryoga's
intense stare. He knew what would come afterwards.
That first day in the vacant lot had began as nothing more
than a scheme to gain his freedom. But somehow, as the number of
their "sparring sessions" grew, Ranma had became increasingly
attached to Ryoga's simpleness and loyalty. He was surprised by
how good a company Ryoga could make. The act of "giving" himself
over turned out to be . . . surprisingly rewardable.
Ranma's smile returned as a strong breeze blew by, almost
burying the two under an infinite sea of pink. Finally, he could
be free, together someone that he can truly trust and rely on.
Even if Genma could manage to track them down yet again, he will
not be able to defeat BOTH of them at the same time now, will he?
No longer will he be enslaved to that life-sucking glutton.
Sakura in its full bloom, passion at it's peak - neither of
them can last very long.
Somehow, nobody seemed to know that.
Ranma grinded Ryoga tight against himself in a sea of dead
but still beautiful flowers, secure and certain in a bright
future together with this loyal being. Slowly, the two's
movements began to accelerate, crushing the unfortunate pink
petals caught between them. Ranma kept on talking despite's its
increasing difficulty.
"We are leaving. . . tomorrow morning, Ryoga. I'll be
waiting. . . at that vacant lot that we. . . fought. . . for the
first time. . . right behind your house. Don't. . . be. . .
late. . ."
Eventually, both of them had exhausted their heat through
the strenuous deed. Feeling absolutely secured in that
entanglement of arms and legs under the blanket of flower petals,
Ranma allowed himself to fell asleep.
* * * * * * *
Sitting on one of those pipes at the vacant lot, Ranma began
to get scared as two days passed by and still Ryoga hadn't
arrive. Dammit! Why did Ryoga had to wander off by himself at
the park? Ranma was thinking about getting the lost boy back to
his house first, and have him STAYED there as he went to gather
his stuff to come back in the morning. But Ryoga was gone as he
woke up: something that he hadn't anticipated in happening right
after his promise.
But Ryoga would never have abandoned him just like that. He
was probably just trying to find a washroom or something by
himself . . . and got hopelessly lost once again. But either
way, this is bad. He couldn't stay at the vacant lot for too
long each time, fearing that his Pop might find him there, and
all will be lost.
On the third day, as he went there again, Pop did find him
there.
And all was lost.
#################################################################
PART 5B
Genma cut him off. "So that was why you were sneaking
around that vacant lot! You wanted to *elope* with him, was
THAT it?!"
"SHUT UP!!!!!!" Ranma shouted, "Because of you, Ryoga had
searched the entire world for me! FOR OVER A YEAR!! He had even
followed us to China! It was because of you that his life was
destroyed, that he could never be a normal man again!! It was
then that he started hating me! You have turned one of my best
friends into my worst enemy!!"
{Friend . . . as if I was even worthy of that title . . .}
Finally, it all made sense to Ryoga now. He began hating
himself, hating himself for having blamed his tragedy on someone
who hadn't abandoned him, but was dragged back into a twisted
hell due to HIS arriving late. And when their paths crossed
again, no only did he not give Ranma the friendship that he had
so desperately needed, but had unreasonably turned against him
like a lover scorned, adding salt to his wounds for an entire
year. Ranma didn't fail him: he failed Ranma.
"You have no friends!" Genma growled, "I had always been
the only one for you. And now you are pushing me away by this
display of dishonour."
"You have always tried to keep me for yourself." Ranma
looked away, "Your prized property . . . When I was but a baby,
you took me away from my mother under the guise of training. And
whenever somebody actually tried to befriend me on the road, you
would have us moving again. Thanks to that engagement to Akane,
finally I could have assess to some kind of human interaction
that aren't perverted."
His eyes became watery as he spoke in a softer voice. "You
know what? In the beginning, each enemy that I had made, each
fiancee that had showed up . . . I cherished them. I liked them
just for being there, fighting me for their loves, hounding me
with their claims . . . projecting their own ideas of what I am
onto a lost soul. I was able to turn into something new based on
those ideas . . . then Ryoga had showed up. But it was alright
in the beginning, since neither of us could brought ourselves to
look back into the past, thus cannot destroy the layers of lies
that I am hiding behind now. I was relatively save in my new
identity . . . for a while, before Ukyou, the beginning of my
entire history, the one whom you have robbed away from me, showed
up again in my life."
Outside, Ukyou was momentarily distracted from her anger at
hearing that.
Ranma's eyes stared off into space. "She was in my first
memory ever of not feeling alone, my first memory ever of
befriending another, my first memory ever of opening my heart to
another, and much later, after seeing the inner strength and
beauty that had been refined from all the pains and battles that
you had put her through, my first memory . . . ever of loving
someone, instead of just liking them."
Ukyou's eyes widened. She was right all alone, despite what
other people may think! Ranma DID love her! Shampoo silently
dropped to her knees as Kodachi stood unmoving, but with tears
steaming down her wide eyes.
"Before she came back into my life, I could lie to anyone
around me. I could even allow myself to lie to Akane, who I
really THOUGHT that I was in love with. It was easy to lie to
her, because her instinctive anger had prevented her to reach out
to me, thus allowing me to conceal myself."
Akane's eyes lowered as she heard that.
Ranma lowered his eyes. "But Ukyou, to whom I had already
opened my heart to as a kid, did not have that problem. I tried
shutting her out in this new identity by being a jerk who no
longer opens up to her. It didn't work: she knows how to decode
my lies, thus see my true feelings."
"Have you any idea how much I had wanted to just ran off
with her in the middle of the night, to gain my freedom once and
for all? But I couldn't. Whenever I'm with her . . . I tend to
reveal too much of myself . . . so much that I'm sure that one
day she would have discovered the truth about me not being the
carefree, manly, winsome hero that she wanted so much . . ."
Ranma lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes, "That I'm
nothing but a humanoid toy."
For once, Genma was silent.
"I can't have that. . . so I sticked by Akane. She is a
nice girl when she isn't violent, and reasonably cute. Through
those rare life and death moments, she had shown that she did
care for me as much as I did her. I have already gotten around
to liking her before Ucchan showed up again, and I though . . . I
just might take a step further to actually LOVE her just to avoid
Ucchan."
Ranma shut his eyes as if in pain. "I was wrong. She was
incapable of even remotely tolerating me when neither of us were
in danger . . . I guess . . . I guess it's because both of us
were equally hot-headed. We . . . it just couldn't work out."
Outside, Ukyou silently cried to herself. Ran-chan had
actually avoided her for all this time because of THIS?! How
stupid can he be?! Can't he tell that she would have him no
matter what had happened? And most of it wasn't even his fault!!
Inside the dojo, Ranma looked up and stared at his father
with eyes sparkling with an eerie tinker of light. "And now, all
of this shall come to an end."
Genma shifted his weight, steadying himself for any sudden
moves. "And what was that supposed to mean, boy?"
Ranma's lips twisted in a slight smile, even though his eyes
stayed the same. "Exactly what it means: both of us are finally
going to get what we really deserve. In the past, I had been
held back by my own cowardice. Right now, nothing can possibly
hold me back anymore."
"What we really deserve?" Genma frowned as he stepped back,
and find himself already against the dojo wall. Suddenly, the
wooden wall behind him suddenly craved inward as he almost
staggered back. "Yes, Genma. What you two really deserve." A
woman's voice, trying to sound neutral, came out to be slightly
shaky. A split second later a gleaming metal blade that had
sliced open the wall was pressed against his neck. He didn't
even need to look up into his assassinant's face: there was only
one person who cold be the owner of this all to familiar looking
katana.
"I should scold you for what you did." Nodoka said in a dry
voice, "But no words could describe you hideous crime."
"No-chan... how..." Genma's sentence was cut off as Nodoka
slapped him hard with her left hand as she held onto her katana
with her right.
"Does it hurt?" Nodoka asked, her face filled with
mournfulness instead fury. It was the mournfulness of hope being
destroyed, of sacrifices turning out to be futile and pointless,
of a woman whose life as well as that of her son were destroyed
due to her inability to break up a marriage when she had still
got the chance.
"But it was nothing compared to the hurt that you had given
him . . . and me." she whispered in a frightfully even voice.
Ranma spoke up with a smiling face that was somehow sad and
vengeful at the same time. "We have been escaping from our
duties long enough already, Pop. Now is the time to perform our
duties . . . like you used to tell me to."
"Du . . . Duties?" Genma asked, unnerved.
Ranma's smile turned secretively predatory. "Forever
forgetful when you want to be . . . our duties to prove our
honours by committing seppuku, of course."
Outside, everybody immediately tensed up.
"Sep . . . seppuku . . ." Genma breathed out the word that
had been the chore of his nightmare for ten years as he fell onto
his knees.
"That's right, Genma." Nodoka said with a sad smile, "If
your lives had proven to be dishonourable, at least, at least let
them end . . ." A single tear dropped from her glistering eye.
". . . with honour."
Ranma lowered his eyes as he smiled. "Finally, I can prove
myself to be honorable for once, while you shall get the
punishment that you have always deserved." He thought back to
the conversation that he had heard between the two Anything Goes
masters, "I must say I have to thank you for your plan to have
me seduce Kuno: I would never have the strength to do this had it
not been for that final push. I hope seppuku will be as painful
as it looks, for then I can pay back all that I've done to Ukyou
. . . to everyone, by letting you drive me into doing all these
sick things for so long." he turned to his mother, "Now I have a
request."
"What . . . is it, son?" Nodoka asked, pressing down a sob.
"I want to be the one doing the execution at Pop's turn . .
. with you doing my turn after I was done." Ranma said evenly as
he looked at how Genma was trembling. "Can I?"
Nodoka closed her eyes as tears continued to flow down her
face. "Will it made you feel better if your father is to die at
your own hands?"
"No." Ranma said, almost sadly. "But it can give me the
certainty that the man who was the beginning of all this will
finally pay for his crimes. It can give me the satisfaction,
however sad it might be, of justice being done."
"As you wish then, my son." Nodoka said, turning away her
face as she handed him the katana as well as a short dagger.
Ranma stared at both weapons for a long time. In the past,
he was once so scared of them that he would not reunite with his
own mother. Now, he longed for the closure that they could have
brought to this twisted mess. With a flick of his wrist, the
short dagger was embedded right in front of Genma's kneeling
figure. Standing behind his father, he raised up the katana as
his eyes turned glacial.
"It is time: get on with it."
Genma looked at the dagger in front of him, which was
glistering with a chilling cold light. After all the effort that
he had put into avoiding this dagger, he still ended up having to
commit seppuku? The feeling of the katana raised behind him was
forcing his hand to reach out to the dagger.
Looking in, Ukyou was stunned by what she was actually
seeing. In the past, as she struggled alone to survive in the
cruel and unsympathetic world, her heart often became bitter as
the husband promised to her wasn't there to help her in her time
of need. At times like that, she would fantasize about all the
different types of gory death that she swore she would have made
Genma Saotome suffer for his heartless betrayal of the Kuonji
family.
But she wasn't prepared for it to actually happen outside of
a cruel daydream. And worst of all, Ran-chan, his son, was going
to be the one carrying out this bloody execution! Honorable or
not, this is . . . sick . . .
Her heart skipped a beat at realizing something else: had he
gone through killing his own father, then there will be no power
in heaven nor hell to stop him from doing the same to himself
according to his clan's code of honour!
Watching his father's shaky hand, Ranma's cold eyes became
sad of an instance. Genma Saotome was a failed martial artist
without discipline. Now he, along with his son, had to pay for
the consequences. Had the man been able to control his greed and
selfishness, and avoided the temptation of giving his son over on
that first night, then maybe none of this would have happened.
Had Genma's choice been a little bit different . . . a kind of
hesitancy began to build in Ranma's arms as Genma's hand had
finally reached the dagger.
"RAN-CHAN, NO!!!!!!!!"
A familiar scream from the entrance of the dojo shattered
Ranma's concentration as he felt the world crumbling onto him.
She was here all along! The one who had mattered the most to him
had seen through the image that he had created for her!!
"It's not worth it!" Ukyou shouted as she rushed in, along
with all the rest of his peers from outside. "He is not worth
bloodying your hands over-"
But Ranma couldn't hear a word that she had said. All he
could think of was that SHE KNEW!! She knew about his past! She
knew about his seduction of Ryoga!! She knew that he was-
So shocked was he that he didn't feel the sudden pain in his
midsection. Ukyou's scream was cut short as she saw Ranma's
father thrusting the dagger into the boy's stomach. A split
second later, he was gone, leaving a hole through the dojo wall
that he had bursted through.
Nodoka stared at the hole in disbelief. The man who had
practically abandoned her, who had corrupted the character of her
son, had fled from his just punishment after hurting her boy once
more?! With a shout that was uncharacteristic of her she grabbed
the katana form Ranma's numb fingers and proceed to chase after
the man who had destroyed the mask of tradition that was once of
value to her.
Meanwhile, Ranma was still staring at Ukyou with a mixture
of shame and horror on his pale face as he slowly backed away.
The dagger fell from his stomach, and blood began to stray across
the black robe.
Ukyou was staring at the blossoming bloodstain on the black
fabric in horror. What had she done?! Because of her, Ran-chan
had been stabbed! "Ran-chan . . ."
"Don't . . ." Ranma whimpered as he continued to back away.
Ukyou took a step forward, her voice trembling. "The wound
. . ."
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!!!!" Ranma yelled as he turned and
ran through the opposing exit of the dojo.
"Wait! Ran-chan! Your wound-" Ukyou ran after him through
the exit, but he wasn't there anymore. She looked wildly around,
but there was no trace of him anywhere: the faint trail of blood
stopped abruptly at the the open space. After finally finding
out that her love was real, he had disappeared from her world
again. Ukyou fell onto her knees, tears flowing down her face,
as the rest of the teenagers tentatively gathered around her,
none knowing what to say.
Konatsu knelt down beside her and gave her a slightly
hesitant embrace. "Don't cry, Ukyou-sama. Ranma WILL come back
he had gotten past his shock. He even said . . . said that you
are the one for him. . . don't cry . . ."
He himself fell into tears as he realized the strength of
Ukyou's love for Ranma, a love that can cross seemingly
unbreakable boundaries . . . and that he himself could never even
hope to replace him in her heart.
Quietly stepping back from the group, Ryoga staggered away
with his head lowered, unnoticed by any of them.
"Forgive me . .. forgive me . . ." he mumbled to no one in
particular.
* * * * * * *
The gang of teenage martial artists had spent days searching
for Ranma non-stop, save for Ryoga, who had disappeared as well.
Whether he was just lost or had purposely went away from them was
not known then.
One day, Akane remembered about Nodoka and went to the
Saotome residence to console the heartbroken Mrs. Saotome
together with the equally heartbroken Ukyou, Shampoo and even
Kodachi. It amazed all of them how well they had managed to get
along after Ranma had disappeared. Even Kodachi, once the other
girls' common enemy, seemed tolerable after all. Who knows?
Perhaps they could have been great friends had it not been for
their common rivalry. As the girls walked up to the house, they
saw a sign stabbed onto the front lawn.
[SOLD]
Akane knocked on the door of a neighbouring house and asked
an old woman about what had happened to Mrs. Saotome, and was
told that nobody knew her whereabouts: she had simply disappeared
after selling her house.
Even the last possible link to Ranma was gone.
Kodachi was the first to give up. The loss of Ranma had
extinguished the dark fire that fuelled her, leaving the girl
clear minded for the first time in years. She had turned from a
glamourous, over-confident demoness into a drowsy, withdrawn girl
who seemed to have lost interest in everything in this world.
The last significant thing that she had ever done was to publicly
renounced all her previous gymnastic victories and gave the
trophies to her shocked opponents, causing an uproar at her
school. That was before she had quitted the gymnastic team.
Shampoo had persisted for a month longer than Kodachi. Then
she, too, had to finally admit that even if Ranma was coming
back, he won't be coming back for her. Mousse was treating her
as if she was made of glass. For once he wasn't mentioning
anything about his love in their conversations, fearing that it
will further upset the already depressed girl. Cologne had been
making preparations to sell the Nekohanten, and was patiently
teaching Shampoo some Japanese martial art techniques that she
had picked up over the year so that their stay in Japan wouldn't
be exactly pointless.
Akane was once again fighting hordes of boys every morning
after the school days had begun again: the news of Ranma having
ran off had spread out. After an entire year of fighting with
dozens of first class martial artists that had appeared due to
Ranma, she had unknowingly improved so much that fighting with
the untrained boys had became a even more effortless thing to
her. The discovery of her improvement was the only consolation
to Soun, who had no longer got a male heir to inherit his dojo.
With no more romantic tensions in her life (not significant ones
anyway), Akane had devoted herself solely to the art and her
academic routines. Yet night after night, she silently wondered
how it would have been if she had shown more tolerance and
understanding toward Ranma when he was still hers to own.
As for Ukyou, she never gave up. By day she managed her
restaurant, and by night she would have checked every place that
she could around Nerima to try to find her Ran-chan. On nights
that she became too tired, Konatsu would have done it for her,
not having the heart to refuse her; he knew that it would have
been futile. It was ironic how the girl that Ranma had finally
admitted his love to would have to be the one to suffer the most.
Konatsu did, however, caught sight of a familiar looking bum
dozing off on the side of the front door of a bar on one of his
night searches. The white bandanna covering his baldness was
gray and black with dirt, and the glasses on his bloated, greasy
face were broken. Crutched in his hand was a half empty bottle
of low quality sake, of which odour he was reeking of. Konatsu
passed by the no-longer significant lump without looking back:
the man that was the cause of all this interconnected misery had
got what he deserved.
Ukyou began going occasionally to the cathedral to attend
masses. It did gave her some peace of mind. However, she still
prefer going to the place at its emptier hours, savouring its
peculiar beauty and its quietness. Kneeling on the long benches,
with the glass windows casting sharp, coloured shades onto her
then unearthly features, the girl would pray repeatedly for the
second part of her initial wish to come true: that she could be
with her love once more in the light of his hopefully new life.
Eventually, the no longer cross-dressing Konatsu was
discovered by a talent scout from a certain studio. After
demonstrating his infamous singing abilities right in the
restaurant, he was offered a two-year contract by the studio that
had promised to groom him into an idol singer.
"I . . . I can't." Konatsu replied hesitantly to the talent
scout. "Ukyou-sam . . . san needs me to help her run this
restaurant."
"Oh hush, silly." Ukyou chided him as she offered the
talent scout a piece of okonmiyaki. "Before you came, I have
been running a yatai all by myself when I was six, and a
restaurant since I was ten. Whatever makes you think that I
can't get by on my own?"
"But this is you time of need, with your work and your
search for Ranma-san . . . "
"And you think I am going to feel better by dragging you
down with me?" Ukyou smiled wearily as she shook her head. "Am
I that selfish?"
"Ukyou-san . . ."
"Remember what your stepmother had said as you left her to
come to me, even if she didn't mean it?"
"That I'll have to learn to leave my nest and take my own
flight?"
Ukyou looked into his innocent large eyes, and sighed.
Konatsu had a even rougher childhood than she had, being abused
by those ugly creatures. However, unlike her, who was forced
into the mean streets, the boy was imprisoned inside some
run-down erotic cafe throughout his earlier years. He was still
very much a stranger to the outside world. The more "worldly"
girl spoke with a mature air despite the fact that they were the
same age. "Now I'm going to say the same thing to you, kid. But
this time, I mean it. I can't let you waste your talents away by
being a waiter at my restaurant any longer: you're much more than
that, and you know it. Its time for you to get out to the real
world and be what you are truly gifted to be."
"Ukyou . . ." Konatsu was almost in tears.
Turning to the talent scout, Ukyou then proceeded to
expertly bargain for a more profitable contract for Konatsu with
business skills that put him in awe. All these years of making a
living on her own had paid off by giving her business experiences
that was well beyond her age.
There was a part in the contract that had stated that
Konatsu MUST move away to a bachelor's apartment assigned by the
studio. The image of a rising idol singer/actor in Japan is very
fragile, and his fans will usually be very possessive. At least
during the beginning, Konatsu couldn't afford the possibly
negative impact of him actually living together with another girl
in the public's eyes. So with a heavy mind but secretly excited
heart, Konatsu left "Ucchan's" and went on to pursue his goal.
After Konatsu was gone, Ukyou had became even more busy than
before. The sudden increase in workload, combined with her own
almost nightly searches, had wore her down considerably, even
though she tried hard not to show it to anyone. Konatsu had
insisted on coming by to help out whenever he could, but his
increasingly busy schedule wouldn't allow him to do much.
All that she could do was to pray to have the strength to
keep herself together through all this.
On one particular morning, a tired Ukyou was drowsily
preparing for the business of the day as usual. As she had began
pulling up the front gate of her restaurant, a letter was tossed
into the restaurant through the slit. Alerted by this strange
delivery, she hurriedly opened the gate and rushed outside, but
nobody was there.
After looking around the street suspiciously, she went back
inside the restaurant to open the letter. Her eyes widened as
she saw the first word on the letter.
Ucchan:
* * * * * * *
Later that morning, at the Nekohanten, Cologne was washing
dishes as Shampoo listened to Mousse as he read a Japanese letter
to her. She was desperately trying to keep a calm expression as
the words sank in.
"Shampoo:
I heard that you are finally going back to China. Therefore
I, who had been avoiding everybody for all this time, have to
apologize for all that I had done, before it is too late.
"First off, I have to apologize for dishonouring you in
front of the entire Amazonian assembly over a year ago. It was
most dishonourable of me to fight you after eating your price,
without even apologizing for my rudeness.
"The second thing that I have to apologize for was that I
had misled you all this time without ever correcting you.
Forgive me, but I am not the tough warrior that you thought I
was. Friends were entirely too important to a selfish jerk like
me. I was scared of losing a friend, and as a result, led you to
believe that we could be more just friends. But we couldn't. I
think that's obvious now. I know this will be a violation to
your law, which demands you to trap any outsider man who had
defeated you into marriage. I am sorry about the dishonour that
you will be put through because of me.
"Enclosed together within this package is the secret scroll
of the Saotome School of Anything Goes, with every step of my art
depicted in details. Hopefully, by strengthening yourself with
these techniques, you can somehow regain your status among your
people. Also, there is a check in this package. Hopefully, it
can cover the plane tickets and other travelling fees for all
three of you on your trip back, if not the expenses of staying in
Japan all this time.
"By the way, I wanted to thank Cologne for teaching me all
those amazing techniques: can't believe I was such a jerk that I
hadn't ever been grateful to her for all the times that she had
unconditionally helped me. Also, please tell Mousse that under
different circumstances, we might have been better friends. I
can only hope that all of you can someday forgive me for all the
pains and troubles that I had caused.
Ranma"
Mousse finished as he took off his glasses and looked up to
Shampoo's direction.
Shampoo quietly picked up the scroll and began reading
through it. She laughed softly as she read through some of the
Saotome techniques, such as the Deadly Escapement Technique, the
Descending Tiger Apology Technique, the There's 100 Yen On The
Floor Distraction Technique . . . crystalline drops fell onto the
scroll, staining it. It took her a moment to realize that those
were her tears.
"Shampoo . . ." Mousse heard her sniffing as he took out a
handkerchief from under his sleeve and handed it to her
direction. Shampoo's laugh had turned into sobbing as she took
the handkerchief.
"Ranma . . . Shampoo so sorry . . ." she sobbed as she wiped
at her eyes, "She want Airen . . . but not if hurt him with
guilt."
Cologne sighed as she finished the last dish and hopped over
on her staff. "Guess we should have told the poor boy about the
truth before all this had happened."
Shampoo turned to Mousse as she continued to sob. "Why
Mousse never tell Ranma? Thought you want break us up."
"About how that Amazon Law Book that we show outsiders is
different from the standard one?" Mousse sighed. "Should he
know an Amazon has the right to release an outsider man from her
Kiss of Love anytime that she wants, he might have turned against
you in rage. You will be hurt, and I don't mean physically."
Mousse looked sadly at her. "I would rather scare him away with
my skills than to have you crushed by his hate."
"What skills?" Shampoo snorted as she wiped off the last of
her tears. "But . . . thanks, Mousse. For always care for
Shampoo, even when she no deserve."
"Shampoo . . ." Mousse's eyes lit up. "Does that mean . .
."
"We friends." Shampoo said, "Very good friends . . . but
no can be more."
She winced for the first time at seeing the dejection on the
boy's face. But, like Ranma before her had discovered, it really
doesn't payoff to give anyone false hopes.
* * * * * * *
At noon, a gentle breeze was blowing through a gigantic
greenhouse, as its top was open. The breeze was a bit cold, no
surprise considering how the fall was approaching.
Lying lazily on a garden couch placed there, with pieces of
beautiful black petals falling elegantly onto her tired features,
a girl with her free falling long hair in dishevel was shivering
slightly, yet too tired to go back indoor. She supposed maybe
she should have gone to school instead of just lying here in this
garden doing nothing. But she wasn't feeling well, and had only
one important class today to attend. Tired and depressed, she
decided that it wasn't worth the trouble. Looking at the falling
petals from her sinister yet glamourous flowers, she sighed as
she knew that the botanic symbols of her prowess were about to
wilt under the cooling weather.
Yet, she didn't feel like saving them.
"Mistress Kodachi!"
The wilted rose forced herself to sit up at the sound of
Sasuke, dull eyes looking up at her loyal ninja. "What is it?"
she asked, yawning.
"It . . . it's a letter to you . . ." said the ninja as he
shakily held out a letter to her.
"Just put it in my room and I shall burn it later." Kodachi
wiped at her eyes.
". . . From Saotome Ranma."
The letter was snatched from his hand in a flash. Barely
controlling her trembling hands and tearing opening the envelope,
the girl began reading through the letter.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Kodachi:
I heard that you have changed a great deal since I was gone.
You have honestly renounced all of your previous victories -
empty trophies won by unorthodox means. I am glad that you have
finally to admit your wrongs before it was too late: it takes a
really brave person to have done what you did. I know.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Kodachi lowered her eyes as tears steamed down her face.
{Ranma-sa . . . san, you thinks too highly of me. . .}
No, she hadn't done it out of bravery nor honour. She had
simply done it out of her cowardice and her despair of the
futility of life.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
But what was all that talk about the Black Rose "wilting
away"? There were rumours among the girls at your school about
how you had quit the gymnastic team, how you are skipping
classes, and how your grades are on the verge of plummeting. Is
it . . . because I have left?
If it is, then I have to apologize for my indecision in the
past. But there can never be anything more than friendship
between us, I think you know that now. I know that you think you
love me, but basically that is only because you think that I am
the only one who will spare you any kindness.
Well, that won't be the case for very long, if you will only
pull yourself together: join back the gymnastic team, and raise
your marks again. You, of all the people I know, do NOT have the
right to give up on life. Just look at how good you have it!
You're rich, you're smart, and . . . don't tell the others, but
physically, you are the most desirable girl in Nerima. And now,
with your new-found honour to go with your looks, you can easily
have friends or even boyfriends a thousand times better than me
in no time.
So try your best to blossom once more, preferably without
thorns attached this time: they scare away bees and butterflies
that would have come to you otherwise. I have fought you before,
and I know that even without cheating, you should be able to win
any gymnastic contest that you want, and enter any University
that you desire. You have a future, don't just let it slide
away.
P.S. Please tell Tatewaki that I am sorry for not letting
him find out earlier, and that I was in a blind rage when I said
all those things to him.
Ranma.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Kodachi sobbed heartily as Sasuke looked concerned. She now
knew that she never did have the best lover in the whole world:
she had the best friend in the whole universe, without even
realizing it.
Her classmates were all happy at seeing her wasting away.
They thought of her downfall as an indication of a major threat
removed from the society . . . Hell, even she thought so herself!
But even after being the target of her selfish yearnings for all
this time, Ranma STILL encouraged her to straighten up once more,
regardless of the possible consequences that might have!
Gradually, she brought her sobbing under control and wiped
the tears off her face. "Sasuke."
Sasuke, not knowing what to expect from his volatile
mistress, asked gingerly. "Yes, Mistress?"
Kodachi smiled a genuine smile that could finally reach her
eyes, surprising the ninja. "Close up the top of the greenhouse.
My roses have still got a lot of blossoming to do."
* * * * * * *
In the afternoon at the Tendo Dojo, Akane had just returned
a little late from school when she found the entire household
rushing out to her. "What is goi-"
"Oh, my poor baby!!!!" Soun wailed as he swept Akane into
his arms for a teary hug. Kasumi and Nabiki simply stood behind
him and stare.
"What's the matter, Daddy?!" Akane yelped.
"Akane-chan, Ranma-kun has sent us a letter." Kasumi said
with a hint of nervousness.
"WHAT?!" Akane threw off her father and rushed up to
Kasumi. "Where is it?!"
"Right here. It was in the mailbox when I came back."
Nabiki said as she handed her an opened letter addressed to
Akane. Akane took a look at it and frowned.
"Hey! It was addressed to ME!"
"So?"
Akane glared at her older sister. "Why was it opened?!"
Nabiki smirked. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just that the
outline of a check was showing through ever so alluringly from
beneath the paper envelope, and I just couldn't help but open
it."
Akane was a little bit taken back as she heard that. "A
check?"
"Yes, it was for the expenses that he and his father had
cost us during their stay here."
Frowning quizzically, Akane took out the letter and read it.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Akane:
I heard that you have improved in just about almost
everything since I have left. That's good: our decision to split
up appears to be the right one for both of us after all.
Still, I have to thank you once again for your kindness to
me during my stay. Even though you had never truly known me,
that smile of yours when you let your guard down had considerably
brightened my life to a large extend.
Mom told me to tell you guys that the two of us are doing
fine on our own. I have finally secured a somewhat positive
source of income, thus allowing me to repay our debts.
Surprisingly, Mom does not think that it is wise for us to
be visiting the Tendo Dojo until the engagement thing has truly
blown over. I would never have believed that she would say this,
but Mom told me that after all that she had seen me been through
in "honour" of the Saotome line, she had finally realized the
unfairness of it all to force the two of us to be married. She
now claims that it is dishonourable to even engage one's children
in the name of honour: clan duties are insignificant when
compared to the love and compassion that a parent must give her
own flesh and blood. She hopes that Mr. Tendo would understand
and forgive her decision to free us one day.
Enclosed together within this envelope is a check, which can
hopefully cover all the expenses that me and Genma had cost the
Tendo household.
We both wish you, as well as your household, true harmony
and happiness.
Ranma
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Akane quietly folded up and letter and put it back into the
envelope. Whatever sparks of fire that had been between them had
truly extinguished, forever replaced by polite and platonic
friendship. She guessed she would have to live with that now.
Beside her, Soun was crying a river.
"Oh! How could Genma's wife do that to us? Now I TRULY
have no male heir for the dojo!" the middle aged man wailed.
Akane frowned. Her father was STILL not over this insanity?
"Daddy, aren't I good enough as a heir?"
"But . . . Saotome-kun . . . the promise . . . it's just not
right! The two heirs to the Anything Goes MUST be married in
order for the bloodline of the school to be strengthened!"
Akane narrowed her eyes. "I see . . . so me and Ranma are
really nothing more than tools to heighten the power of the
school, is that it?"
Soun was taken back by her sudden bitterness. "Akane . . .
I . . ."
"If you do value me as your child, then follow Mrs.
Saotome's example. If not . . ." Akane forced her voice to
harden. "Just remember what had happened to Mr. Saotome after
pushing Ranma too far."
With that, she walked up the stairs into her room. Kasumi
and Nabiki quickly followed her, leaving Soun standing there
stunned.
"Akane-chan, was that really necessary?" Kasumi asked
inside the closed door of Akane's room, frowning.
Nabiki joined in as she picked up that day's newspaper from
Akane's desk and began skimming through it. "Yeah, I mean,
judging from the amount that Ranma is repaying our family, the
guy must have finally became financially capable somehow. He
might not be such a bad catch anymore."
"That's not the point!" Akane said with frustration. "It
is about time for Dad to REALLY see what being a father is all
about, before he got deeper and deeper into that honour thing
until he became another Mr. Saotome!"
Kasumi's eyes widened as she held a hand to her cheek.
"Father is nothing like Mr. Saotome, Akane-chan."
"Not yet, he isn't." Akane sighed. "Sister, you know very
well that I can protect myself these days even if Dad had decided
to engage me to someone else again. I was only saying those
harsh things for Dad to change, for his own good!"
"Well . . ."
Nabiki, meanwhile, let out a small whistle as she read out a
commercial aid at the Arts and Books section. "Of love and
tears, kempo and kendo, human and animals, the new manga that
rocked the Japanese Comic Market . . ." Her eyes widened. "Ran
1 / 2 ?!"
"What?!" Akane gasped.
"Oh, my! What a familiar name." Kasumi said.
All three of them gathered around the newspaper as they
looked at the aid. It showed the drawing of a ponytailed (not
pigtailed) boy and a ponytailed girl, startlingly similar
looking, performing kata as a gang of armed and unarmed teenagers
were drawn to the background in various battle poses. Below the
drawing were the pen names of the creators of the manga:
Rumiko T.- Artworks
R.R. - Story
"R.R. huh . . . what a cheesy pen-name. Hmph! He just had
to wait until AFTER splitting up with my sister to find a way to
become loaded. How typical of men."
At a the bottom of the aid was the front cover of the first
volume of the manga, which here it said can be found at every
manga store across Japan. It showed a long haired girl with
bangs parting in the middle smiling down on a blushing,
ponytailed girl.
It's title was: Friendship and Beyond.
With a thousand feelings coming into her mind, Akane could
only smile wearily as she stared at the drawing that had so
expertly captured a moment of her past.
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