Our Own Damnation A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North America by Viz Communications. This copy of the story is from my centralized fanfiction archive at http://www.thekeep.org/~harnums/fanfic. I can be reached by e-mail at harnums@thekeep.org Part One: Falls the Shadow The broom swished across the wooden floor of the shrine, held tightly in the wrinkled hands of the old priest. To him, the act of sweeping was as valuable as meditation or study; in different ways, they all helped to focus the mind upon the spiritual, rather than forcing it to dwell upon the material. The sweeping was repetitive and focused, and after so many years, he didn't even need to think about what he was doing. It didn't matter that he usually didn't care for this shrine; his sweeping was usually done a few streets up, at the large if somewhat run-down temple he was responsible for. The cleanup of the shrine was usually done by an old woman who lived in the area, a friend of his from many years back. But she'd taken ill recently, and until someone else could be found, he was going to have to do it. Not that it would be a problem; there were still enough people today who respected the old beliefs. The hour was late, nearly midnight, he would guess. It would take him ten minutes or so to walk back to the temple, where he lived as well as worked. The late hour didn't worry him; this area was one of the safest in Nerima ward, in all of Tokyo even. The crime rate for petty crimes, such as shoplifting and vandalism, was fairly average, and there was a very high rate of underwear theft, but there was no danger of being mugged in this area, no matter what the hour. Muggers tended to pray on people who looked lost or confused, or those who appeared vulnerable, such as the elderly. There'd been an attempt last week in broad daylight, actually. An old woman who ran a Chinese restaurant had been walking to the nearby bank to deposit that week's profits. Some young punk had tried to knock her over and get the money. Fortunately, the police had arrived before she could do anything worse than break both his arms. Many of the young people in the area tended to be either martial artists or friends of martial artists; they were good kids, in general, although they tended to do a lot of property damage. And they hated seeing anyone get picked on; no small amount of purse-snatchers had been deposited in front of the police station wrapped in chains, or tied up with several dozen tiger-striped bandannas. He paused in his sweeping and looked up at the open front of the shrine; had he heard someone out there? It seemed unlikely that someone had come to offer prayer at this time of night. "Hello?" he called out, somewhat more nervously than he expected. "Is someone there?" Only silence answered him. He shrugged and continued sweeping. Must have been his imagination. Then he heard it again; a dry whispering, like the pages of an old book turning, or someone walking through a pile of leaves. "Who's there?" he said, moving to the entrance. He leaned out and looked around carefully, but saw nothing. Perhaps it had just been some person passing late in the night. And then he felt someone's eyes on him. He looked up, his mouth opening, just as the thin figure swung itself down from its perch atop the roof over the entrance and smashed into him. The breath was knocked from his lungs, and he was laid out flat on his back before he even knew what was happening. He began to come up, ready to fight as well as he could, but then his attacker was on him, driving him to the floor again. Long, thin fingers wrapped around his neck with a powerful strength and began to tighten. Desperately, he reached up with his hands and grabbed the wrists of his attacker. He was not a weak man; he was still strong and fit for being nearly sixty. But in the skinny arms of his attacker there was strength like iron, and he could do nothing against it. He still could not see the face of his adversary. Dark stars began to dance in front of his eyes; the hands on his throat pulled back and slammed the back of his head into the floor, and the stars expanded to fill all of his vision. ********** Sunlight streamed in through the window, playing itself across the floor until it shone directly into Ranma's eyes. He blinked a few times, yawned, then sat up and stretched. Scratching an itch on his leg, he looked out the window through bleary eyes. Outside, birds sang in the trees to welcome in the rising of the sun. It had all indication that this would be a lovely day. Ranma groaned, covered his eyes with his pillow and tried to go back to sleep. This was made difficult when someone was prodding you with their foot. "WHAT!" Ranma yelled, turning over to see his father standing over him with a big grin on his face. Looking at his father's face early in the morning was not one Ranma's favourite things to do, so, with a "Push off, old man," he turned over again. Muttering something about his lazy, ungrateful son, his father left the room. Ranma heard water running in the bathroom, and for a single sleepy moment, was convinced that the old man was going to leave him alone. He had almost slipped into peaceful sleep when the cold water splashed over him. Spluttering, the red haired girl emerged from the tangle of the blankets and looked at her father, who stood there holding an empty bucket. "No time for sleep, boy. We need to practice!" he said, turning and running into the hallway. "I'll kill you, old man!" Ranma yelled, leaping out of bed. She realized she was topless; not that it mattered to her of course, but it would be hard to beat her father to a pulp if the damn things were swinging around everywhere. She grabbed a t-shirt that she hoped was fairly clean, threw it on and dashed off after her father. He was heading down the stairs at the end of the hallway when she came out of the room. Ranma raced after him, taking the stairs three at a time as her father turned, grabbed a bowl of rice from the table as Kasumi put it down in front of her father, and hopped out the back door. He tossed back the empty bowl a few moments later, hitting his charging son, or daughter, depending on how you look at it, directly in the face. This served to greater fuel the already smoldering anger within the girl. "GYAHHHHHH!" she yelled, picking up the pace. Genma paused near the pond and turned around. He was startled for a moment at the apparent appearance of a raging, well-built, scarlet haired demoness in men's underwear, but then realized it was just his son. "Come on, Ranma!" Genma said, getting into a fighting stance. A punch was blocked, a kick dodged, and the fight began in earnest. Back and forth across the yard they battled, each seeking to find an opening in the other's defense, to score the blow that would win this battle. Ranma had the edge in speed and strength, but her father had been fighting more years than Ranma had spent on this earth, and if he didn't know every trick in the book, he was fairly qualified to write a guide to the best ones. However, Ranma had improved a great amount since coming to the Tendo dojo, while Genma had been most interested in sitting around, playing shogi, and drinking sake, all with his oldest friend. Still, he put up a good fight for about a minute, before he extended forward just a bit too far in a kick and threw himself off balance for a moment. A moment was all a martial artist of Ranma's caliber needed however, and before her father quite realized what was happening, he was flying towards the koi pond in the garden. The wet panda sneezed unhappily and picked a flopping fish out of his now-ruined gi. On the porch of the house, Ranma stuck her tongue out at her father and ran inside to get dressed. The panda grumbled, crawled out of the pond and followed. At the table, Ranma and his father continued their duel, with no less ferocity even if on more peaceful terms. Each time the other's attention was brought somewhere else, one of them would try to grab food from the other's bowl. Behind his newspaper, Soun Tendo dealt with his two houseguests in the only way he knew how, which was by ignoring them. Actually, he did know another way, but he didn't really feel up to putting on samurai armour and shooting arrows at Ranma and Genma this early in the morning. Nabiki, looking immaculate as always, even if it was in only shorts and a t-shirt, watched Ranma and Genma with amusement as she ate her breakfast. Kasumi made pleasant, if somewhat one-sided conversation, mainly because two of the other diners were fighting, one was attempting to ignore the other diners fighting, and the last was watching the fight. Akane wasn't at the table this morning. With his relentless attention to detail, Ranma noticed this about ten minutes after he sat down. "Hey," he said, turning to Nabiki and catching his father's stab for a pickle between two chopsticks without looking, "where's Akane?" Nabiki held out her hand, palm up. "One hundred yen and I tell you what I know, Saotome." Ranma had his hand reaching for his wallet before he remembered it was still up on the dresser, which he realized a little after he thought that someone other than Nabiki might know Akane's whereabouts. "Hey Kasumi, where's Akane?" he said. Nabiki shrugged at the loss of one hundred yen, and watched Genma slide an arm around Ranma's back and reach in from an unexpected angle for a piece of tofu. "I guess she's still out on her jog," Kasumi said, as Ranma pinned his father's arm to the table and grabbed a piece of chicken from the old man's bowl at the same time. "She is usually back by now," Soun commented, risking a peek over the edges of his paper. Seeing Genma slip his arm out and make an all-out grab for his son's rice bowl, he retreated back behind his newsprint barrier. "Oh my, I hope nothing's happened to her," Kasumi said, carefully keeping the soy sauce from spilling onto the table as a redirected chopstick thrust from Ranma sent it rocking unsteadily. "Don't worry about Akane," Ranma said, elbowing his father in the face and grabbing his rice bowl as it fell from the old man's clutching hand, "the only thing that might be a danger to her is another gorilla. Have to be a big one too." Soun was about to launch into an emotional tirade about duty and concern for one's bethrothed, but stopped when Akane walked into the dining room on the back porch. Ranma silently hoped she hadn't heard his gorilla comment. His distraction at Akane's appearance let his father go for the real target. For the rice bowl had only been a distraction; Genma was really after Ranma's miso soup. Absentmindedly, Ranma pulled it out of the way, smacked his father's head into the tabletop, and then put the soup back. "Hey everybody," Akane said, pushing a strand of sweaty hair out of her eyes. "Good morning, Akane," Kasumi said. "Did you have a nice jog?" "Yes, thank you, Kasumi," Akane said. "Something's going on down at the shrine near the market." "Hmm?" Nabiki said, looking up at her younger sister. "There's about three police cars down there," Akane said, sitting down at the table beside Ranma. "Dear me, I hope nothing's wrong," Kasumi said, putting a hand on her face. "You have any idea what's going on, Akane?" Ranma said, turning to look at her. "Not really," Akane said, serving herself some rice from the steamer. "Wanna go check it out after breakfast?" Ranma said. Akane looked surprised for a moment. "You mean together?" she said. "Sure. Why not?" Ranma said, shrugging. "O-okay. That would be nice," Akane said. "Just let me go get dressed." "Sure," Ranma said. The meal finished fairly peacefully. Genma had decided to just give up on his son's food, and turned back to his own place to find that someone had already eaten all of his food. Casting a glare at Ranma, he stood up from the table and started inside. "Up for a game or too, Tendo?" he said as he passed Soun. "Certainly, Saotome," Soun said as he folded up his newspaper. "As long as you're ready to lose again." "Of course, Tendo. Of course," Genma said, laughing. The two old friends walked inside the house, leaving the others at the table. Akane excused herself and went upstairs, as Kasumi began to clear off the breakfast dishes. Ranma offered to help, and Nabiki took her father's discarded paper and went into the living room to read the financial section. Ranma helped Kasumi take everything into the kitchen, where she began to wash up. Ranma went up to his room to get his wallet, in case he needed it later. He grabbed it off the dresser, and as an afterthought, took a baseball hat with the Furinkan Athletic Department logo on as well. It was going to be hot out today. Hat on his head and wallet in his pocket, Ranma came into the hallway just as Akane came out of her room. She was wearing a nice blue dress and a wide-brimmed straw hat. It looked good on her; not that Ranma was going to tell her so. Might give her the wrong the impression. "Ready to go?" he said. "Uh-huh," Akane said. "I wonder what's going on?" "Guess we'll find out," Ranma said, sliding down the bannister and hopping to his feet at the bottom of the stairs. Akane walked more sedately down the stairs. As they passed through living room, Soun and Genma nodded in greeting and then returned to their shogi game. Nabiki was absorbed in her paper, and didn't even give them a passing glance. They walked out the front door together. Ranma looked up at the sky; blue and cloudless, and seeming to stretch on forever over their heads. The sun had not yet reached full ascension; when it did, the heat would be ever more considerable than it was now. They began to walk quickly; the shrine wasn't far away, but they might miss something interesting if they took it too slowly. "Geez, I wonder what the heck could be goin' on in this town that would get three cop cars?" Ranma said as they walked. "I don't know. Must be something pretty big, whatever it is," Akane said, pushing her hat brim up a little. "Maybe someone got killed," Ranma said jokingly. Akane shuddered slightly. "Don't even joke about that, Ranma. It could be something really serious." "Hey, cool down, Akane. I'm just kidding. Somebody's store probably got robbed. That's the worst that ever happens around here." "I hope you're right, Ranma," Akane said, adjusting her hat again in what now appeared to be a nervous motion. "I really hope you're right." When they got within a block of the shrine, they could already see the crowds and the flashing lights of the police cars; Akane had been wrong about the numbers, it appeared. Ranma could see at least five. "There's more cars than there were before," Akane said. "Just what's going on?" "Well, we aren't gonna find out by standing here," Ranma said. "Come on." He grabbed her hand without thinking, and pulled her towards the crowds as he ran. Akane was surprised and a bit flustered, but kept up with him, mostly because he would have knocked her over if she hadn't. The crowd wasn't big at about eight-thirty in the morning, but it served to block their line of sight. Ranma and Akane made their way to the edge of it. "Hey," Ranma said, tapping the man in front of him on the shoulder. The man turned around and looked at them. "What's going on?" Ranma said. "Don't know," the man said, shrugging. "The police aren't telling us anything. They're trying to get everyone to leave, and they've got barriers up and everything. They're not letting anyone inside the shrine, that's for sure. Whatever happened, it happened in there." "Thanks," Ranma said. He began to walk around the edge of the crowd, but they'd effectively encircled the shrine. "Please return home," a voice said over the murmur of the crowd. "There is nothing to see here, and you're simply getting in the way." "We wanna know what's going on," a voice from the crowd called out. "Look," the first voice said. It showed signs of strain, and most likely belonged to a police officer. "There's nothing we're going to tell you now. I'm sure it'll be all over the newspapers tomorrow, but right now, you're only making it more difficult for us. Please, go home and let us work." Murmuring, much of the crowd dispersed. A few dedicated hangers-on remained at the edge of the barriers, but still couldn't make out anything in the darkened shrine. Police walked in and out of the small shrine almost continously, it seemed. Several officers stood silently at the barriers, their arms folded across their chests. Ranma walked to a clear spot at one of the barriers, reluctantly followed by Akane. A man near them was talking with the officer who stood across the barrier. "Come on, officer. Level with me here. What's going on?" the man said. The officer sighed. "Look, sir. I've told you enough times that we're not saying yet what's happened. Please just go back to your home," the officer said, a trace of annoyance in his voice. "Okay, okay," the man said. "But you can't keep stuff like this under wraps forever." He turned and stalked off. The officer turned his attention to Ranma and Akane and sighed. "For the first question, no, I can't tell you what's going on. Are there any others?" he said. "Why can't you tell us?" Ranma asked. "We can't." Ranma shrugged. "Okay. Thanks anyway." And with that, he walked off. Akane stood blinking for a moment in surprise, then followed after him. "That was remarkably polite, for you," she said. "Don't get in the face of someone who can arrest you," Ranma said. "He's just doin' his job." Ranma took the baseball cap off his and fanned himself with it as he walked. "So whatcha wanna do now, Akane?" "You're just full of surprises today," Akane said. "Whaddaya mean?" Ranma said, putting his hat back on and turning to look at her. "Well, you haven't said one mean thing to me all morning, and now you're actually offering to do something with me," she said. "Hey! Can't a guy try to be nice without you getting all uptight?" Ranma said. "Maybe some other guy," Akane said teasingly. "Just what are you up to, Ranma?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Akane knew he hadn't caught her tone. He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away. "Geez," he said. "Just once, ya try to..." "I'm sorry Ranma," Akane said. "I was just kidding." "Yeah. Whatever," Ranma said, not looking at her. Akane came up behind him and put her arm through his. "Come on, you big dummy," she said with a smile. "Let's go to the park." Ranma caught the joke in her tone this time and smiled back. "Just so ya know, this isn't a date or nothing." "Of course not. You'd never want to go out with a tomboy like me anyway, would you?" Akane said. She still sounded like she was joking, but there was a hint of underlying sadness. "That's not what I meant-" Ranma said, before he realized what he was saying and clamped his mouth shut. "So you do want to go out with me?" Akane said too quickly for his liking. "Gahhh... Let's just go to the park," Ranma said. Akane laughed and they started to walk, each conscious but comfortable with the presence of the other. The sun rose higher in the sky as they walked the short route to the park, and the heat of the day rose with it. They stopped more than once in the shade of a building, to fan their faces or just rest for a few moments. When they passed the ice-cream stand, they were unable to resist, and were soon walking with a double-scoop cone each. The streets were beginning to fill up with people enjoying the summer now; the disturbing, unknown crime that had occupied the early morning was all but forgotten now. When they arrived at the park, it was already filled with people walking and enjoying the sights. The trees stretched high above their heads, and they found shelter from the heat under the outstretched canopy of leaves. Three small children, two girls and boy, ran by laughing, followed by their smiling parents. Ranma looked at the children as they passed, and an almost wistful smile passed over his face for a moment. "Kids," he said to Akane. "You were one once too, you know," Akane said. "Not like that," Ranma said, shaking his head. "I was on the road with my father all the time, remember? Never really had time to play around like that. Didn't have any brothers or sisters to do it with, either." Akane realized just then how lonely Ranma's childhood must have been. "Just your father. Poor you." A cloud seemed to settle over Ranma's features at the mention of his father. "The old man wasn't always like he is now." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Who am I kidding? Of course he was. I just didn't realize it." "How do you feel about your father, anyway?" Akane asked without thinking, before realizing how personal a question it was. "Who are you, Sigmund Frood?" Ranma said, smiling. "Freud," Akane corrected. Ranma shrugged. "Whatever." "If you don't want to talk about it..." "No, it's okay," Ranma said. He looked up at the trees before he spoke. "There's are some things about my old man that I admire. His dedication to the art, his acceptance of his curse, the love he had for teaching me." He frowned as he continued. "But there's a lot more things I hate. I hate his lack of honour, his greed, his deceitfulness. I hate the promise he made to my mother, and how that kept me apart from her for so long. I hate how when he's faced with something he can't beat up, he either runs away or tries to lie his way out. I hate how he used me like a bargaining chip, and ruined Ukyouu's life in the process." Ranma sighed, and the frown left his face. "But I can't hate him. I don't think anyone can really hate their parents." "Although you can get really mad at them at times," Akane said. "Yeah," Ranma chuckled. "Most of the time." "All of the time," Akane said, laughing. The seriousness was broken, and Akane leaned back against a tree, feeling the roughness of the bark through the back of her dress. Ranma came to stand next to her, folding his arms over his chest and resting against the tree as well, for a moment. Then, he stretched his arms up, jumped, and hauled himself onto the overhanging branch. Akane tilted her head back and looked up at him, smiling. "Always gotta show off, don't you Ranma?" she said. Ranma grinned and stretched out on the branch, leaning his head back against the tree. "That's me," he said, sticking his tongue out at Akane as he looked down on her. Then he sat up on the branch and held on with one hand as he leaned down and offered his hand to her. "Come on," he said. "I'll help you up." Akane raised an eyebrow and looked at him dubiously. "With one hand?" "Naturally," Ranma said. "Come on. Grab my hand." Akane still didn't seem convinced. "Come on, Akane. Do you trust me or not?" Ranma said. Akane reached up and grabbed his hand in both of hers. "Hold on tight," Ranma said. Then, with a jerk of his arm, he lifted her effortlessly off her feet and onto the branch beside him. The branch was wide and strong, and easily supported both their weights. Ranma took his hand out of hers and put it on her back, steadying his slightly shaky fiancee. Akane put her hands down on the branch and found her balance. Ranma patted her on the back and took his hand down. "Now don't fall," Ranma said. "I won't," Akane said. They dangled their legs over the side of the branch for a while, listening in silence to the sounds of the park below them. The children ran by again, waving and pointing at Akane and Ranma before running off again. "Ranma, can I ask you something if you promise you'll tell me the truth," Akane said. "Hmm?" Ranma said, glancing over at her. "What is it?" "Promise me you'll tell me the truth," Akane said. "What do you want to ask me?" Ranma said defensively. "Just say you'll tell me the truth," Akane said. "Please?" "Yeah, sure," Ranma said. "How bad can it be?" "Ready?" Akane said. "Just ask away, Akane," Ranma said. "How do you feel about our engagement?" "What? Why do you wanna know something like that?" Ranma hedged, inching away along the branch from Akane. "Ranma, you promised," Akane said quietly. He stopped moving and looked at her nervously. "I... I..." Ranma stuttered. Akane sighed. "Okay. Let's start again. How do you feel about me?" Ranma looked as if he wanted to run away, but that was hard to do when you were in a tree. He looked down at the ground and coughed a few times. "We've been engaged for more than a year now, and most of the time all we do is fight," Akane said. "You have three other girls who you seem to like a lot better than me." "Hey-" Ranma said. "So why don't we just break it off?" Akane said, the last part coming out almost like a sob. "You don't mean that," Ranma said, his face going pale. "Of course I mean it," Akane said. "Why do you stay with me anyway? Is it just so you and your father can get free room and board?" "No, Akane, it isn't," Ranma said. He edged closer on the branch and hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and Ranma saw she was crying. "Why do you think I like other girls more than you?" Ranma said gently. "Well, you never insult them the way you do me," Akane said. "What do you mean?" Ranma said, genuine surprise in his voice. "You make fun of my cooking, of my martial arts, of how I look, of everything! How do you think it feels when your fiancee thinks your an ugly tomboy who can't cook?" Ranma was silent for a moment. "How do you think it feels when your fiancee thinks you're nothing but a sex-changing pervert who's always running around behind her back?" "What are you talking-" Akane began, then gulped. "Oh." "I guess we both need to stop saying some things," Ranma said. "Yeah," Akane said. "I don't mean a lot of that stuff," Ranma said. "I just get mad sometimes." "I get mad a lot too," Akane said. "And I say some things I don't really mean." Ranma sighed. "I'm sorry, Akane." "I'm sorry, Ranma." "Can we start again?" "Again?" "Yup." "How do you feel about me?" Ranma had no hesitation in answering this time. "I... I don't really know how I feel about you, Akane. I know how I feel about the other girls. Ukyouu's my best friend, and I'm sorry that pop hurt her so much all those years ago, but I don't feel anything for her beyond friendship. Shampoo's a nice girl, but she's definitely not my type. Besides," he chuckled. "if I ever married her, Mousse wouldn't stop until he killed me, or I killed him." Akane looked at him with a strange hope in her eyes. "What about Kodachi?" Ranma visibly shuddered. "Akane. I hoped you had a better opinion of me than that." "We're not talking about other girls, though. What about me?" "Like I said. I don't really know how I feel about you. Sometimes, you make me so mad. Other times, all I wanna do is ki-" Ranma clammed up on the last word. Akane looked at him. "All you wanna do is...?" "Nothing, Akane," Ranma said. "Is it this?" Akane raised her head from his shoulder and kissed him lightly on the lips for a moment. Ranma's eyes widened and for a moment he appeared to lose control of his body. With a yelp, he fell backwards out of the tree, taking Akane with him. He rolled her in front of him in midair, taking all the impact as they hit the ground and cushioning her fall with his body. Akane scrambled off him as he lay motionless on the ground. "Ranma! Oh, I'm so sorry! Ranma, get up, please!" she said. Ranma groaned and opened his eyes. "Mommy?" he said in a squeaky voice. Akane gasped. Akane thought. She knelt down beside him and cradled his head in her arms. "Ranma, please. You're tougher than this..." "Mommy... I had a dream..." he said in a child's voice. "Oh Ranma... This is all my fault..." "I was up very high..." "Ranma..." "And then some tomboy knocked me off," he said in his normal voice, sitting up. "RANMA! YOU ARE SUCH A..." "Akane, it was just a..." WHAM. "...joke..." Ranma said as he flew into the horizon. Akane put her fist down and began to laugh. "Oh Ranma," she said, shaking her head. ********** "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" There was a thump as Ranma impacted with the streetlight, bounced off, and fell into a heap on the ground. He'd learned a long time ago how to take hits from Akane; she had a lot of distance, but not too much power. The fall hurt worse than anything else; he decided to just lie there for a while until his bones stopped hurting. The people walking by on the street let him lie there; most anyone who lived in the area had gotten used to him falling from the sky suddenly. Well, they'd gotten used to it as much as you can get used to a young man, or possibly a young woman, plummeting unexpectedly from the sky to land on the street in front of you. Finally, Ranma felt well enough to stand up, if not to do much more than that. At least he healed fast; in a few minutes, he would be good as new. He glanced around to try to orient himself. God only knows where he'd landed after Akane hit him. Spotting a familiar storefront sign, Ranma smiled and started towards it. Okonomiyaki would be good right now. He pushed the curtain that served as Ukyou's door in the summer aside and stepped into the restaurant. It was slightly more cool in here than outside, but not by much. There was a scattering of customers here for breakfast, but the Ucchan really wouldn't begin to fill up until lunchtime. Ukyou spotted him as soon as he walked in the door. The chef wore cut-off jean shorts and a light halter top as she worked over the grill. Many of her male customers seemed as interested in her as they were in their food, but they all payed more attention to their plates as soon as Ukyou's fiancee walked in. "Hey Ranchan," Ukyou said, waving her free hand at an empty counter stool. "Have a seat." "Thanks, Ucchan," Ranma said as he sat down. His friend had her tied back into a long ponytail, and he couldn't help but notice how little of her athletic figure was revealed by her outfit. Remembering the moment only a little earlier in the tree with Akane, he beat down any thoughts in that direction with the proverbial big stick. Ukyou turned away from him for a moment to send two of her usual spinning across the room in different directions to land on the plates of her customers with perfect accuracy. There was a smattering of applause throughout the small space of the restaurant. Ukyou smiled and gave a small theatrical bow to her customers before turning her attention back to Ranma. "So what's up, sugar?" Ukyou said, handing him a plate and depositing a fresh okonomiyaki on it. "Not much with me," Ranma said as he took the first bite. "But there's something big going on down at the shrine near here." "The one near the market?" Ukyou said, leaning across the counter to put her face near his. Interest sparkled in her eyes. "Yup," Ranma said, popping another piece of okonomiyaki into his mouth. "Me and Akane checked it out this morning, but there were so many cops you couldn't see a thing." "Hmmm? And what happened to Akane," Ukyou said, reaching one slim hand out to brush against a small scrape on his cheek. "She do that to you?" "Not really," Ranma said. "I think that's from the landing." "She doesn't treat you, honey," Ukyou clucked. "You should find a woman who does." "Ahh, Akane's not that bad. I mean, just before she hit me, we..." Ranma trailed off as he saw Ukyou's eyes widening. His memory of what happened up in the tree came back to him in full, and he realized that it probably wasn't the greatest idea in the world to go telling everyone about this new aspect in his relationship with Akane. Particularly Ukyou. He'd already hurt her badly enough, or at least his father had. The last thing he wanted to do was break her heart a second time. "You did what?" Ukyou said in a hissed whisper, leaning in even closer to him. Their faces were only a few inches apart. "Uhh, uhh..." Ranma said, glancing about desperately for some route of escape. "Nothing, Ukyou," he finally said, falling back upon the age old tactic of avoidance. "Oh, okay," Ukyou said uncertainly, standing back up and giving the nervous Ranma a little more breathing room. He sighed involuntarily with relief and took his hat, wiping his hand across his forehead. "Hot, sugar?" Ukyou said, pouring more batter onto her grill as she spoke. "It's better in here than it is out there," Ranma said. Ukyou shrugged. "Not by much. Wish I could afford a better air conditioner, but till then we've all gotta make do with this, don't we?" Ukyou reached over and banged her fist on top of the massive, clunky air conditioner that served to cool the shop somewhat. It rattled loudly for a minute, then the streamers of paper in front of the grille stopped fluttering, and, with a whine like some small animal being tortured, the ancient device appeared to give up its long fight and die. "Ah geez," Ukyou said. She glared at the air conditioner and banged it again. It sputtered, then came back to life. She turned back to Ranma, automatically flipping him another okonomiyaki as she did so. "Thanks," he said, digging into his second of the day. Several more customers walked in the door then, and Ukyou was occupied filling their orders for the next few minutes. When she finished, she leaned over the counter again and looked at Ranma. "I was thinking, Ranchan," Ukyou said. "I'm gonna be busy a lot of the summer running the restaurant, but I'll have a little free time on my hands." "Really? That's great, Ucchan. You need to relax some of the time, with how hard you work," Ranma said. "It would be nice if we got together some time, don't you think?" Ukyou said. She noted that Ranma had finished off his second okonomiyaki, and absently handed him another one. "Ain't that what we're doing now?" Ranma said between bites. Ukyou exasperatedly blew a breath of air that ruffled her bangs. "Not like this, with you coming to my restaurant. I mean, we could go to a movie, or go on a picnic or something," Ukyou said. Ranma's face lit up in the smile Ukyou had always found impossible to resist. "Yeah, Ucchan. That'd be great. It'd be great to spend some time with my best friend. Maybe Akane or Ryoga could come along, just have a nice day out or something," Ranma said enthusiastically. Ukyou felt her stomach tighten as he spoke, but kept the smile on her face, if not in her heart. "Yeah. It. Would. Be. Nice," Ukyou said between gritted teeth. Ranma blinked confusedly for a moment, then stood up out of his seat and touched her hand lightly. "You okay, Ucchan?" Ranma said, concern in his voice. Ukyou recovered herself and nodded. "Fine, Ranchan," she said. "Just fine." "Good," Ranma said, giving her another smile again. "Wouldn't want nothin' to happen to you." He glanced up at the clock on the wall, noted the small hand had just reached ten. "Anyway, I gotta get going. I'll see you around, Ucchan. Take care." "Take care, Ranchan," she said quietly. His fingertips brushed hers again as he turned to leave, and as much as Ukyou hoped that it was intended, she knew in her heart it was an accident. She watched his retreating back as he pushed through the shop curtain, the easy, natural grace with which he moved, and then he was gone, and a part of her was gone with him. Ukyou closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them in time to see two more customers walk in. "Two deluxes, please," the boy said, his hand holding the hand of the girl behind him. They seated themselves at the counter, still holding hands, as Ukyou turned away, and threw her pain into her cooking. ********** Ranma walked quickly through the streets as he left the Ucchan, trying to make up his mind where to go next. He could always go back to the house, but he didn't really feel up to seeing Akane right now, until he had some time to think about what had happened between them this morning. The kiss had been different from anything else that had gone between them. It hadn't been like the challenges that had almost led to one after he'd been kissed by Mikado Sanzenin as a girl, or what had happened the first time he'd gone into his cat-fist mode around her. It had been, well, nice. And suprising, coming from Akane, who usually seemed to have about as much interest in him romantically as she would in a sex-changing pervert. Which was what she seemed to consider him most of the time. He'd always kinda suspected Akane had more feelings for him beyond what she expressed, just as he knew that he had more feelings for her than what he showed to the world. The problem was not so much between him and Akane, he liked to think, so much as it was between him and the rest of his severely screwed-up life. Left to their own, Akane and him could get on quite well; they'd just been starting to develop an almost normal relationship around the time Shampoo showed up. Things had simply gone downhill from there, and as more and more people arrived who either wanted to kill him or marry him, it had seemed that he and Akane were destined to continually clash over trivial things for the sheer hell of it. But, as this morning proved, things appeared to be looking up. But what was the next step from here? Akane had apparently expressed her interest in him; had he done anything to return it? No, he'd simply made a stupid joke out of the whole thing. "AGGGHH!! You dummy!" Ranma shouted suddenly, startling several passers-by. He began to bang his head against a nearby telephone pole, having seen Ryoga do it a number of times. Perhaps it would help to relieve his annoyance over making such a large romantic blunder. In the end, it just made his head hurt. He put it down to the fact he didn't have nearly as hard a head as Ryoga, and tried to consider what he could do to salvage the situation. Frankly, he was stumped. Ranma was very good at some things, such as beating people up and winning anything with "Martial Arts" somewhere in the title, but in other areas, such as establishing normal social relationships common to teenage life, he was about a step below the average computer technician, although he probably had a much greater potential for success with girls, if not the interest. What was it the old man always said to do when you were stuck for an answer? Ask someone who knew, he thought. That seemed the best idea anyway; the problem was finding someone who could help him in the area of women. Ranma ran through a mental list of people he knew well enough to ask. His father was out of the question, of course. So was Mr. Tendo; both would be so pleased Ranma was apparently showing interest in Akane that they'd have to holler the news around the entire town. Asking Ryoga would just put his life in danger; besides, pig-boy went to pieces in the face of any girl, even Ranma when he disguised himself. Kuno was useless as well; aside from the fact that the guy had apparently taken one too many knocks upside the head while in his formative years, he would also try to kill Ranma. And his tactics of spouting poetry and alternately threatening to beat the crap out of anyone who showed an interest in "his" women had so far had, and would probably forever have, a nil success rate. Then there was Mousse; he might attempt to kill Ranma at first as well, but now that he thought about it, he was probably the best choice out of anyone Ranma knew. He asked Shampoo on lots of dates, after all; his lack of success was more due to Shampoo's total disgust at his existence than to any real failing in his approach, in Ranma's opinion. Although he probably could stand to be a little less clingy with her, and with anything else that bore a vague resemblance to her. Yeah, Mousse it was. He supposed that he was the lesser of quite a few evils, but there wasn't much else Ranma could think of right now. ********** The Chinese restaurant was close to opening when Ranma arrived; he could see Mousse taking the chairs down from the tables inside. With luck, he could get in, talk to Mousse, and get out before Shampoo spotted him. If luck be a lady, than she certainly does not be Shampoo, at least for Ranma. There was a splash of purple across Ranma's vision, and then he was hit with a force as unstoppable as an eighteen-wheeler, if considerably better looking. "Ailen! Shampoo so happy to see! We get married right now, yes?" Shampoo said, clinging tightly to Ranma. At least she hadn't knocked him down this time; from his view into the restaurant, Ranma saw the chair Mousse was holding snap in the robed boy's hands as he watched the scene outside through his thick glasses. "Um, no Shampoo. Actually, I wanna talk to Mousse," Ranma said. "Why you talk to Mousse? Ranma already beat him lots of time for Shampoo; you stay with Shampoo, we have good time together." Shampoo followed up her words by moving in such as way that she maneuvered Ranma's hand to brush against the smoothness of her thigh under the light dress she wore. Ranma saw Mousse drop the remains of the chair and start heading towards the door of the restaurant. As he came, he made a quick motion with his arm and a three-foot length of sharpened steel popped into his right hand. Ranma was pretty sure he knew exactly where he was going to try and put it when he got outside. "SAOTO-" Mousse said as he threw open the front door of the restaurant, right before he fell into a heap on the street. Behind him, Cologne lowered her staff and casually stepped on top of Mousse as she came out into the street. Shampoo was still clinging to Ranma tightly, as he tried his best to escape. "Son-in-law," Cologne said in her ancient voice. "Come inside. I would speak with you." Ranma took a few steps forward, away from Shampoo. She continued along with him, still firmly embracing him. "Shampoo," Cologne said. The single word, and the way she said it, had more effect upon the love-struck Amazon than a thousand words of protest and a day of struggle would have had from Ranma. Shampoo released her beloved instantly, and seemed to almost snap to attention. "Yes, great-grandmother?" she said. "Take this fool inside. He'll be out for a few minutes. Son-in-law, I would speak with you in private." "Hey! I'm not your son-in-law, you old ghoul," Ranma said, recovering his wits, such as they were, upon his release from Shampoo. "Show some respect, boy. What we will speak of is not a matter of your marriage to my great-grandaughter. Now come," Cologne said sharply, as Shampoo carried Mousse none too gently through the door. Ranma grudgingly followed the Amazon matriarch into the restaurant, closing the door behind him. Shampoo dumped Mousse casually on the floor and went to work setting up the restaurant for the day. Cologne headed through the door that Ranma knew from the short time he'd worked here while trying to get the Phoenix Pill led to the storeroom. Curious at her secretive nature, Ranma continued after her. The storeroom was dimly lit by a flickering overhead bulb, and some sunlight shone in through a small but clean window that faced into the yard behind the restaurant. Cologne balanced carefully on her staff atop a pile of boxes, gazing down at Ranma like an ancient bird of prey. "Close the door, son-in-law," she said after a moment. Ranma did so, and then hopped on top of a nearby pile of boxes to put him at an equal level to Cologne. He crossed his legs under him and sat down as comfortably as it is possible to sit on a pile of boxes. "Whaddaya want, old ghoul? And what's with all the cloak an' dagger stuff?" Ranma said, resting his chin on one hand and looking at Cologne dubiously. "Are you aware of the disturbance at the shrine this morning?" Cologne said. Ranma nodded, and the ancient woman continued. "It is only the beginning." "What are you talking about?" Ranma said, genuinely intrigued. "One does not live as long as I have without learning how to feel trouble coming," Cologne said. "It is part instinct and part training, learning how to open one's senses to the presence of danger." "Like, whatsit, precogsomething?" "Precognition. I suppose, perhaps that is what it might best be thought of as by one who does not fully understand it. I cannot see the future, son-in-law. I can gain vague impressions of what is coming if I am lucky." "But what's this got to do with the shrine?" Ranma said. Cologne turned and gazed out the window for a moment before speaking again, her back to Ranma. "What happened at the shrine was only the first blowing of the dark winds," she said, with what sounded to Ranma almost like a sigh. "The storm is coming, son-in-law. And I fear for all of us what will be blown in on it." "Talk sense, old ghoul," Ranma said. Cologne whipped around to face him, her long white hair flying. "I wish I could, boy," she said harshly. "I wish I could make sense of what I see for us all. But I cannot. I know only that today was the beginning, and that we all have some part to play in what is to come." She hopped off the crates and bounced towards the door that led to the main area of the restaurant. "Go now, son-in-law," she said. "I have no more to say to you." "But I came to talk to Mousse-" Ranma began. Cologne glared at him. "If you truly wish to speak to that fool, come back sometime when I don't need him for work," she said, opening the door and leaving the storeroom. Ranma followed behind her. Mousse was still out on the floor, while Shampoo was humming softly to herself as she wiped off the tables. She turned and saw Ranma, and started towards him happily before stopping at the sight of the frown on his face. "Ailen? You okay?" Shampoo said, coming to stand next to him. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, Shampoo. I'm fine," Ranma said, quickly exiting the restaurant before Shampoo had a chance to express any more affection for him. She watched him go sadly, then turned back to the tables with a sigh. "Shampoo..." Mousse muttered in his stupor. "Oh, Shampoo..." Shampoo threw an ashtray at him, but her heart wasn't in it. Outside, Ranma walked away with his hands in his pockets, annoyed that he hadn't been able to talk to Mousse. On reflection, it had probably been a bad idea anyway; Mousse didn't have any more liking for him than Ryoga or Kuno. The only real advantage had been that unlike those two, he didn't have any kind of thing for Akane. Every single other male in Nerima seemed to, as far as Ranma could see. And he wouldn't be able to talk to Mousse without getting attacked for a few days, at least, considering what had happened this morning. He could always ask Ukyou, of course. She was his best friend, and a girl after all. She'd know exactly what a girl would want a guy to do; but some vague stirring in Ranma's mind told him that it probably wasn't a good idea to ask Ukyou for advice about Akane. So much for free advice, Ranma thought with a sigh. But he supposed he had only one route left to take, as much as he disliked it. He checked to make sure his wallet hadn't fallen out during his aerial flight via Akane. It had not. Ranma sighed again. He was going to need it. He walked the rest of the way trying to think exactly how he would phrase what he asked; when you bargained with a being such as this, they would try to twist every word you said to your disadvantage, and to their profit. Yeah, he didn't like dealing with Nabiki. But he didn't see any other path he could take. She was the last resort for him; hopefully, she could help him out with Akane. Of course she could, Ranma thought with a snort. Nabiki would do almost anything if you gave her enough money. Given enough money, he was pretty sure there was no limit to what she would do. He walked through the front door and slipped his shoes off onto the mat. There wasn't anyone in sight; down the hallway he could hear the sound of his father and Soun talking; one of them made some joke, and for a moment, the laughter of the older men floated down the hallway. Ranma slipped quietly past the door that led into the living room; he didn't need questions from those two on why he hadn't returned with Akane. He hoped she hadn't returned yet; it would be easier to talk to Nabiki without her around. He heard soft humming from the kitchen as he walked by; glancing in, he saw that Kasumi was stirring a pot that slowly boiled on the stove. "Hi Kasumi," he said. "Welcome home, Ranma," she said, not looking up from her cooking. "Did you have the nice morning?" "It was... interesting," Ranma said after a while. "How interesting?" Kasumi said with a small smile. "Pretty interesting, I guess," Ranma said, nervously putting his hand behind his head. Had Akane already come back and blabbed to everyone about what had happened in the tree? "Would you like to talk about it?" Kasumi said, apparently still intent on the pot. Ranma thought, He realized Kasumi was still waiting for an answer. "No!" he yelled in a panic, turning and bolting for the nearest escape route to the backyard. "What a strange young man," Kasumi said as Ranma left in a cloud of dust. Ranma threw open the sliding door to the back porch, bounded onto it and went into a diving roll off of the back porch that ended with him tangled in a bush, spitting several leaves and chunks of dirt out of his mouth. His mind began to calm down and think rationally; Kasumi was good at judging people's moods, she probably could have picked up that something was going on. If Akane had really said anything, his father and Mr. Tendo would've nailed him as soon as he got in the door; most likely, nobody knew anything. Ranma slowly calmed down as he picked stray bits of bush junk out of his mouth. Now, he needed to talk to Nabiki, wherever she was at. Still feeling a little paranoid, Ranma popped his head out of the bush and scanned the backyard. Everything seemed to be okay, except for the fact that Nabiki was lying on a towel by the backyard pond, apparently starting her tan as early as possible. She was also wearing a particularly revealing swimsuit. Ranma groaned and sank back down into the bush despairingly. It was hard enough to deal with Nabiki normally, if he wanted to do it now, he'd have to deal with her while attempting to ignore the fact that she was lounging around in front of him in more skin than clothing. "I've faced demons, princes and martial artists," Ranma said, steeling himself carefully. "I can handle a girl in a bikini." He stepped out of the bush, absently picking a stick out of his hair, and walked quickly towards the pond. "Nabiki," he said as he came closer. "I've gotta talk to you." Nabiki turned her head and looked at him through her sunglasses. "And to what do I owe this unexpected visit, Ranma?" she said pleasantly. "I need some advice, Nabiki," Ranma said, sitting down cross-legged beside the pond and attempting to keep his eyes from straying a centimetre from Nabiki's face. "And you were the last person I could think of." "You really know how to make a girl feel wanted, Ranma," Nabiki said icily. "No wonder you're such a hit with all the ladies." "All except you," Ranma said with, mistaking sarcasm for a compliment. Nabiki pushed her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose with one finger and gazed at him evenly. "Sorry to disappoint you, Ranma. But I do so like mine with a cerebral cortex." "Huh?" Ranma said, not understanding. Nabiki waved a hand at him dismissively. "Never mind," she said. "Now, you have to remember that if my valuable time is going to be taken up helping you solve your problems, I'm going to expect something in return." "Can't it be free for just once?" Ranma said, knowing it wouldn't be. "Free is not a concept I believe in," Nabiki said. "There is nothing in the world that should be given freely. You must always get something back in return; otherwise, why bother?" "Okay," Ranma grumbled, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Nabiki shook her head. "Not yet, Ranma," she said with a smirk. "First of all, I feel in need of some more suntan lotion. Be a dear and rub some on my back, would you?" Nabiki made a lazy motion towards the bottle of tanning lotion as Ranma blushed a deep red. "N-nabiki," he stuttered. "You can't expect me to do something like that!" "And why not? Those hands of yours are so good at beating people up, can't they do more delicate work?" "It's not that I can't do it, it's just... you know," Ranma said, blushing even redder and looking away. "I know what?" Nabiki said with a small smile. "What if Akane saw me or something?" Ranma said. "You know she'd get the wrong idea." "And why are you so concerned about what Akane thinks?" Nabiki said. "Hmmm?" Nabiki was getting to close for comfort. Ranma dipped his hands into the pond, and became a her. "Okay," the red-head muttered. "But I ain't doing this as a guy." "Suit yourself," Nabiki said. "And turn on the radio, as well. I think it's just about time for the mid-morning news." Ranma stood up, walked around Nabiki, bent over, turned on the radio, picked up the suntan lotion, then walked back to her original position. "You could have just reached over me," Nabiki said. Ranma didn't answer, simply uncapped the suntan lotion and poured some into her palm. Rubbing her hands together to spread it around, she listened absently to the tail end of some pop song on the radio. Then, she reached down and placed her hands on Nabiki's smooth back, trying to resist the urge to run away screaming. Somehow, she knew Nabiki was going to find a way to use this against her. Right now, hidden cameras were probably taking a shot from such an angle as to make it look even more compromising then it was. "Why the heck am I doin' all this stuff for Akane anyway," Ranma muttered under her breath as she applied the suntan lotion. "What was that, Ranma?" Nabiki murmured. Ranma gulped and didn't answer. "This is Shuichi Ikemura with the mid-morning news," the radio said as the song trailed away. "And our top story today is a brutal murder in what is normally one of the most quiet parts of Tokyo." Ranma's hands stopped moving on Nabiki's back as the radio continued. "This morning at around eight, a passer-by was shocked to discover the murdered body of an unknown man inside the Aoyama shrine in the district of Nerima. The victim has not yet been identified, and while it has not been confirmed, sources say that this is because of the great damage and indignity that was done to the body. Police are saying the killing was most likely the work of a drifter, and are hopeful that an arrest will be made soon. We'll keep you updated on this story as it progresses. In other news..." "Ranma," Nabiki said. "You've stopped working." "Did you hear that, Nabiki?" Ranma said. "That's the shrine where Akane and I went this morning." "Wow," Nabiki said. "That's pretty close to here." "Yeah," Ranma said, moving to Nabiki's legs. "I hope there isn't any more trouble." "Me too," Nabiki said. "It would be bad for business." But in her joking words Ranma could sense the same apprehension that she felt. She finished putting the suntan lotion on Nabiki in silence, then moved over to sit by the pond a few feet from Nabiki. "Well then," Nabiki said. "That's the first part of your payment done. Ask away." Ranma thought carefully before speaking. "Okay. Let's say there's this girl..." "Does she have a name?" Nabiki interrupted. "Let's say there's this girl," Ranma said firmly. "And this guy." "He doesn't have a name either?" Nabiki said. "Poor boy." "Okay. So, this guy and girl have known each either for a while now. And all of a sudden, it seems the girl may be interested in something more than what was there before..." "Are we talking romantically here?" "Kinda... the thing is, the guy doesn't know what he's supposed to do now. Even though everyone thinks he's some kind of big stud, he doesn't really know much about girls at all." "Kind of like you?" "Yeah, kinda like... HEY!" Ranma turned to look at Nabiki, who was grinning broadly. "And this girl, she wouldn't be anything like my little sister, would she?" Ranma didn't say anything. Nabiki sat up and put a friendly arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "Relax, Ranma. Your secret is safe with me," Nabiki said. "For a small fee, of course." "How much?" Ranma growled, angrily slipping Nabiki's arm off her. "What's it gonna cost me now for you not to blab this to everyone in the whole world, Nabiki? Not that you won't anyway." "Don't you trust me, Ranma? I always honour my deals," Nabiki said calmly. Ranma turned and glared at her. "Yeah. You twist whatever words people say to you around so you can use them against them later on." For a moment, Nabiki looked hurt, but then her mask was back in place. "Let me ask you a question Ranma," Nabiki said. "If you answer it to my satisfaction, I'll keep your secret for free, and I'll give you your advice." "Go ahead," Ranma said. "Since you won't be satisfied no matter what I say." "You don't like me very much, do you Ranma?" Nabiki said quietly. "Is that the question?" Ranma said. Nabiki nodded, turning her head away for a moment as if she couldn't stand to face the other's gaze. "No, I don't," Ranma said, what minimal conversational tact she had gone in the heat of the moment. "Ever since I arrived, you've been taking every opportunity to use me as your own personal money-making machine. You spy on me, and you treat me like I'm some lower form of life. No, I guess I don't like you very much at all, Nabiki." "Oh," Nabiki said. Turning away, she lay back down on the towel. "Okay." "Okay what?" Ranma said in an annoyed tone. "Go inside, Ranma. I have to work on my tan," Nabiki said, her voice the same slightly haughty, confident tone as always, but underlying it was something different. As Ranma stood up and got ready to leave, Nabiki spoke again. "If you're willing to take the advice of someone you hate so much," she said. "I'd say this guy should try being nice to the girl. Show her that he's interested. Take her to a movie or something." Ranma walked away without responding. She heard a soft sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and paused for a moment to look back. Nabiki's face was hidden in her hands, and there was an almost imperceptible tremor in her that seemed to run throughout her whole body. Again there was that same soft sound, and Ranma realized it was coming from Nabiki. And she knew that she was the cause of it, as well. What could she do, though? Go back and take back what she'd said, say that it wasn't true? No, because what she'd said was. She didn't like Nabiki very much. Most of the time, she didn't like her at all. Something in what she'd said had cracked the veneer that Nabiki held around herself, and touched on something Nabiki herself hadn't even known was there, perhaps. But as Ranma saw it, there was nothing she could do to stop those sobs without making a liar of herself. And Nabiki wouldn't appreciate any intrusion either. Perhaps it would be best if she pretended she hadn't even seen anything unusual. With one last backward glance at Nabiki, Ranma walked inside the house, the guilt gnawing at her stomach like a hungry beast. Inside the house, the red-head first went in search of a sex-change. Letting the hot water from the sink run over his hands, Ranma reflected on the advice Nabiki had given him, if not on the circumstances under which he'd obtained it. On the surface, it seemed the right thing to do. The small kiss he'd shared this morning with Akane had seemed to indicate her interest; now all he had to do was show his. The problem was in coming up with something they could do together that would be fun, romantic, and also could be concealed from everyone Ranma knew. The other problem was that anything he could think of along those lines just wasn't something he was ready to get into yet. Banishing the somewhat perverted thoughts from his mind, Ranma walked out of the bathroom and started heading towards the stairs that led up to the room he shared with his father. He was so lost in thought, he didn't notice Akane was there until he bumped into her. Stumbling back, he automatically grabbed her shoulders to steady himself and her. They stood there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes with surprise, and then Ranma dropped his hands from her shoulders, tangling them nervously in front of him as his gaze followed them. Akane ducked her head as well. "Umm... about this morning..." Ranma said after a moment. "Yeah... this morning..." Akane replied. "Sorry if I scared you," they both said at the same time. Then they laughed together, not quite strained or forced laughter, but the laughter that comes from two people who are nervous together about the same thing. "I guess it was kind of unexpected," Akane said. "I mean, we've come close a few times, but never really..." "I know what you mean," Ranma said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "I hope you didn't mind that much," Akane said. "I mean, from an uncute girl like me." Ranma stepped in closer to her and put his arms on her shoulders again, gently and deliberately this time. He glanced around; no one seemed to be in sight. he thought, "Actually, Akane" he said, leaning in as if to whisper something in her ear. "I didn't mind at all from you." And then he leaned in quickly and kissed her on the cheek, turning away and dashing upstairs before she had a chance to respond. Akane stood there, as stunned as Ranma had been in the tree this morning. And then she raised her fingertips to her face, gently touching the place where the brush of his lips had passed. ********** Lunch that day was, on the surface, quite peaceful, meaning no one knocked down a wall and burst in intent on Ranma's demise. To all who took lunch at the Tendo house that day, however, there was something strange about it all. Perhaps it was the way Nabiki did not seem to want to look at Ranma, or it was the occasional glance that passed between Ranma and Akane as they sat next to each other, the lingering touch of their fingers as Akane passed the soy sauce to Ranma. "Did you hear about the murder down at the shrine?" Ranma asked his father. "Yes, I did," Genma said, nodding. "It was on television while Soun and I were playing shogi." "It's very disturbing," Soun said, "that something horrible like this could happen so close to our home. This has always been such a peaceful area." "It was on the radio while I was in a cafe with some of my friends," Akane said. "I couldn't believe it at first when I heard it." "I do hope they catch whoever did it soon," Kasumi said. "It gives me the chills to think of a person who would do something like that being around the neighbourhood." "They said it was probably someone from out of town," Ranma said. "They'll probably pick the guy up soon." "You and Akane went down this morning to see the shrine, didn't you boy?" Genma said. "What was that like?" "They weren't letting anybody near," Ranma said. "I can see why, now." "And what did you and Ranma do after that, Akane?" Soun said, turning his attention to his daughter. A panicked expression crossed Akane's face for a moment, and then it was gone. "We just went to the park, dad," Akane said. "Walked around for a little." "Oh, the beauty of it all," Soun said emotionally, "my little girl and her fiancee on a date in the park." "Come on, Mr. Tendo. It wasn't like that at all," Ranma said quickly. "It wasn't a date, dad," Akane said. "Methinks these two children do protest too much," Genma said, slurping up a noodle with an unpleasant sound. "Perhaps more went on then they are telling, eh Tendo?" "Perhaps it did, Saotome. Tell me honestly, daughter, does the inevitable union of our two families grow ever closer?" Soun said. "DAD! I am NOT getting married to him!" Akane said. Ranma felt something tighten in his stomach when she said that, just as he always did. "'Scuse me," he said, standing up from the table. "Aren't you going to finish your lunch, Ranma?" Kasumi said. "Don't worry, Kasumi. I'll finish it for him," Genma said, snatching up Ranma's lunch. Ranma walked off without looking back. Akane watched him go guiltily, then turned back to her lunch and answered the questions of her father non-commitally. ********** Ranma thought, slamming his fist into the training dummy. Trying to ignore the hurt he was feeling, Ranma spun and delivered a kick that knocked the top off the dummy and sent it spinning to the floor. He tore it off the stand and threw it in the corner with the other three dummies he'd wrecked in the past five minutes. Ranma turned around to go into the storage room and get another, and nearly bumped into Akane, who was standing behind him. "Ranma... I'm sorry," she said after a moment, looking at her hands. "I shouldn't have said that." The anger deflated from Ranma, leaving only the lessened hurt. Akane's words had done much to take away that hurt, but some small fragment of it stayed within him. "It's okay, Akane," Ranma said. "We've still gotta work out how we really feel about this marriage thing. Not to mention that I've got three other girls to deal with." "Don't feel you have to do it on your own," Akane said. "I'll always be here if you need some help." A slow smile broke over Ranma's face at the sincerity of those words. "Thanks, Akane. That means a lot to me." Akane smiled too, holding out her hand to him. "Friends?" "Friends," Ranma said, taking her hand in his. he thought, gently holding Akane's hand. Why don't you go get changed into your gi, Akane?" Ranma said. "We could practice together." "You really mean that?" Akane said, her eyes widening. "Sure. It always helps to train with a partner." "I'll be back in a few minutes," Akane said, walking quickly out of the dojo. ********** They trained together most of the afternoon, the hours seeming to flow together into one continous whole. Ranma smoothly guided Akane through movements she was unfamiliar with, making minute adjustments to her posture and stance as necessary. He didn't condescend; he taught. Ranma had never understood how someone like his father could have the patience to teach him for so many years; now, he was starting to understand. The teaching of something was not a one-way process, of knowledge passing from master to student. In showing Akane how to do moves that were as familiar as night and day to him, he began to learn more about them himself. Akane had never struck him as a particularly skilled fighter; he realized he was holding her up to the wrong standards. While she was certainly not capable of holding her own against him, or even against his father, Akane was very good by conventional standards of martial arts expertise. And she had a great potential for learning, as well. Maneuvers that he had practiced for hours on end before perfecting came quickly and easily to her. And he enjoyed it too. He was passing on the Art, ensuring that it would not be lost. This must be what let the old man keep going for so many years, the feeling that you were ensuring the continuation of what you loved. As he showed Akane a complex three-part kick for the fifth time, his eyes fell on the clock hung above the entrance to the dojo. It was a few minutes past three; had they been practicing for that long? "Okay, Akane," he said, finishing his slow demonstration of the kick. "Try it again." Akane did, her foot snapping out quickly at chest level. Ranma considered the motion, then nodded. "Again. Slower this time. Show me how you're doing the kick." As Akane went through the kick again, Ranma stepped in and held her lightly by the waist. He shifted her slightly to the left. "Remember," he said. "All the movements have to flow into each other. Make them disjointed, and you'll lose power and speed. Don't throw yourself into it so much that you can't recover in time, but don't hang back either. Balance is the key." Akane nodded and finished the movement. To Ranma's eye, it wasn't completely perfect, but it was close. He took his hands off Akane's waist and stepped back. "Faster this time," Ranma said. Akane stepped forward and kicked again, the motion passing smoothly throughout her entire body to terminate with her foot held at the perfect level. "That's really good, Akane," Ranma said, smiling as he walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I take back any comments I ever made about your martial arts. You're very skilled." "Thank you, Ranma," Akane said, bringing her hand up and laying it over his. "But I've had a really excellent teacher today." "It must run in the family," said a voice from the entrance. Startled, Ranma and Akane stepped away from each other and turned to see Genma in the doorway, a small smile across his broad face. "POP! How long have you been spying on us!" Ranma said. Genma shrugged. "I have only been watching for a few minutes," he said evenly. "Long enough to see that I don't need to have any worries about the Saotome School of Martial Arts being lost." Genma stepped into the dojo, walking quickly across the wooden floor. He came to a stop a few feet from Ranma and Akane, the smile still creasing his hard face into an expression of good humour. "Akane, you must be tired after such a long workout. Why not go and have a bath while I speak with my son?" Genma said. "Pop-" Ranma began. "It's alright, Ranma," Akane said, reaching up to push some of her sweaty hair out of her eyes. "I am pretty exhausted. But I've had a lot of fun. Let's do it again some time." Akane walked away from them, giving a backward glance and a smile to Ranma as she passed by his father. When she was gone, Ranma sullenly gazed at his father. "Whaddaya want, pop," he said, hostility in his tone. "To talk to you, son. Like I said," Genma said, sitting down on the dojo floor and crossing his legs under him. "About what?" Ranma said, sitting down as well. "I think you know," Genma said. "No I don't," Ranma said. He was unable to hold a conversation for more than about a minute with his father without becoming annoyed. That minute was rapidly approaching. "About Akane," Genma said. "What about her?" "Ranma my son, your father is not so old that he has lost his eyes," Genma said. "I can see this sudden change in the two of you." "What are you talking about?" "Just listen to me, son. I know that I have done a few things in life that have diminished your respect for me-" "You're a real master of understatement, pop," Ranma interrupted. His father frowned, but continued. "But listen to me for once. Since I brought you to the Tendo's, Soun and I have done our utmost to bring you and Akane together. Our greatest success, we had thought, was what would have been your wedding a few months ago. But that ended in disaster." Genma sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "Since then," he continued, "Tendo and I have been thinking about you and Akane. Together, we both realized that it is not up to us to make your relationship work; it can only be you and Akane who agree to get married. Our attempt, along with your mother, to force things through was a mistake; that much I can see now. Tendo and I have tried to leave you alone these past few months, see how things would develop on their own. As I can see, they have." Ranma blinked. There had seemed to be less lectures from both his father and Mr. Tendo on he and Akane's duties towards each other. "What do you mean?" Ranma said. "I can see how you two are growing closer," Genma said. "And it fills my heart with joy." "So I guess now that Akane and I are getting along a little better, you and Mr. Tendo want us to get married right now, huh?" Ranma said bitterly. Genma shook his head. "No, son. I haven't even spoken to Soun about this yet. I only wanted to talk to you, and tell you that it's up to you to make this decision. Until you and Akane decide what you want, her father and I are willing to wait." "And what does mom think about this?" Ranma said. His father hung his head. Ranma's mother was away for a few days, visiting a friend up north who'd just had a baby. "I have not spoken to your mother on this. She has little want, or reason, to be in my presence. I cannot say that I blame her." Genma raised his head up and grabbed Ranma by the shoulders, staring into his son's eyes from behind the small frames of his glasses. "Son," Genma said. "I have made many mistakes with your mother, mistakes that can never be taken back or changed. I ask of you that you do not make these same mistakes with Akane." "I'll try not to, pop," Ranma said. "Thank you, son," Genma said, releasing Ranma's shoulders. "Remember that I am always willing to give my advice to you." "Thank you, father," Ranma said, a rare bit of respect for the old man in his words. "Enough with the father-son bonding," Genma said, rising to his feet. "I could use a mid-afternoon work out, if you're not too tired from teaching Akane." "Not too tired to not be able to wipe the floor with you, pop," Ranma said, bouncing to his feet with a smile. They charged each other then, the look they gave each other as they did so saying what they both could never quite say in words. ********** After another one of Kasumi's delicious dinners, Ranma sat on the couch beside Akane, channel surfing on the television for a lack of anything better to do. Genma and Soun shared a bottle of sake nearby as they continued a game from before dinner. Soun was making some fuss about how the pieces hadn't been like this before they ate, and Genma was huffily making denials about his role in the situation. Kasumi was cleaning up in the kitchen, and Nabiki had gone upstairs immediately after dinner, just as she had after lunch. "...police still have not identified the victim..." Ranma flipped by automatically, before realizing what they were talking about on the evening news and going back. He leaned forward on the couch, as if it would somehow make events clearer. The reporter was standing with the shrine visible in the background behind the police barriers. The officers still moved in and out of it behind the reporter, who was wearing an appropriately somber expression. "...little details have been released to the public beyond the fact that a murder has occured in this quiet part of the Nerima district. Police say that there is no need for concern on the part of citizens of the area. The murderer is most likely no longer in the area. More details as they are known. Back to you, Yukio." "Thank you, Toshio. In other news, the head of the multinational..." Ranma turned the TV off. Forgotten earlier, the words Cologne had spoken to him in the morning came back. "It is only the beginning... the first blowing of the dark winds," the voice of the old crone said in his head. "I hope they're right," Akane said with a slight shudder. "I hope whoever did this is long gone." "So do I," Ranma said. he thought to himself. ********** Lying in his bed later that night, the snoring form of his father already asleep nearby, Ranma reflected back on the day. It had been a good one in many ways; he'd seen new hope for his relationship with Akane. His father had shown a side that Ranma hadn't known he'd had. But there had been dark clouds contrasting with the happiness of those moments. His memory of leaving Nabiki crying by the pond was still as fresh and painful as if it had happened only minutes ago. Had he been right to leave, thinking that Nabiki would only resent his attempts to make amends and think them false? Or had his leaving only deepened the underlying sadness and turmoil that he now saw lay beneath the mask that Nabiki tried so hard to wear all the time. More disturbing still was the event that had occured at the shrine, and Cologne's dire warnings that that it was only the beginning. The beginning of what, Ranma wondered. Whatever it was, Ranma knew that it could not be good. Thus, it was with uneasy mind and heavy heart that Ranma Saotome found sleep that night, eventually. For a while, he watched the shifting shadows that made their way about the room in the dim light shining from under the door; finding no answer in them, he laid his head upon his pillow and fell into a sleep that, if it were filled with either pleasant dreams or dark nightmares, he could remember not of them in the morning. --------------------------------------------------------------------------