Chapter 2 - The Aftermath
Previous Chapter | A&A Home | Next Chapter
Ranma was startled awake as he felt a pair of hands grab his shirt. He was hoisted into the air, and suddenly found himself sailing through an open window. In midair, Ranma managed to orient himself so that he landed on his feet. ‘Phew,’ he thought, ‘at least I didn’t land in the pond.’
He watched as his father launched himself from the window and landed near him. His father’s white gi flapped in the morning breeze, as he stood there regarding his son. Genma crouched and then suddenly charged.
‘Too slow,’ Ranma thought, allowing himself to smile. His father saw the smile and began to attack in earnest. ‘A little better, but he’s gotta be angry about something. He’s way too sloppy.’
“What’s wrong pop?” Ranma asked.
“You are, you idiot boy! You’ve really blown it with your fiancée this time.”
As the events of the day before began to filter into his consciousness, Ranma momentarily dropped his guard. Genma saw it and took immediate advantage, sending Ranma flying into the pond he’d been so happy to avoid just moments earlier.
Ranma took a huge breath as she surfaced from the pond. “Hey, it ain’t my fault. Besides, you knew all along and coulda warned her. You didn’t have some stupid promise ta keep.”
“And reveal the weakness of another martial artist?” Genma asked with a snort, while pushing up his glasses, which had slid to the end of his nose. “That wouldn’t be very honorable would it?”
“Bullshit!” Ranma replied, as she climbed out of the pond. “You were just doing it to make me jealous! Not that I was...” she sputtered lamely.
Genma gave Ranma a mocking grin. “You still have a lot to learn boy. The reason doesn’t matter now. You need to make up with her. If you don’t, you’re going to have to decide which of her sisters you want to be engaged to.”
Ranma stood there with a stunned look on her face. “Wh...What’re yappin’ about?”
“If you can’t patch things up with you fiancée, then you’ll just have to pick one of the other girls. Honor demands it,” Genma said smugly.
Ranma growled and stalked towards her father. “Honor? Yeah right! You just wanna keep freeloading off the Tendo’s. Well, screw you!” Ranma yelled, as she grabbed her father and flipped him into the pond. She didn’t even turn to watch the panda get out, instead making her way back into the house to get ready for school.
 |
Kasumi watched Ranma, dressed for school and back in his male form, sit down for breakfast. On the whole, it was a relatively quiet affair. ‘Probably because Akane’s not here,’ Kasumi thought to herself. ‘I love my sister to death, but the way she yells can be awful.’ She sat and watched Ranma carefully throughout the meal. He was barely eating, which concerned her greatly. Also, the young mans face kept alternating between his father, at whom Ranma would scowl, and at Akane’s empty place, where his face revealed regret and a bit of anger. Kasumi herself was refusing to acknowledge, or speak, to her father. She’d had words with him the previous night about him withholding Ryoga’s secret from Akane. ‘I intended to leave it at that, but he tried to defend himself. Well, I’ll keep ignoring him until he understands what he did wrong.’ Finally, Ranma asked Kasumi, “Where’s Akane and Nabiki?” “They both left early for school,” she replied. |
After breakfast, Kasumi asked Ranma to help clear the table. The boy didn’t even argue and once both were alone in the kitchen, she turned to face him. “Ranma,” she asked with concern, “are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” he muttered dejectedly.
“No, you’re not. I take it things didn’t go well last night.”
“You could say that,” Ranma replied, then relayed to Kasumi the events from the night before.
“Well, at least you tried. Thank you.” As an afterthought she added, “And I apologize again for this happening.”
Immediately she saw Ranma snap out of his funk and he gazed at her with determination. “Kasumi, I already told ya, there’s nothin’ for you ta be sorry about. So please stop.”
Both looked at each other for a minute when Ranma spoke up again. “Can I ask you a question?” Sensing the seriousness in the young man, Kasumi just nodded. Ranma continued, “Do you hate me?”
The shock that Kasumi felt, and knew was registering on her face, was instant. “Ranma! How can you possibly think I’d hate you?!”
The young man looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet before answering. “Well, I know me and pop ain’t been nothin’ but trouble since we got here. We’re always causing problems for yer family. And after what happened last night, I don’t know how you couldn’t hate me.”
Kasumi didn’t hesitate to grab the young man into a hug. She felt Ranma tense up for a moment, but relax afterwards. “Ranma,” she said softly, “I couldn’t possibly hate you. I don’t believe that anything that’s happened around here has been your fault. Well,” she corrected, “at least not directly. And I understand what happened last night. I can honestly say that I don’t blame you at all.”
Ranma pulled away from the embrace. “But aren’t you mad about what happened to Akane?”
A dark cloud seemed to pass over Kasumi. “Of course I’m mad, but not at you. I blame this on Ryoga. I’m tempted to hold him down for Akane to make good on her threat, if he ever shows up again.” The shock on Ranma’s face almost made her giggle.
“But like I said, I’m not mad at you. I’m a little upset at Akane for the way she treated you, but I understand that she’s terribly emotional right now. And about everything else, I think it’s our family who should be apologizing to you, not the other way around.”
The shock Ranma had felt from her comment about Ryoga was amplified when he heard this declaration. “What’re you talking about?” he sputtered.
Kasumi let out a small sigh and her shoulder’s drooped. “Ranma, the way people are always attacking you, or trying to take advantage of you. It’s... it’s wrong! And I know that sometimes my family...” Kasumi trailed off, unable to finish.
“Oh,” Ranma managed, waving his hands in a dismissive gesture. “It’s no big deal.”
Regaining her determination, Kasumi answered. “No! It’s not acceptable. You’ve always been so quick to forgive everyone, and I admire that, but it’s still not right!”
Ranma just stood there, not sure what to say. Finally, Kasumi turned and grabbed his lunch off the counter. She gave it to him and started to shoo him out of the kitchen. “I’ve kept you too long, and now you’ll be late for school if you don’t hurry.”
With a nod, Ranma took off for the front. ‘I hope he’ll be alright,’ Kasumi thought, making her way back to the kitchen.
Between the possibility of being late, and not having Akane there to slow him down, Ranma made it to school in record time. ‘And I didn’t even get splashed, that must be some kinda record.’
As he walked through the gates of the school, Ranma looked around and saw several groups of students still lingering before classes started. As he looked at them, he noticed many were whispering and looking back at him. ‘Uh oh, Nabiki must’ve already sold the news about me and Akane.’
Preoccupied as he was, Ranma didn’t notice that he was coming up on Kuno until the Kendoist called out.
“Hold, foul knave,” Kuno said.
Ranma turned his attention to Kuno and sighed. “I really ain’t in the mood today Kuno.”
“Can it be? Can the words of the mercantile Tendo Nabiki be true? Hast thou truly lost thy hold over the fair Tendo Akane?”
Not even dignifying Kuno with a response, Ranma simply tried to walk past him. However, Kuno shot his bokken out at Ranma, causing him to jump back.
“I can see from your countenance that my words strike true. Truly the power of your evil sorcery must be waning. Tell me, hast your hold over the pig-tailed girl failed as well?”
“Kuno,” Ranma said sadly, “if I could get rid of her I would, but I’m stuck with her. So just back off.”
“You vile cur! You mean to say thou keepest her around only to fulfill thy own base lusts? That you don’t even truly desire to be with her. I must double my efforts now to smite thee. I strike!”
‘What an idiot,’ Ranma thought to himself. ‘I am not in the mood for this crap!’ As Kuno brought his bokken down in an overhead strike, Ranma simply grabbed it with one hand, stopping the attack. It was obvious that Kuno was stunned by this. Ranma yanked the bokken out of Kuno’s grasp, and with just his hands snapped it in half.
“Y...you...” was all Kuno could manage, before Ranma landed an uppercut that sent Kuno flying across the schoolyard. With a growl, Ranma continued towards class.
| Throughout the morning class, Akane refused to even glance in Ranma’s direction. Before class had started, everyone had bombarded her with questions regarding their breakup, but she’d refused to acknowledge them. ‘Damn,’ she thought, ‘it’s almost lunch time. Sayuri and Yuka are going to be all over me.’ Sure enough, Akane’s two best friends were at her desk within seconds of the bell ringing. They both started talking at once, and Akane couldn’t understand what either was saying. She finally held up her hand and they stopped. “If you want to talk,” Akane said, “let’s do it somewhere else.” Both of her friends looked around and noticed too many people trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. With that, all three got up and went outdoors. Once they found a quiet spot, Sayuri and Yuka started the deluge of questions again. Akane ended up telling them about everything that happened, and after a while both girls were quiet. Finally, Yuka spoke up. |
 |
“Well, he sure as hell didn’t try hard enough!” Akane yelled.
“But weren’t you always hitting Ranma, and yelling at him for chasing that pig?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Akane grumbled.
“What she means,” Yuka said, picking up the argument for her friend, “is that even though you kept hurting him for it, Ranma still tried to stop Ryoga. It sounds like he was trying to protect you.”
Inwardly, Akane found that she’d been wrestling with that same thought. ‘He did try. And I was awfully mean to him. No! I refuse to simply let this pass. He could’ve done more.’
“I don’t care,” Akane said. “He could’ve done more, and I refuse to forgive that jerk, even if he did try to apologize last night.”
Akane saw both friends look at one another in shock. Then Sayuri spoke again.
“Doesn’t that tell you how serious he is about this? When was the last time Ranma apologized to you for something?”
“I...I don’t remember,” Akane whispered.
“Look Akane, we’re your friends,” Sayuri continued. “And even though things haven’t been the best between you and Ranma lately, we know that both of you still care about each other.”
Akane’s face darkened and she started to respond, but Yuka cut her off. “Don’t. You can argue with other people who don’t know you as well as we do, but we know the truth. The reason this hurts so much is because you really do care for Ranma, even if he’s an idiot most of the time.”
The frankness of her friends comments left Akane unsure what to say. So instead, she just looked down towards the ground. In a moment, both friends were kneeling beside her.
“Listen,” Sayuri said softly. “We know you’re still really angry, and we don’t blame you. But sooner or later you’re going to need to face facts. Ranma did what he did because of his honor. Many people don’t care about that, but we know you do. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to face that. Just think about it, okay?”
Akane looked up at both of her friends, trying to fight the tears in her eyes. ‘Maybe someday I’ll be able to forgive him,’ she thought, ‘but right now it still hurts too much. But I really don’t want to hear anymore of this from them.’ So with that, she simply nodded to her friends. Then, each opened their lunch and ate in silence.
When the lunch bell had rung, Ranma immediately bolted outside in an effort to avoid talking to people. However, he wasn’t surprised when Daisuke and Hiroshi managed to track him down. ‘Maybe I can just find another spot ta be alone,’ Ranma thought. ‘Nah, I need ta get this over with, sooner or later.’
Like their counterparts Sayuri and Yuka, Daisuke and Hiroshi immediately began pelting Ranma with questions. ‘Jeez, they’re like old women.’ Finally he just told them to shut up. Then he proceeded to tell them the events of the previous day. ‘I feel bad mentioning Ryoga, even now, but since Nabiki knows that means everyone’s bound to find out.’ When he’d finished, both his friends looked at him with pity.
“Man,” Daisuke said, “you’re in serious shit.”
“Ya think, genius?” Ranma rebutted.
“You need to eat some serious crow,” Hiroshi said.
“I’ve tried,” Ranma said in earnest, “but that tomboy won’t even listen to me when I try to say I’m sorry.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t refer to her as a tomboy when you try,” Daisuke observed.
“I know that, ya moron!” Ranma growled. “I didn’t insult her or nothin’. She just won’t talk ta me.”
“You’re going to have to figure something out,” Hiroshi said. “Unless you don’t want to be her fiancé anymore.”
Ranma sighed. “It’s worse than that. If I don’t patch things up with her, my pop and Mr. Tendo will try to engage me to one of her sisters.”
“Weren’t you already engaged to Nabiki once?” Hiroshi asked.
With a shiver, Ranma said, “Yeah, and it’s not something I care to repeat!”
The looks on both boys’ faces showed they understood where Ranma was coming from.
“What about her oldest sister?” Daisuke asked.
“Kasumi?” Ranma asked with shock. “I don’t think I could do that.”
“Why not?” both his friends asked at once.
“She’s certainly hot,” Daisuke said.
“And she can cook a hell of a lot better than Akane,” Hiroshi added.
“Yeah, but...” was all Ranma could manage.
“But what?” Daisuke asked in frustration. “Hell Ranma, do you just not like girls or something?”
Ranma immediately got defensive. “Of course I do, ya jerk! It’s just... I’ve never really thought about Kasumi that way before. She’s always been like a mom to all of us.”
“Well, time to wake up! If Akane doesn’t forgive you, you might just find yourself engaged to Kasumi. You damn well better start thinking about it.”
Ranma stared into the sky, lost in thought. ‘Kasumi. She’s always so nice, and she does whatever she can for everyone. Plus she’s really beautiful-” Ranma brain nearly froze over. ‘Whoa! Where the hell did that come from!?’
“Listen guys,” Ranma growled, “you got the info you wanted and I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Can we just eat in peace?” Ranma gave them a hard stare to get his point across.
Daisuke and Hiroshi must’ve recognized it, because both gulped and then agreed. Throughout lunch, Ranma listened to their idle chatter, while his mind kept coming back to one thought. ‘Kasumi...’
 |
Ukyo arrived at school just before the lunch bell had rung. ‘Damn health inspectors,’ she thought, ‘why do they have to come while I’m supposed to be in school.’ She saw some of the students leaving the school building and then noticed Ranma come flying out. ‘It looks like someone is chasing him.’ With that, Ukyo reached for her combat spatula. She stopped though when she didn’t see anyone else. ‘Akane must’ve tried to cook something for him,’ Ukyo thought with a chuckle. She imagined Ranma screaming and bolting at the prospect. As Ukyo made her way towards the school, she heard snippets of many different conversations taking place. It was normal for people to talk about Ranma, and even Akane. But today something was different. ‘Every single conversation seems to be about them. What the hell is going on?’ |
“What in the hell is everyone talking about!?” she demanded.
“Well... uh... you see,” a boy replied, obviously intimidated by her.
“Akane broke off her engagement with Ranma,” a girl blurted out.
“What?!” Ukyo yelled. “Are you sure?”
Everyone in the group nodded. She asked for details, but nobody could confirm anything. With a sigh, Ukyo left them and made her way to the one person she knew would have the answer.
“Hello Ukyo,” Nabiki said, her voice neutral, as Ukyo approached her.
“How much?” Ukyo said simply.
Nabiki let out a huge smile. “That’s one thing I love about you, you never beat around the bush. Alright. I can give you a summarized account of what happened for a thousand yen. Or I can give you a completely detailed one for twenty-five hundred. I recommend the second, because I think you’ll find it more enlightening.”
Ukyo didn’t even hesitate. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her money. After counting out twenty-five hundred yen, she said, “I want everything. Down to the last detail.”
“Of course,” Nabiki said. With that, Ukyo handed the money over. Then Nabiki gave her a thorough account of everything that had happened the previous day. Ukyo listened intently, interjecting only once to make sure she heard correctly about Ryoga. Once Nabiki was done, Ukyo just nodded and walked off, her mind in a daze.
Throughout the rest of the day, Ukyo was unable to focus on school. ‘With Akane out of the way, that only leaves that Chinese hussy. Now how can I turn this to my advantage?’
The moment the final bell rang, Akane bolted out of her seat without even a glance towards Ranma. ‘I don’t want to deal with that jerk right now.’ She made her way out of the school in record time and started heading towards the school gates.
“Akane,” Ranma voice called, still a ways behind her. Akane didn’t want to listen, she just picked up the pace, until she was running full speed. Regardless, she still heard light footsteps behind her.
“Please stop,” Ranma said, much closer this time.
‘Like I’m going to stop for you!’ she thought.
“Ah come on, just let me apologize already will ya,” he said. At these words, Akane came to a dead stop. She could feel Ranma’s presence looming behind her, but he never came into contact.
‘He must’ve hit the breaks pretty fast.’ Inwardly, she tried to decide how to handle this situation. ‘Maybe I should just let him grovel some. Not that I’ll forgive him right now!’ With that, she turned around and stared coldly at the pig-tailed boy. Her eyes bored into his, and she folded her arms across her chest with her satchel underneath while she waited.
‘Boy, I haven’t seen him this uncomfortable in a long time,’ she thought, watching as he worked up his courage. ‘Maybe he really is sorry.’ Whether she wanted it or not, a small glimmer of hope welled up inside her.
Only to have it dashed in the worst possible way.
“Nihao airen!” Suddenly Shampoo was there, bike dropped next to them, glomping Ranma. “Shampoo hear that Ranma no marry kitchen wrecker. Shampoo so happy. We go on date now, yes?”
Akane felt her right eye begin to twitch. It started small when the Chinese girl first arrived, and got worse with each word that came out of her mouth. She was about to unleash her fury on both of them when another unwelcome visitor appeared.
“You got part of it right sugar,” Ukyo said. She had suddenly appeared on Ranma’s other side and was hanging onto him too. The twitch in Akane’s eye was in full bloom now.
“What spatula girl mean?” Shampoo demanded.
“It’s true that Ranma is finally free from that,” she said, waving in Akane’s direction, “but he’s actually going to be taking me out. Isn’t that right Ran-chan?”
Akane saw Ranma glancing nervously between the two girls, and she could feel the heat rising inside her. ‘I can’t believe that jerk! And to think I was actually going to let him apologize!’ While Akane continued her trip over the brink, the argument between Shampoo and Ukyo had intensified.
“Go away! Airen no like spatula girl.”
“Shows what you know. Go ahead Ran-chan, tell Shampoo you’d rather go on a date with me.”
“Well... that is...” Ranma stuttered.
“You no like Shampoo?” the Chinese girl said, putting on her cutest pout.
“No... I mean yes... I mean-” As was his norm, Ranma was completely befuddled when dealing with those of the opposite sex.
“See!” Shampoo declared in triumph. “We go now airen?”
Before any of the three could say anything else, they all stopped when they heard a low growl that caused their hackles to rise. Akane saw each of them look at her, suddenly aware that she was the source of the growl. Ranma was looking at her with an expression approaching terror, while Shampoo and Ukyo stared at her in defiance.
“You... you bastard!” Akane screamed. “Why don’t you run off with both those... those... whores!” She felt her eyes begin to tear up, and with that, she turned and fled.
Ranma stared in stunned silence as he watched Akane’s back shrink into the distance. As she’d turned to flee, Ukyo and Shampoo had both immediately started fighting with each other again. Ranma, for his part, was oblivious to this as his mind replayed the scene that has just ended. ‘Was she crying? I couldn’t tell for sure. Why does this crap always happen ta me?’ he groaned inwardly. Apparently his withdrawal into himself hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Ranma?” Shampoo said.
“What’s wrong Ran-chan?” Ukyo asked in concern.
No longer caring if he hurt their feelings, Ranma forcibly removed himself from both their grips. He then turned to face them.
“I’m getting sick and tired of being treated like your play toy!” Ranma snarled. “Just leave me the hell alone!” He saw both go slightly pale at this. With that, he turned and ran in the direction that Akane had fled.
‘She wasn’t heading towards home,’ he thought. As he ran, he wondered exactly when he’d come to think of the Tendo home as his too. ‘It is my home. And I might lose it because of that stupid pig Ryoga!’
Ranma kept running, and then began roof hopping, desperate to find Akane before things got any worse.
Thank you for taking the time to read Aijou & Aitou. I hope you have enjoyed yourself. I would love to hear all feedback, positive or negative (as long as it’s constructive). Please take the time to leave a review on fanfiction.net or send me an email letting me know your opinion. Thanks.
