Chapter 3 - For Honors Sake
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As Akane fled from Ranma, she had no idea where she was fleeing to. Her vision was blurred, and reaching her hand to her face, she felt the hot tears flowing. ‘That jackass! I can’t believe I thought he was going apologize. Then to let those hussies hang all over him, and right in front of me!’
She growled again as she continued to blindly run. As she rounded a corner, she suddenly found herself in an alley with a dead-end on the other side. This caused her to finally stop and think about what she was doing. ‘I’m not going to let that jerk get to me. Damn, I really need to pound on something!’ With that, she looked around to orient herself, and then started to make her way home.
Ranma continued jumping from rooftop to rooftop, desperately searching for Akane. ‘I’m so stupid! How could I let Ukyo and Shampoo do that in front of Akane? Hell, why do I let them do it at all? I keep telling them both I ain’t interested, but they just won’t listen,’ Ranma sighed.
As he searched, Ranma tried to decide what to do. ‘Should I call out to her? If I do, she’ll hear me coming and just avoid me. But if I don’t, it’ll probably take longer to find her.’ For a while, he just continued to search without calling out. However, it wasn’t long before he started getting frustrated and started yelling for her.
After two hours of fruitless searching, Ranma stopped. ‘Maybe I should go home and wait for her.’ Once home, he went in the front door and was about to call out when he heard a scream and a crash. ‘Akane?’ he thought. ‘It sounds like she’s out in the dojo.’ He kicked off his shoes and was heading in that direction when Kasumi came out of the kitchen.
“Ranma! Where have you been?” she asked worriedly. “Akane got home over an hour ago and she’s as angry as I’ve ever seen her.”
“I...” Ranma began, then stopped. He looked into Kasumi eyes and then down at the ground.
“What happened?” Kasumi asked in a quiet voice.
After a few false starts, and some incoherent mumbling, Ranma was able to tell Kasumi what happened after school. “After she ran, I told off Ukyo and Shampoo. Then I chased Akane, but couldn’t find her. When she took off, she wasn’t heading towards home, so I didn’t think she was here.”
“You’ve been searching for her this whole time?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when she got home she changed and went out to the dojo. She’s been out there the whole time. Hopefully, she’s worked out some of her anger. Can you please go try to apologize again?”
Ranma nodded, not just because he wanted to apologize, but also because nobody in the house could refuse Kasumi. With that, he made his way out to the dojo.
| Akane sat in a kneeling position in front of a cement block that was being held up by two pieces of wood. She tried to relax and focus her efforts, but it wasn’t easy. She suddenly whipped her fist back, and with a loud “Hyahh!” she struck the block, reducing it to rubble. ‘My technique is way off today. Gee, I wonder what’s distracting me?’ she asked herself sarcastically. ‘I can’t believe that jerk still isn’t home yet! He’s probably out getting fresh with his two bimbos.’ Some part of Akane wasn’t sure if she was upset that Ranma was doing it with them, or that he wasn’t doing it with her. She squashed that thought by grabbing another cement block and putting it in place. Instead of her normal battle cry, she let out with “Ranma you jerk!” as she demolished the block. |
 |
Akane looked up and saw Ranma standing there. She looked into his eyes, and instead of the normal smugness, she found genuine concern. ‘He better be concerned,’ she thought. ‘I’m about ready to rip his head off.’
“Get out,” Akane warned in as low and menacing a tone as she could manage.
“No,” Ranma replied, “not until we’ve talked.”
“I have nothing to say to you, so take a hike!” she growled, beginning to lose her patience. She grabbed another block and set it into position.
“Dammit,” Ranma yelled. “Stop being so stubborn and listen to me.”
“I said,” Akane yelled back, as she raised her right hand to strike the block, “piss off!” And with that her arm came down.
Ranma watched as her hand descended towards the block. At the last moment he realized that she was too distracted and she was going to impact wrong. By the time his brain registered this though, it was too late.
The block reformed into a pile of ruble, but Ranma also distinctly heard a crack that shouldn’t have been there. When Akane cried out in pain, he was instantly standing in front of her. Without even thinking of the consequences, he reached out and took the injured hand to examine it. He was so focused on examining the damage, that he didn’t notice the growl until it was too late.
Suddenly, Akane wrenched her hand away from Ranma, and without even thinking she slapped him hard across the face. Ranma looked into her eyes and saw that she was fighting tears.
“Don’t. You. Ever. Touch. Me. Again!” The words had started out low and threatening, but by the time she was finished, the whole neighborhood probably heard her screaming.
“But...” was all Ranma could manage. ‘What did I do now?’ he wondered.
“You want to talk? Well let me spell things out for you Ranma,” she said in that menacing tone, as she continued to nurse her injured hand. “I’m only going to say this once, so you’d damn well better pay attention.”
Ranma just nodded, unsure what else to do.
“You want to apologize?” she asked. “I thought I might be able to forgive you. Then I saw you hanging all over Ukyo and Shampoo again today.”
Anger swelled up in Ranma, and he prepared to defend himself by explaining that she actually had her facts reversed. However, the pissed off look on Akane’s face made him think better of it. ‘Maybe if I let her vent she’ll feel better.’
Akane must have seen that he was thinking of interrupting, so she told him to keep his mouth shut. Ranma nearly mouthed a retort, but decided against it and clamped his mouth shut.
“You told me months ago that you didn’t care anymore,” Akane said. “I think I’m finally at that place. I used to think you were brave, that nothing scared you. But now I see that you’re nothing but a coward.”
Unsure whether to be hurt or upset, Ranma decided to just keep listening to what she had to say.
“I don’t know if you were afraid of me or Ryoga, but you were obviously scared of one of us. Maybe both of us. You didn’t keep his secret because of honor, you kept it because you’re nothing but a scared little boy!”
Ranma bawled his hands into fists. ‘She’s wrong!’ Ranma’s mind screamed, as he fought to contain his anger. ‘I certainly ain’t scared of Ryoga. And maybe I didn’t want ta hurt Akane, but that doesn’t mean I was afraid of her. Does it?’ And with that, the tiniest seed of doubt formed in Ranma’s mind.
“It didn’t matter to you,” Akane continued, “that another guy was watching your fiancée naked. You didn’t care about how he abused my trust. Did you even think about how I would feel?”
Knowing it was a rhetorical question, Ranma didn’t bother to answer. However, it did cause the doubt in his mind to begin to grow. ‘I didn’t think about how this would affect her. I only cared about how angry it made me.’
“I used to think that I might care about you someday. But this was the final straw. Now I see that you’re nothing but a gutless, honor-less, immature child! No wonder you hide from your mother. If she saw what you’ve become, you’d be dead in an instant. Have I made myself clear, you sex-changing pervert?”
The blows to his manhood were coming too quickly for Ranma to handle. ‘Akane thinks I’m...’ his mind asked, unable to complete the thought. ‘Why should I care what she thinks?’ he thought defiantly. However, the truth was inescapable, ‘I do care.’ With that realization, Ranma sunk to his knees.
Akane watched Ranma sink to his knees and saw on his face the impact her words had. ‘Maybe I went overboard,’ she thought. ‘But dammit, he just pisses me off so much. Maybe I should-’ Her thoughts were cut off as they were interrupted.
 |
Kasumi had been outside listening to the entire conversation. ‘I know Akane needs to vent, but this is going to far.’ As soon as Akane had uttered the word pervert, Kasumi started making her way into the dojo. She saw Ranma kneeling on the floor with Akane standing a comfortable distance in front of him. She also noticed Akane holding on to her right wrist, which appeared to be swollen. “That’s enough,” she told Akane quietly, but firmly. “Enough what?” Akane asked. “Leave Ranma alone. I think you’ve made your point.” With that, she moved up and grabbed Akane’s arm and began examining her wrist. “But... but...” was all Akane could manage. “Hmm, this looks bad. You should go have Dr. Tofu take a look at it.” |
“Because I happen to think you’re wrong about him. I think if you gave him the chance to explain things, you’d see him differently.”
“Explain what?!” she nearly shouted, something she rarely, if ever, did to her eldest sister. “Everything is always his fault.”
Kasumi looked on her youngest sister with pity. ‘Poor girl. I shouldn’t do this, but maybe it will help her to see things differently.’
“Do you know who you sound like?” Kasumi asked softly. The befuddled expression on Akane’s face made it clear she didn’t. “You sound just like Ryoga.”
The befuddlement melted away to be replaced only with rage. “How dare you compare me with him!” she shouted, completely out of control now. “Has my whole family turned against me?! First father, and now you?”
“I haven’t turned against you,” Kasumi sighed. “I love you, but I think that blaming Ranma for everything that happens between you two is irresponsible.”
It was clear that Akane was too far gone to listen to reason. “If you like him so much,” she screamed, “then why don’t you become his fiancée?!” With that, the youngest Tendo daughter turned and fled the dojo.
Kasumi watched as Akane left and felt sorrow for her sister. She turned to look at Ranma, who was still just staring at the floor. She knelt down in front of him and watched him carefully. Kasumi could see the hurt etched clearly on his face, but it was also clear that he was quite angry. ‘Is he angry at Akane, or himself?’ she wondered.
“Ranma,” she said softly. When he didn’t respond, Kasumi reached out her hand lift his face by the chin. She was surprised when he jerked back from her, looking as if she were going to strike him. ‘Does, does he really think I’m capable of that?’
“I’m sorry,” Ranma said, seeing the distress on her face. “I was so out of it, I didn’t realize it was you.”
Nodding with understanding, Kasumi began to speak again. “I’m sorry for the hurtful things my sister said to you. I don’t really think she meant them, she’s still very upset.”
“I...” Ranma began, “I wish I could believe that. Whether she means it or not, it still pisses me off. Who knows, maybe she’s right,” he said angrily.
“No!” Kasumi cried. “Please don’t believe that. Even if Akane really thinks that, which I don’t think she does, I want you to know that I don’t believe it. Not for one minute!” The strength of her words seemed to penetrate the his melancholy mood.
“Thanks Kasumi,” he said quietly. “It’s nice of you ta say, but-”
“No buts,” she interjected. “I said it because I believe it. And I want you to believe it to.” She reached out and put a hand on Ranma’s to help emphasize her point. Ranma looked at her hand and then back to her face.
“I’ll... I’ll try,” he said.
Kasumi got up and looked down at Ranma. “I better go check on Akane.” Ranma merely nodded and she headed for the door. Before she was gone, she heard him call to her.
“Kasumi?”
“Yes, Ranma.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” she said quietly as she left.
After Kasumi left, Ranma tried to decide what to do next. ‘I really feel like hitting something,’ he thought. With that he went and got a practice dummy. As he set it up, he thought back to what Akane had said. ‘Damn her! I don’t care if she’s mad, that still freakin hurt.’
As he hit the dummy, he tried his hardest to build himself up as Kasumi had suggested. Straight punch to the midsection. ‘I am a man!’ Side kick to the left arm. ‘I did this out of honor!’ Left jab to the face. ‘I certainly ain’t afraid of that macho tomboy!’ Knee to the right side. ‘I ain’t no pervert!’ Roundhouse kick to the face. ‘And if she doesn’t want to be my fiancée...’ He ended with a powerful uppercut that ripped the dummy in half as he screamed “then screw her!”
Ranma stood bent over, hands on his knees, panting for several moments. Then he began to go through a kata in the hopes of cooling down both his mind and body. While practicing, his mind drifted to what his father had said that morning. ‘Akane is really serious about this. And there ain’t no way in hell I’m gonna become engaged to Nabiki again.’ He shuddered as he remembered what she’d put him through the last time.
Thoughts of Kasumi drifted into his mind. ‘She’s really terrific, and the guys are right, she is beautiful. I just can’t see it happening though. Even if I didn’t feel so weird about the idea, I’m sure she wouldn’t want it. But if I don’t become engaged to Nabiki, then our stupid fathers are just gonna force us anyway.’
The idea that Kasumi might be forced into an engagement with him against her will caused Ranma to perform his kata as if he were fighting a real person. He thought about beating the crap out of his pop, and even Mr. Tendo. ‘I wish it were that simple. But it ain’t. There’s gotta be a way out of this mess.’ Unlike when he became engaged to Akane, he had foreknowledge of how things were going to play out. Armed with that, he began to develop a plan.
As Akane made her way towards Dr. Tofu’s, she couldn’t help but think about what Kasumi had said. ‘How can she think I’m acting like Ryoga?’ she wondered bitterly. ‘And I can’t believe she defended that jerk!’ She felt like punching something, but thought better of it.
She rounded the corner and was suddenly in front of the clinic. Her heart fluttered a little, as it always did whenever she went to see Dr. Tofu. ‘I still like him, but I know he’ll never feel the same way.’
After knocking with her good hand, Akane waited for the doctor to make his way down from his living quarters above the clinic. After about a minute, the door opened and the doctor was there with his ever-present smile.
“Well good evening Akane,” he said cordially. “What brings you out tonight?”
Akane lifted her right hand to show him the bruise and swelling, and he frowned.
“That looks awfully bad, let’s take a look shall we?” He then led her back to one of the observation rooms where he had her sit down. As he moved about the room, Akane couldn’t help but admire how strong and graceful he looked.
“So what happened?” Dr. Tofu asked, as he pulled a stool up and sat in front of her. “You get in a fight with Ranma again?”
Akane winced as he began prodding her wrist. “Yes,” she said in a quiet, yet serious, voice. ‘I hope he doesn’t see me as some lovesick schoolgirl.’
“You two,” the doctor admonished with a smile. “You guys must really like each other to fight so much.”
“That jerk?!” Akane growled. “Not a chance. He’s always insulting me, and always flirting with the other girls. And then I found out last night that he was allowing Ryoga to take advantage of me.”
“How so?” the doctor asked, allowing the frown to return.
Akane told the doctor everything, at least how it appeared to her, about Ryoga and the subsequent events. She avoided mentioning Kasumi, because she didn’t want him zoning out while working on her wrist. She finished her story about the same time Dr. Tofu finished his work.
“I can see why you’re so upset,” the doctor said. “Though, don’t you think you’re being a little hard on Ranma?”
“No!” Akane retorted. “Besides, he’s always calling me an un-cute tomboy. Sometimes I... I think he might be right.” She looked off into one corner of the room, trying to hide the tears that were coming.
“I don’t think Ranma really believes those things,” Dr. Tofu said. “Besides, everyone knows that you’re a beautiful young woman.” This caused Akane’s head to whip around and stare at him.
“You... really think so?”
“Of course. You’re smart, and funny and charming. The guy that you end up with will be lucky indeed. If Ranma can’t see that, then I guess it’s his loss.”
Akane couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. ‘Is he just trying to comfort me? Or does he really mean it? I wonder if...’ her brain trailed off as all rational thought left her. She simply acted on impulse as she closed her eyes and began leaning forward towards the doctor.
Dr. Tofu immediately understood what Akane was about to do and meant to put a stop to it in as gentle a way as he could. ‘I hope I didn’t give her the wrong impression.’ However, as she was leaning forward, and he was about to speak, fate decided to intervene. He noticed movement in the doorway behind Akane and looked up in time to see Kasumi.
As was the norm, the doctor’s eyes glazed over and he immediately lost control of his cognitive abilities. When Akane’s lips met his, he did the only thing he could do in that state. He kissed her back.
Kasumi entered the clinic, and seeing Akane’s shoes on the floor, realized that she’d guessed correctly that Akane had come here. She was about to call out when she heard voices coming from the examining room. ‘Dr. Tofu is such a nice man,’ she thought. ‘I hope he’s able to help Akane work through this.’
As she walked towards the room, she heard the kind words that he was giving Akane. ‘That should help,’ she thought. She came to the entrance of the door and saw Akane, who had her back to the door, suddenly leaning in towards Dr. Tofu. Then, though she wasn’t sure, she thought she saw the doctor look in her direction.
And then both the doctor and Akane were kissing one another. Kasumi raised one hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp. She stood there for a few moments and then slowly turned and left the clinic. It took several minutes before her brain was able to process what she’d seen.
‘That certainly wasn’t very proper,’ she finally thought. ‘Dr. Tofu is so much older than Akane. And Nabiki is always trying to tell me that he likes me, so why was he kissing her?’ She then turned her thoughts towards her own feelings towards the doctor.
‘Well, he certainly is handsome. But he always acts so strange whenever I see him. Nabiki keeps trying to tell me that he only acts that way when I’m around, that he’s really much more intelligent and outgoing. Whatever the reason, nothing has ever developed between us other than friendship. So I really don’t mind if he dates other women. Though I am worried about him and Akane. He is in his mid-twenties after all.’
While she walked, she thought more about Akane. ‘Maybe she really doesn’t like Ranma after all. It’s hard to believe, but with the way she’s been towards him, and with what I just saw...’ Kasumi’s mind then drifted towards the promise that her father and Mr. Saotome had made to one another. ‘If Akane refuses to marry Ranma, then father will be crushed. As angry as I am at him about Ryoga, I don’t know if I could bare to see him go through that.’
‘But what can I do?’ she wondered to herself, as she made her way home to begin working on dinner.
| The shock of Akane kissing him was enough to revive Dr. Tofu from his confused state much faster than normal. He managed to pull himself back and looked again around in confusion. He wasn’t sure why he’d blanked out like that. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he thought, ‘I need to deal with this situation now.’ He looked back at Akane who was regarding him with a hurt expression. “I’m sorry Akane, I shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.” “But... I thought,” she whimpered. “I meant what I said before. But you have to realize I’m ten years older than you and you’re still in school. It’s just not possible. Besides, there’s someone else that I... care for,” he added the last with a gulp. “I know,” she replied sadly. “I just hoped that maybe...” “Akane, I know you’ll find someone who’ll make you happy. Maybe it’ll be Ranma, or maybe someone else. But unfortunately, it can’t be me. Do you understand?” There was no anger in his question, only concern. |  |
“Well, let’s just not let it happen again. I’m your doctor, and I’m also your friend. If you want to talk again, I’m always here.” The girl nodded sadly as she began to get up.
Before Akane reached the door, he called out to her. “Here, take these with you.” The doctor handed her a bottle containing a herbal remedy. “Take these three times a day. And do not, under any circumstance, hit anything with that hand. Okay?”
“Yes doctor,” she replied meekly, and then she left the room.
After Akane had left the clinic, Dr. Tofu went through the process of closing everything back up for the night. Once done, he went to his living quarters to ponder why exactly it was he allowed that kiss to happen in the first place.
Kasumi watched everyone around the table, and was concerned that nobody seemed to be talking. She looked at her father, who looked back with a hopeful expression on his face. She let out a “hmph” and looked away, only to hear him sigh.
Next she looked at Nabiki, who also seemed to be studying the people at the table. Though her attention seemed to be focused mostly on Akane and Ranma. Akane for her part just looked distant, not at all angry like she’d been earlier in the day. ‘I wonder what happened at the clinic after I left. If something did happen, I imagine she’d be acting happier than she is now.’
Ranma was just sitting at the table looking thoroughly depressed. He was barely eating again and wasn’t even trying to stop his father when Mr. Saotome would attempt to steal some of his food. ‘I hope he’s still not upset with what Akane said to him earlier.’
Her thoughts returned to the engagement situation that their families were entangled in. ‘If Akane is really serious about this, then our fathers are going to try to force me or Nabiki to take her place. After what happened last time, I don’t think Ranma would want to be engaged to Nabiki again. I guess that leaves me.’
The concept wasn’t as outrageous to her as she expected. ‘I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea, but this is a matter of family honor. Maybe if I did that, it would remove enough pressure from Akane for her to come to her senses. And if she doesn’t, I’m sure Ranma and I could work on our fathers in the meantime.’ Kasumi began to wonder what would happen if they couldn’t persuade their fathers. ‘I wonder...’
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ranma finally spoke.
“I think pop and me should leave.” His voice was calm, though Kasumi was able to sense a great strain.
“What?!” both fathers shouted at once.
“Yes Ranma,” Nabiki said. “What exactly are you babbling about?”
“Well,” Ranma said, obviously trying to find the right words. “Akane has made it pretty clear that our engagement is over.” Everyone looked over at Akane, who didn’t respond. She simply looked off into the distance and so Ranma continued.
“And since the only reason me and pop are here is 'cause of your stupid agreement, then we should stop freeloading and go back on the road.”
“But, but, but,” both fathers managed to stutter.
“Look,” Ranma said coldly, “get it through yer thick skulls. It doesn’t matter what ya want. Hell, it doesn’t even matter what I want. It’s clear that she don’t want nothin' to do with me, and everyone knows you’ll never change her mind.”
Kasumi could see the pain that this was causing Ranma. ‘He really does like it here.’
“Just give it some time Ranma,” Soun said worriedly. “I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“Maybe when hell freezes over,” Akane growled. She gave both fathers a look that sent shivers through them.
Both men cowed and immediately began hugging one another, tears streaming down their faces.
“Now our schools will never be joined!” Soun cried.
“All our hard work for nothing!” Genma moaned.
Kasumi’s mind was in a whirl. ‘I know he likes living here. This has to be very painful for him. I had hoped to have more time to think about this, but as usual Ranma is good at forcing the issue.’
“Maybe not,” Kasumi said, surprising everyone in the room. When all eyes turned to her, she summoned up her courage and spoke again. “Since Akane has made it clear that she has no intention of marrying Ranma, why not transfer the engagement?”
“Uh uh,” Nabiki jumped in, turning her attention towards Ranma. “No offense Saotome, but being engaged to you once was more than enough. Sure you’ve got a nice bod, especially what I’ve seen of your...” She let her words trail off, as she purposefully glanced towards his midsection. Once he had sufficiently blushed, she went on. “But I need a man that has two things that you’re lacking in.” She rubbed two fingers together with her thumb to illustrate the first, then she tapped her index finger on her temple to indicate the second.
Kasumi could see two conflicting emotions registering on Ranma’s face. One she guessed was relief at not being engaged to Nabiki, and the second being anger that she’d insulted him. ‘Poor Ranma,’ she thought. ‘I hope this doesn’t shock him too much then.’ She cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention again.
“I wasn’t talking about you Nabiki.” Everyone’s eyes went wide at the implication she was making. ‘Too late to turn back now.’
“But that would mean...” her father stammered.
She glanced at him and decided to stop the silent treatment for the time being. At least until this situation was resolved.
“Yes father,” she said, turning her attention towards Ranma. “I would like to be Ranma’s fiancée.”
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.
