Chapter 13 - Off to the Mountains
Previous Chapter | A&A Home | Next Chapter
Kodachi Kuno was laying face down on her bed, with her head buried in her pillow. Her body shook in such a way that an onlooker wouldn’t be able to tell if she were laughing or crying. She had no idea how long she’d been there.
After her brother and Sasuke had carried her home and untied her, she had fled here and locked herself in. At some point later, Sasuke had knocked and said he had dinner for her, but she hadn’t even acknowledged his presence.
‘Why?’ she asked herself again, as she had repeatedly since the fight. ‘Why did Ranma make me give my word? Why did that wretched girl have to win? She must’ve cheated!’ Kodachi tried to convince herself of that as she replayed the battle once more in her mind. However, her conclusion was the same as it had been all the times she’d done the same thing earlier.
She’d lost fairly.
Even Sasuke and her brother had admitted to it, as had the witnesses that the pig-tailed girl had brought with her. Now, for the honor of House Kuno, she wasn’t allowed to interact with her beloved anymore.
“No! No! No!” Kodachi screamed into her pillow. ‘There must be some way I can get out of this.’ She reviewed the wording that had been used by both Ranma and Mousse. ‘It’s airtight,’ she thought with a moan.
Kodachi considered merely breaking her word, but there were issues with that. ‘Ranma darling will be most unhappy with me if I do. He made that pretty clear. Plus, the pig-tailed girl would be able to tell everyone that I betrayed my word. And she’d have witnesses to back her up.’
After beating her fists into her pillows in frustration, she tried yet again to examine the problem. ‘Yes, she has those witnesses, but what if I were to deal with them? Ranma darling has probably already heard their account, but if I were to convince Sasuke and my dear brother to lie for me, and those other witnesses weren’t around, then I could probably convince him that I was in fact the winner.’
The idea had many problems she knew, but it was the best she could come up with. Now that she had the basis for a plan, she began to hammer out the details in her mind.
Nabiki sat at the table listening as Ranma and Kasumi made their plans for the trip. It had been an eventful day, and she was quite proud of the part she’d played in many of the events. She looked over at the sister that she’d worked hard to help protect.
‘She looks so alive,’ Nabiki couldn’t help thinking. ‘I did the right thing by suggesting that she go with Ranma.’ Then her thoughts turned towards her younger sister. ‘Akane isn’t going to be happy about this. Ah well, it was my idea, so I better be the one to break the news to her.’
“Hey guys,” she said, standing up. When they looked in her direction, Nabiki continued. “Akane needs to know that Kasumi will be going too.”
Kasumi’s hand flew to her mouth in realization of what Nabiki was getting at, and Ranma just looked clueless.
“Don’t worry,” Nabiki said to her sister in a soothing tone. “I’ll go have a talk with her.”
“Thank you,” Kasumi said, relief evident on her face.
“No problem,” the middle Tendo daughter replied. She turned and began making her way up the stairs.
‘Besides,’ she though with a hint of mischief, ‘I already have a payment in mind.’
| Sitting on the bed in her room, Akane stared past the wall as if it weren’t even there. She felt completely numb all over, and her mind was blank. She repeatedly tried to form a conscious thought, tried to think about her current predicament, but she couldn’t manage to do it. Thus, when she heard a knock at her door, she answered without thinking. “Come in,” she said in bland tone. Immediately thoughts began to invade her mind. ‘What if it’s Ranma? What if it’s Kasumi? What do I do?’ Before she was able to think past that, the door opened and Nabiki stepped in. Seeing it was only her middle sister, Akane let out a sigh of relief. |
 |
“Yeah,” Akane said with a nod.
“Well,” Nabiki said thoughtfully, “it’s nice to have someone actually relieved that I’m the one coming to see them.” She let out a small chuckle before coming to sit on Akane’s bed.
“How are you doing?” Nabiki asked, having turned more serious.
“I...” Akane began, trying to think of something to say. After several moments of contemplation, she shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“It sounds like you’re in shock.”
“Why does he have to leave?” Akane blurted out without thinking. “Why does he care so much about what Kasumi thinks?” Suddenly, her brain caught up with what she was saying and she clamped her mouth shut.
“That sounds like anger to me,” Nabiki said calmly.
Akane thought about it. “Maybe... maybe somewhat. I... I think I just feel h-hurt more than anything.”
“I’m sorry Akane,” Nabiki said softly, placing a hand on Akane’s knee, startling the youngest Tendo.
“I-I’ll survive. I’m tough,” Akane said, more weakly than she hoped.
“Well...” Nabiki said hesitantly, “there’s something else you should know.”
The uncertain manner of her sister made Akane worry. ‘How can this possibly get any worse?’
Nabiki blew out a long breath before speaking. “Kasumi is going to be going with Ranma on his trip.”
Numbness settled in on Akane again. Her mind, however, was racing. ‘If they go together, and they’re alone out there for nearly a month, then they might... I mean... They wouldn’t... That... That...’
“That pervert!” Akane growled. She found that she didn’t feel so numb again, and she was beginning to rise from the bed. Before she could go very far though, Nabiki said something that froze her in place.
“Are you going to go hit Kasumi again?”
Akane sank back on the bed, shame flooding over her. “T-That... That was an a-accident,” she said in a small voice.
“An accident that happened because you rushed into a situation, judging Ranma, without bothering to get all the facts.” Nabiki’s manner wasn’t cold, but it seemed disapproving.
“B-But... I...” Akane trailed off. As much as she wanted to blame Ranma for that accident, she knew it had been her fault. However, this time she was sure she had justification.
“He’s just using this training trip as an excuse to be alone with Kasumi,” Akane said, allowing her anger to build again.
“Really?” Nabiki said sarcastically. “You were there, huh? You observed how everything happened?”
“But what else could it be?” Akane said, knowing the reason, but allowing her anger to cloud her judgment.
“Gee, let’s think. Maybe it’s because he really does need to train? Maybe he really is worried that he might lose to Shampoo?”
“Well...” Akane said, letting some of her fury bleed off, “maybe that’s part of it. But it sounds like it was part of his plan all along to get Kasumi to come along.”
“Oh please. This is Ranma we’re talking about. Don’t you think you’re giving him a little too much credit? Besides, it wasn’t even his idea.”
“Then whose idea was it?” Akane asked, wondering whom she needed to pound.
“Hmm,” Nabiki said, assuming her business-like expression. “It really all began when Ranma’s dad mentioned that he shouldn’t be away from Kasumi for so long. And from there, the idea got batted around that she should go. She was the one that asked Ranma if it was okay.”
All of Akane’s anger suddenly deflated. She could easily direct her anger towards Mr. Saotome, but the fact that Kasumi had asked Ranma took all the wind out of her sails. Then another idea hit her.
“Maybe I can go too!”
“I don’t think so sis,” Nabiki said matter-of-factly.
“Why not?” Akane demanded. It almost sounded like a whine in her own ears, but she didn’t care.
“Because Ranma already told his father that he didn’t want him along. Ranma is going to be training hard with Mousse and... by himself. He said he doesn’t want the distraction.”
The pause in Nabiki’s statement made Akane curious, but she shrugged it off. “Then why is Kasumi going?”
“So that she can take care of the camp, meals, and such,” Nabiki responded.
“But I can do that too!” Akane said. She caught the look her sister was giving her and backpedaled. “Okay, maybe not. But I can help him train!”
“Do you really think Ranma will want you along for that?” Nabiki asked in a serious tone.
Akane was forced to face the truth. “No,” she said in a near whisper. “What am I going to do?”
“Honestly sis, I don’t think there’s anything you can do. This trip is going to happen, Kasumi is going, and you’re not. I think that if you’re serious about trying to get Ranma back, you should make good on what you were trying to do with him at school today. You need to be gracious and wish him good luck. If you try to stop Kasumi from going, or try to tag along, it’s just going to be seen as petty. You’ll be telling Ranma that you don’t trust him and he’ll view it as you trying to force a decision on him, like everyone else does.”
“I...” Akane said softly, “I’ll have to think about it.”
Nabiki nodded, swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She turned to face her younger sister again. “I’d give it some serious thought. And think about what you were about to do when I told you that Kasumi was going. If you keep acting like that, you have exactly zero chance of winning Ranma back.”
Watching as her sister left the room and closed the door behind her, Akane couldn’t help agree with Nabiki’s assessment. ‘She’s right. I can’t stop this from happening. And if I try, it’s just going to make things worse. But I can’t just stand by and do nothing. What can I do?’
Thoughts of Nabiki’s advice came filtering in. ‘Be gracious, huh? Hmm, that gives me an idea.’
 |
As the sun began to come over the horizon, the morning haze began to burn off. Bright light began to pour into Ranma’s room and he soon found himself groaning. His eyes blinked open and suddenly snapped shut as he was nearly blinded by the sunlight. Rolling over so that his eyes weren’t facing the window anymore, Ranma opened them again. ‘What time is it?’ he wondered. He stretched briefly and proceeded to sit up. It looked like the sun was higher than normal, so he assumed that he’d overslept. Throwing off the covers, Ranma made his way out into the hall where he smelled breakfast being prepared. He padded his way into the kitchen to find Kasumi there. |
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Kasumi said with a smile, as she looked up from her work. “You overslept and breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”
Ranma scratched the back of his head. “Why didn’t pops come wake me up?”
“Because I told him,” Kasumi began, pausing long enough to taste-test the miso soup, “that you needed to sleep since we stayed up so late last night packing.”
“And he agreed?” Ranma asked with a measure of incredulity.
Kasumi giggled slightly. “Well, only after I told him that he wouldn’t get any breakfast if he disturbed you.”
“That’d do it,” Ranma said with a grin. Suddenly remembering his promise to her, Ranma asked, “Can I set the table for you?”
The smile that he received was nearly enough to buckle his knees. “That would be wonderful Ranma,” Kasumi said.
He gathered the appropriate dishes, went into the dining room, and began to set everything up. Just as he was finishing, Akane entered the room, already prepared for school.
“Good morning Ranma,” she said, her voice sounding a little too chipper to the young man.
“Mornin’,” he replied evenly.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Uh... sure,” Ranma replied with small amount of hesitation.
Akane grabbed his hand and led him into the family room. When she stopped and turned to face him, she was much closer than Ranma felt was comfortable. However, she wasn’t moving back, so neither would he.
“I wanted to wish you luck with your training,” she said softly.
“Luck ain’t got nothin' ta do with it,” Ranma replied. However, remembering that he’d promised to try to be nicer to Akane, and that she seemed to be trying to be pleasant, he added, “But... thanks.”
Favoring him with a small smile, Akane continued. “Nabiki told me that Kasumi is going to be going along as well.”
“Uh... yeah,” Ranma said, starting to feel a little worried about where this was heading.
“Well, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for the way I’ve misjudged you in the past. I know in my heart that you won’t do anything perverted with Kasumi. I’m sure that you’ll treat my sister with the utmost respect.”
‘It sounds like she rehearsed this little speech,’ Ranma couldn’t help but think. He decided to let it go though, and simply accept her words. “You can count on it.”
“I know,” Akane said, not sounding terribly confident in Ranma’s estimation. “Anyhow, that’s all I wanted to say. Best of luck.”
With that, she leaned forward before Ranma had a chance to respond, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then she stepped back and walked into the dining room.
Standing there with a dumbfounded expression on his face, Ranma didn’t know what to do. After a minute or so, Kasumi called out that breakfast was ready. In a daze, Ranma made his way to the table and took his normal spot. Throughout the meal, he would glance over at Akane occasionally and find his former fiancée smiling at him.
‘This is way too weird,’ he couldn’t stop himself from thinking.
After breakfast, Kasumi pulled Ranma aside. “I’m going to run up to the school with my sisters and get the paperwork from your teachers. You should probably take a bath in the meantime and then finish packing. We can head over to the Cat Café when I get back. Sound okay?”
“Uh... sure,” Ranma said, still feeling a bit stunned.
Kasumi regarded him with a curious expression for a moment, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she ended up leaving with Nabiki and Akane, while Ranma made his way to the furo.
All the while his mind asked, ‘What in the world was that about?’
| Ukyo had decided to return to school. She’d come to the conclusion that she was spending too much time in self-pity and that she needed to snap out of it. ‘There’s life after Ran-chan,’ she kept trying to tell herself. It really wasn’t working. Regardless, Ukyo decided that sitting in her restaurant sulking wasn’t helping anything. Actually, the fact that she’d gotten drunk and trashed the place in her anger was enough to finally snap her out of her stupor. So here she was, sitting in her homeroom, waiting for class to start. ‘I really don’t know what it’s going to be like to see Ran-chan again after what he did.’ Both anger and sadness were warring in her heart at the moment that she saw Akane enter. ‘This is it,’ Ukyo thought. However, the person that came in behind Akane wasn’t Ranma at all. It was Kasumi. |
 |
She watched as the older girl walked up to Ms. Hinako and handed her a piece of paper. The two spoke for a moment, and then the young teacher opened a drawer and started leafing through different files, pulling out papers as she went.
‘Where is Ran-chan?’ Ukyo couldn’t help but wonder. The object of her interest never showed up though, and after a few minutes Kasumi was carrying a thick sheaf of papers. She stopped and said something to Akane, and then left the room.
Ukyo continued to wonder what was happening after roll-call began. When Ms. Hinako got to where Ranma’s name normally was, she simply skipped over it and continued. ‘Okay, this is really weird.’
Afterwards, lessons begun, and Ukyo found herself unable to concentrate. She felt herself start to tear up instead. ‘I... I guess I really needed to see him... to make sure it really happened. I guess I’ll have to figure this out later.’
Forcing herself to focus, she did her best to listen to what Ms. Hinako was saying.
‘Well, it certainly was an interesting morning,’ Kasumi thought. At the moment she was hiking with Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga into the mountains. She took a moment to say a mental thank you to Nabiki once again. ‘I’m glad she’s going to be looking after Akane. Though telling me that she wants all the details of the trip in return seems kind of silly.’
Looking over at her fiancé, who was currently in his female form, Kasumi smiled. ‘It’s not like there will be that much to tell anyhow.’ She watched as Ranma carried the large barrel on her back, which they would use for bathing. Currently it was filled with supplies. While every one of them had a good deal to carry, Ranma was carrying the most by far, at his own insistence.
“I gotta work up the strength of my female side,” he’d said. Mousse and Ryoga hadn’t cared in the least. Kasumi had expressed some concern, but she did understand Ranma’s reasoning.
Thus it was already mid-afternoon and they were nearly at their destination, a place where Ranma and his father had once trained in the past. It was out of the way, so they would hopefully be undisturbed.
“Yer doin' really good Kasumi,” Ranma said out of the blue.
She looked over at the red-haired girl and smiled. “You don’t think all the work I do around the house is just for show do you?”
“I might’ve before,” Ranma said with a chagrined smile, “but not no more.”
After another hour of walking, the group had finally reached their destination. Kasumi looked around at the wide field that they were in, with a smattering of trees throughout and a picturesque stream that was running nearby. ‘Beautiful,’ she thought.
They set up camp near the stream where they would be able to easily retrieve water for bathing, and also for cooking. As they began to unpack their equipment, she noticed a forest about a mile off.
“We’ll get wood from there,” Ranma said from beside her, noticing the direction of her gaze.
“Will you be out collecting that as part of your training?” Kasumi asked with a touch of humor.
“Nah,” Ranma said. “But I do plan ta fill up the barrel with as much water as it’ll hold and carry it back over there.” She pointed to where the barrel was currently sitting, behind a tree that put it on the other side of the camp from the stream. “My goal is ta be able ta completely fill it and be able ta carry it back in my girl form by the time we’re done.”
“That’s going to be quite heavy,” Kasumi noted in a concerned tone. “Just don’t overdo it.”
Ranma waved her hands in dismissal. “No sweat. I can already do it in my guy form. I just wanna get my girl form that strong too.”
The two didn’t speak again for a while as they went about setting up the tents. Ranma helped Kasumi set hers up first, with the redhead showing remarkable aptitude for the task. They finished before Mousse and Ryoga, who were each setting up their own, so Ranma began working on hers.
“I’m going to start on dinner,” Kasumi told them all.
“I’m going to take Ryoga and walk the area to find the best places to practice,” Mousse said once they’d both finished. The two headed off while Kasumi made her way to the river with some pots. When she returned, she found that Ranma hadn’t made any progress on her tent. Instead, she found Ranma working on a fire pit for her.
“Where did those rocks come from?” Kasumi asked in surprise.
“They were in the bottom of the barrel,” Ranma said, continuing her tasks.
‘Wow!’ Kasumi thought. ‘That barrel had to have been really heavy.’ Then she noticed a pile of dead wood next to Ranma and pointed to it.
“And that?” she asked.
“Oh, I ran over to the woods to get them while you were at the river.”
Kasumi looked at the woods in the distance and couldn’t help but be amazed at her fiancé. “Thank you very much Ranma. That was very thoughtful.”
She watched as the younger girl blushed, but didn’t receive any additional response. “Here,” Kasumi said. “You go finish your tent and I’ll finish here.”
Ranma looked up at her. “You sure?”
“I’m sure. Shoo.” Kasumi nodded towards Ranma’s tent.
“Okay,” Ranma responded as she stood. “Just let me know if ya need any help.”
“I will,” Kasumi said, favoring Ranma with a large smile. This merely served to cause the blush she’d had earlier to increase. Kasumi watched as Ranma turned around and continued on her tent.
‘So considerate,’ Kasumi thought with a contended sigh, setting her pots down to finish the work that Ranma had started.
Dinner was finished, and Ranma, back in his male form, helped Kasumi clean up afterwards. By that point the sun had set, and they decided to wait until morning to begin the official training. A slight chill had entered the air, so Mouse and Ryoga retired to Mousse’s tent with a portable lamp and the two played cards. Kasumi and Ranma sat by the fire and chatted.
“So tell me more 'bout what you wanna do in the future,” Ranma asked.
“Well,” Kasumi said, drawing her legs up into her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “As I already mentioned to you before, once Akane graduates, I’d like to go to college to study medicine. After that, I’d like to do something with it. Whether as a nurse, or a home health-aid, or something else I don’t know.”
“That’s really cool Kasumi,” Ranma said, poking the fire with a stick. “I think you’ll do really good at that.”
“Thank you Ranma,” Kasumi said with a smile. “Other than that, I suppose I’d like to start a family and...”
Ranma looked up to see why she trailed off, and noticed her regarding him with a blush. Then he got it. ‘That might be us havin’ a family.’
“So what about you?” she asked, recovering quickly.
“Well,” Ranma said, sure he was blushing as well. “I guess the only thing I’ve ever thought about is perfectin’ my martial arts. When I feel I’m ready, I think I’ll probably become an instructor.”
“You mean have your own dojo?” Kasumi asked quietly.
“Yeah, I suppose so. That would be cool, and...” Again, Ranma understood the underlying insinuation that their conversation was leaning towards.
“Have you ever thought about going to college?” Kasumi asked, once again snapping him back to reality.
“I’ve thought about it,” Ranma said after a moment. “But I kinda doubt my grades are good enough. And I’m already bored with school. I don’t wanna think about adding more years on afterwards.”
Kasumi nodded. “Well, we’ll see what we can do about your grades when you and I begin studying tomorrow night. Okay?”
“Just don’t expect too much,” Ranma said with a self-deprecating snort.
The two both turned their attention back to the fire, and sat their watching it quietly. After a few minutes, Ranma noticed that Kasumi seemed to be shivering somewhat. He stood up.
“I’ll be right back.” He stood up and went to his tent.
Kasumi watched him walk to his tent, wondering what he was up to. ‘And why do our conversations keep coming back to things that relate to us honoring our fathers agreement?’
After a few moments, Ranma returned with a blanket. ‘I noticed that he was shivering a bit,’ she thought. ‘Come to think of it, I’m a little cold myself.’ She was about to stand up to get her own blanket when Ranma reached out and handed his to her.
“Here,” he said. “I got this for ya.”
To say she was surprised was an understatement. ‘Who knew he was such a gentleman?’
“Thank you Ranma,” she said with complete sincerity. “But what about you? Aren’t you cold too?”
“Nah,” Ranma said, returning to his place and sitting down. “I’ll be fine.”
‘I know I saw him shiver earlier,’ Kasumi thought. ‘This is probably his macho side coming out. But it was really nice of him to get this for me.’
“Ranma,” she said softly. “I really appreciate you getting this for me. But I feel bad taking it all for myself. Can you please move over here a little so that the two of us can share it?”
“Uh,” Ranma stuttered. “I dunno Kasumi. I’m fine. Really.”
“Don’t be silly,” Kasumi said, shuffling towards him instead. “I’m not going to bite you.”
“I know that,” Ranma said sadly. “It’s just...”
“Just what?” She was right next to him now and proceeded to throw the large blanket over his shoulder. It covered both of them quite well, while leaving enough space between them for propriety.
“Well... Akane... she said...”
Kasumi let out a sigh. “Let me guess. She warned you not to do anything perverted with her sister.”
“Somethin’ like that,” Ranma agreed.
“Ranma, this isn’t perverted. And it was my suggestion. Nothing’s going to happen, we’re just sharing a blanket to keep warm. There isn’t anything wrong with that, is there?”
“N-No. I g-guess not.”
‘Poor innocent Ranma,’ Kasumi thought. ‘He’s so scared of even the littlest things when it comes to girls.’
“A-and... there’s s-somethin’ else,” Ranma said worriedly, all the while staring ahead at the fire.
“Something else?” Kasumi asked. ‘What in the world could he be so anxious about?’
Taking a deep breath, Ranma continued in a less hesitant manner. “Well, remember what you said about bein’ honest with you and stuff?”
“Of course,” Kasumi said, wondering where this was going. “I meant it to.”
“I know. W-well, this morning before breakfast, when Akane talked to me about you... she... umm... kindakissedmeonthecheek.” The last bit came out in a rush and it took Kasumi a moment to dissect what he was saying. When she did, she let out a small chuckle that caused Ranma to turn and face her. She found the confusion on his face to be quite adorable.
“She kissed you on the cheek. Is that what you said Ranma?”
“Umm, y-yeah. Aren’t you mad about it?”
“Why would I be mad about it?” Kasumi asked.
Ranma’s confused expression turned to pure bewilderment, and he turned to face the fire again. “I d-dunno. I guess 'cause whenever any of the girls ever did somethin' like that, I always got pounded by the others.”
The smile that Kasumi had on her face slipped. “Ranma, look at me.” When he’d turned to face her again, she continued. “Please do not mistake me for the other girls. I’m not going to lay claim on you like they have tried to. You are your own person. I want you to do what makes you happy.”
“B-but...”
“Let me finish,” Kasumi said seriously. “Yes, you and I are engaged because of our fathers. But I want you to follow your heart. If it leads you to Akane, or Ukyo, or Shampoo, or someone else, or...” She trailed off for a moment before adding meekly, “me. I don’t care who it leads you to. I just want you to be happy. The only time that I would care is if we decided that we did want to have a relationship and then you did something with someone else without telling me. Does that make sense?”
“Kinda,” Ranma said with a small nod.
“Good,” Kasumi said, taking the blanket off her shoulders. She wrapped up her portion around Ranma. “I’m going to head to sleep Ranma. I suggest you do so as well. I’ll bet tomorrow’s going to be tiring.”
She was starting to get up when Ranma spoke. “Thanks Kasumi.”
“For what?”
“For understanding. And for not gettin’ mad at me. It fells really nice.”
“You’re most welcome Ranma,” she said. Suddenly she felt the temptation to do what her sister did that morning. She leaned over and kissed Ranma on the cheek. When she pulled back, she saw that his face was nearly as red as his hair was when he was in his girl form.
Letting out a small giggle, she stood up and went into her tent.
After Kasumi was gone, Ranma just stared at the fire until he noticed that he’d brought both hands up to his face. His right hand was now resting on the cheek that Kasumi had just kissed. His left hand was on the cheek that Akane had kissed earlier that morning.
‘Kissed by two girls in one day and I didn’t once get pounded. This has gotta be some kinda omen or somethin’.’ Ranma looked up into the sky, sure that the apocalypse was about to begin. When it didn’t, he let out a long sigh and stood. He made his way into his own tent and got ready for bed. After settling in, he laid there looking at the roof of the tent and couldn’t help the one thought that kept going through his mind.
‘Man, things are gettin’ really complicated.’
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.
