A Lesson In Love
By Marisa Price
Copyright to Marisa Price, 1996 (All Rights Reserved)
mdp102@york.ac.uk
Chapter XII: Betrayal
Ranma woke up with his fiancee in his arms and felt that he had to
be the happiest guy on Earth at the moment. He wondered how anything could
possibly go wrong that day.
Unfortunately, in Nerima, things that seemed perfect usually weren't.
He kissed her forehead as he climbed out of the bed and let her
sleep for a bit longer. She mumbled in her sleep and turned over to cuddle
up to a stuffed pig near the wall. He smiled at her and walked out of the
room and went into the bathroom to quickly wash up. He just did a cold water
rinse and then she dried off and brushed her teeth. She shrugged at her
image in the mirror and decided just to stay in this form for awhile, after
all, she was about to go talk to Ryouga (and she always ended up this way
after talking to him anyway).
She unlocked the door and found Ryouga sitting on the futon, having
heated water with the convenient hot water pot in the corner to transform
back. He looked a bit healthier this morning, and at least somewhat aware of
himself. He looked up at Ranma and said, "Hey. Thought you were never gonna
come to let me out."
Ranma looked at the clock. It WAS almost 10:00 am. Ranma shrugged
and said, "Sorry, man, I overslept." Ranma sat down next to Ryouga and
asked, "So, you gonna tell me what happened exactly?"
Ryouga shook his head, and then sighed and said, "Dammit. I might as
well."
Ryouga told Ranma the whole situation and desperately tried to
explain to Ranma the jumble of feelings that he had mixed up in his head.
Ranma looked at Ryouga for a minute, sadly, and then said, "You once
told me, Ryouga, that I had to choose because I was hurting too many people,
including myself. You should take that advice yourself, man. I know how you
feel... God do I. But... There -IS- one of them that you love more... you
just have to figure out which one it is."
Ryouga nodded sadly and then said, "Well, if it is Ukyou, then I am
screwed. She hates me at this point."
Ranma said sharply, "She doesn't. She is just hurt and angry. I
think she actually likes you. Not that she's tellin me much anymore since I
ended up with Akane."
The pig-boy sighed and said, "I don't even know what I would do if
she DID care."
Ranma stood up and opened the window and looked out for a second
before saying, "Ryouga, do you still want to go to China?"
Ryouga clenched his fists and said, "I don't know." He paused and
then added, "Yeah, actually I DO know. I WANT to go. But Akari didn't want
me to... she wanted me to stay with her. But... knowing Akari, she would
probably end up letting me go anyway."
Ranma turned around and said fiercely, "Well, if you want to go,
then you are gonna go. But if you are gonna do that then you need to go back
to work to get some money. We are both about the same right now anyway,
because I spent a lot of my money a couple of days ago."
Ryouga looked up in surprise and said, "On what?"
"An engagement ring for Akane..." Ranma said quietly.
Ryouga looked stunned and gave a low whistle before saying, "Ahhh...
I see. Well."
They left that at that.
Ranma began again, "For you to get money, you need to get Ucchan to
let you back. So, I think we should work first on making her forgive you..."
Ryouga nodded and said, "But how?"
"You were always writing those stupid letters to Akane that you
never gave her. I looked at your stuff before tossing 'em, it's pretty deep
and all that. And I figure you probably spell stuff right, unlike me. Akane
never liked that mush much, but Ucchan is sorta the hopeless romantic type..."
Ryouga looked shocked, "UKYOU?? You're kidding, right?"
Ranma looked directly at Ryouga and said, "I've known Ucchan since I
was a kid. Trust me, I know her better than you."
"Where is some paper?" Ryouga asked.
"I'll go get some," Ranma smiled.
******
Akane yawned and stretched and looked up at her ceiling. She
wondered where Ranma had gone. She knew he had slept there, but, other than
a Ranma-sized dent in the mattress, there was no sign of him.
The sweetheart had probably let her sleep in while he went to go
practice.
She stood up and grabbed her bathing stuff and went off to the
bathroom. On the way she paused, hearing a familiar voice coming from
Ranma's room.
"Why isn't he out practicing?" she wondered, and reached up to rap
her knuckles a few times on Ranma's door and called out, "Ranma? Are you in
there?"
There was silence for a moment, and then the door slowly opened a
crack and female-Ranma darted out, closing the door quickly behind her and
saying, shakily, "A...A...Akane!"
Akane looked at Ranma in surprise and asked, "Ranma? What's wrong?"
Ranma laughed nervously and said, "Err... nothing is wrong!"
Akane stared at Ranma speculatively, and then asked quietly, "I
thought I heard voices. Is there someone in your room?"
Ranma shook her head furiously and then said quickly, "Uh.... I
mean, NO! I am working on a project... um, yeah!! A project! And I was
talking to myself."
Akane looked at her as if she had grown horns and then said,
shocked, "A PROJECT? What, for school?"
Ranma stuttered out, "Uh, yeah! For school!"
Akane reached her hand out to the door and asked, "Oh. Well, then
can I look at it?"
Ranma grabbed her hand to prevent it from opening the door and said,
"NO!!"
Akane looked shocked and asked, "NO??"
Ranma looked at her with pleading eyes and said, softly, "Akane...
Please don't ask yet, ok? I will tell you about it later. It is... Sort of a
surprise. Yeah... A surprise!"
Akane looked as if she was going to pound on Ranma for about twenty
seconds before she sighed and backed away from the door. She looked at the
glittering ring on her hand, and realized that if THIS surprise was anything
like the ring she had received the night before, she would probably like it.
Akane leaned forward and kissed Ranma on the cheek and said,
"Alright. I'm sorry to pry. I'm sure you have your reasons to keep whatever
this is a secret. I trust you."
Ranma smiled in relief.
Akane sighed and turned to go off to the bathroom, resisting the
urge to turn around to look as Ranma re-entered her room and shut (and
locked) the door.
*****
Ranma re-entered her room and shut (and locked) the door. She
whispered cautiously, "OK, Ryouga, you can come out now..."
Ryouga rolled out of the closet door and gasped at the fresh air. He
said, sweating profusely, "What was THAT all about?"
Ranma looked at Ryouga in disgust and said, "I don't want her to
know, of course, that you are here. At least not yet. I want to solve your
problem if we can so you DON'T have to stay here."
Ryouga sighed and rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Gee
thanks, you are a real PAL, Ranma..."
Ranma whacked Ryouga on the head and said, "Hey, I'm helping ya,
ain't I? Gimme a break.."
Ryouga growled at her and said, "Hmmph," and then went back to
writing his letter.
Ranma looked at Ryouga and tried to be patient. She started to get
bored after a few minutes and started to practice her kata, and did some
handstands.
Ryouga looked at Ranma in disgust and said, "Ranma! Cool it! You are
distracting me!"
"Well, what is TAKING so long?" Ranma asked.
"I am writing a serious letter! Give me a break!" Ryouga grumbled.
"There has GOT to be an easier way to do this," Ranma thought to
herself.
Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Ranma's head and she ran over in
excitement to pull Ryouga to his feet.
Ryouga, now standing, asked sharply, "WHAT NOW? Let me write!"
"I gotta idea!" Ranma enthused, and then added, "We should go see
Shampoo! I betcha she's got some kinda forgiveness potion! That would be
SOOO much faster and plus I haven't seen Shampoo for weeks!"
Ryouga protested, "Ranma! Don't you think that a potion is the WRONG..."
A splash of water turned Ryouga's words into a squeal.
Ranma grabbed the angry pig and said, "C'mon! Don't be such an
idiot! This had gotta be the best way!"
Ranma opened her door and bounded out and down the stairs, over the
rooftops, and headed toward the Nekkohantan, a furious black piglet chewing
on her arm.
******
Akane emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in her fuzzy yellow robe,
and stopped in surprise when she saw that Ranma's door was partially open.
"Ten minutes ago he is being totally secretive, and now the door is
open??" Akane said to herself in wonder.
Against her better judgment, she walked toward the door and rapped
slightly, calling out, "Ranma? Are you in there? Ranma...?"
There was no answer.
She slid the door open the rest of the way, and cautiously stepped
into the empty room. The only thing unusual was a puddle of water on the
floor, and, at least with so many Jusenkyo-afflicted in the area, that
wasn't TOO unusual.
Everything else sat where it usually did.
"Hmmm," Akane mused and then commented, "How strange."
She turned to leave the room, and, suddenly, she caught the flash of
paper out of the corner of her eye.
The piece of notepaper was sticking out, partially covered by the
futon, and Akane sighed as she went to go pick it up, wondering when Ranma
had become such a slob. She was prepared to just sit what she thought to be
a school assignment down Ranma's dresser when she caught sight of one word
on the top of the page: UKYOU.
Akane sat down on the futon in shock. The ink smudged a bit on her
fingers, obviously freshly written; this must have been the "project." She
read the letter, her hands beginning to shake.
Dear Ukyou,
I want so much for you to forgive me.
What I did, by leaving you, was really wrong.
I know you needed me, and I let you down. I am
so sorry that I worried about my own feelings
instead of considering the others that I might
hurt. Please, please, don't be angry with me.
I know you think that I am in love with Akane,
but, after last night, I realized that she and
I are only meant to be friends. You, though, I
NEED you, Ukyou. Please let me
-The letter ended there, obviously interrupted-
Akane sat on the futon, frozen. Her heart felt as if it was about to
explode.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! This CAN'T be!!!! Her mind screamed.
Akane fought for self control and read the letter again.
No. God no. Ranma didn't love her anymore.
But how could that be? What about last night?! The ring, the
proposal, the announcement. Were those all just LIES??
NO!! RANMA LOVED HER!!! This HAD to be some sort of trick.
Tears started to roll down Akane's cheeks and she suddenly heard
Ranma's voice saying the night before, as he held her in his arms:
"What kind of advice would you give to a guy who is equally in love
with two women?" Ranma had asked.
And, never imagining that he was talking about himself, she had replied:
"I would tell him to pick one or the other. It may not be easy, but
it is necessary..."
Oh NO. Oh NO NO NO. She crushed the letter in her hand and wiped the
tears away. She had thought Ranma had made up his mind, but now she knew the
battle for him was still on.
"Ranma," she thought, "You may be a selfish bastard, but I still
love you. And I am your -fiancee-. She CAN'T have you. She just CAN'T."
Akane dropped the crushed letter to the floor and stood, striding
off to her room to prepare for the approaching fight and thinking, "Ukyou,
prepare to lose Ranma. He is MINE and I am NOT giving him up!"
*****
Ranma bounced down from the rooftop in front of the Nekohantan. She
was busy looking down at Ryogua/P-chan and trying to remove him from his
locked hold on her arm when she started to open the door, so she didn't
notice that the door wasn't opening until the second or third try.
"What the...?" Ranma thought, as she finally looked up at the door
of th Nekohantan.
It was borded shut, and, painted in red letters in both Chinese and
Japanese, were the words "Closed: Owners Moved back to China."
Ryouga stopped his chomping and stared at the writing too, and
then grunted when Ranma dropped quickly to her knees.
"She's... gone," said Ranma quietly, not particulary to Ryouga, not
particularly to anyone.
Ryouga looked at Ranma in surprise, and realized that Ranma was in
a state of shock. It was ironic, really. The girl who had harried Ranma with
her potions and bonbori and crafty ways for over a year was gone. You would
think he would be happy that she was gone. But, knowing Ranma, it was never
that easy. Ryouga had to admit that Shampoo had become a friend to all of
them, as well as being handy person to have in a fight, and suddenly she
had slipped as quietly out of their lives as a cat in the night, without a
word of farewell.
Ryouga decided that he should take charge of the situation, and
glanced at the Laundromat which was right next to the former restuarant.
He left Ranma, still sitting on his knees on the pavement, and managed to
make it into the Laundromat and hop into a sink of hot water.
As expected, the sudden appearance of a naked male from a tiny black
pig caused the usual reaction. Panic ensued, and the screaming customers
fled from the shop. Ryouga grinned a toothy grin, please that his plan had
worked. He hopped out of the sink and went over to the dryers and managed
to find some servicable cloting, even in his size.
As Ryouga dressed, Ranma stood up, shaken out of her stupor by the
stampeding and screaming crowd which had fled the laundromat. Ranma stared
at the brightly painted letters on the door, and sighed as she walked over
and began to try to remove the boards.
Ranma knew she had hurt Shampoo, but she never realised that Shampoo
would just give up like this. She wondered how long Shampoo had been gone, and
looked up at the windows to see broken glass... obviously thrown in by hoodlums
or school children, taking advantage of the empty, deserted building. A
tattered Chinese Lantern and the sign "Nekohantan" above the door were all
that remained of what had been, not but a few weeks ago, the most popular Ramen
restaurant in Nerima. People would come not only to eat the wonderful food,
but also to enjoy glances at the beautiful young Chinese waitress, and to smile
at her broken Japanese as she took their orders. She had always been bright and
friendly (sometimes overly so) and had tried to make the customer happy.
The lantern swung, gently, as a breeze stirred.
She had been gone for awhile then.
As she pried the boards off the front door, they groaned as the nails
pulled from the wood. Ryouga appeared, dressed, and poured some hot water over
Ranma's head as he tugged at them relentlessly. Ryouga didn't say a word, and
started to help uncover the entrance.
Shampoo. Ranma had never loved her. She was a nice enough girl when
she wasn't trying to poison him, curse him, kill him, or marry him. In fact,
there had been a few times when he had actually enjoyed Shampoo's company,
and he had ALWAYS enjoyed her food. He had stopped considering Shampoo a
nuisance a long time ago (well... except on certain occasions) and decided
that she was just a part of his life. Now, that part of him was gone.
The last board fell away, and Ranma and Ryouga pushed into the
restaurant. It was empty, dusty, and the broken glass glittered on the floor
from the bright light of the doorway. All the tables and chairs were stacked
in one corner, and the joy and noise of customers was but a hollow echo.
Taped to the floor in the middle of the deserted dining room was
what appeared to be a plain white envelope.
Ranma knelt down and pulled it off the floor. He slowly opened it,
pausing to look at Ryouga silently (who got the hint, and started up the
stairs to investigate the rest of the house and leave Ranma alone), and then
glanced down at the characters and began to read.
Dear Ranma,
This note was written for me by Mousse,
as he knows how to write Japanese and I don't.
Hopefully, he will record every word for me.
After a lot of thinking, I decided that I belong
in China and not in Japan. I do not know your
language very well, I do not like Japan very
much. I was only here to see you, well, at first
I came to kill you, but that changed. When you
told me you could not love me, I did not want to
believe you. I was hoping so much that you did
not mean it-- but you DID mean it. And I know now
that you belong with Akane, here in Japan. I
belong in China. Here I have no status, whereas
in China I am one of the great warriors of
my village, and I am in direct line for becoming
one of the tribal leaders. I finally convinced
Grandmother to let me give up on you. She kept
telling me of the shame I will face at home, but
I think that my prowess as a warrior will bring
me past the shame. I do not know if I will marry
another. I know Mousse has the desire to marry
me, but I only want to have him as a friend for
now. As I will have to prove myself to the tribal
elders, Mousse will have to prove himself to me.
It was very difficult to give up on you, and you
will always have a special place in my heart.
When you have enough money, come visit us in our
Village, as I know you know the way (ha ha), and
Mousse and I will tell you what we have learned
in the meantime about a cure for our curses. Take
care Ranma, and always remember me, even though
I was not always the best of friends to you.
Your friend,
Shampoo
P.S. Beware Grandmother- she did not take this
lightly.
Ranma folded up the letter and slowly put it into his pocket.
A tear slowly crept doen his cheek, and he wiped it furiously away. Real
men didn't cry like sissy girls. He fought down a sniffle. What was there
to get all mushy about anyway? She had gone, and she had gone for the
right reasons, and she was still his friend. And he had Akane. He had
chosen Akane, and he was happy with that choice. He was just going to
have to learn how to deal with the consequences. Besides, at least he
wasn't going to have to be wondering when the next "Shampoo Attack" was
coming!
Somehow that didn't cheer him up much.
Ryouga started to come down the stairs, loudly clomping in order
to let Ranma know he was coming. Ranma waited for the door to open... but
it never did. Ranma heard from the back of the house, "Ranma?! Where are
you? Did the lights go out?"
Ranma sighed, mentally shook himself into shape, and strode off
to the pantry, were he found Ryouga.
Ranma sighed and took Ryouga's arm and said, patiently as
possible, "C'mon Ryouga, the way out is THIS way.." And he dragged him
towards the front of the restaurant.
Ryouga didn't ask why Shampoo had left, figuring Ranma would
tell him when he was ready, and Ranma wasn't volunteering any information
at the moment. Finally Ryouga asked, "Um... Ranma? Where are we going?"
Ranma managed to smile a bit and said, "Well, I am going to try
to scare off another of my former-fiancees.... this time by trying to
set her up with YOU!!"
Ryouga growled and said, "RANNNNNMMMMAAA!"
And they were off running again.
*****
Ukyou whistled as she scrubbed at the grill. The lunch crowd should
be coming in about a half hour, and she wanted things to be as clean and
perfect as usual. She tried to cheer herself up by whistling. At least she
wasn't going to have to deal with Ranma today, as Sunday was his usual day
off. And if Ryouga came in (here she began to scrub the grill a bit harder)
she would just tell him a thing or two again.
She paused as she realized there was someone standing in the doorway.
Ukyou mentally groaned, and tried to form a cheerful facade.
She figured it probably came out as a grimace anyway, but she tried,
and smiled at her guest.
"Hello Akane, what brings you here? Ranma isn't working today,"
Ukyou said.
Akane didn't answer, and just stood in the doorway, a faint blue
aura surrounded her, and Ukyou noted in surprise that Akane was dressed in
her martial arts gi.
"What the?" Ukyou wondered, and then said aloud, "Um, Akane ? What's
wrong?"
"You. How could you?" Akane asked fiercely.
"How could I what?" Ukyou asked, puzzled as to why Akane was acting
like this.
Akane's glow grew brighter and she strode across the room to slam
her hands down on Ukyou's counter, staring her adversary right in the face.
Akane yelled, "I trusted you! I trusted HIM! I let him work here because
you swore that you had given up on him! Instead you have been working your
wiles with him, and now he is in love with you!"
Ukyou pulled back from Akane's red face in shock, and her eyes grew
wide. She asked, haltingly, "Wha...? What are you TALKING about?? Are you
talking about RANMA??"
Akane yelled again, "Am I talking about Ranma? Who the hell else
would I be talking about?? I saw the love letter he was writing you, and
I know that you have made him feel guilty until he gave in! I am NOT going
to let you have him! I will fight you for him! After all, that is what
you wanted all along, right?"
Ukyou dropped her scrubbing pad and backed away from the counter,
staring at Akane. She said, slowly, "Akane. You have to be kidding! What
are you talking about? There isn't anything between Ranma and I! There
never was anything except friendship, though I may have once wished it
was otherwise! Ranma loves YOU!!"
The words were obviously painful for Ukyou, and she started to
shake.
Akane said sharply, "Liar." She jumped over the counter, aiming
a kick at Ukyou's face and shouting, "Fight me!"
Ukyou, although she was still in shock, managed to dodge the kick,
and hopped back over the counter into the dining area. Akane followed, and
adopted a fighting position, while Ukyou stood at a defensive.
Ukyou started to back away, saying loudly, "Akane! Stop! I don't
want to fight you! Let's stop this and TALK before someone gets hurt!"
But, as most people knew well, Akane Tendo had a temper, and,
once aroused, it could not be halted. She punched out at Ukyou, and Ukyou
blocked.
Ukyou said again, warningly, "Akane... stop..."
Akane glowered and shouted, "Don't tell me to stop! Don't tell
me that I am going to get hurt! I am stronger than you all know! I just
LET Ranma protect me! I am a Martial artist too!"
"Oh shit," Ukyou thought, as she saw Akane's glow increase.
Ukyou had just made the mistake of bringing up the only other thing that
could piss Akane off as much as the subject of Ranma: her martial arts
skills (or lack thereof.)
Ukyou started to become worried as she noticed the blue aura
starting to cluster into Akane's outstretched hands, and realised with
horror that Akane was so depressed by whatever had made her think
Ranma had betrayed her, that she was about to do a Ryouga-style
depression blast. Ukyou knew that she had little chance of surviving
that powerful an attack, as well as that such a blast would destroy
her restaurant.
She needed a defense that would stun Akane out of her ki
focusing, at least for a few minutes, so that Ukyou could think of
something else to do. Ukyou whipped out several of her spatulae and
threw them at Akane, making sure that they were aimed in such a way that
would pin the focused Akane to the wall before she knew what had happened.
Suddenly, as Ukyou was throwing and Akane was concentrating,
two figures burst through the door, boistrously yelling and laughing like
schoolchildren. Ranma only had a second to see what was going on, and
said, "A---k---a---n---eeee!"
And the world began to move in slow motion as Ranma tried to stop
Akane from releasing her ki.
Akane, distracted by Ranma's entrance, turned to look at him,
just as Ukyou, not having time to realize that Ryouga and Ranma had entered,
had let go her spatulae. Ukyou cried out in horror, as the previously
perfectly aimed kife-like spatulae sailed towards the now differently
positioned Akane.
Ukyou ran forward, as if she could stop them, but she knew,
oh God she knew, that it was too late.
Akane crumpled to the floor, just as both Ukyou and Ranma
reached her, Ryouga close behind them.
And, like the paint on the boards at the empty Nekohantan,
bright red stained the floor of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki.
End of Part XII
More coming soon! You shouldn't have to wait as long this time...
Marisa Price
mdp102@york.ac.uk
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/