PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
Solitude

     She scowled and took another swig from the half empty bottle in her
hands.  The clear liquid tasted like crap, and she stared at the blurry
tag.  She couldn't be sure if it was the print itself, or her eyes,
though she could venture a good guess.  It seemed to help her father in
his life decisions.  The fact that this did not make her instantly lob
the bottle out the nearest window demonstrated how far from logical
thought she truly was.  
     Akane had reached an impass.  As the night crawled on her mind had
wandered.  With no one in the house, it was easy to lose oneself in the
solitude.  Her father and Mr. Saotome were most likely engageing in the
same ritual she was, though probably having a hell of a lot more fun in
the process.  Kasumi was out with Akeda, a man she had met at the market
a few days before.  Akane smirked as she pictured how Dr. Tofu would
take this particular piece of news.  Nabiki was... well, she thought she
had been told where Nabiki was going, but for the life of her couldn't
put a finger on it.  Last, but most certainly not least, Ranma was on
some sort of training jaunt with Ryoga, which basically amounted to
Ranma pissing Ryoga off and the pair of them battling their way across
Tokyo and lord knows where else.  Bottom line was they would not be back
at least until morning.  
     Akane took another drink from her bottle, attempting in vain to
remove the bad taste from her mouth.  She couldn't understand why anyone
ever put the junk in them.  She emptied it completely and tossed it into
the corner, where it clinked against the four that were already there.  
     She stood up.  At least, that was how the signal from her brain
began.  Whatever reached her muscles didn't sync, and she fell to the
floor in a heap.  That did it, she realized she was most thoroughly
sloshed.  She briefly wondered why there wasn't a man to carry her off
to bed.  Wasn't that their job?  
     "Ranma!" she called out.  Receiving no reply, she sat up.  The room
continued to move even after she was sure she had stopped.  "Ranma!" she
screamed.
     She looked around her room, wondering why her bed seemed so far
away when she had just fallen off of it a moment ago.  She crawled to
the door and opened it, she suddenly felt it might be prudent to be in
the bathroom.  As she made her way shakily down the hall on hands and
knees she saw the door to Ranma's room.  
     "Ranma!" she yelled, though for some reason it seemed futile.  She
looked down at the floor and her eyes widened.  A small amount of liquid
had pooled there.  She reached down and rubbed her fingers across it.
It seemed like water.  A drop hit her hand, and she brought it up to her
face.  Sure enough, tears were pouring from her eyes.  
     She blinked for a moment and looked again at Ranma's door, which
now seemed close enough to touch.  She reached out and pushed it open,
only to realize that it already was.  Falling foward into the room she
rolled around to stare at the ceiling.  She could have sworn that door
was shut, and vowed never to drink another drop for the rest of her
life.  What had possesed her to break out the sake in the first place?
She had simply found it in a closet downstairs, knowing exactly where it
was in the first place.  For some reason she had, if not for a brief
moment, discovered why anyone wanted to drink.  She was alone, for the
first time in her life, she was alone.  In all the years she'd been
alive there was never a night without family of some sort in the house.
With the arrival of Ranma there then became no time without excitement,
for better or worse.  
     The absolute solitude she had felt made her wonder what magic lay
in those harmless looking glass bottles.  She had previously heard them
referred to as 'companions,' so she assumed they may hold the key she
was searching for.  
     How wrong she was.  She turned herself over again and felt her
stomach lurch.  She shut her eyes and willed the feeling to go away,
however it was difficult given that behind her lids lay an entire other
world of nauseating colors and shadows.  With supreme effort she managed
to keep her innards in line.  Then, she reasserted her focus, still
blurred slightly by either tears or booze, or both, on Ranma's futon and
started the journey there.
     It was then she actually questioned why she was doing it.  What had
taken her mind from her previous destination and rerouted it to the
current one?  Then, the answer came to her in a flash clearer than if
she were sober.  In fact, if one thing good could be said for the sake,
it was allowing her to open her mind to the truth.
     It was not her family she missed, not people, not company, not
anything.  It was simply Ranma.  She stopped just sort of his futon and
ran a hand over it, feeling the rough fibers.  She could imagine that it
was still warm, and if she tried hard enough, that he was still in it.  
     Akane laid herself on the futon, staring at the open door, which
seemed to fade in and out of her vision.  Now, she could feel the tears
as they flowed around her nose and cheek.  She found her eyes shutting
slowly and her mind finding an inner tranquility that it had never
touched upon.  
     It seemed that after all the denial and fighting, the cursed boy
from China had actually found his way into her soul.  She smiled with
the understanding that that was her tranquility.

----------------------------------------

     Three hours later, at midnight, a weary Ranma stumbled into his
window.  He winced as he stepped on his sprained ankle.  His right eye
was blackened and he was supporting his left arm carefully.  
     None of this detered him from dropping on his futon like a sack of
rocks.  He mumbled softly, sniffled, and fell fast asleep... so fast
that he did not notice the arm that draped over him a moment later.
However, in a minute his face turned from pained to calm and a small
smile rose at the corners of his mouth.  

-----------------------------------------

     Kasumi came home at around one o' clock, waving goodbye to Akeda as
he drove away.  He was such a nice young man, caring and gentle.  They
were to see one another again next week and she was looking forward to
it.  As she entered the house everything felt desolate.  Either no one
was home, or perhaps one or two people were asleep upstairs.  
     She made her way up to the second floor and was surprised to notice
both Akane and Ranma's doors were ajar.  She glanced into Akane's room
and saw no one there.  Then, a glint of moonlight caught her eye.  She
switched on the light and gasped at what was lying in the corner.  Five
of father's small bottles of sake were skattered about, very open, and
very empty.  Kasumi went into the room and picked them up, depositing
them into Akane's trash bin, which was fortunately large enough to hold
them and cover them.  
     Kasumi switched off the light and walked back out into the hallway
with worry etched into her face.  She stared at Ranma's open door for a
moment before walking slowly over to it.  She peered inside the room and
waited for her eyes to become acclimated to the moonlight.  The window
was open, and in the center of the room lay Akane, her arm draped over
Ranma.  They were both fully clothed and lightly snoring. 
     Kasumi couldn't help but smile at the scene.  The two looked so
cute together, as if they were made for one another.  She turned from
the room and headed for her own.  She would let events play out as they
will, and find out what happened tomorrow.  For now, she was frightfully
tired and she had to be up early to cook breakfast.  
     As she faded into sleep she hoped Ranma would survive to tell his
half of the tale.

-----------------------------------------------

     The next morning came, and light poured through the window into
Ranma's room.
     "HENTAI!!"
     "But, Aka..."
     WHAM!
     And life goes on.

END
Well, this is more what I was talking about when I said short stories
that are self-contained and finished before they are sent!  This is one
of those "it's three-thirty in the morning and a fic just must be
written" things.  I sat down having no idea what would come of it... and
now you know what did.  Please, tell me if you liked it or not.  My
mailbox is always open.
Thanks for reading,
PMasters (10-5-98)          

"I'm only holding back the rain.  So many raindrops, so many pains.  I
want to find my train someday.  As seasons go past the station." - Tokyo
Babylon OVA 1
/ E-mail at:  PhilMasters@webtv.net /
Web page pending use of a computer!
"...has anyone ever used something alive for a coat of arms?" - The
Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (Mishima Yukio, 1965) / 
"You see, what you call a cat, we use as armor." - Rune (El-Hazard,
1994)