Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

Akane took him home the next day, after calling his parents to tell them that he was okay. The doctors were flabbergasted at his ability to recover, and Ranma ignored their questions after his health. He was completely uninterested in his own recovery. A two-day stay in the hospital was enough time for him to formulate a plan, enough time for him to stew and think and debate with himself. He knew what he had to do.

“Akane,” Ranma said quietly to her across the taxi she had called for them, wearing the sweatpants and tank top that she'd brought for him, but still feeling discomfort from his illness, “I'm sorry.”

“No, Ranma, I'm sorry, I was wrong to snap at you like that,” she paused, and he turned and looked at her; she was staring out the window of the cab, but she must have felt him looking at her because she turned to stare at him, smiling slightly, “I guess… I think, maybe, you, if anyone, have the right to ask.”

Ranma reached across the back seat and took her hand. The cabbie deliberately and politely ignored them, but even if all Japan was listening, Ranma didn't care. “No, M'sorry, because I might get yer fiancée arrested.” Her eyes widened, and then narrowed, and he grit his teeth and readied himself to say what was on his mind. “Akane, there was a man who came to Master Gyaru's dojo, wantin' me to fight.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” she snapped, looking at him warily. She didn't move her hand, however.

“His name was Ichiro Arai, and he's the reason Master Gyaru is in the hospital for the next five weeks.” Akane's frown deepened, and then her eyes widened, and her mouth formed a little `o.'

“It's a common name, Ranma,” she whispered, squinting at him, “it's a common name, it means nothing.”

Ranma stroked her hand, enjoying the contact despite the context of their conversation. “It might mean nothin', but you mean somethin' to me,” she looked away, blushing, and he licked suddenly dry lips, feeling woozy, “an' I just wanted to tell you, that if somethin' happens to Takahiro… It don't mean nothin' between us.”

The cab pulled to a stop as Akane turned her head slowly to stare at him. Ranma let go of her hand and got out, stumbling slightly. His head swam, and the sunlight hurt - maybe he wasn't all better, after all. “Ranma?!” Akane shouted. He was aware of a door slamming, and small hands on him, and more door slamming, and more hands, and tugging. He might have passed out at some point, because the next thing he knew he was on Makoto's futon, and Akane was sitting next to him, quietly stroking his hair. When his eyes fluttered fully open, she pulled her hand away, and his body ached at the loss of contact.

“I'll let you get some rest.” She got up and left the room, and Ranma let her. Once the door closed, he looked around, and spotted what he wanted: a phone on Makoto's desk. Kenichi had given him a card last time they spoke, and he dug it out of the pocket of his jeans, which were folded neatly at the end of the bed. He picked up the phone and dialed, speaking quietly, not wanting Akane to hear.

“Hey, Kenichi, it's Ranma.”

“Hey, Ranma,” Kenichi sounded confused, “you don't sound so great.”

“Psh, yeah, I was fuckin' poisoned.” Kenichi was silent for a moment. “By my ex-fiancée's new fiancée.” Kenichi let out a breath, static crackled.

“Ranma, that's a very severe accusation.”

Ranma scoffed. “Fuck that, I've got witnesses. Akari Unryu and Ryouga Hibiki, they saw me eat the mochi that was poisoned, and! And…!” he whispered loudly, feeling the small struggle to breathe coming back for a moment. “And,” he finally gasped out, “he has the same last name as Ichiro.”

“Who does?”

“Her fiancée, Takahiro Arai. You look into him, okay?”

Kenichi was quiet again. “I'll talk to my brother,” he said softly, “but don't expect any miracles, and don't do anything stupid, okay? We have to be careful.”

Ranma frowned. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes.” Kenichi didn't even hesitate, and Ranma felt tears sting his eyes at the man's trust; his own father didn't even trust him that much.

“Thanks.” They exchanged more information, about Ranma's doctor and the hospital, and the strange fugu fish poison that had got into his system. Then they said their goodbyes and hung up.

Ranma put the phone back on its cradle and laid down on the futon, sighing and throwing his arm over his eyes. He fell asleep and awoke sometime later, feeling slightly better. At least, he was able to sit up without feeling dizzy. He frowned upon registering raised voices in the apartment, and tensed, listening.

“Akane, listen to me, for once, please?” Nabiki - she sounded almost desperate.

“Listen to what? Listen to you call my boyfriend a murderer?” Akane, angry.

There was silence for a minute.

“This isn't what I came here to do, Sis. I didn't come here to fight.”

“It sure sounds like that's what you came to do. You didn't care about Takahiro so much until Ranma showed up!”

“That's not true, Akane! I didn't like him before that!”

“Oh, real nice Nabs! Thanks a lot! Great to know you have such confidence in my taste in men!”

“Akane… do not put words in my mouth.” There was a long silence this time, and Ranma gripped his sweatpants. The room suddenly seemed hotter.

“I'm sorry… I'm… Ranma… he has me… I'm confused, I'm so confused, Nabiki.” He heard Akane start crying, and wanted to burst through the door to get to her, but he remained still.

“I know, I'm sorry. I didn't realize having him back would upset you this much.”

Akane's voice was muffled, and he didn't hear her response. “Yeah, I know sweetie - it's okay to feel pre-wedding jitters.” Another silence, and then a sniffled reply from Akane that he, again, couldn't hear. “I'll talk to Ranma, okay? Why don't I bring him back to Kasumi's tonight? I don't know what possessed you to invite him here in the first place.”

“Because,” there were tears in her voice, but he heard Akane clearly, “I felt bad… I kicked him out once, I couldn't just abandon him again.”

“Did he apologize?”

“Yeah… and he meant it - he's never said he's sorry without meaning it.”

A pause. “Do you want me to take him back to Kasumi's.”

Akane sighed, loudly. “I don't know!” Ranma decided now would be a good time to show himself. He stood up and walked over to the door, opening it and stepping out, head lowered guiltily; it was no use pretending he hadn't heard them, he couldn't hope to lie to Akane, and certainly not Nabiki.

“Oh, Ranma, we didn't know you were awake.” Nabiki said dryly, folding her arms over her chest.

Ranma turned to Akane and bowed. “Akane, if y'want me to, I'll leave.” He couldn't bear to look at her face. The silence seemed to last a lifetime.

“No, no, stay, it's okay,” she paused, “Takahiro just got a little jealous when I was in the hospital with you.” He righted himself, and as he looked into her tearful face, she looked away, and he knew she was lying about something. It stung, but he was sure she was just trying to spare his feelings, anyway.

“I'll let you two talk,” Nabiki said quietly. She walked over and hugged him, kissing his cheek. “I'm really glad you're okay, Bro,” he saw Akane tense out of the corner of his eye, “not that anything can put you down for long eh?”

“Nope.”

“Good to hear it,” she moved to go, then stopped and turned back around, “I almost forgot, Toya just got back from an overseas trip. He wants to meet you both,” she smirked, “I told him you had food poisoning. Lemme know when you're up for dinner at Chez Blanc.” And then she hugged and kissed her sister, and left.

In the silence that followed, Ranma and Akane stared at each other. Neither of them moved, Ranma, for his part, breathed laboriously, and Akane quietly sniffled. Eventually, he walked over and sat down next to her on the sofa, taking her hand as he had in the cab. She let him, with a sort of resigned sigh. “Akane…” he started, but didn't know what to say. So he just sat there, holding her hand, stroking her knuckles. He noticed something odd. “Hey, where's your engagement ring?”

“Oh, that,” she flushed, embarrassed, “I don't wear it. It's really expensive, and I don't wanna lose it.”

Ranma snorted. “Really?”

She hung her head again, “No, not really,” she looked at him from under her bangs, “I just don't like it, but I don't have the heart to tell Toya.” She reached into her shorts' pocket with her free hand and pulled out a gold ring encrusted with small pearls and diamonds. “I hate diamonds.”

Ranma reached for it, and then held back, not really wanting to touch it. “It is pretty gaudy,” Ranma felt like he should say something in Toya's defense, despite suspecting him of trying to kill him, “but he must really l-love you if he got you somethin' so pretty.”

“Yeah,” Akane said softly. She leaned towards him slightly, slipping the ring into her pocket. “I guess so.”

Ranma's eyes darted to her lips, felt his own tingling, but not from any poison. She was close now, just a few inches away. “I'm sorry it's so confusin' havin' me around.” His voice was raw with emotion, and his arms felt tense, knotted like cords of rope.

“I was always confused around you,” he could feel her breath on his mouth, “I never stopped being confused. People… confuse me…”

“Me too…” suddenly she let out a sensuous breath, and then she pulled quickly away. Ranma stayed where he was, lips ready to purse, face red as a cherry. Akane stood up, letting his hand flop into his lap bonelessly. He relaxed slightly, turning on the sofa to watch her. She had her hands over her face and she was breathing heavily.

“Akane? What is it? I'm sorry, I—” He was cut off by a knock at the door that made her jump. She quickly dug the ring out and slipped it on, going to the door to open it.

Takahiro stood on the other side, wearing an expensive suit. “Hey, Akane… whoa, why aren't you dressed?” Takahiro looked over her shoulder at Ranma and smiled, but Ranma saw the venom underneath it.

His blood was boiling, and his heart beat so fast he thought it was going to erupt from his chest, run across the room and smash into Takahiro's stupid face.

“Oh, jeez, I'm sorry. I forgot about our date, Takahiro,” she looked back at Ranma, then back at Takahiro, obviously concerned. “Ranma's been ill, you know…”

“I'll be fine by myself, Akane,” Ranma said, trying to put as much strength into his voice as he could.

“See, he's fine.” Takahiro said. Akane looked back and forth between the two of them, and then frowned.

“Well, okay, but I'm going to tell one of the neighbors to check in on you.” She looked at him as if daring to argue, and he smiled at her warmly. She flushed a little and turned quickly back to her fiancée. “Lemme just get a shower and get dressed, ok?”

“No problem, babe - I think the table will wait for us, eh?” he winked and she laughed and kissed him. She went to her room, and then came back out with a towel and a dark blue dress.

“Be nice,” Akane murmured at both of them before disappearing into the bathroom.

Ranma stared at Takahiro. Takahiro stared back. He stepped inside and slipped out of his shoes, shutting the door behind him, and Ranma didn't even blink.

Even feeling like he had the strength of a puppy, Ranma felt confident he could bust Takahiro's skull open. As the shower started, he briefly wondered how angry Akane would be if he pummeled her boyfriend until he had to feed himself with his feet.

Probably pretty upset.

“So, feeling better?” Takahiro said casually, glancing over the books on Akane's shelf.

“Nope, I feel like shit,” Ranma said bluntly, sitting up a little and flexing his arms a little as he folded them over his chest, “where you guys goin' out?”

“A little Mongolian grill that Akane likes.” He picked up one of the dirty manga Ranma had found on his first day at Akane's apartment, flipped through it with a smirk before replacing it on the shelf. “She won't believe you.”

“Eh, she's never believed nothin' I said, anyway.” Ranma kept his voice even. Maybe, just maybe, he could keep Takahiro talking long enough for the shower to stop and for Akane to hear him.

“I'm not an idiot, Saotome,” Takahiro turned slightly, his earring catching the light and glittering; his expression was dangerous, but not quite angry, “I know she's still in love with you.”

“You so sure? She didn't believe me `bout you - can't have love without trust, fucker.”

Takahiro scoffed. “Whatever. Point is, I got what Akane needs, and you don't have anything to offer. You're just confusing her, and you need to get lost.”

Ranma leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He felt the energy crackling between them, and knew that if he wasn't careful there was going to be a brawl in Akane's apartment. “I'll leave the minute she asks. I respect her.” As he said it, he knew it was true: he respected her. If she wanted to marry someone else, he wouldn't stand in her way. She could judge for herself who was important, who was good, who was just.

“She won't ask, she's too nice you moron,” he smirked triumphantly, “she probably thinks you're crazy, accusing her fiancée of trying to poison you.”

Ranma grinned ferally. “She told you that, eh? When was this, hm?”

“She won't believe you.” He repeated. The shower cut off, and he smiled with saccharinely. “Yeah, I know. She's gonna look hot in that little loincloth,” he paused dramatically, putting his hand against his cheek exaggeratedly, “whoops! Sorry babe!”

“You tease!” Akane called out from the bathroom.

Ranma almost snarled, refusing to be baited. After a few minutes, Akane came out of the bathroom, dressed and Ranma's expression softened. The dress she was wearing was plain, but the color was well-suited to her skin; she looked beautiful, free of make-up or any sort of ornament.

“Aw, babe, you aren't gonna wear that red dress I bought you?” Takahiro pouted in a way that Ranma suspected was supposed to be cute.

Akane tossed her still-wet hair and sighed exasperatedly, grabbing her satchel. “No, it's too small.” She murmured, slipping into a pair of strappy sandals. “Ranma, I'm going to ask Mrs. Kobayashi to check in on you every so often, okay?”

Ranma shrugged and forced a smile on his face. “Yeah, sure, have fun.”

“There's some leftover kappa-maki in the fridge, and, um,” she had to pause as Takahiro kissed her ear and nuzzled her throat, narrowing his eyes at Ranma, who dug his fingers into the knees of his pants until his knuckles turned white. Giggling, Akane pushed Takahiro away and turned back to Ranma. “Get some rest, ok?”

“Go on, go on!” he waved them off, and Akane smiled at him, almost sadly. And then they left.

Ranma sat there for a long time afterwards. He stared at the door, willing it to open and for her to walk back through it.