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Ranma and Akane were walking home from school together. Ranma was laughing boisterously.
"Can you believe it, Akane?! High school's over!" He continued to laugh.
Akane didn't join in. "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure going to miss my friends." She thought of Yuka and Sayuri.
"I will too," Ranma rather defensively replied. "I just don't think school's worth it, that's all.
Akane nodded, brightening as a thought occurred to her. "Maybe they'll go to the same school we will."
Ranma winced. "Look, Akane. I might not go."
She cast him a sidelong glance. "Not if your father has something to say about it." They neared the house.
"Never mind that now." He turned to face her uncomfortably as she let themselves in. "You wanna go celebrate? We could go get some ice cream at the diner in town," he suggested.
Akane reddened with pleasure. "Sure! Let me just go up and change my clothes first."
She ran up the stairs.
As she rummaged through her closet, she told herself they weren't going out on a real date. They were just going to grab something to eat. Nevertheless, she brought out her best red dress and stared at it for a moment. Why not? she thought. It really was a day for a celebration. With a flourish, she took off the tacky blue uniform for the last time. Tucking her feet into sandals, she studied herself in the mirror. With a smile, she went down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks when she heard familiar voices coming from the living room.
One of them was Ukyo's. She sounded like she was crying. "I just can't stand it anymore," she sobbed. "My life is so empty; I'm so alone. She cried even harder.
"Ucchan, you'll never be alone," came Ranma's voice. "I'll always be here for you."
"Truly?" Akane could just imagine her snuggling next to him. "Oh Ranma, I always knew you and I were going to get married in the end."
Akane felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her in one terrific gasp. Pain shot through her whole body with an intensity she'd never experienced before.
Ranma's eyebrows shot up. "No way! I meant-" But his protests were drowned out as Akane crashed through the wall standing between them. Her gaze was chilling. He understood why: he and Ukyo made a pretty picture. She had laid her head on his shoulders, and he had wrapped an arm around her for support. But she's just my friend! he wanted to shout out.
Akane didn't react. She felt it was useless to. What she saw before her was betrayal pure and simple. Here she was dressed to go out with him and she had caught him redhanded. She had really thought their relationship was going somewhere. Here was the proof that she had deceived herself all along. She had opened her heart to him and he hadn't even spared it a glance. Well, she vowed grimly, that's going to end right now.
Something was wrong, Ranma thought. She wasn't attacking him like she normally did. And that was a lot worse than all her beatings combined. The silence was uncanny. Seconds began to tick off the clock. He hoped to God she'd start hollering soon.
Akane finally spoke, but her voice was calm and even. Her eyes were distant and cold, so very cold. "Well, I see what a nuisance I am here. I'll be going." She turned on her heel to walk away.
Ranma reached out and caught her by the arm, sending Ukyo falling to the floor. "Aren't you even going to hear what I have to say???"
A bitter smile played on her lips. "We have nothing to say to each other. You've made your choice and I respect that. I just wish I could have spared you from the agony of being engaged to me. I wish there had never been an Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." Ranma let go of her as he stood back in shock. No school?! That was blasphemy and she knew it. They had been raised to believe wholly and completely that it would be an honor to inherit the dojo. She was turning her back to her family and upbringing so she would be free of him. Did she really hate him that much???
Deliberately and with finality, she gave him one last look before she turned away.
Ranma was desperate. "Wait!" he cried. "Does this mean we're not going out for ice cream any more?"
Ukyo rolled her eyes in disgust. What a butthead.
Ranma was sitting alone on the roof, trying to straighten things out in his head. He knew that had been a dumb thing to say. He would have punched himself for his stupidity if having a door slammed in his face wasn't pain enough. Why did she always have to leap to conclusions, he grumbled. Ucchan was his best friend, in fact, she had been his only friend for a very long time. Why couldn't she understand that he'd just been comforting her? That was what friends did, support each other. Not run away after they'd seen him with someone else. Hmmmmph, he thought. All he knew was that he was in the worst mess he'd ever had the misfortune to stumble into. And that was saying a lot.
Oh Akane, he sighed.
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a familiar figure hopping around the street. It was carrying a sack twice his size and was cackling with glee. He jumped up to apprehend it, unknowingly relieved at the diversion. He twisted himself into a flying kick aimed right on target.
Happosai looked up just in time to sidestep nimbly away.
A scuffle ensued. Ranma attempted to grab the sack again and again, but Happosai repulsed him by yanking it out of his reach. Finally, it came down to a point where he was knocked down temporarily. Furious at being deprived of his silky darlings, he drew out a lit bomb. His anger blinded him and he didn't notice that the bomb was pure black with a skull and crossbones etched into it.
Ranma did however and began flailing his arms about frantically.
He hurled it without bothering to aim.
The bomb missed Ranma by a foot, and sailed through the air. He and Happosai watched as it began to descend on the dojo.
Happosai's eyes bulged in panic and fright. "No! No! Wrong bomb!"
The explosion almost deafened them.
Akane jumped out of bed, crying out in fear. Her first thought was for her family and whether they were alright. She scrambled outside. Luckily, her sisters, father and Mr. Saotome ran out at about the same time. If it wasn't the house, could it be...? With a rush, they all tried to squeeze out the door simultaneously. Akane managed to elbow her way out first.
With disbelief, she watched as flames licked the inside and outside of the Tendo dojo. She sank to her knees in anguish as her wish came true.
No one was able to get much sleep after what had happened. So the next morning, everyone walked around like zombies with circles under their eyes. Their hearts were heavy. For once, even Kasumi wasn't oblivious to the tragedy. She went to her tasks woodenly, pausing only to shed a tear when no one was looking. Oh mother, if only you were here, she thought.
Akane was the one most deeply affected. She was deadly pale and she started when someone addressed her. In her mind's eye she could see the burning dojo, hear the alarm of the firemen come too late. And she saw herself wrathfully wishing that the dojo was no more. It was almost too much to bear.
Ranma was sitting at the table, picking his food despondently.
Nabiki appeared and surprised them both by announcing that "father and Mr. Saotome want you." She led them to the little room where the two parents had remained closeted during the whole day. The three avoided meeting each other's eyes. Nabiki left them when they stood before it.
Soun gestured for them to sit down on the floor. They did so with dread.
Genma spoke first. "I know how hard this must be for you two. So that's why Tendo and I have reached a decision." His voice cracked and he lowered his head as he was overcome with emotion.
They turned to Soun questioningly.
He continued gravely. "You two are always saying how much you hate each other. Since the dojo has burned down, there is no need for you to remain engaged." His face contorted with pain. He faced Genma and they clapped each other on the back, bawling loudly.
"WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" they cried.
Ranma and Akane were stunned. They turned to each other, mouths dropping open in shock. They felt like they were falling into an abyss from which they would never return.
Both felt a sharp stab in the chest.
They were too stubborn to admit why they felt that way.
It was another sleepless night on the part of Ranma and Akane. Soun and Genma's decision rocked the whole family. But they were already in enough shock that they didn't make as big a deal as they would have before the incident.
Nabiki had however exclaimed, "Why can't you just build another dojo?"
To a spectator, that would have been a logical and reasonable suggestion and would have been capitalized at once, but the Tendo dojo was different and the rest didn't bother to answer her question. She just didn't understand the way the martial artist foursome did.
The idea had also entered Ranma's mind, but there was a memory of something Genma said to him that made him dismiss it without further thought.
When he was five, he had gotten fed up with Genma while he had been describing the Tendo dojo to him. His father had been using the description to impress on him the responsibility he would undertake. He had innocently asked, "Why don't we just build another dojo?"
Genma had stared at him like he had sprouted horns and a tail. As if he had uttered some blasphemy and he was now afraid for him because of what might happen in consequence. "Are you crazy?! There can only be one School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" Then he had begun spouting off about family honor and heart's blood.
Ranma had tuned out after that, but he still remembered to this day the look of horror that crossed his father's face.
Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne had dropped by yesterday and they'd overheard (more likely eavesdropped) about the broken engagement. At once, Shampoo had thrown herself at Ranma, babbling about how the ancient laws could finally be followed. Of course, Mousse had been very upset to hear the news... Ranma didn't care. He had more important things to think about.
Like Akane. After all that they'd been through, he couldn't lie anymore about not feeling something for her. He saw now that he had taken their engagement for granted. He had always assumed he'd have time to decide what his feelings really were. But now their baka fathers had broken off their engagement...just when he was starting to like it. Typical! But their decision hadn't left him room to dilly-dally. He was going to have to confess soon. If only I could ask my mother for advice...
He bolted upright. "What am I talking about?!" he yelled. "I really can ask my mother for advice." Problem is, he thought sinking down again, she won't be back 'til day after tomorrow. That would mean waiting... He suddenly grew comfortable with the idea. "I'll wait for Mom to return. That way I can't lose. After all, me and Akane aren't going anywhere."
"Hey."
Akane broke out of her reverie as she observed Nabiki approaching her. She had been thinking about Ranma, her fi-
But pretending she succeeded in making a clean breast of herself, she was sure that all he was going to do was back off. He would mutter something that didn't make sense and run for the hills. Besides, she wasn't sure if she could stay in Nerima anyway. Everytime she looked into the sad eyes of her family she'd see an image of the dojo burning. Although, she didn't believe they were aware of it, their silent accusation was there everytime they talked to her. She didn't think she could stand much more of it.
Nabiki handed her a letter that had just come in the mail. She glanced at her younger sister with curiosity. "The Drama Institute of Aomori? Is there something you're not telling us?"
Akane grabbed it from her and ripped the envelope open. She scanned the contents of the letter hurriedly.
Nabiki threw her hands up. "Fine! Don't answer me! No one does." She walked away shaking her head.
Akane scarcely paid attention to her. Her gaze was riveted on a phrase that had leaped up at her. Congratulations! You've been accepted! Her?! How could she have accepted? She had only mailed the application form out of anger...
Ms. Hinako had been the one to get her the forms. She had urged Akane to attend the renowned acting school. She had said, "I think you've got enormous potential, Akane."
She'd been flattered but had told her teacher it was out of the question. "Ranma and I will be going to the state university," she had said. The unspoken word that had hung in the air was "together."
Ms. Hinako had nodded knowingly. Still, she insisted Akane to bring home the forms. Akane did, to please her.
That very same night, they were having dinner when Ranma callously remarked that he thought college was a waste of time.
She had been hurt, although she didn't show it. She had assumed that Ranma also saw college as an opportunity to spend time alone together, away from their families. So she had angrily filled out the forms and dropped it into the mailbox. (Come to think of it, she thought, that mailbox had moved.) She didn't believe she would actually get in; after all, her only experience had been Romeo and Juliet and that had turned into a mess.
But here was proof that she was wrong.
A light went off in her head. She now had the perfect excuse to get away from Nerima and start all over again.
When Akane came bursting in, Soun and Genma were playing shogi. Kasumi was cooking lunch while Nabiki watched her disinterestedly. Ranma was staring into space, lounging on his back. Her eyes rested on him a minute before she straightened and declared, "I'll be leaving for Aomori in two days."
Everyone dropped what they were doing. "What?!" they all cried in unison.
Ranma sat upright at once, his eyes filled with panic. "But why?!?!"
Akane felt a prick of satisfaction. Her eyes were resolute as she held up the letter. "This is why."
Soun snatched the letter from her grasp. Not bothering to read it, he broke into tears. Always sympathetic, Genma immediately joined him. Kasumi waded through the small river that had formed and patted her father's back. "It's OK, father, it's OK."
Akane contemplated her father sadly. It's not like this isn't hard for me, too, she thought. Ranma caught her attention, and for a moment their eyes locked. It was with regret for what might have been that made her look away. She fled to her room.
Ranma wanted to go after her.
But he didn't.
To Love Gets in the Way, part 2
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