Ranma 1/2, Gargoyles
Ranma, the Time of Changes
By Brendan O'Donnell
Chapter Two
Ranma was a martial artist of considerable experience and training. This training had over time coaxed from Ranma an awareness of his surroundings almost supernatural in its sensitivity. Now, as he lay in his hospital bed, watching the clock tick down the seconds until visiting hours, he could feel a wave of anger and violence washing over the hospital. Then, from the front of the hospital he heard something that chilled his blood.
"Shampoo bring Ranma lunch, not stupid spatula girl!"
"Oh no, Ranchan's going to eat my okonomiyaki!"
"Ohhhohohohohoho! I'm going to be feeding Ranma-Sama these cookies baked with all my love!"
"Not mention poison, crazy girl!"
"How dare you, you Chinese strumpet! Prepare to die!"
Ranma tried to tune out the sounds of violence as he did a quick assessment of his condition. His right shoulder had no real need of the bandages on it; he would have no troubles fighting with it. His ribs had been fractured, and if he needed to move fast he'd have to move carefully and keep close control over his breathing. Finally, his right leg was broken just above the knee.
The cast kept his entire leg immobilized, and if he had to move he would have to keep his weight off it. This was his biggest problem, since his main concern with the girls he had heard was evasion and escape. *Guess I'll have to try talking and hope they'll listen.* He decided that Shampoo and Kodachi had about as much chance of listening to him as Ryouga.
Suddenly, he heard the door open and a doctor let Akane in. Ranma looked toward the sounds of fighting which he still heard from out front.
"I decided it'd be simpler to slip in through the side entrance." Akane said, seeing Ranma's look. Understanding it's source she added, "I guess I was right," with a small smile.
Ranma looked at her, marveling at how cute she looked: the smiling face, the flower pattern dress, the tin... *That's a cookie tin.* Ranma thought as he tried to keep the fear he was suddenly feeling from becoming visible on his face. He almost succeeded.
Akane felt somewhat flushed as she saw Ranma look at her; something about the look made her feel so good. Then, he looked at the tin and tensed up. *He must think I made them.* She thought as she fought down a scowl. Setting the cookie tin on the table she said, "They're Kasumi's."
"Whew!" Ranma exclaimed as he relaxed. Then he tensed again, looking apprehensively at his fiancée.
"Don't worry, I'll save that for when your out of here," she replied in a joking tone. Then, she sat in a chair by the head of his bed, and looked at Ranma with a serious expression on her face.
*Uh oh, what's she looking so serious about?*
"Ranma... I need to know just what you and Ryouga were fighting about. I mean, Ryouga wouldn't endanger a woman and her baby like that unless he was totally consumed with something!"
*Oh boy,* thought Ranma.
"Now I've respected your desire to keep your personal grudges personal, but it's gone beyond being just personal. So I want you to tell me why you and Ryouga hate each other so much!"
Ranma replied, "I don't hate Ryouga. The jerk has a knack for pissing me off, but I don't hate him."
"Then why are you two always fighting!"
"You'd know already if you could see past your nose!" Ranma responded in an annoyed tone.
Akane clenched her fists, tightened her face into a silent snarl, then took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. "I'm not going to be distracted." She said as she closed her eyes.
*Hmm, guess she's more serious than usual.* Ranma thought. *Can't betray Ryouga, though.* "We're always fighting because Ryouga keeps attacking me!"
"What about those times you've disguised yourself as a girl to pick on him!" Akane responded.
"That jerk deserved it every time!" Ranma responded angrily. Then he thought and added quietly, "Well, maybe I went a little overboard on that fiancée thing; but that hentai did try to grope me..."
Akane fought down her angry retaliation, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Releasing it she looked at Ranma and said "Ranma, from what Ryouga said, this has dated back to that first time he showed up here. Now I know that bread feud wasn't what you were fighting over, so what was it!?"
*Uh oh, what do I say?* Ranma thought for a moment then concluded *I guess it's gotta be the truth.* "I can't tell you."
"What! Why not!?"
Ranma looked her in the eye. "Look Akane, Ryouga's got two big reasons for attacking me all the time. One of them I've wanted to tell you for a long time. Thing is it's the kind of personal weakness I have no right to tell anyone about. And since I'm partially responsible for inflicting it on Ryouga, I can't say anything no matter what the hentai does."
Ranma looked at Akane, then continued, "The second reason: I could tell you," *I don't want to tell you! If you and Ryouga...* "but it's Ryouga's business. It's very personal to him."
Akane looked at him and replied, "Ranma, if this feud goes on you'll be endangering everyone around you. I think that's justification for answering my question."
"If I break the trust and tell you Ryouga's secrets I'm no better than my father," Ranma said. He spoke so quietly that Akane almost couldn't hear him.
The door opened and Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi walked in. Ranma and Akane looked at the three girls in surprise. Barely three minutes ago they had been fighting in front of the hospital; such conflicts were seldom resolved so fast, or so quietly.
*What? Damn. I was so caught up in talking to Akane I didn't hear them stop fighting.* Ranma thought to himself.
"What violent tomboy doing here?" Shampoo asked in an angry tone.
"I didn't want to fight by the hospital, so I came in the side entrance." Akane replied with a voice filled with annoyance.
Shampoo pulled out a pair of bonbori, when a man behind the trio cleared his throat.
Shampoo looked back to see Owen shielding a cough with his stone fist. Letting the appendage drop to his side, Owen said "You did agree to a truce, right?"
Shampoo sighed and put her maces away. She made for the seat opposite Akane, as did the other three. When Kodachi leaped over the bed to land in the chair, Shampoo grabbed at her to pull her away. Ukyou pulled out a pair of small throwing spatulas, then slipped them away and pulled up a chair at the foot of the bed next to Akane.
"No fighting in the hospital. Right?" Ukyou said to the pair on the opposite side of the bed. Shampoo and Kodachi looked at her and took their hands off each other. Kodachi dropped into the chair with a look of smug satisfaction. Shampoo glared at her a moment then pulled up a chair of her own, pushing it so close to Kodachi's it touched. She sat down, and suppressed a snarl at the black haired girl beside her.
Ranma stared at the trio, feeling like someone had changed a law of nature and forgotten to tell him about it. Clearing his throat he said "Uh, is there something I should know?"
"Oh, Ranma-Sama" responded Kodachi before the others could start. "You are here because your nobility of spirit brought you to the defense of the helpless and weak. How could I not likewise shield the people confined to this place by withholding my retribution against these common scullery maids who seek to steal you from your one true love?"
In the back of Owens mind Puck thought *Helpless and weak... FOX!!* and started laughing uncontrollably. Owens mouth twisted into something about a millimeter short of being a smile.
Shampoo and Ukyou glared at Kodachi a moment, then Ukyou added, "A truce sounded right."
"Truce important." Shampoo said.
Ranma looked at the girls, then glanced at Owen who had a barely perceptible smile on his face. "Thanks."
Owen glanced at the three girls, who were all looking much more cheerful and relaxed at Ranma's approval. In the back of his mind, Puck's raucous laughter at Ranma's situation increased in intensity. Owen's smile increased by about six angstroms.
Akane sighed to herself as she walked home. With the other two fiancée's and Kodachi present, she hadn't felt right pressing Ranma for details on the mysterious two grudges Ryouga had against him. She felt even less comfortable thinking about Ranma's final remark before their solitude was shattered. *'If I break the trust and tell you Ryouga's secret I'm no better than my father.'*
Just casually thinking about Genma she could see his tendency to completely forget honor whenever it was inconvenient. She was glad that Ranma was refusing to emulate this in his father, and yet...
*I'd better try to avoid thinking about this.* Akane thought to herself. *I don't even know why this upsets me. Everything I've seen or heard about Genma doing is probably just a fragment of what Ranma's personally witnessed.* She picked up her pace and focused her eyes ahead of her. *Anyway, I don't think I can get Ranma to tell me. However, I know a little more about it so I can find out from Ryouga the next time I see him.*
"Hello Akane. How was your visit with Ranma?" Kasumi asked as her sister entered the house.
"Well, I haven't gotten my answers yet. But, I will." Akane replied.
"Oh yes." Kasumi replied, "Ryouga was by earlier and he asked me to give you this." Kasumi pulled a letter from her apron.
Several hours ago, Ryouga had stepped from the Tendo's bath. He had dressed in the spare set of clothing he had hidden within quick searching distance from the Tendo bathroom, and tried to decide on a plan of action.
*What will I do!* Ryouga thought for the seven hundred and eighty seventh time that hour. *I've got to tell her how I feel about her! Maybe it embarrassed her to admit that she likes me to her sister, maybe once she knows my feelings she'll decide that I'm a better choice than Ranma.*
Ryouga had a hopeful look on his face, which then collapsed. *No, she's mad at me now, she wouldn't take the news of my real feelings well.* Ryouga thought. *But how can I not tell her now. If I try to put it off she'll just get impatient, and she'll be even madder at our next meeting. Wait, suppose I leave her a letter...* Ryouga sat down and pulled a piece of paper and a ball-point pen from his backpack. He thought a moment then began to write.
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Dear Akane: Recent events have caused me to fear that I might be a danger to others, and I am going off to train so that this fear of mine shall never become a reality. When I return, I have something I want to discuss with you. Please allow me to discuss it with you over a meal at UcChans. I hope you will allow me this. Ryouga Hibiki. |