Finally, here it is. The third, and final, chapter, will hopefully be a
little quicker (no promises, but next week is not entirely impossible).
As always, all C&C is welcomed, and as always, the reason I do not include
a disclaimer is not disrespect for Takahashi Rumiko and Masakazu Katsure -
rather the opposite.
------------------------
| CHALLENGE OF THE HEART |
------ chapter two -----
***
When Ranma returned, the house was dark, and judging by the loud
snoring that could be heard, everybody was already asleep.
He took the tape out of its box and held it hesitatingly in his hand,
no longer sure it was a good idea. In his mind, he could already hear
Akane shouting "Pervert!". _If anybody wakes up,_ he thought, _I'm dead._
_That girl..._ He took a final look at the cover. There was something
special about her, something he couldn't really put his finger on. _Well,
I borrowed it, so I might as well watch it._
***
Despite the "ecchi" on the label, the movie started out innocent
enough.
The girl, Yuko, sat on the edge of a bed, dressed in a normal school-
uniform, and introduced herself. Her monologue was so life-like ... almost
as if she really did hold a dialogue with him. Like she was real.
It was late, he was tired, and the talking couldn't hold Ranma's
attention for very long. _She's so nice,_ he thought to himself. _I wish
she could be here for real. Everybody else seems to hate me._
He yawned, and drifted off to sleep.
***
When Ranma woke up, he still felt rather tired. He wanted to lie still
and fall asleep again, but the rising sun shone directly on his face, and
his position was not very comfortable. He opened his eyes slowly.
He was still in the couch by the TV, leaning his head to one side. A
large puddle of drool had formed by his mouth. The TV itself was running,
static coming out of the speakers as black and white fought for control
of the screen, and in front of it lay a girl.
... in front of it lay a girl.
Ranma woke up with a start, bouncing to his feet. His eyes had not been
decieving him. There, in front of the TV, was the video Girl, still
dressed in the school uniform. Ikegami Yuko. Now that he saw her in
person, her resemblance of Akane really was surprising. Their hair was
almost identical, both in color and shape, and their faces were very
similar. There were subtle differences, though - the kind that's hard
to put your finger on, but still easily recognizable. _Yuko's chest is
bigger,_ Ranma thought, inwardly embarrassed that he had noticed the
difference.
Apparently, his movement had disturbed her sleep. She stretched her
arms tiredly, slowly opening her eyes, and looked straight at him.
He stared at her, into her eyes, for a moment, opening and closing his
mouth a few times, before he came to his senses. He realised he didn't
have time to ask how she'd appeared.
"Yuko?" he asked her uncertainly.
"Yes?" she confirmed.
"We've gotta go." He looked worriedly towards the stairs. "If anybody
sees you here, we're both dead."
"OK." With a helping hand from Ranma, Yuko rose to her feet, and
straightened out her clothing.
He wrinkled his brow. _Where to?_ he thought, and the answer soon came
to him. "We'll go to my mother." It wasn't a good solution, but at least
it was *a* solution.
***
Kasumi looked worriedly at the empty seat at the breakfast table. "I
wonder where Ranma is? His food is getting cold, too."
"He can take care of himself." Genma-panda held the sign confidently.
"And I can take care of his food."
Akane was not convinced. It wasn't like him to be gone for the whole
night. What if something had happened?
***
A sleepy Nodoka opened her door. "Ranma?" she asked, surprised.
"Hi, mom. There's some problems at the dojo," he said hesitatingly, "do
you think we could stay here for a while?"
"We?" she asked, looking at him confusedly. A few moments passed before
she noticed the girl.
"Oh, you and your fia..." she begun, but it wasn't. The resemblance was
stunning, but the girl wasn't Akane. "Who's this?" she said, pointing at
Yuko.
"Oh, er," Ranma scratched the back of his head worriedly, "this is
Ikegami Yuko. She's a friend of mine."
His mother looked irritatedly at him. "Ranma, running away from your
fianc‚e with some other girl is not honorable. I'm not going to help you
do that."
"It's nothing like that! She's just a friend!" he stated hastily. "You
do have two guest rooms, don't you?"
She cast a suspicious glance at him, but gave in. "Yes. Come on in,
I'll soon have breakfast ready." Even if she was unsure about the girl,
having her son come for a visit was a pleasant surprise.
***
"How I appeared?" Yuko smiled. "Trough the TV, from the videotape, of
course."
Ranma looked at her confusedly. Sure, he'd seen a lot of strange things,
but somehow, magic coming from a piece of technology like a TV-set sounded
strange.
"Hey, don't look so glum! I'm here to cheer you up - that's all my
purpose in life!"
Ranma sighed. Why did everything that happened always just mean more
trouble for him?
"So," she asked, as her good mood obviously wasn't contagious, "what's
bothering you?"
***
"I'm not sure..."
Ranma fidgeted as they entered the dining-hall.
"You like her, don't you?" Yuko smiled. "After all, that's why you
choose me."
"Yeah, but ... she said she hated me..."
"I didn't think you were the type to get scared, Ranma."
"I'm not scared!" he stated firmly. "I'm just not sure it's the right
time..."
"If you want her to like you, you'll have to take every opportunity to
talk to her. Come on." She pointed towards the table where Akane sat,
alone.
***
It was midday, and he still hadn't showed up. Now Akane was *really*
worried. She prodded the soggy vegetables with her fork. She sighed, and
looked up ...
... and there he was - on his way towards her table.
But not alone.
_He was away all night,_ she thought, _and shows up at lunchtime ...
with some *girl*!_ As Ranma and the girl sat down, she stabbed a tomatoe
angrily. _How could I be so stupid? He's even getting *new* girls..._
***
Yuko sighed. He should be talking to her, but no, they both just sat
there, eating silently. How could she help him if he didn't follow her
advice?
"Excuse me, I have to visit the men's room." Ranma got up and walked
away.
She had to do something. "Nice guy, ain't he?" Yuko whispered when he
had gotten out of earshot. She looked at him, and winked
conspiratorically at Akane. "Cute, too."
Akane, of course, misunderstood.
_She stole my fianc‚ - isn't that enough? No, she has to *gloat* about
it, too!_
She reached for her mallet, furiously pulling it out of nowhere. Yuko
never knew what hit her.
***
Ranma pulled up his zipper, sighing heavily. It was hopeless. He'd seen
how mad Akane got as soon as she saw him. What was the point? She hated
him anyway.
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the hall outside, the sound of wood
hitting flesh - a sound he'd heard far too many times.
Concerned, he rushed out. A crowd of students had already had time to
form around Yuko, who lay unconcious on the floor.
Akane slowly backed away, anger dissipating. That was not supposed to
happen. She shouldn't ... get hurt.
Ranma picked up the body and walked off, heading for Dr. Tofu's.
***
Dr. Tofu finished applying the bandage to Yuko's head. "She'll be OK
now, she just needs some rest. Better be careful, though. She hasn't got
your physique, so one more hit like that might hurt her pretty bad."
"OK, Doc."
Yuko turned her head to smile at him.
Ranma smiled back. "So, you're awake now."
She nodded. "Ranma, you shouldn't worry about me."
"But ... it's my fault you got hurt."
"Ranma, it doesn't matter. I'm a video girl. I'm just here to cheer you
up - I don't want you to feel bad because something happened to me."
Inwardly, she sighed. _He's so nice,_ she thought. _So unselfish..._
Many would have disagreed, but they weren't there to tell her so.
***
"Well," Nabiki said to the family, as they were assembled at the dinner
table, "I've found out where Ranma is."
They all looked up at her.
"It seems he's staying at his mother's house."
Genma shuddered. "His life."
"There's some new girl with him, too."
Except for Akane, they stared at her in shock. Soun clutched his old
friend in his arms. "Saotome!" he cried, "We should never have broken the
engagement!" Tears ran down his cheeks.
***
"Nabiki?"
"Yes, Akane?" she answered, without looking up from her homework.
"How many have you told about the breaking of the engagement?"
"Oh, so far, just Ryouga." Inwardly, she smiled. After making Ryouga
promise he wouldn't tell anyone else, she'd told him the news at a
reduced charge. Now he'd probably dare ask Akane out, and when people
saw that, they'd pay really well to find out what was going on...
"Do you think you could ... like, not tell anyone else? Please?" Akane
looked pleadingly at her sister.
"Hmm?" Nabiki looked amusedly at her. "Why not?
"Er ..." Akane fidgeted. "Maybe, if the boys find out we're not engaged
any more, I'll have to fight them every morning again."
She raised her eyebrows. "I thought you liked the fights? Besides, I
hadn't even thought of that - I could earn some big money on betting
there." In her mind, Nabiki was already calculating the profits. "I'm
sorry, sis, but I don't think you can pay me enough to outweigh that."
"I'll do you a service. Anything!" Akane was starting to look rather
desperate.
"OK, OK." Nabiki sighed. "But I'm just doing it 'cause you're family."
"Thanks." Akane left the room. _I'm not going to give up on him, even
if he hates me._ She was not the type to give up - if she was, she'd have
stopped cooking long ago.
***
Ranma sat beside the bed, worriedly watching over Yuko sleeping body.
When he noticed Akane entering the room, she already stood next to him.
"You?" He looked at her, irritation obvious in her eyes. "What're YOU
doing here?"
"Ranma ..." she said, uncertainly, "I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? SORRY?" His temper was falling quickly. "You stupid tomboy!
It's a miracle she even SURVIVED!"
"But..." The apologetic look in Akane's eyes was starting to fade away.
"Why are you so damned violent? Some nerve, showing up here after what
you did!"
"RANMA NO BAKA!" With a crash, the mallet sent Ranma to the floor, and
she stormed out of the room, furious.
***
Akane sighed, staring emptily at the roof. He was right, of course.
_But still ... he didn't need to be so blunt about it._
***
Ranma clutched his head in his hands. _So stupid,_ he thought. _Why?
Why did I *have* to start insulting her again?_ He sighed. _I could've
said that a lot better.
***
Akane looked tiredly at the concrete in front of her. Without Ranma on
the fence beside her, the road to school somehow seemed so ... empty.
From the distance, a blue spot was quickly approaching.
"Ni..." Shampoo shouted, but let it die out when she noticed something
was amiss. She looked suspiciously at Akane. "Violent girl? Where you
hide Ranma?"
Akane smiled inwardly. "Oh, he and his father left on a new training
trip."
"Training trip?" Shampoo eyed her uncertainly. "When they come back?"
Akane shrugged. Keeping the smile from her lips was a struggle. "For all
I know, they might be gone for another ten years."
The chinese girl stormed off hurriedly, muttering something about
following...
***
TO BE CONTINUED
---------------
Find my other crap at "http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/creative/fanfic/".
---
[Tharkon^SMC] [Ronny Hedin] [2:200/505.8@fido] [thark@hem2.passagen.se]
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