------------------------
| CHALLENGE OF THE HEART |
----- chapter three ----
***
Ranma looked at Akane, sitting at the desk in front of his. His eyes
were fixed on her short, black hair, and his mind pondered what lay beyond.
He wondered what she was thinking of, what was going on in her mind, what
she really thought of him.
Would he ever be able to understand? Did he want to?
***
Feeling observed, Akane turned around, immediately staring straight into
Ranma's eyes. At first, she was about to get irritated, shout at him, ask why
he was staring at her, but she stopped herself, bending her lips into a soft
smile, and with a wink, turned back to face the front of the class again.
***
When she turned around, Ranma's heart flew up to his mouth, and he started
moving his hands towards his face, already feeling the pain he was about to
recieve.
It never came, and he just kept staring, his jaw hanging dangerously low.
She ... smiled?
No, he'd never be be able to understand.
***
As they exited the classroom, Akane approached him, smiling uncertainly.
He returned the smile, keeping his mouth shut to avoid saying anything
potentially offending.
"Look, Ranma," Akane fidgeted, "Would you like to come over for dinner
today? I mean ... the others, they haven't seen you in a while, and ..."
_Just as long as you're not cooking._ Luckily, that was just a thought, and
he nodded. "Sure."
***
Everybody was silent as Kasumi put the food on the table. The air was
tense, and no-one was quite sure what to say, if anything.
Throughout the meal, the fathers kept looking expectantly at the pair, but
not even they dared speak, afraid to ruin everything.
Genma's hand crept slowly towards his son's plate. If the boy noticed, he
didn't reveal it. Closer... Closer... Then, the hand grabbed some of the
food, and brought it to its masters mouth, almost to fast for the eye to
follow.
Ranma still didn't acknowledge that he had noticed it. He just kept looking
at his food, eating in a normal - for him, snail-like - pace. _Mustn't..._ he
thought, hands itching to retaliate. _Musn't make a mess, or start a brawl._
They stared at him, stunned and surprised, like was he an alien. In fact,
something as ordinary as an alien probably wouldn't be considered too big a
deal, but Ranma letting someone steal his food?
Only Akane kept her mask, a slight smile creeping almost unnoticeably to
her lips. A slight smile, but one that, to Ranma, made up for the loss more
than well.
***
"Akane ..." Ranma's voice trembled as they stood outside the house.
"Tomorrow ... would you like to go to the movies? With me?"
"I'd love to!" She threw her arms around him. Just a short, soft hug, but
it was more than enough.
"Well..." Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously, blushing slightly
as he walked off. "See ya tommorow, then!"
Silently, a pair of old men cheered.
***
As darkness descended, Ranma lay on his futon, smiling at the ceiling.
That was ... unexpected, to say the least. Normally she wouldn't have spoken
to him for a week, perhaps more, after he lectured her like that. _Not gonna
complain,_ he thought.
Someone approached, soft footsteps traversing the dark room. A figure.
_Akane,_ was the first thought to come to Ranma's confused mind, but of
course, it wasn't.
Yuko, dressed only in her nightgown, knelt down beside the futon. As she
leaned towards him wordlessly, Ranma backed away, soon touching the wall
behind him. When her fingertips touched his chest lightly, he tried to shrink
further, tried to avoid her touch.
"Please," he whimpered, "please don't." He shivered, his voice sounding
somehow very patethic. "Please stop. Please."
Still not speaking, still with an expressionless face, Yuko rose again,
leaving the room as silently at the came.
Ranma remained sitting with his back against the wall for a long time.
_Why?_ he asked. _Why her too?_
***
Reaching to turn on the TV, Nabiki felt something was amiss.
The video. Still running.
Sighing, she turned it off, muttering something about sloppy family and
electricity bills.
***
As Yuko returned to her room, suddenly, something felt ... wrong.
She felt weak.
_Someone must've turned of the video,_ she thought. Her power was draining.
She wouldn't last for long without the renewal of power. A day. Perhaps
somewhat more.
Perhaps it was just as well.
***
Atop the fence, Ranma outwardly seemed as carefree as ever, but Yuko,
looking up at him from below, doubted that such was the case. He had been
avoiding her all morning, not speaking of what had happened the evening
before.
She was supposed to be perfect. Young, beatiful, innocent yet charming.
But ... he had seemed almost scared of her.
She appeared because he was in desperate need of some cheering up. Had
she suceeded? All her attempts had just made things worse, made his life more
miserable.
Was she a total failure?
Yuko sighed. "Ranma?"
"Y ... yes?" His voice was still trembling.
She quickened her pace and walked a few steps ahead of him, turning around
so she could look into his eyes. "Ranma, can we go out together this
evening?"
He stopped. "I ... I dunno..."
She looked at him, eyes large and pleading, watering slightly.
"Er ..."
"Please?" Her voice was low, almost unhearable.
Even Ranma had some weaknesses, among them girls on the verge of crying.
"Y-yes, sure, of course."
"Thanks." She wiped her eyes and they continued towards school.
***
Ukyou forced herself to look at the photo. A handsome mid-teen boy, his
black hair tied into a pig-tail, smiled charmingly at her.
When he said he just came for the food, she had finally seen the truth,
seen trough the lie she had been living for too long.
In a swift motion, she violently tore the photo apart, to match her broken
heart.
***
That day, after school, Ranma hesitated again.
He'd asked Akane out, and she had accepted. As he walked home that evening,
he had already been looking forward to it. He had to go. Akane ... she would
hate him - really - and she would have all reason to do so.
And yet ... Yuko ... she had seemed so desperate, almost like her life
depended on it.
He hated no-win-scenarios.
***
Yuko stood at the top of the hill, leaning against a tree, looking at the
stars, and at the city. She looked so ... pale. Like she really was dying.
"So ... you came." It was just a whisper. She sank to her knees, no longer
able support herself.
Ranma increased the pace of his steps, catching her before she fell to the
ground. "Yuko," he said, concerned, "what's wrong?"
"I'm ... so sorry..." Deep regret was in her voice. "So sorry I failed,
messed everything up."
She slowly faded away, leaving Ranma sitting alone, holding thin air.
"No..." he whispered. "NOOOOO!" A helpless cry.
Everything so wrong.
***
Akane sat outside the house, cold and lonely, sobbing quietly into her
arms.
Sad and angry.
He asked her out ... raising her hopes, making her so happy ... and then,
he just didn't come.
Why?
Why?
***
AUTHOR'S NOTES!
---------------
All C&C deeply appreciated, no matter how unimportant it may seem!
Email me (thark@swipnet.se) or use ICQ (UIN 181261). For other
stuff, check out "http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/creative/fanfic/".
Is this the end? I'm not certain. There *is* a fair number of hanging
threads (not just the Ranma/Akane-relation, which I never intended to fully
solve). What happens with the tape / cover? What's Ryouga up to? What'll
Shampoo and her great-grandmother do? Those, and others, are questions I'm
not sure I really want to, or even should.
Big thanks to all who've commented on the previous chapters, Megane 6.7 (who
issued the challenge without which I wouldn't have known how to start), and
of course, Takahashi Rumiko and Masakazu Katsura.
---
Ronny Hedin, thark@swipnet.se, http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/
Serve the Mushroom Cloud!