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Finding Alice’, Rayne no Akai Hinageshi

First Component: Chapter Five: Deliverance

Author’s note: I here by disclaimed the ownership of Ranma ½, the property of Takahashi Rumiko as well as Haou Airen, the property of Shinjo Mayu. They are not mine anymore than there’s a silly technical glitch on FFN which is preventing me from uploading my chapter… grr…

For those who ever thought about giving up on romance, remember this…

…when you’re in love, you can do anything…

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It began to snow lightly.

He did not notice it at first because the flakes would melt just as it touched his skin, making it felt as it was just a thick mist. But then as it got harder he began to notice the tell-tale sign of fleeting white fluff drifting ever so slowly down from the sky.

Ranma smiled as he watched the creamy puffs fell. It looked like they would be having a white Christmas this year.

‘Just like last year,’ the pigtailed man noted, recalling the memory of his last Christmas here at the Tendo residence. Karaoke singing was not his strong suit - nor was getting on a stage dressed up as a woman for that matter – but it was still one of the most wonderful memories of his life.

Hopefully this year would be even better.

Ranma and Akane stopped in front of the dojo’s door, having made their way from the main compound onto the snow-dusted stone path and to the smaller building. Akane gave him an annoyed, ‘come on, hurry up’ look and quickly went inside. He stared after her for a moment before slipping off his shoes and follow suit. The single light on the ceiling was already switched on; indicating that someone was already here in the dojo before the two of them has arrived. He cast his eyes about the dojo trying to find that person; just before he was half way through a voice called out to them from their right.

“Well, it’s about time you got here Akane-chan; I thought my nose was going to freeze right off,” Satoshi said to Akane, rubbing his hands together to keep warm.

“Serve you right. You deserve it from the way you’re teasing me at the dinner table,” Akane shot back, making her way passed Ranma and over to shorthaired boy.

“Don’t be so vindictive, Akane-chan; it doesn’t suit you,” Satoshi replied with usual witting remark. “The long hair and martial art obsession is already a clash enough. A cute girl can’t rightfully be a hard-assed bitch as well.”

Akane pouted, he called her a hard-assed bitch but said she was cute in the same sentence – that was just not fair.

While the two were exchanging this light banter, someone was feeling more lost than Ryoga Hibiki himself. That someone was none other than our martial art extraordinaire protagonist, Ranma.

On the way back to Nerima he practically skipping with anticipation and excitement. After dinner he was feeling oddly disappointed and annoyed. Then he met up with Akane in the garden and was lead here in a cloud of suspenseful deliberation and conjecture.

Then he found out that this Satoshi guy has been here waiting. And now he did not know what to think.

Should he be surprise? Should he be confused and angry? He was feeling a pang of jealousy and betrayal – were these feelings justified? Should he yell out in pain and demand retribution? Or was he just being an insensitive, overbearing, presumptuous and disproportionately possessive ‘baka’ like she so often accused him of? Or was this all a ‘bullshit’ test – a paradoxical, convoluted, surprise pop-quiz which is supposed to test a man of his so-called true feeling. If so, should he then get jealous and proves that he was really in-love with her? Or should he acts cool and collect in order to show her that he can be understanding and emphatic to her needs for cross gender friendship? Or should he…

Shut the hell up! Just shut the—

“Ranma,” a familiar voice, one that have been plaguing his dreams and daydreams for a long, long time, called out to him.

“Akane,” Ranma said in reply, smiling ruefully at her. A briefest hint of confusion flashed across Akane’s eyes. She muttered something which he could not quite make out before turning to Satoshi.

“Have you told him?” She cryptically asked her ‘friend’.

“Yea, sorta,” the shorthaired man said evasively – trying to pass it off as him simply being flippant about the whole thing, and not that he, too, was well aware of what was to come. “I mean, I hadn’t really had the time, you know?”

“Baka…,” Akane groaned in disgust.

“Told me what?” he said in an unreadable tone whilst chanting denials on the inside.

“Ranma,” Akane began slowly, turning to him with a serious expression on her face. “Kousuke here isn’t just my friend; he’s also my boyfriend as well. We haven’t told you earlier because we didn’t want Dad and uncle Genma to hear about it and freak out.”

Ranma could only nod; what else could he do? It probably makes sense - in a weird, convoluted sort of way that his mind could not clearly grasp right then and there.

Taking Ranma’s nod as a sign of acquiescent, Akane simply ploughed on with her partially scripted speech.

“I’m not sure you’d notice but Dad and Uncle are still going on about their outdated dream of marrying the schools together – that’s why we’re keeping our relationship under wrap for the moment,” she continued on, oblivious to the faraway look that Ranma had in his eyes.

“Now, I know we haven’t actually discussed what we’re going to do about our parents but I really don’t think it’s going to be a problem, right? I mean we will just go on living life however we want at the Uni and wait until we’re both twenty-one before breaking the news to them.”

“That sounds about right, right? Ranma, what do you think? Hm?” she concluded rapidly, still not meeting Ranma’s eyes.

“Yea I guess…,” Ranma replied plaintively. He offered Akane a weak laudatory smile, his mind filled with thoughts that were exact opposite that.

‘What about us, Akane?’ he wanted to say. ‘What about our promise? Weren’t we in-love – regardless of what our parents say?’

Knock! Knock!

The three youths turned their attention toward the dojo’s door – who could it be? Soun? Genma?

Akane looked to Satoshi who nodded in respond before she walked over to open the door while Ranma still stood there in deep stupor.

“Oh it’s just you,” Akane commented, sounding somewhat relieved as she stepped out of the way to reveal a shivering Nabiki.

The crafty-looking young woman was standing there sporting a look of surprise when she saw the three of them. She trained her gaze back onto Ranma, her eyes widened in realization.

“So you’ve just told him?” Nabiki turned to Akane and asked, completely ignoring Akane’s comment.

“Told him? Akane said in confusion. She stared at Nabiki for a moment before it finally came to her. “About Kousuke-kun? Oh yeah, I did.”

“That’s good,” Nabiki said, nodding imperceptibly. “Then you and Ranma can come with me; Dad and uncle Genma are looking for the two of you.”

“Alright,” Akane replied. She shuffled into her shoes and turned around beckoning at Ranma to follow suit. “You’re coming, Ranma?”

The pigtailed boy shook his head as if to clear it before stumbling after her numbly.

However – just as he was about to cross the landing out into the snowing outdoor – a pair of deceptively thin hands seized his arm and stopped him. He spun around only to find that it was Nabiki who grabbed him. She was staring into his eyes, studying him intensely with those calculating brown eyes of hers.

“No tears, no angry flushes…,” Nabiki commented plaintively before giving him a incredulous look. “You’re actually okay with this aren’t you?”

Ranma was not. But then, it was probably a good idea for Nabiki to believe that he was so he decided against contradicting her and just stood there.

“You must’ve had tons of girls throwing themselves at your feet so I guess it’s a bit silly to think you haven’t move on from your small town sweetheart,” Nabiki rationalized. She turned away, looking a little disappointed. She let go of Ranma’s arm and padded after her sister without saying another word.

Some parts of Ranma wanted to try to rectify that misunderstanding but the foremost thing on his mind right then was Akane.

Ranma followed the two of them out, leaving Satoshi standing there alone in the training hall. He quickly made his way back to the house and entered the living room through the veranda.

“Ah Ranma, mah boy – what took you shoo long?” Genma slurred. He did not look bothered by the fact that he had to wait at all. It was probably because he was drunk.

Ranma shrugged.

“Well, you’re here now shoo we can begin,” Soun stated, sounding equally drunk as Genma.

“Right, right, I’ll just get straight to thah point then,” Genma said, gesturing widely, spilling sake from the bottle in his hand. “Now, I know we agree to let the two of you finish your education first before tying the knot but when we shaw how you danced around each other during dinner…,”

Ranma did not like that sneer his father had on his face.

“…well, let’s just shay we couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful, eh, Ranma-kun. Akane-chan,” Soun finished for his old friend. They leant on each other, smiling and giggling like two crazed fools the whole time.

“Dad! Uncle! We’re not even twenty yet – there’s no need to hurry,” Akane protested, blushing slightly at her parent’s attic. “Besides’, you’re both drunk. Come on, Ranma, help me out here.”

‘Why? There’s no need. You’ve done enough protesting for both of us,’ Ranma thought spitefully.

“If that’s all you wanted me for then I’m going to bed,” he flatly told the two men before getting up.

That stopped them cold. They stared at each other in confusion.

“What’s his problem?” Genma grumbled to Soun.

“Nathing…, the boy’s probably tired or something,” Soun said unworriedly. “He’ll be right as rain by tomorrow – right, Akane-chan?”

“Yeah…,” Akane said, nodding along slowly.

‘What’s gotten into him?’ she wondered to herself.

Ranma stomped passed the kitchen and into the hallway. He made it to the base of the staircase when he bumped into Kasumi.

“Ranma-kun!” she uttered in surprised. She had to quickly lift the load of folded laundry to the side in order to avoid a collision with the pigtailed youth. She scowled – annoyed at having to use a split infinitive when Ranma should have known better. “Please watch where you’re going.”

Ranma offered her a curt little apology before continuing on up the stairs like nothing had happened.

Kasumi stared after him. She felt that something ominous was about to happen but could not quite put a finger on it.

Upstairs in the guest room, Ranma was lying on the futon feeling like the world was a hundred miles away. His thoughts kept circling around the same topic – a name that was like a quirky pop song that you sometime have stuck in your head.

Except the one he had would not go away.

Nothing unless you do something about it.

Ranma scowled. But really, what could he do? It was Akane choice was it not? He could not rightfully demand anything of her.

But she’s your fiancée.

True. But then again it was only their parents’ idea. An engagement that only existed in name was no more concrete a bond than that of a truce between two enemies.

But you two were together for over two years!

Yes, but two years of having to share him with half dozen other girls with similar engagements. It would hardly count if it ever did at all.

But you love her and she l—

“Enough!” Ranma said aloud. He got up in a huff and went to the door. His head was spinning. He needed air and a maybe a glass of water. He walked down the corridor heading for the stairs feeling listless and anxious. Just as he was about to walk passed Akane’s room he spotted a small band of light coming from underneath the western style door.

‘She’s still awake?’ he thought arbitrarily. Should he…?

“Thinking about confronting her, Ranma-kun?” someone said in a low voice from behind him.

Ranma froze. He had not been snuck on like that for almost a year. It spooked him a little. He spun around and relaxed when he saw that it was only Kasumi. Before he could deny or even say anything Kasumi had already continued speaking.

“Are you sure that’s a wise decision?” she asked him in a serious tone. It sounded unlike anything that Ranma ever heard Kasumi used during his stay at the Tendo’s. “Have you thought of what you’re going to say?”

“I wasn’t thinking—,” he tried to say but was cut off once again by the longhaired girl.

“Exactly – you weren’t thinking. Just like you won’t be thinking when you walk in there half-cocked and confront my little sister about things she shouldn’t have to deal with – not from you,” Kasumi rebuffed austerely.

Ranma wanted to argue with her – after all, no one wants to be scold at – but his brain was still trying to process the thought of Kasumi Tendo telling him off. It just seemed unreal to him no matter how he looked at it.

“Did you know that I dated Dr. Tofu for about a month while you and Akane were away?” Kasumi said softly. The sudden change of topic caught Ranma off guard and he was still scrambling to catch up when she continued on talking.

“Yea…,” she practically whispered. “It was what everyone was expecting. Apparently it was common knowledge that Ono has been carrying a torch for me for years. So that why no one was surprised when we started going out.”

She sighed at the memory.

“He was kind, considerate and a perfect gentle in any situation whatsoever. Any situation except of course, the ones that concern me,” she said, laughing bitterly. “Whenever I was with him he was a bumbling idiot. It was funny at first – adorable even. But it got old. I eventually couldn’t stand it anymore and we stopped talking,”

Kasumi turned to Ranma and gave him a sad smile.

“And you know what I’ve learn from the whole thing, Ranma?”

The pigtailed martial artist shook his head slowly.

“I’ve learned that it’s pointless to keep trying that when you know that what you’re doing is futile. No matter how much you loved someone, if you couldn’t be with him then it’s doomed.”

“I know you think you love her, Ranma,” Kasumi told him seriously. “But you’ve had two years with her and it didn’t work out. You two were engaged for crying out loud, and yet you’ve never gotten along. So think about it – can you really blame her for moving on? Can you, in all honestly, blame her for not pining after you years and years without any gratification like some love-sick schoolgirl? Can you?”

“…I don’t know,” Ranma said earnestly after a short moment of silence. “I really don’t know.”

Kasumi looked at the thoughtful and troubled boy with sympathy. It was a hard pill to swallow – that, she could account from her personal experience.

“Just think about what I said before you do anything, okay?” she told him before leaving him alone for the night.

Ranma watched her walked away with heavy heart.

‘What should I do?’ he asked himself silently, turning back to the wooden door-sign that said ‘Akane’.

Before he could decide one way or another the door handle began to turn. Ranma nearly jumped out of his skin. He quickly jumped up and attached himself to the ceiling like a spider. His heart beat loudly, threatening to burst out of his chest.

And then he spotted him coming out of Akane's bedroom.

Him was none other than Satoshi Kousuke, Akane's boyfriend.

Ranma waited silently as he quietly closed the door and padded stealthily away. Only when he was completely out of sight did Ranma allowed himself to drop to the ground and started breathing.

He eyed the closed door once again before eventually he too walked away.

Somewhere out in the city, a distance bell began to sound, signaling the end of one day and the beginning of another.

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Author’s note: Sorry everybody for the delay. I’m doing a double degree course this year in Uni and it’s a lot of hassle. Luckily I’ve managed to avoid any clash thus far but that didn’t help all that much. Before I know it, it was already Easter break.

Sigh

That’s life, huh?

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p.s. By the way, a review would be nice. My new fic is kinda letting me down on the review department. I didn’t expect a lot or anything but four is admittedly a bit disappointing for me.