Rejected
Part 2 - Monday - Engagement's End
By Lord Archive
This is dark. If you’re looking for my usual comedy, you won't find it.
Characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Video, etc..., and are
used without permission. I'm only borrowing them. I'll return them. I
can't afford the overdue charge Nabiki insists on.
--------------------------------
I sit in class, but my mind is not on the teacher. Ranchan isn't in
class today. This wouldn't worry me too much if Akane weren't absent
too. They're probably on one of his odd adventures. If they are, why
haven't they asked me for help? I am Ranchan's cute fiancee after all.
He probably just wants to keep me out of harm’s way.
Hmm... Lunch time in a second. I can track down Nabiki and find out
from her. I don't like having to pay her for information, but it's
necessary.
When the bell rings, I quickly rush out of class. I know Nabiki will
likely be outside, since she likes being easily available to her
customers. I wonder what she does with all that money she makes. I
probably paid her college tuition by myself.
I see Nabiki's cohorts working as intermediaries, but she is nowhere
in sight. That's odd for her. I go up to one of her 'friends' and ask,
"Where's Nabiki?"
"She's spending lunch with Kuno. If you want anything, I'll try to get
it," is the reply.
"Do you know where Ranma and Akane are?"
"Boss didn't tell us."
Nabiki always kept them appraised of Ranma's and Akane's activities
because that information can be easily sold. Something major had to
have happen for her not to tell them. Nabiki isn't someone that'd
make a mistake and forget or neglect to tell them.
I try to push it out of my mind. What could have possibly happened?
Both of them being sick would not be enough. If Ranma had hurt Akane,
she'd be selling it to get revenge. Maybe Akane really hurt Ranma
badly in one of their fights. She'd cover it up to protect her sister,
and to keep Ranchan safe while he recovers. If that's the case, Akane
is going to be in a world of hurt.
-----------------------------
I walk up to the Tendo home. I really hate it that Ranma lives here
with Akane. Why can't he live with me? I'm his cute fiancee after all.
He should be with me, and not with her.
I knock on the door. Kasumi greets me, "H-hello Ukyou, what can I do
for you?" She's looking at me with a sad smile. What the hell has
happened to cause her to look sad?
"I didn't see Ranchan in school today, so I thought I'd stop by and
see how he's doing."
"How nice. Could you please wait here a moment?"
I'm scared. Something has happened. Something bad. I want to run
through the house and find Ranma, but I nod. I'm overreacting, I tell
myself. Why does it seem to be such a lie?
Akane now greets me. I could see she's been crying. I don't want her
to say anything. I'm afraid... afraid that Ranma might be... NO! I
can't think that. Ranma is alive. But why do I have the strong feeling
of death around me then?
"Hi Ukyou, we need to talk," Akane says, her voice cracking.
"Ah, sure..." I don't know how else to respond.
Akane sits down, against the wall. She motions for me sit next to her.
"Why don't we talk inside or in the dojo?" I ask.
Akane reacts visibly when I said dojo. I'm not sure what to call the
reaction, but it certainly suggests that she really didn't like that
idea.
"Let's just talk here. I... I'll explain everything," Akane says.
I have a greater foreboding. I can't get the idea out of my head now
that Ranma might of... in the dojo... "Is Ranchan..." The trembling
in my voice probably reaches 7.0 on the Richter scale. I don't sit
down as much as I collapse next to Akane.
"Ranma is fine," Akane says. Why is she playing with the ring on her
finger? I don't remember her wearing a ring before.
Akane is on the verge of tears, and begins, "Y-yesterday... Ranma's
mother came here in search of him." Ranma got to see his mother? That
should be good news? "She hadn't seen him since he was four, when
Uncle Saotome took him away to train." That jackass took Ranchan away
from her for that long! "Before they left, though, they signed an
agreement..." Akane was crying now. "... that if Saotome Ranma wasn't
a man amongst men that... they'd commit S-Seppuku." The life drains
from my face. "I was able to save Ranma... but not his parents. We
tried to convince his mother Ranma is a man, but she all she could see
was his cursed body."
Akane looks at me with such a horrible sadness in her eyes. "She
rejected him. His own mother couldn’t even stand the sight of him.
What's worse... after Ranma watched his father... die she had him
be her second. She had him help kill her."
Oh Kami-Sama, that's horrible! How could such a thing happen?
"Ranma needs you as a friend right now. Don't mention anything about
fiancees or anything else. Just be a friend, and don't reject him."
"Why would I reject him?"
"To save Ranma, to save the man I love, I married him. I made him
Tendo Ranma so he would not have die with his parents."
"How... HOW COULD YOU?!" I scream in outrage. "If he married anyone, it
should've been me! I'm his fiancee!"
"I was his fiancee too..." Her look is initially of anger, but it
relaxes. "...and I love him. I had to marry him. If I didn't, he'd be
dead. Not because his mother would've made him kill himself, but
because _I_ would've rejected him. He can't take rejection of any sort
right now. Even with everyone in my family trying to make him feel
loved and accepted, at no time will we let him be alone. We're afraid
that he still might kill himself because his mother could not accept
him."
Rejected.
Even through my anger that she took Ranchan from me... that word
reaches me. Ranma was rejected in a far worse way than he had
unknowingly rejected me. He just ran off, I always had the chance
of finding him and being accepted again. Ranma can't do that,
because his mother is dead.
Even though I can never be his wife and love now, I can still be
accepted as a friend. But, he'll never have any form of acceptance
from his mother. His own mother, who in her rejection of him, took
away his father and had him behead her.
Ranma needs a friend now, and not a jealous girl beating him or... his
wife up.
I close my eyes, trying to control my emotions. "Akane... I love Ranma
and I will not reject him because you married him. We WILL talk about
this later, after Ranma is feeling better."
Akane gives me a little smile and nods. We get up and walk inside the
home. I see Akane frown when we enter the dining room. Ranma is
playing shogi with her father.
Most of the times I've seen Genma in the past year, he was sitting
where Ranma is now. I doubt it's a good idea for Ranma to remind
himself about his father, nor for Mr. Tendo to be reminded that he
just lost his friend.
"Hi, Ranchan," I greet him.
"U-Ucchan... hi," he returns the greeting nervously. Mr. Tendo takes
the chance to cheat. Ranma makes no effort to stop him.
"Akane told me everything," I say. I want to say more. Probably scream
at him, asking him why he didn't ask to marry me instead of Akane. But
he looks so much like a lost puppy. Cold, alone, and without hope are
what his eyes tell me.
"Everything?" Ranma begins to study the shogi board.
"Yeah. I would've liked to have been invited to your wedding." As the
bride.
"Sorry. We didn't really have any time to invite any guests."
"I understand." I sigh. "Ranma... I'm really sorry about your parents,
and I want you to know I'll always be your friend."
"Thanks." He gives me a ghost of a smile.
"Ranma, why don't we sit around the table and talk?" Akane suggests.
Ranma nods. He moves one piece on the shogi board first. Mr. Tendo's
jaw drops, seeing as Ranma won the game with that move.
I sit down at the table. Akane sits down on another side. Ranma sits
down next to her. I don't think he realizes he just put his arm around
her. He seems... happier with the contact though.
We start talking about nothing in general. I talk about how school
went today. They're pretending to be interested.
I hate the sight in front of me. Ranma is in great emotional pain. A
pain I never want to see etched into his face, but I am seeing it.
That I might be able to deal with if I was the one truly helping him.
But I'm not, Akane is. Akane is his life line. Akane is the person he
yearns to be accepted by, not me.
I offer my love unconditionally and he's cast it aside in favor of
someone else's love. I want him to accept my love, to accept me
unconditionally. He isn't. He is only accepting my friendship. I'll
take it, because if I don’t... I have no one. No one but an
okonomiyaki restaurant filled with strangers and acquaintances. I have
no other friends than the two Tendos in front of me.
Tendo suddenly seems to me like a curse word like Saotome was during
my childhood. Actually Saotome is a curse word to me now. Mrs. Saotome
may have let Ranma live, but her actions still took him away from me.
I make my stay short. I can no longer see Ranma right now. The pain is
too much.
They walk me to the door and bid me farewell. My body is pretty much
on autopilot at the moment. I see what's going on, but I don't feel
like I'm part of it.
I give them a final wave good-bye from the gate. I watch them turn and
walk into the house.
Sometimes I hate being a martial artist. This is one of those times. I
notice now how Akane is walking a little differently. Most people
would miss it, but I can't. It's part of my training to read my
opponents movements to find weaknesses. That skill tells me Akane has
been hurt in some way between her legs. That Akane is not Ranma's wife
just in name if I'm right in just how she was 'hurt' there.
I want to scream. I want to destroy. I want to kill her.
I walk from the Tendo home. I'm probably crying. I can't tell. I feel
my mind shutting down, cutting off the pain.
I now wonder what's worse: Ranma not being able to be accepted by his
mother anymore because she's dead or me not being able to be accepted
by Ranma because... he loves someone else. Her rejection of him is
just as irrevocable as mine, but mine is compounded by the fact I'll
see him and his rejection repeatedly.
Ranma never has to be reminded of his mother's rejection. I shake my
head. That's wrong. Little things will always remind him of his
parents. Like when Ranma left me all those years ago, it was the small
things that reminded me he left. The lack of the yatai didn't remind
me too much of him. But a week after he left the sight of dust that
started to collect on the first aid kit had sent me crying for hours.
Odd that I would be reminded of him by a box I had to use regularly to
heal my injuries he had inflicted on me. Maybe it was because I wanted
it to heal my emotional injuries and not just the physical ones.
I arrive at my restaurant. I see a couple people are waiting for me to
open. I let them in with me, letting them know it'll be several
minutes before the grill will be ready.
I see the guy pull a knife. I wonder where this guy is from. If he's
from around here, he's really stupid.
"Give me all your money!" I hear him order me.
I really don't want to see what my face looks like right now. I
probably look like a tiger just before it delivers the killing blow.
Without a word, I pull my combat spatula off my back and start playing
racquet ball. The so called thief is the ball. After bouncing him off
the walls three times, I miss him on the return as his body flies
past me. I look at the others that came in with him. They fight to get
out of my restaurant. I can smell the fear that I placed in them.
I scope the guy I bounced around up with my combat spatula and carry
him to the garbage cans. I dump him in one.
I take a breath. I HATE it when I get that way. Such rage and anger is
Akane's turf. I normally have better control. Right now I have far too
little. Ranma is the cause of it, even if it’s not really his fault.
I look at the thief. He'll live, but he'll be purple for a while.
"Taking out the trash I see," I hear Nabiki's cold voice say.
I turn and look at her. I'm not sure what emotion I'm projecting right
now. "He picked a really bad time to try and rob me. I just... talked
to... Ranma."
"I see." I see to. Her voice may be calm and cold, but her eyes carry
what she really feels. "How is he?" Seeing concern from her almost
scares me for some reason.
"I guess he's fine. He's holding onto... his wife desperately." I'm
sure I said 'wife' like it was the most vile word I know.
Nabiki nods. "How are you?"
"Besides, just finding out the love of my life just lost his parents
and married someone else, not bad." The joys of sarcasm.
I see Nabiki flounder, trying to think of something to say. My finding
out what happened yesterday must not have been anywhere in her plans.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not going to hurt Ranma or Akane, the pain
they face is far worse than what I could or would ever inflict on
them."
Nabiki nods again. "Well, I'm rather busy. See you around." She
disappears around the corner quickly.
I reenter my restaurant. It takes but a couple minute to open it for
business. I mark cracked wall planks down to be repaired later. I
begin to absorb myself into my work.
Time is passing with little notice on my part. I do what I do best,
make okonomiyaki.
I should be happy with the brisk business, but it feels empty now.
What's the point without love, the love of the man I love?
Mrs. Saotome, a woman I never met, has ruined my life like her husband
did ten years ago. They both took the one I love from me. How could
she not accept Ranma? She's his mother, and she should accept him
regardless of what he looks like. Parents should give unconditional
love not unconditional rejection. If that woman wasn't already dead,
I'd kill her.
I really wish that were true: unconditional love from your parents. I
would be looking a lot more like a girl right now if that was the
case. They couldn't accept a rejected daughter, but could accept an
odd son.
I want this to be over. Over how? I don't know now. I just want it
over.
I suddenly realize something. It is over. The agreement between my
father and Genma was resolved last night. The one who entered into it
dishonorably has redeemed himself. The one who ruined my childhood
has committed Seppuku. The reason that held me to being a boy is now
over. True my vow of revenge was not upheld, but it's obvious to me
now I could've never fully went through with it.
All that I was for the past ten years is no more. It has ended
honorably. True I would’ve preferred it if Ranma had married me, but I
can go home now as a girl. Nothing holds me as to this life. I am free
to chose my own path.
Nice thoughts. They help me. But if Ranma had to give up being a
Saotome last night, why couldn't he choose to be a Kuonji? I love him,
and yet another woman now shares his bed.
Life really sucks. It just threw me a bunch of lemons. I guess I
should make lemon okonomiyaki then. I chuckle dryly to myself at that
thought.
The day ends. I clean up the restaurant with practiced ease. I walk up
to my room and try to go to sleep.
Sleep doesn't want to come. I'm tried. Tried and lost. Lost and
without love. Without love, I am nothing. I am directionless now. Love
had given me direction, but it's been rejected. I must find a new
direction or I'll end up like Ryoga, always asking the way to
somewhere but never finding it. Finding what? Love and acceptance.
----------------------
Author's notes:
Thanks to all who’ve sent C&C on this series so far, especially
Gary Kleppe.
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