Eternal Sleep:? Part Six

Written by: Son Pan

No one spoke as they sat around the Tendo dining table. Kasumi busily served breakfast while she pleasantly hummed to herself. Soun sat at the head of the table, glaring from Ryouga to Akane and then down at his food. He sighed. Nabiki sat with one knee propped up, sticking past the table top. She tiredly poked at her food, yawning. Akane and Ryouga silently glanced at each other. The encounter with Shampoo earlier had left them both shaken a little. Kasumi set the final late down in front of Ryouga. As if on cue, everyone looked up and watched Ryouga. He paled and a small sweat drop slid down his head. Slowly he lifted his chopsticks, and scooped a bit of food onto them. He quickly ate the food, and that seemed to break the tension. Everyone else began eating again. Shortly, Kasumi came, and sat down next to Nabiki.

Soun quietly ate and Akane and Ryouga picked at their food. Nabiki put her knee down and leaned near Kasumi. She watched Ryouga, and then looked at her older sister.

In a low whisper she said: "That is definitely not Ranma. Just look at the way he eats." Nabiki poked at her food continuing. "Ranma eats like a pig no matter what mood he’s in. Even though Ryouga IS a pig, he’s barely touched it." She paused. "I bet it would all be gone if Akane had made it. I don’t know how anyone could eat it, toxic as it is. Oneechan? Are you listening to me?" Nabiki paused, and Kasumi turned and looked at Nabiki.

The oldest Tendo daughter, Kasumi, blinked and seemed somewhat confused. She asked, in a normal voice. "Ryouga is a pig?" Nabiki blinked, shocked.

Ryouga choked on his food and began coughing violently. Soun held his glass, half way to his lips and blinked. Akane frowned and looked at Kasumi. Ryouga continued choking as everyone’s eyes fell upon Kasumi. She put a hand to her cheek.

"Oh my…did I say something wrong?" She softly asked. Ryouga finally swallowed his food, and slammed both of his hands on the table. Akane’s glass fell over from the hard impact Ryouga made.

"How dare you call me a pig!" He shouted. Kasumi sat back, surprised. Akane put her hand out.

"Kasumi, that was uncalled for. Apologize." Akane ordered. Soun began crying.

"My little Kasumi!" Soun whined. Kasumi looked at Ryouga, who was glaring at her.

--Ranma must have possessed her!-- Ryouga maddenly thought. Kasumi looked at Ryouga and smiled.

"I’m sorry, Ryouga-kun. It must have slipped." Kasumi replied. At that point Nabiki rose.

"Finished. I’m leaving." With that she walked away and headed upstairs.

Ryouga’s mouth dropped as Kasumi apologized. He sat back, maybe Ranma didn’t possess Kasumi. A thought occurred to him suddenly. He smirked at Kasumi. -- Oh, you’re a good actor, Ranma…but not THAT good…I’ll get you.-- He thought. Akane set her chopsticks down.

"Well that ruined breakfast." She turned to Ryouga. "Are you done Ranma? I’ve no appetite." She said. Ryouga peeled his eyes off Kasumi. He nodded, standing with Akane slowly. Slowly they exited the dining room, leaving Kasumi and Soun alone.

The two of them started up the stairs. Akane seemed to smile as she climbed the steps.

"Funny that Kasumi said that." She said. Ryouga tensed up.

"Why is that?" Ryouga meekly questioned. Akane looked over her shoulder at him.

"Don’t be silly. You know Kasumi never insults anyone." She continued. "I wonder what Nabiki said to her."

Ryouga ran his hand through his thick black hair. He sighed. The two approached the head of the stairs. Akane turned and looked at Ryouga.

"You know…no one believes that you’re really Ranma." She stated.

Ryouga broke into a sweat. "Wha…what?" He mumbled.

"No one except me." She smiled. Ryouga tensed more. She looked at him, and then flicked his nose. He exhaled.

"What’s wrong, Ranma?" She said, looking up at him. Ryouga’s heart beat softly in his chest. Here he was so close to Akane. He could smell the scent from her hair. Feel her warm breath on his skin. He became mesmerized in her flawless eyes, lost in the pools of light. She smiled a lovely radiant smile and his heart fluttered. He felt like taking her into his arms, and holding her close to him. To feel her cool skin and soft lips. He smiled.

"Ranma? Ranma?" She called. Ryouga blinked and shook his head.

"Uh? Oh…" He faltered. Akane laughed.

"What were you thinking about, Ranma?" She questioned.

--Ranma…Ranma…Ranma…Ranma…-- The named dully echoed in Ryouga’s mind. Akane truly believed he was Ranma. His heart tightened. Elsewhere he heard Ranma’s words from earlier:

"She thinks you ARE me! Ryouga! How stupid can you get?! She only likes you because she thinks that I am you! She doesn’t like you! Not Ryouga Hibiki! She likes who she THINKS is in you! ME!"

Ryouga sighed and looked at Akane. Her smile had vanished and she was looking at him hard. More of Ranma’s words drifted in his head.

"… How do you think she could ever love you? When she finds out that you’ve been lying to her this entire time, do you think she is going to forgive you? Not on your life!"

"A-A-Akane-san…" He croaked. Akane blinked and looked at him.

"Yes…" She hesitantly answered. Ryouga looked at his feet. Then he forced himself to look up at Akane. His heart thudded against his rib cage.

"I…I want you to know that I can’t…be in Ryouga’s body forever." He stumbled over the words. Akane only listened to him. "Ranm…Ryouga has been kind enough to let me use his body this long already, but, I must go soon. I have to go on to the next level." He stopped to see if Akane was buying what he was telling her. --Oh Akane, forgive me for lying to you!--

"I…understand, Ranma." Akane said, sadly. She took his hand in hers. "How long do you have…until…" She trailed off. Ryouga couldn’t bear to play this masquerade any longer. He loved Akane, but he didn’t want her loving him, thinking he was Ranma.

"Not long, Akane-san. I don’t have long." He whispered. Akane lifted his hand. It was apparent that she didn’t see Ryouga at all, but only what she thought was Ranma.

"Then lets make this a goodbye we’ll both remember…" She whispered back, leaning towards him.

Ryouga’s throat constricted and he gasped. "Akane-san…I…can’t…" He whispered, but Akane didn’t hear him. She slowly closed her eyes. Ryouga looked down at Akane’s face, he shut eyes and pale skin. He wanted to reach out and embrace her. To give her what she expected, and more. He clenched his hands into fists, fighting the overwhelming urge. --If I do it, no one will know any different…-- He thought. Still he didn’t take her. Instead he backed away slowly. His heart ached, and he only wished he could make Akane as happy as Ranma made her. He turned away, tears forming in his eyes. Soon he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What’s wrong, Ranma?" Akane asked from behind. He felt his heart sink.

Did she HAVE to say Ranma each time she talked to him? Now the name was like a knife in the back. It was as if she was mocking him. He winced, as she slowly began to massage his shoulders. Shrugging her off he turned around.

"Akane, no. I can’t. This isn’t right." He said. Akane seemed bewildered. "I may be Ranma, but this isn’t my body. It isn’t right to use Ryouga like this." He lied. His heart sank more, knowing what he could be doing with Akane now. He cleared his mind.

-- How mature I am that I can do this. I may have wronged already, but Akane IS Ranma finance, not mine. I’ll respect that until she loves me for who I am.-- He thought. Akane looked at Ryouga.

"I understand." She said. He thought he could see tears in her eyes. She sniffed and looked up. "Still…," She continued. "How will he know?" Ryouga choked.

"Akane, no. I’m not going to do it. Let me remember you as the person I fell in love with. Not…this." He said. He surprised himself with the words coming from his mouth. Akane looked down at her feet.

"Very well." She muttered. Ryouga looked at the back of her head. He reached down and lifted her chin to look at him. Resisting the urge to kiss her, he took his other hand and wiped the tears that now streaked her cheeks. He thought of telling her that after he was gone, that he wanted her to be with Ryouga. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He wanted to win Akane on his own. He’d do it too.

He released her chin and looked up. Akane turned to see what he saw. He was merely staring at the wall. "Its time." He whispered. "Farewell, Akane-san."

"Oh…Ranma…" Akane cried. One of the bedroom doors opened and Nabiki walked out. She looked at Ryouga and then at Akane, then she looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh wow!" Nabiki exclaimed. "Look at that spider web! Akane, tell Kasumi she hasn’t been doing her job well at all!" Nabiki joked. Both Ryouga and Akane turned and looked at her, frowning. "Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your spider web watching contest." Nabiki teased. She waited a moment.

"What do you want, Oneechan?" Akane whined, waiting for Nabiki to leave. Nabiki looked at Ryouga.

"I’d like to go downstairs, Hibiki-kun." She said. Ryouga looked back and noticed he was blocking the stairs. He stepped aside and Nabiki took her first step down. She stopped and looked back at Ryouga. "I’d like to talk with you a moment, Ryouga. Do don’t mind, do you, Akane? Didn’t think so." With that said, she grabbed Ryouga’s arm and began dragging him down the stairs. Akane looked after the two shocked.

Nabiki pulled Ryouga into the kitchen. She released his limb and crossed her arms. She waited a moment and looked Ryouga over. "Alright, Mr. Smooth-move, you wanna explain what is REALLY going on? You don’t have me fooled for a second. Akane may be dense enough to fall for your sweet talk, but I’m not."

"Hey! Akane isn’t dense!" Ryouga defended. Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"See, Ranma would never say that. Now stop joking around." Nabiki scolded. Ryouga sighed. He stepped towards Nabiki so only a foot was separating them. He lowered his voice, barely above a whisper.

"I didn’t want to hurt her." He paused. "Ranma DID take control of my body. Once, for a short time. Once he left, Akane still thought I was Ranma. She seemed so happy that she could talk to Ranma, that I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was me again." Ryouga stopped.

Nabiki answered, not at all lowering her voice. "So basically you’ve been lying to her this entire time?"

Ryouga winced. "I remember now why I don’t like you." He stated.

Nabiki snored. "Consider it mutual." She stepped back from him. "How long are you planning to carry this out?" She questioned. Ryouga sighed.

"If you hadn’t interrupted, I would have already ended it." Ryouga answered, getting mad.

"Whoa!" Nabiki said. "What’s with the attitude?!" She commented. Ryouga clenched his fists together.

"Listen, I’ve resisted a lot of things in the past few days I that wish beyond wishes I could have accepted. What I’m doing may be wrong, but the only person whose getting hurt is me. I can take the pain, because along with this pain, I experience the happiness I brought to Akane."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "She only liked it because she thought you were Ranma."

Ryouga winced again. "Yes…I know. That is why I was going to end it. Now. Until you came…"

Don’t blame me, Ryouga. This is your own mess." Nabiki answered.

"Then let me finish it!" Ryouga called.

"Let me just make one thing clear to you, Ryouga." Nabiki stated. Ryouga listened as she leaned closer. "If you EVER try something like this again…" She paused. "Consult me first. For a price, I’ll teach you to be convincing." She smirked.

Ryouga’s jaw dropped. "Nabiki-san?" He called. Already Nabiki was heading towards the door, she walked out. He stood there baffled a moment. Then he shook his head. Nabiki certainly knew how to get him worried. He walked out of the kitchen and then moved over to the dining area. He walked over to the open door leading outside and sat in the doorway leading out. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them. Sighing he shut his eyes. It was sometime later when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. He lifted his head and looked at the hand. The he looked up at the face the hand belonged to.

"Hello, Ryouga-kun." Akane said, sitting herself down near him. He swallowed and sighed.

To Be Continued. . .