Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ City of Dreams ❯ Leaving the Blind ( Chapter 2 )

It had been a horrible day. Kuno had managed to annoy Akane again at lunch and then later by having dozens of roses delivered in the middle of English class. She eventually snuck out the back of the school after her last class in hopes of avoiding the clueless bastard. She was tired and worn by the time she got home and informed Kasumi that she would be in the furo until dinner was ready. Kasumi watched worriedly as Akane disappeared into the furo. Nabiki came downstairs hearing her younger sister come home. She approached Kasumi.

 

“I'm giving her another week to solve this herself. She may never forgive me but she'd my sister and family always comes before money.” Nabiki said.

 

Kasumi smiled, not her usual `I'm an airhead' smile but a genuine smile of caring, “That's good to know. What do you have planned?”

 

“I've been collecting evidence of Kuno's behavior since this whole mess started. First I'll try to reason with him in the way only I can. If that doesn't work then we can sue the pants off of him for emotional and traumatic stress. If only it was as easy to get a restraining order here as it is in the United States then this would have ceased to be a problem months ago.”

 

“Do what you can sister. Whatever happens we can't let father know.” Kasumi warned.

 

“Yeah, there's no telling what he'll do if he finds out Akane's being harrassed. Remember when he thought that boy was following Akane at the carnival two years ago?” Nabiki reminisced.

 

“Oh yes, I recall it took you a week to raise the bail money to get him out.” Kasumi giggled.

 

Meanwhile Akane was soaking in the furo thinking about her day. Why did this have to happen to her? Maybe she should just give in and date the madman. Akane shuddered even in the warmth of the furo, she didn't want to do anything to actually encourage him. He was hard enough to deal with when she was fighting him every step of the way.

 

It wasn't too long until Kasumi called through the door that dinner would be ready soon. Akane sighed and got out of the furo and dried off. She stopped by her room to get dressed and headed downstairs. The family was seated already and Nabiki looked up with an uncharacteristicly reassuring smile.

 

Everyone ate dinner broken intermittently with insignificant small talk. No one wanted to broach the subject on everyone's mind. Namely Akane's problems. Although Soun was trying to come up with a way to ask his daughters what was happenning.

 

Dinner ended and Akane went to do her homework. After an hour of letting the algebra problems evade her grasp she gave up and readied for bed. It was early but she felt maybe if she got enough sleep tomorrow would be better. As she lay awake on her bed her mind drifted to her dream from earlier in class. Who was Ranma? She was sure she'd never met anyone like him before. He certainly wasn't the sort of man she normally dreamt or fantasized about. Why would her subconscious create such an interesting character? Akane dwelt on the subject a while longer, her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep were of a pigtailed boy nature.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Akane left her house in a better mood this morning. Going to bed early must have been a good idea she thought. She walked happily down the road to school. Today she had a plan to deal with the morning crowd. She was going to sneak around to the back side of the school and jump over the boundary fence then go in one of the side doors. By avoiding the hentai horde completely she figured she could actually get to class on time without getting dirty.

 

She started whistling an old tune her mother had sung to her as a child when she was startled by someone whistling with her. Looking around she noticed the boy from her dream walking along the top of fence next to her.

 

He looked down and gave a roguish grin, “I seem to have a bad habit of startling you. Sorry about that Akane.”

 

Akane stopped, “You're that boy from my dream.”

 

“Ranma Saotome at your service.” He said jumping to the ground next to Akane.

 

“So I'm dreaming again.” Her mood dropped.

 

“Is it important?” Ranma asked.

 

Akane wasn't sure how to take that, “Well it would mean you're not real.” Akane finally suggested.

 

Ranma laughed. Not a laugh of accusation or pity but one of someone who is truly happy, “No, I'm real enough I believe.”

 

Akane just shook her head, “I don't know what's going on but I'm going to be late for school.” She turned to leave. After a few steps she realized Ranma was walking next to her.

 

“I'm sorry you had to leave so suddenly last time, we didn't have a chance to finish our talk.” Ranma said after a moment.

 

“Hmm? What talk?”

 

“You said you were having problems at school.” Ranma reminder her.

 

“Oh, Well I think I have that solved for today at least.” Akane told Ranma of her plan to sneak around the hentai horde.

 

Ranma nodded thoughtfully, “That might work in the Blind but probably not here.”

 

“The Blind? And why not?” Akane asked.

 

“Oh, the Blind, the waking world. Where people walk with their eyes closed to what's around them. As for why it won't work, things behave differently here. You'll sneak around the school only to find yourself back at the front again or something equally ironic. That's a classic nightmare avoidance scenario.” Ranma explained.

 

Akane blinked. Definitely weird. She was worrying she'd have to start seeing a shrink soon.

 

“So what do you suggest?” She asked.

 

Ranma stopped and scratched his head, “Well I think I'd have to see the situation first to get a better idea of what you're dealing with. Maybe you should just let this play out with me watching. I'll be there for you if things get too weird.”

 

Akane was hesitant. She really disliked these school morning dreams, “Um, I'd like to avoid this all together if possible.”

 

“Well, I guess if you're too scared...” Ranma trailed off.

 

“What did you say?” Akane felt her anger rise.

 

“I'm just saying that if you're too scared to face these dreams then there's nothing I can do to help you.” Ranma replied.

 

“I am not scared! I'm a martial artist and I'm not afraid of a bunch of perverted boys! Besides, this is just a stupid dream anyway.” Akane growled.

 

Ranma shrugged but didn't say anything.

 

Akane stood quietly for a moment then grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled him towards the school. She'd show him! As they neared the school she could hear the gathered crowd. Suddenly they hentai horde surged forward like they did every morning since the beginning of the semester when Kuno made his stupid proclamation. Akane tore into them ducking and weaving as she threw bodies around. Soon the courtyard was cleared and Akane took a moment to wipe her brow.

 

Ranma jumped down from the fence he was watching from and clapped at Akane's victory, “Wow, you're pretty good!”

 

Akane gave him a wane smile that quickly fled as she reached out to catch the rose that was thrown her way. She secretly suspected Kuno watched sailor moon and had a tuxedo mask fetish.

 

“Once again we meet on the field of battle my dear Akane.” Kuno said as he stepped out from behind the nearby tree.

 

“So is this the guy who's been bugging you?” Ranma asked as he slowly walked around the man named Kuno.

 

Akane nodded wondering why Kuno had just kind of stopped and was just standing there. Ranma completed his circuit of the kendoist and stepped back towards the gates, “Sorry for interrupting. Please, continue.”

 

Kuno gave Ranma a dirty look then turned to Akane, “Once again I challenge you. For as I have proclaimed, only the one who can best you in combat is worthy of your hand.”

 

The fight that followed was short and very typical of Akane trashing Kuno. She left his unconscious body lying on the walkway and turned to Ranma. He had a troubled look on his face.

 

“You deal with this every morning?” He asked.

 

“Unfortunately, and lately whenever I sleep I go through something like this too. Although sometimes it's embarrassing.” Akane blushed slightly.

 

“Hmm, let me guess. You show up for school and realize you forgot to get dressed.” Ranma said. Seeing Akane's blush deepen he added, “Don't worry about it. It happens to everyone.”

 

“So what do you think?” Akane asked, changing the subject.

 

Ranma frowned, “I'll need to ask around and also check some things out as well. I'll get back to you. In the meantime, this is a dream, go do something besides school.” He grinned at her as he slowly faded leaving his smile to fade last.

 

Akane thought about it. Before she met Ranma she'd never been aware of dreaming while in a dream. What would I like to do more than anything? She decided she needed some ice cream to think it over.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Author's Rant:

 

Still confused? It will become clear as we go. I'm sure a lot of people are wonder just what I'm attempting here and from what reviews I've received just on the first chapter I am encouraged to keep going. Just keep in mind that other fics as well as school may slow down later chapters. I'm sure a lot of you are wondering just what Ranma is. Is he a dream figment of Akane's overstressed mind? Is he some sort of god, incubus, or spirit? Well all I have to say is... That is a secret.

 

**********

 

Ranma screamed, “Get back to the Enterprise and contact the Jurian fleet. They have to be warned that Goku's been assimilated by the Borg!”

 

Tenchi nodded and turned in grim determination only to suddenly stop and gasp in surprise.

 

There he stood, a perfect fusion of man and machine, glowing with a yellow aura as his long yellow hair fell down his back showing that he was at Super Saiyan level 3. His prosthetic eye glowed an evil red as he looked coldly down on the two other men, “I am Gokutous, you will join the collective or you will be destroyed. Resistance is futile.”

 

-Excerpt from Ranma and Tenchi's excellent adventure.