Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Ranma left with Kaibutsu at around five-thirty, the box with the saké held firmly by the plastic loops. He was wearing his nicest black pants and the green Mandarin-style shirt that his mother bought for him in China when he was seventeen. The shirt had been accompanied by a barrel of NannÄ«chuan for him, his father, Mousse and Ryouga, as well as a flask of NyannÄ«chuan for Shanpu. It was so easy, the cure… That was the last day that they had all sat in a room together as friends. Ranma had never seen any of them again without looks of disappointment or anger on their faces, or in the case of Shanpu, with a look of sadness.

Ranma, in all his brutal honesty with himself over the past few years, never let himself feel good about that day. Ending his curse was not even remotely what it was supposed to be. He never thought it would bring so much pain to him. Shaking his head briefly, Ranma looked down at Kaibutsu and smiled a little. Not everything was so terrible.

Ono Tofuu's clinic was unchanged, except for the addition of a much larger living space out back. Ono was out front, sweeping the stoop and flipping the sign to “Closed.” He was wearing the same gi he had on the last time Ranma had been to visit him. Ranma hesitated at the end of the walkway, looking up at the man who had tended his wounds in more ways than one over the years he had been in Nerima. He realized, suddenly, that he hadn't even said goodbye to the man when he'd left for Osaka; he hadn't said goodbye to anyone but his parents.

As if sensing Ranma's presence, - and he probably had - Ono looked up and adjusted his glasses, an unreadable expression on his face as he set his broom against the wall. Ranma bowed, jerkily, and held up the box with the saké in his free hand. “H-hello, Dr. Tofuu,” Kaibutsu barked happily and Ranma looked up from inspecting his feet to see Ono coming down the walk at a quick pace. Ranma balked a little at the aggressive stance of his old clinician and friend, but relaxed when the man pulled him in to a tight embrace.

“Ranma, it is very good to see you,” Ono's voice quavered with emotion, “you are so grown up since the last time I patched up your face!” he laughed and pulled away to hold Ranma at arm's length, smiled. “Look at you! And who is this big guy?” Ono leaned down and scrubbed Kaibutsu behind the ears.

“This is Kaibutsu, I got `im two years ago from a pound in Osaka,” Ranma laughed when Kaibutsu licked Ono's face, almost knocking the older man's glasses off, “he's real friendly, sorry.” Ranma tugged on the leash and Kaibutsu immediately sat down. Ono righted himself and cleaned his glasses off with the belt of his gi.

“Nice to meet you, too, Kaibutsu,” the two men laughed again, and then Ono sighed thoughtfully, “okay, let's put this guy in the backyard, eh?” Ranma nodded, and Ono led him around the clinic to a new fence that led into a lovely backyard with a garden and a small pond for fish. Kaibutsu, once off the leash, immediately set about sniffing everything he could, and then settled to watch the fish swimming in the pond.

“Don' worry, he won't eat `em,” Ranma assured Ono when the older man moved to shoo Kaibutsu away.

“Oh, well that's good,” they paused, silent; behind them the light shined out from the shoji. “Shall we go inside, then? Kasumi is almost done preparing dinner.” Ranma nodded eagerly, already excited about the smells he could detect coming from inside the house. “She's made yakisoba!”

“Wow, I haven't had that home-cooked in a while,” Ranma said as Ono opened the shoji, “it'll be great to try Kasumi's cookin' again.” Ono laughed as they entered the gaily-lit room, leaving the shoji open to let some of the sweltering kitchen heat out.

The dining area was well-furnished, and looked much like the Tendou home dining room. The kitchen was off to the side, through a blue curtain patterned with cherry blossoms, and Ranma eagerly poked his head inside after taking his shoes off and setting them in a basket by the edge of the room. “Hello, Kasumi!” he called to her back. She turned and bowed slightly, waving a pair of long hashi at him.

“Hello Ranma, almost done. Why don't you have a seat?” He nodded and stepped back into the dining room, letting the curtain fall. Taking a seat at the table, he looked out at the backyard, noting that he was alone in the room. Covered bowls of rice and soup were already on the table, and Ranma set the saké next to some small cups arranged in a neat circle at the center of the table.

Kaibutsu was lying down by the fish pond now, resting his head on his paws, eyes closed. Ranma could see him clearly in the waning light of the evening - it didn't get dark very early in summer, and the dog seemed to be enjoying the last few rays of sunshine as they peaked over the fence.

Ono came back into the room, carrying a sleepy-looking Kimiko in a cute blue dress with white pantaloons. “Say hello to Uncle Ranma, Kimiko,” Ono said tenderly, and the baby yawned toothlessly in response, “would you like to hold her, Ranma?” Ranma flushed and nodded, slowly, standing and holding out his arms. Ono set his daughter carefully into Ranma's muscled arms, and the young man brought the infant up to his chest like she was full of explosives. “Make sure to support her head,” Ono said quietly, helping Ranma to arrange his arms just so.

The baby stared up at him with wide brown eyes, and just as it had been earlier in the day, he felt like she didn't like him very much. But then she smiled, and he smiled back and wiggled his fingers against her tummy. She giggled and he laughed openly, feeling a sort of centered joy at holding this tiny life. “She's really beautiful,” Ranma said as Kasumi came in carrying a large wok full of steaming noodles, vegetables, and beef. Ranma's stomach growled, and everyone giggled and sat down on the cushions around the table, Ranma handing the baby off to Ono who settled his infant daughter in his lap.

And then the world turned on its ear.

“Ranma, didn't expect you to be on time,” at the familiar voice, Ranma froze, just about to help Kasumi serve everyone. He turned, slowly, as though looking at who was behind him would make them solid. Nabiki Tendou stood in the doorway from which Ono had carried his daughter, hands folded across her chest. Other than her hair being slightly longer, she was mostly unchanged from four years ago. She was wearing a sleeveless yellow t-shirt from Tokyo University, and a pair of blue shorts, looking like a casual college student. She walked over and knelt down right next to him on a cushion, picking up her hashi as though she wasn't sitting next to someone whom she hadn't spoken to in four years.

“Nabiki, don't tease him.” Kasumi chided gently, but it was enough that Nabiki ducked her head a little sheepishly.

“Sorry, Ranma - what I mean is, it's nice of you to drop by,” she smiled wryly and leaned over, ruffling his floppy hair, “we missed you, Bro.”

“I'm not your brother.” Ranma almost slapped himself. Nabiki's face fell, and the room was as silent as a tomb. He hadn't meant it that way, but what other way was there to take it? “I… I'm sorry, I jus' meant… y'don't gotta feel like, y'know…”

“Like I owe you anything?” Nabiki asked, recovering visibly from the initial comment. She slapped him on the back heartily. “C'mon, Ranma, when I have ever owed you anything? You always owed me, as I recall!” And that did it. The discomfort was broken.

The rest of the evening went well. The saké was well-received, and by the time Kimiko was put to bed, and Ranma and Nabiki had finished clearing and washing all of the dishes, despite Kasumi's insistence that she do it herself, Ranma was feeling almost like his old, confident self. He joked with Nabiki as they cleaned up, and he felt a comfortable camaraderie he had never felt when engaged to her sister.

“So, Ranma, tell me; what are you doing with yourself? We've heard all about Kasumi and Ono, the happy parents - let's hear about you?” Nabiki asked when they were settled at the table with small cups of saké, the last of the white bottle. Kasumi and Ono were leaning comfortably against each other at the other side of the table, watching him expectantly.

Ranma held his small porcelain cup in his hands and felt indescribable nervousness wash over him. He swallowed some of the drink, felt it go smoothly down his throat with the after-burn lavishing his tongue - he wasn't a drinker, and after just three small cups of the stuff he felt a little buzz forming at the front of his skull. “Uh, well, I'm gonna start teachin' at Master Gyaru's tomorrow.”

“That's that lovely man from Nakano Ward,” Kasumi said brightly, a light flush on her cheeks from the alcohol, “he came to the clinic a few weeks ago to buy some salve for his students.”

“Yes, he's very nice.” Ono said quietly. Ranma withered a little under the attention he was getting. He felt, still, that it wasn't really deserved, after all he'd put these people through.

“Thank you for the dinner, Kasumi, but I should really be going,” he finished off his cup and stood up, a little unsteadily. Outside, Kaibutsu awoke at the sound of Ranma moving and wagged his tail. “I hope I get to see you all again—”

“Ranma, dammit, sit down!” Nabiki fairly shouted, dragging him down by his shirtsleeve. Ranma did as he was told, though her strength was like an infant's in her partially-drunken state, and especially compared to his. “We need to talk, why the hell else would Kasumi invite you here?”

“Nabiki!” Kasumi admonished her younger sister and leaned forward, setting her sake cup down on the table. “Ranma, what she means is that although we are very excited to see you after so long, we have something else we'd like to… discuss.”

Ranma looked around the table with a frown. Kaibutsu wandered over to the shoji, hopping up onto the deck to sit just outside the dining room. Nabiki leaned over as far as she could without falling and let him sniff her hand.

“We want you to become a part of our lives again, Ranma,” Ono said softly, “we don't care how Mr. Tendou feels about you.” Tears stung Ranma's eyes, and he looked away from them all, at Kaibutsu softly licking Nabiki's hand.

“You never called, Ranma,” Kasumi sounded wounded and Ranma squinted his eyes shut so hard it hurt, tears making a hot trail to his chin, “you never called and told us what had happened to you. I had to learn everything from Auntie Nodoka.”

“Why didn't you call, Ranma?” Nabiki asked. Eyes still closed, Ranma placed both of his hands on the floor and grit his teeth. More than anything, he wanted to be sixteen again, when it was expected that he would run away. He was twenty-one now, well past being an adolescent, well past running away. No amount of running would fix these things - running would only make it worse. They were right, he was wrong, he would have to accept this.

“You guys were like… were my family when… when Ma wasn't around, and when Pops was…” Ranma sniffled, unashamed of his tears, especially when, as he opened his eyes, he saw that even Ono was crying, “I loved you guys like a family. I shouldn't've abandoned you, but I… I thought that…”

Kasumi stood up and walked over to him. She knelt next to him and hugged him; Nabiki and Ono followed. Only Kimiko crying in another room broke Ono from the hug, but the two women stayed, holding him. “Ranma, you never stopped being a part of this family; Daddy doesn't make our decisions for us,” Nabiki said softly, uncharacteristically warm, “I'm still mad at you, but I love you just the same.”

“Aw, jeez you guys,” Ranma whimpered, hugging them back when his arms found the strength, “Mom and Pops… they took so long t'stop bein' pissed at me, an' you guys…” he paused, hiccupping a little, “you guys were here the whole time, waitin'.”

“Don't flatter yourself,” Nabiki laughed, leaning away to punch him in the arm, “we missed you, though, Bro. Things sure got boring around here when you left.” Ranma laughed and Kasumi finally pulled away to tousle his hair until he playfully swatted her hands away.

Everything seemed brighter, better than it had in four long years, but there was still something missing. And he knew that the Tendou sisters, and Ono, knew it as well. Akane.