Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Ranma spent the rest of the day talking to police, answering their questions in a voice that sounded like it was coming at him through water. He stopped by the hospital to talk to Master Gyaru and his wife. She was a small, willowy woman who smacked him on the back of the head when he tried to blame himself for what happened. “Shut up, I won't hear of it! You saved my husband's life - anything we can do for you, is done.” But Ranma knew he couldn't accept any help from them.

Everyone seemed to be moving very quick to his sluggish senses, and by the time he was back at the Tendou-Tofuu residence, he felt like a child with buckets on his feet, and bags on his arms and head. Clumsy, slow, awkward.

His parents were waiting for him, but Akane was absent. Ranma tried not to care, tried to put her out of his mind, but he found that he couldn't. “Ranma,” his mother was saying as he stared out of the dining area, in which he was eating lovely food that tasted like paste, “are you going to come with us back to Kyoto tomorrow?” His eyes focused down the hallway where Akane had stood like smoke earlier that day

The question filtered through the haze of gloom that had settled around him and he turned his head slowly to look at his parents. His father looked stern, but concerned, and his mother's face was full of hope. He hated to disappoint her.

“No, I'm gonna stay in Nerima,” he paused, glancing at Kasumi, “if Kasumi will let me stay here until I can move back into my apartment.” If his landlord would even have him back.

Kasumi and Ono nodded. “Of course you can, Ranma, but…” she trailed off, looking worriedly at him.

Nodoka sighed and smiled almost bitterly. “I knew that would be your answer,” she reached into her purse sitting behind her and pulled out an envelope, “here's some money.”

Ranma put up his hands and shook his head and she frowned, hurt. “No, I can't take that, Ma, keep it. I got money,” he looked around the room at the worried faces, “don' worry `bout me, I'll be fine with what I got.”

“But Ranma, you saved up that money to pay for school,” Genma said sourly, “what are you going to go to school with?”

“I… don't know…” he sighed heavily and brought his knees up to his chest, putting his hashi down and ignoring his half-eaten food for once in his life.

“I wish you could just stay here forever,” Nabiki said softly; she had been mostly silent all day, except when talking to the police - she had been very helpful then, “but Kasumi and Ono aren't gonna have the room; she's knocked up again already.”

“Nabiki!” Kasumi sounded properly scandalized and Nabiki ducked her head and blushed.

“Whoops, sorry, Sis,” she smiled gingerly and Kasumi's eyebrows lowered slightly, which made the temperature in the room drop a fraction until Nodoka and Genma quietly congratulated the two of them. After a few moments of this, Ranma sighed and scratched his head.

“Look, I'll jus' stay at a—”

“You can come stay with me.” Ranma's head whipped around so fast he almost fell over. Akane stood on the deck behind him, a vision in a red sundress with yellow shorts under it. He only saw the shorts because he was sitting so low, and he was immediately embarrassed for looking up her dress.

She walked over and sat down next to him, her face unreadable. “I live in Kita Ward; there's a direct line on the train.” She said softly.

Ranma felt like she was tearing his heart out of his chest. “Akane, I… I can't, what… you…”

Akane smiled, and it lit up her face like a campfire the size of the sun. Everyone in the room was completely silent, and Ranma felt like they were the only two people there. “Of course you can, dummy,” she paused pointedly, “just until you can get somewhere else, right?”

He nodded, dumbly, and resisted the urge to hug her so tight she molded to him.

The rest of the evening passed by, but Ranma could only think about one thing: sleeping in the same house as Akane again. Hope burned hot in his chest and he tried to ignore it, but it struggled there, angrily, trying to get out.