Akane woke from a dream of perfect happiness and beauty to a morning that was surreal and confusing in a number of ugly ways. Things had been moving very quickly, and now the joyful glow of whispered promises and emotional disclosure was being overshadowed a little at a time by way-too-early-in-the-morning grumpiness and a growing sense of dread.
*What* had she been *thinking*?
Rubbing her eyes, she yawned, then glared at the clock on her night stand. How could she feel good about a wedding she had to get up this early for? And hadn't Ranma said something about a need for secrecy and battle plans and something about wanting to paint her toenails?
No, that last part was probably part of the dream.
What *had* he said? And why did she have to set her alarm to go off so early? Something about sashimi?
Umm... No. Probably also part of the dream.
So what had been real?
Sitting in Ranma's lap. She was certain she remembered that part. She smiled through the bleariness as she thought about that. About how tense he'd become. How nervous. Now that she knew how he really felt, his clumsiness around her was really pretty cute. In a bone headed Ranma-no-baka sort of way.
He *had* held her, though. Check. Which other parts were real?
...she'd agreed to marry him. today. that part had been real too.
_oh, my._
She understood why he'd asked. At least in a sense. She remembered being confused, feeling flushed and flustered. And really really happy. In the conflicting emotions she'd gone with her first impulse as she often did. This time it had been to tell him yes and squeeze him a lot. Now, though, as the sky was struggling from black to black and a little grey on one side she wondered if her second impulse, the one that had suggested she smack him and yell a lot, might not have been a better choice.
This was marriage, after all.
This was the rest of her life.
... She was really really scared.
It wasn't so unreasonable, she told herself. Ranma had been scared too. Nervous. Fidgety. Really jumpy too. She wasn't the only one who wasn't totally sure this was the right thing to do. She clearly remembered sensing those emotions in him as they talked.
How had he convinced her it was such a good idea when he hadn't even been able to totally convince himself?
Perhaps ... Perhaps the best thing for her to do would be to tell him that she'd changed her mind. He might be a little disappointed, but...
Akane ignored the voice in her head that told her she had it all wrong, that Ranma's fears and hers were based on totally different concerns, and worst of all, that she was being a coward and decided to go look for him so that she could break it to him gently.
***
"You mean he *still* no escape?"
Shampoo peered incredulously through the peep hole as Ukyou retreated to make room for her. Sure enough, there sat Saotome Genma, tied from head to foot in his chair. Occasionally he would strain at his bonds, but they held tight.
Ukyou shrugged. "He's been like that all night. I hoped he'd stay there while I got a few hours of sleep, but this is ridiculous. I didn't tie him *that* tight."
Both girls contemplated their dilemma for a moment. Then Ukyou sighed, and pulled out a pair of throwing spatula. "I'll be right back," she promised.
Leaving the restaurant, Ukyou slipped quietly out into the alley. It was nearly dawn, and they had no time to lose. It was possible that the slug of a man had told the truth, but they really weren't willing to take the chance. He wasn't terribly cunning, but deception seemed bred into him just as strongly as baldness obviously was.
She made her way to a tiny outside window and pried it open silently. Stepping away from the opening to let a little light pour through, she contemplated the weapons she held. Sharp and well balanced, she was sure that they would serve her well. She waited.
Could he hear her heart beating? It seemed likely. His back was to her, but even if his conditioning and reflexes had gotten somewhat soft from his time in his friend's home, Ukyou knew that his senses were still sharp. If she wasn't careful, he would detect her there. She wanted to act quickly, to get it over with, but couldn't risk revealing her presence, and with it, her plan. He continued to sit where he was merely breathing heavily. Almost heavily enough to cover her intended act, in fact, but not quite.
He seemed to be gathering his strength for another attempt. This was a good sign. He tensed, then began straining. Two legs of the chair lifted from the ground, crashed back to earth, lifted again.
Ukyou acted. In two motions too swift to be tracked by the human eye, she threw both shuriken. They flew as an extension of her will directly into the back of the chair where they sliced half way through Mr Saotome's bonds just as the chair crashed back to the ground. The chair's impact with the ground beautifully covered any sound or motion that might have made him suspicious. Ukyou smiled to herself, proud of a job well done, and went to join Shampoo back in the restaurant.
***
Gosunkugi Hikaru had spent a very uncomfortable night. It wasn't the fact that he'd spent the early part of it up a tree, or the fact that, upon exiting that tree he'd fallen causing not only physical pain but a great deal of anxiety over the possibility of being discovered and the promise of more pain if that happened. It wasn't the heavy photographic equipment which he was not used to carrying so far or so long or so quickly, or the harsh chemicals his hands and lungs had had to deal with for the rest of the evening, or even the sleeplessness. No, his greatest discomfort had been the moral and emotional dilemma that he now faced.
When Saotome Ranma had first come to live with his beloved Akane, he had worried. After all, Ranma was most women's ideal of a perfect man. He was handsome, athletic, skilled. And he and Akane were engaged. Even though her somewhat contrary nature had made her say she didn't want to marry him, Gosunkugi had worried that eventually his good qualities would win her over, but as the months went on, the other girls showed up, the other challenges had come, and Akane's famous temper had begun to really show. The two had seemed to argue more and more fiercely as time went on.
This had done wonders for Gosunkugi's confidence. The more they fought, the more he felt that he may really have a chance with her someday.
Last night though...
Before Ranma, it had been easy to spend time in his favorite activity. The photographic study of Tendou Akane. He'd known her favored route home, the places she sometimes went to spend time with her friends, which room in the Tendou home belonged to her and what he could do to get a clear shot inside it. All that had changed since Saotome came along. Even following Akane meant taking your life in your hands now that he was around.
He must really have been distracted not to notice anything last night.
And now here was Gosunkugi Hikaru with a handful of barely dry photographs and a mind full of confusion. Ranma Saotome was the enemy. Ranma Saotome had come between him and Akane. And now Ranma Saotome seemed to be ready to take his dear one away from him forever.
But she'd looked so happy.
That was his dilemma, then. He'd never want to hurt her. Not even if it meant removing the man she always seemed to be angry at or hurt by, but what choice did he have? On the other hand, what could he do about it? As much as he tried to delude himself, he knew that no matter what he did, he didn't have the power to defeat Ranma. He couldn't even make him sweat.
But he knew someone who could.
***
Genma sat.
"This is really starting to get on my nerves!"
Shampoo put a hand on Ukyou's shoulder to remind her to lower her voice. "I sure he escape soon. Has been twenty minutes."
Fuming, Ukyou agreed. "Soon. He couldn't have just given up *now* could he? That'd be just my luck."
"He not give up so easy. You no feed him breakfast, he escape. Easy easy."
"Well, you may be right, but we can't wait any longer either. By now Ran-chan knows we're on to him. It's possible that the old man told us the truth. One of us ought to go on ahead."
Shampoo looked at her partner in crime for a moment considering. The old man *could* have been telling the truth, but she found it unlikely. Surely he wasn't *that* foolish. Was he? Spatula girl was right, though. They just couldn't afford to wait any longer.
"You go. I wait here. Not wait long, though." She pulled a small orange ball out of her shirt and held it up grimly.
"What's that?"
"Is secret weapon. I borrow from Mousse." She made shooing motions. "You go. You no worry. I watch old man."
Ukyou shrugged, double checked her accessories/arsenal and gave her erstwhile rival a playful salute, then she was gone, heading in the direction of the temple where Mr. Saotome had told them Ranma and Akane would be.
As it happened, she got it right.
***
"Surely, it can not be!"
"I took these pictures myself, Kuno-sempai."
Though they filled his noble heart with dread and outrage, Kuno Tatewaki (age seventeen) looked again at the shocking photographs given to him by the short pale boy.
Kuno stood and raised a clenched fist to the sky. Streams of tears ran from his eyes at the horrible outrage of I all. "Oh! That a mongrel dog like Saotome would dare defile the sanctity of my noble lady Akane's bedchamber! Tell me how such things can happen to any maiden to whom Kuno Tatewaki has sworn his love and protection. I must believe, Goforitu-kun -"
"That's Gosunkugi, sempai."
"- that this was some illusion -- some glamour caused by the foul Saotome's filthy black arts! Surely even he would not stoop so low as to forcibly ... The very idea flies against all sensibilities! Tell me, young Datsumkuti-kun -"
"It's Gosunkugi, sir."
"When the scoundrel seized my fierce tigress, was he able to subdue her by mere physical brutality, or did her great prowess and might cause him to resort to hypnosis or - heavens protect us - the foul product of some apothecary's labors?"
"She didn't actually struggle, sempai."
"But surely one such as herself can not be so easily blinded by any amount of drugs or magics!"
"She seemed pretty happy, actually."
The noble scion of the house of Kuno trembled with rage and confusion. "How can this be?!?" he demanded. "Have I failed so miserably to break his influence over her? For months I have allowed him to associate with her. In my innocence of the ways of sorcery, I believed that the contrast between the wretched Saotome and myself once securely formed in her mind would make it impossible for her not to choose my great strength and virtue over *all* who would compete for her attentions. I never suspected that he would use these months to wear down her heart and mind's natural repulsion to him by accursed enchantments! Tell me, Koduredu-kun -"
"Gosunkugi."
" - how is it to be borne! The knave has defiled the things most precious to me long enough! The gods have looked upon his evil deeds and have passed sentence! I shall be the instrument of their judgement! A righteous tool in the hands of divine justice! This I swear! Ranma Saotome shall die!"
The bold young samurai turned his fierce gaze on his companion, righteous outrage and resolve burning in his eyes. "You have done well, pale one. I know now what I must do. I must go to release my beauteous flower from the clutches of her tormentor. But be assured that you shall be rewarded for your role in this, good Gotuheru. And now, I must away."
Gosunkugi watched the departing looney of the house of Fruit bats as he leapt out the window. "That's ... never mind." He wiped the back of his hand over his face and it came away quite moist. It had been a long night, and the ... excitement of his conversation with Kuno-sempai had probably been a bit much for his delicate psyche. Perhaps now he should go home and get a little rest. Yes, a nice long lie down would be just the thing. In fact, perhaps he'd just forget about home and have a nice lie down right here on the sempai's floor. Yes. That was probably the best thing for him to do.
***
She'd had enough. Ukyou had left nearly half an hour ago. The sun was almost visible now, and she couldn't afford to wait any longer. She studied the small object in her hand. Many times she'd seen how they were used. Pulling the chord out of the top, she studied the distance, then gently and silently tossed the tiny smoke bomb through the opening Ukyou had created in the window not much earlier. It landed behind some shelves well out of sight of the prisoner. Shampoo leapt to the roof and waited.
***
© 1999 misha@cybergal.com
