A Different Path
Part Three
By Raye Johnsen
'Ranma 1/2' is copyright Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan and Viz Communications. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' is copyright Takeuchi Naoko and other interested parties. If you think I'm making any money or have any rights to any of this, you are very, very wrong.
Chapter Three: Akane Tendou, Where Are You?
Fujiyama Yuka liked to talk to people.
That's what she told herself, anyway. The truth, shorn of all deception, was far harsher: Yuka was an inveterate gossip. A secret told to her in confidence at breakfast would be common knowledge on the other side of Tokyo by sunset. It will probably come as no surprise that Furinkan High's student guidance counselor had written 'future society columnist' in Yuka's file.
The person she most liked to talk to was her best friend Igarashi Sayuri, who was almost as dedicated to the art of conversation as she was. And the person they most liked to discuss was their mutual friend, Tendou Akane.
Akane had always been the centre of events that had been interesting and, to an observer dissecting them for later recounting, exciting events. Her mother had died when they had been in primary school, making her that tragic and notable figure, the Motherless Girl. In middle school, when everyone else had been into ribbons and the latest idol, she'd been attending kempo competitions. This distinction had been both unusual and even a little exotic. Then in high school, she had first attracted the attentions of Upperclassman Kuno, who was rich and handsome and had been, at that time at least, cool. And then she had been betrothed by giri to Saotome Ranma, and had stood at the centre of the whirlpool of chaos that masqueraded as his life.
Being Akane's friend for a gossip was like being given sole possession of a banana plantation for a monkey.
Yuka was happily planning her day as she came down to breakfast that Sunday morning. First she would call Akane and Sayuri and organise an afternoon out - lunch and shopping, or maybe a movie? It depended on what was playing. She and Sayuri would pump Akane for the latest on the Ranma Situation - although it had calmed down a lot of late, and was probably best known as the Shampoo Situation right now - and while she told them about everything that had happened last night and that morning, she and Sayuri would be taking mental notes to share and discuss on the way home, with each other and anyone else they happened to meet.
All that, however, would come after breakfast.
There was an envelope lying next to her plate. Yuka didn't often receive mail. She was more a phonecall kind of girl. So she was understandably curious. Another aspect of Yuka's personality was that she believed that curiosity, hers or anyone else's, deserved to be satisfied immediately. So she swiftly ripped the letter open and read it.
"Oh. My. God."
She flipped open her mobile, hitting Sayuri's number and waiting for her to open her own. "Come on, come on -"
No sooner had Sayuri begun to answer than Yuka overrode her. "Sayuri, you're not going to believe this!"
{Yes, well, I don't believe you're ringing me before breakfast, Yuka -}
"Never mind that - I just got a letter from Akane. Sayuri, she's left!"
{Left?! What do you mean, left?}
"I mean, left! Gone! Moved away! She's left Nerima!"
{Read me the letter, Yuka.} Sayuri's voice, flattened by the mobile phones they were using, still managed to convey the mixture of dread and dreadful excitement that was churning in Yuka's own belly.
"Okay. Here it is. 'Dear Yuka, I am sorry to send you this letter rather than talking to you in person. However, as you and Sayuri are my closest friends, I feel I should tell you. I call you my closest friends, but really, we haven't been close for a long time. Since Ranma arrived.'" She paused.
Sayuri also paused, then said, {Keep going, Yuka.}
"All right. 'This isn't your fault - you both have been there for me many times. But the craziness that my life has become doesn't touch your life, and it isn't your fault that you can't really understand. If you could I think we'd all be in a lot of trouble.'" Yuka swallowed, and then continued. "'I have realized, finally, that I am responsible for my problems. Unfortunately, I have also realized that in the situation I'm in here, I can't possibly change or fix them. So I am leaving them behind. Yuka, I am leaving Nerima, and I will not be back. I will write when I'm settled, to tell you I'm all right. I wish you all the best, Tendou Akane.'"
Sayuri, very softly, said a very foul word, then continued, {I'm coming over, Yuka.}
"Good," Yuka said. "We've got to talk."
An hour later, the two friends were having a crisis meeting in Yuka's bedroom.
When Sayuri had arrived, she had been clutching a similar letter in her own hand. It had been waiting for her at her own breakfast table. The message was the same, only a few words differing between the two letters.
"I can't believe we didn't realize she was feeling this way!" Yuka nearly shouted, throwing the stuffed kappa-chan she had been waving onto her bed, narrowly missing Sayuri. "What kind of friends are we?"
"Oblivious ones, apparently," Sayuri said dryly, picking up the kappa-chan. "But...."
Yuka turned to her. "But...?"
"There's something 'off' about this letter," Sayuri said thoughtfully. "Akane isn't usually this straightforward, is she?"
Blinking, Yuka tilted her head. "You're... right," she conceded. "But this is definitely her handwriting."
"Yes," Sayuri replied. "I don't know. This is like, oh, someone who knows Akane and knows her situation wrote this, as if they were Akane, and they didn't get it quite right."
"So it's a fake?" Yuka asked eagerly.
"No, I don't think so, not really," was Sayuri's answer. "It's true, isn't it? We've been watching Akane's situation as it's gotten weirder and weirder, and we've always been on the outside and seeing it as entertainment. When did our friend's life become entertainment, Yuka?"
Yuka sagged into her desk chair. "I don't know, Sayuri."
"But the bit about her leaving Nerima may be fake," Sayuri continued.
"Let's go over her place and check it out!" Yuka proposed.
They ran down the stairs and opened the front door, and Sayuri almost got a fist in the face. Ryouga had been just about to knock.
"So we're agreed?" Ukyou asked.
The six teenagers were perched around the Fujiyama living room. Kuno sat, limbs crossed and his bokken leaning against his shoulder, just inside the door, while everyone else perched on the living room suite.
"I think so," Sayuri said dubiously. "Yuka and I will gather all the information we can and pass it on to you. We will also run the Ucchan in your absence so you don't have to worry about it. You go out and look for Akane and rescue her - and you will keep us up to date on what happens!"
"Konatsu will be staying behind and he will help, too," Ukyou added.
"What I find interesting," Ranma said quietly, "is that the person who kidnapped Akane sent you two letters."
"Yes, it is interesting, isn't it," Sayuri said. "It's as if the kidnapper knew you'd come to us."
"I don't see -" Ryouga started.
"It means," Yuka interrupted him, "that Akane's kidnapper was watching us yesterday afternoon. We might even have spoken with him. But I can't remember anyone watching us."
Kuno snorted. "Maidens fair the pair of you may be, yet e'en the least discerning may see that you are to the beauteous Akane as the pale pinks are to the rich, red rose."
Yuka and Sayuri both glared at him.
"Would you mind moving into the Ucchan while I'm gone?" Ukyou asked suddenly. "It's small - I only have two bedrooms, and one of them's Konatsu's - but it'll make me feel better if I know someone's there all the time."
"But Konatsu - OW!" Ryouga said.
"Oh, was that your foot?" Ukyou said insincerely.
"We'll have to ask our parents," Sayuri said quickly. "But I'm sure they'll say yes."
Yuka gave Sayuri an odd look. "Uh... sure," she said. "I'll go ask my mother now." She stood and left the room.
"Thank you," Sayuri said to Ukyou, "though I'm sure it isn't necessary."
"Necessary or not, you're my friend," Ukyou replied. "As I said, I'll feel better knowing you're there...."
"And that a trained kunoichi is right next door?"
"A girl can never be too careful," Ukyou said.
Three days had never seemed so long.
It was the Tuesday after Akane had disappeared. Ranma and his friends had left to look for her, leaving the rest of the family behind.
Kasumi hung her apron up on its designated peg, on the inside of the door. Her kitchen was spotless, lunch had been cleared up, the house was perfectly clean, and it wasn't time to start dinner.
She wandered out into the spotless living room, and wondered why she'd never realized how much life Ranma and Akane had brought with them into her little world.
There were letters sitting in the postbox beside the gate. She moved calmly, unhurriedly towards it. More bills for Nabiki - it must be that time of year - circulars - and a letter, addressed to her, in Akane's writing. She didn't even bother to walk into the house before ripping it open and reading the short note it contained.
Dear Elder Sister,
This is just a note
to tell you not to worry.
I have found a nice
place to stay, changed my name, and I'm starting to meet people.
I'm sure everyone
else is well, but I said a prayer for you all anyway.
I love you,
Akane
"Father! Mr. Saotome! It's a letter from Akane!"
That brought a stir.
"Come, my dear! Let me see it!" her father called, from his shogi board.
She brought it to him. That proved to be a mistake. Soun took one look at the handwriting of his youngest daughter, and began to weep so fiercely that she was later forced to take up the living-room rug and hang it up outside to give it a chance to dry.
She showed the note to Nabiki when she came home from school. Nabiki looked at the note, said "Hmm," and went to her room. Kasumi had heard the clak-clak of her computer shortly thereafter. After an hour, Nabiki stalked out of her room, muttering words that Kasumi was quite shocked to hear her sister saying.
"She's within two days of here, and she's near a temple," Kasumi heard Nabiki mutter. "Unfortunately, that's almost all of Tokyo by bus or foot, and if she took the bullet train, that's practically all of Honshu." Then she spat another oath.
"Nabiki?" Kasumi asked timidly. "Are you... trying to find Akane?"
Nabiki had swung around to face her sister. She looked as if she was about to say something cutting, but then sighed, and merely said, "Yes, Kasumi."
Kasumi frowned. "But, Nabiki, Akane specifically does not wish to return here."
Her younger sister glared. "I don't care! Akane can't just run out on us. I won't let her! She is supposed to be Ranma's fiancee - what if Daddy dearest decides one of us can fill the role instead? I'm not going to put up with the insanity. She is going to come back and she's going to marry the man she loves and she is going to fulfil her responsibilities!" With that, Nabiki spun on her heel and stalked off.
When Ranma telephoned that evening, Kasumi read the note to him. He was silent for a long minute.
{So... she doesn't say anything about the guy who kidnapped her?}
Privately, Kasumi wondered where Ranma had picked up that particular notion, but didn't mention it. "No, just that she's found a nice place to stay and that she's met some people."
{She didn't say where, I guess.}
"Well, no, Ranma, she doesn't say where she is. Ranma... perhaps it would be best if you returned -"
{No!} A pause, and then, Ranma's voice came back, stronger, but with a brittle edge. {I can't give up on her, Kasumi. I just - she's - this is too important. I've got to get her back.}
"Ranma, perhaps if she is happier where she is...."
{I can't believe that, Kasumi! Not until I see her for myself.} And then Ranma hung up.
Kasumi looked down at the envelope that lay in her hand. Nabiki had not wanted to see it when she'd shown her sister the note, and Ranma had not chosen to hear the information that she'd tried to give him.
It was postmarked 'Juuban'.
Author's Notes:
1. Stuffed, Sanrio-type (think Hello Kitty) versions of the kappa, a mythological water monster, seem to be an enduring type of plushie among Japanese children (in much the same way that everyone in the West either has or has had a stuffed bear).
2. I didn't explain this
last time and for that I apologise. A kunoichi is a female ninja.
On an historical note,
ninjitsu is the only form of Japanese martial arts that, during its history,
has officially recognised its female practitioners, hence the separate
designation. Interestingly, kunoichi appear to have been
regarded as more ruthless and deadly than ninja, and much more subtle in
carrying out their designated missions.
Although Konatsu is male,
he identifies himself as a female, so the designation of the kunoichi is
more appropriate for him.