Thursday Evenine
Thursday Evening
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
Started December 22, 2002, at the FFIRC Hour Challenge.
Completed January 12, 2003
Thanks to the members of group 1 for encouraging me to finish this story.
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm borrowing her characters. This story was written for entertainment purposes only.
----------------------------
The bell rang, signaling the official end of the day for the students of Furinkan High School. Students poured out of the doors, heading for home.
Akane was behind Ranma when he stopped short, causing her to bump into his back. Annoyed, she looked around him to find out what was in the way. She became even more annoyed when she discovered Ukyo and Shampoo standing side by side, smiling at him.
"Airen come Nekohanten for dinner, yes?"
"Hey! He's coming with ME!"
"He's not going with either of you! Come on, Ranma. Let's go home." Akane grabbed Ranma by the collar and dragged him off, ignoring the loud protests of the other girls. She waited until they'd put several blocks between them and the school before she let go. Ranma immediately rubbed his neck and glared at her.
"Couldn't be any rougher, could ya?"
"Did you want me to leave you with them?"
"HELL no!"
"Even though I'm cooking tonight?" Akane asked, in a very quiet tone of voice. "They know, I think."
"They've gotta know." Ranma shrugged. "It IS the second Thursday of the month. Kasumi hasn't been around for dinner the second Thursday of the month ever since I got here. Where does she go, anyway?"
Akane wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. She's been doing this as long as I remember, so I never asked."
The two continued on their way, silent and thoughtful. Just before they turned in at the gate, Ranma put out a hand and stopped Akane. "You gonna ask?"
"I don't think so."
"But you're curious, I can tell."
"Yes."
*****
If either Soun or Genma noticed how quiet Akane was while preparing dinner, neither of them commented about it. Her cooking, though certainly nowhere near the quality of Kasumi's, had at least improved to the point where they were willing to stay home and eat it rather than spend money eating out. She still got distracted easily, and asking unnecessary questions could be asking for trouble. Nabiki was out for the evening, and missed seeing her younger sister's preoccupation.
Akane was cleaning the kitchen with Ranma's help when she heard Kasumi return. She handed the last dish to Ranma and went out to greet her. Kasumi was already seated at the table, and their father was pouring her a cup of tea. Neither of them noticed her presence.
"Are you all right, Kasumi? You look tired"
"I'm fine, Father."
"You don't have to keep doing this, you know."
"Yes, I do." Kasumi's words to her father were not given in her usual sweet tone of voice, and the look she gave him could not be described as sweet by any stretch of the imagination. Akane silently withdrew into the kitchen before she could be seen.
"Something wrong?"
"I don't know."
"Well, you look like something's wrong."
Akane looked at her feet. Then she looked at Ranma's feet, and slowly brought her eyes up to his face. "Next month, the family is getting takeout."
*****
Over the next four weeks, Akane watched Kasumi. During that time, she noticed for the first time that Kasumi spent more time out of the house than could be covered by "running errands," as she usually described it. To be sure, Kasumi carried the mesh bag that she always used when she went to the marketplace, but when Akane checked the refrigerator and pantry before and after Kasumi's trips, there were numerous times when nothing new had been added.
Finally, the second Thursday of the month came. Akane finished her breakfast, put down her teacup, and looked at her father. "I have a club meeting after school, Daddy. Do you think you can order takeout? I won't have time to cook, and the girls want me to go out for dinner with them"
"I suppose so, dear. The four of us will be just fine, so don't worry."
"Oh, I won't be here either," said Ranma. "I'm going out with the guys tonight."
Nabiki smiled. "Are you sure, Ranma? This 'club meeting' isn't just for girls, is it? That wouldn't necessarily disqualify you."
"Very funny."
*****
Akane had been a member of Furinkan High School's Poetry Club since she started attending the school. Unfortunately, she missed one meeting a month because they were held on Thursdays. Her fellow club members were pleased and surprised when she showed up.
"You don't have to cook tonight, Akane?" asked Sayuri.
"No, but I can't stay, either."
"Why not?"
Akane didn't hear the question. She was too busy trying to look at the door without being obvious about it. Sayuri was about to repeat herself when Nabiki peeked in. She spotted Akane, gave a satisfied nod and vanished.
"You're going somewhere with Ranma, aren't you?" When Akane blushed, Sayuri started to giggle. "Okay, we can be your excuse. Have fun."
"It's not what you think!"
"Isn't that something HE usually says?"
*****
Ranma paced back and forth as he waited for Akane at their prearranged rendezvous point. She soon came running up, rather out of breath.
"She hasn't passed yet, has she?"
"No, she's not due for another few minutes. I was getting worried about you, slowpoke!"
"Who are you calling slow?"
Ranma raised his hand. "We don't have time for that. Want a boost up?"
Seconds later the pair was hidden amid the branches of the tree they had been standing beneath. Soon after, Kasumi came down the street, passed beneath them, and continued on her way. They dropped down from the tree and followed.
*****
Later, the pair sat in a restaurant some distance away, sharing a light supper.
"So you've got no idea why she went there?"
"None at all."
"But she's obviously doing this at least once a month. I figure that's where she going all the other times she says she's going out. From the amount of time she's gone, she could easily go there for a while and get home before anybody'd suspect."
Akane nodded, and toyed with her glass. "I'm going over after school tomorrow."
"And what are you going to say?"
"I don't know."
"Want company?"
*****
The next day, Akane stood before the building she'd seen her sister enter, staring at the sign. She had never been in a place like that before, and had no idea what to expect.
"Are we gonna stand here all day, or are we going in?"
Akane glared at Ranma and opened the door. She found herself in a lobby, where a woman in a uniform sat at a desk. "May I help you?" she asked.
"I hope so. My name is Akane Tendo, and my sister--"
"Kasumi. Yes, you look like her. It's so nice of you to visit. She likes company."
Akane refrained from asking what the woman was talking about. Evidently, the woman assumed Akane knew. "She does?"
"Oh, yes. Come with me. Is this young man with you?"
Akane was too confused to speak, so Ranma answered for her. "Yes, if it's okay."
The woman came out from behind the desk, smiled, and led them through a maze of corridors. The smells of antiseptics and illness greeted them, bringing back memories of hospital corridors, pain, and sorrow. Akane had a sudden urge to flee the building, and suppressed it. They stopped in front of a closed door, and the woman knocked. "You have visitors!" she announced happily, and opened the door. As they passed inside, Akane noticed a name in a little frame next to the door. She read it, and gasped. Behind her, Ranma read it as well, and Akane turned around in time to see him murmur the first name.
"Akane?"
*****
Hospitals made Ranma nervous. This wasn't exactly a hospital--it was a nursing home--but it smelled like a hospital, and the place was full of nurses and doctors. Evidently, Akane felt the same way. Ranma knew her body language well enough to see that she had tensed up considerably since their arrival. His nervousness turned to concern when Akane read the name of the patient whose room they were about to enter, and gasped. He looked for himself, and saw "Akane Ueda".
"Akane?"
He'd spoken aloud without meaning to, and realized Akane was looking at him. She'd gone quite pale, and he had no idea why. Then she took a deep breath, turned around, and walked into the room. He followed.
The room was pleasant enough. The bed had a brightly colored spread on it, there was a window with a view of a garden, and a radio was playing. A woman in a wheelchair sat at a table, looking at a jigsaw puzzle. She glanced up at their arrival, and Ranma had the strangest feeling. He knew this woman, or at least he felt that he should. She had long blue-black hair, streaked with a little bit of gray, big brown eyes, and was looking at him with a shy smile.
"Hello," she said.
"Mommy?" whispered Akane. Ranma caught her as she passed out.
*****
There were voices around her. Unfamiliar voices. Then there was one she knew. "Is Akane going to be okay?" Ranma. That was Ranma.
"She'll be just fine. Her sister should be here soon."
Something cool and wet was placed on her forehead, and a hand took hers. The touch was comforting. Akane opened her eyes, which met Ranma's. He was sitting beside her, holding her hand. A couple of nurses were also in the room. They checked her over, told her to rest until her sister arrived, and left her alone with Ranma.
"What happened in there?" he asked. "Who is that woman?"
"I don't know, but she looks just like my mother." Akane saw Ranma's confused expression, and tried to make herself clearer. "I mean if Mom was still here, that's how I think she would look."
Ranma looked even more confused. "Was your mother's name Akane?"
"No. Her name was Kasumi. My sister was named after her, and Nabiki was named after my grandmother. Grandmother died just before Nabiki was born."
"And who were you named after?"
Akane stared at Ranma. "I don't know. Nobody ever told me." Then Kasumi's voice answered the question.
"You were named after Mother's twin sister. Her name is Akane."
*****
Ranma jumped, and looked behind him. Nabiki and Kasumi were standing in the doorway, and Soun was behind them. Both girls were staring at him in the most peculiar way, and it took a second for Ranma to realize that Akane's sisters had noticed he was holding her hand. He let go, jumped up, and offered Kasumi his chair. Akane was paler than ever, and he felt compelled to ask the question she obviously couldn't. "So that woman in the other room is?"
"Aunt Akane."
Akane sat up, and rubbed her forehead. "How come I never knew she existed?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Don't ask me, Sis. I just found out, too."
"It seems we have a lot of explaining to do," said Soun, as he entered the room and sat down on the bed next to Akane.
Ranma began to feel very uncomfortable. Since his father hadn't arrived with everyone else, this was obviously a family matter, and he wasn't exactly family. At least not yet. "You want me to leave?"
Akane's response was enough to make him close the door and take a seat on the floor close to the bed. "No. Please stay."
*****
"Where should I start?"
"Try the beginning, Daddy," advised Nabiki.
Soun nodded. He looked at the faces of his audience. Nabiki looked annoyed, Akane upset, Ranma curious, and Kasumi relieved.
"I met your mother and her sister Akane about a year before we got engaged. I think the reason your mother liked me at first was because I could tell her from Akane. Not too many people could, especially with that little game they always played."
"Little game?" asked Nabiki.
"Oh yes. They constantly impersonated each other. It drove our teachers crazy, because they just couldn't tell the girls apart. I could."
"I'd say love must have had something to do with it," commented Kasumi.
"You would be right. Even though they were so much alike in looks, and personality, and liveliness, I always knew who my Kasumi was." Soun paused, began to tear up, and forced himself to stop. Crying now wasn't going to get the story told, and it had been a secret for too many years.
"We used to have so much fun together. We went out as a foursome--me and Kasumi, Akane and her boyfriend. I thought it would last forever."
"What happened, Daddy?" Akane squeezed her father's hand. "Tell us."
"Your mother and I got married, and Akane entered college. We started our family and ran the dojo, while Akane, as she said, was going to have 'a brilliant career'. It didn't work out that way.
"When Kasumi was nearly two years old, and your mother was expecting Nabiki, the girls were going to take their mother out for her birthday. They went out every year--the girls would treat her to lunch, and take her shopping, and whatever else she wanted to do. But your mother was having a difficult pregnancy, and she just didn't feel up to going. She talked Akane into taking your grandmother out by herself."
Everyone in the room grew still. "Something happened to them," said Ranma. "Something bad."
Soun nodded. "Nobody really knows the whole story, but there was an accident. When the rescue workers pulled my mother-in-law out of the wreckage, she was already gone. Akane was unconscious.
"When we got to the hospital, your grandfather was frantic. His wife was gone, and his daughter was very badly hurt. For a while, we weren't sure if she would survive. Kasumi insisted on being there, even though all of the stress was making her sick. Somehow, she talked the staff into allowing her to stay right next to her sister, and she sat there holding Akane's hand all night long.
"Akane had a serious head injury, and she didn't wake up until morning. When she did, she knew Kasumi, and her father, but she didn't seem to know me. She didn't remember anything that had happened, and wasn't acting like herself at all. Akane was normally very lively, talkative, and inquisitive, and she didn't ask any questions at all as the doctors tested her. She just lay there and let them do whatever was needed. When they told her what was wrong, she didn't even react."
"What was wrong with her?" asked Nabiki. She moved her chair closer to Kasumi's, and took Kasumi's hand.
"Akane's spine was damaged. There was no chance of her walking ever again." Soun paused, and wiped his eyes. "We all expected her to cry, or to get angry, and to argue with the doctor. All she did was raise those big brown eyes of hers to his, and say 'okay'. That's when we all understood that more than Akane's spine was damaged. Her mind had been damaged too.
"Your grandfather took it very badly. He couldn't deal with the loss of his wife, or accept the injuries to his daughter, and he needed someone to blame. He went looking for the other driver, and found him dead, with his grieving family around the bedside. When his widow realized who was in the room, she attacked him, screaming that the accident was Akane's fault."
"He believed her, didn't he?" asked Akane.
"Yes. He believed her, and ran back to the room and started screaming at Akane. Akane didn't understand what was going on, and she began to cry. That got Kasumi crying. I had to drag him out of the room." Soun sighed. "We found out later that the other driver was drunk. Can you imagine? It was only eleven in the morning, and he was out driving drunk. We tried hard to get your grandfather to understand that, but the seeds had been planted in his mind. The accident was Akane's fault, and he wanted nothing more to do with her."
"Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense!" exclaimed Ranma. "Why would he believe a perfect stranger like that?"
"Because my father-in-law was very old-fashioned in some ways. He didn't think women had any business driving, and he didn't consider Akane responsible enough to drive. He said she was too wild. To him, this was confirmation that he was right."
That was too much for Kasumi, and she sobbed. "I always wondered why he never talked about her, or visited. Mother warned me when I was very little not to mention Aunt Akane to Grandfather, but she never told me why."
"But why didn't we know about her? You still haven't explained that part," said Akane.
"Your grandfather arranged for Akane to be brought here. She needed more care than we could provide for her, and he didn't want her cared for at home. Her boyfriend--" Soun's expression hardened--"came to see her in the hospital, and never came back. I can only be grateful that Akane didn't know who he was, or she would have been terribly hurt. She settled in well here, and has been here ever since. Your mother came to see her all the time, and she would always bring Kasumi."
"What about me?"
"She brought you a few times, dear, but then she became pregnant with Akane, and it was too much for her to bring the both of you. Another problem was that your grandfather disapproved of Kasumi bringing you children to the nursing home. That made your mother very angry, but she wanted to avoid arguing with your grandfather if she could avoid it. Then your mother--" Soun put his face in his hands, and sobbed. "I don't think I can finish this."
"Let me, Father," said Kasumi. "When Mother got sick, she made me promise not to forget Aunt Akane. That wasn't a hard promise to make, you know. Seeing Aunt Akane was very important to me. I promised that I would go to see her regularly, and that, when the time was right, I would tell my sisters about her."
"And what, exactly, was the right time to be?" asked Nabiki.
"After Grandfather died."
"But he died over a year ago! Why didn't you tell us?" exclaimed Akane.
"I was about to, and the very day I had planned to do it, something happened. Father told us we were expecting guests."
"Me and Pop?"
"That's right, Ranma. After that things at home became so confusing that I just didn't want to introduce anything else, so I kept Aunt Akane to myself."
"Just to yourself, Sis? What about Daddy?"
"I do visit, Nabiki, but not as often as I should. Every time I see Akane, I think of your mother. I realize that's not fair to Akane, but it's very difficult for me."
"Well I want to see her." Nabiki got up and gestured to her father. "Take me there, Daddy."
Soun turned around to look at his youngest. "Aren't you coming, Akane?"
"You go on, Daddy. You too, Kasumi. I've got something I need to do first."
Soun looked rather confused, but he didn't argue. Soon the only people left in the room were Ranma and Akane.
"Let's go, Ranma."
"Where?"
*****
"Akane, don't you think you overdid it a little bit?"
Akane giggled. All she could see of Ranma were his arms, because the rest of him was hidden behind a huge bouquet. Her hands were full too--with her favorite cookies and candies. "I don't think so. I've got seventeen years to catch up on."
"Yeah, well don't try to do it all in one day! As it is, I think you just blew your whole month's spending money, and a good chunk of mine!"
*****
Akane sat at the table, working on her puzzle. It was going to be a picture of a basketful of puppies. She loved puppies. There was a knock on the door, and it opened. Kasumi was there! She loved Kasumi even more than she loved puppies. And Kasumi wasn't alone!
"Hello!" she said cheerfully.
*****
"Well are you going in or aren't you?" Ranma sounded impatient, and that made Akane feel even guiltier for hesitating outside the door.
"I'm nervous."
"Well you better go in before these things start wilting!" Ranma shifted the flowers into one arm, grabbed Akane by the hand, and pushed the door open. Akane could see her father sitting to one side of the table. Her sisters were on either side of her Aunt Akane, helping her with the puzzle. Then all of their eyes were on her, and she got even more nervous. Before she could speak, her aunt did.
"Hello. Are you Akane? Kasumi said Akane was coming. That is my name, you know."
"Yes, I'm Akane. Hello."
Aunt Akane smiled. "Would you be my friend?"
Akane choked back her tears, came further into the room, and knelt beside her aunt's wheelchair. "I would like that," she said.