Same Time Next Year
By M. Zephyr
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.
Ranma x Akane. What if the old woman was not outdoors on the day that Ranma learned the neko-ken? Akane and Ranma first meet at age ten just after Ranma undergoes the neko-ken training and Akane's mother has died.
I want to provide fair warning: This story will not retell the portion of Akane's and Ranma's lives covered by the manga, even in alternate form. It is intended at the outset to tell a story only up until the point of their engagement. For those who wish some sense for how the rest of this history would play out differently from the beginning told here, a short appendix will be appended summarizing some of the key events. Your imagination will need to fill in the rest.
Chapter 1. The Cat in the Cemetery
It was a cold and dreary morning, the sort of morning when most sensible folk stay indoors somewhere. But on the outskirts of Tokyo, in a vacant lot, knelt a man who appeared to be in his thirties, huddling close to a fire for warmth and holding a steaming cup of tea as well. He was wearing a worn and stained gi, and the cloth upon his head could not hide the fact that he was nearly bald. As he sipped from his tea, he cast occasional glances toward the boards on the ground beside him. These covered a pit which he had himself dug several days earlier, for the purpose it was now serving. Faint animal noises could be heard from below, produced by the multitude of cats he had put down there. As the man sipped some more tea, he wondered if today would be the day on which his lazy son would learn the current lesson the boy had been set. He gave a little smile as he imagined the praise he would receive when his heir mastered this unbeatable martial arts technique. Even the wife he had not seen in four years would have to be impressed by this feat.
Without warning, the noise level from down in the hole increased sharply, as yowls of alarm pierced the air. The waiting father stood up in excitement, his tea still in hand.
Could it be? Had the boy learned the little known neko-ken? He stepped forward, trying to divine the answer from the noises being made within the pit. Then, with shocking suddenness, the boards covering the pit erupted into the air, causing him to spill his tea and forcing him to take a step backward. Frightened felines exploded from the open pit. They were followed by a young boy, covered in blood from the innumerable scratches visible on every exposed portion of skin, staining his white gi red. He landed on the ground in a crouch, and turned eyes devoid of human intellect on his abruptly nervous father. With a feral howl, the boy's hands slashed at the air between them, somehow shredding the man's clothing and leaving long bloody cuts showing beneath. With another howl, the boy leapt away, running off down the street, and was quickly lost to his stunned father's sight.
The boy paused briefly in front of a quaint house. An old woman lived there who, out of compassion for the child, had given him food every day for the last week to ease his empty stomach. Perhaps remembering her kindness, he yowled piteously for several minutes, but received no response. Unfortunately for him, she was dealing with the chill of the day by indulging in a relaxing soak in her furo, listening to music and pretending that she was somewhere warm and exotic. Thus she did not hear the pitiful cries outside her house. However, they did attract the attention of a stray dog, which came running up the street at the feline sound. A moment later it was running even faster, with the loudly growling boy hot on its heels.
Ten year old Akane Tendo shivered, as the February breeze bit through her coat and dress, and a few lazy snowflakes floated by as if reluctant to join the four centimeters of snow already on the ground. Her arms were wrapped around the cold granite of a headstone, and the tears which had leaked out of her eyes were slowly freezing on her face. She felt bad about disobeying her father. He had told her that she had to stop coming to the cemetery every day after school, but it was only a week since she had watched them lower her mother's coffin into the ground! She so badly wanted to be able to have her mother hug her again, the way that she was currently hugging her mother's grave marker.
Besides, it wasn't like her father was taking the loss of Akane's mother very well either. He kept breaking into loud, helpless sobs whenever something reminded him, and it seemed that everything reminded him. A few of his students had quit taking classes at the dojo he operated because of his emotional behavior. Her two older sisters seemed to be handling matters a little better, but they were definitely grieving as well. Nabiki, at eleven, was acting ashamed of her father's lack of control, becoming emotionally withdrawn in response. Kasumi, who was thirteen, was keeping herself very busy with housework and cooking to help keep the pain at bay, but Akane knew that her oldest sister had also paid several discreet visits to the cemetery this last week.
Another cold gust crept down her neck, and she took a moment to adjust her scarf more snugly. Akane thought a little guiltily about the homework waiting back in her room that was due the next day. She was in the fourth grade now, and was determined to do well at both her schoolwork and her martial arts training so that she would be able to take over the family dojo when the time came. The martial arts skills came to her very naturally, but she had to work harder to do as well at her academic studies. She could spare a little more time for her mother today, but soon she would have to go home.
A commotion over near the open gates caught her attention, and Akane looked up to see what was going on. Three older boys, whom Akane knew to be neighborhood bullies, were there, taunting a smaller child she did not know. Their victim was visibly upset, almost bouncing around with fury. Setting a determined scowl on her face, Akane stood and started marching over to give the bullies a piece of her mind and try to scare them off. Was it a girl they were tormenting? As she drew closer, she saw that the other child had long black hair pulled back into a pigtail, and appeared to be about her own age. The girl, as Akane decided she was, must also be a martial artist, as she was wearing a frayed and discolored gi.
Akane slowed down momentarily as she realized that there was something odd about the way the girl moved. It almost looked as if she was using her hands as much as her feet to move around. Almost as if she was crippled or badly injured. By now, Akane was close enough to finally understand the true nature of the ragged and dirty condition of the girl's clothing. She could see that it was ripped and torn, and the young girl was literally covered in blood, the result of what looked like hundreds of small wounds and scratches all over her body.
Akane felt her temper erupt at this evidence of abuse, especially given that the unknown girl did not appear to be able to stand normally. Although her training in the martial arts still had a long way to go, Akane was already a force to be reckoned with, as several children even four or five years older had occasionally had cause to learn. She broke into a run, trying to get there before anything else could happen, but realized in horror that she was going to be too late when she saw the gang leader lift a baseball bat over his head and prepare to swing.
The swing was never completed. At that moment, the crippled girl growled and swiped out with her hand, a seemingly ineffective blow which connected with nothing. Akane was therefore all the more amazed to see the bat fall into several pieces. Then she didn't have time to spare for wondering, as she was among the group and was lashing out with her fists and feet, dimly aware that the pigtailed kid was fighting as well.
Yelling with alarm, the three would-be tormenters ran off, sporting several bruises and trying to hold together their shredded clothing. Akane gave a satisfied nod, then turned around to see an innocent, wide-eyed, indefinably masculine face looking back at her. A boy, she realized, not a girl after all. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a long, questioning, "Meeowww?"
Akane was so surprised, she fell right down on her rump. Speechlessly, she just sat there as the strange boy walked over to her using all four limbs, moving simultaneously on both his hands and feet. He circled her slowly, sniffing curiously, and mewling occasionally. The kid butted his head against Akane's arm imperiously, and with no little trepidation she lifted her hand and rubbed the back of his head, scratching lightly. That seemed to be what he wanted. The boy started making a purring sound at this, then flopped down across Akane's legs, curling up into a near fetal position, and seemed to go to sleep.
Akane looked around in helpless bewilderment, thankful that no one else was present at the cemetery on this chilly day to witness the strange scene. Looking down at the boy lying in her lap, she made a closer inspection of him. His clothing was worn and had seen better days even before its more recent damage, but was now badly stained and ripped in hundreds of places. His hands, feet and face bore many scratches and bite marks, some of which were still bleeding, and as she examined the tears in his clothing, she saw more scratches and blood visible on the skin underneath. Further, he was not wearing a coat, shoes or anything else except for the shirt and pants of his gi, and he was trying to curl up more firmly to her warmth as he lay there shivering.
Akane wished that her father were there to tell her what to do, but quickly changed it to a wish for her sister Kasumi, who was more likely to be of help these days. Neither of them, of course, showed up in response to her wish. She tried nudging the strange boy off of her lap, but he lay there as immovable as a lead weight, and the cold ground was starting to chill her posterior and legs. ‹Great. I'm going to be forced to sit here until I freeze because a boy who thinks he's a cat decided to go to sleep on my lap.› Akane felt a little ashamed of such thoughts as she realized that the boy was in a much worse state than her, but still, she was starting to feel very cold. Her grief for her mother, having temporarily receded to the back of her thoughts, now returned in full force as she longed for someone to help her.
As she continued to sit there, Akane started to get very worried. The snow under her bottom was melting and soaking into her pants, and this was becoming painfully cold. The boy in her lap also needed attention for his wounds, and she could see that his feet were starting to turn blue where they lay in the snow. Once again she tried to push him off of her lap, only to have him grunt sleepily and settle back down even harder. In growing frustration, she shoved hard and watched him roll over several times before banging his head against a gravestone. He opened his eyes and blinked at her, and Akane began to worry as she remembered the bat and the torn clothing of the bullies, hoping he wouldn't think she had tried to attack him.
The girl saw dawning awareness returning to the pigtailed boy's eyes. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, his eyes widened in remembered horror and he began to scream, curling up to hide his face in his knees and throwing his arms over his head. Akane was so startled that it took her a few moments to make out what he was saying.
"No, please daddy! Don't throw me in again! I don't know how to learn it! They're hurting me so bad! They hate me! Please don't make me go back in! Please, please, please ..." Exhausted, his voice trailed off in choking sobs, racking his entire body.
Akane looked around, once again wishing that some adult would come and tell her how to handle this. She thought about her own sorrow, and how much she wanted someone to hold her and try to ease her pain. Having no better idea, she decided to see if doing so might give the boy some comfort. So Akane slowly got up and walked over, to kneel beside him and put her arm around his shoulder. Speaking quietly, she told him, "No one's going to hurt you anymore. There's no one here but me. What's wrong? Can you tell me? Are you badly hurt?"
He might not have even heard her. He flinched away and began pleading again, heartbreakingly, too hoarse to scream. "I don't want to learn this technique, daddy. Please stop. I can't stand it anymore. Why are you making me do this? I'm sorry I'm weak, but I can't do it again. I hurt so much! Please don't, please don't, please. I don't think I wanna be a martial artist."
That last sentiment shocked Akane down to her core. There was nothing that she wanted more than to be a martial artist. She couldn't imagine anything which could change the way she felt about that. She had to break through this boy's madness and find out what was wrong. She tried to think what Kasumi would do. Hoping that she wasn't making a mistake, Akane leaned over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly, and spoke directly into his ear. "Nobody's going to hurt you. I promise. There isn't anyone here to hurt you. If you're worried about your father, he isn't here either. I'm the only one here, and I don't even know what you're talking about."
She felt the boy grow still underneath her, and then saw him turn a tear-streaked face up to her in bewilderment, finally noticing her for the first time. Still sniffling, he asked. "Wh-who are you? Where am I? Where's daddy?"
Her answer was as calm as she could make it. "I don't know where your father is. You're in a cemetery in Nerima. My name is Akane Tendo, and I came here to visit my momma."
"How'd I get here?"
Akane shook her head. "I don't know. I saw you come through the gate being chased by some big boys. They're always picking on smaller kids, but we chased them off." She paused, wondering if she should mention this next thing. But it was so strange, she had to. "You were acting like a cat. You meow'd at me, and then, um," Akane found herself blushing a little, "you curled up on my lap and went to sleep. I had to knock you off 'cause the snow was starting to make me cold. That's when you woke up and started yelling."
Akane decided that the hug had served its purpose, as he had calmed down a little, even if he was still looking very puzzled. She backed off slightly, giving him a chance to sit up, and asked him, "What's your name?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome. I don't understand. The last thing I remember, well, I don't really want to remember it, but I wasn't anywhere near here. I don't think I was, anyway. What happened?"
Akane shrugged. "I don't know. I think maybe we better go to my house. It's only a couple of kilometers away. Do you think you can get that far? Maybe my daddy will know what to do. And you've got to clean off all of those scratches before they get infected. Not to mention that you need some new clothes."
Ranma was looking scared again. "Please don't tell your father about me. Or anyone else. They'll make me go back to my dad. I ... I don't wanna do that. He might make me ... I don't wanna. Please?"
A light suddenly dawned in Akane's young mind, with a horrible certainty that she wanted to reject. "Ranma ... all those scratches and stuff. I thought the bullies did that to you. Did ... did your daddy do that to you?"
Ranma hung his head in shame. "He ... he said I had to learn this new technique he read about. But I don't think I can. And I know I don't wanna try any more. I'm scared. Please don't tell anyone."
Akane paled, feeling sick to her stomach that any parent could be so mean to their own child. The school nurse had talked about this sort of thing to her class, so she knew it could happen, but that didn't carry the emotional punch of seeing the result. She felt her heart opening to this boy, wanting to find some way to help him. She didn't think her father would make him go back to such a monster, but the idea clearly terrified Ranma. If he were to trust her, then she would have to do as he asked for now.
In a shaky voice, she said, "Okay, Ranma. I promise I won't tell my daddy or my sisters. But you do need to wash those scratches and put some medicine on them, or you'll get sick." Akane paused and thought for a moment. "If you come back home with me, I think I can sneak you into the basement of our dojo. Nobody goes down there very often. It'll be warmer there than outside, and I can get you some medicine, and bandages, and food. Will that be all right?"
Ranma's thoughts had mostly been turned inward up to this point, but when Akane made this offer, he stared at her in shock that someone was actually trying to be nice to him. He had looked at her before, now he finally saw her. She was about his age he thought, with short black hair, and large chocolate-brown eyes. Her movements were graceful, and a kind smile adorned her face. Her clothes were of much better quality than his, and the thought that her family even had their own dojo made him terribly envious. On the other hand, his empty belly made him feel a rush of gratitude for the offer of food. Ranma gave her a weak smile and nodded his head, then struggled to stand on his frozen feet.
Akane grabbed Ranma's arm as soon as he was on his feet, afraid that he'd tumble right over. Between the cold and his injuries, and the fact that he was barefoot, he was limping pretty badly. She bit her lower lip, worried that he might get frostbite as they walked along the icy sidewalk, but she didn't know what else to do. There weren't a lot of houses between the cemetery and her home, it was mostly warehouses and public lands like the canal and park. There wasn't really anyplace to ask for help, even if Ranma would let her, not that she thought he would. She'd never met anyone so scared before. She'd never had anyone depending on her so strongly before, either. It made her feel strange. When her house came in sight, she pointed to it, and Ranma nodded, his teeth chattering too hard between blue lips for him to speak.
Slipping around to the back gate, Akane helped Ranma into the dojo while keeping a sharp eye out for her family, and led him down into the basement, which was used for storage. Ranma sat down on a stack of mats, cross-legged so that his feet were up off of the cold floor. The basement itself was not heated, but the dojo above it was, and although it was cooler below, the temperature was much warmer than outdoors. Promising to come back soon with bandages and something for him to eat, Akane left and entered the house.
Her oldest sister Kasumi confronted her almost before she was inside the house. "Akane, there you are! Where have you been? Father was getting so worried. You should let someone know before you go out for so long."
Akane hung her head. "I'm sorry Kasumi. Is daddy around?"
Her barely-teenaged sister shook her head. "No, I'm afraid he left a short time ago. Some old friend of his called wanting advice, so daddy went to meet him. Do you need help with something? I'm afraid Nabiki's out also, something about talking to some boys who owe her some money, and I have to go get some groceries. But I'll be back in a little bit, if you can wait that long. Will you be okay home all alone by yourself? Or do you want to come and help me do the shopping?"
Akane couldn't believe her luck. "I'm sorry, oneechan, but I really should get started on my homework. Don't worry, I'll be fine here by myself. I am ten years old, after all. Is it okay if I fix myself a snack, though?"
Kasumi smiled at this, then picked up a basket and headed for the door, where she put on her coat and shoes. "Of course it's okay, little sister. Well, I'll be going now. Are you sure you'll be okay? Take care of yourself. I should be back in about an hour." She opened the door and left.
Akane immediately rushed back out into the dojo, and down into the basement, startling Ranma into hiding behind the mats by her sudden appearance. She rocked to a stop a few meters away, feeling contrite. "Sorry, Ranma. I just found out my family is all out of the house. We probably have about an hour. So it's safe for you to come into the house, where you can use our furoba and wash those scratches properly. Come on!" Darting forward, she grabbed his arm and started tugging him back up the stairs. Once inside, Akane shoved Ranma through the door into the changing room, then shut it behind him to go take care of something else. The boy looked around himself bemusedly, then peeled off the rags he was wearing and stepped into the bathing room. He felt numb while he washed and watched the red-tinted water go down the drain. A short time later, Ranma was sitting in the hot water of the furo, finally starting to feel warm again.
Not long after, he heard Akane's voice through the door. "Are you finished in there yet, Ranma?"
Reluctantly, he lifted himself out of the hot water, knowing that time was limited. "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," he responded, then dried himself off. Wrapping the towel around his body modestly, he stepped back out into the changing room. Once they were facing one another, both children found themselves feeling very awkward.
"Um, I found you an old gi that I think will fit," Akane said nervously, holding out the garments but not looking directly at him, "and an old pair of Kasumi's slippers that shouldn't be too big. I can't do anything about the, uh, underwear though. I figure you wouldn't want to wear girl's stuff, and daddy's is too big."
Ranma took the clothing from her gratefully and told her, "That's okay. My outer clothes took the worst of the damage. And my t-shirt. But my, um, underpants were mostly undamaged. I can still wear 'em."
With that settled, Akane picked up the antiseptic and bandages she had collected. She bit her lip, as a wave of shyness washed over her at being in a room with a boy who was only wearing a towel. Diffidently, she asked, "Would you like me to put the medicine on you? I don't think you can do it all yourself. You might have trouble getting to some of the spots, like the ones on your back."
Ranma immediately tried to look at his back over his shoulder. When Akane giggled, he realized with a rueful grin that it would be next to impossible and agreed that she'd have to help. He made sure that the towel was securely around his waist and sat down, his back to her. Akane spent some time smearing ointment on the multitude of scratches and bites, and putting bandages on the worst ones. Biting her lip at the thought of the question she was about to ask, Akane inquired, "Ranma? Do you think you could you tell me what happened to you? I know you said your daddy did this, but a lot of these look like animal bites."
The young boy flinched at her carefully worded question, but enough time had passed to allow him to recover a little of his poise. After all she had done for him, he figured Akane had a right to know about it, and he managed to keep his voice mostly steady as he answered.
"My dad's been training me in the martial arts. We practice the Saotome School of Anything Goes ..."
Akane interrupted him, her eyes wide with surprised excitement. "You're kidding! My daddy's training me in the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."
Ranma stared at her for a long moment in surprise. Finally, he declared, "That's weird. I wonder if they know each other?" This idea suddenly worried him, but Akane had already promised not to tell her father about him. As the girl applied medicine to his back, he resumed his tale. "Anyway, he found this book that talked about a martial arts technique called the 'neko-ken.' It's supposed to be unbeatable. So he told me I had to learn it."
The boy shivered slightly under Akane's hands. "Two days ago he took me out to this pit, where he tied me up and wrapped fish sausages around me. Then he tossed me in, and put a cover over the top." Ranma's voice subsided to a dead monotone. "The pit was full of c-cats. Hungry ones. He hadn't fed them for a couple of days. They jumped all over me, to get at the food. They were biting and scratching pretty fierce. My pop had left just enough give in the rope for me to cover my eyes with my hands."
Akane had to remind herself to breathe. She couldn't believe that someone could be so hideously cruel to anyone, let alone to his own son. She started to cry silently as Ranma's voice went on, deliberately emotionless. "I was begging and screaming for him to let me out, but he wouldn't. I finally passed out. I think. At least, I woke up to find him rinsing the blood off of me. But I hadn't learned the technique. So he threw me in again yesterday. And again today." Ranma shuddered suddenly and hid his face.
Before she could stop it, a small sob broke from Akane's throat. Ignoring that, Ranma continued. "I don't know what happened today. The last thing I remember before waking up to find you there was having all of those c-cats all over me, clawing me, hurting me, ..." His voice trailed off, and he began shivering. He seemed to be hurting so badly, Akane wanted to do something to help. Whenever she felt that bad about anything, her mother had always been there. Tentatively, she put her arms around him, squeezing him in a tight hug. It seemed to help as Ranma stopped shivering. "I don't know what my dad will do when he finds me. I ... I don't wanna go in that pit again." He leaned into the embrace, like a much younger child, afraid of the dark and reaching for comfort anywhere offered.
Akane held him until he was ready to let go, and then, as matter-of-factly as possible, she reached for one of his arms and started applying ointment on his scratches again. As she did so, she thought back over the events in the cemetery. "You know, Ranma, I think it must have done something to you. I don't know if it's the neko-ken, since I don't know what that is. But when you were in the cemetery, before you fell asleep, you were acting like a cat and making noises that sounded like one. But more importantly is what happened when you were fighting. This one boy tried to hit you with a baseball bat, and you sort of reached out and ... I don't know what you did, but the bat fell in several pieces that looked like they'd been cut off with knives. And then there were their clothes. I didn't see that as clearly since I was fighting too, but when they ran off I saw that their clothes were just totally shredded."
Ranma pondered her words, then shook himself. "I don't know if it's the neko-ken either, but I'll tell my pop about it when he finds me. Maybe he'll decide that I learned enough and not make me try again."
Akane was gingerly treating Ranma's face now, her mouth screwed up in concentration. "I thought you didn't want your daddy to find you?"
Ranma looked ashamed about being afraid of his father. "I, well, I don't want him to. At least not right away. Not until those cats have had a chance to get away. But I'm sure he'll find me eventually. I just hope it will take a while. I ... I love the martial arts. I'm afraid that if he finds me right away, he might make me do something that will make me scared to continue my training. I just ... I want a little time, first. Besides, who else would take me?"
"What about your mom?" Akane asked. "Where is she?"
Ranma looked very sad, and spoke quietly. "I haven't seen my mom since I was six. I think she musta died. Why else hasn't my pop ever taken me home to her?"
Akane looked sad as well, almost as if she would start crying, as she finally started working on his legs. "Oh! I'm sorry I said that. That's terrible. My ... my momma passed away just over a week ago, so I know how much it hurts. And at least I knew her four more years than you knew your mom."
Ranma smiled at her weakly. "Hey, it's not so bad. I've had time to get used to it. I'm really, really sorry to hear about your mom. That makes it even more incredible that you're willing to help me like this. You must be feeling awful still."
Akane blinked back her tears. "Yeah, well, in a way, it's kinda nice to have something to do to keep me from thinking about it. It's been hard, and I'm so tired of it hurting all the time. I think daddy has been getting worried about me, too." She decided to get off of this topic. "So anyway, I'll help you stay hidden from your father for now, for as long as you want. Well, as long as I can. We can probably keep anybody from finding you for a few days at least, if you stay down in the dojo basement. Sooner or later somebody's bound to notice something unusual, though."
Ranma nodded, grateful for all of her help. "Thanks. I mean ... well, thanks. I ... I don't know how to say thank you properly. You've been so great, and you don't even know me or anything."
Akane smiled up at him, feeling shy. "I don't mind. I want to help." Her face hardened in juvenile condemnation. "I think your daddy's been horrible. Besides, I'm a martial artist too, and my daddy says that martial artists are supposed to help people. Now, I think that's the last of your scratches, so I'm gonna leave and you better get dressed so you can come out and get something to eat before anyone comes home." She picked up the medical supplies and then left the room with them.
It wasn't long before Ranma was out in the kitchen, eating some leftovers Akane pulled out of the refrigerator. The snack Akane had mentioned to Kasumi hadn't done much more than whet his appetite. "I hope that's enough now, Ranma. We can't take too much or it would get noticed. I can't cook you anything because I haven't really learned how to yet, and my sister Kasumi would be bound to notice if I tried. Kasumi's my oldest sister. She's been doing all of the cooking and cleaning and stuff since my momma got sick. Nabiki's my other sister." Akane made a face but didn't add anything to that.
"That's okay," Ranma declared, devouring the last of what she had put in front of him. "I'm used to not getting a lot to eat. We never seem to have much food, and part of my training is that I have to fight my dad for every scrap of food I'm allowed to eat. He's much bigger and better than I am, so I don't get much." Ranma was not looking in Akane's direction, and thus failed to see the look of distress on her face upon hearing this description.
They got Ranma back out into the dojo's basement with time to spare, and with his condition much improved. He was warm and bathed, and his wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. He was wearing a gi that was clean and in good repair, even if it wasn't new. His stomach was no longer empty. Akane had supplied him with a couple of old blankets to help keep him warm, and to make sleeping more comfortable. She had even given him a book on Japanese history to help hold off boredom, although Ranma was giving it a slightly dubious look. Since Kasumi was due back soon, Akane was forced to leave him there and go back inside, with his thanks echoing in her ears.
At dinner that night, Akane's father took her to task for disappearing for so long that afternoon, and he wouldn't let it drop even after she apologized for worrying him. Kasumi finally diverted his attention from her little sister by asking, "Were you able to help your friend today, father?"
Soun Tendo shook his head sorrowfully. "No, not really. It's a sad story, I'm afraid. My friend Saotome-san was training his son Ranma in an advanced technique today, when there was a mishap. Saotome-san was injured, and Ranma-kun ran off and has not yet been found. Since they were training on the outskirts of Nerima, my friend was hoping that I might have some ideas as to where to look for his son, but I fear that I was unable to be of much help. Of course, I told him that I would keep my eyes and ears open for the boy, and inform my neighbors to do so as well."
He looked around at his daughters. "If any of you girls should happen to see a young boy about Akane's age, with blue eyes and long black hair tied into a pigtail, then please let me know right away. He will have several bad scratches that he got when the accident occurred. His father is very worried about him. I feel very badly for his loss. It is hard being a man alone raising children and I don't know what I would do if I lost any of you." He began to cry, and gathered all three girls into his damp embrace.
Early into this speech, Akane felt the blood drain from her face and her mouth go dry. She was very glad that no one was watching her. Ranma had been more right than he knew to worry about telling her father! This certainly answered the speculation he had voiced earlier about whether their fathers might know one another. She firmed her resolve to let neither her father nor her sisters know of Ranma's presence.
Over the next couple of days, Akane found several chances to sneak food out to the dojo for Ranma, and spent time talking to him while he ate. A friendship began to grow between them as a result of these chats, as well as her concern for him and his gratitude to her. Unlike Yuka and Sayuri, her best friends at school, Ranma shared her interest in martial arts, and was willing to talk about it endlessly without growing bored. They even found a couple of opportunities to spar up in the dojo, which was fun not only for the chance to practice martial arts with someone skilled and near her own age, but also for the spice of danger that someone might return early and catch them. However, in Akane's opinion, Ranma did spend a little too much time showing off during these sessions.
From comments made by her own father, Akane kept track of the progress of the search. She learned that Ranma's father, Genma, had found some people who had seen the boy, and he had even managed to track his son as far as the cemetery. Ranma's description had been passed to all of the people in the neighborhood, and both of them realized that they weren't going to be able to keep him hidden for very much longer. Akane found herself growing depressed at the thought that Ranma would have to return to his abusive father, but her new friend accepted it philosophically. At least he had had several days of peace and quiet in which to recover, and Ranma thought it unlikely that his father would attempt to continue the neko-ken training at this point.
The day finally came when Ranma decided it was time to leave and allow himself to be "discovered," before he got Akane into trouble. He planned to use the excuse of his neko-ken amnesia to avoid explaining how his injuries had been treated and why he was well-fed and clothed. The two of them were standing together in the basement of the dojo, trying to say good-bye.
"I ... I'm going to miss you, Ranma," Akane said softly, through a throat which was starting to close up. "I wish you didn't have to go."
"Yeah, I wish I didn't have to either," Ranma replied with a touch of melancholy. "It's been real nice talking to you, and this basement has been more comfortable than a lot of places pop and me have stayed."
"Do you think we'll ever see each other again?" Akane asked her friend.
Ranma nodded decisively. "One way or another, I'll make sure of that. Pop and I travel all over Japan, but we do come back this way once in a while. When we do, I'll find a way to slip away from him for a few days and meet up with you. We'd better keep it a secret though. I know pop doesn't think much of girls, so if he finds out about it, he may try to find some way to stop me."
Akane found herself breathing a little more easily and smiled. "I'll look forward to seeing you again, then."
The boy returned her smile, finding that he was looking forward to it as well. "It won't be too often, though," he warned her. "Maybe once a year, if I'm lucky. I don't think I'll be able to manage any better than that."
"Next February then," Akane replied with determination, as though she could make it happen by sheer power of will alone. "We're friends now, and friends visit friends. Besides, it'll be the first anniversary of my mother's death and ..." She trailed off, leaving unspoken the thought that she would probably welcome something to take her mind off the pain at that time.
Upon hearing her words, Ranma resolved to do everything in his power to show up in Nerima again the next February. "All right. I'll see you then. Keep up with your training - I expect you to still be a good sparring partner when I return."
"I will. And you try to find some way to keep up with your studies. Martial arts isn't everything, and I don't want a dumb friend."
They held out their hands to one another, and clasped pinkies. Simultaneously, they said, "Friends." With a final smile, they climbed the stairs, and Akane watched Ranma slip out of the dojo and through the back gate. "Goodbye, Ranma," she whispered softly.