Summary: He was a skilled assassin trained to withstand any pain and deliver the most agonizing of deaths to his victims. But after meeting his new target, Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome finds that he can carry out his mission in the most pleasurable way possible.
Rating: M

oOo

He watched the man die with cold, emotionless eyes. There was a series of applause that echoed around him as the circle of people grew tighter and tighter; he refrained from lashing out as they came too close, smacking him hard, appreciatively on his back while whispering under their breath.

"Good technique," he heard one of them murmur. Several people nodded and looked back at the man whose corpse was filled with bullet holes, scarred with many whips, and the knife that still rested in his eye socket.

"You did well, son," said Genma Saotome. He easily cleared a path towards his son due to his wide girth, the tone in his voice completely contradicting what he said. "But I believe that the man had yet to pay for his sins. Do better next time or I will make an example of you to show how it should be done."

The temperature in the room fell several degrees as everyone shivered in fright. Ranma stood still, his eyes still locked onto the corpse instead of his father, the look on his face seeming as though he hadn't listened to what was said at all. Genma ignored his son's attitude and motioned for several people to clean up the mess before turning Ranma to him and backhanded him hard in the face.

It was a force that could have knocked several people over if they were standing side by side, but Ranma's head only jerked to the right before bringing it back and staring emotionlessly at his father, who smirked.

"Has your head numbed yet, boy?" he asked, popping his knuckles.

Not answering, Ranma continued to stare at the man who bore him, not lifting a finger as Genma delivered a harsh punch to his stomach before locking his hands together and bringing it down on the back of Ranma's head. He fell over with a grunt and slowly pulled himself up to his feet, not bothering to wipe the blood that spilled from his mouth.

Genma narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing his son before lifting his arm and elbowing Ranma in the collarbone. He heard the bone snap under his elbow and took a quick glance at Ranma's face. He didn't even flinch.

Smirking, Genma pulled back and wiped invisible dust from his gi before turning on his heel and walking back to the table where he and his wife, Nodoka, sat eating dinner.

"Yes, you are doing very well, son," Genma said again. He beckoned Ranma over to him as he picked a large slab of fish and set it on his place. When Ranma was by his side, he ate it slowly, tauntingly, in front of his son, looking up at his face every once in a while to see his reaction. When Ranma made no indication of hunger, Genma sighed and set down his utensils.

"You must be hungry, boy. Eat," Genma demanded, gesturing to the long table of divine food in front of him. Nodoka, who sat at Genma's left side, made no notice that her son's blood was dripping onto the table and daintily picked at the food, her thoughts only on the brutality of the death she just witnessed by her son.

Ranma made no movement and stared straight in front of him. He knew better than to accept and offer like that. Genma, feeling himself get slightly exasperated, picked up his chopsticks and nodded.

"All right, be that way, ungrateful boy. Go to your chambers. I'll send you information on your next assignment."

Ranma bowed to his parents and left the dining hall quickly. He had to navigate through many people to find the door, but when he did, he left as fast as he could towards his bedroom, the only place where he could find salvation.

The halls he walked through were dark, being that most of the house had no windows, thanks to his father's renovations. The only places that did have windows were his room and the living room because his mother enjoyed resting in the sun light. Otherwise, the house was encased in complete darkness.

He passed by one of the maids, Shampoo, and murmured in her ear to send someone up to his room with medical tape. She nodded, blushing at his proximity before rushing off. Shaking his head, Ranma continued to his chambers, slamming the door loudly behind him once he reached it.

He made a beeline to the bathroom where he leaned over the sink and retched, his whole body convulsing with displeasure. When he was finished he looked at himself in the mirror. There was dried blood that trailed from the corner of his mouth and he could feel that the back of his head and neck were sticky with blood from when Genma locked his hands and hit him.

Using his good arm, Ranma stripped himself from his clothes and looked again in the mirror, examining his collar bone. For the first time in years, he made a face of complete disgust at the sight before ignoring it and jumping into the shower.

He spent what felt like hours just standing there under the hot water, debating on whether or not he should just drown himself when there was a knock on the door. Turning off the knob of the shower, Ranma wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the door to his room, where the maid from earlier, Shampoo, along with Ukyo, were carrying medical supplies and a manila folder. He beckoned them inside and closed the door. When he turned around, they both made a show of gasping at his condition.

"What happened to your collarbone?" Ukyo rasped, horrified.

"Broke it," Ranma said bluntly.

"How you do that?" Shampoo asked, hurriedly digging through her first aid kit for the tape.

Ranma hesitated for a moment, his hand clenching on the door knob. "I was careless."

Shampoo and Ukyo both knew he was lying, but didn't call him on it. Ranma was one of the strongest fighters in the entire clan, so they knew that he being "careless" was out of the question. The problem was why he let Genma treat him this way; they all knew that Ranma could defeat his father in a heartbeat, so why did he choose not to?

Knowing that it wasn't their place to ask, Shampoo and Ukyo sat Ranma down on his bed and set to fixing him up. They tried to chat with him, but just like every other time he was hurt and they were helping him, Ranma kept his mouth shut and a stony look on his face.

When they finished wrapping him up, they packed up their supplies and left Ranma to himself, but not before handing him the manila folder.

"Here's your next assignment, Ranma," Ukyo said softly.

Ranma took it from her and set it on his desk before he walked to his closet to find some clothes.

"You're not leaving now, are you?" Ukyo said, concerned. Shampoo popped her head in the room to see what was taking Ukyo so long, but she ignored her. "You should let your collarbone heal before you go out again."

She was surprised when Ranma came back dressed in his regular sleeping clothes; a tank top that fit rather tightly on his muscled torso and a pair of boxers.

Ranma looked at her with a bored expression on his face as he lifted the covers to his bed. "Why are you still here?"

Blushing and completely embarrassed that she was worried over nothing, Ukyo bowed and hastily excused herself.

Ranma waited until his door was closed before he picked up the manila folder to view information about his next assignment. Upon opening it, the very first thing his eyes were drawn to was the picture of a rather beautiful woman with short hair that had an almost a blue tint to it. The next thing he noticed was that she was smiling. Shaking his head, Ranma averted his eyes to the written information.

Name: Akane Tendo
Age: Eighteen
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 112 lbs
Relations: Father: Soun Tendo. Sisters: Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo. Mother: Sachiko Tendo (deceased)

Something tickled at the back of Ranma's memory about this girl, but he shook it off. He couldn't help but notice that she was quite young; only a year younger than himself in fact, and wondered what she had done in her short lifetime to earn a death sentence. Skipping over a list of her skills and weaknesses, Ranma searched for the reason why he was meant to kill her before frowning.

Sins: None

Finding this rather peculiar, Ranma turned to the next page, where a picture of whom he guessed was Soun Tendo, her father, was staring at him with a smile to match that of his daughter. Deeming the other information as unimportant, Ranma again skimmed the page for what he wanted.

Sins: Debt of $369,000 to Saotome Clan.

Ah, so that was it. Obviously, Soun had borrowed money from the countries most powerful lone shark, Genma, and now he wanted it back. So killing his daughter would make the Tendo matriarch cough up the dough?

Ranma laughed mirthlessly and skipped to the next page, where another beautiful woman whose name read Sachiko, was also smiling. Ranma searched down the page.

Sins: Debt of $238,000 to Saotome Clan.

Ranma frowned again before looking at the data of her death.

Death: Unknown.

Now that was weird. How could they not know how she died? Surely someone had to know. Ranma looked at the date of her death. June 14th, 1996. She must have been in her mid-thirties—much too early to have died from any sort of natural cause unless it was a fatal disease. And her sin—it had increased more than $100,000 from the time she died. Vaguely, Ranma made a connection in his head, wondering if someone in his clan killed Sachiko Tendo for the same reasons why his father wanted him to kill Akane, but with a couple thousand dollars of interest.

Deciding to think nothing of it, Ranma tossed the folder to his bedside table and turned off his lamp light, not noticing how an invisible breeze flipped the pages back to where Akane Tendo was smiling at his dark ceiling.

oOo

He woke up late the next morning. Groggily pulling himself from bed, Ranma stretched his good arm and yawned before getting dressed and performing his morning kata.

Just as he finished, there was a knock on the door and Ukyo came in with a large tray of his breakfast. She greeted him with a bright good morning, but Ranma ignored her, the food, and continued to dress himself in daily clothes. When he was finished, he walked out of his room, down the hall and to the foyer. He opened the large front door and strolled through the courtyard of his large house to the front gate that opened upon his arrival. Without a second thought, Ranma set off to find his newest target, Akane.

It didn't take him long to find the school that she attended: Furinkan High. He used to attend there for his freshman year before his father pulled him out for private sessions. Painful sessions.

Shaking his head and remembering his mission, Ranma hopped over the gate in a fluid movement that had the people around him gasping and landed, with a heavy crunch, on something that he knew wasn't the ground. Looking down, Ranma cocked an eyebrow at the young man he was standing on. Luckily, the guy was already unconscious, so he would feel the pain of his broken arm much later.

Ranma stepped off the student and was about to move towards the school when another body caught his eye, and another, and then another. Ranma realized with amusement that there was a whirlwind of boys flying around the school yard, each of them landing painfully on the cemented ground. Trying to keep the laughter out of his eyes, Ranma searched for the source of all this commotion and found none other than Akane Tendo at the center of it all. Literally.

"Get away!" Akane shouted as she slammed her foot into the stomach of one of the soccer players while simultaneously ducking a punch from one of the fencing club members.

"Please, Akane! Date with me!" said a giant sumo wrestler.

"Not in your dreams!" Akane said. She grabbed the wrestler by his arms and flipped him over her body.

"I love you, Akane!" a baseball player cried, bringing his bat down on the top of Akane's head. Akane rolled to the side and kicked his legs out from under him, not noticing Ranma as he stood off to the side, watching her with a puzzled look on his face.

Strange. These men are declaring their love for the girl, but why are they attacking her? Ranma felt a pang in his chest and wondered what the unfamiliar feeling was. He felt angry that these weirdoes were ganging up on this one girl and declaring their love for her. What kind of fools were they? Of course she wouldn't consider dating them—she was too attractive.

Ranma felt a snarl pull at his lips at the thought and quickly cleared his mind, mentally berating himself for letting his thoughts consume him so much that he let his cold façade fall. So angry he was that he almost didn't note that his target was rather skilled in martial arts. Almost.

Akane punted the last of her suitors away from her body and stood upright, panting with a light sheen of sweat covering her face. Wiping it off, Akane was about to walk to class when another man with a bokken stepped from behind a tree. Ranma continued to watch as she sighed and brushed the man off as he began to spout poetry at her, but Ranma felt that pang from earlier hit him harder than ever as the man laid a hand on the girl and began to swing his bokken at her.

Moving faster than he ever thought was possible, Ranma kicked the wooden sword away from the maniac and kicked him so hard into the school that he broke the wall. Then, realizing what he was doing, Ranma jumped out of sight onto the roof just before Akane turned her head around to face her savior.

There was an adorably puzzled look on her face as she looked for him, and Ranma found himself smirking. But thoughts of what he had just done and what he was doing filtered into his mind and Ranma gritted his teeth.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was this stupid girl forcing him to unveil emotions that he repressed such a long time ago?

Ranma watched Akane with narrowed eyes as she walked into the school and clenched his fists. He'd better get this over with quickly, otherwise this girl would be the death of him.

oOo

Ranma noticed that Akane was very perceptive to her surroundings; something that might hinder him in his chances to assassinate her. He figured this out when he peeked at her through her third floor classroom window just as she turned her head to look outside. He barely got away in time because of his collarbone and had to move around the corner of the school when she opened the window and looked around suspiciously.

He was back on the roof again by the time school had ended. He spotted her blue hair easily enough through the sea of black and brown hair, and was about to tail her on the ground when he decided to roof hop instead. He would get weird stares from the other students because he wasn't in uniform and they would begin to ask questions. He didn't want that.

Ranma was becoming quickly impatient that Akane's friends didn't leave as quickly as he wanted them to. He supposed it was bad enough that they would hear news of her death the next morning, so he didn't want to drag them into the situation by watching him kill their friend. He waited silently until Akane and her friends finally said their goodbyes and split their separate ways.

He followed her as she walked a ways down the street, just as the sunset rays were displayed across the horizon, and was about to make his move when she suddenly turned and walked into a small grocery shop. He waited again.

It was almost two hours later when she came back out, laden down with shopping bags and waving goodbye to the shop keeper.

"I'll tell Kasumi you said hi!" she said, and then continued to walk towards her house. Now extremely impatient, an unusual trait that he displayed, Ranma followed her again, pulling out a small dagger from his pocket and wondering what technique he should use to kill her.

He noticed that she had a bit of trouble hauling all of the bags she was carrying and, more than once, had to set them down to catch her breath. It was getting late the third time she did this and Ranma had another unfamiliar feeling in his chest, this one different than the ones before, when Akane stretched her back, pushing her breasts forward. His hand twitched on the dagger, his mind wondering on what lay beneath her dress when several men swayed into view from the alley beside her, and judging by the tightness of their pants, Ranma guessed that they were wondering the same thing.

"Hey, girly," one of them giggled. Ranma saw Akane recoil and knew instantly that she could smell the alcohol on their breath.

Another one of the men scanned Akane's figure appreciatively before whispering something in his friend's ear. Ranma's hand tightened on his dagger when they both nodded and sized her up again.

"What do you want?" Akane said with a deep annoyance in her voice. She stood her ground bravely, but kept her body loose in case she had to make a quick break for it.

"Now, now. Why you gotta be like that?" the first man slurred. He reached out to grab her but tripped when she quickly moved to the side. He landed face first into the cement and didn't get up, unconscious.

"Shiro!" the other men cried. But instead of running to check if their friend was okay and take him home, they turned on Akane, who was watching them with wary but cold eyes.

"More for us, I guess," said the third man, grinning. His friend nodded.

Akane felt sudden fear well up in her, but smashed it down with her anger. The two men lunged at her, forcing Akane to dodge to the side, but they were more coordinated than she thought in their drunken state.

One wrapped his arms around her legs and pulled, forcing her to fall hard to the ground while the other grabbed her hands and held his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. They quickly pulled her into the alley they emerged from, leaving their unconscious friend and the groceries in their haste.

Ranma's body stiffened as he wondered what he should do. This would save him the trouble of dirtying his hands with the pretty girl's blood, and yet…

Forcing his face to display the indifference that everyone he knew was used to seeing, Ranma jumped down from his hiding spot on the roof of the grocery store and behind the men.

They had already gagged Akane with a dirty cloth they had found on the ground and were beginning to tear her clothes off. She swung her fists at them but they caught hold again and forced her onto her back, shushing her.

"Be a good girl and we'll make this as painless as possible," said the man that had a hold of her arms. Not listening, Akane screamed through the cloth and bucked her hips, trying to force him off. The one that was undoing the buttons to her uniform laughed loudly.

"It looks like she's as eager as we are, Botan! Maybe if we're lucky, she'll—" but the man was cut off in his ramble by a sickening snap and a loud gurgling sound. Akane looked around the other mans shoulder as he looked back to find his friend on the ground with his neck twisted in an angle it was not supposed to be.

"Michio?" the man on top of Akane gulped, not able to take his eyes off of his dead friend.

"'Man on the right path…' The name doesn't suit him, does it?" Ranma said coldly. The man scrambled off of Akane and reached inside the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a hand gun. Akane backed away quickly, her eyes wide with fright.

"You—I'll kill you!" the man said angrily. Ignoring his threat, Ranma walked forward as the man cocked his gun and took aim. He pulled the trigger just as Akane pulled the gag from her mouth and shouted "No!"

With a loud bang, the bullet shot straight into the left side of Ranma's abdomen. Then man laughed wildly and waved his arms around in victory, not noticing as Ranma continued his slow pace towards him. When he did, he fell back with a terrified look on his rugged face before taking aim again and shot. This time, the bullet embedded itself into Ranma's left arm, but he didn't even wince and continued walking towards the man without a pause in his step.

"M—Monster!" the man cried. He scrambled backwards on his hands and knees, but Ranma grabbed his foot and pulled him back before grabbing his head.

"Your sins will be forgiven," Ranma whispered. Akane screamed in terror when Ranma snapped his neck and let the body fall back to the ground.

It was as if she was watching in slow motion. Ranma stood upright and turned to look at her. Akane had a shocked look in her eye when she saw him walk towards her and offer his hand.

He smirked when she refused it and stood by herself. Somehow, he knew she would do that.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. He retrieved his hands and placed them both in his pocket, fingering the dagger he hid in his left one.

"N—No, but—but you are—" Akane gasped. Still frightened that he just killed two men, Akane tried to remember that he just saved her from a terrible fate and cautiously walked towards him to examine his arm.

Ranma's hand suddenly twitched around the dagger as he recalled his mission. He tried to pull it out—to kill this girl and get it over with, but every movement sent the bullet in his arm deeper and deeper. He ignored the pain as best as he could, like he was trained to, but was halted again by the look on her face.

Breathing heavily, Ranma averted his eyes, another snarl pulling at his lips as he damned his blush to hell and released the hold he had on his dagger. Then, deciding that just this once, it might be a good idea to be in pain, Ranma sagged forward and leaned heavily against Akane, who struggled slightly under his weight.

Being extremely careful of his injuries, Akane wrapped one arm around Ranma's waist and pulled one of his around her shoulder.

"We need to get you to a hospital—" Akane started, but he cut her off.

"No. Not a hospital—" Ranma rasped. He hadn't felt pain like this in years.

"But your injuries—"

"Is your house near here?"

Akane looked startled at the question. "Y—Yes. Don't you—"

"Then take me there—" Ranma demanded. He clutched his side with his left hand, despite the bullet that was in his arm, and grit his teeth in pain.

"But how will we take the bullets out?" Akane said, exasperated at his stubbornness. "We don't have the right—"

"Don't worry about it," Ranma said. He looked up at her from his hunched position and smirked. Uncertain about his decision, Akane nodded and took him home, forgetting about the groceries.

Her house wasn't far. Once they had reached the gate, Akane called for her father and sisters to come out and help her, as Ranma passed out along the way and his weight was becoming too much. They all looked completely stunned at the sight, but ignored their surprise and carried Ranma into the bathroom to clean him up.

"Shouldn't we call a doctor?" Kasumi wondered, her eyes looking frantically from Ranma to Akane.

"He said he didn't want to go to the hospital, but do you think Dr. Tofu will know what to do?" Akane asked. She quickly stripped Ranma of his shirt and was surprised to see his torso already bandaged, but concentrated on the large bloodstain that covered his front.

Kasumi already rushed away to phone the family doctor, slightly green in the face from the sight of all of the blood. Nabiki had an odd look on her face, but didn't say anything. Soun grabbed several towels and told Akane to press one tightly against the hole on Ranma's abdomen while he did the same on his arm.

"The doctor's on his way over right now," Kasumi said. Akane nodded and sighed, waiting.

Tofu arrived in less than three minutes, which was record time. He quickly rushed everyone out of the furo and pulled out the bullets, but called Akane back in so he could wrap him. Akane asked him if he knew why there was a bandage on him before.

"His collarbone was broken," Tofu said, lifting Ranma's upper body so Akane could wrap the gauze behind his back.

"And he was still able to withstand those bullets?" Akane gasped. Tofu shrugged.

"I suppose so."

Sighing in wonder, Akane helped Tofu carry Ranma up to the guest bedroom and put him on a futon. Then, after making sure he was comfortable, they both retreated downstairs to the dining room where the rest of the family was. They took seats around the table and silently sipped at the tea Kasumi served them.

"What happened, Akane?" Soun asked. His eyes were closed and the tension was rolling off of him in waves.

Akane looked at him, wondering what her father was thinking of the situation, before she spoke.

"I—I was picking up some of the groceries and—oh, the groceries!" Akane stood up in a frenzy but was pulled back down by Kasumi.

"It's all right, Akane. I'll go get some more later. Please, continue."

Akane nodded, though felt slightly ashamed.

"Well, I was coming home when these three guys came out of an alley way and captured me. They were—" Akane choked and wiped the tears that suddenly stung her eyes. "—They were trying to take my clothes off—but then Ranma came and he—" Akane shut her mouth, wondering if she should confide in her family in what he had done.

"It's all right, Akane, sweetheart. I know this must be difficult for you," Soun said. He shook his head, not believing what had almost happened to his youngest daughter before pulling her into a tight hug.

Akane shook her head. "Anyway, one of them had a gun and shot Ranma—but Ranma didn't even flinch. He shot him again, but there wasn't even a stutter in his walking pattern. It was like he didn't even fell the bullets…"

"Oh my," Kasumi gasped. "I suppose he must have been in shock, then. I hope he's doing well…" Kasumi then examined Akane. "You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest, too."

Akane nodded. "I'll just go check on Ranma first." And then she went upstairs, the entire family watching her go.

"You know," Tofu said, grasping Kasumi's hand. "I knew that Ranma would come back someday…just not in this fashion."

"I wonder where he's been," Kasumi said, leaning her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Probably been training with his no good father," Nabiki supplied. Soun paled at the mention of Genma, his muscles stiffening. He bid everyone a grim good night and went to his room. There wasn't much discussion after he left, so Nabiki and Kasumi walked Tofu to the door and went to bed themselves.

oOo

Ranma sat up in his bed and punched himself hard in the stomach, right were he was shot with the bullet. He wanted to cry out and hunch over in pain, but he refused to. How could he have let himself become so vulnerable to this girl?

He punched himself in the arm, grinding his knuckles into his injury, keeping a stone cold look on his face. He had to get back into his façade—Genma would cause pain ten times worse than these measly little shots, and if Ranma showed any sort of pain whatsoever, then Genma would only bring it down harder.

He briefly looked at the clock, which read that it was one o'clock in the morning, and kicked the sheets off of his body. He noticed that there was a small blood stain beginning to leak through his bandages and ignored it, getting out of bed and into the hall.

He had no idea where he was going, only that he knew it would lead him to Akane's room. When he reached it, he felt a little bit of surprise and nostalgia well up in him at the sight of her duck shaped door hanger, but brushed it away and opened the door to the sleeping girl's room, closing it lightly behind him.

She was lying on her back with one of her hands resting over her stomach and the other hidden under her pillow. Ranma stared at her for several moments, wondering why he was hesitating to just pull out his dagger and slice her pale throat. On the thought, his eyes slowly traveled from her plump lips to the long curve of her neck. He resisted the sudden urge to bury his head within that curve and forced his eyes to move onwards. He discovered that this may have been a mistake as he locked in on her breasts, that odd feeling from before swilling up inside him.

His hand twitched, itching to caress her. He shook his head violently, wondering where these thoughts were coming from and why they seemed so familiar before jamming his hand into his pocket in search of his weapon.

He pulled his hand back out, empty. He stared down at it before checking his other pocket and then patting his thighs.

"What—?"

"Looking for this?"

Ranma's head snapped up to face Akane, who pulled her hand out from under her pillow and was fingering the tip of his dagger. She slowly brought the knife up to her eyes and examined it closely before testing the sharpness by pressing the edge against her finger.

Ranma panicked slightly when he saw her blood drip from her finger tip and was suddenly angry that she hurt herself like that. But realizing what he was thinking, he pinched himself hard next to the bullet wound on his stomach and held his hand out.

"Give it to me."

"So you can kill me?"

Ranma's heart stopped. How could this girl say something like that so easily, so bluntly? Was she not afraid of death? She was so different from the other people he's killed—but how?

The hand Ranma offered to her clenched tightly as he brought it back to his side. He stared at her, waiting for something—anything—to happen, but she only stared back.

It was like they were having a staring contest—but without the competition. There was something else hidden in her eyes that he couldn't figure out. But how could he know what it was? The only thing he's ever seen or sensed from people was their fear, but this girl—Akane, his mind said—exhibited none of it.

"Is that what you were planning to do? Kill me?" Akane whispered, breaking the silence. Ranma didn't answer, only continued to stare into her eyes. He panicked again when they started to well up with tears and briefly wondered why he was worried in the first place. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

Ranma wondered what she meant. This was the first time he'd seen her in his life. He didn't bother to question her though—he'd kill her soon and forget all about it.

They were staring at each other again, neither of them breaking eye contact.

"How did you break your collarbone?" Akane asked softly. Ranma still didn't answer and Akane giggled. "I know you better than that, Ranma. Your father, did it, right?"

Slightly perplexed at her correct guess, Ranma nodded. Akane sighed tiredly. "You two never did get along well…"

"I don't understand," Ranma said suddenly. Akane looked at him, surprise evident in her face. "How do you know me and my father?"

Akane bellowed a laugh. "Father? Is that what you call him now? What happened to old man?"

Ranma felt a smile tug at his lips, but refused to let it show. "Answer the question."

Akane looked at him, an emotion in her eyes akin to sadness. "You used to live here with me and my family. You don't remember? It was almost five years ago."

"I used to…live here?"

"Your father had some financial issues and needed our help, so your family moved in with us. You only lived here for about two years…but then…" Akane trailed off and Ranma noticed, with an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, that she was crying. He brushed it off.

"Why aren't you afraid?"

"Of what? You?"

Ranma nodded. Akane laughed mirthlessly.

"Why should I be afraid?"

"I was sent here to kill you, you fool," Ranma said, the first traces of anger and exasperation—worry—swelling up in him in years.

Akane sat straight in her bed and glared at him. "You had your chance when you killed those other two men, Ranma," she said. Her eyebrows furrowed the longer she stared at him. "How could you? The Ranma I knew would have been merciful—"

"I was merciful. I gave them the quick, easy way out, even though I should have made them suffer for what they were planning to do to you."

"If you were planning to kill me anyway, then why didn't you just let them do what they wanted?"

Ranma paused, trying to find an answer. Why did he stop those men? Ranma quickly reminded himself of his assignment and decided that it was just because he was the one that had the right to torture her before he killed her, but something in his chest told him otherwise.

"How would you have known that they would have killed you after they had their way?"

Akane looked away. "I wouldn't have."

They were silent again. Ranma found that he was becoming tired of this lack of movement and stepped toward her bed, reaching out for something that he knew wasn't going to be the dagger.

But Akane had other ideas. She turned to him, grabbed his outstretched hand and wrapped it around his weapon. Then, she proceeded to press the sharp edge to her throat and stared straight into his shocked eyes.

"Do it," she whispered so softly that he almost didn't hear her. Something went off in the back of Ranma's head, like an alarm or something—a loud blaring that gave him a headache. He tried to pull his hand back away from her, but Akane held tight.

"You don't know what you're asking me to do."

He was right. She didn't know why she was asking him to kill her—but it seemed like something she needed to do. She had to see what he would do.

"I'm asking you to do what you came here for."

Ranma swallowed the salivation that gathered in the back of his throat. He stared at her, the noise in the back of his head growing louder and louder with each passing second. He looked straight into her eyes, and still found no fear—instead, there was determination. He breathed deeply in disbelief. She was actually asking him to take her life.

He realized that her hand was grasping his tightly, and though it was only meant to keep his hand on his weapon, Ranma welcomed her warm touch. His eyebrows furrowed together as his mind conflicted with itself. He was supposed to kill her to teach Soun a lesson. Why was he holding back? Just do it now and get it over with.

But then there was that look in her eye—something he had never seen before. It was a type of passion, he knew that because it was the same, malicious look his father got when he fought—but hers was…different. He stared for a long while into her eyes, slightly intimidated and even fearful when her tears began to fall down her cheeks again.

"Do it," she said again. Ranma shook his head from side to side, the muscles in his arm twitching with his conflicted emotions.

"No," he whispered back, his whole body tense.

"Do it." Her voice was commanding, yet shaky. Ranma shook his head again and tried to pull his hand away from her, but Akane kept him there and, for the first time in his entire life as an assassin, Ranma trembled.

"No!" He had never known that his voice could come out sounding so agonizingly painful.

Akane tilted her head backwards, baring her throat to him. Ranma watched her with wide eyes as she pressed the dagger firmly against her neck.

"It's what you were sent here to do, wasn't it?"

Ranma shook his head almost violently, grabbing his head with his left arm as the ring in the back of his head sounded off deafeningly. He panted, sweat forming on his forehead and all of the muscles in his entire body fighting over whether he should stay or run.

"No—Don't—" he groaned, but Akane didn't listen.

"Kill me, Ranma."

Ranma clenched his teeth together and pulled his lips back into a snarl.

"I can't—"

"Do it!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?" Akane shouted in a hoarse voice. Her tears poured over her cheeks and fell onto his hand. "Why can't you just kill me?"

It was all that Ranma could take. He roughly tore the dagger from her throat and threw it at the wall away from her so hard that it was buried to the hilt. Never taking his eyes off hers, he grabbed Akane by her shoulders and pushed her back onto the bed, tears forming in his own eyes as he glared harshly at her.

"Because I love you too much, damn it!"

It was silent again. Ranma froze on top of her, wondering if he had just said what he thought he said. He barely registered the tears falling down his face, but when he did, he wiped them away and stared at the back of his hands. Then, he looked at Akane, who had a soft look on her face—a knowing look.

"Akane…" Ranma whispered. He thought that the name would feel foreign on his tongue, like it did last night, but Ranma found himself repeating it over and over in its familiarity until his throat closed up on him and his eyes burned—he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Akane grasped his hands and pulled him back towards the bed until he was sitting on it. Then, she wrapped her arms around him in an embrace so warm and comforting that Ranma sat there shocked at the audacity of it. Without a second thought, he held her tight to him and cried into her shoulder.

"I missed you so much…" Ranma gasped. Akane nodded into the crook of his neck and whispered sweet, oddly comforting nothings in his ear. Ranma inhaled her scent deeply, wondering how he could have forgotten being with a girl like this one.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Ranma pulled back and was about to say something when Akane placed a finger on his lips and shook her head.

"Just lie down with me," she said. Ranma nodded and followed her under her covers. He held her tightly, his head nuzzled into her warm chest and his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his head and tangled her legs with his own, and Ranma discovered that the wounds and scars he had accumulated over the years were finally beginning to heal.

oOo

Ranma woke up late again the next morning from the best sleep he's had in his entire life. He and Akane hadn't changed positions at all from when they had fallen asleep last night, but Ranma found that he was perfectly fine with being snuggled between her soft breasts.

"You know, I normally would have punted you through the roof for even being in my room."

Ranma look up at Akane, who was giggling at him while nuzzling the top of his head. He felt a grin tug at his features, but stopped. It felt odd to smile and he didn't like how strange the simple movement was. He sighed instead and closed his eyes. He'd get it right over time. With Akane's help.

"Did you sleep well?" Akane asked. Her answer was when Ranma moaned incoherently and pulled her closer to him. Giggling again, Akane pushed Ranma away and sat up. "You know, I'm already late for school because of you, sleepy head."

Ranma sighed again, burying his head into her neck. "Akane," he whispered. "I—I feel…" He gave up and trailed off, instead focusing on another topic that he wanted to ask her last night.

"What happened?"

Akane looked bewildered at his question. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I—I don't know, but I have this…strange feeling in my chest. All I really remember was that everyone was sad about—something—and me and my father were fighting. And then…nothing." Ranma's hands flexed around her waist as Akane turned around to look at him in the eye. She had a lost look on her face, something that Ranma wanted to fix but didn't know how.

"I didn't realize you had lost so much memory…" Akane said. Ranma looked puzzled.

"I lost…memory?"

Ignoring him, Akane pulled Ranma to sit up with her, mindful of his injuries. "Ranma, do you remember what I told you last night? About you and your family having to move in with us?"

Ranma nodded and waited patiently for her to continue.

"The reason was because your father lost a gambling bet and lost everything. He told dad that he was ashamed and sorry and wanted to build a better life for his family, so we let him stay here even though we barely had enough money to support ourselves.

"We hated each other back then," Akane laughed. "But the more time I spent with you, the more I began to like you. And I think it was the other way around, too. But when two years had passed, my mother came down with a terrible illness. She died on the day you and your family arrived to stay with us two years before.

"We didn't know how it happened—" Akane paused suddenly to wipe the tears from her eyes. Ranma remembered the file he read on her mother late the other night, how her death was marked as unknown. "My mom was perfectly healthy and active, so none of us knew how she could have come down with a virus that took her away so easily, but it did. A couple of days after her funeral, you and your dad had a huge fight about something. You tried telling me what it was, but he knocked you out.

"When you woke up, you had amnesia. You didn't know who any of us were except your dad, and you were so…cold and distant—especially towards me…

"Then you and your dad left. Neither of you cared that you had no money, and you also didn't care that you left me and my family to settle the debt left by your fathers terrible gambling. He had already owed the Tanaka Clan a lot of money when you guys came, but now the debt increased and my family is struggling to pay off your dad's mistakes.

"For years, my dad blamed your dad for my mother's death, but I think it was because he missed her so much…" Akane ended with a loud sigh and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

Ranma sat behind her, motionless. He…remembered some of that. He remembered the Tanaka Clan—the clan leader was Ranma's very first assassination. After he killed off the rest of the clan, his father finally had the time to form his own. The Saotome Clan had become one of the most powerful families in all of Japan for five years, even though the family consisted of only three family members.

Shaking his head, Ranma thought about the fight he supposedly had with his father before he got amnesia. What could that have been about? It must have been something about Akane's mother if it had really happened only several days after her funeral. Ranma thought back to the file he read: Akane said that he and his father left her family with a huge debt to pay off because he and Genma ran away… Akane's mother supposedly owed a couple hundred thousand to the Saotome Clan by the time of her death—but the Saotome Clan hadn't formed yet—and her death was unknown. A thought formed itself in the back of Ranma's mind, making him shiver with horror. But it couldn't be—Genma couldn't have—he wasn't smart enough—

Hands fisting in bitter realization, Ranma gently pushed Akane away from him and stood up.

"I'm sorry I put your family through that, Akane," he said softly. Akane shook her head.

"It's all in the past now, Ranma. The important thing is that you remember."

But Ranma had reverted back to his stone cold look again. Akane gave him a worried look but he dismissed it, leaned forward, and kissed her on the lips. Akane gasped in surprised, but quickly got over it when Ranma took that chance to make the kiss more passionate. They were both panting and out of breath when he pulled back.

Akane wrapped her arms around him and leaned back, pulling him back on top of her as she lay on the bed.

"Love me," she whispered sensually into his ear. Ranma responded rather quickly for a man with a broken collarbone and two bullet wounds. They both knew that he shouldn't be exerting this much pressure on his body while he was in critical condition, but Ranma couldn't hold himself back. After years of being alone without even the memory of Akane sent him into a spiraling depression, and the only way he could deal with it was closing himself from the world.

But Akane was here now, offering herself to him—willingly letting him in. He kissed her again with all the pent up passion of five years, touching her body in ways that had her mewling against him.

Vaguely, Ranma wondered where he would be right now if he had actually gone through with the mission and killed Akane. The thought sent shivers down his spine, but now he found a way where he could fulfill the command without taking her life.

Smirking against his lover's bare breast, Ranma decided that he would take Akane to heaven through ecstasy —and take her many times, indeed.

oOo

He woke up at three in the evening. Ranma stared down at his sleeping lover and pulled the covers over their bodies for warmth before sighing almost contentedly and twirling her short hair within his fingertips.

She was so beautiful. Ranma couldn't help but relive the coupling they shared several hours ago and felt his body stiffening. Akane had been very…responsive to his touches, and the memory of the way she said his name as he sent her to heaven made him shiver with delight.

He carefully pulled his body away from her and got out of bed. He's been gone from his clan for a very long time and didn't want to upset Genma with his absence—he already felt a bit spent from being with Akane, and didn't need Genma's beatings to further weaken him.

Still, he had work to do.

With a jerk of his hand, Ranma pulled his dagger out from Akane's wall before staring at the girl. She curled into a cute ball when he left the bed, missing his warmth. His eyes softening, Ranma placed the dagger next to her pillow and kissed the side of her forehead.

"I'll come back to you," he whispered softly.

After dressing himself, Ranma spared her one last glance before jumping out of her window and into the fading sun.

oOo

He eyed the boy suspiciously.

"You've been gone for almost two days, son," Genma said, scratching his chin. He smirked suddenly, despite the sad look in his eyes. "Did she put up a fight?"

Ranma didn't answer, too busy trying to quell the frustration he felt at his father. It would do no good to attack him now—they were surrounded by Genma's bodyguards and other assassins. Ranma was positive that he could best them all, but it wasn't worth all of the trouble. Or the lives.

"I take your silence means that you finished her quickly. Now what about Soun? Will he pay me back the money he borrowed?"

Ranma's muscles stiffened at the mention of the debt. Liar, he thought, but he kept his eyes cold and emotionless as he stared at Genma, who frowned.

"Answer me, boy, or I will—" but a hand on his arm cut Genma off and he turned to face his wife, Nodoka.

"Now, now, Genma," she said softly. "Ranma looks very tired. Let's let him rest for a while, shall we?"

Ranma smirked inwardly as he stood up. Though Genma may be the one that called the shots of the clan, the true leader was Ranma's mother. He briefly wondered how she could control someone so defiant as easily as she could, but Ranma figured that the sword she carried around with her might have helped.

"Come with me now, my son," Nodoka said. Though a bit shocked, Ranma complied and followed his mother as she led him to the living room. The sun had fallen, but there was a clear view of the stars from their vantage point at the window.

Nodoka quickly shooed away all of the maids that were cleaning in the living room and closed the doors behind them as they left. Ranma ignored this and continued to stare out the window, connecting stars so they looked like Akane's face.

"You didn't kill her, did you?"

Ranma almost jumped in surprise. Nodoka smiled at him, but her eyes remained blank.

"I know you, Ranma," she said. "Why didn't you do as your father told you?"

Ranma stayed motionless, wondering how his mother could have known that he didn't carry out his mission. Ignoring his silence, Nodoka walked to stand next to him and looked at the dark sky.

"Do you now why your father acts the way he does?"

Ranma refrained from gulping and didn't answer.

"It's because he's frightened." Nodoka turned around and sat on one of the leather couches that faced him. She gestured for Ranma to do so as well, but he didn't. Sighing, Nodoka continued. "I wasn't there when Sachiko died. I wished I was—so I could help her poor family recover. But I was still looking for you and Genma back then.

"When I found you two, you had already assassinated the leader of the Tanaka family and were building your own empire, and that was when Genma regrettably told me of Sachiko's death.

"We were good friends, you know," Nodoka laughed, as if remembering something from the past. "But when Genma lost all of our money and belongings and moved into the Tendo's, he found a way to get it all back. Sachiko was the oldest daughter of the Tanaka Clan, and was due to inherit her family fortune a couple of years after she married Soun. They both knew that Genma was in debt, but they didn't know to whom. Genma knew that, so he devised a plan to get the money, though he wanted to do it without harming the Tendo's. They were very generous to us, after all.

"But Genma's plans were foiled. The Tanaka Clan knew that Sachiko could not be trusted because of her relationship with us, so one evening, they slipped a drug into Sachiko's food that eventually became the cause of her death."

Ranma felt himself pale and his stomach churn. "They…killed one of their own family members?"

Nodoka nodded, something akin to a scowl forming on her face. "Genma was lost after that, but a couple of days after her funeral, he figured out a way to use Sachiko's death to his advantage.

"The Tendo's became very weak after that and struggled to support themselves. Genma resented what he was doing, but what he did was necessary for our survival.

"He planned to kill off the rest of the Tanaka Clan and claim their money, but he had to do so in a way that the Tendo's would not know that their family had been massacred. To this day, I believe that they still do not know what had happened, as they have lost contact with the Tanaka's after Sachiko's death. You somehow figured out what your father was planning to do, and tried to tell Akane—you two had grown so close, Genma told me, and he said it was terrible having to tear you two apart.

"He was forced to knock you out for a couple of hours, but discovered when you woke up that you had amnesia. It made it easier for him to brainwash you into the assassin you are today. He made you exterminate all relations to the Tanaka family except the Tendo's, and by doing so, was rewarded with their fortune.

"But there was still another problem. Soun and his family were struggling very much to keep the house and pay off the bills. Genma wanted to help them, but he knew it would be too risky—they would wonder where Genma got all of the money and would have eventually made a connection after the many years of no contact with the Tanaka Clan. They had to borrow from their family, but Genma disguised himself as Soun's father-in-law—as the leader of the Tanaka's, and lent him the money. Genma had already owed the Tanaka's around $200,000 after he lost his bet, and added that on to Soun's debt."

Ranma looked angry and puzzled. "Why would he do that? It was his problem, not the Tendo's—what was the point?"

"That's the way families were back then, son," Nodoka said sadly. "Because he was forced to kill his own daughter, the head of the Tanaka family wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Tendo's and amounted to cold ignorance at their struggle to get by. After Genma ordered you to kill him, he had to keep that façade and make the Tendo's believe that he was the Tanaka Clan leader.

"He told the Tendo's that because Genma ran away, his debt was to be settled by them. After that, the Tendo's never made further contact with their family other than to wire whatever money they had left."

Ranma had a mixed amount of emotions in his stomach. There were so many feelings that he hadn't experienced in so many years that he was beginning to feel queasy.

"That's…sick…" he said hoarsely. He shook his head, not wanting to believe what his mother said as she looked again out the window. "And he—he had me kill her family—"

"He never thought that you would have gained your memory back," Nodoka said softly. Her hand stroked the sword she had resting across her lap. "I had trouble believing what Genma had done to his friends when I found you two again. I had refused it at first—but the facts were there. When I arrived, Genma had just started renovations on this mansion, turning it into a dark and lonely palace fit for a murderer."

"But—but Akane—if he felt so bad about it, why did he send me to kill Akane?" Ranma shouted. He held his head in his hands, his entire body shaking with what he's done.

"I told you, son," Nodoka said. "He needed to make the Tendo's believe that the Tanaka clan was still alive, therefore certain sacrifices had to be—"

"Sacrifices?" Ranma spat, his lips pulled back into a snarl. Nodoka was temporarily startled that he would speak to her in that tone, but ignored it. "You call what he made me do a sacrifice?"

"Look at us now, son," Nodoka said tiredly. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the chair. "If it were not for what Genma had done, then this family would not have flourished in prosperity. We would have ended up like—like—" Nodoka stuttered to a halt, her face suddenly pale.

"Like the Tendo's?" Ranma provided in a cold voice. Nodoka snapped her head towards her son, her eyes wide and brows furrowed. Without another word to his mother, Ranma stood and left her there in the dark to wallow in her misery.

oOo

There was this feeling in his chest. He couldn't describe it, but it hurt. It was like his heart was a large cushion full with needles and ready to burst. He was scared by the look she was giving him—the disbelief, the betrayal, and then the fear. She was scared of him, and it shook him to the very core.

"Akane…" he said, and then winced. Speaking hurt his throat, but he ignored it and said her name anyway, again and again, asking for forgiveness that he knew he didn't deserve.

She backed up, away from him and fell onto her bed, her eyes locked onto his. He stared straight back, knowing that he didn't deserve the right to look at her, but did so anyway, wanting—needing —her to understand. Her hands clenched into her bed sheets and Ranma glanced briefly away from her and to the dagger that still lay next to her pillow.

She noticed the movement and followed his gaze, her eyes locking in on the weapon before grabbing it. He was terrified when she stared at it, then up to him, but the fear left as quickly as it came when she set it aside on her desk and fumbled with her hands in her lap, her shoulders trembling.

"As terrible as that news is…I don't feel sad…" Akane said softly. Ranma felt surprise in him as she spoke. This wasn't necessarily the reaction he was expecting. "I mean—I knew they were my family and all and that they were ignoring us…but…what your father did…was brutal."

Ranma winced, but silently agreed with her. "I wish there was something I could do to change what happened, Akane…" he whispered sadly. "I—I should have never listened to that—that—" He choked slightly and cut himself off, not knowing what to say. Telling Akane about what had happened all those years ago was hard enough let alone repeating that he was the one that murdered half of her family.

"But…You didn't' know, did you?" Akane said. Ranma looked at her, disbelief flooding his system. Was that hope he heard in her voice? "It was like you were brainwashed—but you didn't know that I was related to the Tanaka family, did you?"

"No," Ranma answered immediately. He could honestly say that much.

Akane laughed mirthlessly. Coldly. "And to think that we thought that they were alive for the past five years—what a joke." She shook her head. "And what about your father?"

Ranma felt an angry scowl form on his face. "I'll deal with him later," he hissed. His expression softened as he looked at her. "Right now, I just want to make sure you'll be okay."

Akane sighed and looked back down at her hands. "Despite what you said…I just don't understand—how my grandfather could have done that to his own daughter—all because of some stupid money!"

For the first time since last night, Ranma saw the tears well up in Akane's eyes and drip down her cheeks. He bowed his head shamefully.

"I won't justify what he did, but none of this would have happened if my idiot old man hadn't lost everything in the first place," Ranma growled.

"Never mind about it," Akane said. Ranma was shocked that she would let something like this go so easily. If he had been in her place, he would have killed his father for destroying his life like this.

"Akane?" he called softly. Akane took a deep breath and stood, walking over to her door.

"I suppose we have to tell my family, now," she murmured before beckoning him to follow her. But just as they made it into the hallway, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," they heard Kasumi say. Ranma and Akane went down the stairs to greet the visitors, but Ranma stopped dead and glowed in fury at the sight of Genma, who nodded his head to a shocked Kasumi before he and Nodoka stepped inside the household.

Feeling the energy increasing to the right, Genma turned and saw Ranma glaring at him with hatred he's never seen before. Normally, Genma would have showed his son his place, but the sharp edge of Nodoka's sword pressed into his back and Genma averted his gaze.

"We have business to discuss with Soun, husband," Nodoka addressed Genma, who nodded. She looked meaningfully at Kasumi, who was eyeing the sword. "Would you please fetch Soun for us?"

Kasumi nodded and walked away quickly. Akane placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder to calm him down, but he continued to stare at his parents coldly until Soun came into view. With nods of all of their heads, the three of them went into the family room and shut the door, blocking themselves and their conversation from Ranma and Akane's view.

Ranma's arm twitched under Akane's fingers and Akane had to forcefully hold him back as he tried to jump over the railing and into the living room.

"What are you doing?" Akane hissed, knowing better than to make a commotion while her father was in a meeting as important as this one.

"I have to make him pay for what he did!" Ranma almost shouted. Akane quickly hushed him and forced him to turn around. When he did, he glared down at her, anger and frustration evident in his eyes. "Aren't you mad at him for what he did to you and your family?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed together as his rage consumed him.

Akane nodded. "Yes—but this is in my dad's hands now, Ranma! We have to leave it up to him!"

"But what if your dad—"

"He'll be fine," Akane assured. She smiled sweetly at him and pecked him on the lips, forcing him to temporarily forget the situation. "My dad's a martial artist, too. He can take care of himself."

Still uncertain of Akane's decision, Ranma nodded and wondered if this was the right thing to do.

oOo

Soun, Genma, and Nodoka had been locked in the living room for almost three hours. Both Ranma and Akane had taken to sitting on the stairwell to wait and see what would happen, but they winced when they could sometimes hear Soun yell at Genma.

Akane had started to bite her lip the first time she heard her father do this—and it didn't take Ranma long to realize that she was actually quite frightened about what was going on inside the room. He resorted to wrapping a comforting arm around her and holding her close to his side, ignoring his collarbone and bullet wounds as they all twinged painfully at the movements.

Kasumi had taken to baking sweets in the kitchen, something that Akane told Ranma she always did when she was nervous. They both refused politely when she offered them some cookies, but her worried demeanor didn't change as she set the plate on the steps in front of them anyway.

Akane could tell that Nabiki was worried, as well, though she tried not to show it. The middle Tendo scoffed and brushed her hand aside nonchalantly when Akane told her that Genma and Nodoka were here, but she immediately rushed upstairs to make some phone calls about the visit. Akane could occasionally hear her sister yelling from her room at someone on the other line.

Finally, the shoji door to the living room opened.

Ranma and Akane stood up in anticipation as Nodoka and Genma walked out. Upon close examination, Ranma noticed that his father had a dead but relieved look in his eyes, and his mother was smiling grimly. He wondered what happened in there to cause such unusual reactions out of his parents.

Completely ignoring Genma and Nodoka as they slipped on their shoes, Akane rushed to her father and hugged him tightly as he came out the door. Ranma noticed that his eyes were red and puffy from crying, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse from yelling.

"It's all right, now, sweetheart…" Soun said, patting his daughter on the back.

Genma looked away and at Ranma, who was watching Akane with a tender look in his eye.

"Pull on your shoes, boy," Genma said gruffly. "We're leaving."

Instead of answering, Ranma spat in the direction of Genma and walked towards Akane, who quickly wrapped her arms around him.

Infuriated, Genma was about to drag his son along by his neck when he was pushed back by Soun, who gave him a stone cold look.

"Ranma will stay if he wants to, Genma," Soun said harshly. "He is welcome here, but you are not."

Though his lips pulled back into a snarl, Genma deflated under Soun's stare and followed his wife out of the front door. Akane, Ranma and Soun watched them go, and Soun couldn't help but feel a bit sad that this is what his and Genma's once joyful friendship had come to.

Soun turned around and ushered Ranma and Akane back into the living room, then called for Nabiki and Kasumi to come and join them. Ranma felt extremely awkward and nervous that Soun had invited him to stay. Based off Soun's attitude towards Genma, surely his parents had told him about what he'd done? Why would he let the killer of his wife's family into his house?

When Kasumi and Nabiki arrived, Soun had them all sit around the table and paused, trying to find his words. When he couldn't, he pulled a small scroll from the inside of his robe and showed it to all of them.

Nabiki's eyes popped out of her head at what was written on the document and Kasumi placed her hand over her mouth in a stifled "Oh my!" Akane felt adrenaline pump through her body and looked up at Ranma, who was staring at the document with mixed emotions on his face.

"Father…" Kasumi started, but trailed off. She pulled the document closer and examined it with wide eyes, her pupils locking in on Genma's signature and the ink print of his thumb.

"Genma has done something terrible, daughters," Soun started. "But he is trying to make it up to us."

None of them questioned Soun. Kasumi and Nabiki briefly wondered what it was that Genma did, but decided it better to ask later. Ranma frowned at the document before looking at Soun.

"Why are you showing me this?" he asked softly. Everyone looked at him in surprise before redirecting their gaze to Soun, who sighed. Akane never realized how old her father looked until now.

"I've only known you for two short years, Ranma," Soun said. "But it didn't take me long to notice that you were a boy with a very pure soul. I do not blame you for what you did—I blame your father for the terrible influence he had on you. I can see now that Akane may have changed that."

Akane blushed and Ranma grabbed her hand, the first traces of a smile forming on his face. Nabiki, not wanting to get caught up scheming in the tender moment, ignored them and addressed her father.

"So we're officially out of debt now?" she asked, incredulity apparent in her eyes.

Soun laughed and gestured to the document. "It appears so, Nabiki! Genma has given us back all of the money that we apparently "owed" the Tanaka Clan. Now we can finally set to those renovations that Kasumi wanted—" They all looked around the house. Ranma never noticed how rundown the place was, probably because he was too busy with Akane.

The atmosphere suddenly changed, making Ranma feel even more uncomfortable than before, despite what Soun told him. Kasumi was crying with joy and pulled everyone in the room into a giant bear hug, including Ranma. When she released him, she smiled happily.

"I'm not sure what you had to do with the Tanaka Clan, Ranma, but if it led to this, then thank you," Kasumi said sincerely. Ranma averted his eyes, ashamed. Kasumi didn't even know what she was talking about. She didn't know that everything she and her family suffered were because of him and his stupid father.

Ranma opened his mouth to say so, but Akane shushed him with a smile and a nod of her head.

"We'll tell them later," she mouthed, but Ranma squeezed her hand and shook his head..

"But what about Genma?" Ranma said suddenly, addressing his father rather harshly by his name. "How can you just—just let him go after everything he put you through?"

Soun sighed and breathed deeply for a couple of moments. "By accepting this document," he gestured to the scroll, "I have forgiven Genma for what he has done. If I can do that, Ranma, then so can you."

But Ranma growled low in his throat. "I can never forgive him for what he made me do! Because of him, I—I—" Ranma stopped short and held his head in his hands, moaning in agony as the memories of the people he's killed—tortured— floated into his mind. He was merciless—Genma had turned him into a monster for his own selfish needs. "And the Tanaka Clan—your family—"

"The Tanaka Clan is not a part of this family," Soun said harshly. His hands clenched on the table as an angry frown adorned his faced. "After what they did to Sachiko, they will no longer be mentioned in this household. Is that understood?" He looked at the three of his daughters, two of them with shocked expressions on their faces. When they all nodded to him, he massaged his temples and continued.

"Ranma, what you did is in the past now. If you are feeling bad about it, then it is enough for me to think that your pain is genuine. No one," he looked meaningfully at Nabiki, who rolled her eyes, "will question you on what you have done, and you nor Akane will speak of it any more," Soun finished, already knowing that Ranma had told Akane about what happened earlier in the evening.

Ranma nodded, feeling his spirit lift slightly. Once Soun noticed Ranma's acknowledgement, he clapped his hands together and grinned at his family.

"Your mother has been watching us and is the reason for our change in luck," he said happily. "Tomorrow, we will visit her and thank her, but for now, we'll celebrate by starting on the renovations!"

Everyone nodded in approval. Nabiki called the bank and told them to wire the money into their bank account while Soun and Kasumi chatted animatedly about which room they should do first. Akane smiled brightly at Ranma, who felt the muscles on his face twitch in his attempt to smile back, and hugged him tightly.

"How about we go celebrate in our own way?" Akane said softly so her family wouldn't hear.

Smirking, Ranma hastily lifted her into his arms and sprinted up the stairs.

Kasumi watched them go, almost giggling at the sight, before grabbing the document that was stained with the ink of Genma's finger print, and wondered if she should hang it on the living room wall.

Wow…29 pages in two days. This was actually supposed to be like a 10 page one shot, but…then a plot started happening and I had to add all of this junk to make it make sense :D

Anyway, I suppose many of you thought that I was going to explicitly write Ranma and Akane having sex. I admit, I was going to, but decided against it once I realized that it might distract a bit from the plot. Haha and now I just realized that I never had Akane say "I love you," back to Ranma…

But we all know she does anyway, right?

It also occurred to me that I was rather cruel to Genma and Nodoka. Don't get me wrong; without them, Ranma wouldn't have turned out to be the lovable psycho he is today, but I think I depicted them rather harshly. I also noticed that I didn't even mention Ranma's curse, but whether he has it or not, I'll just leave that up to your imagination. Oh yeah, I realized a bit late that I didn't have any of the characters report Akane's attempted rape or the two dead bodies lying in the alley. Of course, this doesn't portray my view of the Japanese police force (I can honestly say that I have no idea how it works), but since the police never get involved in the actual anime/manga, why should they now?

Some of you may question why Genma had decided to give up all of the money—well, I suppose Nodoka's talk with Ranma had to do with that, don'cha think?

Well, I hope that this was okay. I know this isn't really my style, and I feel kind of like I might get flamed for it, but I think I did my best on this one shot, and I hope you thought I did too.

Thanks for reading! Review Please!

~Miyopiyo