What Flowered in Chains

Broken Quill and Scattered Ink

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

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"Normalcy is what keeps me sane, yet dull. Change is the insanity that colors life." –Anon.

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Ranma Saotome loved his mornings.

They were predictable, as though planned by a higher being, and he could always guess what was coming next. It was just like any martial arts battle, in which he was sure to win if he could read his opponent's next move.

He had been woken up by his uncute fiancé this morning via a bucket of cold water, gulped down a light breakfast made by the ever-kind Kasumi, had pictures of his girl-side kept out of his reach by Nabiki, he had fought with his father, and had listened to Soun Tendo quietly try to calm the entire table down.

Just like every morning.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the fence gave off a familiar 'clink' as he ran across its coiled, flat-wired top. His reluctant fiancé was close at his heels on the ground below him, giving off small puffs as she exerted herself in keeping up with the pig-tailed martial artist.

"Ranma, we wouldn't be running late if you hadn't—"

He couldn't help but let his small smile fall at her rude interruption on his reflection of his mornings. But again, just like every morning…

"I slept in late, 'cuz I couldn't sleep well last night, Tomboy."

He watched out of the corner of his eye as she slowed her pace, guilt flashing across her brown orbs.

"…Really?" she whispered. Then, louder: "Why couldn't you sleep? Was everything okay?"

Even her kindness was usual. Ranma felt his heart skip a beat. He shook his head to compose himself. As though trying to keep with the theme of his morning, he forced the conversation back to their previous banter—just to get back into the normalcy of everything.

"Stupid, I couldn't sleep because I kept having nightmares of your brick-like body!" For measure, he stuck out his tongue at her and pushed his pace forward, laughing.

He did not have to turn around to know that an adorable blush was painting across her nose, her fists were clenching around her schoolbag, and her mouth taking in a breath to scream at him.

"Ranma!" she shouted. "Get back here!"

He kept laughing and ran faster, not giving his fiancé one look. The 'clinking' of the fence only burst into a quick melody as he changed pace. Ranma stopped his laughter, keening his ears to hear for Akane's footfalls. Although he had made it seem he had run off before her, he would never leave her behind.

Especially after Jusendo.

He was too well-trained for that. To an outsider, to anyone, he would convince them that he did not care for her. He would tease, lie, deny, and push their suspicions and thoughts of romance between the two stubborn martial artists away. He would push their thoughts far away. He would never allow anyone to think that he cared one bit for his forced fiancé.

It was easier that way.

He would go as far as to push her own thoughts of romance—well, Ranma doubted that Akane had any thoughts of them in love, so he would settle for her worried thoughts, her compassionate thoughts…

"Ranma, why couldn't you sleep? Are you okay?"

"Ranma, did you finish the essay from last night? Do you need any help?"

"I saw that it was starting to get cold. Here, take this scarf. Don't worry, I didn't knit it."

He would go as far as to push those thoughts away and out of her. He would bring the fight back to her with an insult. A tease. If he was desperate, he would run away from her. Anything.

Dealing with her, as Akane, before Jusendo, before the thought of losing her became real as he held her lifeless body; yes, dealing with Akane with the normalcy they had established before they had fought in China…

…was so much easier.

His fist clenched his backpack's strap against his shoulder, and slowed his pace, until it came to a full stop. Even between his thoughts, he could hear Akane getting closer. He waited for her to catch up with him.

Dealing with Akane, like the way they were before they faced death, was definitely easier. Easier than dealing with her when she was nice. Easier than dealing with his heart forgetting to beat, or his brain shutting off, or his mouth getting dry, or his legs failing to move, or these millions of bodily functions that seemed to stop with the sound of her worry, of her kindness. Much easier to deal with her anger than to deal with…whatever his reaction to her is.

He unclenched his fist. Disappointment shook through his body.

…Since when did he, Ranma Saotome, take the easy way out?

A sudden pain came to his head, and he found himself on the ground (on the sidewalk, instead of on the side with that river, thank goodness), with Akane's backpack falling by his side.

"Baka!" her breathless words came out almost voicelessly.

"Took you long enough to catch up to me," he said from the ground, propping himself up on an elbow in the dust of the sidewalk. He mentally applauded himself in his ability to bounce back from his unsettling thoughts.

She closed her eyes and turned her nose in the air with a 'hmph'.

Ranma watched her the entire time, a feeling of longing washing over him. She stepped at his head, picked up her bag, and began walking off. He craned his neck back against the rocky pavement, laying with his back fully flat against it, with his chin facing the sky, and his eyes watching her upside-down form flitting away from him. When he was sure she was far enough, he lifted his hand towards her and clenched his fist gently, as if doing so would allow him to catch her.

"Akane," he whispered, sure she was unable to hear. "I don't want to take the easy way out anymore."

And he lay there for several more minutes, and decided that even he was unsure of what he had just said.

He stared at the clouds above him. He listened to the unusual silence of the morning. There was no Shampoo, no Ryoga, Kuno, or Gosunkugi. The peace felt odd. His confusion only added to the uneasiness.

Ranma decided that he hated this particular morning.

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Alright, this is going to be my first official Ranma fic! The other two I am currently working on are one-shots, so this one will be what I will put my heart and soul into!

Tell me what you think of this first part! My next chapter will be much longer, since I only wanted to make an introduction to this. My next few chapters are already written, so I will upload them every few weeks.

As always, feel free to leave a review! And thanks for stopping by!

-Broken Quill