Rejected

Part 1 - Sunday - Ultimate Rejection

By Lord Archive

This story is an alternate take on Nodoka's first arrival.

Rated M for Mature audiences for death, language and sexual situations. Do not read this if you are under eighteen years of age.

This is darker than any canon Ranma 1/2 story. If you want Takahashi styled humor, you will not find it here.

This is a complete ten-part series and will be posted in full.

Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan and are used without permission.

I'm returning home from staying at my friend's house last night. Imagine the nerve of my friends suggesting I'm making Ranma out to be worse than he is. That I should be glad to be engaged to 'such a handsome, martial artist.' The idiot is probably with one of his other fiancees right now.

As I walk into my home, sighing, I call out, "I'm home." Suddenly Kasumi runs out and hugs me, crying to the point of wailing like Daddy. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Akane. Ranma's mother is here and..." Kasumi starts. Why is she sorry about that? "...she has an agreement with Ranma and Uncle Saotome that if..." Kasumi chokes back a sob. What agreement would get Kasumi this upset? If Ranma has another fiancee, I'll kill him! "...Ranma isn't a man amongst men he'll commit s-seppuku." Ritual suicide?! I literally feel my blood drain from my face. "His mother found out about the curse and she-she's going to..." Going to?! They haven't done it yet! There is still time!

"Kasumi, where are they?"

"In the dojo, preparing. I'm sor..." I don't hear anything more since I'm out of earshot range. I'm running to the dojo as if my life depends on it. Oddly, I feel it does.

I enter the dojo and see Ranma and Genma kneeling on the floor in their curse forms. Ranma slowly looks up at me, his face showing how hurt and vulnerable he is right now. I want to break down and cry at the sight.

NO! Look at that copper haired woman with the katana. She's supposed to be his mother, and yet she's going to kill him! Take him away from me! No! I will not let her do this!

"STOP THIS!" I snarl angrily.

The lady looks at me sadly. "I'm sorry that your family had to put up with this." Her hand waves over Ranma and Genma.

'This?!' She didn't even refer to them as even being people, but 'this?!' "You can't make them commit seppuku!" I yell.

"You have no right to interfere in this. This is a family matter," the woman insists.

"'No right?!' He's my fiance, and you tell me I have 'no right to interfere?'" Even being angry as hell at his mother, I see Ranma blink when I said 'fiance.'

The woman shakes her head. "You must be Akane. I'm sorry that my husband tried to force Ranma on you. No girl should ever be forced to marry..."

I scream internally in outrage that she is actually trying to think of a word to call Ranma.

Mrs. Saotome then said, "Anyway, I cannot allow this stain on the Saotome family line to continue. I cannot allow this failure of Ranma not being a man amongst men to continue."

"What?! He IS a man amongst men. Sure he may not look like it at the moment, but he is a man. A bit TOO much of a man if you ask me. Does it matter he occasionally has a chest bigger than mine? It's his spirit that's important, not the body."

Mrs. Saotome levels her gaze at me. "Being a man is both body and spirit. If the body isn't a man's body, then how can the spirit be?"

"Because it is! The body doesn't, and shouldn't, matter. It's actions that matter. How he acts is what's important."

"You're going to tell me you do not object to being forced to marry Ranma?" the woman asks seriously.

"I did. Not because of his curse, but because I don't like being forced into anything. I only used his curse as an excuse. It doesn't matter to me that he's sometimes a she."

"Well, now you no longer have to worry about being forced to marry him. The agreement for a Saotome to marry a Tendo cannot be held as there will no longer be a Saotome to marry." Her words are now said in a tone that would take no objection.

"You want the Saotome line to end? Fine!" I see Ranma blanch from this. I turn to see Nabiki and Daddy at the door of the dojo. Daddy is crying. "Daddy, call a minister. If she doesn't want him as a Saotome, then I'll make him a Tendo!" I don't know where the idea came from, but I'm sticking to it.

Daddy starts crying even harder. Nabiki, however, says, "I'll get one." She runs off. I thought she might have asked if I really want to do this. I guess she already knows the answer, even if I didn't until now.

The woman's constant frown deepened. "I cannot allow you to do that. Ranma is not fit to be your... spouse. Ranma was to be a man amongst men, failure of this means Ranma has to die."

I turn around and scowl at Mrs. Saotome. I also see out of the corner of my eye that Ranma is in a state of shock. "You see a curse which he detests as failure. That he was knocked into a magical spring by his idiotic father is reason to think he's failed. Failure does NOT have anything to do with the body magic has forced upon him. If you want to punish Uncle Saotome for his failure as a father, fine! But if you make Ranma kill himself to satisfy your belief that he's failed, then I ask you to be my second, because if Ranma dies, then so do I!"

Daddy must be crying buckets behind me.

Mrs. Saotome closes her eyes. "You would give your life up for this?"

"I would."

"You would take Ranma to be your spouse even with that body?" the woman presses.

"Does this answer your question?" I kneel in front of Ranma. With my hand I draw him closer to me, and I kiss him. Ask me before I walked home today and I would've said there was no way in hell I'd kiss Ranma, let alone when he's in a girl's body. Right now it seems... natural. This is Ranma, the man I'm going to marry. It doesn't matter to me that the lips belong to a girl's body, because the girl's body belongs to Ranma.

Ranma is finally getting out of his shock. He's tentatively kissing me back now. I add more passion to it. I let myself go for the moment, to let his mother know I don't give a damn what Ranma looks like. He is kissing me passionately back now. It's better than I thought it'd be.

I finally, reluctantly, disengage from Ranma. I smile a little at the look of shock on Mrs. Saotome's face. You'd think she's never seen two girls kissing. Maybe she hasn't and that is part of the problem.

"Mr. Tendo," Mrs. Saotome says, "Would you accept that into your family?"

I'm surprised to see Dad has stopped crying. He even looks angrily at Mrs. Saotome. "I would gladly accept Ranma into my family. He is a fine young man and one of the best martial artists to ever live. No family should be disgraced to have him as one of their members."

I see Mrs. Saotome close her eyes. I pray I got through to her. "The agreement is with Saotome Ranma. I cannot force Tendo Ranma to comply to the oath. One way or another, the Saotome clan ends at nightfall."

YES! We've got six hours to get married. I hope we can make it.

"Akane?" I hear from Ranma's shaking voice. "Thanks for trying to help."

"Trying? Ranma, you won't have to commit seppuku."

Ranma shakes his head weakly. "I can't ask you to marry me."

"In case you haven't noticed, you didn't ask." I'm not sure what I want him to say now, but I want him to say something.

"I'm not going to let you ruin your life for me." Ranma turns his head and looks at me.

I can see the look in his female form's eyes. Oh, gods! He looks like a wounded animal that WANTS to be dragged out and shot. "Ranma, I'm not going to ruin my life by marrying you. The only way my life is going to be ruined is if you die."

Ranma bows his head. "You can't mean that. My own mother rejects me. She can't even bear to look at me or even refer to me as a 'he.'"

I hug Ranma tightly. "I don't reject you. I accept you for who you are. If your mother can't look past your chest, that's her fault, not yours."

"But you've rejected me before," Ranma presses.

"Ranma, I've been scared, hurt, and angry. I don't like things being forced on me. I took it out on you, because you were being forced on me. I'm really, really sorry about that." I let go of Ranma and look into the face of the redhead. I see he's trying to stop himself from crying, but is failing miserably. "I want you to know: I will marry you because I want to. I am NOT just doing this to save you. I am doing this because I don't know what I'd do without you. You mean too much to me for me to lose you." I realize now that I'm crying too.

Ranma stops fighting the tears. "Akane, please. Mom's right. You shouldn't have to marry me. I want to be a full man for you. How can I be your husband when I look like this? I don't want our children being confused at which one of us to call mother. I-I... Please, Akane I must do this." Ranma looks down at the floor. I barely hear the tear soaked whisper of, "I love you too much to let you marry me."

I sit there looking at Ranma in shock. I didn't expect to hear him say that. I don't know why, I just didn't.

Finally, I lift his feminine chin and look into his eyes. "Ranma. I. Love. You." His eyes widen in shock, and I punctuate my words by kissing his female lips again. He returns the kiss after a second.

Ranma breaks the kiss. "Akane..." he says. I can see in his frightened beautiful eyes that he's trying to come up with a way to change my mind.

"Ranma, I don't know how to convince you. All I can ask is, please, for me, live. Because even if I don't commit suicide with you, I will die tonight with you. You are a part me, and I'd be lost without you. Ranma, if you really love me, then marry me and live."

"Oh, Akane... I..." Ranma looks at me with a ghost of that cocky grin I'm so familiar with. "For you... I-I'll marry you."

We start to kiss each other again. My mind begins to comprehend everything that has happened since I got home. I'm really going to marry Ranma today, and if I don't he dies. I wasn't sure if we'd ever marry, and now... now I can't think of anything I want more.

I'm still worried. We haven't saved Uncle Saotome. How are we going to save him? Where is Uncle Saotome anyway? He was here when this started.

I break off the kiss. "We better get ready. We don't have much time."

Ranma nodded. I hold onto him as we walk to the house.

I see P-Chan sitting by the dojo door. He looks rather hurt, but I don't see any physical injury. I try to push it out of my mind. No matter how hurt P-Chan is, Ranma needs me right now.

I fuss over the white dress I'm wearing. I don't like being away from Ranma right now. He still looks very hurt that his mother can't see him as the man he truly is.

I sigh, looking into the mirror. I'm wearing my white sun dress for a wedding dress. Beggars can't be choosers. We don't have time to get a real one.

I start to wonder what is scaring me more: getting married, or the idea of living without Ranma. I look at one of the few pictures of Ranma I have. The answer comes easily, living without Ranma scares me to death, while getting married is only scaring me shitless.

I hear Nabiki call from down stairs. She's returned with a minister. Minutes away from being Mrs. Tendo. I take a breath, trying to remain calm. I'm failing miserably, but I'm trying.

My hand shakes as I open the door. I exit my room, and see Ranma is exiting his room. "Ready?" I ask. I know it's a stupid question.

"Would you be upset if I said 'no?'" Ranma replies nervously.

"Not really."

We share a nervous smile. We both walk to the dojo together. That's where we'll be married in a minute.

We walk into the dojo. Ryoga is there. I don't know how he'll react to this. Sometimes I think he feels for me more than just being a friend. Ranma's reaction seems to back up this thought, he's gone into a battle stance.

"Ranma," Ryoga begins, sounding angry as a bull seeing red. He glances at me. "C-congratulations. You're a lucky man." Ryoga says sadly. He grabs and shakes Ranma's hand. Ranma looks completely confused. Ryoga then leans forward and whispers something to Ranma.

"I promise," Ranma replies to whatever Ryoga whispered to him about.

Ranma and I walk up to the minister. The minister's words become muddled to me. I'm responding as directed. My voice is probably cracking nervously. I can't control it. My life is going through a blender at the moment.

I look at Ranma. I see he's nervous as hell, too. He tries to give me a reassuring smile. I try to give him the same.

The ceremony is impossibly long and impossibly short at the same time. It ends, with me kissing my new husband. He is safe now, my husband, Tendo Ranma.

I turn to look at the others in the dojo. My family is crying. Well, I think I see a tear on Nabiki's face. Ryoga is also crying. Mrs. Saotome looks to be made of stone. I'm quickly learning to hate that woman. Genma is next to her, still a Panda, chained and crying. I don't know if he's crying about his son being married, or that he'll have to commit seppuku soon. Probably because of seppuku.

The minister bids Ranma and me good luck and leaves. At least that's what I think he said. I'm having a hard time understanding anything at the moment.

"Ranma," Mrs. Saotome began. "The Tendo family has accepted you. I hope you live up to the faith they put in you. I have one request for you."

"Anything," Ranma replies. I scowl slightly at him. She deserves nothing from him.

Mrs. Saotome holds a hand to her chest. "I want you to be my second."

"What?" I add to the chorus of voices.

"When I said, 'tonight the Saotome clan ends,' I meant it. This includes me. The failure of you being a man is partially my fault for letting Genma take you," the crazy woman explains.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! Ranma is a man! You don't have to do this. You don't have to kill Genma. Divorce him, do whatever, but don't kill him and yourself over something as pointless as this!" I scream at her.

"The point is family. We are bound by promise to have made Ranma a man amongst men. The curse is a breach of that. To redeem ourselves we must do this. I don't want to die. I'd like nothing better than see my grandchildren grow up," the woman intones.

"Then don't do it!"

"We do as we must. You did as you needed to save the person you love. I do the same for the love of my clan." Mrs. Saotome's eyes show the reluctance of her actions.

"But he is a man. Genma did not fail." I never thought I'd say that and mean it, but I did.

"That is a nice thought, but I do not see it as true." Her eyes somehow lose the reluctance.

Ranma put his hand on my shoulder. "I-I will do as you wish, Mom."

Mrs. Saotome gives him a strange look and then nods.

I look at Ranma. I see in his eyes that he doesn't want to do this, but who would? He's going to do it because his mother wants him to.

How and why this has to happen is beyond the scope of my reasoning. Ranma is about to lose his parents to something so pointless. I want to stop this, but I don't know how. I can see my family is also trying to think of a way out of this.

I'm sitting outside the dojo. I can't bear to witness to what is about to happen. Nothing anyone has said has changed the mind of Mrs. Saotome. As much as I disliked Uncle Saotome, I'm going to miss him.

I hear a sickening thud in the dojo, and I start crying. I know I just lost my father-in-law. Why does this have to happen? This is so pointless! Why?

I curl up into a ball, tears streaming down my face. There is a long agonizing silence now. I want it to end, but not in the way I know it will.

I hear another sickening thud, this time much smaller. My mother-in-law, too, has died for no reason. Why couldn't she see Ranma as a man, even if his body isn't always a man's body?

I force myself to stand up. I don't bother to wipe my tears, since they haven't stopped flowing. I wait for Ranma to exit. If he doesn't come out soon... I'll have to go in there.

After a moment, Ranma finally walks out of the dojo. He's pale as a ghost, his body shaking. I hug him with all my strength wanting him to hold on. I never want to let go of him in fear that if I do, he'll join his parents.

I can feel Ranma's tears soak my shirt. It hurts me knowing two people died for no reason. I can't even begin to know how he feels. Losing my mother was hard on me. But Ranma... Ranma lost his parents because his mother rejected him. She couldn't see Ranma as a man, and had him help her kill herself. How that woman has hurt her son in such an unbelievable means is unforgivable. I hope she rots in hell.

He, no doubt, is thinking of what he could've done that would've saved his parents. I remember I did when Mom died, and I was a little girl then. He's going to take this REALLY hard. I know this, but it seems unavoidable. His parents died, and all because his mother was too blind to see the person that's inside the body.

I smile my thanks to Kasumi for watching Ranma before I return to the fish pond and sit next to him. Ranma must have splashed himself while I was gone, because he is now a she.

I hated having to leave him to go the bathroom, but I couldn't hold it much longer. I spent the past couple hours just being there for him. I couldn't think of anything that would comfort him.

I wrap my arm around his female form. I don't know if he notices, he's seems intent on watching his reflection.

"I am not a man," Ranma mutters.

"You are too a man. I tried to convince your mother that. She was too blind to see past the body, and into the spirit of the man I love." Love, a foreign word to my lips. It shouldn't be, but it is. I will repeat it to Ranma a lot in the coming days to make it clear, even if his mother can't accept him, I can.

Ranma looks at me with such sad eyes, but says angrily, "Do I look like a man to you?" He grabs one of his breasts for emphasis.

"Yes, because I know you. Manliness does not come from how you look. It's how you act. You are man in spirit. Even if you get stuck as a girl, you are still a man."

"How can you bear to have a spouse like me?" Ranma asks weakly.

"Tendo Ranma!" I start angrily. "Get it through your thick skull. You are a man and my husband. Your body does not matter. The body is just a covering for the spirit. I don't care anymore if you get a cure for the curse. It is you I love."

"Akane, I..." Ranma's words seem to fail him.

I kiss him. Kissing seems to work where words fail. "Ranma, it's getting late. We should go to bed."

Ranma nods, and we go upstairs after a quick stop for hot water. Dad and Ryoga have moved my stuff into Ranma's room, since it is larger and Ranma wants to stay in his room. Ranma appears to be surprised when we enter our room. "What's your stuff doing in here?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

I see the gears ever so slowly turn in his head. "I, ah, well..."

"Why shouldn't my stuff be in our room?" I try to hold back my anger. He really doesn't need to see it right now.

"'Our room?'" he repeats.

"What? You think after we got married, we'd sleep in separate rooms? What did you think when Dad asked you which room you wanted to have?"

Ranma starts to study the floor. "I-I wasn't thinking about that."

I sigh. Of course, Ranma wouldn't be thinking about that considering what was happening with his parents. "I understand. Let's get some sleep."

I could see Ranma is very uncomfortable. Too much has happened today. I doubt Ranma will consummate our marriage tonight. I won't push it. It might push him away if I try. I'm not sure if I even want to try.

I change into my pajamas, minus a bra. I know he's in the room and staring at me. I'm not going to hide anything from him. Hiding anything now would be a form of pushing him away and I will not do it.

While Ranma looks ready to bolt, he slips into bed anyway. I give him a smile to help lessen his fears. I crawl into bed with him. It's a snug fit considering it's the bed from my old room.

I would be sacred as hell if it wasn't for the fact Ranma needs me to be with him. Besides, Ranma looks scared enough for the both of us.

I look into his eyes, and say, "You are the man I love."

"I-I love you, too," he returns.

This is the second time I've heard it, knowing he means it, and I still have trouble believing it. I kiss him passionately as a response.

Ranma returns the kiss with even more passion. I feel like he's trying to grab hold of me like I'm a life line. Like I'm all that holds him between life and death. I guess, I am just that.

Suddenly Ranma actions seem to come like that of another person. He rips open my pajama top and starts fondling my breasts. It wouldn't be bad if he wasn't doing it so hard. This didn't last even a minute. He breaks our kiss and moves down my body. He surprises me. I thought he was going to do more with my chest or something, but he's taking off my pants and panties.

I could stop this. I know I could, but I won't. I'd be rejecting him.

Ranma is now removing his boxers. I haven't been able to see his face since we started. I want to see it. I'm not sure why, but I want to.

Ranma is now positioning himself between my legs. This is my last chance to stop it, but I can't. Even the fact that I'm... not ready enough isn't going to make me stop him. Even delaying him now may be what it takes to chase him away.

My head flies back when I feel him enter me. The pain I feel is not because he tore my hymen. I did that a long time ago during martial arts practice. The pain is because I wasn't aroused enough. That and he didn't give any pause before starting to thrust in and out of me.

Thankfully he isn't looking at my face at the moment. I don't want him to see the pain he's causing me.

Finally I feel the pleasure well over the pain. Pain seems like a distant memory now. The feeling of pleasure crashes through me likes waves on a beach. These waves, though, are not generated by the moon, but Ranma, my love and husband.

I now see Ranma's face. His eyes are closed. He looks like he can't believe he's doing this. Like someone took over his body and was making him do something he didn't want to.

If the pleasure I was feeling was waves, then a tsunami just ripped through my body. I'm gasping and moaning from the sensations that the orgasm had generated.

Suddenly Ranma shoves himself really hard into me, and I feel him orgasm inside me. Then I feel another orgasm rip through my body.

Ranma collapses on top of me. I wrap my arms around him, holding him tightly. After a moment he shifts uncomfortably. He stares at me with a frightened look on his face.

"Thank you," I say to him. "That was wonderful." Though it could've been better.

"I-I'm sorry," Ranma said meekly, trying to break out of my embrace.

I hold onto him for dear life. "What do you mean 'I'm sorry?'"

"I-I f-forced..."

I scowl at him. "You didn't force anything. I would be beating the crap out of you right now if you did, wouldn't I?"

"But I..." Ranma tried to say.

I start kissing him. Screw words. Words haven't done much good today. I don't know if his mother would've been convinced if I hadn't kissed Ranma in his girl form.

He reluctantly starts returning the kiss. My hands begin to roam his body. This time I'm leading. He won't touch me anywhere that I hadn't touched him similarly first. So, I make it clear, massaging him with my hand. He's a little limp at the moment.

I carefully roll us over so I'm on top. I smile, feeling that he is quite ready now. I impale myself on him. He won't be able to say he forced himself on me this time.

All too quickly our passions climax. I collapse on him. We embrace bathing in the afterglow.

Suddenly he starts crying. I hate seeing him like this. I hold him closely, and start emitting soothing sounds. I don't know where they come from, but they're working.

Ranma soon falls asleep in my arms. He looks so peaceful now.

My husband, Tendo Ranma, one of the greatest martial artists that ever lived, and I'm helping him fight the greatest of enemies, himself. We must win this fight. Because if he loses, I am lost as well.

Author's Note:

I really don't know where this came from. I usually have some idea, but I don't this time.

Akane's thoughts occasionally seem to jump around, but then again, so do mine half the time and Akane's thoughts would likely by rather mixed up for what is going on. Also while Ranma spent a good deal of this fict as a girl, this is Akane's thoughts and all she sees is a guy.

Thanks to Bryan Neef and everyone who gave me C&C and read the original version of this series.