บท 164: The One I Belong To
"Repeat: I would like to schedule an appointment."
Ranko joined her classmates in reciting the English phrase. She always hated this part of class; learning somebody else's sentences didn't really seem to help much when she was there to learn how to make her own.
That said, everyone was a little out of the routine after the holiday break, and perhaps it was a good thing that the first period of the day was starting off a little slow and easy.
"Good!" Miss Tanaka smiled. "Repeat: How do I get to the library?"
Ranko sighed, hollowly asking the ridiculous question alongside twenty of her classmates. She looked off to the desk at her right in the back row of the room sadly. Kumiko hadn't said a word to her all day. She really missed her friend, but things had been awkward with her for months. Ranko knew she hadn't been spending time with Kumi of late, but beyond that, she was relatively certain there was an element of good-old-fashioned jealousy at play.
"Repeat: What time does the show start?"
Ranko rolled her eyes, not even participating this time. She just looked down at her hands,
trying to make sense of everything. Lately, that made her smile more than just about anything else. She turned her left hand a bit, letting the light catch the silver band and the tiny little diamond chips. It hadn't been off of her hand other than in the shower since Christmas morning, and its twin had stayed on Akane's finger just as constantly. I'm yours, Akane. Always. Any time I doubt it, all I have to do is look down.
Of course, it had taken Izumi about twelve-point-six seconds to declare herself as her youngest sister's personal wedding planner. Ranko hadn't had the heart to tell her that her wedding, if they even did such a thing, would not likely be anything like Izumi's own had been. For one, there weren't really traditions for how to handle everything when there were two brides, no grooms and no official proceedings.
She thought back to one of her earliest shopping trips with her sisters, where Izumi had told her what to expect when Ranko was the one trying on wedding dresses. How Ranko had laughed the idea off as impossible at the time. But now? She couldn't begin to fathom herself in some of the gowns she'd seen in magazines and pictures, but then again, a lot of the last few months had been firmly in the I couldn't fathom it until it happened category. She doubted she'd get away with a white satin tee shirt and comfortable pants, with some sensible shoes, as an option. But for Akane? She'd wear anything. Say anything. As long as when the day ended, she knew that she was Akane's and Akane was hers, there was no hassle and no humiliation too great to bear.
She and Akane hadn't discussed what they'd want in a wedding much. As much as Ranko's sisters and Hana had presented the idea as essentially a normal wedding without the paperwork, neither girl had been sure that was what they wanted. Would they both be in wedding dresses? Who would they get to officiate, if an official wasn't needed or especially wanted? Would Akane's father even show up? Would Ranko's? Would the whole thing have to happen in secret? A big outdoor affair with flowers and cake and all the trimmings, or a fifteen-minute I do on the little stage at the Phoenix before one of Ranko's shows? There was way too much to figure out, and none of the usual rules applied to give them a head start.
Ranko had floated the idea, privately to Akane of course, that she could brave the kettle and suffer through the pain for a day to give Akane the opportunity to marry a man, but Akane would have none of it. The only value to it was legality, and legally, Ranma Saotome and Ranko Tendo were not the same people anyway. Beyond that, Akane didn't fall in love with the boy that was Ranma, but the woman that was Ranko, and that was who she wanted to marry regardless of any other awkwardness. And, there was of course the whole screaming in agony bit that Akane was keen to let her lover avoid as well.
Even if they never got past this point, it was okay. Even if there never was a wedding, and it was just the two of them knowing they belonged with and to each other forever, that was enough for Ranko. Sure, it wasn't what normal, one-boy-one-girl couples had, but her relationship with Akane and the road they had taken to get there was anything but normal. And yet, however weird and wacky it had been, however many Chinese curses and ancient witches and arranged marriages and lucky encounters it had taken to get there, nothing could have felt more natural and right. By whatever combination of magic, music and mayhem it had taken, Ranko was exactly where she belonged now, and the twin silver bands on her and Akane's hands were all the proof of it she'd ever need.
Her daydreaming was briefly interrupted by the sound of her name coming from one of her female classmates in the row in front of her. "Omigods, Ranko, is that a promise ring?!"
Ranko blushed, nodding with a happy smile. "Yeah," she said dreamily, her heart soaring with the thought of it all.
"Repeat: What is the price of the…" Ms. Tanaka sighed as nearly the whole class swarmed Ranko's desk, ignoring her lesson entirely. "Nevermind."
Questions came flying in from every direction faster than Ranko could even process them.
"When did it happen?"
"What did he say?"
"Was his family there?"
"Was it on Christmas?"
"Did you tell your family yet?"
"Was it romantic?"
"When is the wedding?"
"Have you picked your bridesmaids yet?"
"Did he get down on one knee?"
So overwhelmed was she with the clamor that it took Ranko just a moment too long to realize that her classmates were talking about a boy.
Oh, fuck, she thought to herself with a soul-crushing realization. They still think I'm with Eiji. They think this is… that I am… that we are… oh my gods, what am I gonna do?
"Well, it's not like that, it's, well, um, uh… guys, seriously, it's no big… yeah…" Ranko stammered, but she couldn't piece together a cover story fast enough to stem the torrent of excited questions. With every passing second, Ranko felt the room spin a little more.
"You should get married at halftime of a basketball game so we can all be there!"
"The star player and the cheerleader, how perfect!"
"All hail, Yusue High's got a new queen!"
Ranko stood slowly from her desk, backing away from the throng of girls. "I…" She looked up at the teacher for any sort of help, panic in her eyes. Make them stop. Please. Start teaching. Dismiss us. Light the trash can on fire. Something. Anything. Please.
"M… may I be excused?"
Ranko grabbed her bag and ran out the door without waiting for the teacher's response. She covered her face with her hand, and her cheeks had almost a green pallor about her as if she was going to be sick.
A brunette in the front row leaned over to her best friend with a snicker as Ranko brushed past. "Well, I think it's safe to say we know why he proposed so fast…"
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