บท 228: The Moment of Truth
"Class today, huh? I'm surprised, with school on break." Ranko pulled her other leg back through the window, stepping into the apartment from the fire escape. Her black sports top and shorts were drenched with sweat.
Akane nodded, tightening the belt of her gi. "Every class means a little more cash for the wedding." She motioned to the window. "You know, if you really want to practice, you could come to the classes with me. You are always invited."
Ranko smiled. "Yeah, I know, but it hardly seems fair to anybody who would spar with me or anything. And, like…" The redhead smiled softly, letting her thought go unspoken.
"Hey, what were you gonna say? No clamming up on me now, girlfriend." Akane smiled reassuringly.
"Enjoy that while it lasts, Akane. You're not gonna be able to call me that much longer." A little trill of laughter escaped her lips.
Akane smirked. "Nice deflection, missy. You think just because I can't think about anything except marrying you most days, you'll distract me from my question. Now, what were you thinking?"
Ranko shrugged. "It's dumb. Don't worry about it."
"Hey…" The sensei stepped forward, putting an arm around Ranko. "I mean it, babe. What's going on in there?" She tapped ever so gently on Ranko's forehead. "If it's dumb, we'll laugh at it together, but I want to know what's on your mind, always."
"Well, it's like this." Ranko slipped out of Akane's grasp, sitting on the edge of their still-unmade bed. "Like, back at your dad's, it was always, Ranma's gonna do the dojo, Ranma's gonna win the fight, Ranma's gonna win the martial arts basket weaving or whatever crazy shit you dragged me into that week."
Akane sat next to her. "And you think, because you're not Ranma anymore, you don't deserve to win?"
Ranko shook her head. "Not that. But like…" Ranko motioned up to the wall, where the poster for the Rise single hung next to the window. "I am winning, just at the things I care about now. But, the thing is, Akane… every time people said Ranma's gonna win something, they ignored the fact that you were right there, too. You were fighting right alongside me every step of the way, and you never got any credit for it, not even from me. And now, it's like, sure. I know I'm still a pretty decent martial artist. I know I could come to your class and probably shine as bright as you do. I'll always support you, and if you ever need my help with those kids, all you ever have to do is ask and I'll be there."
She swiveled at the waist, resting her hand gently on Akane's cheek. "But I don't want to. I get plenty of spotlight in my day job, Akane. I'm good. I want this to be a way that you get to be the star, and I'm the one in the crowd cheering you on, and being so, so proud of you. You do it for me when I'm on stage, and it makes me feel so loved and supported, and I wanna do the same for you about something that means as much to you as music does to me. And besides, I don't want your students to see me as your equal. I want them to see you as having no equal, the best there ever was, and I don't ever want you standing in front of your students wondering if it should be me up there instead of you."
Ranko smiled excitedly. "In fact… Wait here a minute. Close your eyes."
Akane blushed, doing as she was told. "Okay… this is kind of weird, but sure." She heard the window slide open and footsteps on the metal grating of the landing as they ascended the fire escape. She wondered how long she'd be left sitting there, but just a few moments later, she heard the footfalls returning the way they came, the sound of wood bumping glass, and the window closing.
"So, I was gonna save this for your birthday, but I think you should have it now. You can open your eyes, sensei." Ranko smiled, and Akane opened her eyes to find her holding a large plank of dark cherry wood.
"You got me… a board?" Akane giggled. "I mean, it's certainly unexpected."
Ranko handed her the half-tabletop she'd squirreled away on the rooftop more than a month ago. "Turn it over."
Blushing, Akane did as her fiancee bade her, and she gasped aloud, letting the board rest on her lap.
Meticulously hand-carved into the lacquered cherry wood surface were a series of large kanji traversing vertically down the center. A smaller line of characters ran horizontally along the bottom.
"Well, read it." Ranko grinned, beaming as she leaned on the dresser.
Akane slid her fingers along the intricately carved characters, noticing that Ranko had re-filled them with lacquer to protect them from the elements.
"School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. Master Akane Tendo." She could almost see her reflection in the lacquer finish. "Wait… you made this?"
The redhead's cheeks flushed as she nodded. "Can't very well have a dojo without a dojo sign, can ya, now?" Ranko giggled, but her laugh was cut off as Akane darted across the room and pulled her into a tight bear hug.
"You are just the best, do you know that, Ranko? The best. Thank you so much.. It's just perfect."
Ranko smiled, kissing Akane on the cheek as she was hugged. "You're perfect, sensei. And now it's right there, for everybody to see. The school is yours. And no Saotome name anywhere to be found, just like it should be."
Akane cringed. Oh, princess, I wish you hadn't brought that up when we were having such a nice moment.
"Ranko, honey, speaking of which..."
She released her lover from the hug, walking back to the edge of the bed and sitting down before patting the space next to her. "I've been trying to give you space, time to deal with everything and all, but… Nodoka has been to my dad's house like four times since you fought your dad." At Ranko's request, she'd stopped referring to Genma Saotome's wife as Ranko's mother; that was an honorific that, in Ranko's mind, was reserved for the woman who had actually treated her like her child.
"Your dad hasn't been back to the house since the fight, and Kasumi's running out of excuses before she just moves herself into the living room and waits for you to show up. I'm sorry, but we've got to figure out a way to deal with her. I think we've pushed it off as long as we can."
Ranko nodded, sitting on the bed where she was summoned and cuddling against Akane's chest under the larger girl's armpit. "I've been thinking about that a lot the last few days, actually."
Akane nodded. "Me too. So, I'm thinking we catch a train, out to somewhere far away. Maybe Okinawa or something. Make a weekend out of it. We get Nabiki to find us some pictures of you… the old you, and we include them with a postcard and mail it to my dad's. Then she thinks you're out there, and she goes away to find you. It's a little thin, but it gets her out of our hair."
Shaking her head, Ranko sat up to face her fiancee. "I've got a different idea."
"Yeah?" Akane turned on the bed. "Whatcha thinking, superstar?" She schemes with the best of 'em; whatever she's cooked up is gonna be great.
"What if… and just hear me out, here, Akane… we told her the truth?"
"Um…" Akane put her finger up in the air. "One minute here. Are we forgetting something? Aren't you the one that's always saying she'd try to literally murder you if she found out you were a girl? I mean, don't get me wrong, Ranko, I'm loving the new up front and honest girl thing you're doing after Eiji, but how is this a good plan?"
Ranko nodded. "It's risky, I know. But, Akane…" She sighed, looking down at her hands. "If we tell her some lie, send her on some wild goose chase for a while, she'll eventually be back. She's not going to give up, and I'm constantly gonna be looking over my shoulder for when that day's gonna come. And…"
Ranko pulled her legs up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged and reaching behind her on the bed for Burny. She squeezed the soft plush phoenix tightly to her chest as she spoke.
"When I was worried that Pop was coming, I pushed you away – you, my sisters and Mom, my friends, the band, everybody – because I didn't want you all to be around me when the hammer came down. I didn't like how that felt. Losing all of you is what scares me the most in the whole world – way more than some crazy lady with a sword ever could. And when I marry you, when I promise you I'm gonna be with you every day for the rest of forever, I want to know that I'm not a knock on the door away from feeling like that again. From pushing you away again. I don't like the person I am when I'm not in your arms, Akane."
She looked up into Akane's eyes, her emotions liquefying in the corners of her own. "I want to spend every day that I get to be your wife looking forward at what amazing things we're going to do together, and not backward at what other bullshit from my past is gonna try to come trip us up. Like, I've been thinking a lot the last few days about how glad I am you found out about me and Eiji, because now I don't panic every time I think about 'what happens if she finds out one day and it comes out of left field and tries to hurt us' anymore. It used to be almost every day at least once, and it makes me feel like you and me are safer 'cause it's done. Like, it's one less thing that can jump out of the bushes and get us when we aren't ready for it."
She sat up, looking resolutely into Akane's eyes, although Burny was probably stuffocating with how tightly she squeezed him for support. She might be facing her fear, but she was no less fearful of it. "I want to resolve this now. If she's going to accept me, great, I get two moms. If she doesn't, then we have the fight now, and we win, just like we did with Pop. But either way, on the day I marry you, I want to make sure we don't have a reason to be afraid of anything. I want to be one-hundred-percent all yours and never spend another second worrying somebody is going to try to take me away from you again."
Ranko sighed quietly, resting her chin on her stuffed firebird. "I know, it's probably reckless and stupid, but… I don't wanna run anymore, Akane. I don't wanna hide anymore. I am proud of my life with you, with my family, and the band. I didn't do nothin' wrong, and I shouldn't have to run. I'm so fucking tired of running."
Akane ran her hand down the side of Ranko's head, brushing a wisp of hair out of her eyes. "I don't think it's stupid, Ranko. I think you're the bravest woman I've ever met. If you're ready to fight for us, baby, then we stand our ground and we fight, together. I'm right there with you to the end."
"I'm not brave. I'm terrified, Akane. I'm scared out of my fucking mind." Ranko cuddled against her again. "I'm only doin' this 'cause the thought of losing you scares me even more than that damn sword."
Akane wrapped her arms tightly around her future wife. "You're afraid, and you're facing what you're afraid of anyway because what you want is on the other side of it. I don't care what you call it. I say that's courage, Ranko, and I'm so damned proud of you for it."
Ranko nodded, looking up at her fiancee. "Okay. Tell your sisters." She sat up, wiping the beads of water from the corners of her eyes.
"Tell them I'm ready to face her."
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