[Ranma][FanFic] newRanma 11 - Dying
C. Jones
here without permission.
------------------------------
newRanma 11: Dying
by Chris Jones
------------------------------
Takedo Makuna was quite grateful for his opportunity to
speak with Ranma Saotome. He thought he had come to know the young
woman quite well, and was looking forward to speaking with the
young man.
Taiyoko Saiteiki had called a few minutes earlier to
indicate that she would be late to her appointment. Now there was
a difficult case. The young woman was so full of guilt and fear.
Makuna was afraid that he would never be able to fully help her
with her problems.
Still, he welcomed the few minutes he had between
appointments. He was really making progress with Ranma, and was
going over his notes from her session.
There was a knock at his door. Was it her already?
"Ah, come in, Taiyoko," he said.
When the door opened, he was quite surprised to see a man
standing inside rather than the petite young woman he was
expecting.
"Excuse me, can I help you?"
"I'm here to talk to you," the man said.
Makuna realized that his visitor was shaking visibly. He
shifted uncomfortably in his chair, seeing the threatening
expression the man wore.
"I'm afraid that I only see patients by appointment,"
Makuna said, wondering if he should reach for the phone on his
desk.
"Did you give Naota an 'appointment'?" the man asked
angrily.
Makuna swore under his breath. "I'm afraid I'm going to
have to ask you to leave. My receptionist has gone for the day,
but if you'll call back tomorrow, she'll be happy to make an
appointment."
When the man began to approach, Makuna reached for the
phone.
"Put the goddamned phone down, faggot!" the man hissed.
Makuna looked up and gulped. He was staring into the end
of a small-caliber hand-gun. The man had pulled it out of the
pocket of his sweat-shirt.
"You must be Naota's father," Makuna said, standing
slowly, keeping his hands up.
"Get out here," the man said, gesturing with his weapon.
Shaking, Makuna stepped out from behind his desk.
"I bet you think it was really funny to make my son run
away from home," the man said.
"Naota was a very disturbed young man," Makuna said. "He
was in a lot of pain."
"I sent my son to you so he could get better, not so you
could take him away from us!"
"There was nothing wrong with Naota," Makuna said,
"besides his fear of abuse."
"Do you have any idea what you took away from me?" the man
said. "My family has been torn apart! My son is living in
Hiroshima as some guy's bitch now, and it's all your fault!"
Makuna exhaled deeply, realizing what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry if you're upset about the choices that Naota made, but
there is nothing I can do change those choices. Even if I could, I
wouldn't. Naota is happy and well adjusted now. If there's
anything I can do to make you calm down and put the gun away,
please tell me."
"Okay," the man said.
* * *
Ranma was almost to the train station by the time she
realized she had left her satchel at Makuna's office. She would
have simply left it until her next visit, but she had left both
her new Dragon Ball and Utena tankoubans inside it.
It was a quick jog back, and Ranma thought she could make
it before the next train. She sprinted up the stairs to Makuna's
office and stepped inside.
The waiting room was empty, so she knocked on the door.
"Oy, Makuna-sensei! I forgot my bag. Can I come in?" She
stepped inside.
*BLAM*
Ranma blinked once.
Makuna fell backwards, a red spray erupting from his
chest.
The man who shot him, hearing the door hit the wall behind
him, turned on Ranma. He was carrying a handgun. His face was
twisted in rage and grief.
Before she had fully realized what was happening, Ranma
was turning. Her right leg came up over her head.
*BLAM*
Ranma could hear the bullet scream past her left ear.
Her leg connected with the man's wrist, knocking the gun
away, It hit Makuna's desk and clattered into the floor.
Clutching his wrist, the man turned and fled through the
open door.
Ranma was torn for a split second. Instead of chasing the
man down, she chose to stay. Doing her best to burn the gunman's
appearance into her mind, Ranma knelt down next to Makuna and
began to look for signs of life.
His eyes had rolled up in the back of his head. Bright red
blood was pumping freely from the wound in his chest, just to the
right of his sternum. Ranma realized that if he hadn't actually
been shot in the heart, one of the large arteries in his chest had
been cut by the bullet.
The pulse in his neck was nonexistent, and he had stopped
breathing. Ranma pulled off her red shirt, leaving her clad in an
undershirt. She wadded it up and pushed it against the wound,
putting as much pressure on it as she could.
"EEEEEEE!!" A feminine voice screamed from the doorway.
Ranma looked up to see Taiyoko standing in front of her.
The blonde girl's eyes were wide with horror. Her purse had
dropped to the floor and upended, spilling out its contents into
the rapidly growing pool of blood.
"Call an ambulance," Ranma instructed her calmly. "Now.
He's dying."
Then she tilted Makuna's head back. She forced his mouth
open and put her lips against his.
* * *
"Ranma!" Nodoka yelled, running into the examination room.
She lifted her daughter, and began to look her over for signs of
injury.
"Relax. None of it's mine," Ranma said weakly, gesturing
to her blood-stained undershirt.
"So you did or did not see the suspect," a policeman asked
impatiently.
"I t-t-told you!" Taiyoko said, tears running down her
face. "I saw a man run past me in t-t-the hallway. I didn't see
what he looked like."
"So you hid from the suspect," the policeman said.
"Hey, pal," Ranma said, pulling away from her mother. She
interposed herself between Taiyoko and the hostile cop. "You wanna
lay off? If she said she didn't see him, then she didn't see him.
I barely saw him, and that was only because he shoved a gun in my
face, okay?"
"Oh, Ranma, what happened?" Nodoka asked. "We received the
call from the hospital and--"
"Shhh. It's okay. I'm not hurt. Some guy attacked Doctor
Makuna. Me and Taiyoko," she gestured to the blonde girl, "were
around when it happened."
"Is your doctor okay?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma looked away.
"Oh dear."
"They ain't told us nothin' yet," Ranma said, swallowing
hard.
Nodoka closed her eyes and shook her head. She glanced up,
seeing the upset blonde girl next to Ranma for the first time.
"You must be Ranma's friend," she said, bowing her head.
"Uh... no... No! I mean, Not yet," Taiyoko said. "We've
only met a few t-t-times," she stuttered.
The girl was certainly pretty enough, Nodoka thought.
Surely Ranma hadn't...
"Taiyoko sees Makuna-sensei right after I do," Ranma said.
"We've been meeting in passing for a few weeks now."
Nodoka tried not to let her sigh of relief become audible.
The last thing her child needed at this point were more...
complications.
At this point, another policeman burst into the
examination room.
"Hey, we coulda been undressed in here!" Ranma blustered.
"Sorry!" the policeman yelled. "Captain," he said, turning
to the officer who had been questioning Taiyoko. "We cornered the
perp at his residence. There was a brief hold-up situation. We had
a ten-fifty six. Investigation is in progress by Captain
Masakeuchi."
"Great," the police captain said, rolling his eyes. "What
a coward." He turned back to Taiyoko and nodded his head. "I
apologize for the questioning," he said. "But we wanted to clear
this up as quickly as possible."
"Whoa, whoa! Wait a second!" Ranma interjected. "Ten
fifty-six... What's that?"
The police captain stared at her seriously for a second.
He jerked his head at the junior officer, who left the room as
quickly as he came. "It means that the suspect committed suicide
after he was surrounded by police officers," he explained quietly.
Ranma felt the bottom fall out of her stomach at the
pronunciation. Vaguely, she heard Taiyoko begin to start crying
again.
"I'm sorry," the captain apologzied. "There's always the
possibility when we deal with personal assault cases."
Closing her eyes, Ranma rolled her head back and took a
deep breath. She tried to calm the sick, nauseous feeling in her
stomach. She wanted to vomit. Worse, she wanted to take back what
she had done. CPR probably hadn't helped Makuna at all. Now his
assailant was permanently beyond the reach of justice. Ranma felt
like she bungled the situation... badly.
There was another knock on the door. A second later, a
familiar face protruded into the room.
"And you are..." the police captain prompted.
"I am Saotome-san's physician," Doctor Tofuu introduced
himself as he stepped into the room. "I understand you've had some
excitement this evening, Ranma."
"I sure didn't ask for it," Ranma said in a trembling
voice.
"I thought you might want to know about Makuna-sensei,"
Tofuu said, placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "The surgeon I
spoke with said that he had a fifty-fifty chance right now.
They're still operating, but it looks like he might make it
through."
"You're kidding," Ranma said incredulously.
Tofuu shook his head. "It's touch and go, and will be for
a while, but it looks like whoever performed CPR on him kept him
alive long enough for the surgeons to take over."
Ranma took another deep breath, and felt the tears begin
to run down her face.
Tofuu gave both girls a brief once-over and asked if they
had been hurt. Ranma admitted to kicking the gun out of the
assailant's hands, a fact the police captain carefully noted.
He asked Ranma if she would be willing to identify the
body of the assailant. Ranma gulped down the sick feeling at such
a request and nodded.
After the police officer left, Tofuu told them that
Makuna-sensei would probably lose the use of one of his lungs, but
that the surgeons would probably be able to save his life if only
they could get the bleeding in his chest stopped.
Several minutes later, a severe looking man and woman
burst into the examination room and began to protectively hover
over Taiyoko.
"Why on earth did you get involved?" the woman, a tall,
bird-like person asked in an upset tone."
"M-m-m-m--" Taiyoko stuttered, unable to get the words
out.
Taiyoko's father, a short, obese man, glared at Ranma, but
didn't say anything.
"Where's Pops?" Ranma asked her mother.
"He's out in the lobby with Soun and the girls," Nodoka
responded. "We weren't sure they would let more than one of us
in."
Ranma was happy to see her mother, but was more than a
little upset that her father hadn't come in.
"Are you hurt?" Taiyoko's mother asked.
"I-I-I-I--"
"Answer your mother," her father commanded. "Were you
assaulted? Are you injured?"
"M-m-m-m--" she tried to speak. Taiyoko's expression
became tortured.
"Hey, it's okay. Calm down for a second," Ranma urged,
coming to the girl's defense.
Oddly, it earned her harsh stares from both of Taiyoko's
parents.
"I-I'm okay," the blonde girl said, a little more in
control of her speech. "R-ranma had already chased the... the..."
Ranma smiled at her new friend and nodded in
encouragement.
"We shouldn't be here," the girl's father complained. "I
have to leave for my business trip tonight and--"
"You're not in any trouble with the police, are you?"
Taiyoko's mother fretted. "Oh, I need to make sure that they're
not trying to press charges."
Ranma rolled her eyes at her own mother, who nodded
seriously. They were dealing with some truly sensitive individuals
here. Ranma wondered how Taiyoko came out of her family being so
nice.
"Can we come in?" another voice asked from the door of the
examination room.
"K-k-kasumi!" Tofuu shouted. "How surprising to meet you
here of all places!"
"Tofuu-sensei! Is Ranma okay?"
Tofuu shifted into a more serious medical mode, just
before he began to pat Taiyoko on the shoulder. Ranma breathed a
sigh of relief and made a gesture that indicated that the blonde
girl should keep her distance from the doctor, regardless.
"Ranma's just fine," Tofuu said. "Just a little stressed.
I think that's true for all of us, however."
Kasumi led Akane and Genma into the examination room.
"Well, did you catch the killer, boy?" Genma asked after
several seconds of silence.
Ranma couldn't help but notice the way Taiyoko's parents
flinched when her father said 'boy'.
"Nah. He offed himself when the cops caught up with him,"
Ranma told him in a serious tone, more certain now that she had
made the right decision. "I stayed behind to do mouth to mouth on
Makuna-sensei. He might actually live."
Genma pondered his child's statement for several seconds.
"Good," he said after quite a bit. "It's a martial artist's duty
to protect the weak."
Ranma smiled, feeling better than she had all night.
Genma whispered something to Nodoka and sidled out of the
room as Akane and Kasumi began to fuss over Ranma.
"I brought a change of clothes for you," Akane said. "It's
one of my dresses. I just grabbed the first thing I came to," she
apologized.
"Believe me," Ranma said, "it's okay. I think I'm gonna
burn these." She indicated her stained clothes.
Ranma took the overnight bag Akane handed her. She ducked
into the examination room's bathroom, which had a small shower
stall. She quickly rinsed off and changed into the short dress
Akane brought for her. She took a few seconds to look in the
mirror and make sure there wasn't any blood in her hair, which she
hadn't washed. She ran her hands through it a few times, and
stuffed her old clothes inside a shopping bag that was inside the
overnight tote.
When she stepped back out, Taiyoko's parents were arguing
about their schedule.
"I'll never make the flight if I have to take her home
first," the obese man said.
"Well, you should spend some more time with your daughter
anyway," the skinny woman replied. "It's not like you're the only
one who has important business tomorrow."
"If it's a problem, Taiyoko can stay with us," Ranma
offered, a little angry at how Taiyoko's parents were treating
her. "I mean she's been through a lot. Maybe it would be better if
she was with friends than all alone."
Both adults stared at Ranma as if she had grown a second
head.
"That would be just fine," Kasumi seconded Ranma's offer.
"We certainly have the extra room.
Taiyoko smiled apologetically at Ranma. She had a hopeless
expression on her face. She glanced up as her mother and father
took a few steps away and began to argue in whisper tones.
"It's not like she had any friends before," her mother
said.
"Yes, but we want her to make *normal* friends," he father
said. "I mean, why do you think the little red-headed slut was
seeing the doctor in the first place?"
Ranma realized that the two didn't mean for anyone else to
overhear their conversation, and furthermore realized that she was
probably the only one in the room who was positioned right to hear
them. She did her best to keep her face from breaking into an
angry glare at the whispered insult. She took a few steps toward
her mother so she wouldn't be able to hear any more.
"I wanna get out of here. Do you know if I can go yet?"
Nodoka shook her head, but Kasumi nodded. "I spoke with a
doctor outside. They said that you can leave whenever you're
ready. We just wanted to give you a chance to get changed."
Taiyoko's parents finished their argument, and stared
firmly at Kasumi and Nodoka.
"If it's alright with you," her mother said, "we'll let
Taiyoko go with you since we have so much to do this evening."
"That's wonderful!" Kasumi said, taking the blonde girl's
hand. "Come with us, dear. We'll get some dinner into you, and
then you can share my room or Akane's."
"H-hai," Taiyoko said, a grateful expression on her face.
She allowed herself to be led from the examination room by Kasumi
and Nodoka.
Ranma glanced back at Taiyoko's parents before stepping
out of the room with Tofuu. They stared back angrily, as if
threatened. Ranma shook her head.
"I don't get it," she said.
"Don't worry about it," Tofuu whispered.
There was a small parade through the lobby as Ranma and
Tofuu met up with Ranma's parents and the rest of the Tendous. She
introduced Taiyoko to the group. Nabiki looked the girl over
speculatively, but didn't say anything.
On the way out, a rather bishonnen man in his late
twenties ran up to Ranma, stopping her.
"You're Saotome-san, right?" he asked, his otherwise
handsome features marred by worry and grief.
"Uh... yeah," Ranma said, defensively backing away a few
steps.
"Did you hear anything about Takedo? Please! They won't
tell me anything," he said, near tears.
"Takedo?" Ranma asked.
"Takedo Makuna," Tofuu supplied.
"Oh, god, I've been so worried. I heard he had been shot
on the radio, and I rushed right over, but I can't get anything
out of this place," the man stated angrily. "They say I'm not
family, so they can't release any information."
Tofuu's face was passive, expressionless.
"You're..." Ranma prompted, her brain beginning to drop
the pieces into place.
"I'm Ayanobu," the man said. "Please... If you know
anything at all..."
Akane, Nabiki, and Taiyoko had come over to where Ranma
was speaking with the man. They looked at him curiously.
"Mom, Dad! You guys should go on ahead," Ranma shouted.
"We'll be along in just a bit."
"Are you okay, son?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead. We'll be okay."
She took a deep breath and turned to Tofuu. "Regardless of
how close a person is to a patient, the hospital won't release
information to someone else unless they're family, right?"
Tofuu nodded seriously.
"Even if it was someone close... like a roommate or..."
Ranma guessed. Or a lover, she didn't say aloud. The pieces had
all fallen into place in her mind. Makuna-sensei's chosen
specialty... This man's apparent closeness to the psychologist...
Ranma suddenly realized that she was in the odd position of
knowing more about Makuna-sensei's condition than the person who
was his 'spouse', simply because she was there when he was
injured.
Ranma turned back to Ayanobu and put her hand comfortingly
on the man's shoulder. "I won't lie to you," she said. "But I
don't know a whole lot either. What I do know is that Makuna-
sensei is in real trouble right now. He got shot in the chest,
near his lung. Doctors think he's got half a chance, so he might
live. It's not certain, and he's probably gonna lose the lung even
if he survives."
Ayanobu's features contorted in anger and grief.
"Takedo..." he cried, tears running freely down his face.
"I wish I had better news for you," Ranma said.
"The person who shot him..." Ayanobu choked out.
"He's dead. Killed himself when the cops caught up with
him," Ranma explained, realizing that she was going to be telling
this story over and over again. "Listen, I may be able to find out
more about Makuna-sensei tomorrow since I'm his patient. I dunno.
If I can, I'll tell you, okay?"
* * *
The encounter with Makuna's lover had been draining for
Ranma. While she was upset that the psychologist had been injured
so severely, she didn't have any special attachment to him. To see
someone who was close to him in such pain and fear upset Ranma
deeply. It made her think about how she would feel if it had been
one of her parents. It made her think about if it had been...
Ranma shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It
wasn't worth it to mourn the dead before they passed. She
refocused her attention on dinner, which Kasumi had laid out in
front of them.
Taiyoko was quiet through the late dinner, but smiled at
Ranma whenever the red-head looked at her. The other girls made
some minor small-talk, but the gravity of the evening's events
weighed heavily upon them.
After dinner, Kasumi recommended that they all have
relaxing baths. She prompted Taiyoko to go first, since she was a
guest. Akane was going to go along with the girl, but Kasumi
stopped her, saying that the blonde girl probably needed a little
time alone to sort out everything that had happened to her.
It was after this conversation that Akane approached
Ranma, who was still wearing the minidress Akane had lent her.
"So, what's the deal between you and her?" Akane asked,
leaning against the dojo wall as Ranma performed a calming kata.
"She's not another girlfriend is she?"
"Why'd you have to go and say something like that, Akane?"
Ranma asked in irritation. "You think I want everyone hanging all
over me all the time?"
"Well, you don't do a lot to stop them," Akane said
seriously.
Ranma 'hmphed' and continued her kata.
Akane's voice was free of the anger that usually
accompanied such discussions. "So why are you being so nice to
her?" she asked.
Ranma stopped her kata and walked over to Akane.
"'Cause she's been nice to me, okay? She ain't never said
nothin' bad about me, and I think she's been trying to be my
friend for a while, okay? She's really shy, and I think she's got
real problems at home. You saw how her mom and dad were actin',
right?"
Akane nodded, grimacing. "I thought *our* parents were
weird."
"She kinda looked like she was trying to get away from
that, so I offered to let her come over."
Akane exhaled deeply, apparently accepting Ranma's answer.
"Besides, if it makes you feel any better, she doesn't
even know I'm really a guy."
"That's true," Akane admitted. Still, her voice sounded a
little troubled.
After her bath, Ranma donned another one of her Chinese
shirts and a pair of shorts. She walked upstairs to her room, and
slid the door open.
"Ah!" Taiyoko squeal from inside.
"Whoa! Geez!" she whipped around. "Sorry about that."
"You scared me a little," Taiyoko said, pulling one of
Kasumi's nightgowns closed over her bra and panties. "It's okay."
"Didn't mean to walk in on you like that."
"I don't mind," Taiyoko said. "You've been so nice to me
t-t-today."
Ranma glanced back around to make sure that the girl was
covered up. She was blushing badly when Ranma looked at her.
"Ah... you're in my room?" Ranma asked. "I thought you
were gonna stay with Kasumi."
"She said it would be okay if I stayed in your room,"
Taiyoko blurted out. "You don't mind, do you? I can go back or...
or... or..."
Ranma realized if she pressed much harder, she was going
to make the girl start stuttering uncontrollably again. "No! It's
okay. Really. I'll sleep in the dojo." Ranma thought she saw a
look of disappointment cross Taiyoko's face.
"I don't mind," she said.
"I... uh... snore," Ranma said lamely. "Really loudly.
It'll be okay, really. I'll be out in the dojo."
Taiyoko stared after Ranma as the redhead gathered up a
blanket and a pillow from her room and ran down the stairs.
On her way to the dojo, she passed Genma, who had had a
few beers after dinner. He looked up blearily at his child.
"Listen, Pops. Taiyoko is up in my room, and I'm out in
the dojo. You show up either place tonight, you better have a good
explanation, okay?"
Genma grunted and nodded.
* * *
The next day was a school day, but Ranma stayed home since
Tofuu had indicated he wanted to give Ranma a checkup after her
ordeal.
"I called your mother," Kasumi told Taiyoko that morning
at breakfast. "You're welcome to go home any time you like, but
we'd all love it if you were to stay for dinner this evening," she
said.
Ranma smiled, indicating that she thought that was a good
idea. The girl still looked a little shaky to her, and didn't
relish the thought of sending her home to such mean-spirited
parents.
Right before she left for school with Nabiki, Akane
approached Ranma.
"What's up?" Ranma asked, getting ready for her doctor's
appointment.
"Behave," Akane commanded.
"Huh?"
"You know what I mean."
Ranma blinked. She really didn't... unless Akane meant
that she was supposed to try to keep Taiyoko from acting like
Shampoo and Kodachi usually did. Taiyoko hadn't given her any
indication that she was like that, so Ranma wasn't really worried.
Like she had told Akane the night before, Taiyoko didn't even know
she was a guy, and Ranma was planning on keeping that particular
cat in the training pit for the time being.
"I don't think Taiyoko's got anything planned, Akane.
Really."
Akane smiled, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so
slightly. She reached out, as if to touch Ranma's face, but then
ran out the door before she actually made contact.
"Damned brain. I don't understand anything anymore," Ranma
mumbled.
Less than a half-hour later, Taiyoko was ready to
accompany Ranma to Tofuu-sensei's office. The two started walking.
It was really the first time they had been alone since the
horrible scene in Makuna-sensei's office, and Ranma wasn't
planning on trying to discuss that. Still, Taiyoko seemed fidgety
and nervous.
Ranma was about to open her mouth and blurt out the first
thing that came to mind, but was interrupted by Taiyoko.
"You have a really nice family," the girl said.
"Uhh, yeah. Thanks."
"I don't understand something, though. Is your family name
Tendou or Saotome?"
"Uh, Saotome," Ranma said. She realized that no one had
clued the girl into the peculiar living arrangement that was
currently in place at the Tendou dojo. "I'm studying martial arts
with the Tendous," she summarized. "Me and my dad-- he's the big,
bald guy-- have been there for a little more than a year now. My
mom moved in with us a few months ago when her house got damaged.
"Was it an earthquake?" Taiyoko asked.
"I bet she thought it was an earthquake," Ranma quipped.
"Uh... there was a fight."
"A martial arts fight," Taiyoko noted, looking at Ranma in
awe. The redhead nodded in reply. "So you're not related to...
Akane or Nabiki?" Taiyoko asked.
"No. I've told people that I'm Akane's cousin before,"
Ranma said, wondering where the conversation was going. "Mostly so
they don't look at me funny when I try to explain why I've been
living with the Tendous for more than a year."
Taiyoko giggled. "They're really nice people," she said.
Tofuu was waiting for them when they arrived at the
clinic. He told Taiyoko that he had called her doctor that
morning, and that the man had asked Tofuu to give her a checkup to
make sure she was okay after her ordeal.
"She probably don't need one," Ranma said. "It was scary
and all, but she didn't even get hit."
"Traumatic situations can often affect us in ways we don't
understand, Ranma," Tofuu said. "So it's good just to make sure,
okay? Besides, I'm certain that you need a checkup."
Ranma rolled her eyes.
True to Tofuu's words, he was only alone with Taiyoko for
a few minutes. The girl came out of the examination room and
indicated that Tofuu wanted Ranma to come in."
"So, did you actually get in a fight with the man?" Tofuu
asked, once he was alone with Ranma.
"Nope. I coulda, though. He was going to shoot me, so I
kicked the gun out of his hand and let him run off. I think I
broke his wrist."
"You shattered his forearm," Tofuu said. He pushed the
door shut, and pulled a piece of paper out of a manilla folder. He
put it on the examination table next to Ranma. The title on the
paper was 'Autopsy Report'.
"Yikes."
Tofuu nodded. Ranma skimmed quickly over the report. Most
of the language was incomprehensible medical terms, but Ranma got
enough out of it to know that the man she had seen the night
before had committed suicide by shooting a gun into his own mouth.
She could only imagine what 'Severe Cranial Trauma' looked like,
let alone felt like.
Near the bottom, the report noted that the man did indeed
have multiple fractures and dislocations in his radius, ulna and
wrist.
Ranma felt a cool detachment from the horror described on
the paper.
"I guess I was keyed up. Having a gun shoved in your face
will do that to you."
"I know you didn't have much of a choice in the situation,
but I do want you to be careful, Ranma. You have the most
incredible knack for getting into dangerous situations."
"You ain't the only one who wished last night didn't
happen," Ranma said seriously.
The exam was quick and painless, consisting mostly of
tests to make sure that Ranma had not aggravated her brain injury.
Tofuu told Ranma to call him if she noticed anything odd and let
the two girls go.
It was still several hours before lunch, so Ranma
suggested they find something to do.
"You wanna go get a snack or something?" she asked.
Taiyoko, who had seen the girl eat, nodded and blushed.
Ranma took Taiyoko to her favorite ice cream parlor and
ordered huge sundaes for the both of them.
"You ate so much!" Taiyoko noted in wonder.
"Well, I go through a lot of energy," Ranma said,
pleasantly full of milk and butter-fat derivatives. "Martial arts
takes up a lot. Of course, I haven't been doing as much as I want
to lately."
"Do... Do... you want to go shopping?" Taiyoko asked,
blushing slightly.
Ranma was about to respond disdainfully with a 'not
really', but saw the pleading expression on the girl's face.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Let's just be sure to get back in
time for lunch. Kasumi's the best cook in the world... Well,
except for my mom," Ranma said.
Taiyoko nodded happily, and led Ranma into the shopping
district. She took Ranma into several shops. She seemed to lose
much of her shyness and kept trying to get Ranma's opinion on what
ever trinket or article of clothing she seemed to be interested
in.
Ranma really didn't know how to react. Worse, the whole
time they were looking at clothes, Taiyoko started to talk about
how different clothes would look on Ranma, and tried to persuade
the girl to try on some of the outfits she had picked out.
Trying not to upset her, Ranma agreed to try on a skirt
and blouse that her new friend picked out. After looking in the
mirror, Ranma had to agree that the cream-colored blouse and the
dark skirt set off her eyes and hair nicely.
"Okay, now you try something on," Ranma said once she had
returned to her normal attire. She was desperate to get the girl's
attention off of herself. She didn't mind being fussed over, but
hated to be made to feel so feminine, especially in front of
someone she didn't know very well.
"Okay," Taiyoko said, having picked out a short minidress
for herself. Ranma couldn't help but notice that it was fairly
similar in cut to the dress that she had been wearing the previous
night.
Ranma waited several minutes outside the fitting room,
fidgeting in boredom. After she was about ready to knock on the
door and see if Taiyoko had fallen asleep. She took a step towards
the door when the heard the first of the sobs.
"Taiyoko?" she called out.
The quiet sobs continued to pour forth from the fitting
room door. Gritting her teeth, Ranma poked her head over the door
to see the blonde girl crouched in one corner, sobbing her eyes
out.
"You okay?" Ranma asked, opening the door a little. She
was thankful that her friend managed to get into the dress before
Ranma came in.
"I t-t-thought I could be strong, like you," Taiyoko
cried, her stutter coming back.
Ranma closed her eyes and knelt next to the girl. "Hey,
it's okay," Ranma said, putting her hand on the girls shoulder.
"That was a pretty awful thing we saw."
"What am I going to do?" Taiyoko pleaded. "Makuna-sensei
is gone and my parents hate me and I have t-t-to go back t-t-this
evening and--"
"Whoa! Whoa, your parents don't hate you. They're kinda
mean, but I don't think any parents hate their kids."
"T-t-they t-t-think I'm sick," Taiyoko said. "I'm a freak,
and I don't have any friends and everyone hates me, and Makuna-
sensei won't be able to help me anymore and--"
"Whoa. You're wrong about something there," Ranma said.
"Yeah, Makuna may not be in the doctoring biz for a while. I think
that's a given. There's no reason you can't visit him when he gets
well enough to have guests. Also, you got plenty friends."
"I do?" Taiyoko asked.
"Yeah. Me." Ranma grinned winningly. "I know Kasumi likes
you, and I'll bet Akane and Nabiki would give you a chance if you
tried. Better watch out there, though. Akane's really violent, and
Nabiki'll steal your socks if you let her."
Taiyoko managed a weak giggle through her tears.
"Still, you don't know me. I'm a horrible person," she
said.
"You ain't horrible. You don't go around hurting people,
do you? You a thief or a bully?"
"N-no," Taiyoko said hesitatingly.
"Ain't nothing wrong with you then," Ranma said. "C'mon.
It's about time for lunch. Let's get you dressed and go see what
Kasumi made, okay?"
"Okay," the blonde girl said.
After she changed out of the dress, Ranma led her out of
the store and back towards the dojo.
"Even if your parents really don't like you, you can
always come over and visit, okay?"
Taiyoko nodded. Her eyes were still a little red from
crying.
"And I ain't no Makuna-sensei, but most of what he does is
just talk to people. If you ever just wanna talk, we can do that
too, okay? I bet the Tendou girls would too, if you asked."
Taiyoko gulped, and bowed her head. Before Ranma could
protest, she wrapped her arms around the red-head's shoulders,
giving her a brief hug.
"Thank you. You're a really wonderful person, Ranma."
"I ain't so good," Ranma said. "I just try to do what I
think is right."
They walked along in silence for almost a half hour. Ranma
noticed that Taiyoko was growing more and more fidgety as they
neared the dojo. Finally, the girl stopped and stared deeply into
Ranma's eyes.
"You've been so kind and nice t-t-to me, Ranma," she said,
her blush spreading to cover her face. "And I probably don't
deserve t-t-that. But..." she closed her eyes and swallowed. "I'd
like t-t-t--" She gulped again. "I'd like to make it up t-t-to
you. Would you let me buy you dinner... and maybe t-t-take you t-
t-to a movie after..."
Ranma stared at the girl. It was if she was asking Ranma
for a...
Several months ago, when Nabiki had been tormenting Ranma
and Akane by 'taking over' the engagement to Ranma, there had been
a chase at a nearby park. The park had a large hedge maze. Despite
the fact that it was a fairly simple layout, Ranma had been
thoroughly lost at the time, and was tricked into grabbing and
embracing Akane through the bushes.
Afterwards, when the two were walking away from the park,
they happened across a high bridge over one end of the maze where
observers could look down and see the people lost inside. Ranma
instantly recognized where he had been lost and could see all the
paths he should have taken in an instant. The maze resolved itself
totally in his mind.
What Ranma was currently feeling felt just like that. All
the pieces of the maze she was lost in had come together, and she
was now able to look at it from above and see where she was going
wrong. She suddenly understood what Taiyoko wanted. It was
obvious, really, now that she thought about it.
"You want to go out with me," Ranma said emotionlessly.
Taiyoko bowed her head, embarrassment warring with fear
and guilt on her face.
"You... you don't like me," the blonde girl whispered. "Or
you have someone else or--"
"Taiyoko," Ranma said, lifting the girl's chin. "I would
*love* to go to dinner with you. But... there's something you
should know about me first."
* * *
"Boy, what are you doing?!" Genma squawked.
"Sorry, Pops. Object lesson," Ranma said, dousing her
father with a bucket of cold water.
"GROOOOWWFFFF!!!"
"I say!" Soun protested, wiping the excess water off of
his go board.
Taiyoko squealed in fright at the sight of the giant panda
that was suddenly looming over the both of them.
"Ranma, that wasn't very nice," Nodoka said.
"Sorry, Mom. Had to be done," she turned back to the angry
panda. "Kasumi's already got a kettle boiling for you."
"Grrrrf! Grrrfff," the panda said, rolling onto its feet.
He waddled away from his child towards the kitchen.
"It's t-t-true," Taiyoko said, her face turning green.
"Sorry 'bout that," Ranma said. "I'm gonna be stuck like
this for another few weeks, but... Here," she said, grabbing a
photo album off a shelf near where Genma had been setting. She
flipped through several pages until she came to a picture of
'himself', Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi outside an amusement park.
"This is the real me," she said. "This is what I really look
like."
"I see..." Taiyoko said, her voice tinged with grief and
disappointment.
"I'm sorry," Ranma said. "I think you can understand why I
didn't tell you. Life is hard enough when you don't have an
ancient Chinese curse to deal with."
Taiyoko turned away, unable to meet Ranma's face.
"I'm sorry," Ranma said again. She was about to put her
hand on the girl's shoulder, but then thought better of it. "I
still meant everything I said," Ranma offered after several
seconds. "And I still wanna be your friend, okay?"
Taiyoko's shoulders slumped, but she nodded.
"And you can still talk to me whenever you want to. I
probably ain't too good at therapy, but I wasn't born yesterday,
and I've been through a lot too."
"You have, haven't you?" Taiyoko asked, turning back to
face Ranma. "I'm... sorry... if I made you uncomfortable."
Ranma said, "Don't worry about it," and led the girl from
the main room. "I got all sorts of guys coming on to me all the
time. It's a lot less of a pain in the ass to have a cute girl
coming on to me, believe me."
Taiyoko giggled again. "I wondered why you were so...
so... open," she said.
"So," Ranma said, a smile on her face. "Did you know
Makuna-sensei was gay?"
"Yes," Taiyoko admitted. "But it was because he told me."
"Well, I don't feel like a complete idiot then."
* * *
The object of the afternoon for Ranma and Taiyoko ended up
being trying to find out more information about Makuna-sensei both
for their own peace of mind and Ayanobu's.
A call to the hospital revealed nothing. Nabiki and Akane
were home from school by this point, so Nabiki showed them a
trick. She picked up the phone receiver and dialed the hospital
operator.
"Hello? Narita Catholic Hospital? This is Nabi Tenkawa
from the Tokyo Shinbun. I'd like to speak to a resident, please,"
she addressed the operator.
Ranma made an expression indicating that she didn't
understand what was going on or why Nabiki had lied about her
identity.
"It's called 'freedom of press'," Nabiki whispered,
holding her hand over the receiver. "Of course the papers can
print whatever they want. On the other hand, a lot of people don't
realize that they don't *have* to talk to the papers. You'd be
surprised what this kind of social engineering can do. Yes?" she
said into the receiver in a more normal tone.
After Nabiki regurgitated her knowledge of the shooting,
she repeated the questions that Ranma had asked. After listening
intently for several minutes, she thanked the doctor and hung up.
"Here's the scoop. Yes, they are treating him. No, they
won't disclose his condition. That means he's still alive. They'd
say if he had died. This long after surgery, I'm going to guess
that that means he's going to live.
Ranma exhaled in relief.
"You two might be able to get in to see him if you walk in
and act like you own the place," Nabiki suggested.
"That's... a good idea. Thanks, Nabiki."
"I'll put it on your tab... And I'll start a new tab for
you," she addressed Taiyoko.
"Hai," Taiyoko said, smiling.
"I told you," Ranma chastened.
* * *
A few hours later, Ranma and Ayanobu were walking through
the critical care ward at the hospital. Ayanobu looked nervous,
but Ranma had taken Nabiki's advice, and was walking through the
hallway as if she worked there.
"Are you sure about this?" Ayanobu asked.
"What are they gonna do, arrest us?"
Ranma sneaked a peak at a nurse's clipboard as they walked
past the duty station. Indeed, the nurse looked up, but since
Ranma seemed to know where she was going, didn't say anything.
"This way. He's in room one fifteen," she said.
She led Ayanobu down the hall and into the room she
mentioned.
What was inside was not a pretty sight. At first, Ranma
didn't recognize the psychologist. In fact, he looked far worse
than he had when Ranma was performing CPR on him. He looked weak
and old. Ranma thought that the word 'withered' was a good
description. The bandages across his chest had large, black stains
inside them.
He had tubes down his mouth and nose, and numerous needles
projecting from the back of his hand. He was surrounded by
apparatus, all of their digital screens indicated slow, slightly
irregular rhythms. The ECG and pulse monitor, which Ranma was
familiar with from her own stay in the hospital, showed that his
heart was beating regularly, but not strongly. It was dropping
beats occasionally. The EEG looked more encouraging. There were
wild, seemingly random lines, indicating healthy brain activity.
Ayanobu cried out, and dropped to his knees next to his
lover.
"Excuse me," a doctor said from the doorway. "What are you
doing here. Can't you see that my patient is very ill?"
"I'm *his* patient," Ranma said, gesturing to the injured
man. "It's my appointment time, but I think he's gonna sleep
through it."
"Wha--"
Ranma led the confused physician out of the room by the
elbow. "How's he doin'?" she asked. "You think he's gonna live?"
The doctor, unsure of what was happening, took on a
serious expression and looked into Ranma's face. "It's still too
soon to tell. It will probably be fifty-fifty until he comes out
of the coma."
"I see," Ranma said seriously, shaking her head. "You
wanna do me a favor, then?"
"What ever could you--"
Ranma held up a hand, cutting the doctor off. "That guy in
there... he ain't Makuna-sensei's family, but... he's Makuna-
sensei's family. Got it? He should be let in to see him."
The doctor stammered for a second and then drew up against
Ranma. "Hospital policy--"
"Hospital policy is gonna let two people be completely
miserable," Ranma said, cutting the doctor off. "You said it
yourself. Takedo Makuna might die. If Ayanobu-kun doesn't get to
spend every last moment with him... well, I'm gonna hold you
responsible."
The doctor paused a few seconds, and then nodded
seriously. "I understand."
"Thank you," Ranma said. She turned back to the doorway
and took one last glance at the two men, one hovering between life
and death and one doing his damndest to keep the other anchored to
the land of the living.
Ranma blinked the tears out of her eyes and turned to
leave.
* * *
"So, Taiyoko-chan," Nabiki said from the doorway of the
guest room. "I understand you offered Ranma a free dinner this
evening."
"H-hai," the blonde girl replied. She had been packing her
things in preparation to return to her parents' house.
"And I also understand that Ranma didn't take you up on
the offer."
"That's right," Taiyoko said, blushing slightly.
Nabiki took a step inside the room, and stared deep into
Taiyoko's eyes.
"I'm interested in taking up the offer if it's still
open," she said.
"You... You are?" Taiyoko said, gulping.
"Yes. The question is... are you interested?"
"I don't know," the blonde girl admitted. "But... I....
I... I..."
"Take your time," Nabiki urged.
"I... I would like to find out if I'm interested," Taiyoko
said.
"Good." Nabiki smiled broadly, and brushed her fingers
across Taiyoko's trembling chin.
-----
~to be continued...
--
* * *
C. Jones - gui...@furinkan.net - http://www.furinkan.net
Public Key: http://www.furinkan.net/key.txt
Everybody in the room stared at Mihoshi. The policewoman
began to cry."I didn't mean to infect the world! I'm so
sorry!!!! WAHHHAHHHHHHH!!!!"
- From 'The Virus'