Scowling and grumbling to himself, Ranma grabbed his clothes out of the dresser and stuffed them into his backpack.
All his suitors, his so-called fiancées and self-proclaimed wife, they all had been using him. None of them were interested in him as anything more than a convenient cover, a pretend boyfriend to hide their homosexuality from the world to avoid ridicule, scorn and dishonour.
He still had a hard time believing it, would deny it if he hadn't heard and witnessed it with his own ears.
He felt like a fool. All this time he had put up with their antics, their violent outbursts, crazy schemes and overbearing 'affection'. He was disgusted with himself. To think that he had actually put effort into making his engagement to Akane work, that he had chased after Shampoo during that Reversal Jewel fiasco, that he had tried to spare Ukyo's feelings.
Only to find out that they were all raging dykes and screwing each other on a regular basis like mangy cats in heat.
He had thought they considered him at least a friend. He had risked his neck on more than one occasion for each one of them. Because he did consider them his friends.
Then to find out that he was nothing more than a convenient way to live their life of sexual deviancy without arousing suspicion. It hurt. A knife stabbed into his gut would probably hurt less than this.
He stuffed the last of his possessions into his backpack and closed it. He was just about to shoulder it and leave, when a voice stopped him in his tracks.
“What are you doing, boy?”
Ranma scowled, not really in the mood to deal with his father after everything that had happened. “What's it look like, pops? I'm leaving,” he answered without turning around.
His father didn't reprimand Ranma, as he had expected. “Hmm, I guess it is time we went on another training trip. You're getting soft. Just hold on a minute and I'll get my things. Why don't you write a note telling everybody that we'll be back in a few days while I pack?”
Ranma grit his teeth. “You don't get it. I'm leaving,” he ground out. Then, just to make his intentions absolutely clear, he added, “For good. I'm not coming back.”
That elicited the expected reaction from Genma. The foot steps that had been nearing the door to the dojo stopped, followed by a sharp intake of breath. “Boy, whatever you and Akane are arguing about this time, I'm sure you'll work it out. You always do,” Genma said in a tone that was surprisingly understanding and soothing. Maybe he had sensed that Ranma was dead serious about leaving this time. “I'm sure if you'll just give her some time she'll calm down and everything will go back to normal.”
“I don't want things to go back to normal!” Ranma screamed as he finally turned around to look at his father. He could feel his eyes burning with the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. “It's all a lie! They're just using me! None of them care about me!” Ranma knew that he wasn't making much sense to his father, but he felt too betrayed and hurt to care. All he wanted to do was scream.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to punch the girls' fucking faces in.
Genma took a step back, his expression betraying his surprise at seeing his son in such a state. His father's reaction prompted Ranma to take deep calming breaths as he blinked back his tears.
“It's over, pops. I don't care anymore. I'm not going to marry Akane, and I'm not going to marry one of the other girls either.”
Genma schooled his features back into an expression of understanding. “Why don't you tell me what happened, boy? I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it out to be.”
Ranma gave a humourless chuckle but did as his father asked. He told him everything he had learned, the truth about the girls, their disgusting secret and why they had gone along with the engagements all this time.
When he was finished with his tale he had to fight back his tears and regain his composure again. He watched his father assimilate his words, a strange neutral expression on his face that betrayed no emotions. It made him uneasy, but then he decided that he didn't care what his father thought. The old fool probably wanted him to ignore everything he had found out. He probably had some old, secret family technique to win his fiancées' love and expected Ranma to use that technique to turn them into normal girls that were devoted to him.
Well, he could stuff his technique where the sun didn't shine, because Ranma was getting out of there. He had no intention of sticking around. Picking up his pack, he walked past his father, calling out a “Later, pops!” with forced nonchalance.
As he exited the dojo, he was again stopped by his father.
“Ranma, wait.”
Genma's voice was cold, flat, without emotion. Ranma had never heard him use that tone before. It was enough to make him stick around to hear what his father had to say. He turned around and looked at his father expectantly.
Genma pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I understand how you feel, but just packing your things and leaving is the wrong way to react to this.” He raised a hand, palm facing Ranma, when his son opened his mouth to shoot back some indignant reply. “Hear me out, son. If what you say is true, and I believe it is, then I won't expect you to uphold any of the engagements.”
“Then what do you want me to do, pops? Huh? I hope you don't expect me to act like nothing happened.”
“I expect you to let me handle this. I won't let them get away with this. I did not spend my whole life turning you into the man you are now to allow a bunch of girls to use you. I'm going to get you out of all your engagements, and I'm going to pay them back for fooling us.”
Ranma hadn't expected this reaction from his father, but he liked it. He liked it a lot. Slowly, his eyes lost their bleak expression and his mouth stretched into a grin. “What do you have in mind?”
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(Posted Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:18)
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