The Journey is the Destination Chapter 5 By poetheather Ranma is uncomfortable over what had occurred at the start of the day. She can't seem to concentrate on anything until she comes to a resolution. What does Akane think?

Ranma was feeling a bit conflicted and this made her shift uneasily in her seat. There were several things battling it out in her head and it was really making her uncomfortable as her thoughts moved from one subject to another. The teacher was busy droning on and on about something and all Ranma was doing was running things through her head, specifically what had happened earlier in the day between Akane and her friends. Akane slamming Sayuri into a wall really bothered her and she was frowning because of it. It was upsetting and she was a little nauseous because of it.

What she had in mind, the only solution that had come to her might be a bad decision but Ranma hated to see Akane and her friends at odds. Those two had been Akane’s friends long before the tomboy had even known Ranma existed. It was unfair to the three of them for Ranma’s plan for her own sanity to come in between their friendship. This was something that had to be dealt with as soon as she had a chance.

Talking to Akane before they got to the ice cream parlor was really important now and she had to do it, even if it ruined her plan and left her in the same boat as before. While her piece of mind was important, coming between friends was not what she had had in mind when she had come up with this plan. Ranma hadn’t had many friends in her life and even the thought of losing them hurt her. She didn’t want Akane to feel that pain and that was what it looked like was happening.

Akane noticed that Ranma had been busy thinking instead of paying attention to class. Akane had no idea what was up with her fiancé but was somewhat sure that she would find out when school was over. It worried her to see Ranma so pensive and unsure and she wished she wouldn’t get stared at even more if she simply reached out and rested her hand on Ranma’s comfortingly. To her, the best part of this plan was that they had made it clear what they felt for each other. Akane would do anything to preserve that openness that had developed between them.

She had her own ruminations, but they were more easily pushed aside in order to pay attention in class. Years of practice had enabled her to do that and those skills were certainly useful today. It was almost an act of effort to focus on the teacher. She couldn’t believe what she had done to Sayuri. Even though her actions had been utterly controlled in order to avoid hurting her friend, having to act like she was ready to beat Sayuri was almost painful. She, Yuka and Sayuri had been friends ever since they had all entered school. The two girls had helped her deal with her mother’s death and been a big factor in pulling her out of the depression she had fallen into.

Akane knew that hiding all of this from them was important in order to help Ranma and her to become happy. She would give just about anything to finally be with Ranma and she wanted that badly, she craved it. Ever since Jusendo, things between them had changed greatly and the failed wedding showed her, more than anything that Ranma was right and the chaos that surrounded them was going to keep them apart unless they did something. They had to go through with this plan, as it was the only thing that they had available. And if this plan failed, they would have to continue coming up with plans until they were together. What else could they do?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the tedium of classes ended and everyone headed out of the building towards home. Ranma and Akane headed downstairs to the locker room where they went in to change, thankful that it was empty. Ranma looked up at Akane and said apprehensively, “Akane?”

“Yes Ranma?”

“I want to do something and I wanted to run it past you first in case you think that it is a bad idea.” It was clear that she was nervous and Akane cocked her head curiously.

“What is it?” Akane was worried about this. What exactly did Ranma have in mind that made the redhead this skittish?

“I… I think we need to tell Yuka and Sayuri about the plan.” Ranma’s voice was quiet and soft, anxious about what she was saying.

Akane started, clearly surprised by what Ranma had said. Did he really mean that? “Ar… are you sure?”

Ranma nodded. “Akane, I don’t want you to be at odds with your friends. I just can’t stand the thought of you losing your best friends over this. I don’t want this to come between you all and I think, in order to do that, we have to tell them.”

Tears began to well up in Akane’s eyes, utterly surprised by this act of selflessness and she hugged the half-dressed redhead. There was never any real knowing what her fiancé was going to do about anything and she loved that. “Thank you Ranma.”

Akane kissed the redhead gently, enjoying the softness of the girl’s lips. She could enjoy this. She could actually enjoy this with Ranma’s girl form and be okay. For Ranma to offer what she had, despite the threat to the plan in entailed, just made her supremely happy. There was no doubt in her mind just how much Ranma loved her.

The trip to the ice cream parlor was quick, as the two girls didn’t dawdle and they saw Yuka and Sayuri sitting in a booth in the back of the place, away from anyone else. It looked like they would have some privacy for their talk after all and that was a good thing. The two girls smiled at each other. Yuka waved them over and soon the four girls were seated in the booth.

Sayuri bowed her head and said, “Gomen nasai.”

Akane smiled gently at her friend, “Thank you Sayuri. That does mean a lot to me.”

Ranma nodded. “And to me as well.”

Sayuri’s smile was a bit weak and nervous but both girls understood that. This couldn’t be easy for the girl, as she had only been reacting to things based off of her understanding of the situation. The number of people who knew that the situation had changed was very small.

Before the conversation could get much farther, the waitress came by and got their orders, returning fairly soon with the large ice cream treats that were ordered. It still wasn’t the time to talk as more important things needed to be taken care of, such as the ice cream. Soon even that was nearing the end and the silence between the four girls began to get heavy again. Akane broke the silence as they were her friends. “Yuka, Sayuri, I… we need to explain something to the both of you, but you have to swear that what we tell you, you will never repeat.”

The two girls nervously looked over at each other and then nodded, a bit scared with Akane’s intensity. They rarely saw their friend look this serious.

Akane leaned forward and explained the plan to them and the whys behind it and what it was trying to accomplish. She let her friends hear all of the important facts, so that they might understand just why this was so important to her. Once Akane finished, both girls sort of fell back into their seats, staring at the martial arts duo with wide eyes. Sayuri swallowed and then spoke, “Why… why did you tell us?”

“Because Ranma asked me to.” was the simple and straightforward answer that Akane gave her.

Yuka and Sayuri shifted their focus to the redhead, who moved uneasily under their scrutiny, unable to meet their gaze. Their eyes narrowed as if they were reappraising Ranma, now that they had new data. Sayuri then tentatively asked the redhead, “You asked her to?”

Ranma nodded slightly, blushing some. She was embarrassed by this and wished she could hide. Her time on the road and in Nerima had done nothing to prepare her for this. “I know you guys have been her friends for ever and how important you are to her. Akane is really the second real friend I have had in my life and I know how much it would hurt if I lost her. I didn’t want her to have to go through that so I knew we had to let you know why things happened like they did this morning.”

Things sort of fell into place and with a bright smile Yuka replied, “I have to agree with Akane, Ranma is a girl. Like a boy would have thought up a reason like that or have been that considerate about our feelings.”

Ranma tensed and was fighting the urge to deny his femininity at the top of his lungs with everything she had. Her fists were clenched and her eyes closed in concentration as she struggled against her body’s automatic reaction. Akane’s gentle touch helped her to calm down and let the pent up emotion to bleed out of her as she exhaled slowly. She smiled weakly at the others, embarrassed about that display. “Thank you Yuka.”

“We are going to help you with this plan, right Yuka?” stated Sayuri definitively.

Yuka nodded excitedly. “You are a girl, have always been a girl, and you have been our friend ever since you have gotten here.”

The topics of discussion turned to happier things, the girls had some fun before Ranma, and Akane had to get going in order to see Mrs. Saotome before they had to return home. After a round of hugs, the two girls walked down the street, greatly relieved about how things had turned out. Akane said, “Well that went well.”

“It did and I think they will be a big help at school.” replied Ranma, actually glad that things had worked out. It was one less thing to beat herself up over and now she had two more friends.

“Thank you Ranma. I would never thought of getting their help, thinking that we needed to keep everyone out. Thank you.” gushed Akane, still bowled over that Ranma had thought about letting the secret out a bit more just to make sure that Akane didn’t lose her friends over it. Her redhead constantly surprised her and it made life interesting in a less than crazy way.

Ranma looked like he was going to answer until a voice shot through the air and chilled both girls. “Airen, you here take Shampoo on date? Violent girl too violent for Airen.”

Ranma was glomped and she sort of thrashed about some trying to get free. Shampoo was hugging the redhead tightly, like a python. “Getoffme!”

Akane had an almost overwhelming urge to mallet her fiancé when she saw this, but was aware of the plan and the somewhat transparent mallet that had begun to form faded out of view. This particular encounter had been talked about and would probably be the hardest of these to pull off. Akane struggled to keep her voice light when she said, “Shampoo, please get off Ranma. You know she doesn’t like that.”

The Amazon warrior turned to look at the short haired girl confused, “What violent girl say? Ranma not girl.”

Ranma managed to shove the purple haired girl off her and she stumbled back a few steps. “Shampoo, do I look like a guy to you?”

Shampoo blinked and took a closer look at Ranma. What she saw shook her. This Ranma did not look like her Airen normally did. There was no braided pigtail, no Chinese clothes. This Ranma looked like a girl, with her hair hanging down, loosely tied with a ribbon, and clearly wearing a bra. There was something strange going on here and it worried the Amazon. She nervously asked, “Airen, why you girl type?”

Ranma growled, it having been decided that it would sound better in this instance. “Am I wearing a sign that says to ask me that? I… am… a… girl Shampoo. I thought you knew that?”

Shampoo shifted some, feeling as if the earth beneath her was becoming unstable. This didn’t make any sense. “Shampoo know Ranma boy with Jusenkyo curse.”

“What are you talking about Shampoo? Ju — whatsit?” asked Ranma, her irritation turning to confusion. Trying to pretend that the cursed springs didn’t exist was a bit of a risk but they had chosen to at least try it.

“Di… did Ranma hit head? Did too too violent girl hit you into rock again?” Shampoo was clearly growing more and more uneasy with this conversation. This was definitely not how things were supposed to be going.

“Akane did not hit me into a rock. Honestly, why would she do that to me? She’s my best friend Shampoo.” Ranma looked exasperated.

“You Shampoo’s Airen.” She sounded a little less sure now. Ranma wasn’t making any kind of sense to her at all. Ranma was not a girl… right?

“I don’t think so Shampoo.” Ranma said that gently, as if trying to keep from hurting the girl’s feelings. This was where things were going to be tricky. “I am a girl and I have certainly not been asked if I wanted to be your Airen, which I don’t. You’re my friend, and I care about you but you are not my fiancé.”

Shampoo stared at Ranma, eyes wide, her mouth fallen open, shock visible about everywhere in her body. What had been said had been so unbelievable that the Amazon girl sort of shut down. Ranma waved a hand in front of the girl’s face. “Shampoo?”

When there was no response from the Amazon, Ranma frowned a little and then said, “Sorry Shampoo, but we were going over to see my mother. Uhm… talk to you later. Take care. Dzaijyan.”

Ranma and Akane turned and continued on their way to Mrs. Saotome’s house, leaving Shampoo standing there, wide eyed, and slack jawed, stunned as if she had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer.