Evil that Men Do

Chapter 3B:

Invisible Steel Chains


Disclaimer: I own not these characters, merely their situations. So unless I plagiarized you, don't sue.


**************

Walkway leading to Tendo Dojo:


	"Come on, Ranma, you can do this. It's just a coupla sentences, no problem. Now get in there

and tell them! Oh crap, is that Kasumi? Hide!"


	Ranma, you may have noticed, has been hanging around in front of the dojo for quite some time.

Ever since he had been let out of school early, in fact. Unfortunately, he was not looking forward to telling

the Tendo's, or Genma, that he would be moving away for a while. He was, understandably, a little worried

about each of their reactions. Except for Kasumi of course, she wouldn't freak out like most of the others 

would. And Soun, he would just bawl, while Genma would bluster about honor,marriage and joining the

two schools, neglecting to mention the real reason why he wanted Ranma to marry, to feed his fat gut. No, 

the only ones he was really worried about were Nabiki and Akane. Nabiki would find some way to make 

him pay for making her find another cash cow for a few weeks, and while Nabiki had been nicer to him over 

the past week, he didn't believe she'd be nice so about this. Akane, on the other hand, he was worried about 

for another reason. He had noticed Akane behaving cautiously around him as of late, and wondered if she 

had reached the same conclusion that he had unwillingly reached already...that the two of them had grown 

apart, if they could have said to ever have been together. While it hurt Ranma to realize that he could never 

marry Akane and be happy, he had been learning to accept it. What he was afraid of then, was that Akane, 

who was well known for not being much of a realist, wouldn't understand that this would be best for both of 

them, and he'd have to actually tell her, that he no longer even loved her as a fiancee. He really didn't want 

to have to tell her and see the sadness fill her eyes, to be quickly replaced with rage. He knew that if he had 

to tell her, he would let her mallet him as way of an apology, and that would only strengthen her belief that 

she belonged with a level of fighters she could never realistically hope to attain. So understandingly, he'd 

been standing out here for almost an hour, preparing to drastically change his life again. Because while most 

would expect Ranma to try and fight this, or even find a way to use this to stop going to school altogether, 

those thoughts never even crossed Ranma's mind. Somehow, going to the Juuban district struck him as the 

perfect move, as if he was finally going home. Ranma, of course, attributed this to finally being with his 

mother for a prolonged time, something he was looking forward to. But first, he had to confront...them. 

Drawing a deep breath, he took a step down the walkway, and then jumped six feet in the air when Akane 

tapped him on the shoulder.


	"Where were you? You didn't come back to class."


	"Umm...the principal let me out early,  so I headed over here."

	
	"Well? What did he want?"

	
	 "I thought I'd talk about that with everyone, because it's gonna affect us all." With that Ranma,

careful not to look at her, began to walk down the walkway, checking to make sure that Akane was beside 

him.

	When they entered the dojo, Ranma noticed that everything looked exactly the way it usually did.

Genma and Soun were sitting ajacent to the outside porch, playing shogi. Kasumi could be heard humming

as she sorted through the laundry, and Nabiki was, as usual, in her room. It seemed as if the house didn't

know about the change it was about to undergo, or if it did, didn't care. To Ranma this was a rather depressing

thought, he felt that there should have been at least a scent of change in the air, instead of this air of nrmalcy.

It was as if his departure wouldn't cause as big a ripple as he had thought. Even thuogh he knew that his

announcement would cause a period of bedlam, he finally admitted to himself that the reactions he expected

might not be as real as he always suspected. Oh yes, they would happen, but seeing the tranquility of this

house, it seemed easy to picture it without him,and that the outbursts to come, would be merely reflex, not

really something they seriously believed in. And that would mean that they didn't need him, not at all. All at 

once, Ranma felt his heart constrict at the thought. He hoped that wasn't true, that when they demanded that he 

stay, that it was because they wanted, needed him there. Otherwise, he had been fooling himself all these years 

about finally having some sort of semblance of a real family. So now he had something else to worry about to 

other than Akane's temper, whether she would mallet him only because she felt she should, and not because 

she was hurt, which seemed selfish on his part, but he did want them to miss him, be at least a little upset on 

the inside, not just for the sake of the 'future', but because they liked having him around. Shaking his head to 

clear his mind of these maudlin thought, he cleared his throat to speak.


	"Kasumi, could you tell everyone to meet me in the living room please? I have something important

to tell them."


	With a nod and a 'Of course Ranma', Kasumi left the foyer, leaving Ranma and Akane to enter the 

living room and wait. An excruciating silence followed, in which Akane tried to imagine what the principal

had said to Ranma to make him act this way, and Ranma tried to convince himself that he could handle this,

no big deal. Needless to say, by the time the room was filled with everyone, neither had satisfactorily reached

their goal. Unfortunately, Ranma still had to go on. Seeing that everyone was here, he walked to the center of

the room so he could be certain he had all their attention. With the moment finally arrived, Ranma decided not

to hesitate, but be a man and just tell them.


	"Well, ummm...I asked you all here..to umm...tell you something...yeah, umm something 

important..."


	Everyone present collectively sweatdropped at Ranma's antics. Nabiki, however, recovered first and 

she wasn't about to just wait while Ranma fretted about how to tell them something. She had money to make 

after all. So while everyone else tried to collect themselves, she simply called out ,"Get to the point Ranma or

I will make you pay for the time you've cost me." This, of course, had the desired response as Ranma's eyes

bugged out and he stopped fidgeting and, closing his eyes, spoke in a clear, firm voice,


	"I'm going to live with my mother for a while, and attend school there." 

************

Tendo living room:


	Silence, people are always talking about this phenomenon, but few if any ever actualy experience it

in it's true form. The residents of this household can now truthfully say that they had. After Ranma's very

unexpected announcement, the house seemed to cease moving,  the fish in the koi pond paused, and the 

birds stopped chirping. It even seemed that the wind decided not to stir the trees. Because of all this silence,

no one could hear anything except their own thoughts, and for Akane, this was not a good thing. She had

heard the words Ranma said, processed it though her filter, and what she understtod was that this was ,of 

course, all aimed at her. Ranma you see, had just stated that he had gotten so sick of being her fiance, that

he asked Principal Kuno to help him leave. This turn of events was enough to cause her to forget to be

cautious around Ranma. In fact, she forgot most everything except for the fact that Ranma, HER fiance had

the nerve to leave her! Well, she was going to let him know what she thought of that!


	"Well, I guess you finally just got tired of me, didn't you, Ranma? I'm surprised you hadn't done 

this already, that way you could have been with all your other fiancees without me being in the way, 

cramping your style."


	Ranma's left eyelid twitched, " Akane, that's not what this is about. I didn't ask to go,

Principal Todo is forcing me to."


	"Then tell me, what is this about boy? And be quick about it, why are you leaving? What does

your principal have to do with this?" Genma tried to face Ranma down as he said this, intimidate him a 

little bit. Too bad Ranma knew he could beat his father up any day of the week.


	"Principal Todo has volunteered me for a student exchange program with Juuban High School.

I leave on monday and I'm staying for three weeks. And since I'll be in Juuban, I'm gonna stay at my mom's

house. So , it's really not that big a deal, just a few weeks. Hey, just imagine all of the peace and quiet you'll

have around here." Ranma said, trying to add a bit of levity to what he considered a potentially disasterous

situation. 


	"Does Auntie Nodoka know that you're coming?"


	"Yes, the principal called to let her know, she's expecting me tomorrow afternoon."


	"Oh, that's nice." Kasumi's question answered, she settled back to daydream about being Tofus'

nurse. We shan't get into that though, because this is not a lemon chapter.


	"Why exactly, did the principal choose you for the program?"


	Ranma looked at Nabiki a beat before answering, "Because I've matured ,basically. He's getting

rid of me so that he can get the school back to what passes as normal there."


	Nabiki hesitated, sa if she had something more to say, but them simply nodded and began planning

out ways to make money without selling the exact whereabouts of Ranma. Nabiki, of course, did this just 

because she didn't want to betray Ranma's trust after he's been so cooperative. Not because she would have

felt bad doing that to him. Of course not.

	With Nabiki hopefully through with questions, Ranma faced Soun, wondering how he would 

respond,. He was quite shocked to see Soun calmly regarding him, clear eyes where he had expected 

waterworks. So of course, Ranma could be forgiven for being concerned about his would be father-in-law.


	"Are you..umm..okay Mr. Tendo?"

	
	"Fine son...you can go with our blessing, just so long as you return."


	As Ranma gaped uncomprehendingly at Soun, Genma was beside himself wondering what his

old friend was up to. Letting Ranma move out without a fight? Why? He would be sure to ask Soun later, 

but for the moment, he was going to follow Soun's example. Satisfied with his decision, he waited for 

Ranma to stop gaping like a fish.


	"Well...ummm...if there's nothing else, I have to start packing my things."


	During the silence that followed, Ranma looked over at each of the faces present and, having
ascertained that nothing more was to be said, headed to his room. With Ranma out of the room,everyone

began to disperse, Akane running to her room, Kasumi going about her chores, and Nabiki going to her 

room to make some calls. Leaving just the two old friends. Genma went right over to Soun, and demanded 

to know what he was up to. 


	"Calm down Genma! Haven't you ever the saying 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'? Well

this exchange program is just the absence we need. When he returns, those two will be dying to get

 married!"


	"You may have a point...but you better hope that this plan of your works, or they could grow

farther apart."


	"Trust me Genma, it'll be fine."


*************

	Tendo foyer:

	The next afternoon:


	"Well, I'm off!"

	
	As he waved, everyone in the household said their goodbyes and wished him well. All except one

person. Akane had locked herself in her room ever since he left the room yesterday, and he didn't know 

what to do about it. So he decided, with a man's logic, that it wold be best if he just gave her some space

to deal with her emotions. He'd try to talk to her when he came back. Putting all thoughts of Akane in the 

back of his mind, he imagined what living with his mother would be like. He was optimistic about time 

spent in Juuban, and was looking forward to going to a school where weirdness wasn't the norm. 


The poor deluded fool.


**************

NEXT TIME:

Nadoka Saotome

Scouts encounter a new fighter (for real this time)



Well that's 3B. I know I said
there'd be sailors in this one...
but I lied. Next time tho. I have
no idea what I'm gonna do with 
these people, so remember,
C&C's welcome. Flames will be 
used to further my paper airplane
designs.


kuonji_ranma@hotmail.com


www.geocities.com/kuonji_ranma