Akane Mu: Disowned

A/N This is not a Akane/Mousse pairing, they merely develop a close friendship. They don’t marry either, she takes his last name because she’s forbidden to use her own and she’s under the protection of his family.

Btw, I can’t write drug trips very well. I’m one of these people who react badly to any sort, so it’s been years since I even experimented.

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Akane Tendo was in China town to watch the Chinese New Years Parade. It was something that she did every year, between the costuming and the large, bright articulating dragons, it was exciting for a young teenaged girl. She joined the happy crowd that gyrated with excitement as covert cups of sake were consumed. Akane cheered along with the rest and was hugged by someone in a Chinese lucky cat suit. She laughed as she was licked by a fake, rubber tongue and took many pictures. She had asked Ranma to come with her, but this wasn’t his sort of thing and her friends were too busy to go, so she opted to attend alone. She had finished watching the parade and decided to by the stall of the Nekohanten and get some ramen before she left and say hi to the Amazons. It was packed, but she managed to place her order with Shampoo and then she noticed that Mousse was sitting at a table by himself. He stared ahead glassy-eyed and seemed to be swaying in a strange way. She sat down beside him and said “hi Mousse did you like the parade?” He didn’t answer; he just swayed and hugged himself.

Akane looked questioningly at Shampoo when she brought her order “what’s wrong with him?” she asked. Shampoo gave him a grim look “him stupid, I warn him not accept free drinks from people, sometimes they laced with drugs like liquid acid. He have one anyway and now he on drugs, Mousse never good with drugs” she said.

“I didn’t know that Mousse even took drugs” she said.

“He don’t, I used to practice with mushrooms on him by place in food, see no harm, he can’t fall in love with me when in already love” she said. “Found out hard way that all drugs make him anxious and terrified, all drugs. Last time he on drugs, someone accidently blow weed at him and he think he in duck form for hours. It weird, he waddle like duck and try to eat like duck” she explained.

“What did you do?” Akane asked.

“I doused him with cold water and turned him into duck until wear off” she replied as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

“Is he okay?” Akane asked in concern.

“No, he probably surrounded by monsters” she said. “I want to take him home where at least he be somewhere familiar, but can’t. We have to leave after parade on tribal business and not be back for few days, so I no know what to do with Mousse” Shampoo said frowning at him. An idea an occurred to her “Neko Hanten is on Akane’s way home. Could you drop him off?” she asked.

Akane looked dubious at the idea “are you sure its okay to leave him alone like this?” she asked. “Is there anyone I could call to come stay with him?”

“He have no friends. He should be okay, is not sort to hurt himself” she assured her. She reached into god knows where in his robe and fished out a keychain with a small rubber duck attached to it. “Please Akane, it would really help great-grandmother and I”

Akane got that sucked in feeling and took the keys from her. She took Mousse’s hand and said, “come on Mousse” he gave her a scared look but allowed her to lead him, he was docile as a lamb. Noticing the terrified looks that he was casting about and how he was shivering, Akane looped an arm around his waist and pulled him along with her. This got some wolf whistles from drunken revelers and caused her to blush.

She was happy when she got to the Neko Hanten and let Mousse in, she was curious about the place, but getting Mousse comfortable allowed little time for snooping. She sat him on the couch and loosened his collar and belt to make him more comfortable, then blushingly raised the hem of his robe to make sure that the drawstring on his pants wasn’t too tight (it wasn’t). The entire time he didn’t do more but tremble and emit the occasional shuddering gasp. “Mousse, can you hear me? It’s Akane” she said. He just stared at her with wide, terrified green eyes. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked him again, clearly he wasn’t. Akane was torn between the need to go home and to stay with him. She sat down and pulled him into her arms “come here big fella” she said.

Mousse was practically in another dimension, where there only sheer terror existed. He could hear people trying to reach him, but couldn’t respond to them. Then he felt arms around him and felt a brief respite of pleasure and comfort, he put him own arms around them and clung to them like they were a life line.

It was a long ten hours for Akane; she held him and stroked his hair and back. He was like a kid afraid of the dark that needed someone near him. She spoke to him soothingly, got him to drink water, turned on the TV to help him focus and even sang to him. She was afraid to leave him alone for even a minute to call home and vowed that she would explain when she got there. At last he seemed to come down and drifted off in her arms, with her stretched out beside him. Glad he was okay, Akane decided to leave, only to fall asleep. He turned in his sleep and spooned up to the prone figure beside him, he had returned to a child-like stage where he and Shampoo used to curl up for naps together.

Akane felt cold and also thought that she was lying beside a loved one, as she used to do with her sisters. She reached behind her and pulled the side of Mousse’s voluminous robe over her, it has worked itself open while he slept. Mousse put his arm back around her and she felt blissfully warm cuddled up against his bare chest.

They stayed that way all night long, until Akane’s father wrenched the door open in his haste to talk to the Amazons about his missing daughter. One of their neighbour’s had seen Akane walk Mousse home and told him about it. He froze at the sight of the cozy scene and screamed “Akane what’s the meaning of this?” startling both people awake. Akane wondered where she was, until she looked behind her and realized that she was still with Mousse. She blushed when she realized that she was sharing his shirt with him and hastily sat up. Then blushed even further when she realized that her mid thigh length denim skirt had rode up in her sleep, she hastily pushed it down.

Soun started crying to see his daughter debased like this; rumpled, disheveled and lying with a boy who she had obviously slept with and in front of Genma too! “Daddy, it isn’t what you think” she cried, when she realized what was going through his mind and patting her disheveled hair.

Mousse did up his robe and said “Mr. Tendo its okay, she must have fallen asleep while taking care of me” he explained.

Soun took one look at his too pale face, heavily bloodshot eyes and said “and what were you recovering from that my daughter felt it necessary to stay out all night long to take care of you, drugs? Did you two take drugs and have sex?” he demanded.

“I always thought Akane to be a little to wild for my Ranma” Genma said in disapproval. “If she was my daughter, I would disown her”

“Daddy you surely can’t believe that I did that!” Akane cried.

“Mr. Tendo, someone slipped something into my drink. Akane neither did drugs nor had sex with me, this has all been a huge mistake” Mousse assured him, trying finger comb his own messy hair.

“You can’t fool me. You defiled my daughter, no decent Japanese boy will marry her now!” he cried, his temper had practically reached the boiling point at the idea of Mousse touching his little girl.

“Daddy let’s go home and I’ll explain everything” Akane said, sensing this.

“No you no longer have a home; you’re disowned and forfeit the right to use the last name of Tendo. You’re no longer my daughter” Soun screamed.

“Nor are you the fiancée of my son, Ranma Saotome” Genma intoned.

“Daddy!” Akane cried in anguish. “It’s not true, we never slept together!”

“I’m sorry I want to believe you, but I can’t. The evidence is too damning. Kasumi will pack your bag and leave it on the doorstep. Send Mousse to pick it up, inside will be the account book for money that your mother left you. This will help you for now. Don’t seek to contact anyone in our family or to come home. You’re dead to us all” he said and turned his back and left.

Akane started crying and begging him “daddy you can’t do this to me, nothing happened!” she sobbed and ran down the street screaming this after him and begging to come home, until she collapsed in a sobbing heap. Mousse picked her up and carried the exhausted girl back to the Neko Hanten.