Chapter Text
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Akane was frowning as she cleared a third block in her search for P-Chan. The little piglet was nowhere to be found, and she worried that he’d been eaten by a stray, or hit by a car, or that she’d missed him and he was alone and scared. Hopefully Reiko was having more luck. Akane figured she could probably use the win, too. Coming back to the dojo with P-Chan in her arms, an adorable quirk of her lips in self-satisfaction as she presented Akane her prize.
It was nice to think that P-Chan was okay, that Reiko’s spirits would be improved, and that maybe the two of them could make up. Akane didn’t exactly enjoy getting into arguments with Reiko. It was awful. But they butted heads, and Akane knew she had issues with her temper sometimes.
Not that that made it any easier. She always felt awful after she blew up at someone. And with Reiko it was harder than usual, because Reiko was her— her— Reiko was her… friend. Yes, yep. That was the one. Reiko was her friend. And she really didn’t want to fight with her… friend.
But that was something that would have to be mended later. Right now she needed to focus on finding P-Chan. Not that her search had yielded results at all. Not even a clue.
With a sigh, she turned and headed down the next street. She’d search at least one more block for her missing piggy. If she kept going, she’d get to the little shopping area that she sometimes went to after school with Yuka and Sayuri, and she seriously doubted the little guy had managed to wander so far. It was more likely he was in someone else’s yard, or that she’d passed him by as he’d wandered aimlessly on another street while her head was buried in a shrub.
Again, her search yielded nothing, and she found herself standing at the end of the lane that opened up to the shopping district. It wasn’t jam packed as it would be after school, but there were handfuls of people moving this way and that as they went about their shopping. She watched them for a moment, scanning the crowd for any sign of P-Chan.
Nothing.
And then, just as she was about to turn away, she saw a flash of yellow. Just like that little kerchief that P-Chan had been wearing when she’d found him. And it was attached to something black! Was someone carrying P-Chan around? Maybe they’d found him!
She ran towards it, ran as fast as she could.
Akane lost sight of it as she broke through the first throng of shoppers, and cast her gaze around desperately for another glimpse of that yellow bandanna. From where she stood, glancing this way and that in front of a ramen store, she could see nothing, and so she hastily pushed through another group of people examining a window display and leaped up onto a nearby bench.
“Where did you go?” Akane breathed as she spun around.
And then she saw it at the end of the street. The yellow bandana.
Except…
It was being worn by a lanky boy with black hair, and P-Chan was nowhere to be found. With a dejected sigh, Akane hung her head. It was just some random boy. But… but that headband was nearly identical, she was sure of it.
Had he found it, perhaps?
Akane hurried to follow the boy, who was walking around the corner and down the next street. When she rounded the corner in pursuit of him, she found he was nearly at the next intersection. “Hey, wait up!”
The boy stopped and turned towards her, his eyes widened slightly and his cheeks went flush.
She came to a halt at his side, lightly panting from the exertion. “Sorry to bother you, guy,” Akane said. “But I need to know where you got that headband.”
“It’s, uh, mine?” The boy said with an awkward chuckle. He had incredibly sharp canines. They were almost cute. His posture was stiff and awkward and he was glancing at the intersection behind him as if desperate for an escape.
“Yeah,” Akane said. Of course it was. Even if it had been the one P-Chan had worn, she just wanted her piggy to be okay. “But where did you get it?”
He considered her question for a moment. “Amsterdam, I think. Or Morocco. I have a few of them. Or had, I guess.”
Akane blinked in surprise. Amsterdam? Morocco? This boy had been to Europe and Africa? She leaned towards the boy to examine the headband. It didn’t look all that different from the ones sold right here in Nerima, or anywhere else in Tokyo for that matter. In fact, it really did look identical to the one P-Chan had worn. And what were the odds that there were two of that exact same kerchief right here in town from Europe or Africa or whatever?
“W-what are you—” The boy tried to ask, but his face was beet red and he stopped abruptly.
“I’m looking for my pet,” Akane said, once she was done staring at the bandana. “I rescued this adorable little piglet over the weekend, but he’s gone missing. I’m worried, so I’m out looking. I saw you wearing that bandana, and P-Chan was wearing a kerchief that looked exactly like that one. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a cute little black piggy?”
The boy squawked, laughed boisterously, and rubbed the back of his head. “Me? No! Nope. No little pigs.”
Akane sighed in disappointment. It figured. Not that she’d really expected some random boy to magically know something about P-Chan. “Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“That’s okay,” said the boy. And then his eyes lit up and he tapped a fist against his palm. “You wouldn’t happen to know which way to Hokkaido from here. I stopped in on my way, but I’m a little turned around.”
“Tokyo’s a long way from Hokkaido,” Akane pointed out.
“Well of course it is,” agreed the boy. “But we’re in Hakodate, so I’m almost there.”
“No,” Akane said. “You’re in Nerima. In Tokyo.”
The boy blinked. “I am?”
Akane nodded. “Yeah. If you wanna go that far north you should probably head for the nearest train station.”
“Aw man,” the boy said. “Before that rainstorm over the weekend I could have sworn I was in Sendai heading north.”
Akane gave him a sympathetic smile, and looked him up and down. Poor guy must have gotten turned around. Which… how? There were signs everywhere in Japan. All over streetcorners and train stations and highways. Getting that lost was an impressive feat in and of itself. And then she took in the boy’s wardrobe. He wore slacks that were a little bit too big for him, and a polo shirt that looked familiar.
“I think my dad has the exact same shirt,” Akane said absently as she glanced the boy up and down. “Weird.”
The boy laughed again, too loud. “How funny! Anyway, I really do need to be going to Hokkaido. If you could just point me in the right direction, I’ll be on my way.”
Akane pointed down the street to their right. “Train station is like half a mile that way.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
And then he walked down the street to their left. Akane blinked and watched him walk away. “No, guy, the other way!”
He stopped, turned to look at her, and then nodded. She walked with him as he started up the correct street. “You get lost a lot?”
“Sometimes.”
“Must be hard,” Akane said. “I mean, you’ve gotta be close to my age, right? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
He crossed his arms and looked away from her. “Shouldn’t you?”
Akane nodded. “I’m looking for my piggy, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” he said quietly.
“I’m Akane, by the way,” Akane said.
“Ryoga,” the boy replied.
“I’ll walk you to the train station, if you want,” Akane said. “There’s a couple of turns before you get there.”
The boy hesitated, clearly torn. “I usually walk to where I’m going alone.”
“It’s really not that far,” Akane said. “I don’t mind.”
Ryoga blushed and looked at his shoes, which Akane thought looked like something her dad might wear, too. “No, I mean… I usually walk all the way to where I’m going. By myself.”
Akane stopped walking, really sized up the boy. “You want to walk, from Tokyo to Hokkaido, with nothing but those oversized clothes you’ve got on? Ryoga, It has to be like six-hundred and fifty miles away.”
He turned to face her, face flushed again. “I usually have a travel bag, but… I lost it. And I thought I was in Sendai, but if I’ve been in Tokyo the whole time, then I have no idea where I would even try to find my bag. I guess I could try going home and getting new supplies.”
Akane brightened. “That’s a great idea! You live close to here?”
“Is Fujinomiya close to here?” Ryoga asked.
Akane made a face. “...Not… really?”
“Well it must be on the way to Hokkaido, at least,” Ryoga said.
“It… no… it’s in the opposite direction. Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need me to call someone for you?” Akane asked.
“No thanks,” Ryoga said. “I’m used to being on my own.”
Akane raised an eyebrow at him. That didn’t exactly make it better. Honestly, it sounded sad. Being alone sucked. And what if he was all alone because he’d been wandering around Japan completely lost? “Look, why don’t we just find a phone, and you can call your family? Maybe one of them can come and get you.”
“No!” Ryoga said a little bit too quickly. “No. I… I’ll be fine, really.”
“...Ohhhh…kayyyy,” Akane said, raising an eyebrow.
They resumed their walk towards the train station, and Akane made it about half a city block before her curiosity got the better of her. “Why don’t you want your family’s help?” Not going to her— well her sisters if she was in a pinch would be tantamount to blasphemy. She had a difficult time imagining that someone would choose not to turn to their family if they needed help.
But then again, boy. Boys were stupid, and boys didn’t make any sense. They were all too emotional and incapable of making rational decisions.
Ryoga was quiet for a moment, face twisting into a frown. Eventually, he said, “Consider it a matter of personal honor.”
“Personal honor?” Akane asked. What did that even mean?
“I’m tracking down my bitterest rival,” Ryoga said. “So that I can challenge him to a fight and settle things between us once and for all.”
Akane looked at Ryoga as if he’d grown fangs. Well, more so than he already had. “You— you’re walking all over Japan so you can fight somebody?” Ryoga nodded. “That’s insane. What on earth could possibly make you want to fight someone so bad?”
“You wouldn’t understand why,” Ryoga said. “But this guy is pure evil. I have to find him and make him pay for what he did.”
That sounded… intense?
What could anyone have done to make another person hate them so entirely?
They were nearing the train station now. The street traffic was increasing, and there were some construction workers working on an old water tower at the end of the lane ahead of them. The sounds of their shouting and heavy equipment were loud even from down the street.
“So you’ve got some issue with this guy, and it’s so bad you’re following him all over the country?” Akane asked, raising her voice to be heard over the din. Why not just let it go? Surely going home and just… moving on would be easier, right?
Ryoga nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“You say he’s evil.”
Ryoga nodded again. “He’s the scum of the earth. A villain, a liar and a coward.”
She took a breath, considered the boy’s words. Hoped he wasn’t… insane. “If he’s done something so bad, why not go to the police?”
Ryoga missed a step, stumbling in his too big shoes and staggering half a stride ahead of her. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before stuttering out a half answer. “Because… because— it— what he did— the police wouldn’t be able to help me.”
“Why not?” Akane prodded as they neared the work area. The shearing, buzzing sounds were a lot louder now, and Akane felt like she’d have to shout if it got any louder. Fortunately, the station was maybe a block and a half away.
“It— I can’t say. It’s just… personal,” Ryoga said.
“Then why not—”
“Look, Akane, I really appreciate you helping me get this far.” His face had grown cold and serious. “But this is something I have to do. Hopefully I’ll see you around sometime, and good luck looking for your pet. I’ll find the station on my own from here.”
And then he strode away from her. Akane watched him go curiously. He stopped to ask one of the workers a question. In disbelief, she watched as the construction worker pointed in the direction of the train station only for Ryoga to walk in the completely opposite direction.
Unreal. It had to be on purpose, right?
“What an odd guy,” Akane murmured under her breath as she started the walk back to the dojo. She really did hope Reiko had fared better in her search for P-Chan.
Just before she made it to the end of the road, there was a shout, and then a lot of swearing from several people. Before she could turn to see what it was, the sound of a waterfall reached her ears. Several shocked screams and yells followed.
Akane turned around just in time to see the foreman start screaming profanities. The construction crew had made some mistake, and the water from the tower they’d been fixing up had all come pouring out. The entire street was covered in water, people were running through the flooded walkway with soaked shoes and pants, many passersby had stopped to watch the scene unfold, and Ryoga was nowhere to be found in the gathering crowd. She supposed he’d have made it past the splash zone before everything had been soaked.
Water made its way down the road and lapped at her shoes as the chaos unfolded, and Akane stepped back to make sure her socks stayed dry. When she’d seen all she wanted to see, Akane turned from the scene and made her way back towards the shopping district.
She’d definitely gone over the allotted search time. And Reiko would probably worry about her if she didn’t make it back as soon as possible. But she’d wandered quite a ways away from her initial search path. Made it as far as the second closest train station to the dojo. Even if she ran, it’d be at least fifteen minutes back to the house. And if she ran, she’d miss out on her chance to double check for P-Chan on the way home.
She made it around the first corner when she heard it, a soft ‘bwee’ from somewhere nearby. Akane perked up at once. “P-Chan? Is that you?”
There was the soft snorting that could only have come from her cute little piggy’s snout, and then the sound of leaves rustling. Akane hurried towards the sound, the sense of urgency she’d felt back at the dojo returning. If it was her P-Chan, all the way out here and alone, he must be so scared.
She clambered awkwardly into the row of bushes that lined the road, eyes darting back and forth in search of the little piglet. “P-Chan! I’m right here.”
And then she saw him, frantically scrabbling through the bushes and absolutely soaked. She scooped him up. “Oh you poor thing. Look at you, you’re all wet.” She clutched the squirming piglet tight against her chest, and untied the little kerchief from his neck. The fabric was drenched. And it really did look exactly the same as the one that Ryoga boy had been wearing. “Settle down now, okay? I’ll get you home and dried off.”
Akane scratched gently behind P-Chan’s ears. “It’s okay,” she cooed. “You’re okay.”
She shoved her way back out of the bushes, a process made more than a little awkward by the restless little piglet clutched in her arms, and started back towards the dojo. Her clothes were tousled and there were leaves in her hair, but she didn’t care. She’d found her P-Chan.
He was safe.
She couldn’t wait to share the good news with Reiko, and to shove the little piggy into her friend's arms so she could watch as that troubled expression left the redhead’s face. She had almost as big of a soft spot for P-Chan as Akane did. Hopefully it would help make up for her… for before.
The longer she was away from Reiko, the more it sank in that she’d really messed up. Again. Which was so fucking typical of her. Akane Tendo, the least competent sister. Two friends, terrible social skills, and a penchant for lashing out when things got tricky.
She hugged P-Chan tight and hoped Reiko wouldn’t hate her.
By the time she was walking back through the shopping area, her uniform had a roughly P-Chan sized wet spot, and she hurried along as best she could before her pet’s distress became any greater.
Akane was hurrying past the cafe she’d gone to with Emi after school when someone called her name.
“Akane?”
She turned. She knew that voice. “Kasumi?”
Kasumi was standing across the lane, dressed nicely with her hair and makeup done, and frowning with worry as she took in Akane’s appearance. She realized she must be quite a sight. Holding a damp piglet in her tousled school uniform with her hair messy and full of leaves.
Her sister hurried over to her, giving her a once over. Eyes searching for any sign that anything was wrong. When she reached Akane’s side, hands found her shoulders, reached up to feel her cheeks, and then rubbed at her back. The questions that followed came a mile a minute. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? Why aren’t you at school? Why are you with your pig?”
“It—” Where to even start? What was she going to tell Kasumi? That her piglet had run away? That Reiko probably hated her a little bit? That their houseguest had some kind of freakout. Akane took a shaky breath.
At the beginning of the fiasco, probably. Telling her would be good. Kasumi always knew what to do.
“Reiko had a— like a panic attack,” Akane said. Voice clipped and worried and awkward. “She— there’s a boy at school, Kuno. They met up this morning before school, and something he said, or… or something he did set her off.”
Kasumi’s face was tight lipped and set, and Akane could see that fierce look in her sister’s eyes.
“And not how I do, you know? Reiko doesn’t— She was shaking, and… and… she couldn’t breathe or anything. And—” Akane took a breath. “And Nabiki and I didn’t know what to do.” She leaned into Kasumi, finally letting the fear of seeing Reiko fall apart wash over her.
Kasumi’s arms wrapped her up in a hug and Akane sniffled. She was safe and warm and Kasumi would keep her that way. “Emi was there, you know, Reiko’s friend? She talked Reiko through it. Got her through it. It was really scary.”
“I bet,” Kasumi said softly. “Where’s Reiko?”
“I… probably at the dojo?” Akane said.
Kasumi’s grip on her tensed for just a moment. “What do you mean probably?”
“I—w-well,” Akane stammered. “I took her home, I did. But P-Chan was missing, and Reiko and I went wandering the neighborhood looking for him. Having something to do seemed to help.”
It had been helpful to both of them. United in a task instead of arguing and making things worse.
“That’s understandable,” Kasumi said.
“But we couldn’t find P-Chan, and Reiko suggested we split up and—”
“And you said yes?” Kasumi asked.
“It— I— She said she was fine,” Akane said. “I think she maybe wanted to be alone for a bit.”
Kasumi took a breath. “How long ago did you split up?”
“I dunno,” Akane said. “Less than an hour ago, probably.”
It seemed to Akane like Kasumi had quite a few things she wanted to say, but she gave Akane a reassuring smile and another gentle squeeze before releasing her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get you home, okay? Sounds like you’ve had quite the morning.”
That didn’t even begin to describe it.
Akane leaned into Kasumi as they walked. Kasumi would know how to help Reiko when they got home.