Ranma glanced at the clock in the dining room. Six o'clock. He looked back at the television, flipping through the channels, worried and alone.
Nabiki had told them that morning that she was staying at a friend's house, and Genma and Soun were out chasing their perverted master, Happosai in the mountains. Kasumi had called earlier, when the thunder storm had started, to tell them that she would be staying at Dr. Tofu's. But Akane still wasn't home yet. He hadn't seen her since the last bell of school when Shampoo had come to chase him in her cat form. He shivered at the memory.
The front door slid open, Ranma jumped up to see who it was. There, standing shivery in the entrée way was a sopping wet, angry, Akane.
"What happened to you?" He asked stupidly
She glared at him, taking off her wet shoes and socks before stepping on to the hallway floor. "You ran off with the umbrella, stupid!" she muttered, shaking off her water proof school bag.
"You're the one who forgot your umbrella." Ranma shot back, putting his hands in his pockets. Akane swung her school bag down and connected evenly with his head. She shuffled away slowly with him rubbing his head in pain.
Akane leaned heavily against her dresser. Her head felt so heavy! She opened a drawer and pulled out a warm set of Pjs. She rubbed the fabric against her fingers. She then put her fingers to her fore head. Her hands were clammy and cold, and her face felt slightly flushed.
She groaned, "I'm too busy to be sick." She thought, rebelliously fighting against a sniffle. She grabbed her Pjs and stood up too quickly. She swayed slightly on her feet. She shook her head stubbornly.
"I'm going to take a bath." She murmured to herself, walking slowly out of her room and down the outrageously long stair case, couldn't they afford an escalator?
She had gotten down the stairs as quickly as she could and had made it almost down the hall way, when a sneeze emerged at the most inconvenient time. Right in front of the dining room door.
Ranma looked back when Akane sneezed, and squinted at her face. "Ya look kinda pale Akane." He stated, getting up from his seat by the TV and walking over to stand by the door frame.
Akane blushed slightly, "It was cold out side, Baka. I'm just going to warm up." She said holding in a cough on her last bit of words.
Ranma scowled in disbelief and put a hand to her forehead, putting his other hand on his own fore head.
"You're warm." He stated. Akane stared at him, and shook her head swiftly, covering up a blush. She walked away quickly, muttering about leaving her in the rain, running home alone, and him being an idiot.
She stopped at the bathroom door and coughed some more. "You should be in bed." Ranma said flatly, poking at her shoulder. Akane's face was flushed again, but not from embarrassment.
She hesitated; taking in a slow breath then went on. "I'm going to take a bath, ok? So don't follow me!" she said with false anger, glaring at him over her shoulder and slamming the bathroom door in his face. Akane leaned heavily against the door; her head was pounding again…
Ranma blinked then growled. "I was only tryin' to help" he muttered, walking away to his room to read comic. Before he sat down on his futon, he looked in a drawer under his closet. There were small vials packed in all the available room. He looked at one vile in the corner, then closed the drawer then the closed door, and sat down again to read his comic book. He did this exercise every time a muffled cough came to his ears.
When at last he heard the bathroom tub drain, Ranma closed his book and stared at his closet door. His face was set serious, and his body was twitchy. Finally when he heard a heavier set of coughs in the dining room did he open his closet door and pull open the medicine drawer, he found the known vial and popped out two small green balls.
He ran down the stairs with the medicine and into the kitchen, where he got a tall glass of water. He tip toed towards the dining room, where he saw Akane wrapped in a thick blanket, staring sleepily at an English book.
He sat next to her and pushed away the school book. Akane didn't seem to be aware of anything until she noticed two small balls were in front of her with a glass of water beside that. She glanced at Ranma, a questioning look in her eyes.
"My pop made it. It's supposed to speed colds up," He explained, grabbing the remote to the TV and flipping through the channels. "It's not the best tasting thing in the world, and it really makes ya sleepy, but it works all the same." He said, concentrating on the TV screen.
Akane looked back at the medicine, then swallowed them, and sipped gingerly at the water. Ranma looked up when he heard her swallow.
"It works pretty fast, so you'd better go to bed now." He said turning off the TV, and standing up leisurely. Akane stood up sluggishly, and trudged towards the staircase, Ranma right behind her.
When she had climbed half way up the terribly steep stairs, she stopped. Ranma jumped to her side.
"You ok?" he asked worriedly.
Akane grit her teeth, "You think I'm so sick," She started, marching up the stairs faster, "that I can't handle a few stairs?" she said weakly. Near the second floor, she sat down willingly on the top step, and leaned her head on the cool wall. Ranma sat with her.
"You're almost there." He said encouragingly.
"I know." She murmured, without opening her eyes. They say there for a moment before Ranma poked at her.
"You really are sick aren't you?" he teased, smiling in good humor. She reacted to this and snorted, getting up slowly. She swayed again on her feet, but Ranma grabbed her elbow and guided her to her room. His heart was pounding.
When he opened the bedroom door for her, her face was flushed from the small fever, but his face was flushed for a very different reason. She made it to her bed and crawled in, sighing slightly with relief.
Ranma gulped and whispered, "Night Akane" to the dark room. As he was closing the door, a small voice whispered back, "Ranma?" He opened the door again and waited for the rest, his heart was fluttering lightly in his chest. "Thank you." She said sleepily. Ranma gulped again and closed the door, his face beat red.