Calligraphy

A Ranma 1/2 Oneshot

By Tender Falling Rain

~ * ~ * ~

"That's not the point," Akane Tendo insisted as she and her fiancée Ranma Saotome entered the school building and made their way over to their shoe lockers.

Ranma rolled his eyes in response and stuffed his hands in his pockets while slouching his shoulders, his expressive pigtail drooping in acceptance of the inevitable lecture he was about to receive.

Little had changed since the failed wedding that had occurred several weeks ago. They never talked about it. Never talked about the fact that he still hadn't done anything about the excessive number of fiancées hanging around him that he hadn't even bothered to scold for ruining the wedding. Never talked about the fact that she had actually agreed to marrying him either. And they most certainly never talked about the fact that she had almost died and he had almost told her that he loved her.

Still, if they were to actually talk about their relationship, they would have both agreed that there was something different now. They got along much better. Ranma found himself thinking about what he was saying before letting words leave his mouth more often, and Akane started analyzing situations more thoroughly before jumping to conclusions. Their combined efforts had decreased their arguments and fights by about 78.7%. 81.3% on the days when Kasumi baked cookies. All that was left were the occasional petty arguments about day to day stuff, like who got to use the bath first, who was entitled to the last of the rice, and who got to pummel Kuno that day. They had simply agreed to take turns on the last account.

And that last account was what they were currently arguing about in calm, rational, diplomatic tones. "How is that not the point?" Ranma attempted. "He didn't ask you on a date, he challenged me to a fight. Didn't even notice you this morning until your foot was lodged in his face." He purposefully avoided making a comment about how Kuno clearly found him more interesting, even when he was a guy than a violent tempered un-cute tomboy like her.

"Doesn't matter," Akane said with a stubborn air. "It was my turn. You pummeled him yesterday when he was asking me out and I didn't complain."

"Why would you complain? You should be thanking me for that, unless you actually want to date Kuno."

Akane glared and began opening her mouth to retort, but stopped short as she lifted the lid to her shoe locker and her eyes found a small envelope inside. Curious, she pulled the letter from the rectangular box and examined her name, which had been carefully etched in a fancy calligraphy pen with great detail and concentration on the front.

"A challenge letter?" Ranma asked, forsaking their argument, since it barely qualified as such, in favor of the new more interesting dilemma that had presented itself in the form of rich, neatly folded parchment that Akane had not hesitated to remove from its sealing.

"Doubtful," Akane said, holding the envelope up between two fingers to display the heart sticker that had sealed the note shut, as her eyes simultaneously began to scan the words on the slip of paper.

Ranma's eyes narrowed as they shifted from the envelope to the note, and he quickly snatched it away from her. "Let me see that," he stated as he began walking out of the room and towards their class, Akane in hot pursuit.

"Hey!" Akane protested. "What are you doing? That's mine!"

"Fighting with the numerous crazed suitors you manage to accumulate on such a regular basis is one of the few perks I get out of being engaged to an un-cute tomboy like yourself," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone, easily sidestepping all her attempts to snatch the letter from his hands as he glanced over its contents.

"If I'm so un-cute, then I wonder how I ever manage to come across these 'numerous crazed suitors?'" she questioned in a sarcastic tone.

"Easy. You attract crazy people with no sense of taste. Take Kuno for instance…"

"I would, but he seems to prefer you," Akane quipped, growing tired of the banter. "Come on Ranma, would you just give me the letter?"

"Heh, trust me. You don't want it," he said, still reading. "This guy is clearly an idiot. He'd have to be to be this head over heels in love with you."

"Ranma!" she shouted, taking on a dangerous tone.

"Oh fine, no need to get all huffy about it! I'll read it to you," he said clearing his throat dramatically.

"Why can't you just give it…" she began to question, but was cut off as he began to do just as he had said he would, reading the letter in a mockingly theatrical tone.

"'Dear Akane. For many months I have admired you. You are kind hearted, strong, smart, funny, witty and beautiful. Forgive me for not telling you these things in person, but unfortunately I find it hard to speak plainly when I'm in your presence. Therefore I have decided to have my words committed to paper, so I cannot back out or screw up on the words I wish you to know. The truth is, I'm in love with you, and have been for some time now. Still, I know that there are many other boys that have an interest in you, and I wouldn't blame you if you were to choose one of them over me. Though it's hard for me I've decided finally that whatever you decide, I will respect your decision and not impose a relationship on you that you have no interest in. However, I would be very pleased if you would do me the favor of meeting with me today, after school, on the roof of the building so we can talk. Sincerely, Your Secret Admirer.'" Ranma trailed off staring at the paper for a moment then threw it haphazardly in the air, leaving it to flutter slowly to the ground. "Feh. Lot of cheesy, romantic mumbo jumbo if you ask me."

Akane surprised him as she jumped out of her silent reflection to quickly snatch the floating letter from the air and examine it closely, her cheeks slightly rosy and her eyes ever so moist, clearly touched by the words. "I thought it was beautiful," she said in a distant voice as she stared at the note, almost fondly.

"Y-You what?" Ranma asked incredulously. A part of him had been looking forward to mocking the note with her.

"Uh huh!" Akane smiled cheerfully. "It was very sweet. Thoughtful, respectful… Honest," she said the last word with a change in expression and a glare directed at him through narrowed, cynical eyes.

"Hey!" Ranma grumbled. "I can be honest!"

"Oh really?" Akane asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, of course! I honestly think you're an un-cute, klutzy tomboy," he joked in a playful, unheated manner.

"And I honestly think you're the biggest jerk I've ever known," she returned automatically, also without much conviction, neatly tucking the note in her bag as they entered their classroom, their tame bickering fading into the surrounding hubbub of their fellow classmates preparing for class.

~ * ~ * ~

"Can I see Akane?"

"Uh huh!" Akane nodded enthusiastically as she proudly handed her letter to one of the many girls huddled around her during the lunch break. They were all giddy and practically swooning over the note their friend had received, giggling and clasping their hands in front of them with dreamy sighs as they read aloud their favorite parts of the letter.

Ranma watched Akane from the corner of his eye while pretending to be engrossed in his lunch and manga. Yet he hadn't missed the light blush that tinged her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes or the excited, flustered tone of her voice as she answered the numerous questions directed at her. She was clearly enjoying the attention.

Ranma frowned to himself, not sure how he should respond to the situation. He never thought he'd see the day when Akane Tendo, the boy hating macho martial arts loving tomboy would go weak in the knees because of some silly love letter. It was so utterly...

Girly.

Not tomboyish at all. And definitely not uncute. Just…

Weird.

But not in a bad way, he had to admit. He sighed. The question was, what was he going to do about it? He'd expected she would laugh at the letter with him, crumple it up and that would be that. He never expected her to like the letter. Never expected her to actually go and meet her 'admirer.' He swallowed hard. What if she did want to meet him? What would he do then?

"Hey Ranma," came a voice behind him.

He looked up casually, pretending rather convincingly that his thoughts had not been engaged elsewhere mere moments before. "Yah? Wazzup?" he asked Hiroshi and Daisuke who were approaching him.

"Akane got a love letter?" Daisuke asked.

Ranma fought the urge to narrow his eyes. Stupid Akane couldn't keep the thing to herself. Now the whole school knew about it. He looked over in her direction lazily. "I guess," he shrugged before turning back to his manga.

"She seems really excited about it." Ranma winced slightly, the reality of Hiroshi's statement nagging at him.

"Yeah, what are you going to do?" Daisuke chimed in.

Ranma shrugged again. It was becoming harder to act like he wasn't affected by the whole situation. "Why would I do anything?"

"Why? Well duh man, you are her fiancé aren't you?"

"Not by choice," he muttered between bites of his lunch. "If she's going to get all worked up over some silly note it doesn't matter to me."

"Even if she decides she likes this guy?"

Ranma gave pause before responding. "Now wouldn't that be interesting?" he thought to himself. Then a small, disdainful laugh forced his way through his throat.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much guys. First of all, I doubt Akane's actually going to go and meet this guy. It's just not like her. And even if she did… Well, I doubt very much her 'admirer' is going to show."

Hiroshi and Daisuke exchanged looks and appeared unconvinced. "Why do you say that, Ranma?"

"Oh come on you two. A guy would have to be pretty stupid to meet Akane after writing her a letter like that, violent tomboy that she is."

Hiroshi and Daisuke both sighed. "Ranma, she really is wasted on you. How is it that you're the only one that can't see how great she is? You really find it hard to believe that some guy would have those kinds of feelings for her?"

Ranma didn't respond. As expected his friends had misinterpreted his comment, and he wasn't about to correct them. It wasn't that it surprised him that guys liked Akane. He teased her and put her down a lot, but if the things he was saying were actually true… Well, he wouldn't say them. Akane wasn't without her good points. She was cute. She was sweet when she wanted to be. She was smart, good at sports… Sure he was better, and her skills seemed nonexistent in comparison to his, but he couldn't help admiring her attempts nonetheless. She was strong, and stubborn, and brave, facing any challenge despite her lesser skills in martial arts without hesitation. It was irritating as heck, especially considering her recklessness had gotten her into trouble countless times before, and he always ended up being the one that had to save her butt. Yet… At the same time, it was somewhat admirable, and he found himself smirking at the thought of his tenacious tomboy.

Akane had an infectious laugh, a smile that made a guy's heart stop, and deep, soulful eyes he wanted to drown in forever… He shook his head erratically in an attempt to clear his mind. "Anyway," he thought interrupting his tirade. "The point is that while I can admittedly understand a guy liking Akane, I can't understand him facing her. If it were that easy, then maybe…"

He shook his head again and faced the two boys. "Look, I know Akane, okay? She's not going to go," Ranma stated. "And if she does, the guy who wrote that stupid letter is going to be in for a world of hurt."

"Why? What are you going to do to him?"

"Not me you idiot! Akane's the one that's going to hurt him."

"You're pretty confident, aren't you? You so sure she couldn't fall for anyone but you?"

Ranma didn't respond. "Quite the opposite actually," he thought darkly.

"I don't know Ranma. It seems you may not know your fiancé as well as you think. She seems awfully taken by that note.

He glanced over at her yet again, not even bothering to be discrete this time. "It's not like she'd notice anyway." He watched her, beaming and laughing cheerily as she remained the center of attention amongst her friends, clutching an already worn letter fondly to her chest. Her behavior truly did baffle him.

"They're right. Maybe I don't know her as well as I thought. Dangit. I really, really wish she'd never gotten that stupid letter. What am I going to do now?"

~ * ~ * ~

"See you later Akane!"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow!" Akane waved at her friends as they exited the class. She remained behind, taking her time as she packed up her things. The other students had quickly filed out of the classroom, heading to afterschool activities or their respective homes. It was rather frustrating to Ranma that Akane seemed intent on moving so slowly, methodically slipping things into her bag, the rustling of crinkling papers being squeezed between the slats of her leather hand bag the only sound permeating the room. He had been casually trying to time things out so that they headed for the door at the same time, but everyone had already left, leaving them alone in the room, and he had no realistic alternative excuse to explain why he remained behind with her.

He slowly and nervously stood and turned to face her, wishing she would stop dawdling. "Geez Akane, what's taking you so long? Let's go home already," he finally growled. It was more than a little awkward. It wasn't a for sure thing that they would walk home together on any given day. Sometimes they would leave together, and sometimes they wouldn't. The previous day she hadn't waited for him when he remained behind, and he was under no obligation to wait for her that afternoon either. Typically if they did go home together, it was simply because they just happened to be leaving at the same time. They never purposefully or intentionally waited for each other without a reason, at least not overtly. But today he couldn't just leave her behind. He had to wait. He had to know what she was going to do about the note and no amount of embarrassment or indecisiveness regarding their walk home was going to get in the way of him finding that out.

"Oh um… You go ahead Ranma. I'm going to… Check on something first…"

He felt his heart stop momentarily in shock and dread. There it was. The answer to his question. "You're actually going to go and meet… Him?"

She blushed. "Um, well, yeah, I guess…"

"And then what?" It was more than a little weird for him to be asking such a question and he knew it. But he didn't care. He had to know.

She blushed deeper, refusing to meet his gaze. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I owe it to… him to hear him out. To listen to what he has to say. I am kind of curious to know his reasons for sending such a note."

She chewed on her lip thoughtfully for a moment before standing and heading towards the door. He watched her momentarily, unsure of what to do. He wondered what she would do if no one was there at all. He honestly hadn't expected her to go. "Stupid Akane. She would choose this moment to start acting like a normal girl of course… Never knew she was that soft."

"I'll go with you," he announced suddenly, closing the gap between them and falling into pace beside her as she started her trip towards the staircase and then the roof. The thought of her waiting there alone for someone that wasn't going to show was just too much. He wouldn't wish that on her.

To his surprise, she didn't protest or argue with him. Instead she just looked up at him curiously for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

"Alright? S-Seriously? You actually are okay with me being there?"

"If I told you no you'd just turn into a girl, put on some silly disguise and show up anyway to interrupt things."

"I would not!" he protested, although inwardly he had to admit it did sound like something he would do.

"Look, Ranma, I just want you to know, I don't plan on dating somebody else. Like it or not, you are my fiancé and I… Well, I'm just saying, if you're worried about…"

"Worried? Who said I was worried? Why would I be worried about an un-cute…"

She frowned sadly, and he could see it now, the way she winced slightly before her frown turned into an angry scowl, anticipating what he was going to say next. It gave him a reason to pause, and he trailed off. They were a few steps from the top now and stealing his nerves, he turned to her, trying for once to say what he really wanted to say.

"Okay so I am worried," he admitted. Her eyes opened wide as they snapped to him in surprise, and he had to look away from her in order to continue. "I'm worried that… You're going to be disappointed when you open that door. I mean… What if… He's not… There?"

She looked confused. "Why wouldn't he be there?"

"I don't know, maybe he's scared of you. I mean look at what you did to Kuno all those times when he asked you out? And all those other guys you beat up at the beginning of the year…"

"If he's scared, then why did he ask to meet me?"

"I… I don't know, maybe he… Maybe he didn't expect you'd actually… Go."

"Well that's just silly," she shrugged dismissively. "I beat up all those guys at the beginning of the year and Kuno all those times because they were all being disrespectful of my feelings. They treated me like some kind of conquest to win and didn't even consider what I wanted. This…" she lifted the letter and looked at it with a fond grin. "This is different," she continued. "This person cares about me and what I want," she said, looking down, her voice barely a whisper.

Ranma stared at her, slowly digesting her words and their meaning. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to figure out what to say before finally clenching his fists and fixing his resolve. "Akane, look, before you open that door, there's something you have to know…"

Her eyes met his expectantly and she waited patiently for him to continue. Not backing down, he continued. "Akane, I…"

Suddenly the door above them leading to the roof made a loud clang as it was abruptly thrown open, and Ranma and Akane blinked, shielding their eyes with their hands from the light streaming through the frame. A dark silhouette stood in the doorway. "Akane!" he exclaimed, his booming voice echoing in the stairwell. "You came! I…" he was interrupted as another form emerged, pushing him out of the way abruptly and running down the stairs towards her.

"Akane! Pay no attention to this imposter! I'm the one who…" As he approached, Akane aptly sidestepped his embrace, and he tripped, careening the rest of the way down the stairs.

Akane and Ranma looked back and forth between the two fallen forms. "What the…"

"She's here!" called yet another voice at the top of the stairs.

Ranma's eyes narrowed and he stormed the rest of the way up to the ledge and gripped the new boy by the collar of his shirt. "Yeah, she's here, and so am I. Mind telling me what exactly you're doing… Here…" his voice trailed off as his eyes suddenly scanned the top of the roof. "Oh crud," he muttered under his breath.

"What?" Akane asked, suddenly at his side. Her eyes too scanned the roof, which was cluttered with a crowd of boys. "Oh crud," she echoed Ranma's earlier exclamation at the sight.

~ * ~ * ~

"Akane Tendo! I love you!"

"No he doesn't, I love you Akane!"

"I was the one that sent the note Akane!"

"No, it was me! I've always loved you."

"I loved her way before any of you did."

"You jerks! I wrote the letter!"

"No I did!"

"I did!"

"It was me!"

As the group of boy's continued to proclaim their affections and claim authorship for the love letter she had received, Akane merely stood and rubbed her temples in earnest, trying to ward off a headache. Ranma stood nearby, his arms crossed over his chest with an angry scowl that was failing for once to intimidate anyone. "This is… A mess," Akane muttered, her voice barely heard over numerous shouting voices.

"Gee, Akane, who knew you were so popular?" Ranma responded through clenched teeth.

"Don't give me that! How was I supposed to know this would happen? I didn't ask for this you know!" she yelled.

"Sure you did," he felt the need to shout back at her. "After you went on and on fawning over that stupid letter, what did you expect!?"

"I just wanted to know who wrote it!" she spat back in defense. "Not that I have much chance of figuring it out now," she grumbled sounding disappointed, and frowning despite herself. "What do you care anyway?" she added as a miserable afterthought.

"I don't," he muttered. "This just makes me… Sick. Why's everyone getting all worked up over some stupid tomboy anyway? And look at you! All moony and starry eyed just because some guy writes you a letter with a fancy calligraphy pen."

She glared for a moment and was about to retort, but then suddenly her expression changed and lit up as an idea occurred to her. "Ranma you're a genius!" she called already digging into her book bag.

"I-I… What?"

"The handwriting! I'll just have everyone write out my name and I'll compare the handwriting to the original letter…" she trailed off, and her eyebrows creased as she searched her pencil case. "Dang. Where's my stupid calligraphy pen? I always keep it in here, and I know I had it yesterday at school..."

He watched her momentarily, her agitation increasing before heaving a sigh and digging in his own bag to pull out a pen. "Here, you can use this one."

She stopped in the midst of rifling through her bag, and her eyes grew wide as she stared at the pen. Then a huge grin spread across her face as her eyes lifted to Ranma. "Ranma! Thank you!"

"Uh, yeah, sure. No big deal," he returned, slightly confused by the extent of her gratitude. For a moment she actually looked like she was going to hug him, a secretive smile still adorning her lips. But she didn't, and instead she took the pen, idly twirling it briefly between her fingers before facing the crowd and sighing.

"Alright, let's see what we can do about getting rid of the imposters," she grumbled.

~ * ~ * ~

Ranma stood idly by watching as Akane compared handwriting samples for the last group of guys. They'd fallen into a pretty thorough system within no time. Akane would hold out a paper and the pen, the boy would write, she'd glance it over, shake her head and call out 'Next.' Ranma stood by and watched to make sure each boy actually left, escorting them not so nicely when they became insistent or difficult.

Still, it was all very curious to him. Akane hardly spent any time at all comparing the handwriting, and sometimes only glanced at the sample once before sending the guy on his way. She always seemed very confident though that they hadn't written the letter. It hardly bothered Ranma. He figured the sooner she finished the whole ordeal the sooner they could get out of there. But it was strange nonetheless.

He watched as the last guy came and went, his head hanging in disappointment and then turned to Akane, who stood, still holding her letter, an unreadable expression on her face. Finally her eyes raised to his own. "I… Guess that's everyone then," she said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I guess so…" he responded, than watched as she nodded and looked down sadly.

"Dang." Ranma thought. He hated seeing her like that. He was about to say something to try and cheer her up, but suddenly her head snapped up, and she smiled.

"Shall we go?" she asked cheerfully.

"Okay," he said, slightly unsure of himself.

"Thanks for staying with me," she chirped as she made her way to the door.

"Yeah, no problem. Sorry it ended up to be a waste of time," he said as he joined her and they made their way down the stairs together.

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was a waste of time," she said with that same coy grin he had been noticing on her face the whole afternoon.

"What do you mean? You know who wrote the letter?"

"Uh huh," she nodded cheerfully.

Ranma looked startled. "Well then who was it?"

She regarded him carefully for a moment before choosing her words. "If my admirer is too afraid to face me then I'm not going to tell you."

"Heh. Afraid I'm going to get in a fight with him or something?"

She laughed. "Now THAT would be interested."

That caused him to stop in his tracks and he frowned. She stopped walking at the same time looking at him questioningly, especially when he leaned forward and began studying her expression.

"What?" she asked feeling awkward from his scrutiny.

He continued trying to read her for a moment before decidedly smirking. "Feh. You don't know who it is."

She shrugged and started walking again. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Either way I'm not telling you."

"Augh. Okay fine. But tell me this then. When did you figure it out?"

"Well, I had my suspicions all along of who it could be, but I wasn't sure until I met him on the roof."

"So he was there?" She paused not really wanting to answer. "Oh come on, Akane. There were like forty guys there. I'm not going to figure it out that easily."

"Yes," she said hesitantly.

"Okay. But then why did you say none of the handwriting matched."

"Because none of the handwriting did match. The original note was written in a disguised hand, although I did think it looked vaguely familiar."

"You did huh?"

"Uh huh."

"So uh… Now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, now that you know who this guy is and all, what are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "Apparently he doesn't want me to know who he is. So I'm not going to do anything."

"Oh. But if he did come forward what would you do? Would you go out with him or something?"

"Maybe. He'd have to actually ask me first though."

"Oh. Well, hey you never know. Maybe he will."

Her eyes brightened and she smiled up at him. "You think so?"

"Yeah, uh maybe you'll get another note from him or something."

She smiled. "I'd like that." They continued walking in silence for a moment. "There's just one problem though," she finally said.

"What's that?" Ranma asked almost hopefully.

Akane sighed and pulled out the calligraphy pen he had handed to her earlier. "My calligraphy pen is all out of ink now," she mused spinning it around and holding it up, flashing a sticker at him that read 'Property of Akane Tendo.'

He turned as red as his shirt and her smirk only grew wider. "Dang. Leave it to Akane to label her school supplies and ruin everything for me."

"Guess you'll have to borrow someone else's pen next time," Akane taunted before skipping a head, her laughter ringing like music in his ears.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself. "Next time…" he said, a slight grin spreading across his face.

~ * ~ * ~

Author's Note: Just a little piece of fluff. Please let me know what you all think! Reviews make writing worthwhile!