Alright, I've decided to rewrite this because reading back, my writing from three years ago obviously sucks in my eyes today. If you are one of my former readers, I thank you for actually staying loyal and reading this once more, this time revamped.

I'm not using Japanese words anymore, because I honestly find that annoying now. I'll use suffixes and everything, but that's about it. Sigh, god damn it, I despise my laziness.

Oh, except one. Shinigami means Death God.

Disclaimer: Do not own Ranma 1/2. Could care less if I did. Kanzu is my own creation.

Ranma yawned and stretched out his arms as he gazed at the summer sun daintily sink into the clouds.

He sighed. It had been quite some time since he was asked to do something and unfortunate to him, they finally noticed. Summer made him lazy, though that honestly did not stop him from his daily training. That was part of his life. If he did not have martial arts, he didn't have anything. And he did not want anything, either. Well, besides becoming a full fledged man like he was before, but that wasn't the point.

"Man.." he mumbled, ruffling his thick black hair.

That's right. He didn't need anything else.

"Ranma!"

"Hm?"

Ranma turned around to see Akane jogging towards him, carefully holding a stunningly red and large mug. He could fainly see steam coming out of it.

"Akane?" he asked.

As she finally stood in front of him, she offered the mug to him.

'Her... favorite cup?' he thought.
"Uh.."
"I-it's soup!" Akane said, with a rather excited tone.
"I.. thought you might be hungry after training.. so I.." she continued, her cheeks tinting red, as she gazed at the floor.
"Y-Y-you made this?" Ranma asked, gently taking the mug from her. He couldn't help but fall for her innocent expression.
"Yeah!" She exclaimed, happily.
"Did you get any help from Kasumi?" he asked.
"No, I made it all on my own!" she exclaimed again, this time, almost jumping with joy.

Ranma gazed at the contents inside of the mug. It bubbled and seemed to gaze back at him, as if it had its own eyes, just waiting to eat the insides of him.

'Urgh, what the hell am I thinking.. there's no way..'

Ranma was aghast.

'DID IT JUST BLINK!?'
'Haha.. n-no way..'

He shifted his eyes towards Akane, who was observing his actions.
He sighed, and gazed at it again, this time taking a deep breath before sniffing it. His face quickly changed colors, and he coughed desperately, as if pleading for air.

"Ranma?" Akane asked.
"Don't need it!" he exclaimed, shoving it in her face.
"What?"
"I can't, not that, no way in hell.." he said, still taking in the warm summer air, as if some kind of after smell was left in his nostrils.

Akane's curious expression profusely changed into one that was quite angered.

'Sh-shinigami?' Ranma thought.
"A-akane.. I.."
"What's wrong with it?" Akane asked, trying to retain a calm notion.
"Uh, it.. uh.."
"It smells funny and.."

Ranma frowned and looked away. How long was she going to torture him with her horrible cooking, anyway? He had to tell her the truth, and instead of her striving to get better, perhaps she could just stop and let Kasumi do all the cooking. After all, her cooking was the absolute best.

"I hate it.." he mumbled.
"So.. stop it," he said, again, this time looking into her eyes.
'This is the best way.. I'll get hit, but at least she'll unders-'

In a split second, Ranma felt a jolt of pain on his left cheek as his head swung to the right.
This was different, he thought. Why wasn't he flying through the air? Even as a slap, it felt different.
He quickly grabbed his swollen cheek.

"A-akane.." he mumbled.
"I.."

The sun had almost sunk into the clouds, and the summer air felt suffocating. The sweet smell of summer and the warm breeze had disappeared.
Akane's hair had cast a shadow, covering her eyes. Ranma watched as tear drops fell to the floor.
Akane looked up at him, with tears streaming down her face.

"A-akane!" Ranma exclaimed.
'S-she's crying?'

She quickly snatched the mug from him and swiftly turned around.

"Ranma, you idiot!" she exclaimed.

Ranma felt her tear drops splash on his face as she dashed off.

"Akane.. wait, Akane!" he yelled, reaching his hand out toward her.

As he was just preparing himself to run after her, he felt an impacting blow on his head.

"Nihao, Ranma!"
'Sh-shampoo..' he thought, as he felt flat on the floor.
'Ranma.. you jerk..' Akane thought, still sprinting, with a desire to simply escape.

She was still in tears, accompanied by a heart ache.

'Why.. do you always..'
"Hey, you!"
"H-hey, wait!!"

Unaware of the direction she was headed towards, the sudden voice only made her sprint faster. Before she knew it, she quickly dashed off a bridge, falling into a river.

"Uh.. I kinda told you to wait, you know!" A boy yelled, as he ran over and scratched the back of his head innocently.

Akane's head jolted out of the water, as she gasped for air. She flapped her arms around desperately, in an attempt to support herself.

"Eh?" The boy mumbled, confused.
"H-help!" Akane managed to scream before sinking in once more.

The boy immediately threw off his jacket and dove into the water to rescue her. He managed to take hold of her and bring her back to land.
As he emerged from the water, he began coughing.

"H-hey.." he mumbled, looking at her.

Akane was unconscious. She seemed to have taken in much of the water while trying to support herself.

The boy quickly realized this and putting his lips on hers, he proceeded to give her CPR.
Akane's eyes jolted open, as she came back into reality. She realized what was occuring, and her eyes widened. The boy opened his eyes to see her awake and quickly stopped.

"Are you alright?" he asked, watching as she coughed up water.

She eventually managed to catch her breath. The boy noticed that she was blushing.

"Uh.. sorry. I had to do that to, you know, save your life? Haha!" he exclaimed, innocently, scratching the back of his head once more.
"T-thank you so much! I was so scared!" Akane yelled, as she pushed herself on top of him, embracing the stranger.
"Uh..?"

Akane suddenly realized what she was doing. Embracing a total stranger. But she did owe him her life, but it was still awkward. She quickly got herself together and turned around, trying to hide her embarrased face.
The boy chuckled.

"No problem," he said, smiling, though she did not see it.
"So.. what's your name?" he asked.
"Eh?" Akane mumbled, turning her head to look at him.
"Eh..AH! S-sorry.. D-don't get the wrong idea, if you don't want to tell me, then that's fine, I was just wonde-" he was cut off.
"Akane. Tendo Akane!" she exclaimed.

He paused and gazed at her. She gazed right back at him. After an uneasy silence, they both broke out in laughter.

"Akane-chan, huh?" he asked.

He got up and walked over to where he threw his jacket.

"That's an interesting name! Kinda cute, if you think about it!" he exclaimed, smiling brightly, as her wrapped his jacket around her.

Akane blushed.

"T-thanks.." she mumbled.
"It was nice to meet you, Akane-chan.. make sure you hurry home and take a shower. You don't want to catch a cold!"

Akane felt his warm smile pierce her heart.

"I'll be on my way, then!" he said, patting her head.
"Next time you're running, be sure to keep your eyes open!" he jokingly remarked.

He winked at her and quickly ran off. Akane stared at his back, his dark red shirt which stuck to his back from the water. Now that she saw, he had a nice figured. She gazed at him until he disappeared into the sunset.
She took a deep breath and got up.

'I guess I'd better head home..' she thought.

Akane slowly slid the door open to the Tendo household.

"I'm home!" she yelled, as she quickly slipped off her wet shoes and dashed upstairs. She did not want anyone to see her, especially Ranma.

She quickly headed to her room and shut the door, locking it. She gently took off the warm jacket that was wrapped around her and took a good look at it.
She sighed.

"I was gazing at the floor so much that I didn't even get a good look at his face.." she mumbled.

It was strange. She felt so safe with him. She felt so different when she awoke to find him gently pressing his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and blushed. And then she suddenly realized what she was thinking.

"W-what the hell am I thinking!?" she exclaimed, slapping her hands on her cheeks, signifying herself to 'snap out of it.'

She had just met that boy today, what WAS she thinking? Besides, she didn't even know his name. Perhaps it was his warm smile that captured her heart so dearly.

'H-he was just giving me CPR, it's only natural!' she convinced herself.

After taking a long hot bath, she laid down on her soft bed. She stared at the jacket that was hanging on the doorknob of her closet.
With no thought of Ranma in her mind, she closed her eyes and pictured the boy from earlier. She wondered if she'd ever meet him again. There were many things she wanted to find out about him. She wanted to get to know him, to understand him. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

Ranma supported himself with a large stick. He had scratches all over his body, and his clothes were torn to shreds. From the looks of it, he was obviously attacked by many, many cats.

"Damn that Shampoo and her stupid cat raid.. just because I mentioned Akane so many times.." he groaned.

He looked up at the starlit sky and sighed.

'I hope Akane is home..' he thought.
"Damn, I'm starving.."

He threw away the stick and slid the door open to the Tendo household.

"I'm home!" he yelled, and walked into the dining room.

"Hm? Where's Akane?" he asked, looking around.
"She's in her room, her door is locked.." Nabiki mumbled, staring suspiciously at Ranma.
"W-what?" he asked.
"Boy! Did you get into another fight?" Genma asked, rather angry.
"Son.. go apologize to her now. I heard from Kasumi what happened.." Soun continued, coming into the scene.
"That's right, Ranma-kun.. Akane-chan tried her best, you know?" Kasumi also stated.

Ranma sighed.

"Guess I've got no choice.." he grumbled, grabbing her dinner which was secured in a tray from the table.

He walked outside and looked up at the tall tree. He leaped up on top of it with ease and hopped to Akane's window, opening it quietly. He jumped in.

"Eh? She's asleep.." he mumbled.

He gazed at her sleeping face for a while and smiled.
He placed her dinner on her desk and hopped up on top of the window still again. Before he could leap on the tree, he noticed the jacket which was seemed to beam with pride.
He frowned and gazed at it suspiciously before leaving.

...

Akane slowly opened her eyes and yawned. She rose from bed and looked at the jacket once more. She smiled and then noticed the food which was placed on her desk.

'Ranma?' she thought.

He was the only one that could have-

"Hmm?" she noticed a small piece of paper next to the rice bowl.

She unfolded it and read it.

'I'm sorry, Akane..'

Her eyes widened.
She slowly brought the small piece of paper to her chest and smiled.

She picked up the bowl and began to eat her dinner. As she was eating, she stared again at the jacket and recalled the boy who saved her life.

AHHHHH! WHY DO REWRITES TAKE SO LONG!? I feel like I'm doing a crappy job because I'm using a crappy 3 year old chapter as a reference. Oh well.