A/N: I do not own Ranma ½, I am using the characters for FAN purposes only. This is a fanfic made by fans, for fans.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A Bite of Sorrow
Fanfiction by Kaywi
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Akane placed one foot into the filled bathtub and then the other, letting the warm water envelop her flesh. She sighed with contentment and leaned back, while closing her eyes. It had been a while since she had been able to fully relax. Her life was full of problems. Problems that most teenage girls didn't have to deal with. However, she had learned to cope with most of them.
Most of them. Not all. One of her biggest problems was her fiancée, Ranma Saotome. Ranma and Akane had been engaged forcedly by their meddling parents and were to someday be wed. In the beginning, Akane and Ranma had a clear distaste for one another, always bickering and fighting. However, Akane had really gotten used to Ranma being around and secretly… she had fallen for him.
But, Akane wasn't the only one who loved Ranma. Ranma was quite the ladies man. He had not one, but three fiancées that wished to someday marry him. One was Shampoo, a beautiful Amazon who was engaged to Ranma due to the Amazon law. She spoke broken Japanese and was always glomping onto Ranma whenever she had the chance. That really made Akane's blood boil.
The next fiancée was the feisty Ukyo Kuonji. Ukyo had been Ranma's friend for over ten years and Genma had engaged Ranma to her in exchange for her fathers' Okonomiyaki cart. Ukyo carried a giant spatula around and had a strong relationship with Ranma, one that Akane could never be apart of.
Akane's thoughts were interrupted by Ranma's scream.
"Oh no you don't, P-Chan! Don't you dare go peek on Akane while she's taking a bath!"
Akane rolled her eyes. There he went again, arguing with her pet pig.
P-Chan slid into the bathroom and slipped through the open window. Ranma ran right behind the little pig and flung into the bathroom.
"Where are you, ya little pest?!" he shouted.
"Ranma!" Akane shouted from inside the bathtub. "What are you doing?!"
Ranma looked at Akane and his face turned cherry red. "A-Akane… look… it I-isn't wh-what it seems…"
"Pervert!" she shouted and whipped a shampoo bottle at his head. "Get out!"
Akane began throwing everything in sight: shampoo and conditioner bottles, soaps, body lotions, etc. Ranma jumped up, "Who would wanna look at your fat body, anyway?!" he shouted and ran out the bathroom.
Akane stopped throwing the toiletries. She blinked a few times and then sank back into the tub. Her thoughts ran wild. Tears filled her eyes.
What is this… the hundreth time he's called me fat? she thought. Why does he always say that to me?!
Build like a brick, thighs are too thick, can't even kick, stupid tomboy! flooded through her mind.
Akane looked down at her body. Shampoo and Ukyo had killer figures. Both with big chests, wide hips and slim waists. Akane could never measure up. She poked her thigh with one finger. Was she really… fat? Was this the reason why Ranma didn't love her?
Akane clenched her fists. She was a martial artist, dammit! How would it look for a martial artist to be fat? Akane silently vowed to herself that she would loose weight, one way or another!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Akane, time for dinner!" Kasumi shouted up to Akane's room. Akane silently walked downstairs and into the living room.
"Took ya long enough," Ranma said. "We're all starving!"
Nabiki shot him a glare. "Some of us…" she mumbled.
Kasumi served Ranma his usual double-portion and then gave Genma the same. When she finished serving her father and the guests, she began putting some food for Akane.
Akane quickly glanced down at the food. There was rice, meat buns, soba and some steamed vegetables. The food was probably loaded with calories.
"Um, Kasumi, I'm actually not really hungry…" Akane fibbed. The truth was, she was starving. "I'm really tired… I'll just go to bed."
"Are you sure, Akane?" Kasumi said and handed the bowl to Nabiki instead. "I don't think you should sleep on an empty stomach."
"I'll be fine," she smiled. "Thank you, anyway. The food smells really good." Akane stood from her place. "Enjoy your meal, everyone." she said and made her way up the stairs, into her room.
Ranma blinked mid-mouthful and turned his head to glance at the girl who walked up the stairs. It wasn't like her to skip a meal. He shook his head. It was probably nothing…
Akane walked up the stairs and ignored her grumbling stomach. She collapsed onto her bed and shared a secret smile.
Soon, I'll have the perfect figure, she thought.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For two weeks, the exact same schedule would occur. Akane would double her jogging time in the morning and go straight to school, without breakfast. She would be silent the whole way there. At lunch, she would eat exactly two celery stalks and a peach. Whenever her friends would ask, Akane would just say she had a big breakfast.
At dinner time, Akane would barley eat anything. She would allow Kasumi to fill her plate, but Akane would just push the food around and quietly work half her food onto Genma's plate. The unorthodox old man would never notice, due to him gulping down his food as quickly as possible. Then, Akane would muster all the energy possible and exercise her martial arts vigorously until she was exhausted. Then, she would go to bed, completely wiped out.
However, as the days wore on, Akane was so weak that she could barley finish half of her normal morning jog. She would skip practicing the art at night and just doze off. She became weaker and weaker each day.
On the twelfth, Ranma watched Akane curiously as they walked to school, silently. She had lost weight. A lot of weight. Akane would avoid any conversation concerning food and was having trouble keeping up in gym class, a class she was usually the best at. Also, Ranma noticed her grades were slipping and dark circles were beginning to form beneath her eyes. Her normally beautiful, slenderly full figure, shiny blue-black hair and radiant, flawless skin was now the opposite.
Ranma was worried. He really cared for the girl. More than she would ever know. He lo-lo-loved her. It killed him to see what was happening to her and he couldn't put his finger on why.
As the school day dragged on, Ranma noticed Akane ate even less at lunch. She had now reduced her food to one celery stalk and half an apple. In gym class, the class was to perform a running test. Everyone was to complete a two kilometer run and return to the starting line. This was usually nothing to Akane. However, everyone had finished and Akane was still at the one kilometer mark. The class urged her to keep running. She pushed herself a little harder and then her head began to spin. Her legs became slower and slower. Akane pushed herself even harder and she collapsed, falling onto the school track.
"Akane!" Ranma shouted from the starting line and ran to the girl's side. "Akane?!" he whispered and placed a hand on her cheek. She didn't move.
"Ranma, take Akane to the nurses office, quick!" Ms. Hinako shouted at Ranma. Ranma did what he was told and picked Akane up, bridal style, and carried her into the school.
After three hours, Akane awoke silently. She glanced weakly beside her and saw Ranma sitting there, patiently.
"Ranma…?" she whispered and he flung to her side.
"Akane!" he said loudly. "Are you okay?"
"Yes… I'm fine…" she mumbled and looked at the clock. It read 5:00 pm. "Oh my goodness… how long have I been asleep?"
"Three hours, I think…" Ranma replied.
"And you've been here… all this time?" she whispered.
"Yes." Ranma said firmly. "Akane, what happened to you back there?!"
"I'm not sure…"
"Akane…" he took a deep breath, trying to contain his anger. "I think… I think you do know."
Akane didn't speak.
"I've been watching you, Akane… I see… I see how you're not eating… and…"
"Ranma!" Akane said, her eyes widening. "I am eating!"
"You call celery and an apple eating?!" he shouted at her. "I see how you skip breakfast and push your food around at dinner time. I've even seen you give your food to my pop! Are you an idiot?!"
Ranma's words stung Akane. Her anger rose and she smirked. "Well, look at my figure now. I'm more cute now, aren't I?"
"What?" Ranma spat. "You… you call what you're doing to yourself… cute?!" he shouted.
Akane turned her head away, not looking at him. Ranma grabbed her chin and pulled her forcedly to look at him.
"Akane, do you not understand? Look at you… you're… you're anorexic."
Tears flooded into Akane's eyes. She had gone to such hard work to please him and now it just turned him off more. It was useless. He would never love her.
"Just leave me alone!" she shouted and jumped up from the bed. Ranma let Akane run for a minute and he caught up with her in less than five seconds.
"You see, Akane? See how weak and slow you are now?!" he eyes blazing with anger. He grabbed her by the waist and made her stop.
"Let go of me!" she shouted and pounded on his arm. Her punched felt like a baby's kick to Ranma.
"No!" he said with finality. "Not until you tell me why you did this to yourself!"
Akane turned her head away from him, blinking back tears. Did he really want to know?
"Akane," Ranma whispered gently. "Tell me…"
"Ranma…" she gasped, her tears finally falling down her cheeks. "Fine, I'll tell you!" she said, her eyes flaming with anger. "I did it… for you!"
"W-what?" Ranma whispered, taken aback by what she just said.
"You heard me! You can't…" her voice began strong but then went weak again. "You can't call me fat anymore, now can you?"
Ranma stepped back, shocked by what Akane had just said. "A-A-Akane…? You starved yourself… so… so I would stop insulting you?" he said, his voice barley above a whisper.
Akane didn't answer.
"How could… how could you be… so… so…"
"Don't say it, Ranma!" Akane said, gasping through tears. "Please! I just… wanted to please you! I'm sorry I'm not as beautiful as the other girls, okay… I'm sorry I'm not as good a cook as them, or as slim as them… I'm sorry…"
"Akane…" Ranma said, her name a gentle caress on his lips. He took a step forward, hesitantly.
" You're wrong…"
Akane held her breath. "R-Ranma…"
He took another step forward, his lips an inch away from hers. Akane closed her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to do. He tilted his head and a second before he pressed his lips against hers, he uttered a small yet solid "I love you."
Akane's eyes shot open and Ranma's lips descended on hers. Akane then closed her eyes in utter love and kissed him back. After half a minute, they released their lips, gasping for breath.
Ranma grabbed Akane into an embrace. "Akane, I'm… I'm sorry… I know I'm awkward with words… I don't mean to insult you… really… I don't mean half of what I say…" tears were now beginning to form in his eyes.
"It's okay, Ranma." Akane smiled against his chest. "I love you, too."
"Really?" Ranma said with a giant grin, his eyes glassy. "You… you love me?"
"Yes, dummy." Akane laughed and pushed against his chest lightly.
"This calls for a celebration! You in for ice cream?"
Akane smiled. "I'd like that…" Akane had been craving ice cream for days. It was her absolute favorite treat. Before she began dieting, Akane would eat it almost every day.
"Double chocolate?" Ranma asked.
"Of course." Akane said and grasped his hand. They walked towards the local ice cream parlor, hand in hand. As they licked their ice cream cones, Akane could've sworn double chocolate ice cream tasted just a little better when she ate it with Ranma.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: Ick. I know, it's not too good, but I needed to put something up. It's a little short and there's many mistakes in it, but I'm surprised no one did a Fanfiction on this yet. Especially since it's popular in the world today. So, anyway, R & R please.