Here's my third Ranma½ fanfic. I hope everyone likes it. So, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma½. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
Time For Change
...
Yes, it was true. Ranma was annoyed. And jealous. And he admitted the fact to himself too.
But he couldn't help but wonder what was annoying him so much today. After all, P-chan always sat in Akane's lap and she fondled him; always.
Well actually, he did know the reason. He loved Akane, that's why! And there was Ryoga, lying on Akane's lap in his cursed form, in pure bliss. Honestly, they were having their dinner right now and Akane still had to pay so much attention to that pig!
Ranma sighed. And then he glanced down at Ryoga who looked up at him with a smug look on his face. Ranma glared at him and raised an eyebrow when he saw Ryoga's reaction. P-chan was actually smirking at him. 'Seriously, that idiot!' thought Ranma.
And then P-chan suddenly realised that Ranma was sitting a bit too close to Akane. And so he jumped up at Ranma and bit him hard on the hand.
"Get off of me!" Ranma shouted, jumping up and shaking his hand violently. "Get off! What did I ever do to you?"
"Ranma!" yelled Akane. "Let go of P-chan!"
"What do you mean by 'let go'?" asked Ranma trying to pull 'P-chan' off. "You should be telling that to your pig!"
"Stop fighting with P-chan!" Akane ordered, standing up angrily. She obviously chose to ignore Ranma's words.
"I'm not the one fighting with him," Ranma reminded.
"Just let go of poor P-chan!" Akane shouted, her battle aura growing.
And then all of a sudden, Ranma snapped.
"STOP SHOUTING AT ME FOR NO REASON!" he yelled. Akane's battle aura vanished instantly.
With one sharp yank, Ranma pulled P-chan off of his hand and bringing his face close to P-chan's, growled in a low voice so that Ryoga was the only one who could hear him, "Cut it out. And if you don't, I swear I'm gonna pour hot water on you right now in front of everyone. I really won't care if Akane kills me after that or not!"
Noticing Ranma's serous tone, P-chan stopped fidgeting immediately and Ranma put him down on the ground.
"And you," Ranma growled at Akane who was looking at him with wide eyes. "Ever since we got back from Jusenkyo after that fight with Saffron, I've been trying so hard to behave better. I've stopped insulting you, I've stopped picking fights with you and I've even stopped comparing your martial arts skills with mine. I'm trying so badly to make our relationship a little friendlier and all you can do is shout at me and yell at me when I didn't even do anything!"
Akane was too shocked to reply. She really wasn't expecting the sudden outburst.
"So you don't even have anything to say for yourself, now do you?" asked Ranma, feeling hurt. "Don't say anything; it's not like you can ever actually say anything nice to me anyway."
Ranma gave one last look at the bemused girl and turning on his heel, walked out of the room.
After digesting what had just happened, Soun said slowly, "That was quite unexpected."
"He didn't even finish his food," Nabiki observed. "He really must be upset."
Akane dropped down on the floor. That certainly was out of the blue. She slowly grabbed her bowl of rice and started eating slowly thinking to herself. Maybe she should apologise to him. Maybe that was the right thing to do.
And for once, P-chan made a smart move; taking note of the tense atmosphere, he quietly left.
...
After some time, Akane was standing outside the guest room, debating on whether she should enter the room or not. She was beginning to realise just how hard apologising actually was. Especially if you don't know what exactly you're apologising for. Well, she did know but she was still confused.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly slid the door open and entered the dark room. And she frowned.
"So he's already asleep," grumbled Akane. She walked over to his sleeping form and kneeling down beside him, observed him fondly. But his handsome features were not the only thing Akane was staring at; his forehead was creased, his face frowning and unhappy. Had her actions really hurt him that much?
'I guess he's right,' thought Akane to herself. 'Ranma has become a lot more friendly and I'm the one who's still yelling at him all the time. And it really wasn't his fault that P-chan attacked him..'
Ranma stirred in his sleep and Akane froze. What if he woke up? What would he think if he caught her staring at him?
But Ranma didn't wake up. He simply turned onto his side and began snoring softly again.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Akane thought to herself, 'It's better to leave now. I'll talk to him in the morning.' With this thought, Akane slowly stood up, quietly left the room and closed the door softly.
Yes, she would talk to him tomorrow.
...
The next morning, Akane woke up and hurriedly got ready for school. Then she ran down to wake up Ranma. Akane slid the door open and scowled at what she saw. Or rather, at what she didn't see.
Ranma wasn't there. Great. It was however quite a surprise that Ranma was already awake. Oh well...
Anyway. Akane hardly noticed the snoring panda and quickly made her was for the breakfast table. Ranma had to be there!
But when she reached her destination, her face fell. Ranma wasn't there either. Just as Akane was about to turn around and leave, Nabiki spoke up, "If you're looking for you fiancé, he already left for school."
Akane's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "H-he what?" she stuttered in shock.
"I know," said Nabiki. "I was as surprised as you are. But what I said is true; Ranma left for school ten minutes ago."
Akane gulped. This was not good! Ranma was really mad at her and it was freaking her out. Usually, she was the one mad at him. But this time, it was just the opposite.
What was happening?
But before Akane could run out of the house, Kasumi said calmly, "Have your breakfast first."
"But Kasumi-"
"No buts Akane," replied the older girl. "Eat your food and then chase after Ranma. After all, he's not going to run away."
Reluctantly, Akane sat down and gulped down her food. Five minutes later, she was speeding down the streets to reach Furinkan High. The whole situation was really weird.
...
Akane was conscious of the strange looks everyone shot at her as she walked down the corridors to her classroom. Some of the students started whispering when they saw her. But then again, she should be used to this by now, shouldn't she?
As Akane approached the classroom, she culdn't help but worry. Kami knew what was in store for her. Ranma never reaches school early. Never! And today, he had reached school even before her. She just hoped everything would be okay.
Finally reaching her destination, she cautiously entered the classroom not knowing what to expect. But as soon her eyes fell upon her fiancé, she stopped dead in her tracks. Ranma had actually put pen to paper. He had an open book in front of him and was scribbling something in his notebook. Akane was sure that he was solving math problems.
She simply stood gaping at him until she felt someone pulling her by the hand. Akane looked up to see Sayuri and Yuka standing in front of her.
"What is it?" Akane asked.
"That's exactly what we want to ask you," said Yuka.
"Tell us the truth," said Sayuri. "What happened? Ranma reached school even before us and now he's studying. Something must have happened and we want to know what."
Akane looked at her two friends and then letting out a sigh, replied, "I don't know. I really don't"
"Oh come on," said Yuka. "You've got to know something."
After a moment's pause Akane started, "Well actually..."
"Go on," urged an exhasperated Sayuri.
"But the whole class is staring at me."
"Of course everyone's staring at you," said Yuka. "Ranma's abnormally normal behavior is freaking out everyone. And we all know that you've got something to do with it."
Akane opened her mouth to reply but closed it when she heard the bell ring; classes were going to begin. Everyone took their seats and until lunch time, nothing interesting happened. Except for the fact that all the teachers were extremely surprised that Ranma Saotome was actually paying attention in class. Now that was something new for a change.
When the bell rang for lunch, Ranma ran out of the class before Akane even had the chance to talk to him. "Honestly," Akane huffed. "But I am not giving up!" she exclaimed and made her way to the roof. Fortunatley, Ranma was where she thought he was. And he was alone. 'Good,' Akane thought to herself and walking up to her favorite martial artist, she sat beside him.
Luckily for Akane, Ranma didn't get up and walk away. But he didn't acknowledge her arrival either; he just sat there eating his lunch as if nothing had happened. The two sat there for a while eating their meals in silence. But on the inside, Akane was growing uncomfortable.
"So," she said slowly trying to break the ice. "Could we talk?"
"Sure," Ranma replied.
"Well, uhm... Arrgh!" Akane exclaimed. "You know what I want to talk about. So tell me what I have to do in order for you to start talking to me again!"
Talk about getting straight to the point.
"Let's see," Ranma said putting on a thoughtful look. "Why don't you apologise to me for your unjust behavior last night?"
"Unjust behavior?" Akane asked.
"You gotta admit that what you did—and usually do—is not fair!" said Ranma. "You always blame me when P-chan attacks me. And he always attacks me. I'm the vicitim, not that pig. You should be scolding your pet instead of yelling at me!"
"Well, I guess you're right..."
"You guess I'm right?" asked Ranma raising an eyebrow.
"OK, OK! Fine! You're right about this. I'm sorry Ranma, I really am. It's just that we're always fighting and it's kind of become a habit to think that you're at fault," Akane said sheepishly.
"And that's exactly what I've been trying to change," Ranma said softly. Akane looked at him and realised that he was right. He really had changed quite a bit after the failed wedding. If she'd cooperate with him, maybe they could solve all their problems. After all, they couldn't run away from their troubles forever. And if Ranma was willing to work things out, then why couldn't she try too?
"Akane?" asked Ranma snapping his fingers in front of her. "You there?"
"Yeah," said Akane coming back to reality. "I was just thinking."
The bell rang and Ranma said, "We'll talk later. Let's go now."
Akane nodded and the two of them went back to the classroom. What surprised Akane was that Ranma was still paying attention to what the teachers were saying. The truth was that, Ranma was actually enjoying classes. He actually found it interesting for once. 'What's wrong, Ranma?' he thought to himslef. 'Not sleeping in class today? I've really changed a bit too much.'
...
School finally got over and Akane and Ranma were soon on their way home. Akane appreciated having Ranma walking beside her. It was true that he had stopped walking on the fence ever since they got back from Jusenkyo but today, she was enjoying his presence all the more. In the morning, without him by her side, she was feeling kind of... empty. But now, everything was okay and back to normal. So there was nothing to worry about.
Well, at least that's what Akane thought.
The two were suddenly surrounded by a flurry of black rose petals and a loud annoying laugh pierced the air. "Oh no," muttered Ranma.
"Akane Tendo, I challenge you to a fight!" said Kodachi jumping in front of them. "If I win, Ranma will be mine. Oh Ranma, today you will be freed from this vile witch! Ah ha ha ha!"
"Look Kodachi, I'm really not in the mood," said Akane tiredly.
Before Kodachi could reply, Ukyo came running shouting, "Ranma honey, I made you my special okonomiyaki!"
"How dare you speak to my Ranma so familiarly!" demanded an enraged Kodachi.
"He's my Ranma," retorted Ukyo. "He's not yours!"
A fierce battle began immediatley with one opponent throwing ribbons and the other a multitude of spatulas. And before Akane and Ranma could even understand what was happening, Shampoo suddenly came on her bicycle and jumping off of it, enveloped Ranma in a strong bear hug. Akane, like always, immediately took out her mallet and brought it down on Ranma.
But this time, things were a little different. Ranma roughly pushed away Shampoo with one hand and effectively stopped the mallet with the other. He narrowed his eyes at Akane and glared at her. Akane squeaked out a, "Sorry. It's become a habit," and let out a nervous laugh.
"You'd better change that habit," he told Akane.
Before Akane could reply, Shampoo shouted, "What violent girl do to Airen?"
"Now what happened?" Akane asked getting annoyed.
"Airen push Shampoo away. You must have do something!"
"I did nothing," Akane defended.
"You didn't feed my Ranma anything, now did you?" Kodachi asked in that annoying high-pitched voice of hers.
"Did you?" asked Ukyo forgetting about her fight with Kodachi.
Akane just shook her head thinking of how simple things could become so complicated. But the other three girls took her silence as a 'yes' and attacked her.
Ranma didn't like to hit girls but this time, he felt that he had no other option. So he snatched the mallet from Akane's hand and with one swift stroke, sent the three girls flying to the other side of Tokyo. Akane stared wide-eyed as the three disappeared from her sight and Ranma shouted, "Stay away from my fiancée!"
Akane sighed. She knew that Ranma loved her; she had heard him say it in Jusenkyo. But he wouldn't admit it. Even then, he was always dropping hints of how he felt. She wished he would just be brave and tell her face-to-face one day.
"My beauteous Akane Tendo, I will surely free you from the wretched Ranma Saotome today and you will be mine!" called out an all-too-familiar voice.
Akane took her mallet from Ranma and with one whack sent Kuno flying. "Honestly," she said exasperated. "Can't anyone leave us in peace?"
"Doesn't seem so," said Ranma looking at the sky. "Nice hit," he remarked.
"Thanks," said Akane.
...
In the evening, Ranma was sparring with Akane in the dojo. Ranma had finally yielded to Akane's multiple requests to train her and now sparred with her quite often. Though what they did couldn't exactly be considered as sparring; Akane continued to fire a number of punches and kicks at Ranma and he easily dodged all of them. But then again, what else could be expected?
Akane was getting really annoyed. She couldn't hit Ranma even once! And Ranma seemed pretty bored. He was only sticking to this to keep her happy.
Akane shot out one last punch and when Ranma dodged that one too, she gave up and stood with her head hung. "Why can't I do this?" she whined.
"No need to be upset, sweetheart," Ranma consoled. "Keep on practicing and you'll get better."
Akane looked up at Ranma and raised an eyebrow. "Sweetheart?" she said in an amazed tone.
"What?" Ranma asked confused.
"You just called me sweetheart."
"I did?"
"You don't even remember that you just called me that?"
Ranma thought a bit and realised what had just happened. Damn his stupid mouth!
Akane saw him turn crimson and with a smile, said, "Ranma, I know how you feel about me. I heard you in Jusenkyo and your behavior says everything. So what are you waiting for? Why can you just say how you feel?"
Ranma looked at the floor to prevent Akane from seeing him turning a deeper shade of red and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Lame excuse, Ranma."
No response.
"Ranma," said Akane. "I know about your feelings, so there's nothing to be embarrased about. Can't you just say those three words I've been waiting to hear for so long?"
Ranma's eyes widened. Did Akane just say that she had been waiting to hear those three words? Did that mean that she returned his feelings? He looked up at her and saw that cute, innocent smile on her face which made his heart melt. And he was suddenly filled with confidence.
"Tell me Ranma," said Akane, her voice barely above a whisper. "You won't regret it."
All of Ranma's fears vanished instantly. "Fine," he said. "Akane, you know that I'm horrible with words and so I'll just say a few words." He took a deep breath and looking straight at her said, "Akane, you're my whole life and I don't know what I'd do without you. I... I... I love you, Akane. I love you."
Akane never felt so happy in her life. Finally, her dream had come true! With a light blush on her cheeks, she walked up to Ranma and he couldn't help but think how cute she was. Akane looked up at Ranma and said softly, "I love you too."
"Y-you do?" he stuttered.
"Of course I do, silly," she said with a laugh. "See, saying 'I love you' wasn't that hard."
"Maybe," Ranma said scratching the back of his head.
The two still preferred to stare at the floor and after an awkward pause, Akane said, "So, I think it's time for dinner. We should go."
"Yeah," Ranma said slowly still contemplating on what had just happened. "Let's go."
Akane walked over to the door with Ranma behind her and opened the door... and her whole family tumbled into the room.
"Were you guys eavesdropping?" Akane asked, her face turning red enough to make a tomato envious.
Instead of answering, Soun and Genma jumped up and started dancing and hugging each other and shouting, "The schools will be joined!"
"Akane, how could you?" asked Happosai. "How could you choose Ranma over me?"
"Congratulations you two," said Kasumi.
"Way to go, sis," said Nabiki holding her tape-recorder. "And I got the whole confession recorded!" she added gleefully. "I'm going to make a lot of money out of this."
Akane was too shocked to say anything. She turned her head to see a very livid Ranma.
"Oh come on!" shouted Ranma. "Can't ANYONE leave us in PEACE?"
Author's notes: Did you guys enjoy the story? I really hope you did. I just hope that the characters weren't too OOC. My idea for this story was that after the incidents in Jusenkyo, Ranma finally realised how he felt about Akane. And since he finally admitted his feelings to himself, that's why he started behaving differently.
Anyway, please review. It truly makes my day.