Prom

by Miss Starfire

Set after the end of the manga. Ranma and Akane return to their lives in Nerima only to find out how much their old habits have changed. When an announcement is made regarding an upcoming school dance in Furinkan High, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Happy Prom Day, everyone!

A/N: Yes, the idea is cliché, and has been done a million times, I'm sure, but my mind is coming down from the drama of Fix You and I needed an outlet in between business start-up prep. Can you blame me? Oh! I don't own Ranma 1/2 and don't make any money out of this story.

There are a few assumptions that you should know as I used them to write this story. The first one deals with information found in Episode 23 of Season 4 where (according to the Japanese sub) it is stated that Ranma and Genma have been living with the Tendo for two years. I found it surprising that after two years, Nabiki hasn't finished HS, and that Ranma and Akane aren't seniors, so I decided use this as a basis for this story.

Also, in this story, the Phoenix Saga (the end of the manga) has already taken place about a year before this story begins. BTW, I've got no idea how dances work in Japan, so I'm assuming they are not as life-altering as the ones here in the US. What? You think they're not? I used to be a HS teacher…I KNOW WHAT PROMS CAN DO THE KIDDOS! :P

Now that this is cleared up, let the mayhem begin!

Warning: Slight OOC for some characters. This fic is for Kikko (and anyone who likes romance, really) to whom I owe some love scenes between Ranma and Akane. Yet, now that I think about it, after the drama of the WAT trilogy, I probably owe a LOT of people some Akane/Ranma romance, uh?

A/N 2.0: So, it turns out that character inner dialogue (thoughts) is supposed to be described using italics only, and no quotes. That's going to a habit difficult to rid from me! I hope this change doesn't throw you off too much.

A/N 3.0: I actually began writing this story right after I finished Fix You, but then got caught with the wonder of Iron Man 3 and wrote a story for that franchise. If you liked IM3, I suggest you give my story a read. It's titled Shadows of the Past. I know I haven't updated Behind the Scenes, and I haven't forgotten about it. I just go so many things going on right now; I'm thinking I need to come up with a schedule ;) I hope this story doesn't disappoint.

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Prom

MONDAY

With the return of his presence little over a year ago, the principal of Furinkan High had brought with him many western traditions to the school, many of which had been readily accepted by the large majority of the student body –with the exception of the haircuts, of course. His latest gig, however, had left Akane Tendo begging for the opportunity to transfer to another school to finish her last year of high school. It wasn't that she did not enjoy social engagements per se, and she definitely loved to dance, but the fact that every soul on campus was nothing less than obsessed with the upcoming prom, as if they had never before heard of a dance, made her feel sick to her stomach.

Especially so, when every five minutes since the announcement of the forthcoming dance had been made, the voluptuous Amazon, the eternally high-on-crack gymnast, and the okonomiyaki chef had clung onto Ranma, demanding he decided which one of them he was taking to the dance, which was, coincidentally, what they found themselves doing at the moment by the classroom's entrance as Akane watched from her desk.

"The decision is rather easy, Ranma-dear! Why would you take these peasants with you to a commemoration of your year as an upperclassman?" Kodachi had asked, followed by the nails-striking-on-chalkboard noise that she called laughter.

"Ran-chan! Are you going to betray your childhood friend? The honor of my family depends on us attending the prom together!"

"Aiya! Spatula girl too too ugly to go to dance with Ranma. Shampoo is best choice!"

"Ugh! I already told you all I ain't going to the stupid dance! Leave me alone!" Ranma told them, hoping they would desist their unwelcomed advances on him but knowing that they would continue their bout no matter what he said. Just as before, however, the school bell had saved Ranma from his predicament, allowing him to speedily run inside the classroom, and unceremoniously dropping his body onto his student desk, which, as of late, happened to be the seat next to Akane's. He stole a quick glance at her from the corner of his eye just to make sure she did not look upset at the scene, sighing loudly at his misfortune that onlookers would call it quite the opposite.

Why won't they leave me alone? Isn't obvious I've made my decision? He wondered, knowing that the other fiancées would not take the hint that they were not welcomed in his life anymore, and that since the events that transpired in China, Akane had become the only one on his mind and his heart. There were no more games for him to play with the other fiancées for his own personal gain. He was done horsing around, and he was done planting the seed of hope on the other girls. Yet, nothing he did since the failed wedding had deterred the girls from increasing their efforts. It seemed that at some level, the three other girls suspected that Akane had beaten them all for some time now, but neither of them wanted to accept their defeat just yet.

Regardless of his tough talk and actions to make them see the reality of his commitment to Akane, he blamed the lack of success on his efforts to set the record straight to his inability to live with knowing the pain Ukyo would go through with such an announcement; especially since Akane and Ukyo got along pretty well when he was not involved. On the other hand, it would also rid him of Shampoo and Kodachi, whom he did not care if they were hurt. Sincerely speaking, he could not wait for the Amazons to pack up their shit and go home, and for the gymnast to finally get a clue.

When Ranma had first met Akane in the Tendo's home –more than two years ago, Ranma had not made any efforts to show any interest in associating with the unofficial tomboy of Furinkan High other than walking with her to and from school every day. However, little by little the most violent of his fiancées began burying herself in his soul, slowly taking over every fiber of his being until there was no doubt in his mind he had fallen in love with her. He had not planned it at all, and now he could not fathom the idea of walking away from her life.

His fortified attachment to the blue-haired girl had not gone unnoticed by parties other than the defeated fiancées. Since their return from China after defeating Saffron, Akane had noticed an increase in his protectiveness over her, which translated to seeing more of him around –a fact she did not mind while he was not acting overzealous, which he was guilty of, some times.

His actions and words gave her the notion that he felt responsible for her disturbing experience as a dried-up doll, igniting in him a need of owning up to the past by being around her as much as he could, thus protecting her from the cruel world surrounding them. In turn, Akane had tried to make it clear to him that he had no fault regarding her experience, and that she had consciously placed herself in the path of danger to help him. She had tried a million ways to free him of his burden, and so far…

So far, not good.

She remembered a recent conversation between them, and as heated as it had been, it had shown to Akane how much Ranma had truly changed after her incident in Jusenkyo.

"Dammit, Akane! You can't just leave the house without telling me! What if something happens to you?" Ranma said as soon as Akane walked inside the front door after an impromptu ice cream outing with her friends. She had not even taken off her shoes, and Ranma was already all over her, fuming over her unscheduled escapade.

"Uh, Ranma?" she began, knowing where the conversation was headed, taking off her shoes and placing them at the entrance of the home. "I think I'm old enough to walk in the streets in the middle of the day all by myself and be alright."

"Baka! I didn't say you couldn't. I just said you have to tell me every time you go out."

Akane frowned at him, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath to calm her anger. Ranma's expression did not change with Akane's attempt at self-control; his hands remained on his hips, frowning like she had never seen him before. Neither of them minded the familiar floating heads peeking out to the hall from the living room.

"Ranma, I just…"

"You just what? You thought you're strong enough to take on ruthless enemies?"

"Enemies? What are you talking about? What enemies?"

"I don't know! ANYONE! I don't care if you feel your brute strength can keep you safe! You're telling me where you're going and how long you will be out EVERY TIME you go out, from now on. Got it?"

The quiet bystanders flinched at his demanding tone, shaking their heads knowing what was to come. To avoid the second half of the argument, the family members walked out of the home to the back patio, closing the doors behind them and began discussing the lovely weather outdoors.

After Akane heard the patio doors close, she stomped her foot on the floor, then taking small steps closer to Ranma as she spoke.

"I don't see why it should be a condition of ME going out that YOU know where I am at all times. I've been fine without you for 16 years, Ranma! Any trouble I come across is usually YOUR fault, anyway. So, if you really wanted to make sure I'm alright, maybe you should just leave and take your fiancées and rivals with you."

Ranma's anger dissipated the instant her words hit his ears. His mouth hung slightly before he closed it to swallow hard. His head hung low and his hands slid down from his hips. His shoulders slumped as he open his mouth but no words came out, unable to deny the claim, she knew. Akane mentally slapped herself for what she had said; she had not meant to imply Ranma was not welcomed in her life and home.

She had expected, however, for Ranma to yell back to her something as hurtful as what she had said, followed by him slamming the door on his way out, but he did neither of those things. Instead, he just stared at the floor as a child that has been caught lying to his parents and now has to face the ugly consequences.

Akane sighed, walking even closer to an unmoving Ranma, and placed her hands on his shoulders to keep him from moving. He did not fight her but kept his head down.

"Ranma, I'm sorry. It didn't come out right. I just…I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry about me."

Ranma chanced a glance at her before looking at anything around him but her.

"I knew this was my fault –the danger I put you through. I knew you believed it, too, but…but, it just sounds worse when you say it out loud."

"I know, I know. But, you don't expect to spend the rest of your life watching over my back, don't you?"

Ranma finally met her eyes, and Akane knew immediately he did expect to spend eternity looking after her. Akane shook her head, allowing her arms to circle his shoulders, pressing her body to his. Ranma hesitated for a second but eventually responded to her by surrounding her waist with his arms, and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"If that's what it takes to keep you with me, Akane, I'll do it."

Akane sighed, slowly growing accustomed to moments like this between them but knowing she had to set some boundaries or they would both quickly tire of whatever relationship was growing between them.

"I don't stay with you because you keep me safe; I stay because I want to."

At her response, Ranma's embrace tightened on her. The two remained in the other's arms for a while longer, silently enjoying a moment they rarely had the chance to enjoy without interruptions. Before the moment grew awkward between them, Akane slightly pulled back from him, kissing Ranma on the cheek on her way back to face him. Ranma's eyes widened for a second at her touch, but they quickly returned to their normal size.

"I'm sorry you didn't know I left, but sometimes I'll just need some time alone, is that OK?"

Ranma nodded to her. This exchange marked the last argument they ever had regarding Akane disappearing on him, and so far the paranoia had greatly diminished since then.

Akane turned to her right to face Ranma, who was sighing in relief at being freed from his relentless groupie. She and Ranma had not spoken about attending the dance together, but after hearing he did not intend to attend at all, Akane's curiosity could now rest in peace.

"Oh, honestly, Ranma! Why don't just you pick one of them and get it over with, uh?"

Ranma shook his head vigorously at the suggestion, leaning closer to Akane to be able to whisper to her, away from Ukyo's attentive ears.

"Are you crazy? I might as well sign my will!"

Akane scoffed, leaning closer to Ranma herself.

"Think about it, Ranma," the Tendo girl began as she unconsciously fixed Ranma's collar that had been folded out of shape by the needy wives-to-be. The gesture was not lost to the pigtailed boy as he leaned even closer to the girl to allow her better access to him to complete her self-appointed task.

"If you choose one, then the other two are gonna want to get rid of her. By the time the dance comes around this weekend, they'll be too tired to go."

Ranma blinked twice, realizing the logic of Akane's plan as she patted his shoulders twice to signify she was done fixing his collar. Her recommendation made sense to him in a sick kind of way, and if the twist he had just suddenly thought about worked, he would be rid of the raging fans for the next few days.

"Thanks, Akane! You just gave me an idea!"

Akane smiled at him. "Glad I could help," she said as they both pulled back to their respective seats.

The sensei finally arrived to the classroom, making the other students return to their seats and begin paying attention to class. Well, at least pretending to pay attention as it was the case with Ranma. He was furiously scribbling on a piece of paper that Akane highly doubted were class notes. Dismissing her fiancée's inability to take his studies seriously, she decided to ignore the blatant signs that he was paying attention to everything except the lecture happening at the front.

xxxXXXxxx

Lunch time found Akane and her friends sitting under their favorite shady tree, chatting about the hot topic in school. Akane was tired of listening to the same conversation over and over again for a month now, and had resigned herself to just nod along with her friends' discussion about how difficult it had been for them to find the perfect dress, how their dates had sweetly and/or romantically asked them to the dance, and how glorious the entire event was promising to be.

"Can you believe it?" Yuka began, "I heard a rumor that there will be a King and Queen Competition during the dance, but that the teachers don't want us to know because it's supposed to be a surprise!"

"I heard that, too!" Sayuri said. "But, I also heard it from the person that said that the DJ for the dance was going to be Gosunkugi, so I'm not sure how reliable the source is."

"Gosunkugi? A DJ? That's impossible! I don't think he even has a date yet!" the other girl responded with a chuckle.

Akane tuned out the meaningless chitchat happening next to her, thinking about her own involvement in the dance affair. The closer the date of the dance was becoming, the more requests for her company from the male population of the school had piled up at her feet. She had, politely of course, declined every single one of them; especially the one that had come from Tatewaki Kuno all the way from Tokyo University.

He graduated last year, for kami's sake! Why does he keep coming back?

"Akane? Hello, Akane? Are you listening?"

Akane's head snapped to face her friends as they stared at her as if she had grown a third eye. Akane gave them an apologetic smile, scratching the top of her head.

"Gomen ne, my mind was somewhere else."

"I bet it was," Sayuri said with a tone Akane was not sure she was supposed to like.

"Yeah, I'm sure you were probably thinking of how Ranma asked you to the dance, uh? Or how hot he's gonna look in a tuxedo."

Akane thought about the prospect of seeing Ranma in a tuxedo once again, but shook her head to clear the evocative image from her mind. "Ranma hasn't asked me to the dance. He's not even going."

The look of awkwardness coming from her friends would have floored her in embarrassment for several days just a year ago, but after silently calling a truce between her and Ranma, she had learned to ignore the comments of others regarding how unusual or doomed-prone their relationship appeared to be. Such comments did not hurt Akane anymore; Ranma was just Ranma, and the chaos and long line of fiancées just came with the betrothed deal.

"Oh, Akane! I'm so sorry. Are you coming to the dance, at all?"

Akane nodded. "I'm thinking about it. I might stop by for a while to see what the big deal is."

"You don't seem excited about it…or convinced? Is everything OK, Akane? Did Ranma turn you down?"

Akane chuckled. "No, Ranma did not turn me down because I didn't ask him. He doesn't like dancing, anyway, and, if he ended up wanting to go, he has other options, right?"

"Akane, I can't believe how calm you are about this. Don't you care that the other girls may take your fiancée to your only American-style prom?"

Akane thought about it for a second. If their failed wedding was any indication, chaos would ensure during prom whether Ranma showed up with any or even none of his fiancées. Trouble just seemed to follow him everywhere he went, especially when it involved ruining other people's lives. It did not matter that the prom was a special occasion for many students; the three crazy fiancées would not give a rat's ass about it and would ruin the party for everyone. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself not to attend after all.

"Not really. I can't imagine enjoying myself there anyway, being attacked by those girls."

Yuka and Sayuri both felt uncomfortable talking about the dance with Akane after their brief conversation just now. Thankfully, the end of the lunch arrived, and the three of them returned to their classroom, but not without giving Akane condescending looks as she walked ahead of them. Akane could feel their stares behind her back, but she knew neither of them would ever understand the meaningful relationship that had blossomed between her and Ranma in the past few months.

Yup, it's best for them that neither of us attends this dance. I don't want to be the cause of ruining their fun.

xxxXXXxxx

"And for homework, read chapters 7 to 10. There will be a test of their content tomorrow," the sensei said, inciting a chorus of disappointing groans coming from the students. The bell dismissed the school day for everyone, and as always –read recently, Ranma waited for Akane by the classroom door as she carefully placed her school items inside her bag. Ranma never cared for such orderly fashion, always resorting to haphazardly throwing papers and other school supplies inside his bag, but he understood Akane liked the structure. Once his fiancée finished her task and reached the exit, Ranma casually linked her hand in his as they walked down the stairs and out the building, nonchalantly talking about the events of the school day.

The small physical gesture was not uncommon between them as of late, but neither of them had made any special mention of it to the other, nor had they questioned the motivation behind it. Deep inside them, however, the implications of the gesture were not lost to them.

As they headed to the exit of the school, both teenagers ignored the curious looks of the bystanders, already knowing the kinds of comments that were being said about them. As long as neither of them had to listen to their meaningless gossip, they could say whatever they wanted behind their backs. With Nabiki gone due to her graduation from Furinkan, the ludicrousness of any chatter regarding them had diminished significantly, so they had stopped worrying about hiding details of their lives from the middle Tendo girl. At the end of the day, they went home together in peace, which was nothing short than a miracle considering the daily drama that surrounded them, and this fact was what truly mattered to them in the end.

The exit of the school grounds and its implied freedom was a mere feet away from them when an upperclassman that Ranma identified as Hideki Shindo approached them both. Hideki made a point of standing in their way, particularly Akane's, triggering in Ranma a danger alert. He felt Akane's tension rise when she held onto his hand with a little more force than needed to keep him around; completely unaware, it seemed, of the fact that Ranma had no intention of leaving her behind.

When Hideki did nothing more than stare down at her as a piece of meat, she lowered her head to avoid his gaze, pulling Ranma around the man and allowing the pigtailed martial artist to glare at the guy as he walked away. Speaking their thoughts with nothing more than their eyes, Ranma turned back to give Hideki a last silent warning before returning his attention to his fiancée. Akane's reaction had surprised Ranma, since she had never shown any true sign of fear or cowardice to any of the guys at school, worrying him that something had occurred to her in the very few occasions he was not around her during school hours.

After walking in silence for a while, and seeing they were almost halfway home, Ranma clenched twice the hand that still held to hers in order to grab her attention. She immediately responded by looking to her right and catching Ranma giving her a questioning look.

"What?"

"Is everything OK, Akane?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" she asked, avoiding his look by directing her eyes to the front of the road.

Ranma's head instinctively looked behind him in the direction of the school as he remembered the actions taken by Hideki, attempting to read their cause or meaning. Truth be told, the man had never been a threat or bother to anyone until this year. Hideki had been a normal student who happened to be overweight all of his life, making him the butt end of many jokes for several years. Last summer, however, he had undergone bypass surgery and an intense dieting regimen, turning him into a well-built and charming-looking guy. His attitude, unfortunately, had changed along with his physical form, and he had earned a reputation of a player, disposing of girls every week as if they were nothing more than toys.

"Has Hideki been bothering you?"

"Nothing I can't handle myself, Ranma."

Ranma frowned at her response. He knew she could handle herself, and the man was no Tatewaki Kuno or Ryouga Hibiki in strength, but it was his sleaziness that bothered Ranma the most. Even if he knew there was an unspoken understanding that he and Akane were closer than before, he still feared that his inability to make it official to her and everyone would one day bite him in the ass, and Akane would walk away from him with the first chump who had the balls to declare their love for her. Then again, she had not eloped with Ryouga yet, so maybe he still had time to get it together.

"Is he trying to get you to go to the dance with him?"

He and fifty others, she mused, but saved the comment to herself. She knew Ranma was always worried that he was not good enough for her, and his huge ego did not make it any easier on the poor man. Despite the bad times they had had in the past due to their jealousy, Akane had finally understood that Ranma needed some reassurance every now and then, just as much as she needed it from him from time to time.

"He asked me out a few times, but I guess you know what I told him," she answered him, hoping the message was clear to him that she was not interested in Hideki.

"Do you want me to have a chat with him?"

Akane shook her head in response. She knew exactly what a chat truly meant to Ranma; it did not imply any exchange of polite words whatsoever. To Ranma, a chat meant grabbing the guy by the collar, slamming his ass on the wall, placing his fist close to his face in a threatening manner, and telling the poor soul to stay away from her. The love-struck girl within her made her feel somewhat special and cared for with the intent of the unnecessary action from her fiancée, but the sane part of her told her Ranma would do that for any girl he considered his friend.

"Nah! The prom is almost here, anyway. He'll leave me alone after it," Akane reasoned with him, knowing the long-awaited prom was taking place this upcoming weekend. She only had to survive five more days of drama, and after Saturday, the small world at Furinkan High would return to its normal state.

"I guess so, but if he doesn't, Akane, just say the word."

Akane could not help to feel moved by Ranma's determination to defend her honor, or whatever he thought he was defending by beating the unsuspecting guy to a pulp. To demonstrate her appreciation for his willingness to stand up for her, she leaned closer to him, hugging his left arm with both of her own, pressing the right side of her body ever so slightly against his. The gesture was quick, but it left Ranma's heart beating out of his chest. He cleared his throat to signify the change of subject, and the regaining of his coolness after Akane's ability to melt his heart.

"So, Akane. I did what you told me and, man, did IT work!"

Akane furrowed her brows for a second as she recalled what advice she had given him, and when she remembered his issue with his other fiancées, she chuckled.

"Really? What did you do, after all?"

"I told them that I would take to the prom whoever won a fight between them, but that if I saw any of them fighting near me, they'd be disqualified from the competition."

Akane's mouth dropped to the ground before she turned to her right to face a beaming Ranma. Her low giggle quickly turned into a burst of laughter, and Ranma soon joined her. After wiping tears from her eyes, Akane shook her head at Ranma and took in deep breaths to regain her composure.

"I take it they accepted your terms?"

"Yup. Wrote them down and everything," the boy said, making Akane realize this agreement was what he was writing during class instead of notes.

"So, what are you going to do when one of the wins?"

"Neither will win. They'll just keep fighting and fighting and forget about the prom."

"OR…they will come to the prom and fight there, too."

"I'm hoping they do."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And, why is that?"

Ranma gave Akane a small lopsided smile and winked at her. "You'll see."

Akane gave him a questioning look, not truly being able to determine what other intentions Ranma had under his sleeve.

xxxXXXxxx

The knock on the window startled her awake, catching her off guard until she realized it was just Ranma waking her up in the middle of the night, again. She yawned as she stood up from her bed, rubbing her eyes and walking toward the window. She slid the curtains and window open to see his upside down face smiling at her.

"Hey, Akane, can I come in?"

Akane silently nodded, yawning again as she moved out of the way for Ranma to be able to jump inside her room. She walked back to her bed and sat on the edge of it, followed by Ranma who sat to her left. He noticed that her eyes were closing and her head bobbing, making him feel guilty for waking her up, but he just had to see her. He had been happy to share more time with her at school and at home, and the small touches between them here and there had been sufficient for a while, but after seeing how Hideki had dared to trample over what he considered his, he realized that he needed to improve his methodology to assure Akane and the world they were no longer just good friends.

When Akane's head hit his side, he allowed it to rest on his shoulder while she mumbled to him what was that he needed at such a late hour. He wanted to tell her that his need to be close to her was growing at an alarming rate, that her confident attitude made him more attracted to her than he already was, and that every day that passed he thanked the gods for crossing their paths. Needless to say, he did not want to scare her off now that their relationship was progressing, even if the progress were just baby steps to him at this point, so he tried his best to tone down his reason for being here.

"I'm sorry I woke you, 'kane, but I couldn't sleep."

Akane exhaled, slapping her right cheek in an attempt to keep herself awake. "So, you're making me suffer too because you couldn't sleep?"

"No, baka! I just…I just wanted to ask you what you thought about this prom shit."

Ranma's tone and question pushed aside any last vestiges of drowsiness she may had have, making her swallow hard and remove her head from his shoulder to stare at his face as much as she could in the dim light.

"You mean other than how annoyed I am by the whole thing?"

Ranma shrugged, now feeling not as certain that he was ready to listen to what Akane had to say, hoping she was not referring to his particular lack of action as the origin of her irritation. "I didn't know you were annoyed by it. I just…well, we're…together, you know? And everyone is going, and asking each other out and…I-I wasn't sure if you wanted to go or not."

Akane looked away from his blue eyes that seemed to tug at her heart every time he displayed the slightest hint of insecurity. She gave his statement some thought, making Ranma feel more nervous than he already was. When she finally opened her mouth to retort, Ranma was on the edge of shaking her shoulders to force her to respond.

"I didn't think you wanted to go, since you don't like things like that. I…I guess I didn't think much of it."

Ranma exhaled, feeling guilty for not bringing up the topic sooner than this. He was making plans on his own for the weekend, and had not stopped to consider Akane's feelings in the matter.

"Akane, I'm sorry I didn't ask you to go to the prom. I just figured that since you're my girl it was obvious we'd go together, and that you knew I'd take you even if I hate dances. If I'd known you were thinking about what I wanted…I'd…" he sighed, realizing he was rambling now. "I'm sorry."

Akane felt her face lit up at Ranma's term of affection for her. Even though the understanding that their feelings were growing was present, an actual conversation had not been had since the chaos of the failed wedding. To this day, Akane swore that Ranma had told her he loved her back in Jusendo, but after his denial upon their return, she had not dared bringing up the topic of them. She had made herself understand that Ranma did not have a way with words, and that pushing him into a corner was not going to get them anywhere, any faster. Ranma's actions were his preferred method of communication, and she had learned that reading his actions was more productive and informative than taking his words to heart. However, their current conversation was one that she would take seriously no matter what; it was just too informative to ignore.

"It's not a big deal, Ranma. It's not like it would've worked out anyway, with Shampoo and the others following you around."

Ranma felt even worse by her resignation of having his other fiancées interfere in any happiness between them. He had known since he had held her cold body in his arms that Akane was the one for him. In fact, he had known for a while that his feelings for Akane were greater than any other feelings he had ever had for anyone before, but believing she had left this world while resting in his protective arms had been the last push he had needed to eat up his pride. He had thought of finally setting the record straight with the family and fiancées, but every time he had tried to do so, his testicles had shrunk to the size of peas, and he had lost his nerve, adding yet another day of uncertainty for everyone involved in his complex life.

Ranma realized he had been silent for a long time when Akane waved her hand in front his face to catch his attention. He looked down at her as she tilted her head to the side in an inquisitive manner.

"What're you thinking 'bout?"

Ranma's eyes traced Akane's face, noticing that she was now more awake than she had been just moments ago. His line of sight became entranced by her partially opened lips as she waited for him to respond. He licked his lips in anticipation before he leaned forward to her, tilting his head in an opposite direction as hers, and firmly pressing his lips against hers. Akane immediately responded to the chaste kiss, encouraging the pigtailed boy to deepen it. Her brain, however, demanded her to stop him, to demand that he at least acknowledge his feelings for her. The internal voice of reason disappeared, though, when Ranma placed another quick kiss on her lips a second after ending the first. He leaned back slightly only to separate their lips, but he kept his face close to hers, breathing heavily and shaking slightly as nervousness took over him.

Other than some random mishaps in their lives, this was their first kiss together, and for Ranma, it was his first valid kiss, ever. Vengeful Amazons seeking husbands, unsuspecting males unaware of the true identity of the fiery redhead, and altered photos of he and the young Kuno girl did not count. It was this simple and unplanned kiss that he would label as his first one.

The first one of many more with the Tendo girl, he hoped.

"If you change your mind, just let me know. We still have time to reserve a table for the prom."

Akane nodded to him, unable to find her voice and feeling her heart beating in her throat. With a small kiss to her forehead, Ranma stood up from the bed and disappeared behind the window of the room. Akane bit her bottom lip to prevent her from screaming in joy, then taking her fingertips to her lips as they tingled as furiously as her beating heart.

xxxXXXxxx

TUESDAY

Akane woke up earlier than usual even though her midnight encounter with Ranma had left her unable to get a good night sleep. Knowing she would not be able to get any more rest, she jumped off her bed and rushed around her room as she got ready for her morning jog, which she would perform much earlier than usual. In a matter of seconds, the young martial artist was running down the stairs, out the front porch of her home, and down the familiar path she took every day.

She welcomed the cold breeze hitting her face, allowing her to clear her mind from the events of last night. Ranma had never been so forward with her before –unless under the spell of a magical bandage, potion or spell, and even though he had slowly become more comfortable with expanding their physical boundaries, he had not once before attempted to kiss her until last night. Then again, he had not just attempted to kiss her; he had just up and kissed her as if it was a common occurrence between them. While yesterday she had been certain that words were not needed between them, Akane had now begun to wonder if the uncertainty of their lives together was going to become a topic of arguments between them again.

It was clear to her that Ranma saw her as more than just a girl he was being forced to marry, but his lack of action toward ridding of his other fiancées and still daring to kiss her had brought back to her doubts about his true commitment to her that she had thought gone. She knew her resurrected insecurity was only due to the lack of official statements from Ranma regarding his obvious willingness to move forward with their unspoken agreement, but it did not make it any less disconcerting to her. Sooner or later she would need the verbal reassurance that Ranma was freely taking the next step with her, and that his decision had been based on true feelings and not a sense of duty to his family name.

Akane cursed her suddenly flip-flopping thoughts regarding the two of them, and for a moment she wished she could go back to the simplicity of yesterday that she had been robbed off when Ranma had strapped on a pair and had kissed her last night.

Only now realizing her jogging path had taken her back home, she felt her stomach churn at the thought of walking to school with Ranma today. She thought about leaving without him but she did not want to give him the impression that she disapproved of his actions of last night. She was unsure if a neutral attitude would help either, since she feared it would give Ranma the impression that the kiss had not meant anything to her. Akane felt the first signs of a long and exhausting day rearing their ugly head.

"You're up early, do you mind waking up Ranma?" Kasumi asked from her sister as soon as she walked inside the home.

"Sure. I'm taking a shower after that, though."

"Alright; breakfast will be ready soon."

With a quick nod of acknowledgment, Akane ran upstairs and headed to Ranma's room. Genma was nowhere in sight, causing Akane to wonder if today was going to be a day of firsts other than her and Ranma's kiss. The boy in question was sprawled on his makeshift bed, unconsciously showing off his upper body muscles to the blushing girl due to the lack of the usual tank top he wore at night.

Akane kneeled down next to her fiancée, shaking him by his shoulder and calling out his name. The pigtailed boy groaned loudly before shifting his body away from her, showing no intention of waking up any time soon.

"Oi, Ranma! Wake up!"

She tried once more, this time accentuating her shaking efforts with light slaps to his face. After a short moment, Ranma finally opened his eyes and began rubbing the crust out of his tear ducts.

"Akane? Is it time, already?"

"Yup. You're gonna miss breakfast if you don't hurry up."

"Damn! I'm still tired. Oh, well, I'll be right there."

"OK. Don't fall back to sleep, Ranma. I'm not waking you up again," she teased as she got up from the floor. Ranma's reflexes were quicker than hers, however, and before she realized what was happening, Ranma had pulled her down to the floor with him, pinning her down by holding her hands above her head and pressing his body on hers to immobilize her.

I'm having that dream again, he determined, the lack of sleep causing him to confuse reality with his fantasies. I know how this dream ends, he recalled, wondering when he would get the courage to actually do what he had done to her so many times in his dreams.

Akane's yelp of surprise was followed by a forced exhale when her lungs were forced to expel the air inside them. Shockingly, this was not the first time he had pulled this trick on her but it got her every time.

"If you're trying to convince me to not go to school today, it's not gonna work, Ranma. And, if you keep doing this every time I come wake you up, one of these days you're gonna make me burst a lung."

Ranma snorted, knowing that the force he used on her was not sufficient to hurt her at all. He began feeling his temperature rise at having his fiancée underneath him, at his complete mercy. He was not sure how much time he had before Akane came to wake him up for the day, but he was going to make every second of his make-believe time count.

"As if! I don't know do it every day. Besides, it'd take a brick to break another brick's back," he joked, referencing the sing-song he had come up with to help her remember him after Shampoo's use of the Shiatsu technique.

"Why, Ranma, I was beginning to worry that your girl side was making you more sensitive than the average guy. Glad to know that's not the case," she joked back.

That's a first. She's never insulted me before, he pondered, still unaware of how wide awake the two were.

"Oi, Akane! Why do you have to ruin the joke?" he said as he leaned closer to her, immediately making Akane's heart pound faster than it had last night. She instinctively closed her eyes when she felt his breath on her, letting out a small chuckle to release some of the tension building up inside her.

"I can't ruin what wasn't funny, Ranma. Now get off me; I want to shower before break – ah…"

Her voice became trapped in her throat when she felt Ranma's lips on her neck. Her eyes snapped open to see only the top of his head as he placed two more kisses on her, traveling down to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. The movement caused Akane to moan, and the moan caused her to blush in embarrassment at the obvious sign of approval for his blunt caresses.

His lips then traveled upward to her ear, whispering to the shivering girl beneath him.

"You don't need to shower, Akane. To me, you smell great."

"R-Ranma…?" She retorted, not sure if she really had anything to say to that.

He switched the positions of his hands so that his left held onto both of hers above her head, and his right came down to her hips. He slowly slid upwards and under her blouse, lightly scratching her skin and, at the same time, he continued to suckle on her neck. Akane could not believe what he was doing to her, so early in the day…and…what the heck was he doing now?

"Uhm, Ranma? What…what do you think you're doing?"

Ranma stopped in his tracks of unzipping her shorts, looking up to face her. The look of confusion on her face perplexed him. Was she not supposed to say she liked it and wanted more?

Man, this dream is different than the others…unless…oh…shit!

"A-Akane…a-are we a-awake?"

Akane's eyes widened even more than she thought possible at the realization that Ranma thought this was a dream.

"Ranma, what kind of dreams do you have of me?"

"FUCK!" Ranma screamed as he quickly got up from her and helped her stand up. Akane silently accepted his help but could not help to stare in awe at the blushing man in front of her as he scratched his hair out of place.

"Jesus, Akane! I'm sorry! I thought…shit…I mean…ugh! There's no coming back from this one, is there?"

Seeing that he was taking his mishap better than she thought he would, she dared to grace him with a smile.

"So, I'm not an uncute, unsexy tomboy in your dreams, uh?"

"Uh…well…not all the time," he conceded.

"So I see."

Ranma exhaled, trying his best to put his pigtail back in order if only to have something to do while he calmed down his humiliation. "I'm sorry, Akane. I…I didn't mean to disrespect you."

Akane shook her head to him, carefully thinking her words before she spoke them. "You didn't; you just caught me by surprise," she pointed out, slowly zipping back her shorts.

Ranma looked up at her, finally able to meet her eyes. The look on his face told Akane he was relieved that she was not taking out her mallet on him just about now. Now that she thought about it, she had not used her mallet in a long time.

Akane's hands reached up to his face with the intention of helping him straightened out his pigtail but Ranma stopped her by holding onto her hands before they reached him. His hands then found the side of her face, stroking it with his thumb as he looked down at her with an expression of longing that made Akane's knees turn to jelly. He knew this was not the perfect setting to share his feelings with her, but he wanted her to know about them so badly it had robbed him of sleep last night.

"Akane, I…"

"Ranma-kun, did Akane-chan wake you?" Kasumi asked from behind the closed door, startling both teenagers out of their trance. Akane watched Ranma as he exhaled in frustration for the tenth time, showing her that whatever he was about to tell her had been very important to him.

"Yeah, Kasumi-chan, I'll be right down," he responded as he pulled off the string holding his pigtail, allowing his hair to cascade down his head.

"OK, Ranma-kun."

Ranma scratched the back of his neck, clearly showing his inspiration had been swept away from him by Kasumi's interruption. Akane stood there not sure of what to do or say for a moment before she leaned forward and grabbed his hand.

"Come with me; I'll help you fix your pigtail."

Ranma stared at her in awe as she guided him downstairs to the furo. She carefully –and correctly, to his surprise, fixed his signature hairstyle while he sat in a chair in the bathroom. When she was done, she gave Ranma free range to fix himself up in the anteroom of the bathroom while she locked herself inside the furo to take her morning bath. Neither teenager was able to wipe off the smiles from their faces at the thought of sharing such intimacy that had been taboo just a couple of years ago.

xxxXXXxxx

Ranma Saotome stood outside the classroom for the third time today as punishment for his distracted attitude. Each sensei up to now had caught him spacing out from their lecture. Each time, he had been thinking about the kiss he had shared with Akane last night, the short intimate moment they had in the morning, and Kasumi's terrible timing when he was about to tell Akane how he felt.

Classic! I want to do the right thing and something or someone has to fuck it up.

The school bell dismissed Ranma from carrying buckets of water, and he felt relieved by the fact. However, the end of the class also meant that he and Akane would part ways for the next class since it was one of the two optional classes Ranma had not wanted to enroll in; Advanced Calculus and Advanced Organic Chemistry sounded everything but fun to the martial artist.

His internal flinching at thinking about the academic subjects was stopped when he walked back inside the classroom to gather his schoolbag at the perfect time to see Hideki talking to Akane again.

"My offer still stands Akane-san. I can show you a good time during prom –and after it, too."

"And my answer still stands, Hideki-kun. Thank you, but no thank you," was Akane's response before turning around and heading toward the door. Hideki, however, still had much to say or it seemed, so he grabbed Akane's arm and pulled her back to him with just enough extra force to make her cry in pain.

"We're not done y—UGH!"

Akane opened her eyes to find Ranma grabbing onto the arm Hideki was using to hold her. Even though Ranma's face was calm, she could see the veins in his arm pop up, displaying the amount of force he was using on Hideki. The said man immediately released Akane to avoid more pain, but not without pushing her away with more effort than needed. The gesture caused Akane to take a step back in order to find her balance, but she ended up tripping on Ranma's backpack instead.

The sound of her whimper as she hit the floor was enough to cause Ranma to stop his silent attack on Hideki, and his head snapped to his left to watch Akane being helped up by her friends.

"Akane! Are you alright?" The pigtailed boy asked as he kneeled down to help his fallen fiancée. As soon as she nodded to him and she was up on her feet, Ranma returned his attention to Hideki, keeping himself between Akane and the other man. Hideki was now smiling at them, happy to at least cause any of them some type of discomfort.

"Better watch where you leave your shit around, Saotome. Akane-chan almost busted her pretty little head."

Ranma took a step toward Hideki, and while inside the man was shaken to have a strong enemy ready to punch out his lights, outside he remained as calm and cocky as ever. Akane held her head with her right hand and grabbed onto the back of Ranma's shirt with her left, trying her best to keep the pissed off man in check as most as she could in her state. Ranma felt the small tug behind him, making him check up on his fiancée from the corner of his eye before he returned his attention the aggressor.

"Listen up, Hideki. I think you heard her say she wasn't interested. You better stay away from her, or you'll make it to the prom in a full-body cast, you got that?"

"Oh, please," he man said, placing his hands on his hips and raising his voice for anyone nearby to hear the argument. "There's no need to defend her, Saotome. She ain't that pretty anyway. Plus, I'm sure she doesn't put out either, uh? I mean, why else would you be seeking favors from other girls?"

"What did you just say?" Ranma said, feeling Akane's hold on him tightening.

"You heard me. Rumor is that you asked your other fiancées to fight for you so they can go to the prom with you. I asked out Akane-chan because I felt sorry she has to be engaged to a two-timer like you. I was doing her a favor, but apparently she's too stupid to realize what's good for her. Isn't that what you call her all the time: stupid?"

Ranma popped his knuckles, ready to jump the man in front of him. Even though everything he said was partially true, the partial lie in his words had been extrapolated to galactic measures of exaggeration he could not begin to comprehend. He felt Akane walk closer to him and rest her forehead on his back as this was the only way she could get his attention at the moment. She knew that once Ranma shifted to kill-mode, there was very little she could do to stop him. He responded to her silent plea by reaching back with his right hand, holding onto the hand she had just rested on his shoulder.

"You believe whatever you want, Hideki, but if I hear you're calling Akane any names, or bothering her again, I'll bust your balls and send them to your mother as a present."

"Alright, cut it out, Saotome, Hideki," the bored sensei said out loud. Hideki snorted at Ranma and Akane before turning around and walking away from the classroom followed by his clique. Ranma turned around to face Akane who by now was putting away his scattered belongings inside his bag. Ranma walked up to her, trying to stop her from cleaning after him as he felt it was adding insult to injury for her to act like his mother after what Hideki had said about her.

"Whoa, Akane, you don't gotta do that. Let me."

Akane shook her head, sniffling lightly as the pain in her head caused by hitting the floor got worse. "It's OK, Ranma. I got it."

The cleanup became a team effort, and once his bag was packed, Ranma walked Akane outside the classroom, noticing she still held onto the side of her head. He suspected that her next class –which she shared with Hideki, would not be her priority at the moment, so he led her to an empty spot in the hall, away from the walking students as they headed to their next class. He then dropped his bag at his feet before holding her head with his hands, searching for blood or bumps. He frowned when he did find a quickly-growing bump on the back of her head, making his blood boil at knowing he had been a few feet away from her and had not stopped her fall from happening. The anger only rose when he pulled back his hand and it was tainted with blood.

"Jeez, Akane you're bleeding," he said as he took out a handkerchief and pressed it firmly onto the injury to stop the blood flow.

"Ow!" she complained with a sob.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Akane," he apologized to her as he simultaneously kissed her forehead and looked down at her to make sure he reassured her with his eyes. "I just want to make sure you're alright, OK? I'm almost done."

Akane sniffled again and allowed her fiancée to examine her head at his heart's content, hoping that after he was satisfied with his inspection, she was free to run away from school for the day.

Ranma finally stopped his probing, satisfied that he had slow down the blood but not happy to see the amount of blood left behind on his handkerchief. He cupped Akane's face with his hands once more, and stared at her eyes, feeling his heart swell in pain when he saw they were only getting redder and puffier by the second.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him, you hear me? He ain't gonna get away with this. I promise you, Akane."

Akane shook her head lightly at him. The last thing any of them needed was for Ranma to be expelled from school –or arrested, for that matter. Granted he was not a very good student anyway, but if he got himself kicked out for beating the living crud out of Hideki, the latter could claim victory in the end.

"No, Ranma. Please, just leave him alone."

"What? HELL NO! He asked for it!"

"Please, please, please, Ranma," she begged as she grabbed onto Ranma's shirt. "He's not worth getting in trouble for. It was my fault, anyway."

"Your fault? How the hell was it your fault?"

"I…I got distracted. It was stupid of me to think he wouldn't try to grab me again."

"A-Again?! You mean he tried this shit on you before?! I told you to tell me if he was bothering you! You…you baka!"

The moment the insult left his lips Ranma wanted nothing more than to take it back. Had this not been one of the issues Hideki had thrown at his face? Was it really common knowledge or belief that he verbally abused her?

"Fuck! Akane, I didn't mean to call you that. You know I don't mean it, right? You don't believe that I'm two-timing you, either? What he said about us, you know it ain't true, right? Please tell me you don't believe that shit. I care about you, Akane. I care about you a lot."

And believed she did not, but the hit on her pride and putting Ranma in this situation was something she did not forgive herself for. Here she was, feeling sorry for herself for forgetting everything her father and Ranma had ever taught her about martial arts and for allowing Ranma to find out about it. Yet, all he was worried about was her safety, the bump on her head, and the possibility of her believing the rumors that had spread about them.

"I don't care what he thinks, Ranma. I'm just worried that you'll get yourself in trouble for him. Please, promise me you won't hurt him."

"Akane…I can't…he deserves…"

"RANMA!" Akane yelled over him, making some of the curious bystanders look their way, and causing a spike of pain to hit her head. She placed her hands over her temples in an attempt to stop the pain, but thinking about the whole situation made her head hurt more than she thought possible.

"Take me home, Ranma."

"What?" he asked, not certain he had heard her correctly.

"I wanna go home."

Ranma nodded to her –her wish was his command. He grabbed her hand and led her to the closest window. He looked down to make sure the swimming pool was nowhere to be found before he handed Akane his own school bag for her to hold for him while he picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

"Hold on tight, Akane," was the last thing she heard before he jumped from the third story floor with her in tow. She closed her eyes the entire way to the Tendo residence, and only opened them when Ranma stopped at the entrance. Ranma carefully set her down on the ground before grabbing the handle of the front door.

"That's weird," he said as he tried to turn the knob with no success. "It's locked."

"No one must be home, then," she mused, taking out the copy of the house key she carried in her schoolbag. She handed it to Ranma and he made use of it, quickly unlocking the door and locking it back behind them. He allowed Akane to walk ahead of him, which inadvertently permitted him to see the red stain on her back.

"Crap! Akane, your clothes got stained."

Akane tried to look behind herself but she was not able to, so she walked to the mirror that hung at the entrance of the home. She sighed when she saw the blouse used under her uniform, and the back of uniform itself, were tarnished with her blood.

"Dammit!" she cursed as she turned around too quickly, instigating her headache, causing her vision to go dark and her legs giving out under her.

"Akane!"

Ranma was next to her in an instant, holding her up again until she stopped wobbling. Once she regained her footing, Ranma picked her up in his arms again, and took her upstairs to her room. He walked inside and carefully laid her on her bed. He then walked to her closet and opened the doors of it, searching through her clothes for a loose t-shirt and pants. Once he found what he was looking for, he returned to Akane and handed her the clothes.

"Here, get out of those clothes. I'll take them to the washer and let them soak so the blood doesn't stick."

"OK," Akane said, grabbing the clothes from him. Ranma turned around to give her some privacy, returning to face her only when Akane said it was OK to do so.

"Here, thank you."

Ranma nodded, grabbing her clothes and adding his handkerchief to them, disappearing for a minute to complete his task. Once he returned, he found Akane curled up in her bed, clutching tightly onto her head. He walked up to her and sat by the head of the bed, warily lifting Akane's head and placing it on his lap. Akane allowed him to do whatever he pleased; it was the least she could do to thank him for his kindness. Once he was happy with the placement of her head on his lap, he began massaging her head to reduce the pain.

"Maybe we should go to a doctor," he said, wishing Doctor Tofu was still around. "You may have a concussion."

"I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to rest."

"But, Akane, if you do have one…"

"I will go tomorrow if I still feel sick, alright?" she snapped back at him, ending the discussion. She truly did not want to move away from her spot on him even if the idea of getting some relief from a doctor sounded glorious to her at the moment. Truth was: she did not feel like being around anyone else at the moment other than her fiancée. The argument they had just had and the fight that he had almost gotten into had stirred something within her. She needed his undivided attention right now; she needed to feel him close by. Even though she did not believe anything Hideki had said about them, a small part of her still needed the assurance that he was indeed there for her.

As if everything he's already done for me wasn't enough.

The couple remained in a comfortable silence for a few minutes while Ranma worked his magic on her, and she could already feel the headache diminishing greatly. He alternated between massaging her scalp and combing her locks with his fingers, all the while he craved to continue what they had begun last night, regardless of how inappropriate it felt to do so right now.

On the other hand, Akane replayed their last conversation in her head, suddenly remembering that Ranma was yet to promise her not to hurt the bastard who caused her injury.

"Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you won't hurt Hideki."

Ranma stopped massaging her head, shaking his head vigorously at her. "Argh! Akane, we've talked about this. I can't let this guy do this to you and walk away as if he deserved to live after it."

"I understand; believe me, I do," she said, knowing that if the roles were reversed, she would be well on her way to punishing whoever had dared to harm her fiancée. "But it's not worth the trouble you'll get into when you break the guy's jaw. I like having someone to walk to school with, you know?"

Ranma closed his eyes, knowing that Akane would not live down the situation until she was certain he would not act on his impulse to kill the jerk. Maybe he could tell Ryouga what happened, and he knew the cursed man would surely deliver pain to the perpetrator in Akane's behalf.

"Do you know what you're asking me to do, Akane?"

"I'm asking you not to hurt an idiot who doesn't know any better."

"No, you're asking me to ignore the fact that he hurt you. How can I live with myself if I let this asshole treat you like this? What's gonna stop him or anyone else from doing something like that again when I'm not around?"

"Well, if you do get expelled for beating him up, then you definitely won't be around to protect me, right?"

Ranma growled at her logic; damned if he did, damned if he didn't. He remained silent for a while, resuming his massage to her and knowing that unless he promised and kept the promise of not gutting the guy in the middle of the night, Akane would become upset with him, and this was the last thing he wanted her to be with him.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, readying himself for his promise but Akane's voice caught him by surprise.

"I care about you, too, you know?" she said to him in a low voice, which he almost missed due to his currently overactive mind. Ranma stopped his massaging again to be able to move her head to face up and stared down at her. He was glad that she had at least listened to what he had said, but now that the anger of the altercation was dying down, he remembered what he had wanted to do in the first place since last night –or since her cold body had come back from death in Jusendo.

He continued to stare deeply into her chocolate eyes, tracing the edge of her cheek with the back of his hand, sending chills down her spine. His stare became so intense that she felt no words were needed between them at the moment, but actions were definitely on the menu right now. Allowing her body to move at its leisure, she found herself slowly lifting her head, ignoring the new wave of pain that overcame her with the movement, knowing that the pain would diminish once she acquired what she wanted from him. Ranma read her thoughts and gesture, bending down to meet her halfway and locking their lips together in a kiss more passionate than the one they had shared last night.

Her headache quickly forgotten, she lifted herself off him without letting go of his lips, shifting her body so that she now sat on him with each of her legs on either side of him. Once he figured out what she was attempting to do, Ranma held onto her hips as she kneeled over him, towering over the pigtailed boy so she could deepen the kiss. Encouraged by the feeling of his hands traveling up and down her hips, she took her hands to the sides of his face, holding it in place as much as she could.

Anyone would have thought they had been exchanging kisses their entire life, and would have never thought this was just their second –or third, depending how one wanted to look at it. The intensity of it came from their already highly repressed feelings combined with the chemistry they seemed to naturally have together. Akane stopped the kiss for a second, resting her forehead on his, and taking in deep breaths to become ready for round two. Ranma's breathing was as heavy as hers, but he was not about to complain about it anytime soon.

They stared at each other for mere seconds, using their eyes to try and find any sign of regret or insecurity in what they were doing, but neither found any of it in the eyes of their partner. Satisfied that the need was mutual, Ranma lifted his head ever so slightly to seize her lips once more. This time, however, Akane sat on his lap and surrounded his waist with her legs, leaving Ranma to grab onto her waist and occasionally stroke her legs and behind.

Akane could not seem to get him close enough to her, so she surrounded his neck with her arms. Once she was secured around him, Ranma stood from the bed, holding onto her as he switched positions and lay on top of her. Once her head hit the pillow, she broke the kiss and searched his eyes once more.

"Are you going to regret kissing me, tomorrow?"

Ranma shook his head, closing his eyes and placing random kisses all over her face.

"No, I want this," he said in between kisses. "I'm tired of fighting it. I'm tired of pretending I don't feel this way about you," he said before he kissed her lips again, more fervently than before. Akane followed his lead, feeling her heart pounding at feeling him over her and at the realization that he had just told her –in an odd way, that what he felt for her was love. Not wanting to break his inspiration, she spoke to him between kisses, holding onto the base of his head to keep him close to her.

"I'm tired, too, Ranma," staring deeply into his eyes whenever she could. "I'm tired of not being able to tell you how much I…I love you."

He stopped for a moment, staring at her and giving her a warm smile before locking their lips once more, this time more confident of his actions, and more in tune with Akane's response. He broke the kiss only to nibble on her neck as he had done this morning when he thought he was dreaming. He knew this time it was not a product of his fantasies, but that he had finally opened up to her the way he had wanted for a long time. And even though he had not quite said the keyword to her, he knew it would much easier to say now that she had said it first.

However, not being able to say the L-word just yet did not stop him from showing what he meant with his actions. Akane closed her eyes, reveling in the sensations she was making him feel with his hungry touch.

xxxXXXxxx

He tiptoed downstairs in the middle of the night, hoping no one in the household other than the middle sister heard him. Once he reached the end of the stairs, he walked to the living room where a half-asleep Nabiki waited for him.

"Ranma-kun, I do sincerely hope you know these late meetings come with a price."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, and I don't care as long as you have what I need on time."

"Do you dare doubt my ability to close a deal? I'm insulted. Say, if you weren't marrying into the family one day, I'd end this deal right now."

"Oi, Nabiki!" Ranma said, waving his arms in the air. "I'm just kidding, alright? You can boost up the interest if you want, just don't let anyone know what we're doing."

"Don't fret, Ranma-kun. My sister won't find out you're seeing me behind her back. Can you imagine her shock?"

Akane's eyes widened at hearing the last part, spoken by no other than her own sister. She suddenly had lost the thirst that she had acquired after her nightmare woke her up. On her trek down the stairs, she had heard whispering coming from the living room, and she had hid behind the wall when she heard Ranma beg Nabiki not to tell anyone about them.

Ranma, how could you?

Tears came to her eyes, fearing for a moment that Ranma was indeed two-timing her. As she remembered the kisses they had shared in her room earlier today, and even though their encounter had not been other than a make-out session mixed with subtle declarations of love, she shoved the idea of Ranma being unfaithful to her from her mind. She could not believe anyone could have pretended to care the way he had, but the seed of doubt had been planted in her, either way.

It can't be. He'd never do this to me.

Tuning out the rest of the conversation, Akane returned upstairs as quietly as she had come down, wondering if she had misunderstood the conversation between her fiancée and her sister. It was not as if Nabiki was around enough for them to have an affair, but there was definitely something going on between the two.

xxxXXXxxx

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast time at the Tendo residence the next day was an awkward affair. Akane had not gone on her morning run, and had declined to come down to eat with the family, stating her headache had gotten much worse. Ranma ate slowly, for once, wondering if she was having second doubts about what had happened between them yesterday. Ranma could still feel the tingle in his lips, her warmth on his pores, and her testimony of love rung in his ears.

Then again, maybe the noise he had heard last night had been somebody listening in to his and Nabiki's conversation. What if Akane had misunderstood his intentions? It would not be the first or the last time something similar happened to them, and frankly it was as common to occur to them as a cold. "Just make sure the preparations are ready. I don't want the surprise to be ruined for Akane," he had told the middle Tendo sister before he heard the light creak of a moving door.

"Ranma-kun, what did you tell Akane-chan to make her so angry?" Kasumi inquired, worried about the health of her younger sister, and assuming automatically that Ranma was the source of her apparent hidden anger.

"Whatever it is, Ranma, you've got to fix it! It is you duty as the heir of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts to keep your fiancée satisfied," Genma pointed out, making Ranma slightly choke on his food at the images the word satisfied brought to his mind.

"Son, I give you my permission to do whatever it takes to make my Akane happy," Soun said between sobs, not truly helping with the suggestive images that plagued Ranma's mind at the moment.

"Dammit! I'm trying to eat here! Why don't you butt of?"

"Ranma-dear, what good will our arrangement be if you end up pissing her off before the plan takes place? Your funds are not refundable, by the way."

"Ranma, are you not being manly enough for Akane? I surely hope that's not the case."

"AH! SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" the young man said, slamming his fists on the table before standing up and heading upstairs to Akane's room. He knew the door would be locked, so when he arrived he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on it, knocking loudly on the door.

"I'm not hungry, Kasumi," was her response.

"Akane? Will you open up, please? It's me, Ranma."

Silence was the only response this time, making Ranma knock on the door with his forehead to vent his frustration.

"Can you please let me in? Are you not feeling well? We should go to the doctor."

He waited for a moment as he heard steps approaching the door before it opened, showing Akane standing behind it. She looked down at the floor, unable to meet his gaze as she thought about last night. Her head truly hurt, but she believed it was more due to her staying up the rest of the night after hearing the conversation downstairs than remnants of her accident of yesterday.

"I'll sleep it off. I just…I just need to rest," she said as she slowly tried to close the door. Ranma placed his forearm on the door, keeping it open enough so that he could whisper to her.

"Akane, please. I'm worried."

He heard scuffling behind him, causing him to roll his eyes at knowing the family was right behind them, watching their every move. Akane's hold on the door weakened when she realized they were being watched, allowing Ranma to come inside and lock the door behind him. Akane was still in her pajamas, but judging by her state Ranma knew she had been awake for some time. He himself was still wearing his PJ pants and a tank top shirt, knowing getting ready for school was not a priority of him at the moment. He leaned down his face to her, seeking her eyes but she would not face him. He then placed his hands on her shoulders to force her to stay in place, whispering to her to prevent the gossipers standing outside the door from hearing them.

"Are you mad at what you think you heard last night? Is this what this is about?"

Akane looked up at him, debating whether or not to confess her fears to him. She bit her lower lip as she nodded to him, linking her hands on her chest as it would ease her fast-beating heart. "I wasn't spying on you, I swear. I just happened to go downstairs for a drink."

"I didn't think you were spying on me. I just wished you hadn't heard us."

"Why? Is it true, then? Are you seeing Nabiki?"

Ranma's eyes widened at her implication, slapping his face with his hand before pointing to the door next to them. "Are you serious? Why would I want anyone else when I have you? And, Nabiki? Really? I'm not that desperate," he uttered to her louder than he would have wanted.

On the other side of the door, an insulted-looking Nabiki removed her glass cup from the door. "Hey, I resent that!"

The sound was not lost to Ranma or Akane as they stared at the door. Knowing their privacy was at stake, Ranma walked Akane to the edge of her bed, forcing her to sit down. He then kneeled down in front of her, grabbed onto her hands with his, and pulled her down ever so slightly to him so they could whisper to each other in an even quieter voice than before.

"Akane, why won't you believe me? Why would you think I'd be with anyone else, after…well…yesterday?"

Akane's doubts were slowly melting with the tone of his voice and his embrace. She could see he was trying his best to reassure her, but the irrational side of her was also trying its best to distortion her thoughts.

"I-I don't know. What am I supposed to think? I heard her say you were seeing her behind my back."

"Well, I am."

"What?"

"But NOT like that," he corrected himself immediately. "I owe her some money, OK? I was just making sure she wasn't gonna stiff me on the deal."

"By meeting with her in the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, I know how it sounds, but I wanted to keep this one under wraps. Besides, Nabiki is hardly ever around now, so the only time I can really talk to her is at night."

Akane stared hard at him, waiting for his lie to come to the light. However, there was no lie, and the longer she waited the more she realized she had overreacted. Was she not supposed to be over this by now? What had triggered this behavior from her?

The nightmare that woke me up last night, she realized, remembering how the shock of seeing Ranma making out with his other fiancées the same way they had done so just hours ago had set her up for this.

"I'm sorry, Ranma. I should've known better."

"Nothing to it," he said, lifting his body upward to place a quick kiss on her lips to demonstrate to her it was all already forgotten. "Does your head still hurt?" he asked as he played with her hair.

"Yeah, but…"

"You ain't sleeping it off. You said that if you still felt bad today, we would go to a doctor."

"What about school?"

"Who cares? What good will it do for you to go when you feel like crap, uh?"

"I guess, but, where can we go?"

"Let me talk to Nabiki. You just get ready and I will be back for you, OK?"

Akane nodded, watching him as he gave her a smile and stood up, tiptoed to the door and pulled it open to startle the people he knew were leaning behind it. Ranma did not bother to say anything as he walked over the intruders, catching Nabiki's attention as he walked by.

xxxXXXxxx

"It does seem like you have a minor concussion. I will send the report to your school to excuse you from work for at least seven days. How did you get this, anyway?" The doctor asked as he eyed Akane's x-rays.

"I…I tripped on a backpack; I was in a hurry to go to the next class," Akane lied, noticing Ranma's frown and crossing of his arms on his chest. "I was going to be late."

The doctor stared at her avoiding glance for a moment before he looked at Ranma's upset posture, immediately drawing the wrong conclusion.

"I'm gonna write you a prescription for the headache, but I'm gonna need you to take it easy for the next week, alright? No school, no work, and nothing to strain your eyes."

"You mean no reading or television?"

"None of the above."

Akane sighed; she knew she was going to be bored to death, but she accepted the doctor's advice either way. The doctor wrote the prescription and handed it to Akane, sending her outside to speak with the nurse at the front. Ranma made a move to follow her, but the doctor stopped him in his tracks, giving the martial artist a look that their conversation was not over. As soon as they both heard Akane speaking to the nurse, the doctor's smiling face changed to one of anger as he stared at the pigtailed boy.

Ranma shook his head at the doctor, knowing what the man was thinking about him, so he decided to clear up his name as fast as possible.

"I didn't beat her, if that's what you're thinking."

"Do tell. The injury is not normal for a simple fall. Mind telling me how it happened?"

"Under one condition."

"What is that?"

"You gotta help me punish the guy who did this to her."

Outside, Akane sat on a chair as she waited for the nurse to return with the medication, wondering what Ranma had stayed behind for. A minute after the nurse returned with her prescription, Ranma walked outside the room and up to her, offering his hand to help her up. Akane accepted it and stood up, keeping her hand in his as they walked outside to the streets.

"What happened with you two?"

Ranma shrugged. "He thought I'd hit you. I had to answer some questions for his report."

"What? What report? Why would he think you'd…" she began before stopping herself and staring at his arms. Ranma was wearing a sleeveless shirt, allowing for his ripped arm muscles to show. She figured the doctor took Ranma's disapproval of her lie as a threat to her, inciting in him the idea that Ranma had caused her injury. If she had not trusted Ranma the way she did, it was obvious to her that the average girl could feel threatened by his 12 years of constant training.

"Did he believe you?"

"I think so, but hey, as long as you don't press charges on me, I should be fine."

"Baka!" she said at his ridiculous idea, lightly punching him on his arm.

"Hey, no strenuous activity, remember? So no hitting me," Ranma chuckled.

"I guess you're right," she said, poking her cheek with her finger as she thought about its implications. "That includes no kissing, too, right?" Akane asked as innocently as she could.

"Errrr…" he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I…well…that's not funny, Akane."

"It wasn't a joke. It's doctor's orders, right? It's for the best, I think." She answered, acting as serious as she could.

Ranma let go of her hand and crossed his arms in front of his chest, clearly not amused by the conversation and attempting to walk ahead. Akane scoffed at him, took a couple of steps ahead and stood in his path to stop him.

"Are you mad, Ranma?"

"No," he responded, looking away from her, poorly covering his annoyance.

"I think you are," she said, grabbing his hands in hers and uncrossing his arms. He did not pull away from her but looked down at the ground rather than facing her.

"You're a lousy actor, Saotome."

"So are you," he said before surrounding her with his arms, making sure her arms were trapped in his before kissing her. Akane immediately responded to his attack, losing herself in him for what seemed as an eternity and a day. Once he broke the kiss, he looked down at her, smiled mischievously and huskily whispered to her.

"Still think it's for the best if we don't repeat this?"

"If I'd known this was the best way to get you to do whatever I wanted, I'd kissed you a long time ago."

"What the…AKANE?"

Akane giggled as she pushed herself away from him, turning around much too quickly and landing on the ground. Ranma sighed at the sight, walking around her and crouching in front of her.

"Come on, let's go home."

Akane opened her eyes enough to find his back facing her. Once he felt she was secured on him, he walked slowly towards the Tendo home.

xxxXXXxxx

THURSDAY

The next time she opened her eyes she was under the covers in her bed. She groaned when she saw the sun was almost disappearing in the horizon, making her wonder how long she had been asleep. The last thing she remembered was Ranma offering to carry her home after visiting the doctor, and the calming feeling of his scent and his arms around her.

Musta dozed off on my way here.

She slowly sat upright on the bed and realized she was wearing her pajamas. She hoped someone other than Ranma had changed her clothes for her, suddenly feeling self-conscious after all the kissing they had done in the past two days. Her little panic fest was interrupted by the rumble in her stomach, forcing her to get up from the bed, head to the door and walk down the stairs to find something to eat.

"Sister! You're finally awake!" Kasumi said as she approached her sibling from the family room. Akane noticed that the family was quietly hanging out in their living room, including her pigtailed boy.

"I'm hungry, onee-chan."

"Let's get you something to eat."

As the two sisters walked toward the kitchen, Akane noticed that no one had asked her how she felt after returning from the doctor. She figured that Ranma had shared the news with them, but it was still unusual for her father not to be moping all over her for something like this. Akane dismissed her paranoid thoughts, thinking she was better off not having her father crying and slobbering all over her, making a mental note to thank Ranma for the favor.

"Do you want some stew?"

"Yes, please."

Kasumi quickly busied herself in making her sister dinner while Akane sat at the small table in the kitchen. She patiently watched her sister as she took out from the fridge a pot of stew she had made this morning and poured some of it on a smaller pot to heat it up for Akane. After setting the stew to reheat, Kasumi walked over to the cupboard and took out a small bottle of medicine. She uncapped it and took out two pills before leaving them on the table in front of Akane.

"What are these?" Akane asked as Kasumi filled up a glass with water from the sink.

"The painkillers the doctor ordered."

"Ah! Yeah! I'd almost forgotten about them," she responded, thanking Kasumi for the water and the pills. Akane took them both and swallowed them in one gulp just as Ranma was walking inside the kitchen, carried by the smell of the stew.

"Hey, Kasumi-chan, do you mind making me some, too? It's smells good!"

"I'd figured you'd want some, Ranma-kun. I'm making enough for both."

"Thanks, Kasumi!" Ranma said, walking back to the living room with not as much as glancing toward Akane's way. She found it strange that he had not even acknowledge she was awake, but decided he was just probably giving her some space and preventing the meddling family from reading too much into their actions. After a few more minutes, the stew was ready and Kasumi was already in the process of filling up the two bowls, and then placing each of them on either side of the small kitchen table.

"Ranma-kun, dinner is ready!"

Ranma's presence was immediately in the kitchen after Kasumi's call, although this time he was carrying a notebook and a textbook with him. He placed them both in the middle of the table as he sat across Akane to eat his dinner.

"Hey, Akane, here's the homework that is due next week," he said as he pointed to the book. "Did you finish the one I brought you on Tuesday? It's due tomorrow. I'll take it to school for you, just like last time."

Akane eyed the study materials with confusion before raising her glance and staring at Ranma as he ate the contents of his bowl. When he did not make an effort to clarify her puzzlement, Akane's eyes darted to Kasumi as she begun fixing the ingredients for tomorrow's food preparations.

"Onee-chan, what day is today?"

"Thursday."

Akane furrowed her eyebrows even deeper than she had before. Had she not gone to bed on a Wednesday afternoon after her visit to the clinic? Did she sleep all night last night and all day today? Why didn't anyone wake her up? Why was Ranma acting so aloof towards her?

The fact that her eyes kept shifting from staring at Kasumi to staring at Ranma, and then at the books and at her stew –which she had yet to taste, finally caused Ranma to stop his chewing and give Akane a raised eyebrow.

"What's wrong, 'kane? You seem out of it."

"I…" she began, not sure how to sort out what she wanted to know. "Ranma…I…I hit my head, at school, right?"

Ranma nodded before taking another bite of his stew, washing it down with tea and clearing his throat before he spoke. "Yeah, Akane. You fell off the balance beam during gymnastics practice on Monday."

"What? Is that…? No, wait…That's not how it happened."

Ranma's tilt of the head and confused look did not help with her own misperception. She stared down at her stew, suddenly losing her appetite. She felt Ranma stand up from his chair and walking up to her. He leaned forward to stare at her before placing his hand over her forehead. Akane looked up at him as he analyzed her face as if it were the first time he had seen it. He then held Akane's head with both of his hands and searched the bump in her head as he made sure no more blood was coming out of it.

"Kasumi-chan, when was the last time you gave Akane her pills?"

"Just now. Why?"

"She's confused again."

"I'm confused? What exactly am I confused about?"

Ranma sighed as he returned to his seat to finish her stew, shaking his head as he did so. Kasumi abandoned her current chore for a minute to face Akane with a sad look.

"Akane, this is the third time we remind you of this. You had an accident at school on Monday. Ranma was still in school so he took you to the nurse and from there you were taken to a nearby clinic. You've been in and out of it since then. Ranma has been bringing your homework here and taking it back when you're done."

Akane shook her head at Kasumi, not believing her ears. Had she been dreaming this entire time? She was certain her injury had been caused by Hideki, and not gymnastics practice. She was also certain that she had visited the doctor just yesterday. And, most importantly, she was certain that she and Ranma…

Oh, kami!

"Ranma, is there a school prom this weekend?"

Ranma nodded, giving her a lopsided smile. "That's the one thing you never forget, Akane, eh?"

"Are you going? Am I going?"

"Nope. Pop is taking me on a training trip tomorrow after school; won't be back until Sunday. And you can't go; doctor's orders."

Doctor's orders, she frowned at the familiar phrase.

"What about your arrangement with Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi?"

"What arrangement?"

"Oh…I…" Akane swallowed hard, standing from her seat and looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Onee-chan. I'm not hungry, anymore."

"Akane? Are you alright?" The concerned elder sister asked.

"Yes, I just…need to rest. Sorry," the girl responded as she quickened her pace out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Her body was trembling, saddened and afraid that the great leap she thought her and Ranma had taken had been nothing more than wishful thinking –dreaming. It took all of her energy to make it to her room without shedding a tear, although by the time she closed the door behind her, she felt them streaming down her face in a hurry.

Stupid! Stupid! How could I believe that Ranma and I had…NO! He would never open up like that! He'd never…! BAKA!

"Akane?"

The knock on the door startled her, encouraging her to press her back even harder against it to prevent it from opening. She had not expected Ranma to follow her to her room after seeing him acting so detached from her. Maybe she and Ranma had kissed but he did not want to make a big deal out of it in front of Kasumi. Maybe their encounter had happened but he had not wanted to discuss it in front of anyone who could potentially ruin their chance at being together, in peace.

"Yes, Ranma?" She finally asked, grabbing onto the last ray of hope that he had actually already told her how he felt about her.

"Can I have your stew?"

She shut her eyes closed and bit her lip to keep her from screaming. It was not his fault she had her facts jumbled up, wasn't it? It was not his fault she had believed her most desired dreams had come true. He was at least asking if he could eat the damned soup, right?

"Y-es, Ranma."

"Thanks, Akane!"

With a barely audible sob, Akane ran to her bed and cried herself to sleep.

xxxXXXxxx

FRIDAY

Akane did not bother to walk outside her room to greet him goodbye, and he had not bothered to make a scene about it either. He had simply walked by her door, knocked twice and yelled over the closed door that he'd come back Sunday before he had walked away, not even waiting for her response. Akane had waited until the noise had stopped and had ran out of her room and to the nearest window to watch him, his father, and her own father leave for training in the middle of the fucking mountains. None of them had even bothered to look back; none of them had shown signs of caring if she was there to wish them well.

And now, hours after they had left, she sat on the edge of her bed debating whether she needed taking more of her headache pills, and mentally reliving the intimate moments she and Ranma had shared on her bed. As much as it pained her to remember that it had been nothing but dreams, they had been the most vivid she had ever had. She took her fingertips to her lips, almost feeling his soft ones on hers.

Do I really love him that much?

She scoffed at her own stupid musing. Of course she loved him that much! Why else would had she been so happy to be with him in her dreams? Who, in the right freaking mind, would not cherish the love and attention he had given her in her sleep. He did love her, right? He did feel the need to be with her, right? Just because she could not tell he felt the same with his recent actions, it did not mean that the feeling of love was not there, correct?

Sure, he does. That's why the idiot left to train, leaving you behind. Then again, it's not as if I could go with him with this headache, anyway.

And what would she have done if she could have gone with him? Complain that her weekend had been planned for her? Bitch all the way to their destination? Force-feed him her radioactive food? Criticize him for being so calm after she had almost busted her skull? Reverting to her old ways just because he was not making out with her any time they could do so?

She sighed deeply, knowing damn well that she would have not done any of these things because she was a changed person. Even he had changed as well, though at the moment she would exchange their mutual pleasantries for a moment of his attention, even it came in the form of a useless argument. Akane could not tear from her memory the way he had been so isolated from her in the last couple of days. He had not insulted her, bothered her, or even attempted to come visit her when she was awake. It was as if he wanted nothing to do with the recovery efforts of her silly self.

Why would anyone want to be around someone who is sick due to their own clumsiness? She did not want to be around herself!

Then again, the Ranma in her dreams did not want to stay away from her. The Ranma in her dreams had come to her in the middle of the night, stealing a chaste kiss from her, and then clinging on to her as if his life depended on it. The Ranma in her dreams had embraced her any chance he had, bathing her with soft caresses and kisses, and filling her ears with words of love. She just knew it had been too good to be true. She should have known better the moment he had kissed her at night.

Sighing loudly, she walked downstairs to collect her pills, deciding taking them would help her relax. Even though she had wanted to stay awake to not be bored during her recovery, the sudden realization that her life had not changed as she thought it had was enough to drain the life off her. She only had a few more days of medically mandated rest, and she was going to enjoy them by sleeping away the pain. The medicine's side effects made her extremely drowsy, and for once she welcomed the feeling of her body shutting down at the mercy of such effects.

Had she remained awake for just a few more minutes, she would have heard the trio of fans coming to her home, demanding to speak with Ranma about the terms of their prom agreement. She would have heard Nabiki's own demand of payment for her knowledge, and would have seen the competition drag their feet towards the camp in which Ranma and company planned to train.

Had she remained aware of her surroundings, she would have noticed Nodoka's nod of approval at Nabiki's actions, and would have seen the three awaken women in the home exchange silent acceptances of a job well done.

xxxXXXxxx

SATURDAY

Akane walked down the stairs to the furo, feeling too wound up to continue sleeping. She had homework to do that was now overdue, and the silence in her home was something she did not have the privilege of experiencing as often as she would like. She knew that she needed to take advantage of the situation to work on her studies, even if just to catch up so that her return to school would not be as dreadful as she anticipated it to be. She had already missed a handful of tests and projects, and she knew she would have to work on them while alone and away from distractions to keep her grades at a passing level.

On her way to the bathroom, she noticed a note from Kasumi taped to the entrance door. Walking up to it she discovered that her elder sister had gone out to do the week's grocery shopping, and would not be returning until much later in the day. An even smaller note below Kasumi's reveled to the younger Tendo sister that Nabiki was also out of the home, collecting payments from her clients –read victims.

Well, at least I can stay in the tub as long as I want.

Dragging her feet to the bathroom, she began the process of filling up the furo while she slowly undressed. The reflection in the mirror staring back at her was not pleasant, showing how tired she felt. While not truly significant, the small dark circles already forming under her eyes made her look sicker than she really was. She was surprised to see them there in the first place, since all she had done since her fall was sleeping. Then again, restless sleep was no better than no sleep at all.

Putting on the bathrobe to enter the furo room, Akane walked slowly toward her destination, sitting on the edge of it as her hand measured the temperature of the water. She alternated between the hot and cold water faucets to achieve just the right mix to help her relieve her physical aches. Once she was content that she had done her best, she allowed the robe to hit the floor by her feet before she slowly walked inside the tub and rested her back against the now warm tile. She closed her eyes and inhaled the steam to help open her pores and clear her sinuses.

She remained in there for a long time until her skin became prune-like and the water had begun to cool off. Realizing she had just spent half of the day sleeping, and another hour bathing when she had plenty of things to do, she reluctantly stood up to wash and rinse. After a quick shower, she rinsed the furo of any residual soap and picked up her clothes from the floor before dropping them in the hamper. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her head, and then slowly putting on the robe once more before exiting the bathroom and heading to her room.

Sluggish steps took her back to her room, where she finished drying up and replacing the bathrobe with lounging clothes. The rumble in her stomach made her growl, not feeling up to walking back downstairs to gather some food. Her quick hesitancy disappeared when she realized how pathetic she sounded. Was it really worth mopping around just because a boy she was deeply in love with had chosen training over staying behind with her? Where was the Akane that had not cared whether she was the center of attention for the pigtailed martial artist?

She was left behind in my dream.

Shaking the thoughts away, Akane took out her school supplies and neatly set them on her desk, making sure everything she needed was ready for use. She then walked back downstairs and into the kitchen, rummaging inside the refrigerator and finding Kasumi had not forgotten about her. Clearly labeled with her name on a sticky note was a plastic container filled with ready-to-heat leftovers from last night.

Thank Kami for Kasumi!

Akane took out the container, opening it up and transferring the cold food to a disposable plate. She then proceeded to reheat the food in the microwave. A couple of minutes later, Akane was heading back upstairs with food, a soda pop, and utensils in hand to eat while she worked on the pile of schoolbooks she had to read. She aimed to finish her work today so that tomorrow she could spend the day preparing to return to the days when Ranma was not as attentive with her as he had been before.

xxxXXXxxx

The moment the light in her room went off, Akane was pulled from the deep concentration she was in while trying to solve one of her Advanced Calculus class' homework problems. She had been stuck on a particular step that was not clear to her even after reading the book and the notes one too many times. She had wanted to call her friends for help, but the moment she had picked up the phone she remembered that the last thing in their mind would be homework. Today was Prom Day, and tomorrow would be the Day-After-Prom Day; finding volume of solids of revolution using integration was probably not going to be high on their to-do list.

She slammed her pencil on the desk as she stood up from it, walking to her light switch and flipping it several times. When the darkness remained, she laughed at the irony –the light bulb in her head had shorted out, too. She opened the door of her room, aiming to find a spare light bulb to replace her faulty one, only to realize it would not be necessary to do so since the entire home was without power.

Great.

Returning to her room to find a flashlight in her closet, she used it to safely walk down the stairs to assess the damage. She flipped almost every switch she encountered as if to convince herself that that the total blackout was not due to one bad bulb –or twenty. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she headed to the kitchen, expecting to see a concerned Kasumi lurking in the shadows. However, the house seemed as empty as it had been when she had woken up earlier today. A quick look at the clock on the wall told her it was almost 9, the fact taking her aback as she continued to walk around the home.

Shouldn't Nabiki, Kasumi or Auntie by here by now? Oh, God! What if something happened to them?

Akane's feelings of self-pity and annoyance at the inconvenience were replaced by ones of fear, anxiety and concern. While it was not uncommon for Nabiki to come back home late at night, she usually called ahead to let someone know about her delays. Akane was certain that her sister had not called. In addition, Kasumi never stayed away from the home for more than a few hours without planning it way ahead of time. Maybe she was hanging out with Nodoka? Maybe the two women had lost track of time doing whatever they liked to do together and not busy with home chores?

The blue-haired girl scoffed. She was probably freaking out for no reason. Everyone in the house was a responsible adult, free to do as they pleased. Would it really be that shocking that they all had a life outside these walls? Just because she was ill it did not mean her family member's lives had to stop. It hadn't stopped Ranma, Soun and Genma from leaving on that training trip, right?

Well, might as well go check the circuit breakers.

Clutching tighter onto the flashlight, she walked to the living room and exited into the garden. Once her bare feet hit the cold stone outside she was reminded that she had forgotten her sandals, but not really bothering enough her to go back inside the house. She continued her trek to the dojo where the breaker box for the entire property was located. She had not been to the dojo in days, and the simple task of seeing it from afar made her heart leap.

I can't wait to be able to train again.

The moment her hand found the handle of the door, she opened it up only to be blinded by the bright light suddenly hitting her full force. She closed her eyes and jerked her head to the side, feeling the physical strain the change had caused to her unsuspecting pupils. She tried opening her eyes again, but she could only do so for a few seconds at a time while the spots dangling in front of her disappeared at a slow pace.

Sure, why not? I walk all the way over here and the power comes back.

When she felt more confident in her ability to see, she lifted her head to stare at the lighted dojo before the lights were cut once more. This time, however, the darkness was replaced by a stream of colorful Christmas lights turning on inside the room, hanging from the ceiling at different angles. The other source of light came from the scattered candles in the corners of the floor, burning brightly enough to illuminate the floor, but not too bright as to interrupt the cozy atmosphere that now lived in the dojo.

"What in the world…?"

She took one step inside the dojo, and then another, and a third one. She looked behind her shoulder to face the garden, realizing the power was still out at the house, causing her confusion to tenfold. She returned her attention to the dojo as a lamp that hung from the middle of the ceiling turned on, showering the room with sparkling rays of light as it twirled around in place.

She dared to walk deeper into the dojo to examine the lamp, but her curiosity was interrupted when spotlight shone in front her, below the shrine, to illuminate the up to now hidden garment. Akane was in awe at the scene: a beautiful night dress hung from a hanger nailed to the wall.

The dress was navy blue, strapless, and puffed up at the bottom in a series of ruffles and carefully sewn waves. The top part of the dress sported dozens of thoughtfully placed rhinestones, forming together the shape of a V. The waist and hips area of the dress were also covered in tiny rhinestones, shrinking in quantity until they were no longer adorning the dress by the end of the hips. A pair of silver-colored heels rested on the floor to the side of the dress, and on top of the shoes laid an envelope.

Akane walked toward the dress, not being able to contain herself and running her hands through the dress. The fabric was so soft she would have sworn it was silk. Her eyes then looked down at the silver shoes, picking up the envelope that was addressed to her before opening it up and taking out a single piece of paper with one sentence typed on it.

Try it on.

She looked around for signs of the origin of the dress, but she was alone in the dojo. She picked up the shoes and removed the dress from the hanger before speeding to the back of the dojo to the small office that resided there. She rid of her casual clothes in an instant, and relished in the feeling of the dress falling right into place. The garment fit perfectly, accentuating her curves and making her feel like a real-life fairy tale princess.

She slid on the shoes and patted down the dress to make sure everything was in placed before walking to the door of the office. Once she opened it, she was greeted with by a trail of rose petals leading her back to the dojo. She slowly walked on the path that had not been there moments ago, ending in the middle of the dojo. The hanger was now gone, and the spotlight had been turned off, leaving her in the partial light created by the lights, candles and lamp above her.

"It fits well, doesn't it? I knew you'd look great in it."

The huskily whispered voice made her throat feel constricted, almost making her forget how to breathe. She narrowed her eyes to make out the form of the presence resting on the wall a few feet in front of her, but already recognizing him by the tone of his voice. He pushed himself from the wall and began walking toward her, his features becoming cleared to her with every step he took.

His usual attire was replaced by a black tuxedo, white shirt and a navy blue tie that matched her dress. His classic Chinese slipper shoes were non-existent and instead a pair of black shoes covered his feet. She looked up and down at him several times, afraid that the current situation was nothing more than a dream.

Seeing her face fill with incredulity, he walked closer to her until he was standing mere inches from her, leaning his face down and holding the side of her face with his right hand. He gave her a lopsided smile, staring deeply into her eyes.

"You look cute when you're confused, Akane."

Her shock immediately dissipated at seeing his smug, got-ya smile. She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned, feeling played by him. "What is this about? What is going on?"

"I wanted it to keep it a surprise, but when you caught me with Nabiki I had to find a way to throw you off."

Akane's mouth opened wide at the same time her eyebrows shot up. "What? Do you mean that…Did you pretend to…? What?"

"The pills you have been taking since Wednesday also make you really sleepy and confused. I had to knock you out if I wanted this to work. I'm sorry about that, Akane, but I wanted to make this special for you."

"Special? You mean you planned this all on your own?"

Ranma scratched the tip of his nose, tempted to take all the credit. "Nah! My mom and your sisters helped, too. It was hard but I managed to convince them all to play along. Why do you think the house is empty?"

"But, but…I saw you leave with our fathers…"

"No, you saw Copycat Ken leave with the idiots…"

"But, Kodachi and…"

"….are looking for the fake Ranma in the woods right now."

"So…are you saying that we are…alone?"

"Yup! Just you and I, again, like Tuesday…when I brought you home early from school."

"So…when you and Kasumi said that I…"

"Not true, but you almost believed it, didn't you?"

"I did," she conceded before pinching the skin of her hand. Ranma chuckled at her gesture, inciting in her a light blush on her cheeks. "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming."

"We are not," he said, bending down and finally doing what he had been waiting to do since she had walked inside the dojo. Akane closed her eyes and lost herself in the kiss, surrounding him with her arms as he did the same. He spared a second of his hand on her back to find the remote control he had put inside his pocket, aiming it at the wall behind them to turn on the music player.

Once the slow music began, he placed his hands on her hips, swaying her to the rhythm of the song and breaking the kiss.

"I thought you hated to dance?"

"I thought you hated men?"

Akane stuck out her nose at him, clearly left with nothing to say. She shook her head lightly before leaning closer to him and resting her face on his, allowing him to lead their slow motion. Ranma kissed the side of face before placing his lips near her ear, sending shivers down her spine as he whispered to her.

"Do you like the surprise?"

"I love it."

"And, I love you."

Akane closed here yes, her grip on him tightening in her joy. She took in a deep breath, pressing her body closer to his, reminding him without words that the feeling was mutual.

"I'm sorry I denied it before, I just…I didn't want scare you away."

"Scare me away?" she said, finally being able to find her voice, although it was still small and trembling. "You're such a baka."

Ranma chuckled, the feeling of its resonance transferring from his chest to her due to how close they were. "It takes one to know one."

She giggled at his response; a response that would have irate her just months ago and now brought her an uncharacteristic sense of belonging and bliss. "How long do we have until the magic ends?" she asked, fearing Nabiki would suddenly show up to ruin their evening with compromising pictures or deals. Ranma pulled back his head from the nook of her neck to face her, staring at her with such passion Akane thought her knees would buckle.

"The rest of our lives, Akane. The rest of our lives."

---

A/N: Wow! Fluff galore! Want to see the dress? Go to [http][colon][slash][slash]fashion[no space]newz[slash]wp[hyphen]content[slash]uploads[s lash]2012[ slash]02[slash]Dark[hyphen]blue[hyphen]prom[hyphen ]dresses[hyphen]