Chapter 1
The morning light was shining through Akane's bedroom curtains, slowly inching upwards towards her face as she lay snug under her covers, dozing softly. The light soon reached her eyes and her face grimaced as her eyes slowly opened. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. Then with a loud yawn her arms shot up over her head as she stretched, arching her back as she tried to get her brain started for the day. She carefully got out of bed and noticed that there was a tray on her desk. On it was a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, a steamed fish and a cup of steaming tea.
"Great. I overslept again. Kasumi must have left it for me. Good thing there is no school today." She giggled as she walked towards her window.
She briskly flung open her curtains letting the sunshine flood her dark bedroom. "Looks like it's going be a great morning for a change." She sighed as she took a sip of her tea.
She looked down from her window and saw a figure in the courtyard by the dojo. Squinting slightly, she saw Ranma, who was performing his katas with a bo-staff twirling in both hands. He was wearing his white tank top, black trousers, white socks and black Chinese shoes. Sweat was streaming down his well-defined back and arms as he executed a difficult series of moves with his staff. Akane stifled a sigh watching him.
Her mind went back to Mt. Phoenix, she was unconscious in Ranma's arms. As she was regaining her senses, she heard Ranma's grief-stricken voice in her head: "I love you!" Shaking her head irritably, "Did he really say that?" She wasn't sure as she was just regaining consciousness at that time and could have been imagining the whole thing. She didn't have the courage to ask him about it as usual. That frustrated her a lot. She really wanted to tell him how she felt, but was afraid of what he would say. In the beginning it was a lot easier. All Ranma had to do was open his mouth, say the wrong thing, and Akane would pound him into the ground with her trusty mallet, and that would be the end of it. Ever since they got back from Mt. Phoenix, Ranma has been VERY kind to her. To kind! It's like he's a different person now. And they have both been so busy with graduation getting closer, that they haven't had time for anything, much less talk to each other about the one thing they both would not admit to themselves: They love each other.
Giving Ranma one last gaze, she turned from the window with a sigh, ate her breakfast, and got ready for the day.
Ranma was just finishing his kata for the morning, spinning his staff in swift patterns over his head, finishing with a leap and stab with his staff at an imaginary foe. Ranma walked over to the porch of the dojo and retrieved a towel after putting away the staff, and began wiping his sweat covered brow. Looking up at Akane's window he noticed that she finally stopped watching him. Years of training have given him a powerful sense of his surroundings. Akane's eyes were like floodlights on him and he felt her presence the minute she looked at him. He was part relieved, part frustrated. He wasn't very good at expressing his feelings. That usually ended up getting his head pounded by Akane.
