The Test (Part 2)
"Could you just concentrate, please? Now what is X and…Ranma!"
"What? This is boring! And your eyes are really capturing…"
Akane looked at him and could feel herself getting hot. "You…you really…"
"God, just KIDDING! When did you get THAT stupid?"
Akane just pushed his chair over.
"Ouch!" Ranma got back up. "Naa, but seriously…you do have really nice hazel eyes…could be cute. If it weren't for stuff like that." He pointed to the fallen chair on the floor.
Akane couldn't help but smile. But she did it on the inside, just for herself.
For the rest of the evening, they did Math.
When Ranma went to bed, he was absolutely exhausted and fell over onto bed immediately.
Akane lay awake for hours, but couldn't seem to fall asleep. She finally got up and walked to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror for minutes and minutes and then understood why. She wanted to see if Ranma was right. About her eyes. She took Nabiki's mascara, a deep breath and started. No, her big yellow pyjama was too distracting. She took off the top and looked into the mirror again. Maybe just a hint of eye shadow…
Ranma woke up and found he desperately needed a drop of water. He jumped up and trotted over to the bathroom.
Akane nearly had a heart attack when the door suddenly opened. And nearly had another one when she saw who it was.
Wow. Was that really Akane? When did she learn how make-up works? And why was she doing it in the middle of the night? Was she meeting someone? A boy? A BOY?
"GET OUT, RANMA!"
Ranma came back to life and stormed out. Oh no! Had he actually stared?
Oh God, this was TOO embarrassing! Ranma had caught her with just a bra and make-up on, in the middle of the night! But…had he…stared? That pervert!
"Hey, did you have a date yesterday, or what?"
Akane remained silent and eating.
"She's not talking to you.", Nabiki said.
"I noticed." Ranma stuck out his tongue at Akane.
She replied the grimace.
Soun and Genma entered.
"Okay, the man arrives tomorrow, when you two are back from school, which means we only have today to practice.", Soun declared.
"We meet here after you two return.", Genma added.
"Sure, whatever.", Ranma said.
Akane said nothing.
"Great, then that's settled.", Genma and Soun smiled.
Akane did not speak one word with Ranma in school, even though he kept coming. Kuno had a few escapades, but nothing too serious, Ranma didn't seem in the mood for a fight.
"I just wanna know, it's not like I care, I just wanna know.", Ranma tried to explain to his mates.
"Yeah, sure, we understand. But…even IF she was seeing a guy…so what, right? You just have to PRETEND to be in love and if she doesn't mention this other guy, everything's all right, right?"
"Yeah…of course. IF she doesn't mention it, but she's so stupid, I think she's capable of anything."
"You're the one she helped studying yesterday."
"Huh."
"Really? He said that? It's true, but hearing that from Ranma is kind of a miracle."
"I know, I know, but I'm sure he was just teasing. He didn't mean it.", Akane protested. 'He never does...', she thought to herself. 'Now that I think about it, everything he ever said could have been kind of test. A test to see if I fall for it.' She turned angry at the thought.
"Yeah, but…"
"No buts. He's a jerk and that's all he'll ever do. Tease. Make fun. He never MEANS anything. And he never will. He won't have a problem with that stupid test. He'll just think of it as a great big fun game! But I won't. I can't. I could never. And that's why…THAT'S WHY I WILL NOT PRACTICE ANYTHING! I KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT RANMA! THAT HE'S A GREAT BIG JERK AND NOTHING ELSE! THAT'S ALL I'LL TELL THAT STUPID TEST MAN! THE TRUTH!"