Chapter 2

Akane sat in class that afternoon and pondered about what she had overheard at lunch. She had been trying to get away from everyone who kept asking questions about what had happened that morning. Thankfully nobody thought she was the one Kuno had fucked any more, but her girlfriends were all asking about Ranma now and if she had put out for him, or if she was going to now that Shampoo had laid down the gauntlet. She just needed a moment of peace to think for a while about how to deal with Shampoo, and probably with Ranma too.

So she had decided to go up to the roof. It was one place where surprisingly few people liked to eat their lunch, most preferring to either stay in the classroom, or to sit under a tree out on the school grounds. When the bell rang signaling the end of the period, she noticed Ranma jump up to the roof himself, possibly seeking the same refuge as she. Well they could hide out together, so long as he didn't open his big yap and try to talk about it.

She got to the top of the stairs leading up to the roof and tried to open the door, but it didn't move, locked from the outside. 'Oh well' she thought to herself. 'I can at least sit on the staircase to eat my lunch, and now I don't have to deal with Ranma.'

As she sat down and opened her bento, she heard voices coming from the other side of the door. She knew Ranma was up on the roof, but who was out there with him? She pressed her ear against the door to see if she could understand what was being said.

It was Ukyo.

Why was Ranma nervous all of a sudden?

She wants to WHAT?

Akane was just about to break down the door when she heard Ranma's response. He didn't love Ukyo? Well she always kind of suspected that may have been the case, but they had always been friends, and he had known her much longer than he had known Akane. Ukyo was always the one she thought might win the fiancée wars.

She then heard footsteps approaching the door. Someone was coming, and it would look pretty bad if they caught her eavesdropping. She quickly packed up her lunch and ran down the stairs before the door opened. She had a lot to think about that afternoon.

And so she found herself in this current predicament. Ranma didn't feel that he deserved any of the affection that was thrown at his feet on a daily basis. Then why did he stay in Nerima? Out of obligation for the promise between their families? She wasn't sure how she felt about that anymore. Sure they had argued and fought a lot, and still did on occasion, but since the fight with Saffron and the ruined wedding, things had changed. There were still arguments, but they had lost their heat. Ranma walked with her on the way to school rather than beside her up on the fence rail. They were even able to have civil conversations over dinner, or watch TV together without fighting.

The big question of course was how did she feel about him. She had been willing to go through with the wedding because she had thought she'd heard him say that he loved her. Even though he had later said he hadn't, she had still been willing to go through with it so that he could get the cure to his curse.

But that was just it. Even if he hadn't said it out loud, she was certain that he at least liked her. His despair over the scene that morning had been a big hint, the fact that he'd hugged her when he found out that it was a trick was another. And then there was all the times that he had saved her life, and protected her, and acknowledged that she was his fiancée...

Holy crap, she loved him too.

Just thinking about all those times where he hinted at how he felt for her made her remember how she felt at those times as well. And then she thought about what her life would be like if Ranma were not in it any more, and it frightened her how lonely she would be without her constant companion.

She loved him, and he probably loved her too.

A slow smile spread across Akane's face and she felt a warm glow spread through her body at that revelation. But if Ranma didn't think he deserved her love, how was she going to prove him wrong?

She spent the rest of that afternoon ignoring her teachers and planning how she was going to do just that.

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Ranma eyed Akane warily on the way home from school. She was WAY too happy for what had happened earlier in the day. A happy Akane after something happened between his fiancées was a dangerous situation. Usually it meant that she was bottling it up to be released explosively later when it could do the most damage to him.

Akane almost laughed out loud at the sight of her fiancé looking like he was about to bolt any second. She was sorely tempted to turn to him and yell to startle him, just to see how high he would jump. She thought she had an idea for a plan, which of course involved blindsiding Ranma with it when he least expected it. It was going to be hard to admit her own feelings after so long of denying that there was anything there to begin with. Maybe she should try to get him to admit it first?

They arrived back home, and Akane went up into her room to change out of her uniform. Ranma went out into the dojo both to get out of her way, and to get some practice in before dinner. He was midway through his warm up when Akane walked in the door dressed in her gi. She didn't say a word, just walked in, and started her own warm up. Ranma decided to let her have her peace and finished his own warm up before launching into his first set of kata.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Akane had started her own kata shortly after him. She really was graceful, flowing smoothly from one form to another. It was one thing he always liked about her was that she was a student of the art, and a pretty good one too since she was able to tag him from time to time when he least expected it. Of course he probably should have expected it since it usually came after he said something royally stupid or insulting to her.

Akane noticed that Ranma had stopped to watch her, so she finished up her set, and turned to him. She needed to distract him while she was talking, otherwise he'd never admit to anything. "Hey Ranma, want to spar?" If he was too busy concentrating on dodging her attacks, he might let something slip.

Still wary of her apparent good mood, Ranma just nodded his head, before taking up his usual relaxed ready stance. Akane took up a much stronger stance, before launching into her attack with a hammer punch to the chin. Ranma of course dodged the strike by the faintest of margins.

The battle was entirely one sided, with Akane doing all the attacking and Ranma dodging every one. Rather than let her temper get away from her though, Akane stayed focused on her plan. "So Ranma, what did you think about that show Shampoo put on this morning?"

Ranma hesitated slightly in surprise, and was nearly tagged by Akane for it. He jumped back out of range to allow himself to find his bearings. "Uh... well I was certainly surprised when I saw it," he said, narrowly dodging another attack. "I didn't really believe that it was you though since I knew you would never let Kuno do that to you."

This time it was Akane that face faulted a little as she gagged at the thought of Shampoo's choice of sexual partner. "Yeah, you'd think she'd go for someone more believable. Maybe she just thought he'd be the most gullible and most likely to do it." Ranma nodded in agreement, but didn't let himself get distracted enough to be hit. Akane decided she needed to up the ante. "I really do have a birthmark on my left butt cheek you know." This did the trick as she was able to nail Ranma in the solar plexus.

Ranma backed up coughing as he tried to breath without his unresponsive diaphragm. "That was hardly fair you know," he choked out.

Akane just smirked and said "Anything goes," before starting her attack again. While it was always fun to get Ranma's goat, this wasn't getting her anywhere with respect to what she wanted to learn. "I didn't see you at lunch, where did you go?" she asked. She didn't expect Ranma to be completely forthright with her about what had happened up on the roof, but she figured that she could let it slip that she knew, and then he'd have to admit his love for her.

Needless to say, she was surprised as hell at his reply. "Actually, I went up to the roof. Ukyo followed me and decided that the more direct approach would work better than Shampoo's attempt by trying to have sex with me right then and there." Akane froze, and Ranma took advantage, shouting "An opening!" and poked her on the forehead. She was so stunned that the simple act knocked her over onto her back.

Akane lay there dazed on the floor. Ranma had actually told her the truth about what had happened. She didn't know what to make of this new revelation, so she just lay there looking stunned up at her fiancé.

Ranma eyed her warily. Yeah he'd told her the truth, but he was expecting her to jump up quickly lose her temper at him for what she'd believe was him having sex with Ukyo. He wasn't entirely sure why he baited her like this all the time. There was just something exciting about seeing her all riled up and angry. She was at her most genuine then. Instead of the reaction he was expecting though, she sat up and motioned for him to sit across from her. Cautious, he complied. "Uh... we didn't do it," he said, creeping gingerly onto what he thought was thin ice. "She had her shirt off, and wasn't wearing her bindings, but I told her no."

Akane took his hand in hers. He flinched, but she didn't let him pull away. "I'm glad, but why not?" If he was going to be honest about all this so far, maybe he'll open up more. Unfortunately, he instead clammed up and turned his head away in embarrassment. Akane pressed her lips together determined to get him to tell her what she felt. She slugged him in the shoulder with her other arm to get his attention. "I tried to get up on the roof, looking for some privacy to think things over. I was in the stairwell eating my lunch since the door was locked. I heard everything you said." She smiled as she saw him grow nervous at the implications.

Akane changed tactics, her face becoming more sympathetic. "Look, I know you rejected Ukyo, and that you said it was because you didn't deserve her love. I wondered why is all."

Ranma tried to get away, but Akane had his hand in a death grip. His death if he wasn't careful. "Uh... well... you see... she's kinda like a sister to me. My best friend. I don't really feel that way about her. I kinda don't think she really feels that way about me either."

That was a surprise. Ukyo seemed pretty damned sure about how she felt to her, but she let it slide. The next question was going to be hard. "What about Shampoo?"

This time it was Ranma's turn to look serious. "I can't believe she tried that this morning. Well... maybe I can. But to try to seduce me afterwards was kinda creepy. I just wish she'd leave me alone."

Akane was ecstatic to hear this. She scooted closer to him for this last question, hoping for a hug to come shortly... and maybe a little more. "And what about... me?"

Ranma blushed hard and turned away from Akane. "What about you?" he asked nervously.

Akane's mood dropped slightly, but she continued to push. "How do you feel about me? You seemed pretty relieved when you found out that it wasn't me spreading my legs for Kuno." This seemed to make Ranma blush harder as he worked his mouth open and closed like a fish, but no sound came out. She pushed harder. "If I remember correctly you hugged me in relief." This only served to make him clam up even tighter, but Akane took that as a good sign, and instead decided to wait him out.

Ranma saw no way out. If he tried to insult her to get out of it, she'd just ignore it, she was that serious. If he tried to pull away, she'd just hold on tighter. He didn't know how to handle this. "Well... uh... what about you?" he asked again lamely, this time expecting an answer. "How do you feel about all this?"

Surprised at the question being turned around on her, Akane tried to come up with an answer. All she could come up with though was a stupid sounding "I asked you first."

Seeing Akane start to falter brought back some of Ranma's confidence. "Yeah? Well I've already told you a lot so far, so I think it's time you opened up some too." He grinned, thinking he had found a way out of this. He knew she'd never admit to liking him.

Akane started to look nervous as she felt control over the conversation slipping away. She tried to pull her hand away, but this time it was Ranma who was holding on tightly, not letting her get away. She tried to smile and joke about it, trying to regain control. "Well, I wouldn't have sex with Ukyo or Shampoo either." She tried to put on a smug look, but it came out a grimace.

Ranma was surprised that Akane would go for the sex joke, but it didn't distract him from the matter at hand. He leaned in closer to her, putting himself firmly in her personal space. "That's not what I meant and you know it." He wondered how long this would go on before she got angry enough to hit him and run away, thereby getting them both off the hook.

Akane still looked a little nervous, but she had a sort of determined look on her face as well. "Um... Ranma? Personal space?" She wasn't about to give up yet, but she needed to wrestle with her own emotions first. He was right there, close to her, and she knew that he didn't like the other girls. All it would take to end all the silly arguments would be for her to just... close the distance that was rapidly shrinking.

By then, Ranma was practically nose to nose with her. He smirked at her, sure that she'd break away any minute now. "I'll back off once I get my answer. How do you feel about mfff..." he was silenced by Akane's lips pressing against his. Their first real kiss. He was stunned, barely knew what was going on. Then he realized that his other hand was in her hair, and that he was kissing her back. He let go of her hand, and wrapped his arm around her in a hug, pulling her to him.

Akane just wasn't able to take it any longer. When he gave his ultimatum, she just went for it and kissed him, hoping that he'd return the kiss and at the same time, knowing that he would. She loved him, and now she was showing it. And then he pulled her into his lap, hugging her tightly, and she knew that he loved her as well.

They continued to kiss like that for a while, only breaking away to breathe for a second before diving back in. Ranma's hands somehow found their way up under Akane's gi top, brushing along the skin on her back. But that was ok, because she had opened his shirt as well and was running her hands over his well defined chest. Finally they broke apart, flushed and breathing hard, both grinning like they had won the lottery. Ranma was the first to speak. "I love you too, Tomboy." Akane's face lit up brightly, and she kissed him once more, pushing him down to lie on the floor, and knocking their teeth together when Ranma's head bounced on the floor.

"Ow!" Akane pulled away, and wiped her mouth with her hand, checking for blood. It was then that she noticed a rather prominent bulge under her stomach. She looked up at Ranma in surprise, but he didn't seem to know why. She then smiled seductively. "Ranma, is that a roll of coins in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?"

Ranma had the decency to look embarrassed. "Well, I can't help it you know, hehehe..."

Then Akane got a serious look on her face. "Look, Ranma, I know that you had two girls offer to have sex with you today, but I just want you to know that I'm not ready for that yet. Is that ok?"

"Actually, that's fine," Ranma said. "I didn't really want those other girls. I can wait." He smiled nervously. "The last thing I want to do is screw up a good thing now that I finally got it." This led to an Amazon sized glomp as Akane hugged him hard. He wrapped his arms around her back, savoring the feeling for once.

Akane leaned back slightly to look in his eyes. "Nothing says we can't make out every once in a while though," she said, then laughed as she watched his eyes become as big as dinner plates. She got all serious again. "So what do we tell everybody? Do we tell our family? We'd be married tonight if we did."

"Yeah, and probably have another fiasco of a wedding. No, lets just take it slowly, let them know when we are ready, and when the others can all get a clue."

Akane smiled at this suggestion, and nodded her approval. She then gave Ranma one last kiss before standing and walking out of the dojo. "I'm going to take a bath first Ranma. I'll come out and let you know when you can wash up for dinner."

Ranma just smiled at his fiancée, deciding to go for one more dig at her. "Sure I can't join you? I'd like to see that birthmark again." Akane looked angrily at him for a second, but saw his smiling face and realized that he was joking. Instead, she just stuck her tongue out and shook her bum at him before leaving through the door.

"Wow," Ranma said to himself quietly as he watched her leave. "If I knew she could be so cute and sexy like this when she was happy, I'd have admitted that a long time ago."

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Merry Christmas everybody! Chapter 3 comes out next week!