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Disclaimer: "Blah!"

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Chapter 2 – Whispers

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Ranma's mind ran over what Akane had just said. "Uh…ok then, but you can't mallet me for making too much noise 'k? 'Cos you're the one who came in here, deal?" He had walked over to her while he was talking and he held out his hand to seal their verbal contract. He was a bit wary, though; worried that she'd materialize her mallet out of no where and smash him into the sky.

"Deal," she said and reached out her hand to his. Their hands touched, and Ranma felt a pleasant tingle up his arm and an immediate sense of warmth as Akane's hand closed around his.

Her hand, like any martial artist, was slightly calloused, but where there were no calluses her skin was smooth and soft. He tried to dismiss his thoughts as they shook once and then let go.

He turned around and walked back to the center of the floor and then walked forward a few meters to give Akane some room to train. Taking up a basic stance he began again. Behind him he could hear Akane walk onto the floor and stop a reasonable distance behind him.

Ranma blocked out the external noises and concentrated, he moved through the moves that his lazy Pop had taught him, attempting to hone his skills further and to block out any thought at all. Time seemed to pass and he paused to rest, breathing a little harder than usual from his constant exertion. Looking at the clock on the dojo's wall he realized it was a little after eleven o'clock.

He turned to where he had sensed Akane earlier to say he was done, and found her leaning against the wall with her legs stretched out in front of her and her chin touching her chest. She had fallen asleep on the floor of the dojo. One of her training weights lay on the floor in her almost open hand.

Her hair framed her face and as he moved closer Ranma could see a small smile teasing the corner of her mouth. Ranma stood on the spot, not moving a single muscle. His eyes were wide with surprise, but were thoughtful at the same time.

He stood there for a while, thinking. Should he leave her here, or take her with him? And most importantly, what would he do if she woke up while he carried her inside? Given Akane's reflex actions when she was abruptly woken, he would be taking a late night trip via air Akane.

He couldn't leave her there, though. He had lain on the floor of the dojo unconscious before and he knew how uncomfortable it was. He wasn't too surprised she fell asleep. Akane was usually up by six in the morning for her jog and shower before school, while he tried to squeeze in as much sleep as possible.

Shrugging mentally, he squared his shoulders against what would come if she woke up. He walked over to her and carefully removed the dumbbell from her hand. Carefully, very carefully, so she wouldn't wake up and whack him into oblivion with no chance to explain what he was doing, he slid his right arm behind her back.

When he was sure he hadn't woken Akane up, he slid his left arm underneath her knees. At a snail's pace he stood up carrying Akane in his arms, as he got up she unconsciously shifted, putting her arms around his neck. Ranma froze, staying utterly still and using all of his martial arts training to preciously control the movement of every muscle.

Suddenly, Akane started mumbling and he strained his ears to hear what she said. Most of what he heard was gibberish, but for a moment there he thought he heard her whisper a name; it almost sounded like his name in fact, but that of course was crazy.

She sighed and seemed to settle down. Cautiously, he walked over to the door. Using his left hand he flicked off the light switch and opened the door. Closing it behind him he walked down the covered walkway between the house and dojo.

Half way across he came to a starting revelation; there was no way in hell he could let anyone see him doing this. Kasumi would be no problem; she would already be in bed, as would his Pop and Akane's dad. But Nabiki, she would still be up. If she saw him he would be bankrupt for the rest of his life to keep this scene a secret, and he would have to let her take as many photos as she wanted.

'I'm in deep trouble if she catches me,' he thought, 'And I'm in deep trouble if Akane wakes up. Shit!' He was trapped in a no-win situation, unless he could get Akane to her bed with no one the wiser - including Akane. Due to multiple past experiences of sneaking around the Tendo household usually to snatch P-chan away from Akane's bed), he had managed to learn where nearly all of the rotten and noisy steps and boards were.

Walking inside he went through the dining room to the stairs. He carefully made his way up the stairs and stopped at the beginning of the hallway. Now comes the tricky part. Hopefully his luck would hold through.

He dodged his way down to Akane's room, missing the boards that would give him away, as well as possibly wake up Akane. He smiled as he reached the duck-shaped sigh outside Akane's door. Luck was on his side, for once. Her door merely rested against the frame and wasn't closed. All he had to do was nudge it open with his foot. Entering the room he toed the door behind him until it was almost shut.

Practically tiptoeing over to Akane's bed, he flicked back the comforter with his foot and carefully slid Akane in underneath the covers. Pulling the covers up to her neck, he warily stepped back. He knew from Ryoga that Akane was fairly active in her sleep and had a tendency to lash out while she dreamt.

Akane automatically settled into her bed and he almost heard her whisper a name again. It sounded like the same name she had mentioned before, but he couldn't make it out. She sighed in her sleep, and he decided that now would be a good time to leave before he screwed things up and got malleted.

In fact he was wondering how he had managed to escape his normal screwed up luck as he exited her room, the door making a quiet click as it closed. Maybe he had just gotten lucky for once.

He knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. Being caught outside Akane's room would be half as bad as being caught in her room, with Akane being royally pissed off, Nabiki blackmailing him and both of their fathers crying and trying to plan another wedding. After the chaos of today, it was the last thing he wanted.

He gathered his energy and carefully dodged down to the guest bedroom, which were his and Genma's room.

'Well, at least he'll be passed out from too much sake', he reflected as he slid the door to their room open. The amount of sake was also good for tomorrow, as there was a chance his Pop would be hung-over and asleep long after he woke up for school.

Ranma carefully walked over to his futon, keeping one eye on the recombinant form of his father, who was snoring blissfully away in alcohol induced unconsciousness.

He pushed his bed further from his father as a precaution. He didn't really feel like being squashed by his father's bulk when he rolled around in his sleep. Whenever his Pop got drunk, and even sometimes when he slept normally, his Pop tended to roll around more than usual. Must be 'cos of all the time he spends as a fat panda he thought.

Lying down on his bed and arranging everything to his satisfaction, Ranma made himself comfortable. He lay there thinking for a few moments and realized the misadventures school would bring after the rumors of the failed wedding circulated. He sighed, pushing the thought out of his mind. He would ignore as much chaos as he could and almost instantly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.