A/N: So sorry for the late chapter! I've been very, very busy. I know it's a bit short, but I still hope you all like it and it was worth the wait!
What About Us?
Chapter Four
Ranma awoke at 7 am, showered and dressed for school. He threw on a simple white t-shirt and jeans; which was his normal school wear. He got a text message from Akane, saying she'd meet him outside the college at 2:00 sharp. He smiled. He was really looking forward to this "get-together" they were going to have. He was beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel for their friendship. He was glad.
Ranma walked out the door, breathing in a deep lungful of the crisp spring air. The boy quietly shut the door behind him, not wanting to wake his wife, and continued walking over to the bus stop.
He waited quietly, thinking about what the day held in store. He had lunch with Akane at two and dinner with Shampoo at six.
The bus arrived, and he boarded it, walking up the stairs and dropping some change into the slot. Ranma immediately plopped himself into the first available seat, looking out the window at the scenery.
As time flew by, he'd finally arrived at school. After hours of grueling classes and lectures, 2:00 rolled around. Ranma walked outside and was surprised to see Akane standing there, clutching her purse, waiting for him. She had her short hair pulled back in a small ponytail and wore a short-sleeved dress with long boots. As he walked closer, he noticed she had a bit of glitter on her eyes. She looked lovely.
"Hey 'Kane." He smiled and she smiled back.
"Hey, Ranma. Ready to go?"
"You bet, where to?"
"How about that new little café two streets over? I heard it's got great food."
"Sure thing! Let's go."
The two walked, chatting a little as they made their way to The Sakura, a little Japanese place that sold coffee, rice cakes and such. When they neared the street where it lay, Ranma noticed a girl from afar. A… certain girl. One with purple hair.
"Shit!" the boy exclaimed, grabbing Akane's hand and dragging her behind a tree.
"H-hey!" Akane shouted. "What do you think your doing?!"
"Shh… please be quiet Akane. Just for a second."
"What's going on?"
"Shh…" he whispered, putting a finger to his lips.
Akane pursed her lips and waited quietly.
Ranma watched as his wife, Shampoo, got into a taxi and after a few moments began to drive away. He exhaled and waited until the automobile was out of sight before he came out from behind the tree.
"Come on, Akane." The young man said, grabbing her hand. "Let's go."
Akane raised an eyebrow but decided to ask him about what had just happened once they sat down. It would be a better opportunity.
The two walked a little further and entered the small shop, decorated with cherry blossom designs and the colours red, pink and white. They also noticed the place was rather empty, which was unusual for this time of day. It didn't matter, however, the silence was much better, anyhow.
Ranma and Akane decided to sit on a small, two-chaired table in the middle of the café. He also made sure to not be near a window, in case the issue from before was to repeat itself…
Before Akane had a chance to talk, the waitress had arrived and the two ordered cups of tea, Sakura mochi with ice cream and a set of rice cakes. After the waitress left out of sight, Akane immediately spoke.
"So," Akane said. "What was that all about?"
"Hmm?" he replied, hoping he wouldn't have to explain.
"Don't "hmm" me. Why did you hide? Who'd you see?"
Ranma exhaled and looked at Akane. Her sparkled eyes shimmered in the light.
"You see… well, I saw Shampoo."
"W-wait… you hid from your wife? Why?"
"Hell-o… what would she think if she saw me with you?"
Ranma watched as a pained expression washed across Akane's face. She turned away from him. "Oh…" was all she uttered.
A silence flooded through the room.
Akane broke it. "Can't she accept that we only want to be friends?"
"I… I don't know. I mean I've talked about you, but I'm not sure if she knows that we're good friends."
"I'm sure she'd be okay with it. I mean, you're married and I am… so what's the big deal?"
Ranma smiled a little. "Agreed. Maybe if I explained it to her more, she'd understand."
The waitress arrived again, handing the two their food. Once the plate of rice cakes was laid out in front of her, memories flooded back and Akane giggled.
"Hmm?" Ranma said, his mouth filled with food. "What's so funny?"
"N-nothing." She replied. "Just something I remembered from earlier." She kept a secret smile on her lips as she remembered the sakura rice cake episode from a while back.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Girls," he said, grabbing some of the ice cream.
The two friends enjoyed their meal, chatting and talking about the old people in their lives.
"What?! U-Chan's pregnant?!"
Ranma grinned. "Boy, I think she said."
"Woooow." Akane smiled. "Glad to hear they're all doing fine. I haven't seen her since her wedding, are you two still close?"
"Well, not like before, but still friends."
"That's nice."
Ranma tried to avoid the subject of Ryoga, knowing it would be bad news. Though, Akane brought up someone else… someone he'd nearly forgotten about.
"Oh," Akane bit her lip. "Have you seen Mousse lately?"
Mousse. Wow, he hadn't seen him since two weeks before his wedding to Shampoo. "No, I haven't. Have you?"
"Well, here and there. He's been… really depressed. Plus, I think he's unemployed, too. I also think he's been living at Ukyo and Konatsu's for a while."
Ranma's eyes widened and felt a pang of guilt. Was this what had really happened to Mousse? Was it his fault?
Ranma sipped some of his tea, taking a big gulp and then replied. "Oh, I um… I didn't know that."
The subject was dropped.
An hour went by and they ate and chatted lightly. Ranma made sure not to eat very much so he could still enjoy his dinner with Shampoo later. After they'd finished, Akane said she had to go into town to do some errands and Ranma had to return back home anyway. He walked her to the door, and they bid their farewells.
Walking in the opposite direction, Ranma waited for the city bus to come around like it always did at 3:30 PM.
Eventually, the bus did come though a bit late. Ranma hopped on and arrived at his house in fifteen minutes.
When he got home, he noticed Shampoo wasn't there. He recalled she did mention she would be getting her hair done that day so Ranma decided to spruce up a bit for her too.
The boy shaved and showered, then sprayed himself with some aftershave; it was her favorite scent. He dressed sharply, in a nice red dress shirt and tie, fumbling a bit with the tying but mastering it after a few minutes. He slipped on some nice white dress pants and white dress shoes, too.
Ranma observed himself in the mirror once more before stepping out the door and locking it behind him. He glanced at his watch, it was 5:30. That gave him a half hour before he was supposed to meet his wife.
As the young man walked down the street, he noticed a nice flower store and decided to step in. Why not buy her flowers, too? He looked around for a few minutes before he found a large bouquet of red roses, the his wife's absolute favorite type of flower. Ranma smiled as the shopkeeper wrapped them for him, he hoped she'd like them.
When Ranma arrived at the restaurant, bouquet in hand, he waited for five minutes before he saw Shampoo emerge from the taxi. She did get her hair done, it was curled beautify, and she was wearing a stunning red dress that matched the flowers Ranma bought her. She also wore shimmering silver high heels.
"Hey handsome," she said with a smile as she walked toward him. She gasped when she saw the flowers. "Those for me?"
"Who else?" he winked, handing them to her. She giggled brightly and hugged them to her chest. Her eyes shone when she looked at him. "Thank you, Ranma…"
The boy had to pause for a few minutes, her stare mesmerizing. For a pure moment, she looked at him with such unconditional love… he had to catch his breath.
"No… no problem. So, shall we?" he said, extending his arm. She giggled again, taking it.
The two entered the fancy restaurant. It was decorated in white lace and had cascades of silk and flowers everywhere. True, it would be expensive, but it was worth it.
As the couple sat down, the waiter immediately came over with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Shampoo sipped her wine daintily and Ranma copied her, trying to be as polite as possible.
"This is a beautiful restaurant, honey…" she said, smiling. The candlelight highlighted the light blue tints in her purple hair.
"It is, that's why I picked it." He smiled back, nibbling on a piece of bread from the basket.
The waiter returned and the two ordered some meat buns and shrimp shumai, the first being Ranma's favorite and the second being Shampoo's.
"So, how was school?" Shampoo said, using the second fork on the right to eat her meal. Ranma mimicked her.
"Mmmm, okay. Boring, of course. How was your day?"
"Same, I miss you when you're at school."
"Yeah, but I'm almost done. Just two more years and I'll have my degree, then I can bring in even more money for us."
"Especially if we're going to have a baby!" she giggled, sipping her wine happily.
"Yeah, I guess."
They ate quietly for a moment, and Shampoo began to speak, but hesitated. "Ranma… um…"
"Yeah?"
"Nothing… forget it."
"No, tell me." He said, looking her into the eyes.
"Promise you won't get angry?"
"I promise."
"Well," she smiled softly. "You know, I was a bit jealous when you began talking to Akane again… worried you'd run off with her again, or something."
"Aw, Shampoo. Listen, I told you, me and her are just friends! Like when we went out for lunch today, we just talked normally. About the dojo and what no-"
"Wait." She said, silencing him. "You saw her today?" her smile turned into a frown.
Ranma swallowed. "Uh, yeah… why?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was nothing… all we did was go out to eat and talk."
"… you went out with another girl, took her on a date, and didn't tell me!?"
"A date?! I TOLD you, it was just between friends! I think you're overreacting." He rolled his eyes.
"OVERREACTING?!" she screamed, standing up in her seat. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look at them. Ranma motioned her to sit down but she didn't listen. "Overreacting that you went out with another girl behind you're wife's back?!"
"Shh!" he whispered, touching her arm, motioning her to sit down. She shot him a deadly glare and turned her back, walking out the restaurant.
"Shampoo!" he shouted, throwing some money down on the table and chasing after her.
"No! I'm not doing this anymore!" she shouted back, not turning around. She pushed the glass double doors open and walked outside.
"Listen to me!" he called after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around.
"What's there to listen to?" she hissed, moisture adorning her eyes. Ranma gasped softly. She was crying?
"Shampoo," he mumbled softly, caressing her arm. "Please, don't think that. We're just friends."
A pause filled the atmosphere.
After a moment, the girl finally spoke. "I don't want you to see her anymore," she said, softly.
"W-what?" Ranma replied startled.
"If you love me, you will stop seeing that Tendo girl, once and for all."