Author's note: Hey again!
Well, my only note this time is that I wasn't sure how long the gap is between leaving high school and getting your exam results in Japan (or, at least, in the anime Azumanga Daioh, where I got the information from), so I guessed at two weeks. If this is wrong, just tell me and I'll keep it in mind for the future chapters.
Chapter Four: Don't Give Up Now
It was the day after Ranma and Akane's little deal and Ranma was currently soaking himself in a hot bath while singing The Big Hips Blues. He had no idea why he was singing it, but he was... and was enjoying himself at that.
"Oh, the big hips bluuuuues, yeah..." he sang.
So far, things had gone reasonably well with Akane, although it was difficult to say how long that would last, considering their track record and the fact that the deal had only been made yesterday. However, he was hopeful; this might be the one time in their history together that their shared pride could actually prove to be a good thing.
He was just about to continue onto the next verse when he suddenly felt a wave of freezing cold water wash over him like a waterfall. He shrieked and noticed with much annoyance that the pitch and tone of his voice had gone up several octaves. The now female Ranma turned angrily towards the window to see who had done that, but instantly felt something latch onto her chest.
"Hello, baby!" Happosai said happily as he snuggled into her. "How sweet!"
She felt her skin crawl at how revolting the situation was and, when she could take no more, angrily punched the two-foot-tall pervert off of her. "You old freak!"
Happosai bounced across the bathroom tiles and rolled backwards before coming to a stop and glaring at her. "Ranma! When are you gonna learn to respect your elders?"
Ranma growled, pissed off at the insolence of this old man. "I do respect 'em!" She swept her hand across the water – which was now much cooler than it had been before – and sent a wave crashing down on him. "But you're a different story, you sad excuse for a leprechaun!"
Happosai was now dripping wet and looking rather angry. "How dare you!"
Ranma sunk lower under the water to cover her exposed chest and huffed. "Get over it, ya freak."
Happosai huffed back at him and suddenly started to cry. "You're always so mean to me, Ranma..." Ranma lowered her eyelids at him, disinterested and unimpressed. Happosai sniffled. "Always picking on me... Fine! Then I'll go see Akane!" His tears immediately disappeared, as if by magic, and he smiled fondly. "Perhaps raiding her underwear drawer will make me feel better."
Ranma felt a spark of anger as he watched Happosai leave the bathroom. "Oh, no, you don't! Hey! You leave Akane's underwear alone, you old freak! Hey! Get back here!"
She growled; she had to stop him at all costs. She knew how much it pissed Akane off to have her underwear stolen by this guy and understood how degrading it must feel. God, it made her shiver in sheer disgust whenever she thought about how utterly perverted the guy was.
Deciding that she simply couldn't just sit by and watch, she jumped out of the bath, turned on the hot water tap and splashed herself just enough to change forms. The now male Ranma then turned the tap off and hurried to the pile of clothes waiting outside the bathroom. The old freak was not going to get away with this.
"What a haul! What a haul!" Happosai yelled in delight as he bounded down the corridor, the rucksack on his back full of his newly-collected undergarments.
As Ranma chased after him, determined to catch him and make him pay for what he'd done, he felt astounded at how the old goat had managed to steal half of Akane's underwear so fast. He'd gotten dried and dressed as fast as he'd been able to and he'd still not been fast enough to stop him.
"Get back here!" he yelled, racing down corridor after corridor, through room after room, in a desperate attempt to catch him and pound him.
Happosai laughed at him. "Make me!"
Ranma was getting really annoyed now. No one challenged both his pride and his abilities at the same time and got away with it. "You asked for it!" He increased his speed, certain that he'd catch up to him now.
Happosai spun around, bounding backwards, and pulled a firecracker from his gi. "Happo Fire Burst!"
He threw it and Ranma only had time to shriek in horror before it exploded and sent him crashing to the floor, smoking slightly. Happosai laughed again and ran forward, bouncing on his chest like he was a trampoline and running away.
Ranma twitched, the pain and shock rather unbearable at the moment. "Old... freak..." It was then that he realised that something soft – yet with a hard section on it – had fallen on his face. He blinked, forgetting his pain, and sat up. The object landed on his lap, so he picked it up to examine it; it was a white bra, but slightly heavier than the ones that Happosai usually stole. He tugged on the straps in vague interest, then felt below the cup area to see what was causing the extra weight. "Huh... metal... Must be one of those underwire bras." He pulled a face as he went back to tugging on the straps. "Man, what awful taste in underwear..."
He suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine... the kind of cold chill that a person only gets if their death sentence is staring them in the face. Instantly recognising the chill – and feeling his heart ramming against his ribcage at the realisation – he slowly turned to look at the one person that his lousy luck told him would be standing there.
Akane was looking murderous. Her eyes blazed with a hatred that told him he'd be six feet under in a few moments... and her battle aura was flaring so much, it looked like she was on fire.
"Raaaaanmaaaaa..." she growled in a dangerously low voice, her fingers flexing by her sides. "What are you doing with my bra?"
Explanation time! he thought in a panic. Quick! He threw the bra to one side. "Uh, well, you see, Akane, it... I... uh... it's not what it looks like!" Crap, I'm stuttering again! I've gotta find a way to stop doing that!
"You pervert!"
She pulled back her leg and he instantly knew that she was planning on kicking him straight through the screen door. He had to stop her, quick. His brain worked furiously in those couple of seconds until a thought came to mind. It was his only hope, so he tried it.
He clenched his eyes shut. "Let me explain!" He'd said the sentence so fast, he wasn't sure that she'd understood it. However, a few seconds later, she still hadn't kicked him. He cracked an eye open to see what she was doing.
Akane had frozen mid-kick at Ranma's words, unable to believe what she'd just been about to do, though her face remained stuck in its pissed off expression. Oh, my God... she thought, I nearly didn't... keep up my end of the deal... As her stance wobbled, her thoughts battled one another inside her head. But he was touching my bra! And not just that, but also fondling it! He's just as bad as Grandfather Happosai! But I can't kick him... I mustn't kick him... at least not until I've heard what he has to say... But he deserves to be kicked! But, if I kick him, I'll have broken my word and he'd never let me hear the end of it. Her raised foot finally dropped to the floor and she battled hard against her insane desire to just boot him straight through the screen door, like she always did. He's a pervert and all perverts deserve pain to put them in their place! But we made a deal... I mustn't break it. I mustn't! Her pride at keeping her word eventually won out over her pride at protecting her dignity, so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Ranma was staring at her.
"Akane?" he asked quietly.
She could feel the pounding of her frustrated heart against her ribcage, but fought to ignore it. She pursed her lips, grinding them against her teeth for a moment. "Fine. Explain."
That had been way too hard to do... and she was somewhat regretting suggesting this whole deal in the first place now. She'd really had to struggle to contain her emotions, which she very rarely bothered to do. Usually, she was all for letting her emotions flow freely with no restraint. That way, they were over and done with and made her feel much better for getting them out of the way. Doing what she'd just done was like plugging up a volcano; the gastric pressure was trying so hard to push out the lava, but the obstruction wouldn't let it, so said obstruction was suffering much battering in keeping the rebellious lava at bay.
Ranma blinked stupidly at her from his position on the floor, like he couldn't quite believe that she'd actually managed to stop herself. This just irritated her all the more. She just wished that he'd say something already!
"Huh... wow..." He smiled at her. "Nice work, Akane! You actually managed to restrain yourself!"
She couldn't help the happy blush that appeared on her cheeks from his compliment, but she kept her annoyed expression for the sake of her pride. "Well? You gonna explain yourself or what?"
He blinked again, looking confused. "Huh?" Then a look of dawning comprehension appeared on his face. "Oh yeah!" He picked up the bra and tossed it to her. She caught it easily. "The freak stole a big pile of your underwear. That one fell out."
Anger re-ignited in her heart. "He what?"
Ranma nodded. "Yup."
She looked off to the side. "Ooh, I'll kill him!" Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind, so she looked back at Ranma. "Wait a minute! Then explain why you were fondling it like a pervert!"
Ranma suddenly looked angry. "Hey, I wasn't fondling it! I was just..." A light blush appeared on his annoyed face and his voice lowered to a murmur. "I was just curious about the underwire..."
She growled, getting pissed off again. "So, you were fondling it!"
"No, I was just-"
"Curiously fondling it!"
"Hey, wait, I-!"
"You need to fondle it to check out the underwire!"
"No, I was only touching it!"
"You were fondling it!"
"Touching!"
"Fondling!"
"Touching!"
"Well, either way, you shouldn't have been checking out the underwire, 'cause it's my bra! And you have no right to be feeling it!"
Ranma fell silent at this, his blush turning a slightly darker shade and his angry expression melting. He glanced away from her. "Well, I..."
Ha! Akane thought angrily with an air of triumph. Can't deny that, can he? She relaxed her glare and stared at him, then waited a couple of seconds. He eventually locked eyes with her, like she'd wanted him to. "Mind if I kick you now?"
Ranma sighed in defeat and opened his arms in a shrug. She took that as a 'Sure, go ahead', so – building her adrenaline back up – she booted him through the screen door.
It was a couple of hours after Akane had kicked Ranma out the screen door and the two of them were now out for a walk down the street together. Neither one was saying anything, but Akane didn't mind this. After all, they'd made up not long after the incident and had even teamed up against Happosai, kicking him to the floor and stomping all over him before getting her underwear back. She knew that they'd probably regret this later, once the old man stopped sulking long enough to exact his revenge, but she didn't mind that either. Hell, she'd be surprised if he didn't exact his revenge.
Suddenly, a ginger cat ran across their path – only about a foot in front of them – causing the two of them to stop walking and let it pass. Ranma screamed and jumped behind her, clinging to her shoulders like she was a life preserver. The sudden action jolted her backwards slightly.
"Hey!" she said, frowning at him. "Watch it, Ranma."
She noticed that he was shivering and simply couldn't hold her glare; she pitied his strange phobia far too much. "K-Keep that thing away from me!" he said, teeth clattering together.
She sighed. "Take it easy, Ranma... it's gone."
He coughed and straightened himself up, attempting to make himself look tougher than he'd looked a mere moment ago. "Y-Yeah, well... good riddance to it..."
She shook her head at him as he went back to standing next to her. "Honestly, Ranma... have you ever thought of trying to cure your phobia? I mean, I saw a show on TV the other night, where-"
"I am not letting someone lock me in a room full of cats in a feeble attempt to cure my fear of them!" The expression on his face was almost maniacal. "Do you actually think that would work? It'd only make things worse! Remember how my phobia started, Akane!"
Now he'd made her feel foolish for trying to help him and she hated feeling foolish. She scowled angrily at him. "Oh, well, excuse me for trying to help!"
"I don't need your stupid help! Just mind your own business next time, okay?"
Tears burned her eyes and she scolded herself for it. God, she really hated when that happened; it made her look and feel so weak. "Fine, I will! You jerk!"
"You uncu- uncu-" He growled, sounding extremely frustrated, then screamed to vent his frustration.
She couldn't help the slight curl on the side of her mouth as she wiped away her tears. He wants so badly to call me 'uncute'... she thought gleefully, but he can't... and he knows he can't, 'cause he promised he wouldn't! Ha!
"Ranmaaaaa!" a male voice called out angrily.
Akane spun around in curiosity to see who was speaking and was surprised to see a familiar bandana-wearing lost boy.
"Ryoga!"
"Yo, man!" Ranma called out casually. "How it going?"
"Don't you 'Yo, man' me!" Ryoga replied, scowling fiercely. "How dare you spurn Akane's attempt to help you, you heartless jerk!"
Akane blinked at him, feeling slightly stupefied. He doesn't have to take everything so seriously... she thought. He's such a strange guy... always taking Ranma's words towards me to heart. Why should it bother him what Ranma says to me?
"Hey, come on..." Ranma protested.
"No!" Ryoga yelled. "You're gonna pay for that!" He extended his index finger and charged towards Ranma. "Bakusaaaaai Tenketsu!"
Ranma dodged out of the way as Ryoga tried to jab him with his deadly finger. "Hey! Quit it, Ryoga!"
"Ryoga!" Akane shouted in an attempt to calm him down. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to hear her.
"Die, Ranma!" he yelled, swinging his finger forward. Ranma jumped out of the way, which left the finger to jam itself into the ground. Akane panicked as she realised what was about to happen.
The ground completely shattered, causing debris to fly everywhere. Ranma got covered in it and a few yelps informed her that he'd been hit by some large chunks of rock. This greatly worried her.
"Ranma!" she yelled, desperately wanting to rush over and help him, but she was afraid of Ryoga. He was dangerous when he was angry, so she didn't want to be anywhere near him right now.
"Alright, now you've done it!" Ranma growled. He swung his fists at Ryoga at an unimaginable speed, over and over again. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Akane's breath never seemed to stop catching in her throat whenever she saw Ranma use that technique on someone; it was simply amazing. She watched as Ryoga got pummelled repeatedly without her even noticing that Ranma's fists were making contact. Once it ended, Ryoga landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.
She suddenly snapped to her senses as she realised how hurt Ryoga now was. It was likely that he'd been travelling around Japan until now, so he'd probably been pretty tired, even before the fight. "Ryoga!" She rushed over to him in worry, kneeling down to check if he was okay. "Are you alright?"
Ryoga groaned as he sat up. "Damn you, Ranma..." he growled. He then turned to Akane and his expression softened into one of concern. "Akane, are you okay? What Ranma said back there was unforgivable. Rest assured, I will make him pay for that."
"Hey!" Ranma yelled in protest.
Ranma glared in annoyance at the pest that was Ryoga. Pfft, he thought, stupid pig boy always sticks his nose in where it don't belong when it comes to Akane... He simply hated the way that his fiancée simpered all over the fool whenever he came on the receiving end of one of his attacks, as though he was the poor little victim. Ryoga did start the fight, after all... like he always did.
"Aheh heh..." Akane said uncomfortably to Ryoga. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me... really."
Ryoga stood up, returning to glaring at Ranma while clenching a fist by his chest. "But I do, Akane..." He pointed angrily at him. "Because your stupid fiancé here certainly won't!"
Ranma folded his arms behind his head and gave him a half-lidded stare, disinterested in where he was taking this conversation, yet again. He then smirked. "What's the matter? You jealous, P-chan?"
Akane turned and blinked at him, utterly confused about his statement, as usual. He ignored her and focused on the now fuming Ryoga.
The lost boy charged towards him, his clenched fist raised. "Stop calling me 'P-chan'!"
Ranma had fun dodging out of the way of his punch, as well as the many that followed. All of this, he did with his arms still folded behind his head. He sniggered at how pissed off he'd made Ryoga, as well as the sheer stupidity of him being so pissed off when Akane was too stupid to figure out the truth anyway. Hell, he could spell it out to the girl and she'd still have a better chance of building a rocket, flying it and landing on an undiscovered planet than figuring out that this jerk was her pet pig in disguise.
"Oink oink!" He smirked at the sight of Ryoga's scowl increasing.
"Stop it, you jerk!"
Getting bored rather quickly, Ranma lifted his leg and kicked Ryoga across the street. He landed on his back with a loud thud and skidded across the pavement.
Akane gasped. "Ranma!" she said angrily. "Stop picking on Ryoga!"
"Gimme a break, Akane... he started it."
He heard Akane stand up and huff. "Honestly..."
Ryoga forced himself back to his feet and was about to say something when thunder suddenly rumbled overhead. Fear flashed across his eyes and Ranma knew only too well that he was now very keen to leave, lest Akane see his cursed form. His expression relaxed to mask the obvious fear.
"I need to get going anyway," he said. "I'd love to stay and make Ranma pay for hurting you, but I have somewhere to be." He turned around and walked off. "See ya, Akane."
"Uh, bye, Ryoga!" The moment he was out of sight, Ranma turned to see Akane glaring at him. "Seriously, Ranma, why must you two fight so much?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "Like I said, he started it."
Akane paused for a moment, as if contemplating what he'd just said. "Yeah, alright, but you don't have to hit him so hard."
He raised an eyebrow at her, lowering his arms back to his sides. "Akane, hitting him that hard is the only way to get rid of him."
"But he was only trying to protect me!" She didn't look angry now, but, instead, defensive and caring. This made him scoff in annoyance.
"Yeah, 'cause he's too thick-headed to listen to a word either of us say." He adopted a mocking tone, with widened eyes and a huge smile for extra effect. "Don't worry, Akane! I'll save you from the big bad Ranma! And don't try to tell me he did nothing wrong, 'cause my opinion is the only one that's right! I won't bother asking, I'll just kick his ass!" He paused as he thought of something. "Even though I know full well I can't!"
Akane groaned, throwing him an exasperated look. "Oh, Ranma..."
He reverted to his real tone of voice and lowered his eyelids at her. "Well, it's true."
She paused, then gave him a small smile. "I think you're just jealous."
That remark caused his heart to thump in his chest and his face to flush slightly, so he quickly covered them both with heated denial. "Jealous? Yeah right! Like I would be!"
Akane giggled, turned around and walked away, a slight bounce in her step. "You are too!"
He walked after her at a brisk pace, determined to make her see that she was wrong and to stop the increasing thumping in his chest. "Am not!" She merely giggled again in response and kept walking.
