A/N: Exams are next week, so don't expect a new chapter until they are done, sorry. X__X I'm actually lucky I was able to finish this one. Wish me luck, everyone!
I'd also like to thank all my constant reviewers! You all know who you are! You're comments mean A LOT to me and they keep me motivated! ^__^ I have a lot of ideas coming in every day, so I hope my plot remains juicy!
Just Married!
Chapter Four
Shampoo's lips remained on Akane's cheek for a few seconds, emphasizing her hate. Akane's friends, oblivious to the fickle girl's Chinese rules, were absolutely confused. Sayuri was close to cracking a joke when Shampoo backed away, her eyes gleamed of pure anger.
Shampoo, the purple-haired girl, stepped a step away from Akane and stared at her. Her mug turned into a sickly sweet smile. Akane's blood boiled.
"What, Shampoo?" she spat, sick and tired of the Amazon. If there was one person in Nerima who really, really angered her, it was definitely Shampoo. "Why do you keep doing that? You're stupid Chinese laws don't apply here! But, if it's a fight you want, you're on!"
"Akane, you stupid, violent, kitchen-wrecker. You think Shampoo no know what you do?" she hissed. "You will regret taking husband away from Shampoo, you understand?!"
Sayuri and Yuka whipped their heads over to Akane, who was panicking. She knows about...? Akane thought.
"What are you talking about Shampoo?" Akane lied.
"Stop your lies!" Shampoo's eyes blazed with fire. She cracked her knuckles. "If Akane's isn't alive, marriage is finished. And.... husband will belong to Shampoo again."
Yuka's eyes widened as Shampoo unsheathed her long, silver, Amazon sword. She charged after Akane, letting out a loud battle cry.
Yuka and Sayuri shrieked in fear as Akane dodged Shampoo's fierce thrust. She continued dodging as Shampoo tried again and again to slash at her.
"Leave, you guys! Quick! She's dangerous!" Akane shouted to her friends. Quickly, the mall became a commotion and everyone began screaming and exiting due to the fight.
Akane gasped as the sword just about grazed her. Its result was a small, painful cut on her right cheek. The bright, red blood dripped down her face. Shampoo's going all out. With that sword, I can't possibly beat her. Akane pondered. She decided, then, that she was going to have to do the one thing she hated the most: run away. It was either that, or get decapitated.
Akane, swiftly, attacked both Shampoo's feet with extreme force, causing the Amazon to fly across the mall and crash into a woman's jewellery store. Just as she got up, Akane quickly turned and ran as fast as she could, out of the mall.
The blue-haired girl huffed and puffed as she ran down the street. What was she going to do now? Akane wondered who let out their secret. She also wondered who else knew.
Akane began to become tired when she finally entered her house and collapsed onto the floor of the living room. Kasumi ran into the room, hearing the thud due to Akane's knees. "Akane!" she shouted, running over to her younger sister. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she gasped. "Kasumi, where's Ranma?"
Before Kasumi could reply, Ranma walked downstairs, casually. His expression changed from contentment to concern in less than five seconds.
"Akane, are you okay?" Ranma gasped as he saw her on the ground. He quickly ran over and helped her up. She was positively trembling.
"R-Ranma," Akane gasped. "Shampoo... she knows!"
"W-what?" he replied.
"She followed me and my friends to the mall and gave me the kiss of death!"
Ranma's eyes widened. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "Who the hell told her?"
Nabiki turned her head away from her couple, trying to be casual. However, Akane caught her sudden movement.
"NABIKI!" she shouted. "How could you!"
The middle Tendo closed her eyes. "I swear, Akane. I did not do it for the money this time... I just thought that it was about time we cleared everything with the fiancées..."
Ranma glared at her. "Nabiki, you shouldn't have DONE that! You have to stop putting your nose into other peoples' business! Do you have any idea what you did?-"
Akane interrupted Ranma, "Did you tell Ukyo, Kodachi and Kuno, too, Nabiki?" she said, hope lacing her voice. Akane prayed that Nabiki didn't spread the word further than Shampoo.
Nabiki paused, shamefully. "I did... I told Ryoga, too..."
"NABIKI!" Akane cried. She didn't understand what Ryoga had to do with anything, but nethertheless, she still told everyone. Akane clenched her fists. Well, fine. As much as Akane hated to do so, she realized that she might have to fight her sort-of friends. But, Akane was sceptical. She didn't want to have to push it to a... death situation. Although Shampoo and Ukyo were her rivals, she still considered them somewhat her friends. (Well, Ukyo at least...) And Akane knew Ranma felt the same way about Ryoga.
Akane was startled when she heard Nodoka speak. She had no idea she was listening all along.
"Let's go, Ranma-kun and Akane-dear." Nodoka whispered, getting up.
"What? Mom, what are you talking about?" Ranma said, raising an eyebrow.
"We have to leave here. At least, until everything settles down. Listen to me, it's better this way, Ranma..."
"What? And be cowards by running away? No way! I'll face them all!"
"Ranma!" Nodoka said, angrily. "Think about it! Are you really willing to risk hurting your wife? Can you really protect her during all the hours of the day? What if Shampoo attacks during the night? What will you do then, hm?"
Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. His mother was right. He couldn't risk getting Akane hurt.
When Ranma didn't reply, Nodoka helped Akane up. "Akane, I know how strong you are, dear, but some things are better off left alone until they can calm down."
Akane was amazed at how intelligent Nodoka was. She was calm and always had an idea, even at the worst of times. "But , mother, where will we go?" Akane said.
"I'll tell you later," Nodoka whispered, not being able to trust Nabiki with the information.
Nodoka ran upstairs as quickly as possible and grabbed the already-packed suitcases. (Their original trip was planned in a few days.) Although they were missing quite a few clothes, this would have to do since they didn't have much time left.
"Quickly!" Nodoka said, pushing the teens out the door. "Before Shampoo returns. We don't want her following us."
Akane frowned, not wanting to leave without saying goodbye to her father and Mr. Saotome, who were out at the moment. However, she knew it had to be done.
Kasumi and Nabiki walked over to the door and hugged Akane, Nodoka and Ranma goodbye. For the first time, Akane could've sworn she saw tears in Nabiki's eyes.
"Akane," she said, sadly. "I really messed up this time, huh?"
Akane turned her head away, not able to answer. Her sister had caused so much trouble for her in her lifetime. This time, perhaps being the worst of all. She wasn't ready to forgive her yet.
Akane, Nodoka and Ranma ran as quickly as they could, to the bus stop where Nodoka told them about. Although Akane and Ranma were not sure where exactly they were going, but they trusted her greatly.
They all boarded the bus and paid the small fee. Akane glanced around and saw that there were very few people on the bus. She walked over to the very back of the bus and chose the second-to-last seat. Ranma sat beside Akane, taking the aisle seat while Akane was seated by the window. Nodoka, being the considerate person she was, sat at the front, allowing the newlyweds some privacy.
Once everyone was situated, a dead silence came across the bus. This gave Akane some time to think. How did all this happen? She thought, tears filled her eyes. She didn't want this to happen. Everything, now, was officially ruined. Her dream wedding, the honeymoon... they weren't supposed to be like this.
Akane looked down at her now, somewhat-soiled dress. She wondered if some of the stains would ever come out.
The pig-tailed boy glanced over at the dark-haired girl, who was looking out the window, in thought. He felt a large lump in his throat appear when he saw that her eyes were stained with tears. Those tears were all because of him.
"Akane," Ranma whispered gently, trying not to startle her. "Are... are you okay?"
Akane paused for a moment, not looking at Ranma. She tried to swallow her tears, hoping that they wouldn't spill onto her cheeks, proving her moment of out-of-character vulnerability.
Ranma, sitting close to Akane, noticed the small cut on her cheek due to Shampoo's blade.
"Akane," he said, gently brushing her cheek. "How did this happen?"
"Shampoo..." she mumbled, looking down. She hated admitting that someone had harmed her during battle. She was a martial artist, damn it!
Ranma's eyes flickered with fury, but quickly masked it. He got up and walked over to where his mother was sitting. After a moment, he returned a small, pink band aid in his hand.
He fumbled, removing the wrapper. Akane gawked at him, marvelling at the extremely kind deed. She noticed that there was a little pig on the band aid as well.
"Here," he said, quietly. "Before the cut gets infected." Ranma placed the band aid onto her cheek and she winced at the rush of slight pain.
"Th-thanks, Ranma..." Akane said, still in a somewhat state of shock.
Akane returned to looking out the window when after a moment, Ranma spoke once again. "Listen..." he said, trying to choose his words wisely. "I know that ever since I came to Nerima, all I've done is caused problems for you... and this is probably the worst one yet..."
"Ranma," Akane said softly. "No... that's not-"
He interrupted her, trying to spit the words out. "But I promise you, Akane... I promise things... they will get better."
Akane smiled, half-heartedly at the shy boy. "Thank you... I know they will, Ranma... They have to."
Ranma's heart thumped wildly in his chest at her smile. Give him demons, giant creatures, water, anything terrifying, but none of them made his heart thump like the girl sitting next to him. His arm itched to be put around her, just like he did last night, but he quickly pushed the thought away.
After a few minutes, Ranma shifted in his seat, feeling a bit uncomfortable. This sudden shift caused his fingers to brush, ever so slightly, her own. The sudden electricity that ran throughout his body was remarkable. He quickly moved his hand away and waited for Akane's protest. To his utter shock, she didn't say anything. Instead, he noticed a small, light blush sprinkle onto the top of her nose.
He swallowed and with every last ounce of bravery he had in him, covered his hand on top of hers, very slowly.
Akane looked up at him, blinking a few times. When he finally had the courage to look down, Akane gave him another smile, this one the biggest he'd seen in a while.
Ranma licked his suddenly dry lips. His wife never did cease to amaze him. That was what he loved about her. That is why he loved her, instead of all the other ex-fiancées. It, of course, wasn`t the only reason why, but it was definitely the greatest reason. She was unpredictable, beautiful, shy, strong and intelligent. She didnt`t pounce on him every moment, trick him, poison him with some psycho potion or bribe him with food half the time like his other ex-fiancées. She was the only one who ever considered his feelings.
Akane curled her fingers around Ranma`s, making the touch more intimate. Ranma returned the affectionate gesture with a light squeeze.
Of course, he couldn`t tell her how he felt yet. He wasn`t completely a hundred percent sure himself yet. But, no one was rushing them, anyways. Ranma just sighed, enjoying their moment of intimacy.
After fifteen minutes, the bus stopped in downtown Nerima. Nodoka stood up and gestured for Ranma and Akane to get up. Ranma, never letting go of Akane`s hand, led her out to the bus stop. Once they approached Nodoka, however, they quickly let go of each other, neither of them, secretly, wanting to.
``I have a very close friend who lives here. We can stay with her until we have to leave to Okinawa." Nodoka said, once everyone got off the bus.
Ranma, Akane and Nodoka walked about a block or so until they reached an average-looking, red-bricked house. Outside, Akane noticed a few yellow lilies growing around the house. They looked lovely.
Nodoka knocked on the wooden door, gently. After a moment, a young, middle-aged woman answered the door. She had bright blond hair and equally light blue eyes. She was quite pretty.
"Nodoka!" the woman said, throwing her arms around Ranma's mother. "I can't believe you're here! I was so glad when you called and said you were coming."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember seeing his mother call anyone. Then again, he should never underestimate a woman of the Saotome-Tendo Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.
"Hello," the blond said, smiling her pearly white teeth at Akane. She held out her hand. "I'm Kyoko."
"Hello," Akane said, trying her best to smile. She shook the kind woman's hand, but felt embarrassed due to her rumpled appearance.
Kyoko turned her head to Ranma and gasped. "Ranma! Oh, look at you! You've grown so much, my dear!" She rushed over to hug him and Ranma blushed. He didn't like it when women babied him.
"The last time I saw you, you were in diapers." She winked at him and Akane laughed. Akane had barley known Kyoko for ten minutes and she already liked her.
"Oh, look at me, standing here outside! Where are my manners? Come in, come in!" she said, taking the two suitcases from Ranma's hands. She entered her house and motioned for the guests to come in as well.
A/N: Here's another chapter! =D A bit mushy, huh? But, I like it! xD I hope everyone remained in character and the plot is still interesting. Anyways, R&R, like always, please! ^^