A/N: Think of it as a quest. He needs to level up his man skills.
Having failed to get a date with Akane Ranma sulked the day away and as dawn broke he decided he would try something new.
At school Ranma sat playing cards with the boys; his eyes kept trailing off, gravitating toward Akane.
"What's going on with you Ranma? I mean you always suck at cards but you're never usually this bad." Ken said with a chuckle.
"Yeah Ranma, you get in another fight with Akane?"
"…worse… she won't even talk to me." Ranma said throwing down his hand before they even finished betting.
"Well it's not so bad," Ken said.
"You think…?" He asked hopefully.
"If Akane never talks to you again, you still have Shampoo and Ukyo!" The other guys around the desks chuckled and Ranma stood up, walking out of the classroom. Miroku followed Ranma from the card game and up onto the roof.
"You always come here when you're upset, don't you?" Miroku said, more to announce his presence than anything else.
"Yeah…" Ranma said staring off at the skyline.
"So what happened this time?" He asked patting Ranma on the shoulder.
"…. I asked her out."
"And…"
"She said no."
"Really? How did you ask her?"
"I just asked."
"You just asked?"
"Well yeah, we were arguing and he kept trying to run away from me and I asked her if she wanted to go out."
"In the middle of an argument?" Miroku asked with a chuckle.
"It's not funny!" Ranma growled, standing up and posturing angrily.
"Yes it is. You really are clueless!" Miroku's laugh rose over the sound of the wind and could be heard by the classrooms below. "You can't just ask a girl out in the middle of an argument."
"I can't?"
"No. You have to work up to asking her out."
"But that sounds like so much work…" Ranma grumbled.
"Do you want to learn how to treat Akane well?"
"…."
"You want to make her happy, right?"
"…yeah" Ranma admitted shyly.
"Well then you'll have to work at it, one day at a time. You could start by apologizing."
"But whenever I bring it up she runs away…"
"Bring what up?" Miroku asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing!" Ranma said blushing lightly.
"Well… If there's something that she is really angry about then you should let it go until she brings it up… but if it's something like when you insult her you should start by apologizing."
"Then what?"
"…then talk. Don't get ahead of yourself; just try to be kind, maybe train with her or whatever you do after school. Give it some time and if it works start paying more attention to her, wait for her, walk with her… nothing to conspicuous, if she thinks you're just trying to get on her good side then she is probably just going to chase you away."
"How do you know so much about women?"
"Women? I don't know much about women, but girls are easy to understand."
After school Ranma had to run after Akane again, but today he did not make a scene, he just ran up and stopped right in front of her.
"What do you want?"
"…to walk home with you," he said nervously.
"Are you sure you want to waste your time with someone stupid like me?" She asked petulantly. Ranma took a deep breath and restrained himself from taking the bait.
"Yes, I mean you're not stupid… but I wouldn't mind spending time with you…"
"Look, if you think I'm going to fall for a stupid line like that, then—"
"I'm sorry… for calling you stupid yesterday." Akane looked shocked and maybe even a little bit embarrassed. Ranma didn't apologize very often without her father beating on him and threatening to throw him out of the house.
"…I… can we go home already?" she asked impatiently, waiting for him to catch up before continuing to walk home.
"Yeah," Ranma said with a small smile and walked on the fence all the way home with Akane by his side.
