"His Akane"
A Fanfic done by Arkanghel. All Ranma ½ characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
CHAPTER 5
"WHERE AM I NOW?!!!"
A man stared in stupefaction at a boy who was apparently undergoing a mental breakdown. He'd been running in circles around his shop for hours now. The first time he talked to the boy, the boy asked if he was in America and he'd replied that he was in Japan. The boy looked surprised, and then elated. Then he asked the way to Nerima. He pointed to his right, but the crazy lad went to his left. Suffice to say he'd been going nowhere but around the shop for hours now. Finally, the boy started shouting curses to his fate and to no one in particular, but the shopowner had no intention of going anywhere near the crazy boy. He was too afraid of the small crater the boy's fist left on his wall.
Mercifully, the boy finally ran off. The shopowner was relieved. He wondered if the boy would ever find the place he was looking for. What was it again? Ah, Nerima.
"Goodluck finding Nerima, boy," the man said.
-o-0-O-0-o-
"… yes, I'm afraid we'll be staying here a little longer, Grandfather," Akane said, twirling the phone cord in her fingers. She was talking to Shinnosuke's grandfather in Ryugenzawa.
"…No, Shinnosuke's doing fine this past week. He's suffered just one attack and I've been giving him the water every night… yes, there's a lot of water left…. Uh, I guess he forgot about you a couple of times," Akane held the phone in arm's length but she could still hear Grandfather in the other side shouting in indignation.
"…yes, okay… I'll tell him you said he's an ungrateful grandson… yes, word for word…" Akane muffled her laughter. Kasumi gave her a strange look, and Akane just shrugged at her and grinned.
Nabiki poked her head at the door. "Uh, Akane… Shinnosuke seems to have forgotten everybody again. You better go to him," she said. Akane nodded and hurriedly said her goodbyes to Grandfather.
Ranma-onna was trying to calm a frazzled Shinnosuke. Soun Tendo was crying because Shinnosuke asked who he was, and Genma was no help whatsoever because he was currently a panda.
"Shinnosuke!" Akane called as she hurried to his side. Ranma heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her.
"He's lost his memory again," Ranma explained, albeit unnecessarily.
"Akane!!!!!" Shinnosuke cried out when he saw the blue haired girl. He rushed to give her a hug. "Where have you been? Where are we? Why are we? Who are they?" he asked in rapid succession. Akane laughed and tried to put some room between them. Ranma grimaced at them.
"Calm down, Shin! It's okay! I just came from the kitchen, and you've forgotten already?" she teased. She wiped the sweaty brow of her fiancée, and frowned.
"You're hot! You have a fever!" she said anxiously. Shinnosuke shook his head.
"I'm okay. I just need to rest a bit," he replied. He let her go and straightened up. "See? I even remember everything again. That's your father – sorry Mr. Tendo, that's Ranma, and we're in your house." Akane smiled at him and patted his arm like he was a little kid.
"That's very good, but you're still sick. You have to stay home, Shin!" she said firmly. Shinnosuke made a face but Akane ignored him. She tried to pull his arm to get him moving, but he wouldn't budge. Ranma, who had been watching the whole operation quietly, now stepped forward.
"You better follow what the girl said, man," she said, "If you're sick, you're sick. You'll get better faster if you stay home and rest, right?"
Shinnosuke glanced at Ranma-onna consideringly, and then nodded. "Okay. You win," he said with a little sigh. "Can you help me up, Ranma?"
Ranma aided Shinnosuke up the stairs and into the guest room where Ranma, his father and Shinnosuke slept. She spread out a futon and helped Shinnosuke into it. Before Ranma left the room, Shinnosuke called his attention.
"Hey, Ranma…" Shinnosuke said.
"Yup?"
Shinnosuke glanced at Ranma. "To be honest, I really don't feel good, but I wanted to go with you because I'm worried about all the guys who keep pestering Akane," Shinnosuke said.
Ranma nodded understandingly. She herself had the same problem.
"Don't worry, man. I'll keep an eye on her, if you like," she said. Shinnosuke nodded.
"You're a good friend, Ranma. Thanks!" he said before closing his eyes. Ranma shrugged.
"Hey, it's nothing big or anything… just wanted to help…" Ranma said. Just then, Akane came in with a wet cloth and started fussing over Shinnosuke. For some reason, Ranma suddenly felt uncomfortable looking at them together.
"Ummm… I'm going to get changed," she said. Akane glanced at her and gave her a smile.
"Okay. Thanks for helping Shin, Ranma. Wait for me, okay?" she said.
"Sure," she replied, and quickly stepped out of the room as she saw Akane lean down and kiss Shinnosuke's brow.
-o-0-O-0-o-
It turned out that Shinnosuke had nothing to worry about. As she'd proven many times already, Akane was more than ready to kick all the guys' butts. Word had gotten out quickly that Shinnosuke was staying home today (how can that be?!) because he was sick and Akane was alone to fend for herself. A mob had gathered at the school gates, awaiting the arrival of their fair Akane Tendo. They should have learned a long time ago that Akane was far from defenseless.
Akane muttered a disgusted "When will they learn?" before advancing on the crazed mob. Ranma knew she'd get angry if he helped out, so he stayed on his post watching if anybody got through her defenses. Then stage thunder and lightning announced the arrival of the Blue Blunder of Furinkan High.
"Can I trounce Kuno today, Akane? I want to try punting him to the next city," Ranma called to Akane from his post. She paused for a moment to chuckle up at him.
"Okay… I've got enough exercise for today anyway," she said giving him a cute smile. "Go get him, tiger!"
Ranma made a face at her and then leapt from the branch he'd been standing on. Her smile left a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Kuno stood regally, holding his bokken up high. "My lovely fair huntress! The Noble Tatewaki Kuno has arrived to receive thy Sweet Adoration… erkkk!" Ranma landed on the older guy's head, and slammed it unceremoniously on the ground.
"I'm getting tired of that trashy prose, Kuno," he complained as he hopped gracefully away.
"You shall address me as Kuno-sempai, you vile cur!!!!!" Kuno snarled as he extracted his face off the ground. "face the wrath of my bokken!!!!"
Kuno rushed at Ranma but Ranma stopped his advance by planting a foot on his face.
"Mppphh!"
"What?" Ranma asked. He didn't wait for an answer, but started pushing him away with a series of kicks and punches. Kuno finally managed to block and then jumped away to safety. As soon as he got his breath, he rushed at Ranma again. Sweeping his bokken low, Ranma jumped high to escape the sweep, but Kuno anticipated it. He slammed the bokken's wooden sheath at Ranma's chest.
"Ooffff!" Ranma got his breath knocked out of him for a moment. Kuno made use of this to his advantage and pushed his attack.
"HAHA! I will have the Fair Akane and my pig-tailed goddess yet!!!" Kuno said, rejoicing prematurely.
"You wish!" Ranma said angrily. He trapped Kuno's oncoming bokken between his hands and shoved it away, and then gave the owner a well-placed uppercut. Then he followed it with quick jabs to the chest that knocked Kuno's breath out.
"And now for the final blow!" Ranma yelled dramatically. Then he punched Kuno to the horizon.
Akane landed gracefully next to Ranma, having finished her fight just about the same time he did. She shielded her eyes as she watched Kuno's diminishing form.
"Final blow, huh? That was pretty cheesy," Akane said, grinning. "You've been watching too much of the old animes Voltes V and Daimos."
Ranma blushed. "Aww, shuddup!"
No one bothered them the rest of the rest of the day, mostly because all those that would have bothered them had broken bones and bruises to treat.
-o-0-O-0-o-
"And then he shouted 'and now for the final blow!!!'" Akane was saying when Ranma entered the living room. Shinnosuke laughed and winked at Ranma, who just scowled back at them.
He noticed that they were dressed up. Well, he noticed that Akane was all dressed up first since it was hard not to observe the curves Akane's little black dress flaunted. He just absorbed that Shinnosuke was dressed up, too afterwards. She wore a form-fitting spaghetti-strapped little thing that reached just above her knees. When she turned to Shinnosuke, Ranma saw that the skirt had long slits at the sides. Her long hair was tied in a lose bun as some tendrils framed her face. She also wore earrings and a necklace, aside from the engagement ring that adorned her finger. Stilletos completed the whole look. Akane felt his stare and blushed very becomingly.
"Nabiki lent me this dress for the evening. Does it look good on me?" she asked shyly.
"Of course it does, love," Shinnosuke said, slipping an arm around her waist. He leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek. Ranma silently agreed, but rudely wished that Shinnosuke wasn't holding Akane so close.
"Shin!" she said when she saw Ranma watching. Shinnosuke glanced at Ranma and chuckled.
"It's okay, Akane. It's fine with Ranma. Right, Ranma?" he asked.
"Right," Ranma replied curtly. He looked away, though.
Shinnosuke finally released Akane with a laugh. She complained that he ruined her make-up and went upstairs again.
Shinnosuke turned to Ranma and answered his unasked question. "We're going to a fancy Italian Restaurant tonight, then maybe I'll take her dancing." he informed Ranma.
"I thought you had a fever?" Ranma asked.
"Well, Dr. Tofu came by just after you left for school and checked me up. He said I was perfectly fine, and just to keep it easy. So there was no reason to call off of our date tonight."
"I see"
Akane came down again, looking just the way she was before she went upstairs… ravishing. "I'm ready," she said to Shinnosuke. He suddenly frowned when he remembered something.
"Ooops… I forgot to drink some of the water of life. It'll only take a minute," Shinnosuke said as he bounded up the stairs. That left Ranma and Akane together in uncomfortable silence.
"You look… not bad," Ranma said hesitantly. Akane frowned at him.
"Do you mean that I look bad most of the time?" she asked.
Ranma shook his head rapidly. "No! That wasn't what I meant. You took it all wrong!"
"'I' took it all wrong?!?" Akane said, now glaring at him. She advanced threateningly at him. Ranma waved his hands in front of him to ward her off.
"My, my! What a nice couple you make!" Kasumi said sweetly as she peeked through the door. "I thought you were going out with Shinnosuke, Akane?"
"I AM going out with Shinnosuke. You'll never catch me in a date with that Pervert!" Akane said, stabbing a finger at Ranma's chest.
"Hey! Who're you calling a pervert! You, you… uncute tomboy!"
"Okay, break it up, you two!!!" Shinnosuke said goodnaturedly as he came down again. Kasumi laughed.
"I hope you have a happy date, Akane…" she called out as she went inside again. "…with whoever you'll be dating!"
Akane blushed. "You're sounding like Nabiki more and more every day, onee-chan!" she called back.
Upstairs, Nabiki yelled a discomfited 'Hey!'
Shinnosuke chuckled as he took Akane's arm. "Come on, Akane. They might forfeit our table if we're late," he said. He winked at Ranma. Ranma smiled back.
Akane let Shinnosuke steer her to the door. She glanced back at Ranma who was still standing at the entrance. For a moment, he looked like a sad little lost boy.
"Do… do you have any plans for tonight, Ranma? Would you like to come with us?" she asked timidly.
Ranma was surprised at Akane's question. Then he flushed when he realized he must look a sorry sight standing forlornly at the door. He glanced at Shinnosuke, he didn't look exactly happy with Akane's suggestion.
Ranma shook his head quickly. "No, no… I have something to do… with ah… with the boys. Yeah… GOTTA GO!" With that, he made a hasty exit.
Akane didn't believe Ranma at all, but she just kept quiet. She smiled up at her date and let Shinnosuke lead her out of the house.
-o-0-O-0-o-
Ranma ran aimlessly for awhile. Finally he slowed down to catch his breath. He realized he'd reached the park. The place was already empty since it was getting pretty dark, and it was eerily quiet. Suddenly, a shout broke the silence.
"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!!!!"
--- Author's note:
Sorry guys for taking so long to update. I've really been busy n' all. Reality sucks. Guess who just entered the plot? Nyahaha!!! Comments! Be nice!!!
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