10/9/17- two chapters today. Hopefully this makes up for the super short one earlier today. I think I have one more big scene before the party so I think I am in good shape to be done on time. I will try my best but my work has a mandatory Costume Contest/Party and I am still working on my outfit - I am doing the original Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School bus and we are having a party at lunch so I can't work on it then. I still have to finish painting my shoes. Then there is trick-or-treating with the kiddos.
~~OO~~
Ranma arrived back home first. He quickly put his costume in the back of the closet and went to the dojo to workout while he planned on how he would get their father's to insist they go to the party together. 'It should be fairly easy to get them to make me take Akane to the party, they are always looking for an excuse to force us to do things together. Heck I can't even take a weekend training trip anymore without having to take her along with me.' Ranma like to put up a fight every time they made him take Akane with him on the trips but secretly he had started to enjoy her company on the getaways, well that is as long as he managed to stop her from attempting to do any of the cooking. Ranma shuddered at the thought of Akane's cooking as he switched to some more advanced drills.
'All I have to do is bring up the party, maybe I will ask what she finally picked...I have to admit I am kind of interested what she chose. I couldn't believe some of the costumes I saw some girls trying on today. Does everyone just use this holiday to act like a pervert, who would wear some of those things out in public. Anyway...I'll ask what she got then I can mention all the crazy people that will be out that night just looking for some young unsuspecting girl to take advantage of and Soun will be practically be begging me to take her and protect his baby. Man this is almost too easy. I got a nice simple outfit and I will get to take Akane to the party without having to actually ask her. I wonder if Daisuke is planning any pranks for the party. It would be fun to scare her some too. Maybe if I scare her enough I can get her to grab onto me for protection like Shampoo grabs me everyday. I can't stand it when Shampoo gets a hold of me like that but I wouldn't mind having Akane hanging on me from time to time.'
Ranma got so lost in his thoughts on how he could go about scaring Akane that he didn't notice when Akane came into the dojo to get him for dinner.
"Hello Earth to Ranma." Akane called finally getting his attention. "Are you going to join us for dinner or should I just tell Kasumi to save you a plate"
"Alright, alright I hear you. I'm coming, just give me a minute and I will be right there." Ranma said as he started to straighten the dojo back up and grabbed his things. By the time he made it to the house everyone was already seated waiting for him so they could start to eat. He quickly sat down in his normal spot next to Akane.
"Well so happy you could join us tonight, Ranma" Nabiki said as she reached for the rice to make a plate.
"Sorry guys, I guess I got absorbed in my workout and I didn't realize how late it was."
"It's fine, Ranma" Kasumi said with a smile. "Eat up. I am sure you are hungry after being gone all day. Were you able to find a costume?"
"Yeah, I think I did. It's nothing special but it should work." Ranma said as he took a bite of his fish and decided now would be as good of a time as any to bring up the party since Kasumi already broke the ice. "How about you Akane. You find something? You all sure were shopping a long time."
"Yeah it took a while but I finally got what I wanted." She said with a small smile at the thought of how Ranma would react to the outfit.
"Oh yeah? What is it? If you tell me you got a chef outfit you will definitely win the prize for the scariest costume." Ranma joked as he went to take a bite of food but was interrupted with a swift smack to the back of the head by Akane.
"Ranma, why do you always have to be such a jerk!"
"It was a joke Akane! Lighten up will ya." Ranma said as he rubbed the back of his head more out of appearance than actual pain. It was nice to not be getting hit with her mallet every day but he wasn't quite used to the light smacks yet. "But seriously what are you going to be?"
"And why are you so interested, Ranma." Nabiki interrupted before Akane had a chance to answer him. "Typically you only tell your date what you are wearing, so that you can match costumes. Are you wanting to go with Akane to the party and want to know what she is wearing so you can get a matching outfit?"
"What! No, of course not. Why the hell would I want to go with that uncute Tomboy." Ranma yelled a bit too defensively.
"Well if not then why are you so interested? Why not find out at the party along with everyone else?" Nabiki asked.
"Fine, whatever. Not like I care or anything." Ranma mumbled while taking another bite and wondering how his plan had gotten derailed so quickly. Oh yeah Nabiki, that's how. He decided he needed to try again before the topic got changed and he lost his chance. "So Akane, you know Halloween brings all the freaks and weirdos out don't ya. You aren't going to be scared to walk to the party alone at night are you? I mean someone might try to grab ya on your way" He said as he made a quick poke to her side making her jump and let out a small scream.
Akane started to answer that she was going to be getting ready at her friends house and they would be going over together but Nabiki interrupted her again. "Why do you ask Ranma? You want to be her bodyguard for the night?"
Akane looked at her sister in confusion. She wondered what had gotten into her tonight. Normally Nabiki was happy to just sit back and watch Ranma tease her but tonight it almost seemed like she was trying to get Ranma to admit he wanted to go to the party with her.
"What! No...I mean… why….damn it Nabiki what is your deal tonight?"
"My deal? Nothing. I was just wondering why you are so interested in Akane's costume all of a sudden and why you seem to be trying to scaring her into worrying about going to the party alone. It almost sounds like you were trying to make her, or maybe our dad, think it wasn't safe to go out alone so that they would make you take her to the party just to be safe." Nabiki said nonchalantly as she poured herself another cup of tea.
Ranma stared at her with his mouth open wondering if he was just that obvious in his tactic tonight or if Nabiki was just trying to torture him today for some reason. Akane for her part kept looking between her sister and her fiancée trying to figure out what kind of game the two of them were playing. Soun appeared frozen as he watched the scene unfold before him and was desperately trying to catch up. Genma took this opportunity to steal some food from Ranma's plate and Kasumi was quietly muttering 'Oh My' to herself.
Soun was still not completely sure as to exactly what was happening but had finally registering Ranma's comment about it being unsafe for his baby girl to go to the party alone and started to insist that Ranma should take Akane to the party and protect her all night when Akane interrupted him. "Daddy I do not need Ranma to protect me. I am a martial artist too and I can take care of myself." Akane said as she slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "I will be going to the party with Yuka and Sayuri so I will be just fine. Besides you can't just tell me who I am going to a party with. I will make that decision for myself." And with that she stormed out of the room.
Nabiki smirked behind her teacup as she noted that everything went according to plan tonight. Ranma was so confused on how things had gone so terribly wrong that he didn't notice that his father picked his plate clean in the confusion.
Over the next few days Ranma attempted to figure out how he had screwed things up so badly at dinner while he attempted to keep the rest of the male student body from trying to ask Akane to the party till he could figure out another plan. Kuno was simple, he just kept him in a constant state of unconsciousness. It really was a miracle that he didn't suffer permanent brain damage, more so than he already had, with the number of blows to the head he got on a daily basis over the last few years. Gosunkugi was simple to handle. Ranma pulled the boy aside Monday morning and had a nice little 'talk' with him that he better not even think about trying to ask Akane to the party or else. As for the rest of the male population of the class Ranma used the tried and true method of never leaving Akane's side to scare off any potential suitors
By Wednesday Akane had gotten fed up with Ranma's obsessive behavior. "I swear I have never seen Ranma like this before. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to start marking his territory around me by peeing everywhere. I just don't know what has gotten into him lately. If anyone besides you two even look like they are going to come up to talk to me he gives them the dirtiest look till they give up and leave." Akane said to Yuka and Sayuri as they sat down to eat their lunch. "I am so glad he has gym right before lunch and it takes him a while to catch up with us or I would never get a moment to myself"
Just then Ryoga wandered into the school yard and spotted Akane. He made his way quickly to her and sat down next to the three girls. "How's it going guys? Did you all end up finding your costumes the other day? Sorry I kind of lost you after I got done with Ranma."
"Oh that's ok Ryoga." Akane said as she gave him a bright smile. "Yeah I found a great costume, Nabiki helped me. Are you going to come to the party?"
"Well I don't know, it sounds kind of fun but I don't think I would be able to find my way there on my own." Ryoga looked down as the ground and started to fidget a bit as he tried to find the right words. "But maybe….if you would….you know….want to go together maybe…"
"Like hell she's going to the party with you, Pig Boy!" Ranma yelled as he knocked Ryoga away from Akane and stood protectively over her.
"Damn it Ranma!" Ryoga yelled as he stood up to face the pigtailed martial artist. "Why the heck do you care so much who she goes to the party with?"
"Because she is going to the party with me, not your or anyone else!" Ranma yelled loud enough for all the students in the yard to hear. It took a moment for what he said to register with Ranma and once it did he couldn't believe he had just said that, and so loudly. Refusing to look back at Akane Ranma started to squirm under all the stares. "What I mean is…..she um….can go with….well….whoever she….oh hell" Ranma knew he was sunk now, there was no way to deny he had just said that. So instead he turned around to look at a stunned Akane. Instead of trying to deny it he decided to just own it instead. He hadn't come up with any other way to get her to go with him so he guessed this was as good of a way as any other. "Well what do you say. You want to go together?" He asked in barely a whisper but loud enough for Akane to hear him.
Akane thought she was stunned at his first comment but at the second where he actually asked her to go with him she found she couldn't manage a simple yes to save her life. Instead she gave him the biggest and brightest smile he had ever seen and nodded yes in reply.
