Ranma waited in his warm bath for as long as he could. He had never seen Akane act quite like that before. She wasn't like her normal tomboyish self, but more like a seductress. What convinced him more than anything was before he started his bath. He was in his room, his mind trying to comprehend the events in the dojo, when Akane knocked on his door and told him the bathroom was open. He could see her silhouette on the door and from the looks of it, she had wrapped a towel around her waist, but not her chest. He could make out every curvature of her upper body against the paper-thin middle of the door.
"Remember: don't keep me waiting, my darling," she reminded him before walking away.
'Jeez, what can Akane be thinking? There is no way on earth she could be seriously considering what might happen if I take her up on her offer, can she?' thought the boy, soaking in the warm waters, 'Then again, we are suppose to be getting married in a little over a month and maybe she wants to get in a little practice first.'
He remembers the last time Akane acted similar to this, though for that incident her body had been taken over by a doll seeking revenge against him for something his father caused.
'No,' he told himself, shaking his head, 'She's not possessed by that doll again. I can tell it's really her acting like that.'
He sat up and stared down at his image on the water's surface, "What do I do? If I don't go, Akane is going to be very mad, but if I do, who knows what will happen, it's not like either of us know what to do. And what would happen if her family finds out? Maybe they're expecting it to happen between us eventually, if anything her father would be."
Ranma completely submerged himself underwater, 'Sigh, what else canI do? Akane is waiting for me to join her. Some fiancé I turn out to be, I shouldn't be afraid to do this, but I am.'
The boy pulled his head out of the water and let the droplets fall off his face as he watched the ripples move. 'I can't ignore it and I can't avoid it any longer.'
Slowly the teenager stepped out of the bath, grabbed a towel and began to dry himself as the bathwater went down the drain.
"Maybe she'll be asleep by the time I get there? Our sparring match was very tiring for the both of us," said the boy, slipping on his boxers and tank top. Because the house was warm enough he didn't need his pajamas.
As he left the bathroom his mind was still going a mile a minute, 'If we do do it, and the worse-case scenario comes out of it, I guess we'd be starting our family earlier than expected.'
The house was quiet with the only person seemingly awake being the teenager. Slowly the boy walked past his room and towards the stairs.
He looked up into the hallway and sighed again, 'Might as well see,' he told himself as he began to climb the stairs.
When he got to the door with Akane's duck nameplate he reached out for the knob and quietly turned it. Making as little noise as possible, Ranma entered his fiancée's bedroom and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed and saw Akane laying there in her new silk nightgown, looking like she was sound asleep. The boy let out a sigh and turned to leave.
"Ranma?" said the girl.
He gulped and looked back. Her eyes were open as if she only had them closed for a minute.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I thought you were asleep," he replied.
"Well you didtake a long time to get here," she commented, pulling her covers off and sitting at the edge of her bed. She patted the spot next to her, between her and her pillow, but Ranma didn't move. "What's wrong?" she wondered.
"Isn't it obvious?" he answered, "What you're asking me to do, that's what's wrong."
"I don't understand," she told him with a quizzical look.
"The way you were acting in the dojo and before I took my bath made me feel like you want to sleep with me," explained the boy.
"Sit," said Akane, patting the spot again.
This time he did sit down next to her. She leaned in, put both hands on his chest and kissed him, "I can't really explain it, but I think it was because of all those kisses you gave me during the training session. By the end of it all I could think about was getting inside your pants."
"So you do want to sleep with me?" he asked.
"I did, but after my bath the desire sorta died," she finished, turning her eyes down.
"Then why did you still invite me here?" wondered Ranma.
"This is why," she said, kissing him again.
As the kiss continued she slowly pushed him down onto her bed. The boy pulled his legs up and she climbed in with him.
"I want us to start sleeping in the same bed together, so we can get used to it. That way the awkwardness of it is gone by the time we're married," she told him, pulling the covers over the two of them.
"I get it now," said the boy, wrapping his arms around her waist, "So in a way sleeping together wasn't the reason."
"Yeah," she agreed, turning around in his arms so her back was to him.
Ranma let out another sigh and closed his eyes, "Good."
"At least not right now it's not," she commented, closing her eyes.
--------------------
Kasumi made her morning rounds as she did every morning. One of the first things was to take the last load of laundry, fold it and distribute it among the clothes rightful owners. She opened the door to Ranma's room and entered with her back first with a handful of clothes and said, "Good morning, Ranma."
When she turned around she noticed the boy wasn't sleeping on his futon or even in his room for that matter.
'Where could he possibly be?' she asked herself, putting his clothes down.
From the look of things it didn't even look like he slept in his room at all last night.
'Maybe he slept in the dojo. Those two did take a long time in there last night,' she continued.
She slid the door shut behind her, picked up the clothes basket and went upstairs. Kasumi put her clothes on her bed and Nabiki's clothes on her desk as she woke her sister up as she did every morning. The last room she went to was Akane's. She held the basket against her hip as she opened the door.
"Good mor-" was all she got out before she noticed two bodies in her little sister's bed. Kasumi gasped and dropped the basket, 'Oh my. Ranma's in the bed with her.'
The two younger teens were sound asleep and in each other's arms. After the initial shock, the oldest Tendo girl smiled and could see how well the two of them looked together. She bent down, picked up the clothes, placed them on Akane's desk and left without another word.
'It's about time,' she commented to herself, walking down the stairway.
Sunshine peeked its way from behind the clouds, thru Akane's window and hit Ranma right in the eyes, causing him to stir. He rolled over, pulled his arm out from under his fiancée and began to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Looking around the room, it took him a second to remember where he slept.
He looked at Akane, saw how peaceful and beautiful in the sunlight she was, and smiled, 'I could get used to this.'
Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She shifted, rubbed her cheek with her bed sheet and opened her eyes, blinking a few times so her vision wasn't blurry.
"Morning," said the boy, smiling.
"Mmm, good morning," she replied, stretching her arms, "I'm surprised you stayed here all night."
"What, you think I'd just leave you after last night?" he asked.
"You're right, it was silly of me to think that," she apologized, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
"Phew! Morning breath," said Ranma, wrinkling his nose.
"Oh, like you can talk!" replied Akane, poking him in the chest.
The boy countered by sticking his tongue out at her and she responded by doing the same to him.
"Tomboy," said Ranma.
"Pervert," she shot back.
Suddenly he began to tickle her, but as soon as she opened her mouth to laugh, he stopped and kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around him again and he held her close, rolling her over top of him.
"Ranma?" she asked after breaking the kiss.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"I think we should get ready for school," she told him, placing her hand on his chest.
"Do we have to? Can't we stay in bed all day?" he whined, rolling her over to the other side of the bed so he was closer to the door.
"No, I'm afraid not, my darling. There'll be questions if we don't get downstairs soon," she explained.
"Heh, everytime Kodachi called me 'darling' it sent shivers down my spine, but hearing you say it, it makes me feel happy," commented the boy, pulling the covers off himself.
"Yeah and the only other 'guy' I've had in this bed was P-chan," said Akane, propping herself up with one arm, "Speaking of P-chan, I wonder how he'll feel now that we're sleeping in the same bed."
"I have no idea what the little porker would think," answered the boy, walking over to the door, "I'll see ya downstairs, okay?"
She replied with a nod as the boy closed the door behind him.
------------------------------
At that very moment, the one Akane calls "P-chan"; Ryoga; was walking absentmindedly through a forest. He was more concerned for the letter in his hand than anything. It was post-dated 3 weeks ago, but because of his bad sense of direction got it last week when he finally made it to his home. He could tell who it was from because of the handwriting. It was from Akari Unryu, the girl who fell in love with Ryoga after he defeated her sumo-wrestling pig. She also knows of his curse and loves him more for it.
It read: "Dearest Ryoga, I don't know how else to say it, but I found someone else. Daddy doesn't approve of him since he hasn't defeated Katsunishiki yet, not once in the dozen battles they have had. But he keeps trying, vowing he will beat Katsunishiki one day and then we will marry. I have never met a man so determined like that. I'm sorry if this letter hurts you, but I know you'll find another. You are a very kind, caring man and any girl would love to date you. I will never forget you, Ryoga Hibiki, you truly are a pig among men. Sincerely, Akari Unryu."
He has reread the letter dozens of times, but it didn't hurt him as much as he thought it would.
'Akari, I know you can't hear me, but I wish you only the best. And you're right, I have found another,' thought the lost boy, as an image of Ukyo's smiling face appeared in his mind while he unknowingly crashed thru a boulder, undeterred in his path.
------------------------------
Walking into the living room, Ranma smiled at Akane who had sat down a minute before he arrived.
"Morning, you two," Soun greeted them, already halfway thru his meal.
Kasumi came in carrying two plates of food. Nabiki was the only one not there.
"Guess I'll go see if she's awake," said the eldest daughter, walking over to the stairs.
When she was gone the girls' father asked the two remaining teens, "You two spent an awful long time in the dojo last night, what did you work on?"
"Proximity defenses," said the two in unison, both blushing a bit as they ate.
Luckily the man didn't see it because he was partly reading the newspaper.
Kasumi and Nabiki came down the stairs and the eldest Tendo sister said, "Ranma?"
"Yeah?" replied the boy, looking at her.
"Do you want me to put your clothes in Akane's room from now on?" she asked in a casual tone.
"Umm...." he answered, glancing at Mr. Tendo.
The girls' father appeared not to have heard it as he was still reading the paper.
"More importantly," started Nabiki, "What I want to know is what were you two doing last night for the hour you kept me up? I could hear you thru the wall. And what was with the laughing? It couldn't have been that funny having sex."
Suddenly a ripping sound broke out. Soun had torn his paper in two as a vein popped in his forehead.
"Ranma!" he shouted, approaching the teen.
"Yes sir?" he replied, slightly scared.
"Did you sleep with my daughter?" wondered the man in a threatening voice, getting in the boy's face.
"Well...." said Akane, speaking up and looking down at the ground.
Everyone turned their eyes on her.
"Technically we didsleep together, but-" she continued before getting cut off by Soun's outburst.
"I'm so happy for you two! You're becoming more like an engaged couple each day!" he cried, shaking the boy's hand. He turned to his youngest, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"Daddy!" shouted the 3 girls and Akane added, "That isn't something you ask!"
"I was only finding out if he was gentle," argued the man.
All 3 girls gave him the evil eye and he slumped over and retreated back to his plate in defeat.
"That's better," said Akane, "And Nabiki, we didn't have sex last night, we just slept in the same bed."
"Call it what you want, Akane, I still say you two had sex," replied the middle sister, adamant in her position.
In a huff Akane grabbed her school bag and said sharply, "Come on, Ranma, we've got to get to school."
The boy followed her out the door. The two older sisters left their father alone in the living room as they went to the kitchen to talk.
"Nabiki, why did you do that?" wondered Kasumi.
"How else are we gonna get those two to do it?" argued the middle Tendo.
"We could let them try to get there on their own," suggested the older sister.
"That'll take too long," Nabiki pointed out.
"We shouldn't force those two into having sex, their relationship is still on rocky ground," Kasumi told her younger sibling.
"It's getting better between them and the wedding is getting closer, you don't want them to be at that point and to not know what to do, do you?" wondered the middle sister.
"Not really, though we're not in any better position right now, are we?" argued the older girl.
"Don't even talk to me about me even trying with him, there is no way that's happening anytime soon," snapped Nabiki, "And it's not like you're getting anywhere with Dr. Tofu either."
Kasumi gave a little laugh, "He's opening up. I think he might be ready to take it to the next level after a few more dates."
"Good for you," said the middle Tendo, crossing her arms.
"Don't be like that, you could possibly get there with Tatewaki," the older sister assured her sibling.
"Thanks," said Nabiki, in an appreciative tone, "I'm going to go now. See ya later, Kasumi," and she left without another word on the subject.
"Bye," replied Kasumi, starting the sink water to begin washing the dishes.
From out in the living room she hears her father shout, "My baby girl is growing up so fast!" and she could hear him start to cry.
"Poor father," she said out loud, smiling.
------------------------------
The walk to school wasn't very enjoyable for Ranma, because Akane was in a foul mood. They were walking side by side down the street, the boy looking around and the girl looking straight ahead with a frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, glancing at his fiancée.
"It'a all your fault," she snapped.
"My fault? What'd I do?" wondered the teen.
"It's your fault Nabiki thinks we had sex last night," she told him.
"How'd you figure that?" asked Ranma.
"Because you wouldn't stop tickling me. And the only time you did stop was to kiss me," explained Akane angrily.
"Well I didn't hear you complaining about it last night," said the boy.
"That's because I was too busy laughing!" she yelled, speeding up her steps.
"Akane, I'm sorry. Please don't take your anger towards Nabiki out on me," apologized the teen, catching up to her.
"I'm mad at both of you for the moment," she replied. She quickly turned to him and asked, "How could Nabiki ask that question? And to me, her little sister no less!"
"I guess it's because she figures its gonna happen to us sooner or later and she wants the heads up of when that day'll come," answered Ranma, putting a hand on his fiancée's shoulder.
"Probably so she can videotape it and then sell it," said Akane, before giving him an evil little smile and adding, "Well she's not gonna get to, is she? She'll never find out when, because I'm not gonna tell her when it'll happen and you won't either, right?"
"Nope, my lips will be sealed," he replied with the same smile.
"Thought you might say that," she responded, planting a kiss on him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
He put his arms around her waist and held her close for as long as he could.
"We'll talk about it some more.....after we get home," she said, giving him another smile as she pulled away.
"Right, when we get home, got it," he repeated, taking her by the hand and continuing their walk to school.
Meanwhile in the alley was a pink colored cat that had seen the entire scene. 'Tomboy's sister think Tomboy and Husband have sex? And they talk later about it?' thought Shampoo, shaking the cold water she had been doused with from the little old lady that sprinkled water to wash away the dust from the front of her walk every morning. 'This not good for plan. They sleep together and it all over. If Tomboy sleep with Ranma first, Husband no want Shampoo after,' figured the cursed girl, 'Have do something about it.' Then she hurried back to the Nekohanten for a change and to think up a plan to stop them.
------------------------------
School has been uneventful since Kuno no longer orders Ranma to release Akane and the pigtailed girl or challenges him to a fight. And with Ryoga being on good terms with the couple, Ranma hasn't had a decent battle in a while, with the last good fights being against Prince Tshugo and Captain Johza. Mousse; good for a scuffle now and again; didn't need to fight the boy now that he defeated Shampoo in battle and won the right to marry her by amazon laws. Ranma voiced this to his friends at lunch. Akane went to sit with her friends instead of with her fiancé today. She felt once in a while they didn't need to eat lunch together.
"Why do you need to fight with someone?" asked Daisuke.
"Because it's the best way to keep myself in shape, that's why," answered the teen.
"If that's the reason, why not fight us?" wondered Hiroshi.
Laughing, Ranma replied, "You two?" and he laughed again.
"What's wrong with sparring with us?" asked Daisuke.
"Have either of you seen my fights? You two wouldn't last past one punch each," explained the boy.
"We've seen plenty of your fights, man. Even knowing how well you fight we still want to," argued Hiroshi.
"Sorry, guys. I don't want to fight you and get in trouble for getting you two hurt," apologized Ranma, still laughing slightly.
"Can't blame us for trying," smiled Daisuke as the three finished their lunch.
"Are you sure you won't fight us just once?" wondered Hiroshi, trying one last time.
"I'm positive. I've never seen either of you fight before, but I'm sure you guys wouldn't stand a chance against me, even if it was two on one," answered the cursed teenager.
"Then how about as a girl? Maybe then the two of us have a chance," asked Daisuke.
"Not even if I was a girl would either of you beat me," said the boy confidently.
Without warning both Daisuke and Hiroshi; sitting on either side of Ranma; tried to punch him, but the martial artist caught their fists, one in each hand.
He smiled and said, "I told you, you two wouldn't stand a chance," then he released them.
"Guess your right," admitted Hiroshi, rubbing his wrist.
"Yeah," agreed Daisuke, doing the same, "But who are you gonna fight to 'keep yourself in shape' as you put it?"
"The only other people are pops and the old lech and I don't feel like fighting them," said Ranma.
"Beggers can't be choosy," replied Hiroshi.
"What are you, a fortune cookie?" wondered Daisuke jokingly.
"Well that iswhere I read it," answered Hiroshi.
His answer made the other two laugh with him.
"But seriously, I don't want to fight them anymore. My pops doesn't put up the fight he used to, even if I go at him at half-strength, it's over too quickly, I don't get the workout I need. As for the lech, he puts up a great fight; when you have his attention; other than that he's just a panty-hungry old man. I need someone strong enough like Ryoga, but who's around more often like Shampoo, ya know, around, but annoyingly around," explained Ranma, "I wish I knew a way to keep Ryoga here in Nerima and not have to worry about his wandering off."
Just as the words left his mouth, Ukyo walked by. She smiled and said, "Hi, Ranchan!" and kept walking. It took the boy a full second to realize the answer passed by him before he was up after her. Ukyo still wears a boy's uniform to school and the teachers go along with it, since they allow Ranma to wear whatever he likes, but the okonomiyaki chef for some time has worn her hair in a decisively feminine braid and tied in a bow at the end of the braid is the bandanna Ryoga gave her the day he saved her life.
"Uchan!" the boy called to her.
She turned and looked at him as he reached her, "What is it?"
Ranma came right out and asked, "You like Ryoga, right?"
Ukyo didn't answer right away, she shifted her eyes down and her face began to turn red, "I-I guess you could say that."
"And I have it on good authority that he likes you too," said Ranma.
"H-he does, does he?" replied the girl, blushing more, unable to look her friend in the eyes.
"So why not ask him out?" wondered the boy.
Ukyo immediately jerked her head up, "What? No! I couldn't.... Why would I want to?" and put her head down just as quickly.
"If you two started dating, it might give him reason to stick around more often then just wandering off," suggested Ranma, "And besides you know of his curse so he wouldn't have to hide it from you like he does with Akane."
Ukyo was reluctant to agree, "I don't know. What if he says no?"
"Trust me, he won't," the boy assured his friend.
The chef's face was very red as she said, "I'd have to think about it. It's an awfully big step we'd be taking."
"Ryoga wants to ask you, but he's afraid of the reaction you'd give him if he did," admitted Ranma.
"Really? He wants to ask me? Then why doesn't he?" she asked.
"You know him. When he had his crush on Akane he could never get the courage to ask her on a date. The same can be said when he is face to face with you: he wants to, but something inside him prevents him from going thru with it. Maybe if you ask him instead, his fears of asking wouldn't come into play," he explained.
Ranma wondered how much more blood could there be in Ukyo's body, because it looked like it had all gathered in her face by how red it was when she repeated, "I'd have to think about it. It's a good idea, I may use it, but I'm not sure."
As soon as she finished her sentence the bell rang.
"Bye, Uchan," said the boy.
"Y-yeah, bye," replied his friend, walking away.
'Here's hoping, Uchan. And if it works, I'll have a new sparring partner to boot,' thought the boy, turning to go back to his friends.
'I can't ask Ryoga out, even if he does like me,' thought Ukyo, 'But then again, if he says yes he might find it reason to be around more like Ranma said.' She walked to her locker and changed books for her next class.
'Ryoga's too unreliable to be boyfriend material,' she told herself. Then she saw Ranma and Akane walk by.
Groaning to herself she thought, 'But I want what they have. I want the love and the companionship, to feel the warm embrace of another as he holds me in his arms, to taste his lips against mine. I want it all, but would Ryoga be the same to me as Ranma is to Akane? I'm not sure and I'm a little afraid to find out.'
Ukyo shut her locker door and started walking to her next class with her head down not really watching where she was going. She bumped the shoulder of another student, apologized and went on her way without looking at who she ran into. 'Maybe Ranma's right and I should ask Ryoga out?' she asked herself, though her mind was still full of doubt, 'I'm still not sure.'
She entered the classroom with it lingering in her mind and she tried to focus on the class, but it proved difficult, 'I guess I'll just shoot from the hip the next time I see him, if I ask him, then I ask him.'
-------------------------------
After dinner and a quick hour in the dojo working on proximity defenses again, the two teenagers were getting ready for a good night's sleep. Ranma stayed in the dojo while Akane went to take a bath. The boy was alone for 20 minutes inside the dojo meditating when the front door slid open just enough for a certain pink cat to creep in undetected. When Shampoo got home she refused a kettle of hot water from Cologne and stayed in cat form for the day. She had decided on the direct approach to stop Ranma and Akane from talking about sex.
Slowly the girl-turned-cat walked towards the boy, who had his eyes closed. When she was close enough she mewed at him. Hearing a cat so close to him made Ranma jerk open his eyes and frantically look around for the source.
His eyes landed on the pink furball near him and he stuttered, "S-s-s-shampoo," and began to back away.
She mewed again and leapt into his arms. The boy scrambled to his feet and ran out of the dojo with Shampoo clinging to his shirt.
"CAT!" he screamed, making his way thru the living room and hallway.
The only place he could think of going was the bathroom. If he could turn Shampoo back into a girl he could calm down.
He passed Kasumi in the hallway and she commented, "Akane's still in there, Ranma." She then said to herself, "I guess I'll get some of Akane's clothes for Shampoo," and went up the stairs.
The boy burst into the bathroom and dived into the unoccupied tub. Akane was standing next to the tub without a towel around her. "Ranma!" she shouted before seeing the pink cat clinging onto him, "Shampoo!"
As soon as the cat hit the warm water she changed back into a girl.
"Thank you, Ranma," she said, pressing her naked body against the boy's soaked clothes. "Husband take Shampoo now," she told him, inching her lips closer to his and moving one of her hands down south.
The boy's face was getting flush as he stuttered, "S-shampoo I-I-I c-c-can't."
Before the girl could get anywhere close to either of her destinations, Akane; now wrapped in a towel; grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the tub and then threw a towel at her.
"Cover yourself up!" the Japanese girl ordered her rival.
The amazon wrapped the towel around her and asked, "Why not Tomboy leave so Shampoo and Husband make love?"
"What?!" growled Akane, her aura flaring. She approached the purple-haired warrior, "Ranma is not your husband!"
At that very moment Kasumi appeared, "Shampoo, you can wear these," and handed over some clothes.
"Fine. Shampoo take clothes," answered the amazon.
She changed inside Ranma's old room and while the pants fit fine the shirt was tight against her more developed upper body. She flaunted that fact when she returned to the hallway to continue talking with Akane and Ranma.
"Now that you're clothed, leave!" commanded the fully clothed short-haired girl, pointing in the direction of the front door.
"Shampoo no leave until Ranma promise he no sleep with Tomboy," demanded Shampoo, crossing her arms under her breasts.
"Why should he promise that to you?" asked Akane angrily.
"So when Ranma and Shampoo marry Shampoo know he no make love to other girl before Shampoo," stated the amazon.
"You're not marrying him," the other girl pointed out, "I am!"
"You married yet? Until then, he fair game," replied Shampoo, giving her rival an evil smile before turning to leave.
Akane growled, her red aura surrounding her body, watching the amazon shut the door behind her. She waited a few moments before moving towards the stairs.
"I'm going to bed," she said still angry.
Kasumi waited until Akane was gone before saying, "After you take a bath I think you should comfort Akane a bit."
"Sure, Kasumi," replied the boy, going towards the bath.
'This may be the thing they needed,' thought the eldest Tendo sister, entering the living room.
------------------------------
Closing the door to Akane's room behind him Ranma made his way to the bed. The girl was under the covers, holding them tightly against herself and laying in the middle of the mattress. Her eyes were closed, but she didn't look asleep.
"Akane?" he asked.
"Go away," she snapped.
"What's wrong?" he wondered, sitting on the edge of the bed close to her head.
Akane sat up, crossed her arms over her knees and said, "What's wrong is Shampoo. I mean, I can't believe she pulled a stunt like that. Forcing herself on you, it's demeaning. It just goes to show she'll sink to any level to make you marry her."
"Luckily you were there to stop her," said Ranma, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"This time," replied the girl, turning her head away, "But what if I'm not there the next time she tries it?"
Placing the other hand on her other shoulder, the boy began giving his future wife a shoulder rub, making her close her eyes and moan with pleasure.
"Then we make sure there isn't a next time," he told her before kissing her neck.
"Mmm, that feels good," she said, rolling her shoulders around in his gentle hands. She turned her head back around and kissed him on the lips.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," she replied, smiling.
"Your welcome, my dear," said Ranma, giving her another kiss.
"Ranma?" she asked.
"Hmm," he answered.
"You do know once we start we can't stop, right?" wondered Akane.
He kissed her again and said, "Yeah, I know."
"And you're not afraid?" she asked.
"Hell ya, I'm afraid," he told her, "But there isn't anyone else in the world I'd rather try it with than you."
Her smile grew wider and she kissed him again. She pulled the covers down and he climbed in the bed. Akane put her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss as he wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her close.
"So I'm guessing you want to, right?" asked Ranma.
"I do, but not tonight," replied the girl softly.
"Why not?" wondered the boy.
"Nabiki, that's why," she told him, pointing to the wall that separated them and the middle Tendo girl.
"I understand, she'd overhear the whole thing," responded the teen.
"Yeah," agreed Akane, "Ya know, sometimes I wish there weren't so many eavesdroppers in this house."
The boy laughed, "You're right, so do I."
The girl gave him one last kiss before turning around, "Maybe some other time, like when Nabiki isn't around."
"If that's a subtle way of asking me to put her in the hospital, I'll do it," said Ranma jokingly.
"You do that and I'll hurt you. Don't forget she's still my sister," she reminded him, smiling as she said it.
"Okay," he replied, giving her a kiss behind the ear, "Good night."
"Night, my love," replied Akane, sighing as she closed her eyes.