Disclaimer: No, I don't own Ranma ½! Way to rub it in!

Honor or Love?

Chapter Ten

Akane

She coiled under his touch, a glint of question lurking behind his chocolate eyes. He once more rested his hand on her shoulder and she brushed it away, knowing that she was going against Ranma who advised her not to draw any unwanted attention from him. He frowned, itching his head cluelessly of Akane's hidden desires of torturing the hopelessly lost boy. "I'm studying." She said with too much hostility, turning back to her homework.

"You've been doing it for awhile, Akane," he muttered, running a hand through her short hair. "Plus, you have been spending time with Ranma more than you have with your own fiancé. Don't you remember what he did to you on your wedding night?"

She forced a smile. "You're my fiancé, Ryoga. There's no need for you to be jealous of Ranma. I just need to study for a major test I'm having tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded, his hand grabbing hers as he tossed her on her bed, crawling on top of her. She began to resist, but he smiled. "We're engaged, remember? It's okay for us to do this."

"Ryoga, I told you I'm not doing this before marriage," his smile broadened, and so her temper flared and she shoved him off of the bed. Hard. "What's gotten into you?"

He stood abruptly and dusted himself off. With one last glare, he stomped off. She sighed, realizing how desperate Ryoga was becoming. This was his third attempt in the last two weeks to urge her into intercourse. But, no matter how she despised him, he was right. How could she forget about Ranma's unfaithfulness to her on her own wedding day? Ranma never exactly snuck out with another woman, but that didn't mean he was technically out of the "womanizing" field just yet. But, he apologized– he always did.

Her feet dangled at the edge of the bed as her eyes darted toward the window. She wondered if Ryoga was with Akari right now, confessing his love of lies. Akari never seemed like the cheating type, so her bet would be that she was just about as unaware as she was. But, what happened when she sought her revenge on Ryoga? Ukyo quit on Ranma, but there was still Shampoo and Kodachi. Not to mention that Ranma never clearly stated he wanted her either. Oh, well. There was time to figure that out.

No, there really wasn't.

She tossed and turned in bed, not wanting to hear Ranma's rejection but not sure if she wanted to avoid Ranma's response all her life. She was the one who left him, and he apologized for his faults... so why hasn't she? She sighed, fitting her feet into her slippers as she proceeded toward Ranma's room. She quietly slid open his door and sat next to his futon.

To her surprise, he instantly sat up and gazed confusingly at her. This must obviously mean he was getting no sleep either. She smiled at him, and his eyebrow rose as a response. "Hi there!" She said with much enthusiasm, and when he stared blankly at her, an awkward sweat drop appearing on her head.

She tried again. "Where's your dad?"

"Pops moved in with your dad to comfort him when you were gone or somethin'." She nodded, and a silence followed his response. "Any reason why..." His sentence trailed, not exactly sure he knew how to finish it without sounding like he didn't want her around.

"I'm sorry, were you sleeping?" He shook his head. "Couldn't sleep either, huh? I just had something on my conscious and I wanted to speak to you... I guess. But, if you're tired I can–"

"You don't have to leave." He threw off his blankets and crossed his legs to give her his full attention. "So, what's up?"

She blushed, realizing Ranma was wearing no shirt and only shorts to cover his body. She was grateful for the security of night, so Ranma wasn't able to see her face set ablaze by his wardrobe. She wasn't the pervert, so why was her mind wandering to such irrelevant things? "I wanted to say I'm sorry," she began, rubbing her arm sheepishly. "I know you were trying to get Shampoo out of our lives forever with that deal and I got angry at you. And I ran away like some coward."

"It's just that I never hear you out, and I always jump to conclusions but you stick around anyway for some reason I'm still trying to figure out. It's just that you're fickle, you know? I mean, I can never tell who you're in love with whenever Ukyo and Shampoo are around, and you just toy with them whenever you want something. You even do perverted things to get what you want in your girl form, and it makes me wonder, you know? And there's that–"

"So, you're apologizing, right?" He confirmed, wondering where exactly their conversation was heading.

"Oh, right, that." She laughed nervously. "I'm just sorry for accusing you all the time."

He slowly nodded. "I guess we're even since I'm always dragging you into things all the time." He thought for a moment before adding: "but I guess it's okay since we're a team."

"I'm sorry I'm not that much of a teammate to you. I mean, how could you even consider someone as disloyal as myself to a teammate?" Tears began flowing down her cheeks, and that was when she realized that all along she was never over Ranma. Ryoga was her rebound, someone who could try to ease her pain but she ended up wanting Ranma even more. "Everyone was worried about me and I just up an left without thinking about anyone but myself."

He felt awful, her sobs piercing his heart. He couldn't think of anything helpful to say to her, or to stop the overflowing amount of water streaming out of her eyes. "You weren't disloyal, I was," he began and he successfully caused her to remove her hands from her face and listen to him. "I don't know what I was thinking, believing Shampoo with her web of lies from the past. I just thought it would make you happy if Shampoo finally stopped interfering with our engagement. But, I got tricked... again. If anyone should be sorry, it's me."

"My face is really messy right now, Ranma. Could you close your eyes?" He nodded, or so she assumed from the outline of his body in the darkness. "I'll close my eyes too."

She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but she got on all fours as she leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. She wanted to know if he thought about her the same way she thought about him, and in a few seconds, she found out. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer toward him as he lay his back on his futon, Akane on top of him. They kissed until their lungs were out of oxygen, and they had to stop for air.

She smiled, thinking aloud: "I guess I found my answer."

-XxX-

"You know I love you." Ryoga whispered into the receiver. "It's just that I'm too busy to come over."

"But, I miss you, Ryoga."

"I miss you too, Akari," Ryoga said, flipping the channel on his television. "There is no one in the world I would rather be with."

"Good." She giggled, her laughter cut short. "But, you have to embarrass Akane for what she's done to you, Ryoga. I want to publicly shatter her reputation and make her beg for you to come back. I love that she doesn't even know what's coming!"

Ryoga smiled, pleased with the cunning idea his bride-to-be formulated. "I know, we've discussed it about a million times. Take everything from Akane, then leave her with nothing for all of the trouble she has caused me. I was always second place to her, and she never thought of me anymore than a burden. And by hurting Akane, I ultimately hurt Ranma. It's killing two birds with one stone. I have to go, I think someone's coming in."

Akane waited a few more seconds before opening her room door. "Hey, who were you talking with?" She asked casually, setting her school stuff down and sitting next to him on the bed. "I thought I heard whispers or something coming from here."

He shook his head. "I was just watching a video on my cell phone." He cleared his throat and smiled at her. "How long do you plan on staying here? I mean, we have our wedding to plan, and things of that nature. We never intended on staying so long in Nerima anyway."

Placing a smile on her face was strenuous but she managed, clapping her hands joyfully. "How about we get married right here at the dojo? In front of all of our friends and family? It'll be absolutely amazing! Oh, I can even picture the look on Ranma's face!"

He thought about it, smiling sinisterly. "Perfect."

-XxX-

"So, he's angry at you for not loving him so he's trying to get you back?"

"Yup," she replied. "I heard him ranting to Akari on the phone who's also in on this little charade."

It was midnight, and Ranma had snuck into her room earlier and asked if she wanted to go on a walk with him. They sat on a nearby bench, their hands intertwined with her head resting lightly on his shoulder. She didn't mind if Ranma never clearly said he loved her out loud, since she was convinced by the kiss in their bedroom the other night. When Shampoo kissed Ranma, he was just standing their stiffly, so uncomfortably. But, when they kissed, it was full of passion and sincerity. Ryoga could never make her feel a fraction of what Ranma made her feel.

The cool night air brushed against her face, and she wouldn't be anywhere else in the world right now even if she had the chance. "My plan at revenge with Ukyo is almost complete." She said proudly, remembering all of those sessions she had with Ukyo when the chef was trying to dig out the evil in her. When she dug deep enough, Akane found the perfect anger to concoct her marvelous plan.

"Are you going to tell me my part, yet?" Ranma asked, not at all thrilled being kicked out of this so called wonderful plan.

"Nope," she laughed, satisfied by his annoyed expression. "I told you that you'll know what to do the moment it comes. You don't need any cues or reminders."

"When exactly is this wedding?"

She grinned. "Just a few days."

"Oh! I just remembered something." Ranma blurted, jamming his hands into his pocket and searching around. Finally, he pulled out Akane suppose-to-be ring and placed it on the appropriate finger. "I forgot to give this to you when you came back. It was suppose to be yours on our wedding. But... a lot of things got in the way of that."

"Oh, thank–"

"I had to get it in a bigger size because your finger was too fat. Geez, Akane, what have you been eating?"

She launched her fist, aiming at his face, but he caught it in midair and smirked. "I'm just kidding, Akane." He fumbled with his fingers, fixing his gaze at his feet. "I just want you to wear this because I want to get engaged to you for real t-th-this time. No parents, but just because you want to be with me. I don't know if you want to marry m-me so early but I just..."

Her eyes were wide. "You want to marry me?"

"Of course he does, sugar." Ukyo groaned, seating herself on the bench next to Akane. "I've been watching you guys mumble confessions all day. Ran-chan wants to marry you, Akane, and you want to marry him. I predict seven kids and a successful training hall. You guys can kiss too. I'll look away." She promised.

"Marry her? Yeah, right!"

"Oh, please, Ranma! You were just about begging to be my fiancé again with all of your stuttering and and fumbling your fingers like a child."

He stuck his tongue out, and in response, Akane poured cold water all over the transformed boy. "Hey!" She screamed, shaking her head to remove the cold water.

The three teens burst out simultaneously in laughter, Ranma hand still brushing against Akane's.

-XxX-

A/N: I don't think this is really good, but I thought that I should upload the stories I haven't in a while. First "Akane's Revenge", and now this one! :D I still have writers block with this story but bare with me, I know this isn't one of my best. I promise the upcoming chapters will outdo this one by a landslide.

Please review, I welcome constructive criticism, but I warn you I am in possession of a mallet. You have been warned.

SUMMER VACAATTTIIIOOOONNNNN!