Ranma 1/2-Burning with Jealousy- semi long story- rated T (for violent thoughts and actions on Ranma's part)
summary: Ranma has slowly been burning up with jealousy ever since he's met Akane and other people have been after her- a fact that he was unaware of until it boils over. How can you control your own jealousy? and what if Akane finds out? a RanmaxAkane story, obviously
disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any part of the original storyline or characters. However, this particular fanfiction was my idea, so please don't try to claim it.
before you read: I use abbreviations to change scenes and character perspectives because the site won't allow me to just use dashes. Sorry if there's any confusion.
-10-
Chapter Ten: Bonfire- enter Pantyhose Taro
"Ranma, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper. She felt like she could barely breathe, his stare was so intense. It seemed to burn through her, and squeeze her heart with some unknown emotion-
something that she never experienced up until this point in her life.
Was it fear? She didn't think so. How could she be afraid of such a stupid, goofy baka?
But then... what was the pressure on her chest?
She wondered if Ranma was projecting his emotions with his aura, and that what she felt was just a shadow of what he was feeling. It was possible. After all, if he could harness his emotions to create a ki attack, such a thing wasn't far fetched.
As they stood there, the air was still, but yet it seemed to be getting hotter. Stifling. The longer she stood there, the more Akane realized what was happening. Ranma was projecting his emotions. He had to be. That would explain why the air was so unnaturally hot. And why her chest felt so constricted.
Having come to a conclusion, however, didn't make Akane feel any better. If anything, it made her feel worse. Ranma was feeling all this? This unbearable heat could be anger, but... the feeling in her chest felt like... sadness.
"Ranma, what's wrong?" Akane repeated, this time her tone softer, but louder in volume. "Why were you so mad at Shampoo and Kodachi?"
As if their names were some kind of trigger, Ranma's aura flared, and Akane felt a fresh, hotter wave of heat. The intensity was pretty astounding. Still, Akane refused to be frightened. He wouldn't scare her like he had the other two.
"Ranma, stop it." she walked a step closer to him, but despite the fact that he was staring at her, it was like he didn't register her presence at all.
"Ranma, stop it now!" she grabbed his arm, and, reflexively, his opposite hand grabbed onto her wrist, catching her in a strong, unbreakable grip. But Akane wasn't about to give up and be afraid of someone who she knew she had no reason to be.
"Ranma! Stop it!" she grasped his arm in a strong grip of her own with her other hand, her own anger rising to add to the increasing heat surrounding them, refusing to back down.
He stared at her for several, heart-stopping seconds, unmoving, before, slowly, she felt the tension drain out of him.
Bit by bit, the heat around them began to dissipate, until the temperature was back to normal. Compared to before, it now felt cold. Ranma released his grip on her wrist.
Akane turned away from him, giving both of them room to breathe. She took one deep breath, then another. Still, even with the heat gone and Ranma no longer looking into her eyes, her chest still felt tight.
Just barely, she suppressed the urge to lay a hand over her heart, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to reduce the pain.
The heat was gone. Why was her heart still feeling compressed?
An idea, one that she wasn't sure she liked, began to sneak into her thoughts.
Maybe... it wasn't Ranma who was causing her chest to feel like this. Maybe... it wasn't a projection of his emotions, but... hers.
Unwilling to deal with the possibility of what that could mean, Akane turned her attention back to the pigtailed martial artist, who hadn't moved an inch. She had half expected him to try to run off again, but this was good. In fact, this was better, because now she could give him her own two cents on everything that he'd been doing. She wanted an escape so that she didn't have to think about what the tightness in her chest might mean. This would be the perfect way to vent out her frustrations.
-R-
He felt like his body was made of lead, it was so heavy. He was unable to move, afraid that Akane had seen the worse in him, that she'd hate him. Or worse, that she'd be afraid of him. He knew what had happened, but still, he could barely believe that he'd flown off the handle like that. And again, he had almost hurt Akane.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he was completely oblivious to his surroundings. Which was probably why it felt like the punch came out of nowhere.
"You baka!"
Taken completely off-guard, Ranma stumbled from the force of the fist that had connected with his stomach. It wasn't that it hurt exactly, so much as the fact that its suddenness startled him.
Akane glared at him, standing in front of him with her usual angry face. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was transported back in time, to before all these strange feelings had started happening to him. It stunned him, more than the punch, and following along the tails of the feeling was... hope.
Akane... wasn't afraid of him...?
-A-
"I could have taken care of myself back there with Shampoo and Kodachi, you know! It's not like I haven't fought them before! There was no reason for you to interfere with my fight!"
She watched him as he got over the shock of her punch and slowly, his usual carefree smirk replaced it- a change that worried her in its almost seamlessness, but it was the only way that she knew how to bring him back to normal.
"Of course I had to step in. Do you think a macho chick like you could win against both of them?"
"I so too could win if you just gave me the chance! Baka!"
"Uncute!"
"Clueless idiot!"
Ranma put his index fingers in his mouth and stretched it to the slides.
"Macho chick!"
Soon they fell into an easy and familiar pattern, and once again Ranma was acting like his normal self. Still, Akane couldn't ease the pain in her chest, nor could she dispel the nagging premonition that soon, everything around her was going to change.
-P-
He stared at the sign that read 'Bathhouse' with a triumphant smile on his face.
"Finally... Today will be the day that I get that old coot to change my name."
-A; a few hours later; bathhouse-
She sighed in relief as the hot water's heat soaked into her body and soothed her aching joints. Recently, everything was so confusing and strange. It was good to know that at least some things never changed. The hot water was a welcoming boon to relieve her nerves. With it, she could soak and forget all about-
"Aaah! Pervert!"
The sudden started woman's cry made Akane jump out of her relaxed state and looking for a towel faster than it registered in her head why she was doing it. Of course, after she had the cloth securely wrapped around her body, her mind realized that it could be none other than Happosai. She guessed that some things really didn't change.
With her eyes scanning around the room, following the shrieks of women in the bath, she slipped on the bathing suit that she always carried with her to the bathhouse for just these situations. Covered, she could deal with the pervert properly. Naked and in a towel, she didn't stand a fighting chance. Literally.
Suddenly, the sound of a loud crash reached her ears.
"I'm ready for you this time, old man!" a masculine voice shouted over Happosai's cackeling. And suddenly Akane's day got so much worse when she realized that she recognized that voice too.
Pantyhose Taro.
-R; bathhouse-
The tension had barely drained from his body when he heard it. And it was all he needed to rile his blood up again.
"Come to me, my pretties!"
"Eeek! Pervert!"
Happosai.
With barely a thought to his state of undress (although he rarely gave a thought to it anyway), he lept up from the bath and headed towards the girls's side of the bathhouse. He wasn't going to let that pervert within an arm's reach of his fiancee.
-A-
She felt the frown on her face deepen as she held the kettle that had contained hot water in her hands and listened to Pantyhose Taro yell at her for interfering with 'his business'. She felt ready to boot him out of the bathhouse when an evil presence sent a chill up her spine. And it was coming from...
the right!
She swung the kettle just in time and missed Happosai by an inch, evading his lecherous attack by a mere second.
"Ho-ho! You'e improving, Akane Tendo! Such a shame, such a shame. I'll just have to try harder then!"
"..!"
She automatically reeled back from the grabbing hands, and straight into Pantyhose Taro-
who was too busy shouting at Happosai to even notice.
"Hey, old man! Stop fooling around! I demand that you change my name!"
He was holding a bucket in his hands. And before she could voice a protest, he dumped the cold water over his body, transforming him back into his cursed form-
and drenching her in the process.
"Hey! Jerk!"
But he was already charging after the pervert. Unfortunately, one of his eel tails got wrapped around her, and she ended up being pulled along with him.
"Aagh! Put me down!"
Though of course, he wasn't listening. She raised her arm, ready to hit his tail, when-
"Pantyhose Taro. Old man."
The voice was loud and cold. It sent a chill up her spine.
She turned to see Ranma standing, in nothing but a towel around his waist, across the room. And the look in his eyes was as mad as she'd ever seen it.
-R-
That bastard. That bastard! How dare he drag Akane into his match? And how dare he grab her like that!
"Ranma?" she called down to him, looking surprised. Her arm was raised in what looked like an attempt to hit Pantyhose Taro.
It was then that he noticed that her hair was dripping wet. He saw the bathingsuit on her, and felt a small bit of relief that at least she wasn't naked. But then again, bathingsuits weren't exactly designed to hide someone's figure either.
For some reason, that irked him as well. In fact, it more than irked him, that she was wearing just that while being held by Pantyhose.
He stormed forwards, uncaring about the fact that he was in no condition (clothes-wise) to be fighting. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time.
"Ho! Ranma, my boy! Just the gal I wanted to see!"
Happosai appeared out of nowhere and splashed him with cold water, instantly transforming the pig-tailed martial artist into a busty redhead female.
But at the moment, Ranma didn't care. In fact, if he was to be honest, looking back on it, he barely noticed.
But Happosai did. Just as he was about to leap into the beauteous gal's chest, he saw steam rising off her body. Curious and confused, he realized that Genma's son wasn't even paying any attention to him- and that was half the fun. He, and yes it was a 'he' (meaning Ranma was a male again) was too busy glaring at Pantyhose Taro to even care. The heat from his own aura had burned hot enough to warm the water on his cursed body and change him back into his original form!
-A-
"Put Akane down this instant, Pantyhose."
The voice seemed to echo off the bathhouse walls and carry with it a sense of foreboding menace.
She watched as Ranma's aura became a tangible mass, and a red so dark it was almost black. Even from her unwanted perch she could feel the heat he was giving off. There was no doubt in her mind that he was angry. Livid, even.
Her uimpressed captor snorted in Ranma's general direction, dismissing him, until he noticed that Happosai was beside him.
Without warning, the cursed yeti-bull-eel-crane lunged in the two's direction, and Akane inadvertently screamed from the suddenness of the action. Ranma didn't move, and for a second, she was scared that he'd get run over in the attack.
But then her captor's body jolted to a sudden stop, only a few centimeters from making contact with her forced fiance. Ranma had caught the beast's fist with his own.
And, despite the fact that his hand was several times larger, Pantyhose Taro seemed to be having trouble with pushing the rest of his weight forward to continue the attack. Ranma was simply too strong to get past.
The pigtailed martial artist's aura flared once, and Akane could see him tighten his grip on Taro.
"Do you think something like this will stop me?" Ranma asked, his voice steady, and softer now, but with a thread of steel running through it.
"Let. Akane. Go."
"Oh, beauteous Akane! What are you doing up there when you can be in my arms!" Happosai suddenly declared upon noticing her in Pantyhose Taro's grasp. He lunged towards her, and she screamed reflexively, unable to escape and dreading his leacherous touch.
But thankfully, Pantyhose Taro moved her out of his path.
"Not so fast, old man! You won't get to lay a hand on her while I'm around!"
Akane looked at him, surprised by his words. That was, until he finished it off with
"Not until you promise to change my name!"
That jerk!
She fumed, and struggled in his grip.
She couldn't believe him! The nerve!
"Let me go right now, Pantyhose Taro! Baka!"
"Don't call me that!"
She continued to struggle, while Happosai kept leaping up, trying to get to her. But every time he jumped, Pantyhose Taro swung her out of his grasp. And still, she and the boy argued.
"I'll call you whatever I want! Don't use me as a bargaining chip! I'm not your property!"
"Shut up! I'm going to get that old man to change my name and-"
"SHUT UP!"
The voice halted the cursed boy's words mid-sentence, and he and Akane turned to see Ranma looking very much like the proverbial ticking time bomb. His fists were tightly clenched and his aura had turned black. Yet his voice was extremely controlled and level when he talked.
"Let go of Akane. NOW, Pantyhose."
"Don't call me-"
"Or I'll do it for you."
And Ranma looked up through the curtain of his dark bangs. The heat in his eyes was more like lightening, and Akane, still held in the grip of Taro's eel tails, felt the massive beast body shiver in apprehension... and fear.
Although she couldn't be sure that he was even aware of it.
It was like Pantyhose Taro was frozen with that one sentence, rooted to the spot. As Ranma continued to bore holes into the beast's brain, Taro continued to look back, as if he couldn't help himself.
Then suddenly, Ranma was gone.
Akane turned her head frantically, trying to find his aura, until she registered movement out of the corner of her eye and realized he was right next to her.
The minute Ranma's hand touched Taro's tail in an effort to free her, the beast snapped out of his trance and swung her out of the way. She screamed from the suddenness, but also from frustration. She was getting tired of getting tossed around like a toy. She wanted to feel her feet on the ground again.
"Quit it!" Akane shouted, hitting the tail wrapped around her.
"Let me go!"
"Not until the old man changes my name!"
"Oh, I'll never do that, my boy! Pantyhose is a fine name!"
It was chaos, pure and simple. Ranma moved quickly and silently, trying to get her free, while Happosai lept around trying to grope her, and Pantyhose Taro kept swinging her around so that neither could touch her. To top it off, they were in a bathhouse, Akane was in a swimsuit and Ranma was only wearing a towel. It was almost comical.
Except that Ranma's expression was far too serious.
"Give her back!"
"No! She's mine!" Taro shouted in reply, and while Akane found that extremely childish (while at the same time, it irked her immensely that she was being lowered to the level of this crazy guy's property), the sentence caused Ranma to stop in his tracks.
"LetAkanego." Ranma said again, but this time, Akane detected a new razor sharp dark edge that she was sure Pantyhose missed. His aura seemed to be gathering, and again she could feel the heat.
"She's not going anywhere! Until this old geezer agrees, she's staying with me!"
"Poor Akane!" Happosai cried, again making a grab for her that Taro evaded. But Akane couldn't seem to take her eyes off Ranma. This scene was starting to remind her of something. Something that had almost ended up with Ryoga getting seriously hurt.
Desperate to prevent the foreboding feeling she was getting from becoming a reality, she shouted the first thing that came to her mind
"Ranma, what are you, jealous?"
It would make sense, when you thought about it, but it couldn't be. This was Ranma she was thinking about. And nothing brought him back to his goofy, normal self faster than insinuating that he had a more than platonic relationship to her.
"There's no way you'd feel that way about me!"
That was right. Ranma would never feel that way about her. He'd deny it.
"Not about someone that you always call a macho ch-"
But then Ranma looked up. And his gaze, and all that intensity aimed her way, made her unable to speak.
And suddenly, somehow, she just knew. It was impossible, but... Ranma was... jealous. His eyes said it all.
Did that mean that he... really did like her...?
-Shi-
"Here it is." The male figure looked up from the map he was holding to the scenery in front of him.
"Wait for me, Akane. I can't believe that I forgot to tell you I loved you before you left."
A bird flew by, twittering happily. The figure turned his head to look at it.
"Oh, a bird."
The bird flew away, leaving the figure standing in the middle of the sidewalk. He looked around, confused.
"What was I doing again?"
-end chapter.
end chapter notations: I have to admit, I don't remember much of Pantyhose Taro's personality when it comes to dealing with anyone but Happosai, so I just made it up as I went along. Hopefully, you enjoyed the newest chapter anyway. Until next time! As always, reviews are appreciated, and comments, if constructive, are also welcome. Also, I'm really sorry that it took me almost a year to update. I've been really busy in school. Still, that's no excuse. I'll try to do better next time.