Hippocrates 12
As soon as Akane left the room Ranma darted outside on his way to Ukyo's. The— last thing he needed was Ukyo showing up at the house and talking to Akane. Walking through the warm colors of the sunset, he thought about his day. He —had her in his arms and he blew it! He was so close. What was his problem? Perhaps his curse was messing with his manliness more then he thought? Shaking his head, he acknowledged the real reason; he knew why he didn't kiss her. When he looked in her eyes he could see she wasn't going to say no, but he wasn't sure that she wanted him to kiss her. It could have just been because he'd knocked her senseless, and not saying no was very different from saying yes.
Shoving his hands deep in his pockets he kicked at some pebbles on the side of the road and stared morosely as they hit against the pavement. Things were quickly spiraling out of control. Maybe it was best that he didn't kiss her. Akane would have been even more furious if he'd kissed her and then left for dinner. Of course, if he had kissed her, he would have been much, much less interested in dinner with Ukyo. That idea stopped him short. Why was he going to dinner with Ukyo? Why didn't he just go all caveman on Akane and scoop her up in his arms and take her somewhere so he could kiss her brains out? He loved Akane. He knew this, but he was going to have dinner with another girl. Slowly he started walking again. What did Ukyo have that Akane didn't? She could cook, and truthfully that was a huge point in her favor. Other than her cooking, his feelings towards her could only be described as tepid. She gave him free food and showered him with compliments, and he let her claim to be his fiancée. It was a mutually satisfying relationship wasn't it? Why did the idea spending the evening with her suddenly seem so unappealing?
His slow footsteps eventually lead him to the familiar front of Ukyo's shop. Part of him hoped she was already gone so he could avoid her, and the other half feared what would happen if she came face to face with Akane. A small smirk played about his lips. Today Akane had acted normal, with the exception of being willing and pliant in his arms, he mentally amended. Her reaction to his dinner plans was just like old times and it was encouraging. If only she had hit him, then he would feel like things were back in his control and not such a jumble. Once things had settled down, and Akane was in full possession of her faculties, he was going to try to kiss her again. It wouldn't be hard to manipulate her into the same scenario, and if he didn't pump as much ki into her this time she wouldn't hit her head…or maybe they could do it in the dojo where there was more space. A grin snuck its way onto his features at the thought—.
He caught his reflection in the window and the grin faded into a frown. Did he really look that sappy when he thought about Akane? How unmanly. Wiping his face clean of emotion, he saw Ukyo in the back of the shop twirling in a circle with one of her giant spatulas cradled gently in her grasp. It was an odd sight. It seemed almost as if she was dancing a western style waltz with it. Looking closer he could see that there was a face drawn on the spatula and a black pigtail attached to the other side. He watched with increading alarm as she spun the spatula around, dipped it, and placed a soft kiss on the sharpie drawn lips.
That was becoming too weird, even for him and he started to back away silently when Ukyo caught sight of the movement. Instantly she straightened, smoothed her hands over the lovely navy gown she was wearing and took two steps towards the front windows. When she saw Ranma her eyes widened in recognition and then she blushed deeply. Running for the door she called out, "Get in here you jackass, and don't spy through windows. It's creepy."
ooOOoo
"I just want you to know that I am a two cheeks covered kind of girl," Akane said, following Rina's brisk pace. The mall was only a short train ride from Rina's house and Akane begin to feel the excitement of doing something she hadn't had time to do in months.
Rina shrugged, "I don't care what you wear as long as you feel pretty and it improves your dancing I could care less. You could go commando and it wouldn't matter to me."
Akane spluttered, "I wouldn't… that's…that's just gross."
Rina quirked and eyebrow at her, "You'd be surprised."
"Eeeewww. I don't even want to know," and she removed her hand from the handrail of the escalator they were riding, and tried to discreetly wipe it on her skirt.
Arriving on the upper floor of the mall, Rina lead Akane into a popular woman's store, and were immediately engulfed in heavily perfumed air. Akane breathed it in instantly feeling lovely and feminine. She felt a little thrill as she walked among all the beautiful fabrics and textures. Her underthings were as boring as they could be. She wasn't opposed to lovely underwear, but it was a matter of practicality and economy. It made no sense to have beautiful and expensive bras and panties that were only going to be stolen by a perverted midget of a man. She reached her hands out and glided them softly over the items on hangers, luxuriating in the satin, silky feel of the lingerie.
"Do you see anything you like?" Rina inquired her eyes roving over a rack filled with clearance items.
"Sure there are a lot of things here I think are pretty, but I don't want to spend money on any of them," Akane wistfully responded.
"Why not?" Rina stopped her shuffling of items and looked at Akane with genuine puzzlement.
"Because I live with Happosai and he can spot a matching bra and panty under your clothes from 100 paces away and then have it in his hands in under three seconds. It's a waste of money for something I might only wear once."
"Ah Happosai, he is a problem isn't he. I've never thought about what a pain it must be to live with him. Does he go through your drawers?"
"He respects my room most of the time, but if something gets left in the laundry it's free game. Oddly enough, Nabiki and Kasumi have Happosai immunity for some reason."
"I wonder why that is?" Rina lifted up a bra and held it up to her chest. Her head shot up and her eyes lit up as she stumbled upon an idea, "Do you think he does it to irritate Ranma? I imagine that Ranma must get pretty mad to find him pawing his fiancee's unmentionables."
Akane let out an unladylike snort. "Don't kid yourself. Ranma couldn't care less. The only thing I know for sure about Ranma is that he has a thing against blue underwear."
"Really? How do you know something like that?" Rina's eyebrows shot up, and the corners of her mouth quirked up in surprise and amusement.
The last thing Akane wanted to do was say that Ranma had looked up her skirt…twice. Blushing she said, "It came up in conversation a couple of times. What do you think of these?" Akane held up a lovely set of lacy boy shorts with a scalloped edging around the leg and waist and a matching bra.
"I think they're really pretty. Womanly, but will still practical. Does Happosai dislike boy shorts?"
"If it's lacy, he's not picky, trust me." Akane reluctantly replaced the underwear.
"So buy them." Rina picked up the abandoned set hung the hanger on her forearm.
"I don't want to waste the money."
"There has to be something you can do to keep him from taking your stuff. Can't you hide it?"
Fingering a lilac satin set, Akane scowled, "He'd just ferret it out. He's so sneaky." She placed the set back on the rack.
"Does he take everyone's underwear?" Rina picked up the set Akane had discarded.
"No. Once there was a giant pair of grandma panties we couldn't get him to steal. Ranma ended up with them. He's got them stashed somewhere and when he wants to be left alone he hangs them up on his door. You know, kind of like a cross keeps away vampires. It seems to work." Akane looked up from the rack she was rifling through and saw that Rina had picked up every set that she had looked at and relinquished.
Grabbing Akane by the arm she directed her towards the fitting rooms. "Try these on, and we'll think of a solution to your problem."
Akane meekly obeyed and she and Rina finished their discussion over the curtain.
"What if you wrapped your new underwear in some granny panties, do you think Happosai would take them?" Rina asked, absently checking herself out in the mirror as she waited for Akane.
The first set Akane chose to try on was the lacy boy shorts. Putting them on she turned this way and that in the mirror. In her mind her body was never as bad as Ranma said. Now stripped down to her skivvies she tried to see what made her so flawed. Her body was firm from all her training, but she was still very obviously a woman. It's true that her breasts weren't as big as Ranma's when he was a girl and her waist wasn't as small either. Her hips were wider than his, but she never had any problems fitting into the size she wanted. After Ranma had told her that he didn't want to see her breasts Akane had been forced to accept the fact that she didn't have the kind of body that interested him. It was perhaps the beginning of her realization that he was never going to feel the same way about her as she did about him. What was wrong with him? Didn't all seventeen year old boys want to see breasts? He'd seen Shampoo's a bunch of time and Akane never heard him make a fuss about it the way he did about hers.
Shaking the morose thoughts from her head she double checked her appearance. The bra gave her a modest décolleté, one that she wouldn't be embarrassed to wear with some of her scooped neck shirts. It was comfortable and she swung her arms around while wearing it; making sure she could still fight in it if she needed to. The boy shorts hugged her lower body and the edging flattered her lean legs and flat tummy. She looked good. Smiling Akane twisted herself to look at her backside. Even that looked good in this underwear. She wasn't hideous, and just because she didn't have the kind of figure to attract Ranma didn't mean that she wouldn't eventually attract someone who would appreciate how she was built. The thought brought a smile to her face. Akane was so busy admiring herself in the mirror that she almost missed Rina's question.
"Hmmmm?" Akane murmured through the curtain as she tried on a different set.
"I said, do you think you could hide your nice underwear in granny panties?" Rina said a little louder, her attention now on the curtain.
There was a pause and then Akane stuck her head out of the curtain exposing her neck and a bare shoulder, "You know, that might work."
"Great," Rina chirped, "I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" Akane ducked her head back in the dressing room.
"To find the ugliest and biggest pair of granny panties I can." Rina's amusement for the task was evident in her voice.
"Rina wait!" Akane called reaching out a naked arm with the lacy set on a hanger, "Will you find a sales lady and tell her I want one of these in white, black, red, yellow and every shade of blue they have."
ooOOoo
There was no way to avoid Ukyo, not when she was staring at him with her hands on her hips with high color gracing her cheeks. Embarrassed at being caught watching through windows, Ranma kept his head down and stalked into the restaurant. She silently shut the door after him. He didn't want to be here. Certainly not after messing up his chance to plant one on Akane, he wanted to be somewhere quiet where he could plan a new strategy. Additionally, seeing Ukyo dancing with a spatula version of himself made him shudder with fear and a small dose of panic. He'd been so busy thinking about kissing Akane he'd forgotten that there were other kisses he needed to avoid. There was no question in his mind that proving herself the best kisser was exactly what Ukyo had in mind tonight. She was wearing a dress, Ranma swallowed in dread, looking away from her, and his eyes landed on a table in front of her griddle. It was set up with a white tablecloth, nice tableware and it looked like a bucket of champagne on ice was off to the side. The sight of it only made his heart hammer in his chest and his palms started to sweat in alarm. He would be the first to admit that he didn't always understand women, but it was obvious, even to him, that Ukyo had created some kind of love den, and in his preoccupation with Akane, he'd walked right into it. Stupid Akane. He had to get out of here and then he needed to kill Ryoga…twice.
"Why don't you come and sit down?" Ukyo gracefully gestured at the table. He sat in silence and he tried not to look at her lips. They were shinier then usual and they held his attention the way the eyes of cobra hypnotize a mouse. He watched as she reached up and lit two long tapered candles in the center of the table. "I made something special for you tonight," her voice was pitched lower and Ranma could only nod, his eyes falling on the door to the backroom. If only he could think of an excuse to get back there, he could be out in the alley and on his way in no time flat.
Ukyo called Konastu and he quickly brought out an array of dishes and set them on the table; then just as quietly, he retreated back to the storeroom Ranma had been eyeing with longing. The smells of good food made his mouth water, his stomach rumble, and his resolve weaken. There really was no reason to waste perfectly good food. Picking up his chopsticks he dug in. Her cooking was nirvana and his mind tuned out anything that wasn't involved in the process of getting food into his stomach.
Ukyo watched Ranma dig in with gusto and smiled that he was so easy to please. All was going according to her plan. Soon Ranma would see what kind of a woman she really was. When his mouth was filled with a huge bite she began the speech she had rehearsed all afternoon.
"I know that when we were younger you thought I was a guy, but it's been months since we cleared up that misconception and well…" she paused, blushing slightly, "I'm a woman now, and you are a man…" Her voiced faded off and she looked at Ranma who didn't appear to be paying attention at all. He seemed completely absorbed by the food. Sighing she tried again, " I know that you think I'm cute, you've said as much, but I was hoping by now you would have noticed that there is a certain spark between us. A spark that could," again she paused, screwing up her courage against the embarrassment she always felt when expressing her tender feelings. "Could turn into something beautiful if we just explore it," smiling shyly she raised her eyes to Ranma who was looking at her with a look of complete bewilderment.
"What are you talking about, Ukyo?" he questioned around a mouthful of food.
Her maidenly shyness was pushed out of her system by her annoyance. "Ran-chan, we've been engaged for a long time now, and Ranma I'm ready to move things to the next level."
He looked at her blankly.
"I'm ready to start acting like most engaged couples," she prodded, passing him a plate of noodles.
A cricket chirped in the background, followed by the sound of an owl.
Ukyo took his continued silence for assent to her observations and smiled brightly she dished up some noodles on his plate. "That was easier than I thought it was going to be. Thank heavens for male teenage hormones. It's a good thing I made up my futon for two tonight."
A yakisaba noodle went down Ranma's airpipe.
"Ranma-honey, are you ok?" Ukyo got up and walked around the table and patted him on the back; when that did nothing to dispel the violent coughing she wacked him a harder. It was enough to dislodge the noodle and it caused his arms to flail out in front of him knocking the candles on the table over and one fell to the floor where it rolled under the table, and Ranma quickly straightened the other one, but before he could find and fix the other one he felt Ukyo's hot breath in his ear.
"Ran-chan." Ukyo murmured in his ear, her hand now rubbing his back up and down in a languid, stroking motion.
"I'm ok." He awkwardly leaned away, swatted at her hands on his back, and wiped his watering eyes.
Ukyo sat down and smiled at him. Ranma turned his attention back to his plate and tried to find the courage to say what he needed to say to her. Knowing she was going to be disappointed and hurt he attempted to screw up his courage to confront her. He also knew that she could be stubborn and willfully blind where he was concerned and so he wanted to let her down as easy as possible, and he needed to do it with no misunderstanding. The time had come. He loved Akane, he had almost kissed her today and he was definitely planning on actually doing it sometime in the near future. It was time to cut Ukyo lose and let her know that she wasn't anything more to him than just a friend. Ignoring the knot in his stomach, Ranma tried to find the words. Ukyo, seeing that Ranma was trying to say something, reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. Ranma didn't pull away hoping to help ease the blow. Expelling a deep breath he looked into her eyes and said, "Ukyo." He did his best to force the words out of his throat, but she was looking at him with a look of eager anticipation and her hands were clasping his so tightly. He tried again, "Ukyo, I …do you smell smoke?"
ooOOoo
Akane felt better then she had in weeks. Rina had been right shopping had done a world of good for her mentality. Even though— outwardly she had a hard time showing it, on the inside Akane had a girly streak a mile wide. Humming a little tune she walked down the street swinging her shopping bags to the tune of her song. She had no idea how Rina had done it, but she had come back to the dressing room with three of the ugliest, biggest pairs of panties Akane had ever seen. One was yellow with enough metallic brown lace on for any three brides maids dresses, another was the size of Sarushima island, and the best one could have fit three of her and was covered with florescent "just say no to drugs" slogans. They had laughed so hard at Rina's finds that Akane couldn't help but feel happy walking back to her house from the train station. For the first time since she was with Ranma earlier that day her mind turned to Kasumi and Tofu. His doctor friends were coming tomorrow, she thought, and she better go and talk him out of meeting with them.
This whole idea about leaving Kasumi was absurd and she wasn't going to let him quit. She still needed training; and, if anything Kasumi needed the chance to try to seduce the man. It might just shock some sense back into him. She smiled at the thought. Her footsteps let her to a fork in the road both of which would take her to Tofu's, but one would pass by Ukyo's shop. She hesitated knowing that Ranma was there having dinner. She should just go by make sure that he hadn't been suckered into something stupid. Her feet turned down the road that would take her past her erstwhile fiancée, but she stopped only a few steps down that path.
She'd told him earlier that she didn't care what he did and yet here she was going to interfere. Same as always she always did. Did she really need to confront Ranma and Ukyo only to have insults thrown in her direction? He'd made it clear enough that she was often in the way… but he was such a pushover. She dithered in the street chewing her bottom lip, indecisive; her mind warring with her pride. Finally she decided her priority was Dr. Tofu and Kasumi. Backtracking, before she could change her mind, she walked quickly to the peace and distraction that the clinic afforded her.
ooOOoo
Ranma instantly let go of Ukyo's hands and stood up sniffing the air in the shop. Ukyo also stood up and looked around. They walked around the counter to her grill and crouching down they inspected it inside and out.
"That's so weird," Ranma said standing up and facing Ukyo and the back of the restaurant. "I really smell smoke."
"My table!" Ukyo shrieked. Looking over his shoulder and Ranma spun around and saw their elegant dinner going up in flames. In one bound he was over the counter and ripping the table cloth off the table in an attempt to smother the flames.
"Let me get it!" Ukyo shouted from behind him. With lightening fast hands she grabbed the champagne bucket and hurled its slushy contents in the direction of the flaming tablecloth and Ranma. In her panic Ukyo failed to remove the champagne bottle from the bucket and it cracked Ranma between the eyes and she collapsed in a soaking, smoldering mess.
Ukyo stood stunned at the turn of her evening. At her feet was a partially charred table and an unconscious readhead. It took her a minute, but soon her brain caught up with her instincts and she finally squatted down to check on Ranma. "Ranma, are you ok?" Ukyo lightly slapped her cheeks. When Ranma failed to respond Ukyo punched her. When that didn't wake her Ukyo gave up and sat in a puddle next to her prostrate form. Pulling the chapstick out of her bra she threw it across the room, "Stupid chapstick." This was so not how she planned on ending the evening.
ooOOoo
"Dr. Tofu! Are you in here?" Akane called sliding the doors open at the clinic. She left her shopping bags and the bag that had her dance costume just inside the door and removed her shoes. When no one answered she wandered further into the clinic. She found him at a low table studying an empty tea cup, a bitter smile twisting at his lips.
All her anger and hurt over Ranma was pushed to the back of her mind at the sight of her despondent friend. "Are you all right?" she questioned softly and sank down beside him.
He shrugged indifferently. "I've been worse."
"Are you still planning on going?" Akane got up and turned on the overhead lights, dispelling some of the dreary atmosphere of the room.
"Yes, they've already made plans for me to be on the mission and have, accordingly, reduced their supplies by half. If I don't go their mission will be crippled. I can't leave them in a rut now; they are planning on leaving in three days."
"Three days! But…but they are just coming to meet me tomorrow. Are they not really interested in meeting me? Three days? We were still working on a plan with Kasumi." Akane voiced the jumble that was her thoughts.
"No they are very interested in meeting you, I think when you hear their terms you will be more than happy to be ready to go in three days. I also think you know that nothing will work with respect to Kasumi."
"You could just talk to her. Tell her what is wrong."
Almost viciously Tofu replied, "I can't talk to her that is the problem."
"Write her a letter then." Akane was pleading.
"Then what? We can just be a jolly pair of pen pals? It's no use." They both fell into a contemplative silence and after a moment Akane tried one more time.
"You don't have to leave her, you know."
"I do." His voice was full pain. "I can't be around her, so we can't be together," he paused, "Eventually she'll fall in love with someone and I really don't have any desire to be around when that happens." He didn't look up, just forlornly sloshed the dregs of his tea around in his cup. Akane's throat tightened at Dr. Tofu's words. The same was true of Ranma. She really had no desire to see things pan out between him and Ukyo or even worse, Shampoo. Could she pretend to be happy about him moving on? No, it wasn't going to be possible for her to act like things were ok. She knew exactly what Dr. Tofu meant. She had no desire to be around to watch that either. The stupid thing was, unlike her and Ranma, Tofu wouldn't have to watch Kasumi fall for someone else because she was already in love with him.
There was no way she was going to let him leave. If he broke Kasumi's heart she would follow him on his little mercy mission and then, for him, there would be no mercy. She was going to keep him here no matter what.
"Your colleagues are coming tomorrow right?" She said forcefully. "Could you tell me more about where they are planning on going and what they are planning on doing?"
"Really? You want to know more? It'd be nice to have you around." Dr. Tofu smiled at her, "We could keep training."
"I don't think so." Akane said.
"What? Why?"
"It will be impossible for you to train me when I leave with these doctors and you stay home to marry my sister."
Exasperated, Tofu said, warningly, "Akane."
"They don't need both of us and since you have committed at least one of us I should be the one to go." She smiled innocently at him, "I still have three days and I am sure something will come to me. What do I need to do to impress them?"
ooOOoo
When Akane arrived home Nabiki was watching some kind of soap opera on the TV and idly thumbing through a magazine. Offering her a brief greeting, Akane took her bags up to her room and started to sort through her closet. Everything she owned screamed "girl in high school." Even her pajamas had little kitty's on them. There wasn't anything she could see that was going to make those doctors think she was competent and worth the risk of taking along. The skirts she pulled out were either too short or too frilly. She needed something that communicated seriousness. Flopping on the bed she looked at her new bags of stuff. Going over to the bags she carefully took out the new lingerie and then wrapped it up in the granny panties and tucked them under some of her practical underpants in her drawer. She folded up the shopping bags, and as she was reaching for the bag that had the feathers in it, she heard a familiar scratching at her door.
Opening the door a little she looked down and sure enough it was her pet pig with his customary yellow bandana tied around his neck.
"P-chan!" She happily exclaimed scooping him up and giving him a hug. "I've missed you boy." She said affectionately rubbing her nose next to his.
Walking over to the bed she sat down and cradled him in her lap. "I don't have anything to wear tomorrow, she confided to him. "I'm supposed to be impressing a bunch of doctors I've never met, and everything I own looks…I don't know…Like a little girl's. What am I going to do? I don't have time to go shopping."
P-chan saw the last shopping bag and hopped off her lap and nudged it with his nose.
"Aren't you clever." Akane crooned and crossed the room. "I definitely can't wear that tomorrow. It's supposed to be my costume for the dance competition." She lifted it out of the bag and held it up against herself. "I don't know what Rina was thinking. Actually I do, she told me that she let Hiroshi help pick out the costume. It explains so very much." She walked over to the mirror. The whole outfit was so ridiculous, but at the same time Akane was tempted to try it on just to see what she would look like. It wasn't as if anyone would see her in it. Turning to her pet pig she smiled and said, "What do you think? Do you want to see me in this costume?"
P-chan began to squeal loudly and Akane interpreted this as pleasure at her suggestions so she placed him on the floor and examined the costume in earnest. "How? There are so many strings. I don't think that would possibly cover me completely." She murmured to herself. P-chan watched her in gross fascination blushing at her words. "Ah, I see how it works." And before P-chan could turn his back she had shucked off her skirt and was standing with her shirt barely covering her backside. Using all his willpower, P-chan turned away and faced the wall and did his best not to catalogue every piece of clothing he could hear hit the floor.
He heard Akane fumbling around and at one point is sounded like she tripped and fell into the desk, but he was too afraid to turn around and look and so he steadfastly watched the wall and recited his multiplication tables.
Finally he heard Akane say, "Well what do you think P-chan?" and he turned around. It only took one and instantly he could feel the blood gush from his nose and involuntarily his eyes rolled back in his head.
ooOOoo
Ranma was not in a good mood. His head hurt like the devil and extracting himself out of the clutches of Ukyo had been harder then he thought. By the end of the evening he was actually grateful for his curse because it had kept Ukyo from having her wicked way with him. She was undeniably furious with him. Not only had he refused to cooperate with her plans to get to second base and beyond, but he also trashed her restaurant jumping from table to wall to counter in an effort to dodge the hot water she kept trying to splash him with. When left her, she was cursing him and mopping up water. Her hair was coming down and she had mascara running down her stained, smoke-smelling gown.
He schlepped himself home wondering if it was really worth it to have her as a friend. He still wasn't sure if he had forgiven her for her involvement in the attack at the wedding. If there was a way to keep her friendship and have Akane he would, but he didn't think Ukyo would go for that. She was still deeply vengeful about her first abandonment that if he rejected her now she might see it as a second desertion, and then there would be problems for not only him, but Akane as well. Ukyo was an awful lot of trouble, and not in a good way. Not like Akane. Who was also a lot of trouble, but for reasons he chose not to delve too deeply into, he didn't mind it so much.
He drug himself up the stairs in anticipation of grabbing a change of clothes so he could bathe and go to bed; when he heard Akane's cry, and in an instant he was opening the door with the duck on it all his senses alert for danger.
The first thing he noticed was that Akane wasn't wearing any clothes that he could tell. He stopped short just inside the doorway and out of self-preservation he dropped his eyes to the floor. Seeing her bare feet and painted toes he couldn't stop himself from letting his eyes roam upward of their own volition. Her legs were bare and he noticed how smooth they were. He became uncomfortable as his eyes continued to move upward and there were no clothes to stop his greedy gaze. Up past her knees and firm thighs it was and compulsion laced with trepidation that kept his eyes moving upward, fearful and hopeful of what he might find. Soon he saw the first indication that she might have any clothes on at all in the form of one single strand of crystal and silver beads that crossed her hip and drew his eyes to the tiniest and shiniest swimsuit bottom he had ever seen. Jerking his eyes upward to safer territory, he saw the same crystal and silver beads draped around her flat stomach and ribs. The effect was dazzling and called his attention to what was either above or below the beads. He was terrified of what he was going to see above, but it didn't stop him for looking. His jaw dropped and he had the fleeting thought, there was no logistical way for her top to stay on. It would only take one small move and she would completely expose herself to the world. It tied behind her neck and around her back, he could see the strings, but that didn't mean anything. They were thin little things and looked like they could give way at any second.
His inspection of her only took seconds, but it rendered him incapable of any kind of coherent thought and so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "What in the seventh level of hell are you wearing!"
"Oh Ranma." Akane eyes were full of concern as she held out P-chan up in her hands. The pig's head lolled to the side. "I don't know what happened. I turned around to pick him up and all of a sudden all this blood came out of his nose and he lost consciousness. I think he might really be sick."
It was the first time Ranma noticed the pig and a muscle in his jaw twitched at the idea of him in here with Akane dressed the way she was. Sarcastically he replied, "Oh, he's sick alright."
"Ranma! Stop bulling him for one second. I really think something is wrong."
"It's nothing I am sure a cold shower couldn't fix. Give him to me and I'll take care of him." Ranma held out his hand.
Akane turned her back on him and he was hit with a face full of feathers. Feathers! He hadn't even noticed them before. Viciously swatting them away from his face he looked to see how they were attached and to his chagrin and the back of the outfit was as skimpy as the front. His mouth was so dry that swallowing seemed impossible. It briefly crossed his mind that he had actually swallowed a feather. He saw Akane gently shaking P-chan in her arms and was worried that any sudden movement on her part would cause her to bust out of her top. His eyes widened when he realized Ryoga was right there on eye level.
"Don't move around in that thing!" A little panicked he said, "Just give him to me, over your shoulder , and I will bathe him. I was on my way down when I heard you in here."
Turning back around with P-chan in her arms nestled against what Ranma supposed was the softest part of her body, she looked surprised. "You heard me and came in to check on me?"
Ranma didn't process her words as P-chan appeared to be regaining consciousness and Ranma couldn't seem to lift his eyes to Akane's face. What he wanted to do was rip the little pig out her arms, but he was worried any jerky motions would upset the delicate forces of nature that were holding her top on. P-chan made some snorting noised and nestled himself deeper between Akane's breasts and Ranma with inhuman speed plucked him out of her grasp and turned his back on Akane in an effort to preserve her modestly and his sanity.
Strained he said, "What are you wearing?" Quickly he moved the bandana from P-chan's neck to gag him to prevent him from squealing when he started to painfully torture him for being in Akane's room.
"This is just the costume Rina let Hiroshi pick for our dance." She snorted at the laughable thought of her actually appearing in public like this.
Ranma's hands stilled, "You can't be serious."
"I am. It's ridiculous letting Hiroshi dress a woman. He has not taste and no class."
Turning back to face her, holding a gagged P-chan behind his back in a firm grip, he fixed his gaze on her face. "I meant you can't be serious about wearing—that—getup in front of other people."
Akane looked at him in astonishment. He obviously didn't thing she could carry it off. Well that was it! She'd had it with him! First the healing, then the kiss that didn't happen, followed by dinner with Ukyo, it was too much. Too angry to disabuse him of the idea of her actually competing in the costume , she cocked an eyebrow at him and said, "It's a competition and I want to win. Now if you would get out, I need to get to bed." She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. The gesture made the beads sway tantalizingly over her tummy and Ranma was rooted to the spot. When he didn't move for a fill minute, Akane, annoyed, said, "If you're not going to help P-chan give him back to me."
Her statement galvanized him into action; because there was no way in hell he was giving that pet pig another chance to ogle her in that outfit. Ranma spun on his heel and strode out of the room without a word.
Climbing down the stairs he couldn't believe that Akane would really wear something like that. She was, by nature a modest girl, but at the same time she was fiercely competitive. If she really wanted to win she just might wear something like that. Truth be told, he just wasn't sure. Stripping out of his clothes he came to the conclusion that the dance with Hiroshi had to be stopped. To do that he needed someone who hadn't promised not to interfere. Picking up the black piglet with one hand he plunged him under the warm water of the furo, glaring at the lost boy who emerged coughing.
"Okay bacon breath, you've got thirty seconds to explain what you were doing in Akane's room, and everything she said about that competition, before I send your perverted ass to piggy heaven...twice."
Author's notes: Phew! Only two more chapters and all this tension we've been building up will be released. I am almost halfway through my plotted scenes. Thanks Dev Li with her wonderful edits that kept my writing grounded. Thanks also to O'Donoghue who let me know when my writing has gotten, in his words, "meh." Thanks for your wonderful reviews. Please feel free to leave more. You guys are the best.