Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2

Chapter 13:

Akane was wrapped up in her quilt, staring at the wall. Usually, there wasn't anything specific running through her mind before she drifted off to sleep, nothing keeping her awake in the darkness...

But tonight Akane's heart kept up a quick beating, thinking of the touch of Ranma's hand on hers. His fingers between hers, his palm sweaty. It was cute, how he was nervous about taking such action.

She remembered the look on his face; a deep, crimson blush covered his cheeks as he looked away.

She'd dreamt of the moment, time and time again, yet she never once believed it could be a reality. Not once did it ever cross her mind that it could be her that Ranma would, in a sense, choose.

Brining her hand up to her face, shhe pictured his hand there, a gentle squeeze to reassure her he was by her side. That he wasn't letting go anytime soon. (A/N*)

A humming outside of her room dragged her from her thoughts. It was light, melodic and cheerful. It came past her room, and drifted away, getting less and less noticable..

Akane sat up, her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. She knew that voice... Didn't she?

Snatching her alarm clock off of her desk, Akane was stunned to see Ranma had delayed her rest to 6am. Then it clicked - it was Kasumi, making her way down the stairs to make breakfast. She remembered Kasumi mentioning it to her before.

Akane, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with sleep anytime soon, swung her legs out of bed, wandering out of her room to sneak after her elder sister to the kitchen.

The humming continued, the odd line being added in.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head," Kasumi sang. "But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red."

Akane peered curiously around the corner to see her sister, fully dressed in her favourite purple dress, apron and all, balanced on her tip-toes, reaching the top shelf of the cupboards.

The kitchen lights were on and Akane almost forgot the reality of things, until Kasumi saw her, staring.

"Oh, Akane! What are you doing up? I didn't wake you, did I?" She inquired.

"N-no! No. I was up already; I couldn't sleep."

"Oh... Well, would you like to give me a hand?" Kasumi offered.

"Umm... Okay, why not?" Shuffling into the room, Akane gazed upon the assortments of ingredients set out, ready to be used.

"So, where do we begin?"

Ranma's vision was hazy and, as most mornings, he wasn't quite sure where he was or what was happening. All he really knew was that he somehow found him way from his futon to the koi pond in the garden. Opening his eyes, he saw the smug look on his father's face.

"C'mon, m'boy! Have I not taught you anything?"

"The hell you goin' on about this early in the mornin'?"

"Early? M'boy, you're living the life of luxury, lazing in until seven in the morning!"

"Seven? Man, I don't have t'be up for another half hour!"

"Training come first, Ranma. Training comes first."

"Shaddup!" Ranma grumbled, hoisting himself, now in his female form, from the bottom of the koi pond. Aiming one foul kick to the back of his father's head, he smirked at his father, now also in his cursed form.

"Who's laughin' now, huh?"

Ranma stepped onto the wooden floorboards, rounding into the kitchen. He grabbed the kettle and, finding it already boiled, poured it over his red hair. He quickly became male again, pulling his shirt off as he did. He then wrung it out over the sink, muscles flexing, muttering various phrases along the lines of how his father was ignorant and idiotic.

Akane's cheeks became an adorable tint of pink, turning away to pick up the container of freshly cooked rice. She shuffled out of the room, heading towards the table where she sat down, her usual spot empty, along with the space beside, where Ranma would normally join her at meal times.

Ranma collapsed to his knees beside Akane, taking his share of breakfast gratefully, scofing it down messily.

Everyone enjoyed breakfast, starting their day with the brilliant news that Akane helped with the preparation of breakfast and lunches for her and Ranma - her first non-toxic concoction. Now Ranma sat in class, watching the time pass. He didn't bother jotting down the notes the Miss Hinako had mentioned the class should make, much rather prefering to daydream now and spend time with Akane later. No matter how stupid it might sound, it was a good excuse to spend more time with her - all he had to do was wait for the homework to roll around, say he didn't get it, mention not getting the notes and bam, he was set for a good hour or so of her helping get the notes and complete the homework!

Ranma sighed, scanning across the room. Most of the students present for class today were working, but a few stared out of the window or doodled on scrap pieces of paper.

"So the homework will be to complete the questions one to four on page thirty for Friday." Miss Hinako managed to say just before the bell rang for lunch.

Packing up, Ranma was surprised by a screwed up paper ball landing on his desk. Looking over in the direction it came from, Ranma caught Akane's staring at him. She quickly looked away, being dragged away with her friends.

Suspicious, Ranma gingerly picked up the paper ball, opening it out.

"Ranma, I just wanted to- Hey! I was reading that, man!" Hiroshi whined as Ranma moved it from his view.

"Don't read over my shoulder!" Ranma growled.

"Who's it from?" Daisuke asked as Ranma stood up, his chair scraping against the classroom floor.

"I dunno yet - I haven't had a chance t' read it yet." Ranma replied, leaving the room to find a spot to eat his lunch and read this note in private.

Ranma settled himself on the school's roof, unfolding scrunched up sheet.

His eyes skimmed across the page, taking in the information as he went.

At the bottom, he stopped, staring at Akane's name scrawled in the corner of the page.

"After... But... Why?" Ranma was so confused as to why Akane would even...

Ranma,

I just wanted to tell you that Yuka, Sayuri and I are going to head out for a bit later, so don't worry about waiting for me because we'll be heading straight out. Don't worry, I'll be fine! ^_^

P.S

You couldn't tell Kasumi for me, could you?

Thanks,

- Akane xxx

A/N*) = I meant this with two meanings - he didn't want to let go of her hand is the obvious statment, yet there is another meaning I had in mind. The thought that he didn't want to let go of her in a metaphorical sense of leaving their relationship behind; he wants to stay by her side.

But there we have it. I hope you all enjoyed!