Start Part C
Akane flutters her eyes as a cool breeze goes across her face. The damp morning air sends shivers through her body. "Why am I so cold?" She opens her eyes… and sees nothing but trees in front of her. A slim sliver of light is visible in the distance… 'Where am I?'
"Oh, you're awake…" Ranma said as he looked down at his fiancée. Akane suddenly realizes that she's sitting on the ground… and Ranma is sitting right behind her. A black blanket covers both of them and she notices Ranma's arms around her waist, holding the blanket around to her…
"Ranma, where are we?"
"On top of that mountain that we went to on our first hiking trip… I wanted to umm… watch the sunrise with you…" Ranma said as he fidgeted a little.
"Ranma…" Akane said softly. 'I didn't know… that he could be romantic like this…'
"Umm… here it comes…" Ranma said, pointing at the sun which begins its slow ascent across the horizon.
Akane says nothing but reaches out and holds his hands. The two watch with awe the magnificent sight in front of them… it wasn't very often that either of them was up this early on the morning. Ranma is glad that Akane likes his idea… and Akane likes seeing a side of Ranma that she hadn't seen much of before.
After the sun rises, Akane turns her head and looks at Ranma, who's face has the same orange-red hue as the sun they had just watched rise. "That was wonderful…"
"Umm… glad you liked it…"
"How did you get me up here without waking me up?"
"I wrapped you in the blanket and hiked up here… I tried not to wake you up on the way… I didn't want to umm… spoil the surprise…"
"Ah…"
"Did you want me to umm… carry you back down to the tent?" Ranma said as he watched Akane's smile grow even larger.
"Sure!"
Ranma stands up and then Akane climbs onto his back. Ranma secures the blanket around her before beginning the hike back down to the tent. On the way, Akane decides to have a little fun with Ranma…
"Looks like you're touching my legs again…" Akane said, drawing Ranma's attention to that fact.
"Umm… yeah… I guess I am… they are kinda smooth"
"Can't get enough of me, can you?" Akane said softly.
Ranma is silent for a few seconds and then speaks. "No…"
"Good…" Akane says as she giggles.
Ranma realizes at that moment how truly happy he must be making Akane feel. 'She didn't laugh or giggle too much before… but now she's doing it all the time. She makes me feel good inside, too…'
After a short hike, the two arrive back at the tent. Ranma gently bends down and allows Akane to let go of his back. She sits down on the sleeping bag and motions Ranma to do the same.
"I wanted to thank you for earlier…" she says as Ranma sits down.
"Okay…"
"Wo Ai Ni!" Akane said as she launched a surprise glomp attack. Ranma was to say the least, surprised by what she just did.
"What was that for?" Ranma said as he began to sweat. He was now fully dressed… but Akane was still in her lingerie. Ranma can feel the warmth of her body against him… and the soft fabric of her bra rubbing against his chest. His eyes cannot help but look down at her chest…
"I'm just thanking you… I'd figure you'd like another glomp… given my umm… state of dress…" Akane said as she looked into Ranma's eyes. 'I'm becoming such a pervert… but this is fun… and I know he likes it, too…'
"Yeah… it's a nice umm… way to thank me… but I wanted to do something before we leave kinda like this" Ranma said as he moved his eyes up to look into Akane's. The two slowly move towards each other and kiss with an increasing passion, sinking down to the floor of the tent.
"Ranma" is all Akane can say as he begins gently kissing her neck. "Ooh..."
"I wanna thank you for such a fun week together... and you know it'd be hard to do this at home" is Ranma's reply before switching to the other side of her neck, his formerly idle hands move to squeeze her behind.
"Mmm... we need more time alone... my perverted baka..."
Ranma pulls back for a second and takes a long stare at the upper half of Akane's body. "Tomboy... don't stop... you know, being perverted and sexy, I kinda like it..."
"I like it, too- the hardest part was admitting it, but you are the right one for me"
Ranma smiles. "Same here, you know I ain't good with this kinda thing but I'm trying"
Akane nods her head. "I can see that, please keep being bold"
On that thought, Ranma figures out a plan. "Umm... how much time do we have till we gotta go?"
Lifting her right arm, Akane takes a look at her watch. "About an hour until we need to leave, but we both need to clean up, too... and take down the tent"
"That won't take too long"
Motioning Ranma closer, Akane knows what's on his mind. She wraps her arms around him once again and begins passionately kissing her fiancee, their tongues quickly vieing for dominance as both lovers make the best use of their remaining time along together.
'I'll never forget this week together…' is the common thought in both teens' minds as the makeout session eventually comes to a close and they work on getting ready to leave, cleaning up the campsite and repacking their belongings. It isn't long before the duo is soon making their way back down to Nerima…
While Ranma and Akane are on the train back to Nerima, over at the Tendo house, Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne stop by. Kasumi greets them and leads them into the front room… where Nodoka, Soun, and Genma are sitting down and watching TV.
"Nice to see you again, Elder Cologne…" Nodoka says as she turns her head. "Oh you even have my other daughter and her husband with you…"
"Yes… they heard Ranma was coming back today from his training trip with Akane. Both will definitely make good additions to the tribe…" Cologne said as she sat down.
"Ranma spend whole week alone with Akane. They do more then learn new techniques, yes?" Shampoo commented.
"Don't say things like that…" Mousse said, turning red.
"I'm sure my manly son will soon step into his role and bring me lots of grandchildren!" Nodoka said as both Soun and Genma moan aloud. "My other daughter stopped by earlier this week… I gave her some books…"
Cologne nods and then hands Nodoka a scroll. "You asked for something of this nature?"
Nodoka takes the scroll and opens it up. "Yes… this will do nicely… and I'd like some of those incense sticks that helped Mousse with his... hesitations about certain activities"
"Of course... whoever smells this will live out their most vivid and truest feelings in their dreams- if you can dream it, then that's half the battle to actual doing it..." the elder says with a chuckle.
"Great-grandmother mention a surprise for Ranma and Akane on way over here…" Shampoo said, remembering something she heard Cologne say earlier.
"Oh yes, what was that surprise?" Cologne asked Nodoka.
"Follow me…" Nodoka said as she stands up. Genma and Soun do the same… this was one thing they wanted to get some credit for doing…
The group goes upstairs and stops in front of Akane's room. Mousse is the first one to notice the change, even before they enter the room. "You're moving them in together?"
"Yes… it's about time my son became a man…" Genma laughs aloud.
"My thoughts exactly Tendo…" Soun said soon after.
"Hi-yah! This idea is what great-grandmother do after I got married… is very good to be with airen in same bed…"
"Well, since Akane is part of your tribe… and Ranma has touched her chest to escape… my son has confirmed his desire to marry Akane…" Nodoka said with pride. "Shampoo is right… Ranma should be with his wife…"
Soun opens the door and everyone walks into the room. "Notice anything… different?"
"You remove Akane's bed… and replace it…" Shampoo said, noticing the major change in the room.
"A giant futon, huh?" Mousse said as he looked down at the floor.
"Of course… when they get married for real, then my husband and I will get them a king-sized bed. For now, this will be fine…" Nodoka said, pointing at the futon.
Kasumi walks into the room a moment later. "Oh my… you're showing off their new room…" she said with a blush.
"Of course…" Soun said with pride. "Since Nodoka here has decided to stay with us… she requested that she be alone with her husband and this was the natural choice for where to move Ranma…"
"Yes, but that's…" Kasumi realizes that no one there will agree with her view on that… and she doesn't want any info about her relationship with Dr. Tofu to "Slip out" as a result of a confrontation. She excuses herself and heads down to the kitchen. On the way down, she notices Ranma and Akane putting their packs down on the floor of the front room.
"We're back…" Ranma announced.
"It's good to see both of you… how was your trip?" Kasumi asked, curious about how their week had gone.
"It was fun… and Ranma and I got our techniques down…" Akane replied a moment later.
"I'm glad…" Was Kasumi's heartfelt response to hearing those words.
"Hi-yah! Ranma and Akane back already!" Shampoo said as she peered into the room. Kasumi excuses herself and heads into the kitchen.
"Hi Shampoo…" Ranma said as he opened the door, not knowing what to expect for a reaction from the bubbly Amazon.
Shampoo runs towards Akane and hugs her "sister"…
"Good to see Amazon sister… you use technique on Ranma, yes?"
"Yeah… many times… until he figured out another way out of it…" Akane said as a slight blush crept across her face.
"That means that Ranma had to touch your chest… he is now airen, yes?
"Huh?" Was Ranma's response a moment later.
"Yes… I'm now Akane Saotome… at least, unofficially…" Akane said as the blush on her face became more intense. Ranma is on the verge of passing out…
Akane turns and looks at Ranma. "Remember when I glomped you the first time?" Ranma nods his head. "After you touched me… by Amazon law, you did become my… my… husband…"
With that, Ranma passes out and falls to the floor. Kasumi, who had been silently listening to the conversation from the kitchen, hears the "Thud" and comes back into the front room.
"Oh my… what happened to Ranma?" Kasumi worriedly asked.
"He couldn't handle the news…"
"What do you mean by that?" Kasumi asked, curious about what her sister meant.
"Akane now Ranma's airen… Akane said Ranma touch her many, many times on trip…"
Kasumi blushes. "Oh my… Akane… you didn't…" Kasumi tries to divert her mind away from the conclusion she was about to say aloud… but fails.
Akane waves her hands in the air. "No, no… nothing like that… Shampoo just meant that he had to touch me to get out of that glomp that we've been practicing…"
"Oh… that's okay then…" Kasumi said, relieved with her sister's answer.
"You not consummate marriage with Ranma?" Shampoo asked, wondering why she'd didn't truly make Ranma her husband.
Akane's face turns a bright red and she just shakes her head and utters a barely audible "No…"
"I guess my gifts didn't get used then…" A voice says a moment later.
"Nabiki!" Is Akane's annoyed response a moment later.
"You give gifts for couple?" Shampoo asked, curious about what Nabiki meant.
"Sure…" Nabiki goes over to Shampoo and whispers what she got them for the trip. Shampoo nods her heads and mumbles something about that being a good idea.
"Shampoo never hear of such thing… maybe I try later with airen…"
"The best thing I did, though, was switching out Akane's regular underwear for her lingerie…" Nabiki said with pride. Kasumi, feeling very embarrassed about all of this talking about those things… leaves the room again and tries to resume making lunch.
"Well…" Akane starts to speak.
This catches Shampoo's and Nabiki's attention. "Go on sis… you were about to say something…"
"I umm… did tease Ranma with that lingerie… and…" Akane said, not believing that she was even talking about this with anyone. 'What am I doing?' she wonders.
"Good job sis… I knew you could do it…" Nabiki said as she nudged her sister with her elbow. "Did you show him that sexy black bra and panty set of yours?"
Akane silently nods her head. "Well Ranma did ask to see me in them..."
"Sister becoming a tease… is good idea, make airen appreciate you more…"
"Maybe you and I should go shopping again… now that you're actually showing off your lingerie, maybe we could get you some real nice stuff for you to show to Ranma…" Nabiki says as she watches her sister's face become red as the sun.
Mousse enters the room a moment later. "Shampoo, where have you been?"
"Shampoo welcoming back Amazon sister and Ranma… Akane now Ranma's airen…"
Ranma stirs and looks up… and find's Akane's face looking back at him. After he passed out, Akane rested his head on her lap. "How long was I out?"
"Just for a few minutes…" Akane said, giggling at Ranma's inability to handle certain "Topics"…
Mousse looks over at Ranma. "You sly dog… Shampoo said you and Akane…"
Shampoo quickly interrupts Mousse. "Mousse… Ranma only touch Akane… no other activities yet…"
"Oh…"
Ranma looks at Akane with a grin. "Maybe both of us should just pass out…"
"I couldn't help but overhear that my son wanted to see his new wife in her lingerie…" A voice says from nearby.
"Oh no…" Akane and Ranma mumble simultaneously.
Nodoka enters the room a moment later, followed closely by Cologne, Soun, and Genma.
"Good job boy… I knew there was hope for you!" Genma says proudly.
Soun starts crying. "My baby girl is becoming a woman…"
"There, there…" Nodoka says as she reaches for some tissue.
"Looks like you two both became perverts…" Nabiki comments to no one in particular.
"Nabiki!" Ranma and Akane say at almost the same time.
"How was your trip?" Cologne asks Akane. "Did you master the Amazon glomp?"
"Yes… and Ranma finally figured out how to escape yesterday… I mean, without ummm…" Akane stops speaking.
"I understand my dear… I'm glad that you two had fun…"
"Elder Cologne brought over a gift for you two…" Nodoka said as she handed Ranma an old scroll.
"What's this for?" Ranma said as he examined the outside of the scroll.
"It's for you and Akane… go ahead and open it up…" Nodoka says, trying to encourage her son to take a look at it.
Ranma opens up the scroll and then both Ranma and Akane start reading some of the lines to themselves…
"Martial Arts… Inter… what?"
Ranma and Akane exchange quick glances and then look at Ranma's mom.
"What is this?" A distressed Akane asks a moment later.
"A gift for you two… when you're truly ready to become one with the tribe…" Cologne chuckles.
"Ranma?" Akane says as she looks at her "Husband"…
"Yeah… I think it's time…" He says in return.
With that, both Ranma and Akane pass out…
'Pretty clever guys…' Nabiki thinks to herself. 'I'll have to remember that one… in case Kuno and I get into a bind…'
"Oh no… Ranma and Akane are out cold…" Nodoka said as she took a closer look at the unconscious couple.
Shampoo looks at the unconscious couple then looks over at Nabiki. Both get a gleam in their eyes and smile evilly. Mousse feels a shiver up his spine as the two girls converge on the unconscious pair. After seeing what they were doing, Nodoka beams a happy smile and lends a hand… or two. After being carried upstairs, the two are stripped down to their underwear and placed in their new futon.
"I'm sure they'll love their new futon…" Nodoka said to her two "helpers"…
"I'm sure they will… but I have one more idea. Shampoo… can you help me for a second?" Nabiki said with a gleam in her eye.
"Shampoo like Nabiki's thinking…" She said, instantly knowing what the girl meant by where she was motioning.
Nodoka watches as the two girls move Ranma into a new position and then cover both with the blanket. "I think our job is done…"
"Sounds good… let's get some lunch!" Nabiki said as she rubbed her stomach.
The three women leave the room and head downstairs to eat lunch. Kasumi had set everything up… but was dismayed to hear that Ranma and Akane wouldn't be eating with them. The men are curious about what happened upstairs but the three women don't say a word about it to them. Shampoo whispers what they did to Cologne and she nods her head.
Nabiki finishes her food and excuses herself. "I have to go… I'm going shopping with Kuno… I'll see everyone later…"
After exchanging goodbyes with everyone present, Nabiki makes her way out of the house. Only when she's on the street and walking towards Kuno's place does she breath a sigh of relief. 'Whew! That was fun… but still, I didn't want to hang around too long… with Ranma and Akane out, I was sure to become the next target…'
Before arriving at Kuno's house, Nabiki has an idea. She changes course and heads over to Ukyo's café and tells her that Ranma and Akane are back from their trip. Ukyo thanks her and Nabiki continues her journey… and chuckles about what she knows will happen when Ukyo hears about all of this.
Back in the Tendo house, Ranma starts to stir. For some reason, he feels very comfortable, as if his head is resting against a soft pillow. He nuzzles his head into the pillow and is surprised to hear a slight moan.
'What was that? Pillows don't moan… I guess I'd better get some more sleep then…'
As Ranma goes to move the pillow his left hand notices something… unusual. 'This pillow is… warm? It feels lacy…' Ranma moves his left hand around on the fabric… and then his eyes shoot wide open. 'Oh shit…' Once again, Ranma hears a soft moan of pleasure…
He turns over, his left hand still in place and realizes that he's on top of Akane… and she's in her lingerie again. One look down and he realizes that he's down to his boxers… and his left hand is on her bra and is cupping her right breast.
'Am I dreaming or is my hand on Akane's…' Ranma blushes and then he moves his hand up and down... left and right... squeezing and releasing... just to make sure that it is... what his hand is telling him it is.
"Mmm… Ranma…" Ranma hears Akane moan as a result of what he's doing… and he immediately stops, though he can't seem to move his hand off of her.
'I'm dead… but I can't move my hand… damn it!' Ranma starts to get nervous, knowing that Akane will wake up any second and probably kill him for touching her like that.
Akane's eyes flutter a few moments later. "R-Ranma? Is that you?"
"Uh yeah…" Is about all Ranma can manage to say.
"I just had this dream… you were…" Akane blushes. "Touching me…"
"Oh, really?" Ranma said as he tried to move his hand… but it still wouldn't budge. Akane rubs her eyes and tries to clear her vision. "What happened to us?" she inquires.
'Damn it, move hand, move!' Ranma thought urgently. "I dunno Akane…"
"I feel cold for some reason… I feel like I only have…" Akane's words stop and she notices that Ranma's body is over hers… and he's in his boxers.
"What happened to your clothes?"
Ranma looks down at Akane… and then her eyes slowly move down his arm and realize where one of his hands' currently is. 'This isn't a dream… is it? We're both in our underwear… again…'
"Akane, I umm…" Ranma said as he tried to move his hand off of her chest. 'Finally!' he thinks as his hand slides off of her bra… causing Akane to feel a moment of pleasure.
'That was real… I know it is… I felt that when he touched me to get out of the glomp…' Akane starts staring at Ranma and he prepares himself for a verbal and/or physical assault by Akane.
Suddenly the house shook with a loud scream... though the expected 'pervert' was not the word screamed. Shampoo and Cologne both nodded their heads at the appropriateness as they all heard Akane yell... "AIREN!"
"Akane! What are you doing?" Ranma said as once again, he found himself in the Amazon glomp.
"You touched me for real… so you're really my husband now. That was more then just for the training- didn't you just hear me call you airen?" Akane said with a smile.
"And here I thought you were gonna pound me for touching you like that…"
"No… Ranma, I'm trying not to do that anymore…" Akane said softly.
"Yeah… neither am I… I don't want it to be like it was before between us…"
"Ranma… there's one thing I want to hear before I let go of you…"
"What's that?" Ranma said with a mix of fear and curiosity.
"I want you… to call me…" Akane blushes. "Your wife… I know we're not ready for the real thing yet… but we are married in the Amazon sense…"
Ranma is silent for a moment and then decides to tease Akane.
"Then I guess I better get rid of my old wife if you wanna be my new one..." Ranma said with a playful grin.
"Old wife...?" Akane asks, confused.
"Yea... she was this really annoying tomboy... short hair, built like a brick, violent, short tempered, quick to judge… but she had he cutest smile when you could get one from her. She'd even go out of her way to save me… but I like my new wife a lot better…"
"Why?" Akane asks breathless...
"Because my old wife would've killed me if I did this..."
Ranma then moves quickly and kisses Akane on the lips...
"I bet she would have…" Akane said softly. "The word 'pervert' would be heard halfway across town…"
"And I'd be flying through the air…" Ranma quickly added.
"Instead I'm flying on cloud nine..." Akane mumbled.
"Huh?" Ranma said, not catching what she said.
"Nothing…" Akane said as she nuzzled her body against his. "Hold me…"
"Umm… sure…" Ranma said as he wraps his arms around her. All is silent for a few moments… until Ranma realizes something.
"Akane, we're…"
"What is it, Ranma?"
"We're… in our room…"
"WHAT?" Akane yelled. "You're right… where the hell is my bed?"
"It's gone… and in its place, you two have a brand new futon!"
Ranma jumped and ended up clinging to Akane as both of them were now looking at Nodoka and wondering how long she's been there.
"Wait a second… you said 'futon'" Ranma says in reply.
"That's right! From now on, this room and its futon are for Ranma and Akane Saotome! I feel so proud of my son and his new wife…" Nodoka says, wiping a tear of joy from her eye.
"You got rid of my bed…" Akane mumbled to herself, still not believing it to be true. 'I was looking forward to sleeping on a REAL bed… after a week of camping and now this happens…'
"Don't worry Akane, I'm sure my manly son will make you feel comfortable in this futon…"
"MOM!" Ranma cried out, embarrassed to death about what was happening.
"I'll let you two talk for a while…" Nodoka said as she turned towards the door.
"Have you seen my sister Nabiki yet?" Akane asks before Nodoka gets too far.
"Oh my other daughter-in-law is with that manly samurai and they're trying for children as well! Isn't it great! Your kids will have kids their own age to play with!"
Ranma and Akane blinked... and shared one thought. 'Nabiki... is with Kuno... and trying for kids?' The two looked at each other and made a disgusted face, 'Naw... never gonna happen...' they thought.
"Well mom... I know one thing..."
"What that dear?" Nodoka asked sweetly.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to think about sex ever again after imagining... that..."
"Oh! My son so you've already had sex! And here I thought you'd die a virgin!" Nodoka says with a sigh of relief.
"MOM!"
"When your father informed me of how little chance you've had to be with a girl I was beginning to worry, but it seems my fears were unjustified!"
"I didn't mean it like that, Akane and I haven't done that yet…" Ranma says, almost pleading with his mom to stop jumping to conclusions about him and Akane.
"And I was hoping for more grandchildren… oh well. I'm sure you two will get together soon…" With that, Nodoka turns and leaves the room. Ranma and Akane breath a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad that's over with… how long do yah think she was there?" Ranma asked.
"I don't want to know…" Was Akane's immediate reply.
Ranma moves his hands around Akane's back and realizes that she's once again in her lingerie only… Akane also realizes that Ranma is down to his boxers… again.
"Akane, I…"
"You want a better look at me?" Akane said teasingly. "How about this?"
Akane pulls away from Ranma, letting him get a better look at her bra and cleavage. "What do you think of this bra? I think it makes my figure look… fuller…"
Ranma nods his head. "Yeah… umm… it's really nice and you um… fill it out well…"
"Aiya... Sister too too cute... but need to undo clasp for better show."
"ACK! Shampoo!" Ranma shouted.
"What?" she replied back.
Akane sighed. "I'm beginning to miss camping already..."
"Airen like it when you undo clasp, Shampoo know from experience…" Shampoo said and then winked at Akane.
"Is it me, or did everyone get perverted while we were gone?" Ranma says to Akane.
"Shampoo same as Shampoo always is."
"Um... right..." Ranma added.
"But everyone hope that Akane and Ranma finally learn to break bed springs as mother say."
Not a word was heard in reply. It was so quiet, you could hear Akane blinking in disbelief…
"Shampoo go back downstairs so sister and airen can have time together…" With that, Shampoo leaves the room and closes the door behind her.
"You know what Ranma, I think you're right…" Akane replied back after Shampoo is safely out of range.
Ranma gets up and starts looking around the room. "Anyone else hiding in here?"
Not satisfied with the answer of silence, Ranma carefully looks around the room and finds no one else in hiding. "Looks like it's just the two of us…"
"Well that's a relief…" Akane said as she walked towards her clothes, which where in a pile on the floor. "I'm going to get dressed… again"
"Wait…" Ranma said, causing her to stop just short of the clothes pile. "Before we get dressed, I…"
"What is it Ranma?" Akane said, curious about what he was about to say.
"Can I… look at you for a second… before yah get dressed? I really umm… like what you're wearing…"
"Sure…" Akane said and then began doing various poses for him, showing off her legs, butt, and chest. "Not bad for a tomboy, huh?"
"You're my tomboy… and you look great…" Ranma said, blushing with each word.
Akane places a kiss on Ranma's cheek and then reaches down for her clothes. Ranma finds his clothes and then the two of them get dressed. They go downstairs and find Kasumi in the kitchen cooking…
"Smells good…" Ranma said as he sniffed the air.
"Oh, thank you… are you two hungry?" Kasumi asked happily.
"Sure…" Akane said, rubbing her stomach.
"Why don't you two have a seat and I'll bring you some lunch…" Kasumi said as she stirred the soup she was working on.
Ranma and Akane head into the front room and sit down at the table. About a minute later, Shampoo enters the room… followed by Ukyo and Ryoga.
"Ranma!" Ukyo exclaims, happy to see her brother.
Ukyo gives Ranma and hug and then gives her sister Akane one as well. Ryoga silently sits down at the table and avoids looking at Akane. Ukyo sits down next to Ryoga and then Shampoo sits on the other side.
"So, how was your trip?" Ukyo eagerly asks the newly returned couple.
"It was nice…" Ranma answered. "It took me a while, but I think I got my new move down…"
"Being away from the house for a week and being all alone… it was definitely… different…" Akane says softly.
"Ah…" Ukyo thinks about her next question. "Can I see your move, Ranma? I heard it was some variant of what Mousse used on Shampoo here…"
"Umm… sure…" Ranma says with some hesitation. "That means you get to see Akane do her move, too…"
"Okay, I think I can handle that…" Akane giggles. 'I've only done this, what 25 times in the last week… I think I've got it down to a science…'
"Ready Akane?" Ranma says, nodding his head.
Akane responds by launching her glomping attack, pining Ranma down to the ground and pressing her chest against him.
"Hi-yah! Sister do move just right… only two ways out… but only one feel real good…" Shampoo said as a slight blush crept over her face.
Ryoga notices what Akane's doing to Ranma and pictures in his mind Ukyo doing the same thing to him. 'That'd feel so good… especially with her… chest against me like that…'
"Okay… I can see Ranma's pinned down…" Ukyo said as she observed the situation. "Now how do you get out of glomp? Besides, umm… the way Shampoo told me about…"
A grin forms on Ranma's face. "Just watch…"
Ranma unleashes his tickle variant of the "Chestnuts Over an Open Fire" maneuver and begins tickling Akane's feet and under her arms…
Everyone at the table watches as Akane's grip loosens and she eventually lets go, the laughter has overtaken her…
"I came up with that one after seeing Mousse use that kinda move on Shampoo…" Ranma said to Ukyo, who was mentally replaying what Akane did in her mind.
"Oh… yeah… I can see that…" Ukyo replied a moment later.
"You want to learn move, yes?" Shampoo said, noticing the look on Ukyo's face.
"Well, umm…" The chef's face turned a bright red as she thought about the idea.
"All Amazons must learn maneuver, is required technique to know…" Shampoo said as Ukyo began to sweat.
"Really?" Ukyo said with some hesitation.
"Oh, don't be afraid… it's a lot of fun…" Akane chimed in.
"I… I guess…" Ukyo said and Ryoga felt his pulse quicken in the hopes that what he was just thinking about would come true.
"Shampoo can use dojo for training, is okay yes?" Shampoo said as she looked at Akane.
"Go ahead…"
"Umm… we'll be back…" Ukyo said as she stood up. Ryoga does the same and the two follow Shampoo out of the room. Kasumi enters the room a moment later and places a bowl down in front of Ranma and Akane…
"Lunch is served… I hope you enjoy it…"
"Of course, your cooking is the best…" Akane said as she began to eat.
"Thanks…" Ranma said as he started eating.
Kasumi excuses herself and goes back to her room. All this talk about sex, couples, and marriage during the day makes her think. 'Today was worse then usual…' she thinks as she sighs aloud. A picture of her and Dr. Tofu sits on a nearby desk… she reaches for it and glances at it for a moment before lowering it to her chest. She mutters one word to herself before falling asleep on her bed… "Tofu…"
Back in the front room, Ranma starts eating at his normal pace... then suddenly slows down. Akane watches him as he takes a bite of the food and seems to chew on it and to her it looks like Ranma thinking about something.
"Strange..." he muttered almost too soft for anyone to hear. That is unless someone happen to be paying a lot of attention to him.
"What's strange... it tastes good." Akane said, wondering what we meant by that.
"Huh... well... there's... I… its like I can taste somethin'... but I'm not sure what it is..."
"You can taste something at the speed you eat?"
"Ha ha..." he said in annoyance. "Yea I taste something... but... I've tasted this on our trip too..."
Akane blinks and looks at the food. There is no oatmeal… no brown sugar... no cinnamon... nothing that she did... was used in this food. "Really?" Taking a few bites she tastes it like he was doing but then frowns. "I don't taste anything different."
The two resume eating and Akane tries to figure out what Ranma was talking about. From a distance, Nodoka observes the pair and wonders if tonight would be a good night to try out her "surprise", given the progress they've made. 'A gentle push could be just the spark they need... and then if it works, my daughter and her boyfriend will be next'
During the lunch break, Nodoka thinks about other things and realizes that her daughter should do the same trip as her son, the bonding gained would be just as good as a week's martial arts training. Before she can say anything, however, Happosai comes bounding in, a large sack on his back...
"Oh, it's Master Happosai"
"I'm back from another haul... and I see lunch is served" is his reply, his nose locking onto the smell coming from all the food. "All that work has made me quite hungry"
"Yeah, it's hard work stealing women's underwear..." Ranma mutters under his breath.
The old pervert puts the sack down on the ground. "Sometimes it is, don't knock what you don't understand, boy"
Ranma dimisses that thought. "Whatever"
Not wanting the situation to get worse, Nodoka decides to be a peacebroker and invites the Master to the table.
"You should join us for lunch"
Happosai grins. "Don't mind if I do..."
The four teens exchange looks and wonder how long this lunch will last... and if they can getaway at all as he sits down next to Ranma.
"I'll get you some lunch..." Nodoka says before excusing herself. While he waits, Happosai tries some small talk, eventually the topic of the week long trip comes up.
"So Ranma, did you see anything interesting up in the mountains?"
Expecting a perverted question, Ranma is momentarily caught off guard by that and has to think of an answer. "Hmm, well, we saw some cool trees when we went hiking"
"And a nice sunrise" Akane adds.
"It's always good to appreciate nature" Happosai says with a nod, taking note of the chests of the two females at the table, disappointed that Shampoo was on her way out as he was returning from his haul.
"Of course they also found each other..." Nodoka says with a smile as she hands Happosai a bowl of soup.
"About time, I swear you two are the most stubborn martial artists on earth..."
Ukyo and Ryoga cannot help but giggle, Ranma and Akane don't take too kindly to the comment.
"What do you know about finding someone?" is Ranma's curt reply.
"More then you think, I've been around for a long time, you know" is his quick reply to that.
Noticing that Ranma had just finished eating, Akane forms a plan of escape. "Ranma and I are going out... shopping"
Liking the fact that her son just got back but still wants to spend every free moment with Akane, she cannot help but encourage that thought. "Have fun then"
Happosai isn't going to let them get away so easily, however...
"Don't forget about tonights training- be in the dojo at 7 and in uniform..."
All of the teens sigh aloud and Akane just shrugs her shoulders. "Yeah, seven... we'll be there..."
"You two have fun" Ukyo says as the two finally leave to make their escape. Nodoka, seeing the chance to talk with her daughter appear again, takes it.
"Did you two see the mood Ranma and Akane were in? That and they want to spent every moment with each other"
"Sure, I saw it, Ranma-honey was smiling at Akane and she was eyeing him" is Ukyo's reply.
"Looked like they were happy, Akane didn't even have that look on her face when she saw me" is Ryoga's reply, refering to the tension between him and Akane over his past actions.
Seeing where Nodoka is leading this idea, Happosai decides to help.
"Looks like these two could use their own camping trip..."
Ukyo likes the idea but quickly curbs her enthusiasm in order not to sound perverted or too eager. "Really? I mean, ummm..."
"I am an experienced camper" Ryoga offers, making the plan seem something both want to do.
"You two should take a week then and learn that same technique and strengthen your own bonds, I've already noted one thing that you two need to work on besides the move"
"Oh?" Ryoga wonders aloud.
"Ukyo seems to be a little hesitant about her boyfriend touching her behind"
Happosai begins laughing aloud and Ukyo blushes- Ryoga turns away as his face turns red.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing... nothing at all... I'll see you at seven, Ukyo..."
With that, Happosai bounds out of the room, taking his sack of lingerie with him. The two teens relax a little, though with Nodoka there the "fun" continues...
"I think you should two should go home and get ready for your trip, I'll make some arrangements here and I'll see Ukyo back here at seven for her training"
"Okay mom, thanks... but who's going to watch the store?" the curious Ukyo asks.
"I was thinking of alternating coverage between myself and your friend Tsubasa, who watched it before for you... he did a good job, right?"
Ukyo nods her head. "Yeah, the customers were happy..."
"Then I'll make the arrangements then..."
With that, Nodoka gets up and leaves the room, leaving the pair alone. They exchange glances and decide to get going... the whole way back home they talk about this new "adventure" and what it entails...
"You ain't gonna think I'm a pervert during this training, I've gotta touch your..."
The chef blushes. "Yeah, I know... don't worry, I won't hit you"
"Good..."
"I'm actually looking forward to camping with you, it'll be fun and more in your element- that hotel was nice but it's not really either of our styles"
Ryoga grins. "True... I guess you'll see me in my element then"
Saying nothing, Ukyo takes her boyfriends' hand and begins walking faster, pulling him along as the need to get home suddenly rises. When they get back preperations are begun for their trip, the camping gear is quickly packed due to its placement in one room of the building...
"I guess I got all my wondering stuff ready..."
Ukyo looks at the backpacks and nods her head. "Yeah sugar, we're ready... I just want to pack a portable stove so I can cook for us on my trip"
Ryoga likes the sound of that. "That sounds good, I love your cooking!"
Ukyo winks at Ryoga. "I know you do... I'm sure you've had your share of camping food..."
"Yeah, definitely... let's get our clothes packed and then I'll run the place while you go over and train with the other girls"
"Just promise me you won't get lost" Ukyo says with a giggle.
Ryoga rolls his eyes. "I don't get lost in the house..."
"Fair enough, let's get ready..."
Dinner time soon rolls around in Nerima and then around 7 P.M. Happosai's training class begins, exploring yet another perverted martial art, though no clothes shredding this time, much to the relief of the women who are tired off the old man trying to use them as his own personal peep show. After the training both Ranma and Akane clean up and take seperate baths, each one working on their homework while the other is soaking. Akane puts on her yellow pajamas after finishing with her bath and heads back to her room... she finds Ranma already sleeping in their futon and smiles.
'It's been a long day, I know... I just wish I had my bed! Still, any place with Ranma is a good place...'
Quietly, Akane steps forward and gets into the futon, drawing the blanket over her body while snuggling up to the sleeping Ranma. Though he doesn't wake up his arm instinctively moves around her waist, signifying his desire to have her near.
"Thanks Ranma... good night" Akane says in a whisper before falling asleep.
A few minutes later a shadowy figure, who had been watching Akane ever since she left the bathroom, quietly slips open the door. A candle is placed on the floor and lit, quickly filling the room with a sweet scent which, due to the door being closed right after the ignition, overwhelms the two teens...
End Part C