DISCLAIMER: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
by pahlee
This is an alternate universe fanfiction.
Chapter 10
At that moment it seemed like time froze for the two. Ranma nervously inched forward, his body betraying his actions as he leaned towards Akane, ignoring the center console that prevented him from invading her personal space more than he already was. Akane saw him and gripped his hand a little bit tighter as she leaned towards him only to be interrupted by a knocking sound outside the passenger side's window by an oblivious Akari who had recognized Ranma's vehicle.
"Ranma? Akane? Is that you?" her voice pierced the awkward air between the couple as they immediately withdrew from one another, their faces beet red.
Akane sheepishly opened the window and Akari's grinning face came into view, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"N-no!" Akane ushered out, her cheeks reddening even deeper as she pushed open the door in her state of haste, having Akari move out of the way laughing as Akane got out of the car. Ranma followed suit as well, his face mirroring Akane's.
"Sure doesn't look it," Akari teased as she danced around the notion of them as a couple, "But I digress, we were just helping Shinnosuke clean up when you guys pulled in!"
And at that, Ranma and Akane saw Shinnosuke moving the couch with another individual in the house. "Oh, Ryoga came over?" Akane said as she waved and the fanged boy waved back, almost dropping the couch and Shinnosuke yelling at him. Both Akari and Akane giggled at that before Akane turned her attention to Ranma, "If you have other things to tend to Ranma, Ryoga and Akari are here and I can bother them with my nonsense."
"I don't have anything else planned," Ranma replied quickly, "I mean," he blushed.
"Y-you don't have to go," Akane tried to salvage the conversation. "I'm just saying that if you have something important to do -"
"There's nothing more important to me than being here with you," Ranma found himself saying and blushing deeply and before he could try to explain, Akari's fangirlish scream pierced the air as she grabbed Akane's shoulders and gushed, "Ohhhh! Akane-chan, he likes you so much!"
o-o-o
After that spectacle that morning, Ranma and Akane had fended off the nonsense Akari was spouting off and loaded the last of her things into Ranma's car and drove back to Akane's home - Ranma and Akane sat at the table in the living room enjoying a light snack before Ranma was set to head back.
"So you'll just travel back by train for your graduation?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, everything's all packed up at my apartment, dad's currently in Okinawa for a city council meeting," Akane drank her tea, "But honestly that's just a bunch of the council going off on a mini vacation away from their wives so they have an excuse to hang out," she giggled, "But he'll be heading straight from Okinawa to my graduation."
"You'll be home alone these next two days then?"
"Yeah, my sisters also will meet up on Tuesday so I'm stuck here."
"You can stay at my place back in Nerima, that way you don't have to be in such a rush to get to town." Ranma boldly said.
It was silent between the two and Ranma realized what he had just said, "I-I have a spare bedroom you can stay in-"
"A-are you sure?" Akane's soft reply came, "Are you okay with that? With me? Staying there?"
"I-I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise," Ranma nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head absentmindedly.
Ranma kept going on, rambling about stupid things and trailing off subject as Akane sat there trying to get his attention, but he was too embarassed and he kept on, never once looking at the girl until he felt a shift under the kotatsu and as he looked up, his lips were caught by a chaste kiss Akane had pulled his face into. It was short and brief, but it took his breath away and as she pulled away, her hands lingered on his face as she looked dreamily into his eyes, "I don't mind if you don't."
And that's all it took for Ranma.
He felt his heart begin to beat erratically as he tentatively pulled her into another kiss, making sure he wasn't crossing any boundaries - if she could kiss him, what's stopping him from doing the same? His lips met hers and that unfamiliar feeling consumed him - the same feelings he felt when he first set eyes on her in the coffee shop. Only reinforcing his misplaced feelings back on the right track as he kissed the girl he fell in love that day.
But, kissing her was a good first step - he felt her match his tenacity with each kiss with that followed. This action resulted in Ranma accidently leaning into Akane and forcing her to lay on her back with him on top and he kotatsu covering pooled around their waists. Ranma pulled away then and looked down at the girl below him. Her face was flushed, her cheeks blazing red, and lips swollen from the kissing. His eyes softened as she opened her eyes to catch his gaze, her name on his lips.9
o-o-o
The next morning Akane woke up in Ranma's arms in her bedroom, Monday morning peaking its head for the week. Her rustling woke Ranma and his eyes slowly opened as he stared at Akane in the morning light, "G'morning." came his raspy greeting.
"Good morning," Akane replied as she kissed him in return as she got up, fully clothed, and opened the window to let in the early morning sunshine. Ranma groaned as he turned away from the source of light and followed Akane's footsteps and got out of the bed.
The two had fallen asleep talking, and as the two got up they began to replay the evening before. Back to the moment where Ranma asked Akane to be his girlfriend.
"You don't?" Ranma whispered softly, Akane had almost missed it as she was paying more attention to Ranma's hands that had came up and cuffed her wrists as she held his face from the chaste kiss, "C-can I ask you a question then?"
"Go ahead," Akane blushed, astonished at her boldness.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
o-o-o
"You sure this is all you need?" Ranma asked as he put her carry-on in his trunk, "Your graduation robes and everything in here?"
"Yes, they're in there, shoes and all." Akane said as she locked up the gate to her home.
The two started their ride back to Nerima, all the while holding hands as Ranma drove, a small smile playing on both of their lips.
When they arrived at Ranma's apartment, Ranma brought her things in and gave her a small tour of his home and showed her to the spare bedroom where she stored her bags. The two sat at his table that was sprawled with business notes and work related documents scattering about his suitcase. Ranma straightened the paperwork and stacked them neatly into the briefcase, "Just some things for the shop."
"How's that going, by the way?"
"Going well, sales are steady and it's looking good for this quarter."
"I'm not taking you away from it, am I?"
"Not at all."
Akane sat on his couch, her hands folded in her lap neatly, "Ranma?"
Ranma was rummaging through his fridge, clearing away the old food that had expired the last few days while he was out and about with his new girlfriend, he gave a grunt to acknowledge her.
"Thank you for everything."
o-o-o
The morning of her graduation, Akane sat in front of the bathroom mirror, legs crossed and perched on the sink as she did her make-up. Ranma came in behind her to grab his hairbrush when he saw her sitting there, "Is that comfortable?" he questioned as she leaned towards the mirror to apply eyeliner.
"Yeah, it makes it easier to apply make-up," she responded, "I learned this from my sister Nabiki, it's how she'd do her makeup in the hotels whenever we went on vacation anywhere."
"Hmm," Ranma nodded his head, "Alright if you say so, you almost ready?"
"Yup!" she said as she gave a final look in the mirror and turned her head to face Ranma, her pearly teeth on full display, "How do I look?"
Ranma stared for a moment, he felt his cheeks redden as he nodded his head, "You look beautiful, 'kane."
Turning around and planting her feet onto the bathroom floor, she got up on her tiptoes to kiss Ranma on the cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so, "Thanks," she whispered in his ear as she let go and went back into his bedroom to finish changing.
Ranma rubbed the back of his neck as he let out a sigh and looked up at his ceiling, "I got it bad," he mumbled under his breath.
Author's Note: Well, here we go, another chapter in this delightful alternative universe with our favorite couple. I'm nearing a point where I'll be concluding this story soon, so there will be more frequent updates on this because of that. Thanks again to my beta reader ShapeOfDespair for all that she does! Thank you TumblingDown, Akane-Fan, Guest, Guest, jdcocoagirl, ShapeOfDespair, Vernica, Guest, kansa, Maymay Manapar, Akane-Fan (again) and PurseMonger for your reviews!
