Again they stayed silent, again they were starring at the ceiling and again both of them blushed. Besides they both felt extremely hot. Ranma had sweat pearls on his forehead. He was very aware of her closeness, the heat of her body, her soft skin. This was worse than in the plane! Carefully he cleared his throat. "Ah…Akane? Are you sleeping?"

"No", came the soft answer of his bed neighbour.

"Can't you sleep?"

"What about you?"

"Me neither!" he admitted whispering.

"Hm…" stressed Akane pressed her brown eyes together and starred into the darkness. She would like to see his face now when she asked the question that was burning her tongue. "Ranma? What exactly happened in Jusendo as I … well…"

"…you were nearly dead?" he suggested grumpy. He didn't want to talk about it, he was afraid of it to go threw hell on earth once more. But Akane seemed determined to pin him on this conversation.

"Yeah when you want to call it that…What happened after I touched this strange staff?"

"What has been absolutely stupid and unnecessary!" he railed at her.

"Yeah…thanks for the comment!", she hissed back. "So?"

Ranma closed his eyes tormented and his personal nightmare played in front of his eyes. Akane was gone. Disappeared. Had dissolved into nothing should be dead. Just because she had wanted to protect him! He had wanted to follow her, hadn't defended himself or fought back. He wasn't able stood under shock. He just wanted to be with her and die as well. He had believed that he had lost her forever and through that his life had lost it's meaning. He started to shiver. "Akane!" he groaned her name so pained and tormented that the girl cringed aghast and automatically got closer to him. She had never seen him like that. "Hey what's wrong? That bad?"

"Worse…" he mumbled hoarsely. He pressed his thumb and pointing finger on his eyes than sighed and started trembling: "I thought you were dead, gone forever. I…I did not get along with that. I didn't know how much pain you could feel as a human…now I do." He stayed silent for a moment and Akane didn't dare to breath out of fear to conjure the shell who was usually around Ranma and his feelings. "Akane? Can we please leave it to that, that it had been the worst time of my life till now and I never want to go through this again?"

The girl nodded softly and grabbed carefully and shy his hand to squeeze it slightly. Ranma froze under her touch and enjoyed it for a short moment but quickly wound out of it. "Akane." He searched in the darkness for her gaze and felt how his hand was twitching forwards her face stopped moved to her shoulder and then clawed again into the sheets as she was forbidding any weakness. Akane starred fascinated at the hand. She really didn't know Ranma like that. Okay she didn't knew how she would react if she had nearly lost him and would be laying beside her alive. Okay she would react on the same way she admitted to herself.

Ranma on the other side felt uncomfortable. He had shown weakness shown to much of his feelings forward Akane and he felt vulnerable through that. Ranma crossed his arms behind his head and took deep breaths. He expelled the air hissing out his teeth again when Akane suddenly snuggled up close to him and laid her head on his chest. Ranma laid completely still unable to move and completely frozen. Akane was just so tense as he was. She waited that he pushed her away grossed out or laughed at her. At least made a comment over her ridiculous behaviour but nothing. She heard how his heart stopped for a moment and then beaded twice as fast before he clamed down and got back to a regular heartbeat again. She smiled relieved. Look Ranma! I won't leave you that cold, as you always say...The her heart was beating all world records and her face gleamed from shame she ignored better.

Ranma was glad that her head was laying on his chest or else she would have seen that his face had taken the colour of an overripe tomato. Very slowly and reluctant he wrapped an arm around her delicate fragile body and pulled her a little closer. Then he cleared his throat. "Hey my clumsy clot…Tomorrow we start training okay? You have to get stronger and me…too. It never shall get so close again like in Jusendo. Understood?" I must protect you at all costs…

Akane nodded surprised. She was to occupied with the fact that he had called her ´his´ clumsy clot. What was wrong with them lately? She thought about the scene at Christmas when he had wrapped his arm around her shoulder on the balcony. At his advance who had worked too good to free her from the fighting suit. At the scene in the locker followed by their hiding place from Nodoka when he really wanted to kiss her and then finally the thing in Jusendo…

Akane shivered slightly. I didn't matter how often he hurt or humiliated her he showed her just as often how much he liked her. And she liked him too. Somehow…Maybe it was time to do the next step. She owned him at least a kiss. She snuggled closer to his well-toned body and stretch he chin lightly forward his face.

"Ranma!" she breathed and saw puzzled that the material artiest had his eyes closed and was sleeping. "Oh…" Akane looked uncertain at him than she smiled and snuggled back at his strong chest. So she missed how Ranma had to fight back a grin. I'm sorry Akane…I don't want you to regret anything afterwards. I swear I protect you – even from me if necessary! Even if it's pretty hard for me but I just get closer to you when I'm worthy of you! With this thought Ranma tined his hold on the girl and really fell asleep.