The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful property of Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission. I hope to do them justice.

A word from the author:

Firstly, I am not Japanese and I have never been to Nerima. So, if I make a mistake regarding Japanese culture or locations, please forgive me and please drop me a note so I can make changes. Thank you!

The same goes for characterization. From your reviews, I appear to be in the "safe" boundaries so far, but you see, I've never seen the manga, haven't finished watching all the anime episodes, and have no access to the movies or OAVs, so I may have a flawed understanding of the Ranma cast. If I trip up during characterization, please tell me that too.

I am frankly amazed at those of you who decided to review and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I've no time to thank you individually, but your reviews have encouraged me greatly and helped me in improving my writing. Thank you once again, and I hope this lives up to your expectations!

Chapter 3 – Thoughts

By the next morning, Akane was already regretting her spontaneous burst of anger and wanted to try and make amends. She knew that Ranma would be heading down to Furinkan Junior to coach again that day. Thus, she decided to do the classic "thoughtful-fiancée" thing -- prepare him a delicious homemade boxed lunch!

As Kasumi laid breakfast on the table outside, Akane slaved over the hot stove, blissfully dreaming of her fiancé's reaction to her thoughtful deed…

"Oh Akane! You made this just for me? You're…you're too kind!" Ranma's face lit with a tremulous smile of joyful surprise as he reached out to take the boxed lunch almost reverently from her outstretched hands.

Akane blushed happily at his obvious delight. "Don't be silly Ranma, it was my pleasure. I only hope that you'll enjoy it!"

"Believe me, I will! It smells wonderful!"

Speaking of smells, what was that? Glancing down, Akane realized to her chagrin that the vegetables in her vegetable stir-fry now mimicked the colour of the pan she was frying them in.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a kick delivered expertly to the solar plexus, Ranma managed to send his father hurling into the Tendo carp pond from the window of their shared room. Humming delightedly -- he'd managed to defeat the old man without becoming female! -- Ranma strode confidently down the stairs towards the dining room. Then he paused. Akane would be down there. She usually got over her anger quite quickly, but she might still be mad about his slip of tongue yesterday.

He sighed. Why was it so hard to get along with her sometimes? It wasn't as if they couldn't. Most of the time, when the attention wasn't centered directly on them, when there were no over-enthusiastic fiancées and no fake pet P-Chan, no crazy new martial artist or dubious magical item, and when of course he kept his big mouth shut, he and Akane got along just fine. Being with her in such rare moments was, in fact, strangely soothing. But never did their quiet moments last. Take yesterday, for example. They had been talking almost civilly, with Akane telling him about her chance meeting with her old friend and he telling her about the coaching. Look how that turned out!

Well, there was no avoiding it now. What would come, would come, and he would just have to deal with it.

His father had picked his panda self out of the pond by now and was sulking at having been bested so early in the battle. He watched Ranma now, waiting for him to drop his guard so that he could repay the "favour" and steal some of his breakfast. Kasumi greeted him smilingly as usual and placed a bowl of rice in front of his seat at the table. Soun was engrossed in a newspaper. Nabiki was eating her breakfast with studied calm, a little frown creasing her forehead suggesting that she was lost in thought. Plotting how to make a quick yen, no doubt. Hoping that her latest scheme would not involve him or his girl half in some way, Ranma turned his eyes to the final member of the household. Akane did not appear to be upset. As she ate her breakfast in silence, her chin was tilted slightly upwards, eyes glazed over as if she were thinking of something infinitely pleasant. At his wary approach to the table, she turned to him and smiled.

There was something magical about her smile. Akane was no ugly hag to begin with, but when she smiled like that, it was as though the sun had cast some special beam on her, transforming her from a mere pretty face into a…a…he lacked the words for it. The closest he'd ever come to it was saying, "You're cute when you smile." Attractive girls were nothing extraordinary in Ranma's world, but he had to admit, Akane out of the ordinary. Not that he would ever tell her that.

"Good morning, Ranma."

Why were his senses tingling with warning? She was smiling at him; she was greeting him with no trace of yesterday night's wrath showing on her face. He returned the greeting, sat down and started devouring his breakfast. It was another day of facing the tots of terror after all, and he needed to keep his strength up. Once in a while he glanced fearfully at his fiancée. His sense of danger was still ringing alarm bells and any moment now he expected her to leap up and smash him into the floor with her mallet. The best way to avoid this fate was to clamp his mouth firmly shut and avoid saying anything that might antagonize her. A quick departure would help too.

He finished his breakfast and looked up at the family.

"I'm leaving," he announced." Coaching duty calls. See you guys in the evening."

"Wait, Ranma." Akane hurried into the kitchen and emerged with an ominous box-shaped item that Ranma recognized all too well.

Oh, no.

"I made lunch for you, Ranma!"

Ranma felt trapped. No wonder his danger sense had been warning him! Akane wasn't angry anymore, but to him, her cooking was more lethal than anything else she could throw at him was. Trouble was, if he refused her cooking, he would incite her rage to come back worse than ever, and he really didn't want to go through that whole cycle again. Her face was flushed with happiness. Was this the reason she'd looked so contented a moment ago?

"Er…wow, Akane! You made that just…for me? You're…you're too kind!" He managed to choke out. He tried to smile, but it kept slipping off his face and rearranging itself into a look of horror. He forced his arms, which felt as heavy as lead, to reach out for the box. His fingers trembled so violently that they could barely grasp hold of it.

She looked startled, then hurt. The red in her cheeks was changing from the blush of joy to the deep vermilion of embarrassment and anger. Was the revulsion on his face so obvious?

"It was my pleasure, Ranma. I only hope that you will enjoy it," she answered stiffly.

"Uh…yeah! You bet I will! It smells…" Ranma hesitated. The smell rising from the boxed lunch in his hands pricked his nose and made him shudder. It was appalling.

The courage that had led him to take it in the first place was rapidly leaving him. Ranma took a deep breath.

"Forgive me, Akane!"

The boxed lunch clattered to the floor as the young martial artist fled at an inhuman speed, his fiancée's howl of fury echoing in the streets behind him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ranma, you jerk." Akane whispered.

Her face was streaked with tearstains, her eyes red and swollen. Though she had washed up before going out, her mind kept replaying the morning's disaster over and over in her head and her eyes kept responding with fresh tears. She paused to lean tiredly against the wall and rub her eyes before carrying on her slow trek to Soji's house. He was sure to notice her tears and ask her what was wrong, but she wasn't going to tell him. No, she didn't want more people to know about her failure.

For a long time now, Tendo Akane had felt inferior. Before that jerk had come into her life, she had practically been the best in martial arts, that poetry-spouting idiot Kuno notwithstanding. Before that jerk had come into her life, bringing his harem of beautiful maidens who were talented both in martial arts and in the housewifely arts with him Akane had felt no urge to learn how to cook and sew properly and all that. No. Before Saotome Ranma, Akane had been happy.

If not for his presence in her house and in her life, she would never had met Shampoo. The voluptuous Chinese beauty who had more agility, speed and grace in one little finger than Akane had in her whole body, who was heir to the illustrious Amazon heritage, who could offer the secrets of new martial arts techniques to Ranma, who could cook. Had she never known Ranma, she would never have known Ukyo either. She had to admit that she liked Ukyo better than Shampoo. Ukyo was usually pleasant to her, when she wasn't setting her up with Ryoga so she could take Ranma for herself. Ukyo was lovely though, with her long brown hair and delicate features. Having spent so many years fending for herself, she was also tremendously skilled in the martial arts, and her cooking was to die for. Compared to Ukyo and Shampoo, she might as well be a wallflower.

And Kodachi? Well, she certainly might have met Kodachi with or without Ranma, seeing that she lived in Nerima and was Kuno's sister. There was no doubt though, that Akane would not have to see her quite so often if not for Ranma. Kodachi was, while totally off her rocker, svelte and gorgeous, a brilliant martial artist and, despite her fondness for drugs and poisons, an excellent cook.

No, compared to these three, Akane was nothing. She tried to make good on her shortcomings with practice and brute strength, but the fact remained that she was, in Ranma's words, "a clumsy…slow…uncute…tomboy…" But if she had never met Ranma, she would never have to feel as lousy as this. What's more, she would never have been kidnapped or captured or hurt in any way by any of Ranma's numerous enemies. She wished she had never laid eyes on the arrogant, egoistic, insensitive jerk. But that wasn't true either….

"Face it, Akane." Her voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper. Before Saotome Ranma, could she honestly say she was happy? Surely not. At that time, even though she'd been arguably the best in martial arts and almost certainly the most popular girl in school, life had been strangely empty. Ranma might have brought craziness and sometimes pain into her life, but he had also brought the life into her life. It was because of him that she strove to improve herself and become better than she was. And she did…care…about him. More than she wanted to admit. He was handsome, but he was so much more than that. He was courageous, honourable, good at heart. He could be sweet and gentlemanly when he made an effort, and even though his enemies had put her in danger many times, he had never failed to save her. Never. That was the one thing she knew she could count on. Even if he would almost surely die, the dear, silly fool would risk his life to save her.

Then, the memory of her fiancé's mad dash from the Tendo Dojo replayed itself in her head once more, and Akane sighed. She might as well face that fact too. As long as she was as repellent to him as the food she cooked, Ranma would never love her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Ranma, who had reached Furinkan Junior High a good 45 minutes early, bashed his head repeatedly into a massive stone pillar, causing dust and bits of granite to fly in all directions as a huge dent appeared in it (the pillar, not his head).

He could've just taken the stupid lunchbox! After all that she had done, he could at least have brought the thing with him, even if he wouldn't actually eat the toxic stuff! That way, he wouldn't have left her standing like a fool in the middle of the dining room with the abandoned lunchbox at her feet, screaming herself hoarse with rage and pain. That way, he wouldn't have hurt her.

Ranma groaned loudly. At this rate, Akane was really gonna start hating him. And that was the last thing he ever wanted to happen.