Part the Sixth- Temptations and Confessions
*Author's notes- This is… a somewhat darker chapter. A little… different from the others. I wrote this after a very moody and lonely bus ride. Please don't hate me. It will all work out. I promise. Just wait, I think I may know where I'm going with this. Possibly…
"Ranma did you have fun?"
Ukyo and her date were walking back to her house. Ukyo thought it would be a lot more romantic if Ranma didn't keep looking around.
"Uh huh."
"Ranma they're not anywhere near here."
"What?"
He was looking at her now, his face puzzled.
"Oh come on, I'm not stupid! I know exactly what you're doing! I know that you're looking for her! Well she's not here! I can't believe you! She's over you and you can't accept it! Why can't you forget her? Why can't you love me?"
Whoops, that last one had just slipped out.
"Wh…what?"
"I just want to be needed Ranma. I want to be loved. I want someone to look around for me! I want to know that if I left… I'd be missed."
There was a really awkward pause.
"Ah to hell with it. Just go take her back Ranma- no one else could ever take her spot in your heart. You're the only one who doesn't know you in love with her."
She turned away from him, not wanting to show the tears in her eyes. Damn it all, why was she so weak? When he spoke he was so close that she felt his voice tingle down her back.
"I know that I love her Ukyo, but that doesn't mean she's the only one I can ever love. Love is a wonderful thing you know- when one street ends you just turn on to another one. Ukyo…"
He put his strong and yet surprisingly gentle hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face him. He leaned down and kissed the hollow of her cheek. Then he whispered into her ear,
"Ukyo… will you be my avenue to love?"
It wasn't the most romantic sentiment she'd ever heard, but she hardly cared. She didn't- couldn't answer with her voice. Instead she answered him with a kiss- one filled with all the pent-up sexual frustration she had amassed during the last several months. For a second Ranma did nothing and she mentally cursed herself, maybe she'd heard him wrong… But then his lips warmed under hers and she felt a flood of passion run over her, nearly driving her to her knees.
"Ranma…"
Ranma moved his lips down to her throat.
"We should… go inside."
Ranma briefly looked up from his exploration of her collarbone to see that they were in fact standing outside Ukyo's store. He picked her up in the classic hero carrying damsel move every guy seems to know and pushed open the door. The lights were out.
Ukyo was laid lightly on top of a small table in the restaurant. Ranma lay down on his stomach beside her and stretched one arm over her. She reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to hers. Their kiss was even more tantalizing this time. One of her hands moved to his back and she ran it up and down his perfectly muscled torso. At the same time, the hand that wasn't supporting Ranma's weight was massaging Ukyo upper arm, she moaned and it moved down a little.
She stood up suddenly and beckoned him to her. She walked the flight of stairs to her room, looking over her shoulder to see if he would follow.
She was offering herself to him. Ranma was dense, but not so dense that he didn't know that. For a moment he stood, indecisive. He didn't think this was right, as he had no intention of marrying Ukyo. But there were two things that tipped the scale- one was the sudden urge of hormones (remember, Ranma was a teenage boy, even if he was a terminally shy one) and being offered such a thing so easily was getting harder and harder to resist. He could've though- he had before, but there was a second thing… The image of Akane jumping up to hug Mousse was burning bright in his memory. He walked toward the girl standing at the top of the stairs. Who needed that clumsy tomboy? He certainly didn't.
~~~
"Akane-chan, really is this such a good idea?"
Akane just laughed.
"It might not be a good idea, but at least it's not a bad one!"
"Are you calling my idea bad?"
She laughed again and kissed him lightly.
"Yes."
Now it was Mousse's turn to laugh.
"Okay, you're right, it was an awful idea. However… I don't know. I've never played this game before."
"It's not really a game Mu-chan."
"Oh?"
She took his hands and pulled him to the floor with her.
"No. It's very simple we just tell each other one secret each."
"Does it have to be a painful secret?"
"Of course not."
The two looked at the other, secretly wondering if they had any secrets to tell each other anymore.
"Well… you go first."
Akane opened her mouth to protest, but Mousse stopped her with a kiss.
"No fair!"
"It's perfectly fair my dearest. Now go."
Akane thought for a moment.
"Well… it's kind of foolish…"
"Have I ever thought anything about you was foolish?"
"Not that you've told me, no."
They laughed together, but Mousse was waiting.
"Oh fine! I'm… I used to be… um… do you want to know why I started martial arts?"
"Yes."
Akane looked down and a slight blush flooded her cheeks.
"When I was little- about eight or so- I saw this TV show. There was this scene where some man… he… this guy raped this woman."
"And that's why…?"
"Partly. I went crying to Kasumi, since my mother was already dead then. She told me that it was just a TV show and not real. It calmed me down for awhile. But then…"
She trailed off. Mousse took her hand and waited patiently.
"I've always been afraid of rape. I know I have an over-active imagination, but it's not all my fault. A couple months after I saw that show I went to go buy a couple groceries for Kasumi. I passed this condemned building and heard screams from inside… I went to check."
She drew a couple deep breaths.
"There were a bunch of guys in masks- I think from some gang or Mafia or something. They had her on the ground and they were… you know… raping her."
Mousse squeezed her hand as tears started to run down her cheeks.
"I got out of there really fast before they saw me and ran home. I was so upset when I got home that no one could calm me down. I was in hysterics. Daddy called Dr. Tofu. He came and put a couple pressure points on me that knocked me out. When I woke up I didn't tell anyone what I had seen. But a couple days later I asked Daddy to start training me."
A bittersweet smile appeared on her face.
"After getting him to calm down- he was rather worked-up over the fact that one of his daughters wanted to follow the family trade- he did. I worked really hard in order to be strong. I didn't want any guy to be able to have that much power over me. I almost welcomed the attempts of those boys to defeat me at school before Ranma came. It gave me a chance to prove everyday that I was the strongest, that no one could hurt me like that…"
"And then Ranma came."
"Yeah, then Ranma came. And he was so much stronger than I was. I was so frightened. I'm just glad Ranma turned out to be… well… Ranma, and not say… Kuno."
Mousse said nothing; he just pulled her to him and guided her head to his shoulder. She cried softly for several minutes. Finally she looked up.
"It's your turn."
"Okay Akane. And now that I know about… now… I think it's time someone told you this. I thought maybe Ranma would… but he never did. I wonder now if there was some sort of… anyway…"
"What is it Mousse?"
There was the briefest of pauses as Mousse tried to decide if it was his place to say this. He figured that if no one else had by now, he could.
"It's about that little pig of yours…"
"P-chan? What does P-chan have to do with…"
"Wait. Don't say anything. Just let me say this, the whole thing. Okay?"
Akane nodded- now confused and highly curious. Mousse took a deep breath.
"It's not really a pig. It's that Hibiki character. He's cursed, like me, and like Shampoo."
"What?"
"Yeah, but wait! Akane!"
Akane however, had bolted straight up, was soon standing, and from standing it was only a few muscle movements to running flat out toward the Tendo home.
"Damn!"
*Author's notes- This is… a somewhat darker chapter. A little… different from the others. I wrote this after a very moody and lonely bus ride. Please don't hate me. It will all work out. I promise. Just wait, I think I may know where I'm going with this. Possibly…
"Ranma did you have fun?"
Ukyo and her date were walking back to her house. Ukyo thought it would be a lot more romantic if Ranma didn't keep looking around.
"Uh huh."
"Ranma they're not anywhere near here."
"What?"
He was looking at her now, his face puzzled.
"Oh come on, I'm not stupid! I know exactly what you're doing! I know that you're looking for her! Well she's not here! I can't believe you! She's over you and you can't accept it! Why can't you forget her? Why can't you love me?"
Whoops, that last one had just slipped out.
"Wh…what?"
"I just want to be needed Ranma. I want to be loved. I want someone to look around for me! I want to know that if I left… I'd be missed."
There was a really awkward pause.
"Ah to hell with it. Just go take her back Ranma- no one else could ever take her spot in your heart. You're the only one who doesn't know you in love with her."
She turned away from him, not wanting to show the tears in her eyes. Damn it all, why was she so weak? When he spoke he was so close that she felt his voice tingle down her back.
"I know that I love her Ukyo, but that doesn't mean she's the only one I can ever love. Love is a wonderful thing you know- when one street ends you just turn on to another one. Ukyo…"
He put his strong and yet surprisingly gentle hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face him. He leaned down and kissed the hollow of her cheek. Then he whispered into her ear,
"Ukyo… will you be my avenue to love?"
It wasn't the most romantic sentiment she'd ever heard, but she hardly cared. She didn't- couldn't answer with her voice. Instead she answered him with a kiss- one filled with all the pent-up sexual frustration she had amassed during the last several months. For a second Ranma did nothing and she mentally cursed herself, maybe she'd heard him wrong… But then his lips warmed under hers and she felt a flood of passion run over her, nearly driving her to her knees.
"Ranma…"
Ranma moved his lips down to her throat.
"We should… go inside."
Ranma briefly looked up from his exploration of her collarbone to see that they were in fact standing outside Ukyo's store. He picked her up in the classic hero carrying damsel move every guy seems to know and pushed open the door. The lights were out.
Ukyo was laid lightly on top of a small table in the restaurant. Ranma lay down on his stomach beside her and stretched one arm over her. She reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to hers. Their kiss was even more tantalizing this time. One of her hands moved to his back and she ran it up and down his perfectly muscled torso. At the same time, the hand that wasn't supporting Ranma's weight was massaging Ukyo upper arm, she moaned and it moved down a little.
She stood up suddenly and beckoned him to her. She walked the flight of stairs to her room, looking over her shoulder to see if he would follow.
She was offering herself to him. Ranma was dense, but not so dense that he didn't know that. For a moment he stood, indecisive. He didn't think this was right, as he had no intention of marrying Ukyo. But there were two things that tipped the scale- one was the sudden urge of hormones (remember, Ranma was a teenage boy, even if he was a terminally shy one) and being offered such a thing so easily was getting harder and harder to resist. He could've though- he had before, but there was a second thing… The image of Akane jumping up to hug Mousse was burning bright in his memory. He walked toward the girl standing at the top of the stairs. Who needed that clumsy tomboy? He certainly didn't.
~~~
"Akane-chan, really is this such a good idea?"
Akane just laughed.
"It might not be a good idea, but at least it's not a bad one!"
"Are you calling my idea bad?"
She laughed again and kissed him lightly.
"Yes."
Now it was Mousse's turn to laugh.
"Okay, you're right, it was an awful idea. However… I don't know. I've never played this game before."
"It's not really a game Mu-chan."
"Oh?"
She took his hands and pulled him to the floor with her.
"No. It's very simple we just tell each other one secret each."
"Does it have to be a painful secret?"
"Of course not."
The two looked at the other, secretly wondering if they had any secrets to tell each other anymore.
"Well… you go first."
Akane opened her mouth to protest, but Mousse stopped her with a kiss.
"No fair!"
"It's perfectly fair my dearest. Now go."
Akane thought for a moment.
"Well… it's kind of foolish…"
"Have I ever thought anything about you was foolish?"
"Not that you've told me, no."
They laughed together, but Mousse was waiting.
"Oh fine! I'm… I used to be… um… do you want to know why I started martial arts?"
"Yes."
Akane looked down and a slight blush flooded her cheeks.
"When I was little- about eight or so- I saw this TV show. There was this scene where some man… he… this guy raped this woman."
"And that's why…?"
"Partly. I went crying to Kasumi, since my mother was already dead then. She told me that it was just a TV show and not real. It calmed me down for awhile. But then…"
She trailed off. Mousse took her hand and waited patiently.
"I've always been afraid of rape. I know I have an over-active imagination, but it's not all my fault. A couple months after I saw that show I went to go buy a couple groceries for Kasumi. I passed this condemned building and heard screams from inside… I went to check."
She drew a couple deep breaths.
"There were a bunch of guys in masks- I think from some gang or Mafia or something. They had her on the ground and they were… you know… raping her."
Mousse squeezed her hand as tears started to run down her cheeks.
"I got out of there really fast before they saw me and ran home. I was so upset when I got home that no one could calm me down. I was in hysterics. Daddy called Dr. Tofu. He came and put a couple pressure points on me that knocked me out. When I woke up I didn't tell anyone what I had seen. But a couple days later I asked Daddy to start training me."
A bittersweet smile appeared on her face.
"After getting him to calm down- he was rather worked-up over the fact that one of his daughters wanted to follow the family trade- he did. I worked really hard in order to be strong. I didn't want any guy to be able to have that much power over me. I almost welcomed the attempts of those boys to defeat me at school before Ranma came. It gave me a chance to prove everyday that I was the strongest, that no one could hurt me like that…"
"And then Ranma came."
"Yeah, then Ranma came. And he was so much stronger than I was. I was so frightened. I'm just glad Ranma turned out to be… well… Ranma, and not say… Kuno."
Mousse said nothing; he just pulled her to him and guided her head to his shoulder. She cried softly for several minutes. Finally she looked up.
"It's your turn."
"Okay Akane. And now that I know about… now… I think it's time someone told you this. I thought maybe Ranma would… but he never did. I wonder now if there was some sort of… anyway…"
"What is it Mousse?"
There was the briefest of pauses as Mousse tried to decide if it was his place to say this. He figured that if no one else had by now, he could.
"It's about that little pig of yours…"
"P-chan? What does P-chan have to do with…"
"Wait. Don't say anything. Just let me say this, the whole thing. Okay?"
Akane nodded- now confused and highly curious. Mousse took a deep breath.
"It's not really a pig. It's that Hibiki character. He's cursed, like me, and like Shampoo."
"What?"
"Yeah, but wait! Akane!"
Akane however, had bolted straight up, was soon standing, and from standing it was only a few muscle movements to running flat out toward the Tendo home.
"Damn!"