Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers still apply. The song,"Oppenheimer," belongs to the Old 97s.
Falling in love
Me and this girl we've been
falling in love
Beneath a quarter moon beneath a quarter moon
Me and this girl I've been living above
On a road called Oppenheimer
Oblivious to the world strolling around her, Akane sat contorted as a pretzel at a table at a café just off campus. The usual jumble of customers that filled the premises after afternoon classes was just dwindling down to a slow drip. Streetlights were just beginning to come on and candles were being lit at the restaurant next door, filling the air with semi smoky romance.
Without taking her eyes off her textbook, Akane absentmindedly reached for her coffee cup. Her fumblings knocked a book off the table onto the toes of the person standing just beside her. The accident would have gone unnoticed if the owner of the toes had suppressed his undistinguished yelp.
Akane jumped, jostled from her studious trance. "Oops!" she exclaimed glancing upwards with an apologetic grin. "I'm…" her remorse melted into amusement as she met a pair of familiar eyes. "Hi Ranma."
Ranma laughed as he pulled a chair up to the homework-laden table. "The girl drops a two ton book on my precious toes and all she can manage is a hello? What is the world coming to?"
"Oh excuse me! I thought you were made of tougher stuff. Maybe your students are running you into an early grave."
Ranma chuckled. "There's no doubt about that." He started gathering up Akane's things. "It's getting dark. Come on, I'll walk home with you."
Akane's eyes narrowed. "Ranma," she began in an icy voice, "you wouldn't be trying to protect me, would you?"
Ranma raised an eyebrow, "And what if I am?"
Akane's fluttered her eyelashes at him. "My hero. I never thought I'd consider myself lucky enough to have a big, strong martial artist like YOU to walk home with me!"
"Well, it's the least I can do. Since you're buying me dinner and all."
***
They were on the roof of their apartment building, as they often were most evenings. No matter how busy their nights were, through some unspoken agreement they always managed to spend some time on the roof together talking, teasing, and being. It was, Ranma thought, the best way to end the day.
Their chats had begun as friendly gabbings, with a lively argument here and there to keep things interesting. Lately, their conversations had grown a new layer. They had begun to reveal more personal aspects of their lives, begun sharing little snippets of dreamed futures. Many times Ranma felt as if they were drifting towards something with potential greatness. It seemed to him that they had traversed this path before, all the while taking every kind of wrong turn. Because their previous venture had led them to disaster, he was reluctant to strut down the path with his usual confidence, opting instead to pace on the edge of uncertainty. He had decided that this time, Akane would lead the way.
Beside him, Akane rubbed her eyes and yawned hugely.
"You're tired," he commented. In the dark, she sensed his frown but ignored it.
She yawned again. "I had a long day. I ended up staying longer at work than I planned."
"Shouldn't you have been studying for that anatomy test you've been whining about?"
"Yes, daddy I SHOULD HAVE been studying, but work was so much more interesting! Kyou took three steps today all on his own!"
Even in the dark, her enthusiasm was infectious. He couldn't help but smile when he thought of the boy he met the week before, the boy most people thought would never stand again, much less walk. "Sounds like a good reason for a celebration."
"Hmm…it was. I missed a whole hour of studying because of it. I didn't realize how long I had been sitting there until you came along." She stretched luxuriously. Ranma's eyes followed the lengthening of her limbs. He bit his lip and forced himself to look away.
"That place needs to get better chairs, though. I've got all kinds of kinks in my back." She twisted and winced as she heard several joints pop.
Ranma smirked. "Kinks, eh? Sounds like someone is angling for a massage." Inwardly he eeped. Despite their newfound comfort, he knew that he had crossed some kind of line. He braced himself for a smack from the Pervert Police, and was surprised when none came. After a long heartbeat set his body throbbing, Akane spoke.
"Since when did you give out massages? I think you want an excuse to put your hands all over me."
***
Akane sighed in contentment. On the roof with Ranma was the perfect way to end a fruitful day of class and work. Somehow seeing him made her day just that much better. Had it always been that way?
She cast a glance at Ranma. He lay back on the blanket they had brought up with them, eyes studying the stars with an endearing familiarity. She turned her gaze upwards as well, wondering what he saw in the sky above. She forced herself to stop pondering the needlelike hotness that was dusting her nerve endings.
She had always felt this companionable heat with Ranma but lately it seemed just a shade warmer than usual. Many times Akane felt as if they were drifting towards something with potential greatness. It seemed to her that they had traversed this path before, all the while taking every kind of wrong turn. Because their previous venture had led them to disaster, she was reluctant to strut down the path with her usual zeal, opting instead to pace on the edge of uncertainty. She had decided that this time, Ranma would lead the way.
She yawned, rubbing the weariness from her eyes. Despite his silent admonishment of her overexertion, Akane could sense his joy when she shared her patient's accomplishments with him. Little things like that were so much easier to notice these days.
She groaned and stretched in an attempt to loosen up the tension in her back. Absorbed in her stretching, she almost missed it when Ranma spoke.
"Kinks, eh? Sounds like someone is angling for a massage."
Akane froze in mid stretch. For reasons she did not understand, her first instinct was, not too bash, smash, or kill. Before her brain could stop it, her mouth made its move.
"Since when did you give out massages? I think you want an excuse to put your hands all over me."
***
Their words, their actions, charged the air with uneasy electricity. There, in the thin moonlight, their eyes met and held. They felt the blood rush and radiate off their bodies, heard the throbbing of the evening all around them. The stars seemed to pause in their twinkling and still Ranma and Akane stared, studied, ceased to breathe. Finally, as if released from a magic spell, Akane slowly rose. Ranma mirrored her actions.
"Well," she said attempting to sound businesslike, "I better get downstairs. Anatomy won't learn itself, you know?"
Ranma cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'll walk you down."
***
Yukino Miyazawa patted the seat on one side of her as her boyfriend, one Soichiro Arima, settled into a place on her other side. Joining them at a table in a coffee shop near campus were Miki, Yuu (Miki's fiancé), and Akane, the target of her exaggerated sweetness. Gesturing companionably at her friend she cooed, "So Akane, where's your boyfriend?"
Akane threw a glare at her friend. "If you mean Ranma…he's not my boyfriend. And, yes, I know that he is my friend and he is a boy. And yes, I know we've been spending a lot of time together lately. And yes, I know I act like an idiot with glue for brains when I'm around him. And yes, I'm completely happy with the 'just friends' thing. Why shouldn't I be? It was my idea, wasn't I?" Akane threw herself into the spot beside Yukino and buried her face in her hands.
Yukino looked up at the rest of the group. "Yikes. All that for a simple 'where's your boyfriend.' I wonder what will happen if I ask her how classes went today?" When Akane groaned from somewhere near her knees, Yukino patted her on the back soothingly. "There, there dear. Have some coffee. Coffee will make everything all right."
Akane sat up and took a sip of coffee. "I just wish I knew what was going on."
From across the table, Miki smiled at her. "Well, let's think about this rationally. You guys hang out a lot, right?"
"Yes."
"And you enjoy pleasant, amiable conversations?"
"Well, we talk about more than the weather."
"Do you fight a lot?"
"Yeah, but not like we used to. We definitely don't bicker as much as before, but when it's just the two of us, we don't get bored."
"And you still share a lot of the same interests, right?"
"Well, yeah. Of course we like a lot of different stuff now too. He loves teaching and I think he's really good at it too…"
"Miki," Yukino butted in, "As usual, you are asking all the wrong kinds of questions." She thrust a finger at Akane. "You should be asking her if she wants to smooch him or what she thinks about his gorgeous hunky body or…" she was interrupted when Soichiro clamped a hand over her mouth.
"I'm sorry about Yukino," Soichiro apologized. "This is why she shouldn't go out much."
Yukino shook off his hand. "I'm serious! Look Akane, you're obviously friends with the guy. Even a blind kitten could see that the two of you want to take it to the next level. Trust me, I've been around the two of you. The looks you shoot each other when the other one's not looking could set an igloo on fire."
Akane wagged her head. "Yukino, no offense, but you have a bad habit of making things seem a lot more dramatic than they really are."
"Actually, I think Yukino, scary though it is, may be on to something," Miki stated. "There is a kind of…feeling around the two of you."
"No," Akane stated adamantly. "There is nothing there. If you sense something weird, it's just because we attract weirdness. That is all. Now. Enough talk about this." She plastered a smile on her face. "Let's talk about Miki and Yuu's engagement party some more."
Her friends exchanged looks, then sighed. "Fine," Yukino said resignedly. She sat up energetically. "Yuu…why don't you let us change the date so that it can be a surprise party? Those are so much more fun!"
Glad to have the attention shifted away from her, Akane chimed in. "Yeah, everyone should have at least ONE surprise party in their lives."
"I told you, I hate surprise parties!"
The group argued on with Akane participating only halfheartedly. Ranma should be getting out of class soon, she thought to herself. I wonder if I can beat him home and surprise him with dinner.
***
Ranma left the dojo where he taught with Akito and his girlfriend Sana Kurata. They strolled toward his apartment building, Ranma desperately trying to ignore Sana's incessant prodding.
"Come on, Ranma," the girl wheedled, poking Ranma in the side. "How are things going between you and Akane?"
Ranma groaned. "I told you, Sana. We're fine. We're friends. You, however, if you keep asking me that question, will no longer be considered a friend, no matter how indirect our friendship is."
"Aw, come on Ranma," Sana laughed. "Don't call our friendship indirect. You're friends with my Akito here, so that makes you my friend. I'm friends with your Akane, making me your friend. So, if anything, our bond should be stronger!"
Ranma shot Akito a perplexed look. "Do you know what she's talking about?"
Akito shook his head and continued walking. "I never do." Because it is a martial artist's duty to protect the weak, he attempted to distract his girlfriend. "So Sana, are you ready for Miki and Yuu's engagement party?"
"Oh definitely! I can't wait. Are you going, Ranma?"
"Yup. Akane told me about it last week. It sounds like you girls put a lot of work into planning it."
"We sure did. You should see the guest list. It's a mile long." A thought struck her and a mischievous glint lit up her persona.
Akito noticed this almost immediately. Alarms went off in his head. "Uhm…Sana? Whatever you're thinking…don't do it."
Sana grinned slyly. "Whatever do you mean, Akito? I was just going to tell Ranma that one of the reasons why Akane may be particularly excited about the party is because it looks like Miwa will be back in town by then."
Ranma stopped walking. "Miwa? Who's Miwa?"
Sana continued to skip down the sidewalk. "Oh, a friend of ours. A very special friend." She paused, turning to face them. "Come to think of it, I think he and Akane were really close."
Suddenly Ranma recalled the conversation he had with Akane weeks and weeks before.
"And then I met someone, someone who taught me to see, to listen, to feel. And I realized that I didn't love you after all."
***
"Phew!" Akane plopped down onto the roof next to Ranma. "What a day. It just never seems to stop, you know?" When Ranma remained silent, she turned to him. "I'm glad I caught you up here. I knocked on your door to see if you wanted to have dinner, but you didn't answer. Have you been up here long?"
"Long enough," came his terse response.
Akane's briefly wrinkled up into a frown. After releasing an exasperated sigh, she smoothed her features into a friendlier expression, smothered her voice with false cheer. "Well, I better get going," she chirped, getting to her feet, "I can't get any studying done when my books are downstairs!" She turned to leave, had barely taken five steps when Ranma's voice stopped her.
"Why, Akane?"
"Why what?"
"Why, out of all the colleges and universities in Japan, did you choose this one?"
Is that what's got him in such a horrid mood? Slowly, she made her way back to him. His attention was focused on the horizon before them; his posture was rigid and stiff. When she spoke, Akane kept her voice low.
"It's kind of funny, really. My mother went to school here." When Ranma turned to look at her, his eyes glinting with surprise, it was Akane's turn to look elsewhere. "It was before she married Dad, obviously. She was only here for about a year, but she loved every moment of it. She was so big on school," Akane chuckled, "she was always telling us what a wonderful opportunity higher education was and that we shouldn't pass it up if we had the chance to go.
"She never regretted giving school up to marry Dad and start a family, but she never stopped missing it. She wanted us to finish her dream for her, I guess. Kasumi gave up her chance to take care of us, and Nabiki, as you know was able to get into a really good school, and me…well, for as long as I could remember I've wanted to go here."
Akane stared, unseeing, up at the moon. "The first time I ever came here was just before she died. It was a family excursion, nothing fancy. We just walked around campus and visited with some of her old school friends. That day she was so happy, so carefree…on that day we made some of my favorite memories of her."
Unconsciously, she sank back down to Ranma's side. "I guess you could say that I came here because I wanted to live out mom's dream for her, to graduate from the school she loved so much. But mostly I wanted to come here because I wanted to be closer to her."
"Kasumi got to spend so much time with her. Nabiki, even though she's just a year older than I am, remembers a lot of stuff about her too. Me, I only remember a little bit and even with some of those memories, Kasumi, Nabiki and Dad have to help me along. Somehow, somewhere, I got the idea that, if I could be here, that could be our 'thing,' our special something that we could share."
Akane paused in her ramblings to look over at Ranma. Although his eyes remained averted, he had loosened up considerably. He seemed to radiate comfort and sympathy, strength and support. In that instant, she knew.
He had always meant something more to her, but now she realized that here, in this new place, under a different moon, he was everything to her. Everything she felt for him glided within her like a much-loved song.
She once thought that the idea of falling in love, of giving someone just that much power over you, was beautiful in a scary kind of way. But the thought of this kind of love, in this here, in this now with Ranma, wasn't so scary after all. She cast all doubts aside and lay open the most tender part of her heart to him.
"When I finally got here, I was still so wound up from my fight with you that I forgot all that. I spent a lot of my time moping around. And then one day, I was sitting on a park bench somewhere, getting up the nerve to call Dad and tell him that I wanted to come home, when this feeling came over me. It was this weird kind of rush that made me lift my head and look around. My eyes, so blurry with self-pity, seemed to clear and, for the first time since I arrived, I began to see. Suddenly, the campus sprung to life around me, and I felt lighter. I felt so happy to be here, so lucky to be here, I wanted to dance like an idiot throughout campus. And then I looked down at the bench beside me. Carved into the bench, so faintly that I almost missed them, were the initials K.K…my mother's initials.
"From that moment on I knew that my mother wanted me to be here, that I deserved to be here, so here I am. I walk around campus, tracing the same paths she probably once walked, rest in the shade of the same trees she probably rested in, fall asleep in the same classes she probably fell asleep in, and I feel good.
"So, in answer to your question, I came here for my mother. I stayed for myself."
***
Outwardly, Ranma maintained his stony silence. Inwardly, he berated himself. Sana's words earlier in the evening had hurt him more than he had expected. Those words had served as a shocking reminder that Akane was not really his, that her heart belonged to someone else. He had begun to wonder if this other person, this Miwa guy, had been waiting for her to come to this university all along.
If he had decided to come with Akane in the first place, would he have been a front? If Ranma were with her, Mr. Tendo would willingly let Akane go anywhere. Maybe Akane had wanted Ranma to join her here so that she could leave Nerima with her father's blessing. What if she was hot to leave home because she couldn't wait to be here, with some other, older guy?
But what about now? Had Mr. Tendo summoned her home? Was that why Akane had been so thrilled to see him again? It made sense. With Ranma present, Mr. Tendo would know that Akane was safe and allow her to stay. If she stayed, she could spend all the time she wanted to with her boyfriend. Ranma seethed. He detested being used.
That evening he left for the roof early, hoping that his absence from his apartment would discourage Akane from coming up. He couldn't bear to look at her and yet it took all his willpower to ignore her. If he could just find out why she wanted to be at this place, if he could only get her to admit the truth (that she was here for some guy), then maybe he could go on pretending to have only a friendly interest in her. And so, he asked her.
Her response surprised him. Even more, it moved something not too deep within him. It wasn't difficult for him to believe her heartfelt words. He could almost forgive her for loving someone else.
Akane concluded her speech, "So, in answer to your question, I came here for my mother. I stayed for myself."
Ranma opened his mouth to apologize for his earlier harshness when Akane scooted closer to him.
"I've never told anybody that before," she admitted in a whisper. "I mean, Dad and my sisters knew why I wanted to come here but…that part about the bench and…all that other stuff…that stuff I've kept a secret until now. It's not that I'm afraid of anyone thinking I'm crazy or anything, it's just..." she suddenly found the ground below her quite interesting. "At that time in my life I felt so vulnerable, so weak. I don't like the idea of anyone knowing just how bad it really was back then. It's a pride thing, I guess. The thing is, you're one of the only people that I'm not afraid to tell about that weak side of me," she gave a feeble smile, "I guess it's because I'm always hoping that you'll protect me."
Any linger feelings of jealousy that Ranma felt towards Akane's mystery lover that lingered even after she revealed her true reasons for choosing the school she did vanished as suddenly as a summer storm. Knowing that she placed this immensely precious trust in him, that she could let her guard down so completely to unveil such vulnerabilities to him, meant so much more then petty fights. To be the person that Akane needed this way, was all he ever wanted, possibly all he ever needed.
If his brain was surprised by what these sentiments said about him his heart wasn't. Maybe it knew the truth all along. Maybe it knew that the kind of person he wanted to be was the kind of person Akane needed, the kind of person who needed her right back. In wanting to be that kind of person, was he overstepping the boundaries of friendship? In this relationship tango, which move came next? Who made it?
His heart sighed and urged his brain to do what it knew best.
He got to his feet and offered Akane his hand. "We better go. It's getting colder."
When Akane wrapped her hand around his, he took strength in the warmth he found there. Suddenly he was unafraid of exposing his own weaknesses. "Say Akane…who's Miwa?"
Akane's head tilted to one side. "Miwa? Where did you hear about Miwa?"
"Sana mentioned him today."
"Oh? She did?" Akane's voice was lightheartedly indifferent. "He's a good friend. I met him through Miki and Yuu." With Ranma's hand still in hers, she continued to move towards the rooftop exit.
Ranma however, stayed rooted in place. He tugged on Akane's hand and she turned, a question in her eyes. "He's why I was so pissed earlier. I was jealous of him."
Akane was stunned by this revelation but, sensing that this moment meant something to the man in front of her, scaled down her reaction. "Jealous of Miwa?"
"Before when you said you met someone, someone who taught you about love, I thought there was someone else, another guy. When Sana mentioned that you were looking forward to seeing him, I figured that the someone else was this Miwa guy.
"I…I was jealous, Akane. Jealous of some guy I've never met. Jealous because I thought I was beginning to mean something more to you. Jealous because I wanted to be that person who taught you about love, I wanted to be the person to learn about love with you. I know you just want to be friends but…but I needed to say this. If being with him is what you want Akane, then I want that for you too. It's gonna suck for a while, probably a long while, but I'll deal.
"I know now that there's different kinds of love. If you love me as a brother, as a friend, if you can't love me as anything more than that, then fine. But please Akane, don't stop loving me."
Akane moved closer and placed her hand on Ranma's cheek. "Ranma, you idiot. When did I ever say that the person who taught me all that stuff about love was a boy? Before you start thinking racy thoughts, I'll have you know that I learned about love from Miki…from watching her and Yuu. I thought that what they had was so beautiful; I wanted something like that for myself.
"Miwa is just a friend, a very very good friend. But friend wise, he's nothing compared to you. No one is."
Ranma took the hand that rested upon his cheek in his. "Tomboy," he breathed, barely a murmur. He bent his head so that his mouth just brushed hers. "Have I ever told you how uncute you are?"
Tar on the roof there were stars
in her hair
Beneath a quarter moon beneath a quarter moon
Me and this girl we were going somewhere
On a road called Oppenheimer
Although they would often argue that it didn't count, they had kissed before. Ranma barely remembered the first time. In his cat-like state he had briefly recalled a not unpleasant pressing of her lips against his. Akane maintained that since, in a way, Ranma was not human at the time, the kiss couldn't possibly count. In that state, it was more like nuzzling a pet, except that Ranma's nose was anything but cold and just a teeny bit wet.
This kiss was anything but unmemorable…and it most definitely counted. It was something less than a raging fire but more then a smoldering flame. A gentle current churned through both their beings and pulled at them so that they both strained to be closer. In this tender motion, they said everything that needed to be said.
There, on a rooftop of an apartment on a road called Oppenheimer, two people who once dithered so unsurely on the edge kissed…and tumbled all the way into love.
Author notes: Man…that turned out A LOT longer than I planned it to be. I hope there won't TOO many unnecessary scenes…I cut out some stuff as it is. I also hope this one flows okay. So…what do you think? As always, gentle comments and criticisms are welcomed.
Now, I CAN end it right here. It won't be using up the whole song as I originally planned, but it is a good ending spot. I did have more planned, but if anyone wants to see this fic end now, this is the time. What do you think? I can always write the rest of it and keep it for myself. =)
Well, regardless of whether or not this is the end, THANKS FOR READING! And reviewing! The reviews really mean a ton.
