Chapter Three: Frustrations

Kumi stood at the gate of the school by herself. She was getting impatient when the object of her early arrival appeared. Kumi put on a big smile and walked forward.

"Hi Nabiki-san!" Kumi said in an exceedingly cute voice.

Nabiki visibly cringed. She turned her head and looked at Kumi. Kumi had been in her class for two years now. Nabiki knew of her exploits as well as a lot of other stuff. She raised her eyebrow and stood still to see what Kumi had to say.

"How are you doing sempai?" Kumi asked.

Nabiki stared at Kumi before answering.

"Not too badly," Nabiki answered in a monotone yet sharp voice.

Kumi flinched slightly at the tone of Nabiki's voice. While Kumi was threatening in her own right, she was nothing when it came up to the Ice Queen of Furinkan High. Kumi breathed in slightly regaining her composure.

"I was wondering what you thought about the fight the other day, you know the one with Kuno and Ranma," Kumi asked, seeing if she could start up a conversation with Nabiki.

Nabiki looked at Kumi for a second before answering.

"It was. interesting," Nabiki stated.

"I see." Kumi stated.

"If that's all, then I'll be going. I have a lot of things to do before school starts," Nabiki stated curtly.

She turned around and began walking away when Kumi blurted out.

"Have you seen a red head anywhere lately?"

Nabiki stopped and turned around. Her face betrayed no emotions.

"A red head? Can't say that I have," Nabiki said in her usual business voice.

"Oh. I see." Kumi said, not sure if she was lying or telling the truth.

"Well then, I'm off," Nabiki said while walking away.

Kumi just stood there with her hands clenched. She had gotten nothing. She bit her lip in frustration and walked off in the opposite direction.

'Damn it. I'll have to try later.' Kumi thought as she walked away.

Nabiki just walked away and went about her business.

'Heh, Ranma. looks like you'll need to be more careful.' Nabiki thought soon after.

She shrugged her shoulders and put the thought to the back of her mind. She currently had other things on her mind.

*****

Ranma slowly opened his eyes and let his eyes slowly adjust to the light. He looked down at Sakura who was cuddled next to him or her as it was at the moment. He patted her head and gently combed out the knots in her hair with his fingers. Sakura stirred in his arms and opened her eyes. She saw Ranma and giggled. Suddenly Ranma's stomach grumbled surprising Sakura. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she began to cry.

"Stupid stomach.." Ranma grumbled as he tried to soothe Sakura.

He picked her up and carried her gently mumbling soft reassurances to Sakura who slowly stopped crying. Ranma sighed as he walked downstairs slowly. He saw Akane walk out of the bathroom with her pajamas on. He blushed slightly seeing her with her hair down. He quickly turned around and walked in the opposite direction when Sakura held out her hands to Akane. Ranma grumbled to himself. He took Sakura in one arm and tugged his pigtail with his other, all while facing away from Akane.

"Uh. can you take care of Sakura for a little bit while I wash up. I mean if you aren't busy or anything? Ranma asked Akane.

Akane just stood there and sighed. She took Sakura from Ranma's arms and walked into her room without a word. Ranma sighed.

'Looks like she's still mad.' Ranma thought to himself as he went about getting ready for school. 'I guess I was a little rude. I'll just apologize to her. later.'

With that Ranma quickly got washed up, changing back into a guy in the process, and put together his school supplies and ran downstairs to see Akane playing with Sakura while feeding her at the same time. Ranma froze as he watched them. He was quickly broken out of his reverie as Genma popped up behind him.

"See anything you like boy?" Genma asked slyly.

"Shut up old man," Ranma spat quickly.

He quickly sat down next to Akane and ate his breakfast in silence. That was when Sakura poked Ranma in the cheek. He looked right at Sakura and smiled. He poked her in the forehead and Sakura began to giggle. Ranma smiled when Akane suddenly jumped up with Sakura in her arms. She quickly handed Sakura to Kasumi and ran. Ranma looked at her then looked at the clock. Moments later Ranma followed Akane as the two burst out of the house yelling their good byes. Sakura just watched then snuggled up against Kasumi. Kasumi just smiled and cradled her when she suddenly remembered Tofu's book.

"Oh my! I forgot to give the book to Akane. Well, I guess I can take a little trip when I go shopping. Oh, I'll have to get something for him," Kasumi said to herself.

Genma sighed and went back to his breakfast, as did Soun. Ranma and Akane were running when they passed Tofu's clinic. Ranma noticed Akane's brow darken slightly. Ranma sighed and slowed down a little. Akane noticed Ranma slowing down and turned around to see what he was doing.

"What are you doing? We're going to be late!" Akane yelled while walking.

"Uh. I. I just wanted to say that. that I'm sorry!" Ranma yelled quickly, his face bright red.

He quickly walked in front of Akane, who had stopped. Akane just stood there shocked.

'Did. did he just.' Akane thought when she noticed the distance between her and Ranma.

"Hey! Wait up!" Akane yelled catching up to Ranma.

"Why don't you run faster!" Ranma yelled behind him.

"Why you." Akane yelled back.

The two arrived at school quickly enough and was about to enter the school grounds when they noticed the hentai horde in front of them. While their size was dramatically smaller they still had a fair number of students. They yelled their battle cry and ran forward.

"Stay away from her you outsider!"

"Akane! Date me!"

"I'll beat you today!"

Ranma and Akane groaned at the stupidity of the group and rushed forward.

"Hey, I don't need your help!" Akane shouted at Ranma.

"Who said I was helping you? They're attacking me too!" Ranma shouted back.

The two of them together were able to finish off the hentai horde in record time leaving them all gasping for air on the ground. Akane continued to glare at Ranma when Kuno decided to enter the picture.

"Foul sorcerer. How you continue to enslave Akane in such a manner!" Kuno yelled loudly from behind a tree.

Ranma stared at Kuno who began to walk out.

"How am I enslaving her?" Ranma asked in dead tone voice.

"Look at how she follows you wherever you go! You must have cast a vile spell to have one that is so pure to follow you who is so evil!" Kuno yelled waving his bokken in the air.

"Hey! I'm not following him! We go to the same class!" Akane yelled.

"Fear not Akane! I shall rescue you from such atrocities!" Kuno declared completely ignoring Akane.

Ranma's head had lowered slightly. He slowly raised his hand, which was twitching.

"Control. control yourself." Ranma mumbled to himself when Kuno leapt forward in attack.

Ranma lifted his head at the last moment and grabbed Kuno's bokken and flipped Kuno over him and threw him to the ground. Akane watched in disinterest. Ranma sighed as he stared at Kuno, who was now twitching on the ground.

"Stupid idiot." Ranma muttered as he turned around.

"I'm not finished yet, Saotome." Kuno muttered.

Both Akane and Ranma ignored him as they walked into the school. The two entered their classroom just as the bell rang signaling the start of school. The teacher entered the room before anyone could swarm the two. Rumors about the two had already shot through the school, changing as they went becoming more and more ridiculous. Akane sighed as she sat down. She quickly got a note passed to her from behind. Akane stared at the sheet and looked back at Yuka who was staring back at her. Akane knew almost immediately that it was going to be bad news. She slowly opened the note up and read its contents.

(Akane, What's up? There's so much going on that you need to know! Oh yeah, what's Ranma like? Everyone's absolutely dying to know! We all saw you two walking out of the school together after second period. What did you guys do? Oh man, you're so lucky to have him! Oh, on a side note it seems like Kumi's taken an interest in you again. You better watch out for her. Make sure to tell me everything later! -Yuka)

Akane sweat dropped as she stared at the note. She sighed.

'At least it's not as bad as I thought.' she thought when another piece of paper fell on her desk.

She stared at the new note and opened it up.

(Akane! How dare you keep Ranma all to yourself! That's not fair!)

Akane just stared at that one. She looked around to see who could have given her the note but instead she found herself locking eyes with Ranma. He had been staring right at her. Ranma immediately turned towards the front of the room. Akane slowly turned her head so that she was staring at her desk, her face slowly turning a light shade of pink.

'What was he looking at me for? Why the hell are all these girls after him?! He's not even that great!' Akane said to herself when she felt her face flushing. 'Damn it. why is he doing this to me?!'

Ranma took another glance at Akane then turned forward. He had been looking at her before until she had caught him. Ranma felt his blood rising into his face.

"Geez. I can't get that stupid image out of my head." Ranma muttered to himself quietly.

The scene of Akane holding Sakura and bouncing her back and forth happily kept on playing through his head. Ranma dropped his head onto his desk making a soft thud. He sighed. He couldn't concentrate on anything. He felt incredibly constricted in here. He felt the gaze of other girls on him along with the glares that the guys were giving him. Among that he could still feel Akane's aura. It pulsated to him, kind of like a heart beat. It was pretty irregular at the moment though. He looked over to her quickly and noticed her blushing.

'Cute.' he suddenly thought when he caught his line of thinking.

Before he could stop it the previous scene of Akane and Sakura played through his mind again.

"Ugh." Ranma muttered as he lay on his desk.

Finally the bell rang signaling the lunch break. Ranma got up when he noticed everyone else get up at the same time. Ranma sweat dropped as more than a few girls started to approach him. He noticed Akane glaring at him from the other side of the room before exiting. Ranma sighed and looked around. He quickly cut through the desks before anyone could get to him and took off in the same direction he had seen Akane turn. He looked around for a while before realizing that he had no idea where anything was, except for his classroom that was. It took him about five minutes to find the cafeteria and by then most of the good food was gone. Ranma stared at the leftovers and sighed. He didn't feel like eating much so he turned and walked outside where he found Akane sitting next to someone, one of her friends he guessed. He found a tree and quickly leapt up into it. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. He found a couple of branches that formed a kind of chair and sat down. While not the most comfortable position it gave him a pretty good view of Akane. He couldn't help but find himself staring at her again.

'She's probably pissed at me.' Ranma thought as he remembered her expression as she had left the room.

Ranma's eyes slowly began to droop as he sat there. The scene of Akane playing with Sakura continued to play across his closed eyes and slowly lulled him to sleep.

". want that." Ranma muttered as he lay there.

Moments later a fit of yelling woke him up.

". think that you're so great?"

"Yeah, just because you're parents hook you up with Ranma don't mean he likes you."

"I bet he thinks you're ugly."

"Ever since Kuno decided that you would be the one, none of us have been able to get any boyfriends!"

Ranma looked up and saw a whole group of girls surrounding Akane and her friend. He couldn't remember Akane's friend's name. Yuko? Yuka? That sounded right to him. Akane expression betrayed no emotions as she stood there receiving it all. Her friend on the other hand, while standing behind Akane, seemed to have a worried expression on her face. Even thought no one seemed to be ready to get into an actual physical fight it looked like Akane was already starting to loose it. Ranma's expression darkened.

'What the hell's going on here?' Ranma thought to himself as he jumped down.

"Hey Akane! What's going." Ranma started when he was cut off sharply by Akane.

"Stay out of this Ranma!" Akane yelled while shooting a glare at Ranma.

"Fine then! See if I care! Geez, and I thought I would help her."Ranma muttered as he turned his back.

Ranma started to walk away when he couldn't help but look back to find Akane running out of the crowd, her friend trailing behind her. Ranma thought he noticed something come from Akane's eyes. Ranma froze as he stared at her run, a chill running down his spine.

'Shit! What the hell did I do now?!' Ranma thought to himself when he noticed the group of girls approach him with bright smiles.

For the first time in his life Ranma found himself glaring at the girls. That was of course when fate decided to throw Ranma another curve ball. Ranma turned around to walk away when he suddenly sensed something dangerous from above. He looked up and all he saw was a giant umbrella come flying down at him. At the last minute he jumped out of the way only to feel the air pressure from the umbrella. A crater formed where he had just been standing. He looked up to find himself face to face with a young boy about his age that seemed awfully familiar. Ranma watched the boy slowly stand up and point the red umbrella at Ranma's face.

"Prepare to Die, Ranma!"

Author's notes: Wow, it's been forever since I've posted anything. Sorry for the long wait. Stupid exams. Well I should be able to start writing much more now that everything's over. I hope you all continue to enjoy my writing! As always, please R&R!