Chapter Four: Is it... Love?

Akane ran as fast as she could. She didn't want to look at Ranma. In fact he was the last person she wanted to see. He was the reason everyone hated her. He was the one that had brought all this upon her. She stared straightforward tears slowly dripping from her eyes. She never wanted to look at his face ever again. Except his face was the only thing she could see, flashing in her mind. She slowed down for some reason, unknown to even her. Tears continued falling as she slowly turned her head.

'Why am I turning around? What is wrong with me?' Akane yelled at herself.

But it was too late. She had turned her head and now stood shocked as another boy plummeted from the sky on top of Ranma, who just barely managed to dodge the surprise attack. Akane just watched as Ranma stared at the boy with a confused, yet slightly angry expression on his face. The other boy, however, wore an expression of primal fury that seemed to change into one of bemused anger. Akane took a step backwards, but found herself unable to move any farther.

"You haven't changed Ranma. You're still good at running away," Ryoga sneered.

Ranma just stared at Ryoga. Then a look of utter bewilderment seemed to cross over his face.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked in an innocently confused voice.

A vein popped in Ryoga's forehead. Ryoga forcibly calmed himself down and stared back at Ranma.

"Just answer me one thing, Ranma. Why did you run out on our fight?" Ryoga yelled.

Ranma just stared at him when a light bulb seemed to flash inside his head.

"Wait! You were in my class at my old high school! Ryoga Hibiki! Long time no see!" Ranma said, in a bit happier tone.

"Answer my question!" Ryoga yelled back.

Ranma narrowed his eyes at this. Akane watched in mild interest, her tears long forgotten when she noticed the small crowd forming around Ranma and Ryoga. Akane sighed.

'Ranma Ranma Ranma... everything Ranma...' Akane thought to herself.

She forcibly turned herself around and began walking quickly away. Ranma noticed this almost instantly. Ranma quickly turned back to Ryoga and answered him.

"Look, I waited for three days. I don't have the time right now to deal with your stupid whatever right now," Ranma spat, looking away from Ryoga for a split second.

It was all the provocation Ryoga needed to commence his attack. He rushed forward, his umbrella in his right hand and threw it out at Ranma who barely was able to dodge it. Ryoga watched as it spun around like a boomerang and caught it as it returned to his hand. Ranma looked back at Ryoga with an annoyed expression.

"Look, we'll fight next time so just wait a little longer. I have other things I need to take care of," Ranma said turning his back to Ryoga then jumped away.

Ryoga ran after Ranma screaming.

"Come back here! No matter what it takes, I'll take away your happiness!" Ryoga screamed as he suddenly took a sharp turn left.

Ranma continued running forward as Ryoga continued turning at completely random streets, which eventually led him to an open beach out in Okinawa. How this course of events occurred and how they happened so quickly is absolutely unknown. Ryoga stared at the setting sun, fire in his eyes. Unknown to even him, a slight green aura began to manifest around him.

"I'll find you Ranma Saotome!" Ryoga shouted at the top of his lungs, when a rather large coconut dislodged itself from where it was hanging and smacked Ryoga in the head.

*****

Akane finally started to slow down and found herself in front of Dr. Tofu's clinic. She stared inside. Tofu was working with one of his patients with a smile on his face. It was a gentle smile that seemed to calm even her down. But it was strange. She had seen the smile so many times before and they had always made her heart ache but it wasn't there anymore. She didn't feel any of the old feelings that she had felt before. She looked inside again when an image of Ranma popped into her head. It was the moment he had jumped in front of her to fight Kuno. His expression as he had looked at her at that moment flashed in her mind. She quickly shook her head.

"Why won't you just leave me alone?!" Akane yelled.

She began to walk back home, feeling utterly confused about everything. She swallowed the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. She was determined not to cry anymore today.

'Funny... I don't even remember crying until Ranma came. I don't think I've cried since mom passed...' Akane thought when she stopped her train of thought.

'Damn you Ranma... damn you...' Akane cursed weakly, as a soft pain began to throb in her chest.

Ranma watched her from atop of Tofu's clinic. He just sat down as he thought back to what she had shouted.

"Why won't you just leave me alone?!"

'Was she talking about me? She has to of been...' Ranma thought. 'Damn it, what the hell did I ever do to her?'

He took one last glance at her and then jumped away, away from the Tendo Dojo. A single tear slowly slid down Akane's cheek before it was wiped away.

*****

Sakura rolled on the ground sucking on her thumb. Kasumi watched her with a warm smile on her face. She walked over to her and picked her up and rocked her in her arms. Kasumi brought her face up close to Sakura's and wiggled her nose. Sakura giggled as she began to play with Kasumi's nose.

'She's so cute!' Kasumi thought to herself as she played with Sakura.

Kasumi rocked Sakura back and forth. It was nearing Sakura's naptime. She began to sing a soft lullaby. It was a song that Kasumi remembered hearing from her own mother. Kasumi smiled as she sang softly. Kasumi watched as Sakura began to close her eyes. She smiled and lay her down on her bed and placed a blanket over her. Kasumi sat down in a chair near Sakura and watched her, softly humming. A small tear formed in the corner of Kasumi's eye.

'Mom... I miss you so much...'

It was then she remembered the book that she needed to return to Tofu. She got out of her chair and walked over to the counter with Dr. Tofu's book on it. She picked it up gently and sighed. She enjoyed his company but he was just so... how would you put it... strange. She could never have a cohesive conversation with the man but he was so funny. He had also taken care of their family for a long time now. She sighed.

'I really need to do something with my life... as soon as everyone is settled down...' Kasumi thought to herself when she heard someone come barging into the house. Kasumi sighed. It had to be Akane. Kasumi heard Akane enter her room and then slam the door shut. Kasumi winced, and then looked back at Sakura, who had someone managed to stay asleep. Kasumi sighed a sigh a relief.

'I'm going to have to remind her that we have a baby in the house...' Kasumi thought to herself.

Kasumi walked towards the kitchen looked in the refrigerator.

'A little food may ease Akane's mood,' Kasumi thought as she rummaged around the fridge.

Not seeing what she wanted she stood up and picked up Tofu's book from the counter.

'Might as well take Dr. Tofu's book to him while I shop,' Kasumi thought as she neared the stairs and made her way to Akane's room.

She softly knocked on the door.

"Akane? Are you ok?" Kasumi asked in a worried tone.

After a few seconds of silence Kasumi knocked on the door again.

"Akane, do you want anything? Do you want to talk about it?" Kasumi asked again.

"It's nothing... don't worry about it," Akane answered back in a muffled voice.

Kasumi sighed. Akane was either just finished crying, crying, or on the verge of crying.

"Well I'm going to be going out for a bit to pick some stuff up. I'll be back in a little while. I just wanted to tell you that Sakura's asleep. I would appreciate it if you could watch her and the house until I come back," Kasumi said in a warm tone.

"Ok... I'll take care of her. I'll see you later, sis," Akane said through the door.

Kasumi sighed and made her way downstairs again and walked out the door. Hopefully, Akane would be in a better mood later on. With that thought Kasumi headed towards Dr. Tofu's clinic.

*****

Akane was lying on her bed facedown. Her tears had finally come to a stop. Akane lay there silently when she heard someone outside her door, and then a knock.

"Akane, so you want anything? Do you want to talk about it?" Kasumi's voice came through the door.

Akane sat there in silence for a few seconds before answering.

"It's nothing... don't worry about it," Akane answered, her face still facing the pillow.

"Well I'm going to be going out for a bit to pick some stuff up. I'll be back in a little while. I just wanted to tell you that Sakura's asleep. I would appreciate it if you could watch her and the house until I come back," Kasumi said in a warm tone that made Akane feel slightly better.

"Ok... I'll take care of her. I'll see you later, sis," Akane answered.

Akane listened to her sister head back down the stairs and then out the door. Akane rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her damp pillow chilling her neck. She continued to lie there when a loud cry came from below her, muffled through the floor. Akane sighed.

'Geez, she just had to wake up...' Akane thought to herself when Sakura cried out again.

Akane slowly got out of bed and exited her room, her earlier feelings of animosity almost completely drained out of her system. Actually, Akane was in a fairly docile mood as she climbed down the stairs.

'I'm so tired...' Akane thought to herself as she wiped away the remaining dampness from her face.

She made her way to Sakura, who was still crying. Akane in an almost natural fashion went over and picked her up and began to rock her back and forth. Akane felt extremely light hearted all of a sudden. She looked down at Sakura, who had stopped crying, and couldn't help but smile. Sakura snuggled up close to Akane and slowly began to close her eyes again. Suddenly, Akane felt a wave of sleepiness wash over her. Akane slowly walked over to the couch in the living room, Sakura still in her arms. She sat down and looked down at Sakura once more.

"You're so lucky. You don't have to worry about anything, except what you're going to eat next," Akane said quietly. "What do you even see in Ranma?" Akane asked suddenly.

Akane thought she saw Sakura's eyes flicker when she mentioned Ranma's name but she did see a small smile creep onto Sakura's face. At the same time a flurry of thoughts entered Akane's mind, all of them focused on one thing. Ranma. Akane sighed, too tired to feel anything.

'I wish I knew...' Akane thought before she found herself nodding off, Sakura curled up in her arms.

In a matter of seconds the two of them were fast asleep.

*****

Ranma jumped from roof to roof, not really sure as to where he was going. He was fairly sure he was merely circling Nerima, as he had seen the same buildings over and over again in the last hour. Ranma suddenly came to a stop on a building. He could feel a thin lining of sweat covering his body.

"Damn... I must have circled Nerima... at least 30 times... I don't... remember... the last time I worked up this much of a sweat..." Ranma said out loud to himself.

He had his hands on his knees, slightly crouched over, while breathing fairly hard but that was quickly slowing down to normal. Ranma sat down on the roof of the building and stared at the sky.

'Why the hell did I just run away?' Ranma thought to himself, a thin aura surrounding his body.

Ranma slammed his fist down on the roof in frustration. A small spider web of cracks splintered from where he impacted. Ranma lifted his hand slowly and stared at the bits of rock that had stuck to the side of his hand.

"Shit, I don't even know my strength these days," Ranma said aloud when he noticed the light glow around his hand. "What the..."

Ranma just stared at the glow. It was the first time he had seen his own aura, in fact it was the first time he realized he even had a visible aura. He had felt auras before, but they had never been visible. He suddenly found the sky incredibly interesting and stared upwards. He lifted his hand and found the glow all but gone.

"I never even knew I was at this kind of level. How strong am I? Shit. I can punch a hole through a brick wall but I can't even talk to the girl I..." Ranma started then stopped.

Ranma's eyes widened slightly.

'Is that it? Oh man... I am aren't I...' Ranma thought silently to himself.

Ranma sat back up and stared off into space thoughts of Akane running through his mind. He had just met her a few days ago and the physical attraction was already there. Ranma knew it. But if it had only been that then he would have been fine. Ranma had dealt with plenty of beautiful women before. Shampoo instantly came to mind.

'Of course she was insane...' Ranma thought to himself.

"Damn it... I really do... and I'm engaged to her... and she hates my living guts..." Ranma said aloud to himself.

Images of Akane with Sakura flashed in his head. Ranma sighed and tried to clear his head. He got up and stretched out his limbs to keep them from getting to stiff. He began to slowly jump back towards the Tendo Dojo. The sun was starting to set and he was getting hungry. He continued on his way when he saw something, or more particularly, someone, out of the corner of his eye. In a blink of an eye he had jumped off the roof and landed softly next to her.

*****

Kasumi had finished he shopping and was heading back towards the Tendo Dojo when she had remembered that she still needed to return Dr. Tofu's book. She walked towards the clinic when she heard, or at least thought she heard something next to her. She turned around and found Ranma looking at her with a smile that caught her off guard. She couldn't help herself and found a light blush creeping onto her face. Before she could say a word Ranma had already commenced with his greetings.

"Hey, what's up?" Ranma asked in a good-natured tone.

"Why hello Ranma. What are you doing out here?" Kasumi asked, quickly getting control of herself.

"Uh, nothing really. What ya got there?" Ranma asked, eyeing the food.

"Just a few things I want to cook for dinner and a book I need to return to Dr. Tofu," Kasumi answered smiling.

"Really? I'll come with you then," Ranma said without a thought.

Kasumi merely smiled and led the way as Ranma followed close behind. A comfortable silence fell between the two as they walked amiably towards the clinic. Ranma took a look at Kasumi out of the corner of his eye.

'Man, she's always so nice. She's really pretty too. wonder why she's not taken already?' Ranma wondered to himself suddenly when he noticed Kasumi stop walking.

He looked up at the building and recognized it as the clinic. He looked in and saw Tofu working with one of his patients.

'I should probably be a little nicer this time around... I guess I was pretty rude last time...' Ranma thought to himself when Kasumi slowly walked in.

Ranma watched with a raised eyebrow at what happened next. People noticed Kasumi and suddenly got out of their chair and began to walk out, after they had bid Kasumi a polite good day. Even the elderly left as quickly as they could as if they were avoiding Kasumi. Ranma wondered what it could be when he caught a glance of Tofu. He was standing completely rigid with his glasses completely fogged over. The patient he had been working with jumped off the chair he had been sitting in and bolted for the door. Ranma watched him run for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Tofu.

'What the hell's going on?' Ranma thought to himself when Kasumi spoke up.

"Hello Dr. Tofu. How are you today?" Kasumi asked in a sweet voice.

"I-I'm doing fine that I am!" Tofu stuttered in a barely coherent fashion.

"I just came to drop off your book. It was a wonderful read," Kasumi said smiling.

"I-I'm so glad you enjoyed it," Tofu stuttered out.

Ranma just stared at Tofu.

'Man. he has it bad. I've never seen anyone like this before,' Ranma thought to himself when Tofu suddenly turned and grabbed a model skeleton.

"Look Betty, Kasumi came to talk to us today!" Tofu said, striking a conversation with the skeleton.

Kasumi began to laugh.

"You're so funny Dr. Tofu."

"More like crazy..." Ranma muttered under his breath.

"Well, I have to get going now, so I'll talk to you later. Have a good day Dr. Tofu," Kasumi said as she began to leave.

Ranma just followed Kasumi out, staring at Tofu, who was dancing around with Betty, without saying a word. He listened to the people standing just outside of the clinic.

"He's such a good doctor too..."

"Sigh. but when Kasumi, bless her heart, comes he completely looses control. It's a shame he doesn't just confess..."

"That would solve a lot of problems."

Ranma just looked back at the clinic in stupor.

'Man, you learn something new everyday...' Ranma thought to himself.

He noticed Kasumi a little ways ahead of him and sped up. The two of them quickly reached the Tendo Dojo. Kasumi walked towards the kitchen as they entered the building.

"Dinner will be ready in about an hour so try and get everyone ready by then," Kasumi told Ranma as Ranma headed into the living room.

"Ok, I'll make sure everyone's here," Ranma answered back.

"Thank you," Kasumi said sweetly.

Ranma blushed slightly and continued on his way. What he saw as he entered the living room made his heart skip a few beats. Akane was sleeping on the couch with Sakura nestled in her arms sleeping contently. Ranma just stared at the two of them for a while not wanted to disturb the peace that seemed to reside in the room. A sudden voice startled Ranma.

"Like what see, Saotome?" Nabiki asked in an amused voice.

"Why would I like seeing them like that?" Ranma answered unable to look Nabiki in the face.

"Whatever. They were like this since I came home. Just thought you'd like to know," Nabiki stated neutrally.

Ranma stole another glance at the two on the couch. A light blush crept up on Ranma's face. Nabiki noticed it and smiled.

'Geez, it's so obvious you like each other...' Nabiki thought to herself.

"Well don't stare at her for too long, Saotome," Nabiki said as she walked out of the room.

"S-shut up," Ranma shot back quietly, too quiet for him to even seem remotely threatening.

Ranma stole one more glance before he too decided to leave them alone. Outside the living room, hidden in the bushes a pair of eyes stared at the scene. Completely green with envy, Gosunkugi, stayed hidden until he was sure Ranma had left. He slowly made his way out of the Tendo grounds and walked away.

"Damn you Ranma." Gosunkugi muttered when he suddenly ran into someone.

Gosunkugi stared at his obstacle and found himself staring at a boy about his age. He was wearing a yellow bandana with black polka dots. A giant red umbrella was attached to his backpack. The boy looked as if he hadn't slept in ages.

"Did you say Ranma?" Ryoga asked.

"Err... yes..." Gosunkugi whispered.

"Do you know where he is?" Ryoga asked excitedly.

"You just missed him..." Gosunkugi whispered in a frightened tone.

"Damn..." Ryoga cursed. "Why won't you stop running you coward!" Ryoga shouted into the air.

Gosunkugi perked up at that.

"You hate Ranma?" Gosunkugi asked hopefully.

"Hate him? I'm going to beat the crap out of the bastard," Ryoga snarled.

"Why don't we work together then? I know a few other people that would be willing to help..." Gosunkugi offered hopefully.

Ryoga just stared at Gosunkugi.

"Uh... I don't think I'll need your help..." Ryoga muttered as he stared at Gosunkugi's scrawny, awkward body.

Gosunkugi just smiled.

"I'm a lot more helpful then you think. I know Ranma's weak point!" Gosunkugi said happily.

Ryoga just stared at Gosunkugi and then walked away.

"If you think I need to know some stupid weak point to defeat Ranma then you are even more useless than I thought," Ryoga spat as he walked back in the direction he had just come from.

"Err... well let me at least tell you where he's staying..." Gosunkugi started when someone cut him off.

"Hello? You with the red umbrella!" A feminine voice called out.

Gosunkugi turned around when he suddenly found an elbow in his face. He fell flat on the ground. The last thing he saw was a pair of feet fly over his face. Ryoga turned around at the sound of the voice.

"You turned around!" the girl squealed in joy.

Ryoga just blushed as he saw the girl skip towards him. The girls long black hair flowed behind her. She was wearing what Ryoga recognized to be a Furinkan School uniform. She stopped right in front of Ryoga and smiled as cutely as she could. Ryoga involuntarily took a step back and blushed brightly.

"Uh... who are you?" Ryoga asked slowly.

"My names Kumi. Asano Kumi," Kumi answered smiling brightly.

"H-hello Asano-san..." Ryoga sputtered, completely unused to talking to a girl by himself.

"You can call me Kumi," Kumi said, still smiling.

"Uh.ok... Kumi... err... chan..." Ryoga said blushing brightly now.

Kumi laughed inwardly.

'What a bonehead! He's going to be useful...especially if he's capable of doing what he did at school that one day...' Kumi thought to herself. 'Just have to make sure he stays around. I can't believe I found him!'

"I saw you at school that one day and I was so impressed! You're so much cooler than Ranma is!" Kumi said in a cutesy voice.

Ryoga just blushed.

"Um... it was nothing... nothing at all..." Ryoga muttered, completely unsure of how to act.

"You know what? I like you!" Kumi said in the most straightforward voice she could muster.

"M-m-me?" Ryoga stuttered.

"Yup!" Kumi said smiling brightly on the outside, laughing on the inside.

"In fact, I think I want you to be my boyfriend!" Kumi continued.

Ryoga just stared at Kumi for a few seconds before nodded in a slow manner.

"Um... ok..." Ryoga agreed, not completely realizing as to what he had just agreed to.

"Yippee!" Kumi shouted as she grabbed Ryoga's arm and dragged him with her.

She laughed inwardly.

'I'll get you Akane. And when I do, I'll take you and everyone around you down with you...' Kumi said to herself as she dragged Ryoga down the street.

Gosunkugi twitched as he felt a cool breeze brush past his sore body.

Author's notes: Well, since I haven't updated in so long I decided to post two of my stories at once. I'm sorry for the long wait. Anyways I hoped you enjoyed it. As always R&R! It's the reviews that keep me going and I thank you all for your support.