All About the Heart
" " - speaking | ' ' - thoughts
NOTE: All right, I decided, the way to describe Akane and Shampoo follows
Shampoo (Akane) is really Shampoo
Akane (Shampoo) is really Akane
The name in parentheses is the body name. Also, in subsequent mentions I'll just put the name...you guys can figure it out right? Yay~ let the story continue
"Wow..." Shampoo (Akane) breathed. Ranma, too, seemed out of breath. Soon after the declaration of love, the two people melted into a kiss, which lasted quite a while.
"That...was great...Wha?!" Ranma suddenly noticed a figure running away from them. Instantly he recognized the figure. "Purple hair," he muttered, "Shampoo. Man why did she have to be here?" But Shampoo put a finger on his lips.
"Don't worry about that bimbo. Come on, let's go home." Ranma nodded, took her hand, and headed back to the Tendo dojo.
Akane ran.
She could not bear to look any further. It was already hell for her to witness Ranma to lean forward to kiss Shampoo. Although she wasn't exactly jealous since it was after all her body Ranma was kissing, she was still heartbroken and mad at the same time. Suddenly she stopped. 'That's it,' she thought. 'The true test comes now then...Ranma may love me, but is it the body he loves? Or does he love me for who I am? Me? I don't really care about his curse...so I guess I pass. Now...I can only hope.' What a bittersweet revelation. Now she could only hope. With that she went back to the Nekohanten.
"We're home!" Ranma shouted, stepping in the Tendo household.
"Ah good evening! Oh my!" Kasumi dropped the plate of food she was holding when she noticed Ranma and Shampoo (Akane) linking arms. Good thing Soun was there and caught the plate, but he too soon lost control when noticing Ranma and Shampoo. Finally the plate rested on the hands of Nabiki, who rolled her eyebrows at the couple...wait COUPLE! Sadly, the unfortunate plate of food crashed down to the ground.
"Since when did you two actually become a couple??" Nabiki asked, smirking.
"Uh..." Ranma turned beet red with embarrassment.
"Today." Shampoo replied with confidence.
"Tendo-kun! I don't believe this!" Genma cried, patting Soun's back.
"Ah! But it is fact! There's no need to believe! Hahahaha!" Without warning, Soun's demeanor suddnely changed from delirious happiness to a stern, father-like, serious look. "Where were you this morning Saotome-kun?"
Genma stopped his chewing. "Sleeping, why?"
"Did you not hear me call you this morning?!"
"No?"
"Are you trying to make yourself a rebel by avoiding our trademark cries of happiness whenever there's a so-called remote chance that Akane and Ranma are taking a romantic step forward?"
Mass facefault ensued.
"Bwee!" Ranma turned sharply around and noticed P-chan hobbling in the backyard. "P-chan! How are YOU doing now," he greeted the black piglet snidely. P-chan growled. Its eyes brightened when he saw Shampoo. He jumped towards Shampoo, who had her arms open. Just as the pig was about to latch itself on her body, Shampoo made a 'stop' sign and stopped P-chan in the middle of the flight. Everyone looked at Shampoo in surprise, especially Ranma.
"Sorry Ryoga, but...my heart belongs to Ranma..." P-chan fainted. Ranma's eyes were on the verge of popping out when he heard Shampoo talk.
"Akane?! When did you find out?!"
'What?!' Shampoo thought, 'Akane still doesn't know who the hell P-chan is!?' "Uh...it's fairly obvious...the bandana, your comments..."
"Umm...you *just* figured it out?" Shampoo gave Ranma a whack on the head. "Baka."
'Still as uncute as ever...but seriously...how the hell did she figure it out?' The more he thought, the more confused he became.
The next morning...
The Nekohanten was already busy with customers. Akane was barely keeping up with the restaurant's flow. Mousse noticed and offered to help, blind to the fact that he was usually rewarded with a splash or a punch. However that was Shampoo. Akane couldn't resist the temptation to relax and hurriedly gave the tray to Mousse and ran off to the back to get some rest. Mousse just stood there, smiling and very surprised. It took a whack on the head from Cologne's pogo stick to get him moving again.
Just as Akane was about to sit down Cologne hopped to her and asked her if anything was wrong.
Akane snapped, "Why don't YOU tell me what you did to me?!" Cologne chuckled.
"I didn't do anything."
"I'm Akane! In Shampoo's body! What the hell do you mean I didn't do anything?"
"You're
delirious my child. Here, I just got an order of ramen. Can you go
and deliver it?"
Akane knew that she wouldn't get her point across, so she grudgingly accepted the ramen, got on Shampoo's bike, and went towards the address given.
'Ahh, nothing like a good morning training, even though my head still hurts because of that tomboy and where I slept...' Ranma mused as he ran and did a flurry of martial arts moves at the same time. He was about to turn and do a nice kick when he collided with a bicycle. Ranma sighed. 'Shampoo's here...now for the inevitable...' Indeed he looked at the rider and saw Akane (Shampoo). He got himself prepared, awaiting the infamous glomp. But it never came.
Ranma raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Um...hi Shampoo..."
Akane
fought the urge to tell him about her situation. She knew he would
find it ridiculous that such a thing could happen. 'Well,' she
thought, 'I guess I'll be myself then...'
"Hi Ranma."
Author's notes: Hehe...cliffy time ^_^. What are they going to say to each other? Stay tuned and find out! But first, R & R!
