Hi everybody! Thanks for the nice reviews and sorry for having to wait for the next chapter. I have been thinking if I want to continue my other fic (Of loose gi's and lost focuses) and couldn't decide, so I wrote this chapter below. Hope you like it, please review and let me know what you think. Reviews brighten my days, really! Even the not-so-nice ones.

Some answers (you can skip them, unless you see your name there):

Tamphis: I guess what you'll read before answers your question. I can't say how the chapters will be divided because I haven't written them yet, the story just decides for itself.

Erie Maxwell: Gosh, I guess you did read that part carefully. I decided to accept your interpretation and leave it like that. I like it too, although I admit it was actually a typo ;)

Now, on with it. And please remember to review and keep me inspired!!!

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Studying – Chapter II

Studying each other?

'Well, it really has been kinda nice, this afternoon', Ranma thought sitting on the roof, that same evening.

'No chaos, no fiancées, no Ryoga, no Kuno, no nobody… Not even a fight with the tomboy… Just plain peaceful… I kinda liked it, could get used to it. Even the studying part wasn't so bad with that kawaii… Oops!' he mentally kicked himself for forgetting to add the 'kune' to his usual insult.

An image of a smiling Akane in her tight T-shirt and shorts came to his mind.

"Kawaiikune… yeah, right…" he mumbled. If she knew he was thinking about her that way, she'd mallet him to downtown Tokyo by the time he said 'what'…

Still he could not get rid of the image. Having her so close had made him feel so… He couldn't explain it, not even to himself: the sudden urge to get closer, to touch her, smell her, feel her even more…

"Man, I've got it bad…" he mumbled again.

All the fight he put into it, all the names he called her, all the times he made fun of her cooking, her martial arts… Who was he trying to fool? He'd tried to convince himself he was saying the truth… nothing helped him against falling for her completely.

He would never admit that to anyone, of course. He could barely manage to admit it to himself. At times he still tried to deny it. It was easier to deny it than to deal with all the problems he had already thought about a hundred times before: the other girls would put up a fight, chasing Akane, trying to kill her (god, he could never allow that!), their parents would just never stop gloating at their victory (he just couldn't resign to giving in to their pressuring), Ryoga would probably show up shouting 'Ranma, prepare to die!' once again and afterwards he'd sneak in Akane's room as P-chan ('How couldn't she get it, I mean, after all the hints and everything…?'), Kuno would call him a sorcerer and would try to 'free' Akane and the 'pig-tailed goddess' again…

Heck, Kuno at least wasn't a real problem… The fiancées were though. Cologne was. Happosai was (he still couldn't forget the stolen water of drowned man!). Their nagging parents were. And, of course, Akane was.

How did she feel about this? About him…?

He knew he would never dare ask. Never dare face the disappointment if she…

He sighed. His head ached slightly. He couldn't solve anything right then and there, so he forced himself to stop thinking about her. Maybe a little movement would help distract him. He moved towards the edge of the roof, stopping above her room without thinking. After a while he realized where he was.

'Figures', he thought bitterly.

Her light was still on. He leaned over and hooked his feet to the edge of the roof, hanging head down as he often did. He looked inside. She was at her desk, writing something.

Sensing somebody watching her, she suddenly raised her head from her notebook and looked at the window, seeing him hang there, a strange expression on his face. She frowned for a moment, and he feared for his health, shutting his eyes and bracing himself for the pounding he knew he would get, but after the window was opened and nothing happened for a while, he carefully opened one eye and looked at her.

"What do you want, Ranma?" she asked, a strange, yet quite peaceful expression on her face.

'What, no mallet?' he thought. But he decided not to push his luck by asking.

"Uhmmm… I was… on the roof…" he stammered, trying to find something he could say that wouldn't make her mad. "… And I thought I'd thank you for your help, today…"

That seemed to surprise her. He complimented himself, checking her expression for any signs of anger.

She looked at him suspiciously, then, finding something in his eyes she was pleased with, smiled.

"You're welcome, Ranma. After all… we are fiancés, we are supposed to look after each other, right?" she said, without really thinking about what she was saying. She felt a little dazed by his presence and his unusual kindness… Then, watching his stunned expression, what she had said finally sunk in. She blushed a very intense shade of pink.

"I mean…" she hastily tried to find a way out, "… you know.. help each other out…"

Ranma was blushing too. 'She wants to look after me? Did she really mean that?' he wondered, hoping, though a part of him (the macho part of him, of course) screamed at the back of his head that he was Ranma Saotome, the great Martial Artist, he didn't need her to look after him!

For once, he chose to ignore it and let the softer part of his self talk, if only in his mind. 'Awww… who am I trying to fool? I like the idea… She said we're fiancés…'

Finally he spoke aloud, breaking the silence and rescuing her from her embarrassment.

"Yeah, I know…" ha said in a soft, quiet voice. "It's kinda like when I go after you when you're kidnapped or something… You're my fiancé and I'll always go after you and be there for you…" He heard his voice say that and brought his hand over his mouth. He couldn't believe he had said that. He was admitting… He shut his mouth, mentally kicking himself again, blushing a deep red.

It was her time to look puzzled.

"You will?" she asked in a small voice, almost reluctant to believe her own ears.

"…" Ranma panicked, as usually. Then, he looked at her, her shiny eyes, her hopeful expression… She couldn't deny it when she looked at him that way.

"… Yeah", he finally said, looking away.

"You know I'll always be here for you too, don't you?" she added, quietly, as if afraid someone would hear. He turned abruptly, almost losing his balance on the roof edge. When he regained his composure again, she was a couple of steps away from the window.

"Oh, and quit hanging there like a monkey and come inside already" she said cheerfully. He humpfed at the insult, but didn't really get upset by it. She was smiling at him. He couldn't get upset at her smiling.

"Kasumi gave me some cookies before I went up", she added, pointing at her desk.

"Yummy", he laughed, eyeing them, and easily flipped inside. He headed for her desk and picked up a cookie.

"You sure you didn't make these?" he asked suspiciously, already stuffing one in his mouth.

He realized his mistake, though, when he felt her aura blazing.

"Ranma…!" she growled.

"Hey, I was just kidding, calm down!" he said shaking his hands in front of him.

She humpfed and jerked her head away, deciding not to bash him this one time. She felt generous… and he had eaten the cookies despite the fact that he had been worried about who had made them. But she didn't want to look too forgiving, so she turned away pointedly.

Ranma thought it would be better to disappear before she changed her mind or he stuck his foot in his mouth again, so he grabbed more cookies and said sheepishly: "Well, than… Thanks again… and for the cookies too… Good night" , and before she could even finish saying good night back, he was gone.

She gazed dreamily at the window for a few seconds more, smiling to herself. After she finally closed it, she sat again at her desk, and stared at her diary. She reread what she had written down before the 'intrusion'.

Dear diary,

You won't believe this but we actually had a calm day! And you know just how rare that is around here… We, I mean Ranma and me… God, I'm not used to writing about him and myself as 'we'… Anyway, school was fine, nothing special happened – Kuno-bashing isn't considered special any more – except for the fact that our sensei told Ranma he'd have to take summer courses in Physics and Maths if he didn't improve his grades by a good deal very soon. So I offered him some help.

Yeah, I did, I know it sounds strange, me offering to help him. But the strangest thing is that he accepted.

After I almost lost my temper again, of course.

So we spent the afternoon in my room, alone, studying. I confess I kind of studied him while he studied Physics… I even changed into my shortest shorts (I never wear them, they're *that* short!) just to see how he would react and to have an excuse to make *him* take his shirt off, since it was soooo hot. I couldn't believe myself. This is Ranma, and I'm trying to make him look at me? And even steal glances at his body? What's happened to me? Akane the man-hater? Yeah, right.

But I sure made an impression. I pretended not to notice, but I could barely keep a smile from my face seeing him glance at my legs and chest. Hentai. Baka.

Isn't that what I wanted? He's not a hentai, I know, he actually tried really hard to concentrate on studying and all.

Yet he actually did. He took his shirt off, and I was a little disappointed seeing his tank top underneath. Still I suddenly felt so hot! I must have been red as one his red Chinese shirts! I had to calm down and really tried to concentrate on what we were doing. But it was so hard!

It was almost ok till I had to show him that geometry exercise. He couldn't draw it properly so I got up and tried showing him bending over him, catching his hand in mine. Not that I had planned to, but I ended up leaning against his back and when I realized it, he was just turning his face toward me and he was so close… For a moment I thought we were going to kiss.

But then I panicked. This was Ranma, after all. We fight, we call each other names. We don't kiss.

So I came up with an excuse to leave the room and calm down.

Here she had stopped, seeing him at the window. She took her pen and started writing.

He just left my room. It's evening now, I'm ready for bed. I was writing here when I sensed him at the window. He came to thank me! For helping him study. And he said he would always be there for me, he'd always go after me. Well, I said it too. Did he mean it? I know tomorrow he'll say something inconsiderate and I'll end up mad and everything. But now I just feel so nice!!! He actually said something nice to me. Wonder if he's ok… ;)

I'm so excited, I can't really write any more…

I guess it's time for bed. We'll see what happens tomorrow, ne?

She put her diary away, switched the light off and went under the covers. She had a feeling she'd have a wonderful dream that night.

After leaving her room, Ranma had stopped on the roof again, to calm down (and to finish the cookies). He didn't want to think about it too much. He just kept replaying her voice when she had said

"You know I'll always be here for you too, don't you?"

And her expression when he had thanked her. Could she really not think of him only as a hentai baka, after all? She'd be there for him, as she often had in the past, when it was important. She cared for him…? He didn't dare let his hopes get to high, lest he would get too disappointed if she… He shoved the thought aside and tried to enjoy the night breeze for a moment. Somehow, in spite of all, he felt quite peaceful.

Eventually he got up and descended to his room, where a panda was already loudly snoring. He lay on his futon, his back down, his hands under his head, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the afternoon again despite himself. He growled.

'Why can't I get her out of my head? I can't sleep because of that kawaiikune tomboy again…' he sighed. He thought of how he almost made her pull her mallet out with that remark about who had made the cookies. Why did he always have to say the wrong thing? No doubt her cooking was dreadful but he didn't need to bring it out when everything was going so well. His mouth acted as if it was independent of his brains sometimes. He sighed again.

He hated to make her angry. But even more he hated to make her sad. Somehow, that day, he had managed to make her smile. He would have spent every afternoon studying maths or anything else for that matter, just to have her near him, just to see her, smell her, feel her…

"Man, I've got it bad…" he mumbled again, and slowly drifted to sleep. Akane's words returned in his dreams and he smiled fondly at her image.

In her own room, Akane dreamed of all the times Ranma had come after her and rescued her, of all the moments of tenderness between them, adding this afternoon to the list. She smiled in her sleep, pleased that the list was not that short, after all.