I'm alive! And I still write, in spite of all the mess in my life… I'm getting busier and busier and I just don't find the energy to sit down and write a chapter. And on top of everything, after finishing Studying I felt kind of drained… no inspiration at all. But maybe the new year will bring faster updates. I might get a little more time in the near future so don't despair and don't forget about me! Also, as I said in my bio, I started writing bits of later chapters too so it might still take some time, but I definitely will finish this as soon as I can. So please, don't give up on me!
Now go on and enjoy the story, and be sure to tell me what you think.
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"Of Loose Gi's and Lost Focuses"
Chapter 14
Akane saw the passion in his eyes being partly replaced by a hint of fear (she was Akane and she was famous for her temper, after all) and she smiled inwardly. As soon as he let her arms go, she grasped his sides and deftly turned him so that she was on top of him. Surprise flashed on his face, but the last thing that she saw before closing her eyes was the slow smile spreading across his lips as he realized what she had in mind.
He couldn't really think much while Akane was kissing him with such passion, yet the little part of Ranma's brain that did not go to la-la land was thanking the kami for this beautiful girl in his arms. After the relief at her action ebbed, he started fully feeling the position they were in again. He could feel her every curve, and the experience still felt new. She was warm and tender and her breasts were stretching the gi in a way that he found most enchanting.
Akane's arms, which were keeping her from lying on him completely, were becoming weaker by the moment as her desire to feel his body pressed to hers in all its length was growing. She did not have much choice anyway since when Ranma regained some control of his faculties, he pulled her down himself, holding her tightly and caressing her back slowly. He broke the kiss just to press his lips to hers again and again in countless soft and moist motions. The fabric of the gi was rough and he couldn't feel her skin, so he tried to find a way under it from the bottom. But to do that, he had to press his hand on her bottom. As he realized what his hand was touching, his blood sped up considerably.
Akane was so lost in their kisses that the added sensation didn't really register in her brain except for making her moan a little louder.
The fact that they were in the Tendo garden and that anyone – from their fathers to Nabiki and to all their occasional guests – could see them did not even cross their minds, they were too absorbed in each other. But the world was still spinning and this was still Nerima and someone was bound to see them.
Standing at the gate of the garden, staring at the most compromising position she as ever found Ranma and Akane in, was a girl clad in man's clothes with a giant spatula.
Her first impulse was of course to shout something and try to separate them. The mere fact of being caught would have been enough to break them apart and make them feel more than embarrassed, she knew that. But she hesitated.
The picture before her was so sensual, so unusual that she was mesmerised for a few seconds, almost imagining that it was her that Ranma was holding so tenderly, that it was her lips that he was kissing so passionately, that it was her body his hands were exploring…
A small sound coming from Akane startled her and brought her back to reality. She shook her head and blinked repeatedly to focus her thoughts again. The couple was still oblivious to her.
What was she supposed to do? She couldn't pretend she hadn't seen them and she couldn't dismiss the whole thing as unimportant because she knew the truth.
Ranma didn't love Ukyo.
Ranma loved Akane.
And now he was making out with her in the Tendo garden, where anyone could see them.
"Hey, guys," she spoke at last, looking away from them, unable to meet their flushed features as they hastily got up, being more than two metres apart in less than one second. Ukyo continued: "You better watch out where you do such things, next time it could not be me."
"Ucchan…" Ranma said, not really knowing what to do. Why wasn't Ucchan angry? Why was she looking away and seemed so sad?
These were more or less the same thoughts that were running through Akane's mind, and she also managed only to utter: "Ukyo, you're not…"
Ukyo looked up and smiled sadly.
"No, I'm not mad, Akane. It's… I should have known all along. In fact, I did know all along, but I didn't want to accept it. I guess now I have to."
Ranma understood what she was saying and saw the pain behind her words. He felt miserable.
"I'm sorry, Ucchan. I …"
"Don't, Ranma, please. It's no use." She turned away again, ready to leave. "I'm going to think about this whole mess and I'll try to really… accept it. Just leave me alone for now, both of you."
She walked away, her shoulders slumped, her steps hard and quick. After she turned the first corner and got out of their sight, she started running, the tears finally flowing freely from her eyes.
Akane and Ranma stared at the spot where she had disappeared for quite some time, each lost in its own world, each sorry for the girl in their own way.
Ranma hoped that this wouldn't mean losing a friend. He loved Ukyo very much, just not the way she wanted him to. Damn his father that got him into this mess and a million others too!
Akane knew – or at least could imagine – how Ukyo felt. She had often tried to imagine the day when Ranma finally picked a fiancée and he didn't pick her. Just the thought made her feel almost physical pain. What would it feel like if it really happened? She had a vague idea seeing Ukyo's broken figure leave hastily.
Suddenly, another startling voice broke their reveries.
"What is going on here?"
This time it really was Nabiki and, though startled, Akane and Ranma silently thanked the kami again for not making her come home two minutes earlier.
"What?" Ranma finally managed to answer Nabiki's question.
"What are you two doing in the middle of the garden, on the floor, staring at nothing? Has anything happened that I should be aware of?" Nabiki asked again, her voice full of innuendo. Their flushed faces looked very suspicious and she had to find out what was going on with those two.
Akane panicked and was about to try to invent an excuse when Ranma interrupted her.
"Oh, you know, the usual stuff. We were sparring and then we ended up kissing on the ground…" he said in a very nonchalant manner.
"What?!" Akane and Nabiki screamed in unison.
Ranma just laughed at their expressions and continued: " Come on, Akane, let's get back to work."
And he pulled her up and to the dojo, leaving an extremely frustrated Nabiki behind.
"Hey, what kind of answer is that? Come back and tell me the truth!" Nabiki said indignantly, but they were already in the dojo practising again and she didn't have any choice but to go inside the house and plot vengeance. Now about that new equipment she had just recently bought…
"Are you nuts?" Akane fumed through her teeth, afraid that her sister might hear her. "What do you think you're doing, telling her something like that?"
She attacked him furiously and with her improved skills Ranma had to pay much more attention than usually.
"Well, it was the truth, after all…" he said, avoiding one of her kicks at the last moment and smiling broadly at her.
"I know but she doesn't have to know!" Akane protested.
"She didn't believe me, did she?" Ranma explained while doing a back-flip and trying to make her fall with a sweep of his leg. 'Unbelievable, she's still very focused in the battle, though she is angry and talking about something else', he pondered in the meantime. Out loud, he said: "Plus I got her off our backs, didn't I?"
Akane tried some punches but hit only air, though it was air dangerously close to her fiancé's chest. Was he getting slower?
"Yes but she'll…"
"What?", he interrupted her, "go and tell our fathers? She hasn't got anything to prove it, and as I said, she didn't believe me in the first place. We'll just have to be very careful in the future."
Akane blushed, thinking about what they had been doing. He blushed, too, but forced himself to think about her training and started an attack aimed at her head, which she avoided without struggle. 'She is getting much better every day', he thought amazed.
Akane didn't have more time to talk, since all her energies were being used up in the fight, so she soon forgot about it and concentrated on her defence and attacks.
'He is fighting back', she thought surprised, 'not full-force, but he is attacking me. Yes!'
And the training went on. And on. And on.
That night, Ukyo was lying in her bed, thinking. It hurt, but she was strong and she'd survive. She'd even find somebody else to love. Just not that idiot Tsubasa or something…
The biggest problem was her honour, though. Her father would never accept her failure if there wasn't at leas some kind of retaliation. Marrying Ranma was now out of the question, and she was sure the cart had been lost by Genma ages ago. What could she do? Who could she turn to for help in matters of honour, since she couldn't go to her family? Genma was out of the question two, he didn't know what honour was anymore. And she knew all too well that Ranma didn't have any good ideas about the matter, or he would have put them in practice.
A sudden idea popped in her mind. Who was the one person who cared enough about Genma and Ranma's honour that would try anything to find a suitable way out of this engagement?
Nodoka, of course.
She finally decided that a visit to Ranma's mother was imperative and she finally was able to go to sleep.
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Thus ends Chapter 14. Can you believe it? I updated!
Thanks to all those who reviewed and encouraged me to write more even though it's been really ages from the last update. If you have any questions, of you see any mistakes of just want to throw some virtual vegetables or eggs or something at me please review or email me directly. Thanks again for your patience! Love you all!
