Couple's Therapy
Pointless tales of pairing off
Standard Issue Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 is not mine to do with as I please. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and some other people whose names I don't recall. Please don't sue me!
AUTHOR'S WARNING!!!: If you are reading this chapter expecting a lot of humor, expect to be disappointed. This here is serious dramatic territory with a reduced humor content. If you can't handle that, skip it, but don't expect me to repeat all the plot points you missed later on :)
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CASE 4: Ranma and Akane Revisited, OR What Does Feel For Me?
Just after the fight with Kuno and Ukyo...
"Could this day possibly get any worse?" Ranma wondered as he and Akane walked home from school early, hand in hand. Though actual public displays of affection were still beyond their nerves, with nobody around their courage increased dramatically.
Actually, not wanting to be in public right now was the reason that they were skipping the rest of their school day. After the first few groups of students they saw gave them cheers, catcalls, and one standing ovation, it became apparent that their secret little love affair wasn't so secret after all. When that became apparent they just couldn't bring themselves to stick around and face their peers.
"I'm gonna kill Nabiki when I see her," Ranma said. Okay, they didn't actually know it was Nabiki that had sold them out, but... come on! Who else would it be?
"Oh well," Akane said. "It's... it's not really a big deal, is it?"
"Huh?" Ranma was, to say the least, surprised. "Akane, do you want them to think we're a couple of perverts?"
"It was going to come out eventually," Akane said. "And I've got news for you, Ranma, a lot of our classmates think you're a pervert already."
Ranma grumbled under his breath. "Well," he said, "I don't mind them thinkin I'm a pervert, but I don't like them thinkin the same about you."
His unintentional act of sensitivity earned him a glowing smile from Akane. She walked a bit closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I don't care," she said. "Right now I just want a good long soak in the tub."
Ranma thought about his aching muscles, especially his back where Kuno had hit him, and responded without thinking. "Yeah, that sounds great."
Akane immediately removed her head from his shoulder, let go of his hand, and stopped walking.
Ranma turned to see what the matter was, and Akane slapped him.
"Hey!" he demanded, "what did you do that for?"
"Ranma Saotome," Akane hissed, "If you think that just because those few times I gave in to you..."
"Who gave into who?" Ranma wanted to know, but Akane ignored his return.
"...that I am going to let you take a bath with me..."
"Whoa, wait Akane!" Ranma sputtered. "That's not what I meant..."
Akane's eyes flashed a death look at Ranma. "I know exactly what you meant!"
"Geez, Akane! I'm sorry, okay? That's not what I meant, honest!"
Akane stopped giving Ranma death looks and started walking again, though she didn't take his hand.
Ranma sighed in frustration and just kept walking.
After a while, after they both had time to think, Akane spoke up again. Her voice seemed... well... a bit different.
"So... you... umm... wanna try it?"
"Try what?" Ranma asked.
"You wanna try taking a bath together?"
Ranma froze up. "Akane... didn't... didn't you just say..."
Akane grabbed Ranma's hand. "Come on dummy!" she said playfully as she began pulling him in the direction of the Tendo Dojo. All the way home Ranma wondered if he would ever puzzle this girl out. After that he had other things to think about.
*****
Some time later Akane found herself in the tub and in Ranma's arms, basking in the warmth of the water and the warmth they had just given each other. As they lay there peacefully, Akane came to a realization.
This was why she did it.
This was only their second real time together (Akane didn't count the first night, because she had been under the influence of the Kontoraibansu powder at the time). But she knew that this moment, this short time of perfect peace, of affection from the boy she loved, was why she made love to him. Sure, she wanted him both times they had made love, and the experience itself had been incredible, beyond any words she had to describe it, but this, lying here, saying nothing as Ranma ran his fingers through her dark blue hair (oh, how she loved that!) was the true prize. It made her feel... like he loved her, the way she loved him.
Even if it might be just a fantasy, it was something she would always cherish.
She didn't know how Ranma felt about her. When they were alone he would hold her hand. When she wanted to make love to him he would always agree (after a bit of resistance). He would always fight for her. Once, when he thought she was dead, he may have told her he loved her. None of that mattered. Sometimes it infuriated her. The Kontoraibansu powder had opened her heart to Ranma, revealed everything to him. She was an open book, and yet the same could not be said of Ranma.
What did he feel for her, she wondered. He hadn't called her uncute or tomboy once since they had begun sleeping together. Did that mean something? Was it because she had given herself to him? She suddenly couldn't help but wonder if she was just a toy to him. Something to be used whenever he wanted it. Some of the old anger tried to bubble back to the surface, fighting against the sense of peace she still felt. She'd certainly seen it before. He was more than willing to manipulate... to USE the other fiances to further his own selfish ends. Why should she be any different?
In another place, in other circumstances, that would have been enough for her to slap him and storm out, just the faintest hint of the possibility of impropriety. Here though, with him holding her like this, she just couldn't keep her legendary anger up. She so desperately wanted to believe he loved her...
But could she? Could she really believe? Or was she really just prostituting herself for a few moments of fantasy?
This was something she didn't want to think about. Instead she turned her head to kiss Ranma on the cheek. Though it thrilled her to no end when he smiled in response, she quickly noticed the mask of concern he wore.
"What's wrong Ranma?" she asked.
Ranma's voice had a grave tone. "Ukyo was trying to kill you," he said. "I could see it in her eyes. Akane, things are only going to get worse. All of them are going to be coming after us now, and they won't stop."
He was right. Akane had never seen Ukyo, or Kuno for that matter, so angry before. And Shampoo... Shampoo was there that first night, she had to have known what happened between Ranma and Akane. Akane couldn't begin to imagine why the Amazon didn't try to put a stop to their... their activities right then and there.
"Akane," Ranma said, "I... I could leave."
Akane spun around to face Ranma. "Excuse me Ranma?" she demanded. What was this idiot thinking?
"If... if I left Nerima," Ranma said, his face grave, "it might get them to leave you alone."
Akane's eyes flashed anger. "Or maybe Ukyo or Shampoo will just decide to kill me for driving you away! Have you thought about that?"
The sudden lost look on Ranma's face seemed to indicate that he hadn't. "Well, ummm..."
"Dummy," Akane said, sliding over to the other side of the tub, away from Ranma. "You know that I..." she stopped, unable to actually say the words. Why couldn't she say it? After all of this, why was it so hard? "...You know how I feel about you. Now you just want to run off?"
Another thought popped into Akane's head. Did he really care so little for her that he'd run off once he had his fun?
Ranma got very nervous when the water around Akane began to boil.
"I'm just trying to keep you safe!" he protested. "Akane, I can't always be there to save you."
"So why don't you just go then!" Akane snapped. "Who says I need you to protect me anyway! You've had your little fling, so get lost!"
The look she got from Ranma was heart wrenching.
"Akane..." he said softly, "is... is that all you think of me?"
Akane was struck dumb, unable to respond to the real and true hurt in her fiance's eyes.
"Akane... I... well..." There was a long pause, and when Ranma continued Akane almost wondered if he was originally going to say something else. "I can't leave. You're right. Shampoo or Ukyo or Kodachi would just come after you. If something were to happen to you..."
Akane recovered some spark of her defiant anger. "I'll be fine on my own," she said. "You said it yourself. You can't always protect me."
"No," Ranma agreed quietly, "I can't. Akane, would you like me to train you?"
"What?" Akane suddenly felt her heart pounding, almost not daring to believe. It was something she had wanted from Ranma for so long... "Are... are you serious?"
"Yes," Ranma said. "We can start whenever you want."
But the rush couldn't last. Akane quickly realized that this wasn't the way she wanted it. She wanted Ranma to train her because he felt she earned it, not because he felt she NEEDED it. She wanted him to think of her as worth something, not as some defenseless girl to feel sorry for.
"I see," she said softly. "So you won't feel so bad about leaving."
"Akane!" Ranma protested, "that's not what I meant!"
"Oh really?" Akane snapped back, "and just what did you mean? You are leaving after you train me, aren't you?"
The same look of pure and real hurt as before came upon Ranma once again. He looked down, not wanting to meet Akane's gaze.
"If..." he said sadly, "if you want me to..."
Akane's anger broke free. Did he...? How dare he even suggest... Doesn't he realize that...? "You jerk!" she shouted, smacking Ranma with a mallet pulled from the depths of the ether.
Ranma floated face up in the tub, stunned by the blow.
"And just when did you get the idea that I wanted you to leave!?" Akane demanded.
"What... you..." Ranma sputtered as he sat back up. "You just asked me to leave after I was done training you!"
"No I didn't!" Akane thundered. "You said you were going to leave!"
"Well I'm not!" Ranma shot back. "I told you already I ain't going nowhere! You're stuck with me Akane, you got that?"
Ranma stepped out of the tub, leaving a dumbfounded Akane behind. When he spoke again, his voice had a much more soothing quality.
"We should probably get started training. I'll be in the dojo."
Then he left.
Akane, in the meanwhile, was still trying to process what he had said to her. "You're stuck with me Akane, you got that?"
"Did you mean it Ranma?" she said softly to nobody, wondering if she had heard more in his words than was really there. Once again the question that had plagued her for so long resurfaced.
What did he feel for her?
*****
"Ranma you jerk!" Akane shouted as she continued to try to connect with a strike, "I thought you were going to train me!"
So far it was pretty much like their usual sparing sessions, with Ranma effortlessly dodging Akane's attacks and refusing to strike back. What were worse were the taunts.
"Come on you tomboy!" Ranma taunted gleefully, "I know you can do better than that!"
Akane felt her anger raise to even greater heights. He was mocking her! He wasn't taking this seriously at all! He didn't... he didn't care about her...
She stopped her attacks, not knowing if she wanted to try even harder to hit him or to run off.
For the briefest instant there might have been a flash of guilt in Ranma's eyes, but Akane couldn't be sure. "That's something we are gonna have to work on," he said, no hint of the cruel taunts he had just spent the last five minutes heaping on her remaining in his voice.
Before Akane could ask him what he meant, Ranma went on the attack.
Now the training really started.
He started out fairly slow, but Akane was still having a great deal of trouble warding off his blows. More than once during those first few moments she felt the light touch of a strike that never really quite connected, but only because Ranma held back.
He was anticipating her actions, she realized. It was more than just reading her moves, he'd watched her fight numerous times, seen how she'd moved and reacted. He knew her fighting style, and he knew how to turn it against her, just when and where to strike.
For a moment the anger and frustration threatened to come back. Here he was going soft on her and she still couldn't hope to touch him! It made her felt ashamed, weak, unworthy to be the heir to the Tendo school.
Part of her wanted to give up right now.
"Oh widdle Akane," Ranma taunted, perhaps seeing her frustration, "gonna give up now and rely on big strong Ranma to protect you?" He slipped behind her and lightly swatted her rear.
That did it.
"I AM NOT GIVING UP, YOU PERVERT!" Akane screamed, resuming her own attack.
*****
Some hours later both Akane and Ranma lay exhausted on the Dojo floor.
No, they hadn't been doing THAT again (pervert!). They had however been training almost nonstop the entire time. They kept at it until they literally dropped from exhaustion.
As Akane lay there, exhausted, drenched in sweat, every muscle in her body burning from the exertion, she couldn't keep a proud smile off of her face.
She'd hit him.
Just once, but she had beaten his defenses and landed a solid blow on Ranma's chest. She knew he had been going easy on her, and if he had been fighting for real she would never have had a chance of connecting, but she felt proud none the less.
She was getting better, she could feel it. She'd gotten a bit rusty since the days when she fought about half of Furinkan High's student body every morning, her skill degrading from lack of regular use. That was changing. She had pretty much gotten back to the level she was at when Ranma first showed up, and perhaps a little better. Once she shook herself out of her malaise and began concentrating entirely on the fight, she began to grasp the patterns Ranma was using in his attacks, and soon she had been able counter those attacks, even when Ranma had begun to speed them up. Not only that, but her speed and control seemed to have improved. She had a long way to go before she could hope to beat someone like Shampoo in a fight, but she was definitely on the right track.
She turned her head to look at Ranma, who seemed to be wearing his own proud smile. She still couldn't figure him out. The rather coarse, abusive boy that had swatted her rear wasn't the Ranma she knew and loved. He'd been different, so much like his father. It was a side of him she had never seen before. One she didn't like.
"Umm... Akane," he said, turning his head to look at her.
"Yes?"
"I'm... well... I'm sorry for all that stuff I said." He seemed genuinely apologetic. "I... well I never trained nobody before. And... well... pissing me off always seemed to work for pop when he was training me."
Akane was pretty sure there was something in that statement that should have made her angry, but she was just plain too tired to worry about it.
"You..." Ranma continued, curiously nervous, "you did great today Akane."
Akane's heart swelled with pride and not a little bit of joy. This certainly wasn't the first time she'd heard that she did a good job on something, but coming from Ranma it just seemed more significant. It wasn't him saying he loved her, but for the moment it was an okay substitute.
Akane suddenly felt very, VERY bold. She tried to move, and, much to her frustration, realized that moving around didn't seem to be much of an option right now. "Argh," she growled in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.
"I'm too tired to come over there and kiss you."
Ranma's face got really red. "Well... umm... that is... you don't hafta... or nothin... if... if you know... if you don't feel like it..." he babbled.
After such an unusual response, Akane had to wonder if Ranma had been thinking of kissing her just as she said it. Usually he was a bit more coherent about this sort of thing.
She smiled a smile somewhere between tired, amused, and ravenous. "Ranma," she said.
"Um... yeah?"
"I'm all sweaty. As soon as I'm able to move, I'm going to go take another bath."
Ranma seemed to get even more nervous. "O... okay."
"And you are going to join me."
"Umm... I am?"
"Of course you are," Akane said, feeling incredibly brazen (which thrilled her beyond belief). "You need to get cleaned up too, don't you?"
"I... I guess I do."
"And it would be silly to waste water on two separate baths," Akane added in a rather less than clean voice.
"Well... I... I guess so."
"Good," Akane said. She could feel more mobile already (amazing what a little incentive can do!). "After that you can cook me dinner."
"I guess so..." Ranma began to say, just giving in, then he realized what Akane had said. "Hey, wait, why do I have to cook dinner?"
Akane frowned. "Do you see anyone else around here you want to cook?" she asked.
Ranma began to say he did, but stopped. "No, I guess not," he grumbled.
Akane almost chuckled to herself. It was a little unfair of her to use that against him, but she knew Ranma wouldn't trust her to heat up instant ramen. Furthermore there was nobody else around. Kasumi had left a little note saying that the family had decided to stay in the hotel for a while so that the couple could have privacy to "find that special position that makes you scream like a banshee in the throes of unholy union with a demon of the underworld". It further went on to instruct them to thoroughly wash any kitchen utensils they use in any of the graphic ways that Kasumi helpfully outlined, and to not run the electric egg beater too high.
Though Kasumi's note made them both rather nervous about the eldest Tendo daughter, Akane at least felt grateful that her and Ranma would be alone.
But, Akane thought as she looked away from Ranma to gaze at the ceiling, she still wondered if she was fooling herself. She... she loved Ranma. Very shortly she would be making love to him, and would soon after (but not TOO soon after she hoped) be basking in the aftermath that she loved so much. Then they would share what amounted to an intimate dinner together. But still... still she didn't know how Ranma actually felt about her. Somewhere that nagging question gnawed at the back of her mind.
"What do you feel for me, Ranma," she said so softly that Ranma would not hear. "Am I just fooling myself?"
A rather peculiar purple cat creeping nearby, scoping out the Tendo grounds as though it was planning a midnight raid (which it was), would no doubt tell her she was.
But that is a story for another time.
*****
FIN.
Author's notes:
1) Okay, this chapter came about for a number of reasons. In the first case I had a great deal of stuff (specifically the first section) that I cut out from chapter three but didn't have the heart to just junk. In the second case I had a lot of stuff that was going to be an integral part of the next chapter but would likely make it a bit overlong and unfocused. In the third case I wanted to go into more detail as to Akane's motives and thoughts, as the first time around the story was largely from the perspective of others.
2) This will most likely be the only time that I will revisit a couple. I just felt it necessary for the reasons above.
3) The dark blue hair strikes again! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :)
Pointless tales of pairing off
Standard Issue Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 is not mine to do with as I please. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and some other people whose names I don't recall. Please don't sue me!
AUTHOR'S WARNING!!!: If you are reading this chapter expecting a lot of humor, expect to be disappointed. This here is serious dramatic territory with a reduced humor content. If you can't handle that, skip it, but don't expect me to repeat all the plot points you missed later on :)
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CASE 4: Ranma and Akane Revisited, OR What Does Feel For Me?
Just after the fight with Kuno and Ukyo...
"Could this day possibly get any worse?" Ranma wondered as he and Akane walked home from school early, hand in hand. Though actual public displays of affection were still beyond their nerves, with nobody around their courage increased dramatically.
Actually, not wanting to be in public right now was the reason that they were skipping the rest of their school day. After the first few groups of students they saw gave them cheers, catcalls, and one standing ovation, it became apparent that their secret little love affair wasn't so secret after all. When that became apparent they just couldn't bring themselves to stick around and face their peers.
"I'm gonna kill Nabiki when I see her," Ranma said. Okay, they didn't actually know it was Nabiki that had sold them out, but... come on! Who else would it be?
"Oh well," Akane said. "It's... it's not really a big deal, is it?"
"Huh?" Ranma was, to say the least, surprised. "Akane, do you want them to think we're a couple of perverts?"
"It was going to come out eventually," Akane said. "And I've got news for you, Ranma, a lot of our classmates think you're a pervert already."
Ranma grumbled under his breath. "Well," he said, "I don't mind them thinkin I'm a pervert, but I don't like them thinkin the same about you."
His unintentional act of sensitivity earned him a glowing smile from Akane. She walked a bit closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I don't care," she said. "Right now I just want a good long soak in the tub."
Ranma thought about his aching muscles, especially his back where Kuno had hit him, and responded without thinking. "Yeah, that sounds great."
Akane immediately removed her head from his shoulder, let go of his hand, and stopped walking.
Ranma turned to see what the matter was, and Akane slapped him.
"Hey!" he demanded, "what did you do that for?"
"Ranma Saotome," Akane hissed, "If you think that just because those few times I gave in to you..."
"Who gave into who?" Ranma wanted to know, but Akane ignored his return.
"...that I am going to let you take a bath with me..."
"Whoa, wait Akane!" Ranma sputtered. "That's not what I meant..."
Akane's eyes flashed a death look at Ranma. "I know exactly what you meant!"
"Geez, Akane! I'm sorry, okay? That's not what I meant, honest!"
Akane stopped giving Ranma death looks and started walking again, though she didn't take his hand.
Ranma sighed in frustration and just kept walking.
After a while, after they both had time to think, Akane spoke up again. Her voice seemed... well... a bit different.
"So... you... umm... wanna try it?"
"Try what?" Ranma asked.
"You wanna try taking a bath together?"
Ranma froze up. "Akane... didn't... didn't you just say..."
Akane grabbed Ranma's hand. "Come on dummy!" she said playfully as she began pulling him in the direction of the Tendo Dojo. All the way home Ranma wondered if he would ever puzzle this girl out. After that he had other things to think about.
*****
Some time later Akane found herself in the tub and in Ranma's arms, basking in the warmth of the water and the warmth they had just given each other. As they lay there peacefully, Akane came to a realization.
This was why she did it.
This was only their second real time together (Akane didn't count the first night, because she had been under the influence of the Kontoraibansu powder at the time). But she knew that this moment, this short time of perfect peace, of affection from the boy she loved, was why she made love to him. Sure, she wanted him both times they had made love, and the experience itself had been incredible, beyond any words she had to describe it, but this, lying here, saying nothing as Ranma ran his fingers through her dark blue hair (oh, how she loved that!) was the true prize. It made her feel... like he loved her, the way she loved him.
Even if it might be just a fantasy, it was something she would always cherish.
She didn't know how Ranma felt about her. When they were alone he would hold her hand. When she wanted to make love to him he would always agree (after a bit of resistance). He would always fight for her. Once, when he thought she was dead, he may have told her he loved her. None of that mattered. Sometimes it infuriated her. The Kontoraibansu powder had opened her heart to Ranma, revealed everything to him. She was an open book, and yet the same could not be said of Ranma.
What did he feel for her, she wondered. He hadn't called her uncute or tomboy once since they had begun sleeping together. Did that mean something? Was it because she had given herself to him? She suddenly couldn't help but wonder if she was just a toy to him. Something to be used whenever he wanted it. Some of the old anger tried to bubble back to the surface, fighting against the sense of peace she still felt. She'd certainly seen it before. He was more than willing to manipulate... to USE the other fiances to further his own selfish ends. Why should she be any different?
In another place, in other circumstances, that would have been enough for her to slap him and storm out, just the faintest hint of the possibility of impropriety. Here though, with him holding her like this, she just couldn't keep her legendary anger up. She so desperately wanted to believe he loved her...
But could she? Could she really believe? Or was she really just prostituting herself for a few moments of fantasy?
This was something she didn't want to think about. Instead she turned her head to kiss Ranma on the cheek. Though it thrilled her to no end when he smiled in response, she quickly noticed the mask of concern he wore.
"What's wrong Ranma?" she asked.
Ranma's voice had a grave tone. "Ukyo was trying to kill you," he said. "I could see it in her eyes. Akane, things are only going to get worse. All of them are going to be coming after us now, and they won't stop."
He was right. Akane had never seen Ukyo, or Kuno for that matter, so angry before. And Shampoo... Shampoo was there that first night, she had to have known what happened between Ranma and Akane. Akane couldn't begin to imagine why the Amazon didn't try to put a stop to their... their activities right then and there.
"Akane," Ranma said, "I... I could leave."
Akane spun around to face Ranma. "Excuse me Ranma?" she demanded. What was this idiot thinking?
"If... if I left Nerima," Ranma said, his face grave, "it might get them to leave you alone."
Akane's eyes flashed anger. "Or maybe Ukyo or Shampoo will just decide to kill me for driving you away! Have you thought about that?"
The sudden lost look on Ranma's face seemed to indicate that he hadn't. "Well, ummm..."
"Dummy," Akane said, sliding over to the other side of the tub, away from Ranma. "You know that I..." she stopped, unable to actually say the words. Why couldn't she say it? After all of this, why was it so hard? "...You know how I feel about you. Now you just want to run off?"
Another thought popped into Akane's head. Did he really care so little for her that he'd run off once he had his fun?
Ranma got very nervous when the water around Akane began to boil.
"I'm just trying to keep you safe!" he protested. "Akane, I can't always be there to save you."
"So why don't you just go then!" Akane snapped. "Who says I need you to protect me anyway! You've had your little fling, so get lost!"
The look she got from Ranma was heart wrenching.
"Akane..." he said softly, "is... is that all you think of me?"
Akane was struck dumb, unable to respond to the real and true hurt in her fiance's eyes.
"Akane... I... well..." There was a long pause, and when Ranma continued Akane almost wondered if he was originally going to say something else. "I can't leave. You're right. Shampoo or Ukyo or Kodachi would just come after you. If something were to happen to you..."
Akane recovered some spark of her defiant anger. "I'll be fine on my own," she said. "You said it yourself. You can't always protect me."
"No," Ranma agreed quietly, "I can't. Akane, would you like me to train you?"
"What?" Akane suddenly felt her heart pounding, almost not daring to believe. It was something she had wanted from Ranma for so long... "Are... are you serious?"
"Yes," Ranma said. "We can start whenever you want."
But the rush couldn't last. Akane quickly realized that this wasn't the way she wanted it. She wanted Ranma to train her because he felt she earned it, not because he felt she NEEDED it. She wanted him to think of her as worth something, not as some defenseless girl to feel sorry for.
"I see," she said softly. "So you won't feel so bad about leaving."
"Akane!" Ranma protested, "that's not what I meant!"
"Oh really?" Akane snapped back, "and just what did you mean? You are leaving after you train me, aren't you?"
The same look of pure and real hurt as before came upon Ranma once again. He looked down, not wanting to meet Akane's gaze.
"If..." he said sadly, "if you want me to..."
Akane's anger broke free. Did he...? How dare he even suggest... Doesn't he realize that...? "You jerk!" she shouted, smacking Ranma with a mallet pulled from the depths of the ether.
Ranma floated face up in the tub, stunned by the blow.
"And just when did you get the idea that I wanted you to leave!?" Akane demanded.
"What... you..." Ranma sputtered as he sat back up. "You just asked me to leave after I was done training you!"
"No I didn't!" Akane thundered. "You said you were going to leave!"
"Well I'm not!" Ranma shot back. "I told you already I ain't going nowhere! You're stuck with me Akane, you got that?"
Ranma stepped out of the tub, leaving a dumbfounded Akane behind. When he spoke again, his voice had a much more soothing quality.
"We should probably get started training. I'll be in the dojo."
Then he left.
Akane, in the meanwhile, was still trying to process what he had said to her. "You're stuck with me Akane, you got that?"
"Did you mean it Ranma?" she said softly to nobody, wondering if she had heard more in his words than was really there. Once again the question that had plagued her for so long resurfaced.
What did he feel for her?
*****
"Ranma you jerk!" Akane shouted as she continued to try to connect with a strike, "I thought you were going to train me!"
So far it was pretty much like their usual sparing sessions, with Ranma effortlessly dodging Akane's attacks and refusing to strike back. What were worse were the taunts.
"Come on you tomboy!" Ranma taunted gleefully, "I know you can do better than that!"
Akane felt her anger raise to even greater heights. He was mocking her! He wasn't taking this seriously at all! He didn't... he didn't care about her...
She stopped her attacks, not knowing if she wanted to try even harder to hit him or to run off.
For the briefest instant there might have been a flash of guilt in Ranma's eyes, but Akane couldn't be sure. "That's something we are gonna have to work on," he said, no hint of the cruel taunts he had just spent the last five minutes heaping on her remaining in his voice.
Before Akane could ask him what he meant, Ranma went on the attack.
Now the training really started.
He started out fairly slow, but Akane was still having a great deal of trouble warding off his blows. More than once during those first few moments she felt the light touch of a strike that never really quite connected, but only because Ranma held back.
He was anticipating her actions, she realized. It was more than just reading her moves, he'd watched her fight numerous times, seen how she'd moved and reacted. He knew her fighting style, and he knew how to turn it against her, just when and where to strike.
For a moment the anger and frustration threatened to come back. Here he was going soft on her and she still couldn't hope to touch him! It made her felt ashamed, weak, unworthy to be the heir to the Tendo school.
Part of her wanted to give up right now.
"Oh widdle Akane," Ranma taunted, perhaps seeing her frustration, "gonna give up now and rely on big strong Ranma to protect you?" He slipped behind her and lightly swatted her rear.
That did it.
"I AM NOT GIVING UP, YOU PERVERT!" Akane screamed, resuming her own attack.
*****
Some hours later both Akane and Ranma lay exhausted on the Dojo floor.
No, they hadn't been doing THAT again (pervert!). They had however been training almost nonstop the entire time. They kept at it until they literally dropped from exhaustion.
As Akane lay there, exhausted, drenched in sweat, every muscle in her body burning from the exertion, she couldn't keep a proud smile off of her face.
She'd hit him.
Just once, but she had beaten his defenses and landed a solid blow on Ranma's chest. She knew he had been going easy on her, and if he had been fighting for real she would never have had a chance of connecting, but she felt proud none the less.
She was getting better, she could feel it. She'd gotten a bit rusty since the days when she fought about half of Furinkan High's student body every morning, her skill degrading from lack of regular use. That was changing. She had pretty much gotten back to the level she was at when Ranma first showed up, and perhaps a little better. Once she shook herself out of her malaise and began concentrating entirely on the fight, she began to grasp the patterns Ranma was using in his attacks, and soon she had been able counter those attacks, even when Ranma had begun to speed them up. Not only that, but her speed and control seemed to have improved. She had a long way to go before she could hope to beat someone like Shampoo in a fight, but she was definitely on the right track.
She turned her head to look at Ranma, who seemed to be wearing his own proud smile. She still couldn't figure him out. The rather coarse, abusive boy that had swatted her rear wasn't the Ranma she knew and loved. He'd been different, so much like his father. It was a side of him she had never seen before. One she didn't like.
"Umm... Akane," he said, turning his head to look at her.
"Yes?"
"I'm... well... I'm sorry for all that stuff I said." He seemed genuinely apologetic. "I... well I never trained nobody before. And... well... pissing me off always seemed to work for pop when he was training me."
Akane was pretty sure there was something in that statement that should have made her angry, but she was just plain too tired to worry about it.
"You..." Ranma continued, curiously nervous, "you did great today Akane."
Akane's heart swelled with pride and not a little bit of joy. This certainly wasn't the first time she'd heard that she did a good job on something, but coming from Ranma it just seemed more significant. It wasn't him saying he loved her, but for the moment it was an okay substitute.
Akane suddenly felt very, VERY bold. She tried to move, and, much to her frustration, realized that moving around didn't seem to be much of an option right now. "Argh," she growled in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.
"I'm too tired to come over there and kiss you."
Ranma's face got really red. "Well... umm... that is... you don't hafta... or nothin... if... if you know... if you don't feel like it..." he babbled.
After such an unusual response, Akane had to wonder if Ranma had been thinking of kissing her just as she said it. Usually he was a bit more coherent about this sort of thing.
She smiled a smile somewhere between tired, amused, and ravenous. "Ranma," she said.
"Um... yeah?"
"I'm all sweaty. As soon as I'm able to move, I'm going to go take another bath."
Ranma seemed to get even more nervous. "O... okay."
"And you are going to join me."
"Umm... I am?"
"Of course you are," Akane said, feeling incredibly brazen (which thrilled her beyond belief). "You need to get cleaned up too, don't you?"
"I... I guess I do."
"And it would be silly to waste water on two separate baths," Akane added in a rather less than clean voice.
"Well... I... I guess so."
"Good," Akane said. She could feel more mobile already (amazing what a little incentive can do!). "After that you can cook me dinner."
"I guess so..." Ranma began to say, just giving in, then he realized what Akane had said. "Hey, wait, why do I have to cook dinner?"
Akane frowned. "Do you see anyone else around here you want to cook?" she asked.
Ranma began to say he did, but stopped. "No, I guess not," he grumbled.
Akane almost chuckled to herself. It was a little unfair of her to use that against him, but she knew Ranma wouldn't trust her to heat up instant ramen. Furthermore there was nobody else around. Kasumi had left a little note saying that the family had decided to stay in the hotel for a while so that the couple could have privacy to "find that special position that makes you scream like a banshee in the throes of unholy union with a demon of the underworld". It further went on to instruct them to thoroughly wash any kitchen utensils they use in any of the graphic ways that Kasumi helpfully outlined, and to not run the electric egg beater too high.
Though Kasumi's note made them both rather nervous about the eldest Tendo daughter, Akane at least felt grateful that her and Ranma would be alone.
But, Akane thought as she looked away from Ranma to gaze at the ceiling, she still wondered if she was fooling herself. She... she loved Ranma. Very shortly she would be making love to him, and would soon after (but not TOO soon after she hoped) be basking in the aftermath that she loved so much. Then they would share what amounted to an intimate dinner together. But still... still she didn't know how Ranma actually felt about her. Somewhere that nagging question gnawed at the back of her mind.
"What do you feel for me, Ranma," she said so softly that Ranma would not hear. "Am I just fooling myself?"
A rather peculiar purple cat creeping nearby, scoping out the Tendo grounds as though it was planning a midnight raid (which it was), would no doubt tell her she was.
But that is a story for another time.
*****
FIN.
Author's notes:
1) Okay, this chapter came about for a number of reasons. In the first case I had a great deal of stuff (specifically the first section) that I cut out from chapter three but didn't have the heart to just junk. In the second case I had a lot of stuff that was going to be an integral part of the next chapter but would likely make it a bit overlong and unfocused. In the third case I wanted to go into more detail as to Akane's motives and thoughts, as the first time around the story was largely from the perspective of others.
2) This will most likely be the only time that I will revisit a couple. I just felt it necessary for the reasons above.
3) The dark blue hair strikes again! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :)