Author's Note: Yar! I'm glad to see people still are willing to give this story a good read! ;) I have the entire thing outlined now, so it's going to be written quicker! I promise! Thanksgiving break is coming up so I'll be fanficing the entire time (If I have any say so). Thanks for the reviews!
The suit was itchy and had almost a comical look about it. Ranma pulled on the collar, was it hot in here or was it just him? Scratching the offending suit, the pigtailed boy went over and over in his mind just why it was he was dressed up in the monkey suit yet again.
One of the only times he had willingly put on this thing was to try and get Shampoo from hating him. Of course, he remembered with a scowl, he ended up getting decked by Akane.
Then again, she had said she loved him then or pretty close to those words anyway.
Ranma allowed a small smirk to trace his lips before remembering just how itchy the suit was.
"Well, Tendo," Genma said, slapping his old friend on the back. Ranma shot them a glare in the mirror reflection. "Never thought I'd see the day when our two kids finally tied the knot!"
"Indeed, Saotoma!" Soun returned the firm back slap, "It's about time too!"
Ranma's eyebrow twitched in irritation, "Listen you two." He ground out his words, "I'm only doing this to get Ukyo back into her shop. This ain't real."
"Now, now Ranma," Nabiki chided from the doorway. "What would you do if my little sister heard you say that? Not to mention Ukyo." Her eyes betrayed no secrets, just a promise of pain if he managed to screw up today. Nabiki had spent a good yen amount on this whole set up, the last thing she needed was Ranma's entourage wrecking things in the ceremony (not to mention half the Tendo property like they always did).
After Ranma rolled his eyes skyward and asked when this would all be over, the middle Tendo made her way to her little sister's bedroom.
The mood was just the same, although Kasumi had had the foresight to remove all breakable things from the young woman's room.
"I can't believe this!" Akane hissed.
Nabiki's eyebrow arched slightly as the girl continued to rant. Living with Akane, growing up with her, taking pictures of her and sometimes recording her little 'talks' in her room, Nabiki only smiled. The smile which Akane caught, trembled and asked about.
"Akane, you might be an excellent actress to others but I know you, and the performance your putting on is top-notch but unnecessary."
The poor bride to be, fake or not, sputtered in protest but didn't manage to get out any coherent defense before her sister's smirk widened and left.
Ukyo folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. She was in a dress. A pink dress with bright yellow bows. This alone was not the only reason she was ready to tear out of the Dojo turned chapel at the earliest possible moment.
The entire wedding ceremony had gone off without a single hitch. The maid-of-honor kept waiting, impatiently, for Kuno, Ryouga or one of Akane's many other suitors to smash through the doors and demand a fight, none came. Shampoo hadn't even shown up! Ukyo had gone to the Cat Café earlier in the week just to make sure the Amazon was aware of what was going down.
Tapping the disposal camera on her arm, the chef studied the couple moving slowly and gracefully in front of the wedding party. They didn't move as two separate people who fought over whether the sky was blue or not, but as one. One single person, one body.
Her face darkened, it had taken all of her strength to not run away from the Tendos' that night she'd walked in on Ranma and Akane. They both looked breathless and happy.
But it couldn't be real! It couldn't be!
How could a couple who fumbled their alter kiss be cozy in bed?
Ukyo was still under the idea that they were just faking the entire ordeal.
But Nabiki, the cash register Queen, had spent money on all this! It either meant it was real or that Ranma was going to be in debt for a very long time.
Sighing, the girl focused her camera on the couple and clicked. She smiled and repositioned the camera to cut out the bride, no need for Akane to ruin her Ranma picture right?
"But this ain't fair!" Ranma protested as his father, with both hands on his son's back, marched him to Akane's room. "If no one's going to be in the house then why--!"
"Because, boy," the man said in a harsh whisper, "most normal couples want to spend the night with each other after they're married."
Ranma grabbed the side of the doorway, heels ground into the floor. "Who says we're normal?!"
Genma removed his hands from Ranma's side, and his son, without being held up, promptly feel on his behind. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, the older man eyed the boy as he clambered to his feet. "Fine then, you don't have to do it!"
Ranma had every reason to be skeptical, " We don't?"
His old man slathered on an incredible smile, "Why no! We'll just tell everyone your gay and that should clear everything up."
Ranma had fallen over again. Two seconds later the boy sprung to his feet, "You crazy old man! I am NOT--"
Akane had just round the corner, saw the two Saotomas and turned to leave before she felt a hand around her wrist stopping her. "Ranma! What do you think you're---"
Without a word of explanation he marched her through the door, slammed and locked it in Genma's smug face. "Are you happy now! I have a girl in a room with a bed! Guess people are going to start think otherwise! Even though it is a flat-chested, thick hipped tomboy!"
He smirked and turned around from the door to see a near glowing, upset Akane.
Aw, hell.
Later that night, Ranma laid on the bed, nursing his throbbing head. Make one little slip of the tongue and what do you get? A concussion.
Akane was busy working on her homework at her desk. The school had been gracious enough to let the couple have a whole week off as long as they were able to turn in their homework as soon as they got back. The blue haired martial artist was already half way finished. She felt a strange and powerful force for her eyes to stay focused on her books and papers. It took that mysterious force from stopping her at sneaking peeks at her fake husband who was relaxing on her bed with an arm thrown over his eyes.
He muttered and groan. What a baby, she hadn't hit him that hard!
"What did you say?" Akane asked in a friendly voice, she would not hurt him anymore. Not unless he just really really deserved it. Goodness knows how often she had made this promise, and she didn't want to think about how many times she broke it.
"I said," Ranma huffed, sitting up on his forearms. "That I'm bored."
"Why not do your homework?"
"Done."
Akane nearly fell off her chair. "What? How?"
Ranma sat up completely, leaning on his hands for support and shrugged. "You took a long time to get ready this afternoon and I was bored."
Figures, Akane thought. If Ranma was bored there was going to be no peace for her until he found some bright and shiny object to direct his attention to. "What do you want to do?"
Another shrug.
"Do you want to do something?"
Yet another shrug.
Growling, Akane closed her book and threw it at the stubborn boy. "OW! What was that for?" Ranma pestered, rubbing the side of his head. The girl had good aim when she was mad.
"For being indecisive." The girl shrugged, got up and walked to her dresser. Opening the top drawer she carefully removed the package her eldest sister had slipped in there earlier that day. Gulping, the young woman slowly unwrapped it, keeping her back to Ranma and hoping he wasn't so curious as to want to see it.
What if it turned out to be something rather---embarrassing? It was, after all, suppose to be their wedding night.
"What's that?" Ranma asked, Akane jumped and hit his chest. The pigtailed boy smirked at her surprise, the short haired girl started to blush at his proximity. Stuttering at first, she forced out the answer.
He was so warm, Akane thought absently before her mind shrieked in protest at such a thought. Throwing away the wrapping, she carefully lifted the lid of the box praying against all odds it wasn't what she thought it might be. It was…
a game set.
"She gave us games?" Ranma asked, plucking the box out of her hands. "Cool, I guess I won't be bored now!"
Akane sighed, at least Kasumi understood them well enough to know that nothing would happen. She went to replace the lid when something else in the box caught her attention, picking up the note and the item she quickly blushed a lovely tomato.
'Two types of games you can play tonight--Nabiki' is what the note read. Akane shoved the other 'game' piece into the drawer and when Ranma asked her what was wrong, she just laughed nervously and asked what he wanted to play first.
An hour into the games, Akane still couldn't believe Nabiki would even think of giving her a black, sheer thong!
She glanced at the digital clock, three ten.
He yawned while her head was turned.
They both knew what they were doing, but they weren't about to admit it to each other or to themselves.
It shouldn't feel any different! Ranma berated himself mentally. Isn't that what he kept telling her over and over for the past three days? The whole marriage was a fake! So sleeping in the same bed with one's fake wife shouldn't cause butterflies or colorful thoughts to flitter around his mind.
She'd kill him, that should stop his fantasying dead in its tracks but it didn't. His logical mind forcefully fought with the other side. She allowed him to have an arm around her at one point in time, hadn't malleted him for at least ten days and had even hunted him out during the night for his heat.
Ranma shook his head, none of that!
Meanwhile, Akane fumbled with her game piece. She was dead on her feet. Kasumi had drudged her from her nice warm bed early in the morning and had kept the younger girl busier all day with minor details. She desperately wanted to snuggle up in her nice Ranma bed….wait, that didn't come out right. She wanted to snuggle up in her nice warm bed. Who cared if Ranma was there or not?
You do you idiot, Akane's mind fused her.
"Whatever." She bite out.
"Didja say somethin'?"
"No." Akane lied, "but I'm getting really tired." Someone had to be the first to say it. She avoided looking up at him by studying the carvings of her small game piece cradled in her hand.
Ranma couldn't help but notice the light rosy color coloring Akane's cheeks. Ah ha! And here she always called him the pervert! She was having the same ideas he was. Of course, the logical and thoughtful half of his brain said, if he knew what type of thoughts she was having and admitted to having, didn't that technically make him pervert?
He groaned out loud, "I'm exhausted."
Akane nodded, and went to the other side of the room to flick the light off as she heard Ranma climb in the tiny bed. Maybe it wasn't so tiny, but it seemed to get smaller the closer she got to it. It was just like every other night, Akane chided herself. Nothing to be worried about.
As she slipped between the sheets, she felt her face grow hot with color. She could feel his warmth and he was her husband (fake or not).
They laid painfully still for close to half an hour, it had crossed the girl's mind to whip out her mallet and knock herself out.
Ranma, with hands crossed behind his head, could feel the tension mount as time passed. Sighing, he looked over at his fiancée (fake wife, whatever) and felt something twist on the inside. She didn't trust him enough, after all this time, to believe he wouldn't do anything indecent to her?
"Calm down, 'kane." Ranma whispered. The girl jumped at the break in the silence. "It's just like every other night. I'm not goin' to do anything."
Akane bit her lip. Every other night there had been people in the house, tonight was different. Tonight there wasn't a soul in the house. They were all alone.
Ranma made a frustrated noise behind her. "Trust me, 'kane."
She cringed and unconsciously tightened a little. "I do." If it wouldn't have been so obvious, the girl would have slapped herself in the forehead. Did she have to use that phrase?
Ranma chuckled softly behind her, "sure, that's why you are about ready to jump through the ceiling."
"That's not true!" Akane's temper over road her nervousness as she flipped over and looked directly at her (fake) husband in the face. He was still on his back with a smirk on his face. That's when it hit her, she'd done exactly what he wanted her to. Akane's brown eyes narrowed, "That was tricky."
"I have," he yawned, "no idea what you're talking about."
Akane had a sassy retort on the tip of her tongue, but instead decided to attempt to be the serious one. "This doesn't change anything, right?"
It was the reassurance they both needed. "No," Ranma replied at length.
Giving his ears a contented sigh, the girl quickly drifted off to sleep. Ranma shortly followed as his thoughts silently whispered, No matter how much I want them to change.