Author's Note: Slightly WAFF chapter although nothing happens…sorta. Anyway, the whole story is pegged out and I have to tell ya that it will be done with a few more months (weeks if I am steady).
Akane snatched her hand back when she realized what she was doing.
To make sure her disobedient hand didn't decide to pull another trick like the one it just did, she tucked it under her pillow. Maybe she should turn to the other side..?
No!
She was a big girl. Akane could handle this! No problem.
So what if that jerk and she got into another fight which almost brought down the house (quite literally). How was she suppose to know that he would be so touchy about why she was touchy about the whole Saotome name change thing. It wasn't like she has asked Nabiki to cause even more trouble.
If he was mad, that was fine. She didn't care. Akane humphed and flipped onto her other side, facing away from Ranma's side of the bed.
It was a dumb fight that made Ukyo beam like a happy cat who just got the fattest canary available in Nerima. When they started to bicker, they had been on their way home hand in hand. Even when they started to get louder with their complaints, their hands had still stayed locked unconsciously.
When they finally reached home, they had been going back and forth just like old times. Ukyo merely folded her arms against her chest and leaned on the doorway watching as their faces reddened and their words got harsher.
Kasumi was the one to finally break them apart.
Akane clamped her eyes down tightly to prevent just the memory from making her cry.
She had started to cry during the fight and hadn't even noticed it until Ranma looked away from her for a second and then back again. The way he stuttered and back peddled through all the insults he could remember slamming her with in the past fifteen minutes. Akane nearly growled and just stomped off to her room.
Her acting skills were wonderful, no denying that. As soon as the door was shut and the lock was clicked, the blue haired girl slumped on her desk and rested her head in the nest of her arms. Tears that weren't wanted then or now came to her eyes.
Why should it bother her so much? Ranma was Ranma. He always would be. He was a constant, maybe a constant reminder of everything she lacked, but constant nonetheless.
Akane glanced over her shoulder at the empty half of the bed.
He'd left on a training trip for a few days or more. Genma had arranged it almost instantly after the brawl had taken place.
Ukyo, Nabiki said, had tried to worm her way into going with them but Ranma had made it quiet clear he wanted nothing to do with females for a very long while. They were nothing but trouble.
He was gone. He was angry.
She was here, she was---confused. Somewhere between hurt, angry, and, maybe just a fraction, of lonely. There was no going down to the dojo to collect him this time, he wouldn't be there.
"Dummy." Akane sighed without any venom.
The dumb jerk could just stay gone!
More than a few miles away, Ranma lay on his back studying the stars. To be correct, he was glaring at the stars. His arms were folded under his head as he lay in his sleeping bag. His father's snore distracted from what would have been a peaceful night. The fire even seemed to keep its normal pop and crackle down for the young man.
It was his name for crying out loud!
Why was she so finicky about that?
They had been sharing the same bed in this make-believe world, what was the difference if it was now his name?
After the screaming circus they shared, his pop quickly announced a training trip and dragged the fuming boy out of the house without much choice.
Ukyo had offered to tag along so the Saotome men wouldn't go hungry. Genma, much to everyone's shock, declined her offer and said with this type of training trip, Ranma was going to be lucky to be able to scratch his nose much less eat.
So far, it had been an empty promise.
Not that he was a masochist, but the boy had hoped there would be hard training to go on. Anything to keep his mind from wandering back to two days ago and the nasty fight.
Anything to keep his mind off of her.
Day three.
Akane was in the kitchen, attempting her hand at cooking. It wasn't until the forth bowl cracked under her continued beating that Kasumi suggested in a stern way for her to go to the dojo. It was to blow off some steam.
The youngest sister shrugged and did as Kasumi wanted. It wasn't like she had anything better to do after school. There was nothing but a big empty bedroom with her homework waiting for her.
But she didn't miss him.
He could stay away for a month and she wouldn't care! Probably would be better off too!
She drug out her old dummy from the closet and set it up behind the building, so no one could see and get 'clever ideas'. It was the dummy which usually got the most abuse during a fight with Ranma. It had a black pigtail and swirlies drawn where there should be eyes. Akane had even gone as far as having a red shirt put on the dummy.
Closing her eyes, the teenager took a deep breath, held it then snapped her eyes open. Narrowing her brown eyes on the object before her, she started her normal attack shout when her hand missed the face.
She missed it deliberately.
Akane could have sworn she saw the real Ranma before her a second ago. Wearing his nice smile, the one he didn't let too many people see because they'd probably would have called him weak.
She drew back again, ready to make the dummy's straw head fly off.
She missed again. She couldn't focus. Not on her anger. The girl was annoyed with herself. Akane grumbled under her breath.
Of course she wasn't angry with him, she was actually a little bit worried about the jerk. It was the worry which kept her focus.
She decided to practice on one of the female dummies instead.
Day four.
Ranma back flipped onto a near by boulder and watched with a half amused smile. His Pop thought him slow enough to fall for a trick Genma had pulled with Ranma multiple times. Bored with it, the boy had kicked a nearby dam with enough force to have it crack the logs. It would send the water shooting forth a half a tick after the pigtailed martial artist was clear from water.
The panda floundering around in the mini pond now glared at the young man who smirked.
"That's what ya get for waking me up at one in the morning for 'midnight madness' training!" Ranma jumped effortlessly off the boulder and meandered back to their camp site.
Finding a comfortable position, Ranma closed his eyes and only flinched a hair when a muttering panda thumped back to the site and laid down. Would figure that the old man didn't even bother changing back. Probably warmer with the thick hide and fur.
Sighing in annoyance, the boy tightened his blanket around his shoulders trying to focus on something besides the stench of wet fur wafting through the air.
It reminded him of the Tendo house. The guest room, the room usually occupied by both Saotome men, always had a lingering smell of animals and slightly rotted food.
Akane's room never smells like--- Ranma's eyebrows lowered to a 'v'. He shouldn't still be thinking about her. He'd be back at the dojo soon enough and having to put up with her temper and lack of understanding why it was important for her to have his name. Sure it was all fake, but it didn't mean that they couldn't make it as believable as possible.
She had the dojo. She had the history in the town. She had the cute charm with people. She seemed to bring everything and leave him with nothing to offer.
It was a matter of a fair exchange.
Besides, the boy thought pettily, 'S' comes before 'T' and she'd move up during roll call!
Day five.
"Akane! Hey Akane!" The blue haired girl spared Ukyo a glance over her slumped shoulders.
"What is it, Ukyo?" The brunette smiled prettily at her rival and clapped her hands together.
"I have a favor to ask you." This didn't sound like Ukyo. "I have to go to judge another competition since they were so impressed last time. I was hoping you would tell my Ranma-honey where I have gone when he gets back." THAT sounded like Ukyo. "I know how much he worries when I'm gone!"
"Like you ever leave." The Tendo-Saotome girl muttered under her breath. "Besides," Akane continued at an audible level. "I doubt Ranma will be running home anytime soon."
Ukyo seemed to consider this thoughtfully. But what thoughts, Akane couldn't tell until a pink band stretched across her nose and cheeks. "Maybe we'll meet on the road and run away together. Wouldn't that be romantic?"
The blue eyebrow ticked down in frustration. "What kind of girl are you to steal other people's husbands?!" Akane fumed at the girl, Ukyo only held both side of her face as she giggled.
Day six.
"Come on Ranma, it's time to head back." Genma poked his son's upper arm. The muscle tightened instantly under his finger.
"Dun wanna."
"But think of Kasumi's delicious cooking. No more instant noodles."
Ranma's blue eyes narrowed on his practically drooling father, "think of Akane's cooking. Since we're married and you're her father-in-law she'll probably want to make us dinner or something."
Genma's face fell a notch. "Nice warm beds."
"That I have to share with a violent tomboy. She can't even sleep normal." It was a big lie. True that the first few weeks had proven brutal, she had calmed down significantly.
The older man was quickly reaching the end of his list. "Ranma, we're going. Now." The boy shoved his nose further in the air and made a sound of disgust. "Fine boy! If that's what you want!" Ranma rolled his eyes as Genma pulled out his microphone and went into his normal dramatics. "You're poor old father will travel the road full of thieves and crooks! And when they find me robbed and dead in a gutter then you'll be sorry!"
"That's it! If you're going to leave," Ranma jumped to his feet and swiftly drop kicked his father into the air. "Then let me see you off!" Hearing the screams of his Pop disappear in the distance, the pig tailed boy sighed.
He wasn't going to go back to the Tendo's until someone hog tied him and threatened him with c-cats.
Day Seven.
"So Ranma didn't come home with you Mr. Saotome?" Kasumi poured the soaking man a warm cup of tea. From the look of the knot forming on the man's head, Nabiki was lead to believe Genma came home partially by air.
"Is he still mad?" Akane asked as nonchalant as possible.
"Afraid so, Akane." Genma replied, sipping his tea lightly. "Whatever the reason is, he doesn't want to come back."
"Geez, Akane. What did the two of you fight over this time?" Nabiki chewed on the end of her straw, studying her younger sister.
"Akane? Where are you going?"
"To the dojo."
Kasumi put a hand to her cheek as her littlest sister walked away. "Oh my, I hope Ranma comes back soon. Seeing Akane so depressed is---depressing."
Nabiki only rolled her eyes.
Four hours in the dojo and she felt like the living dead warmed over and served on flesh.
A whole week and Ranma hadn't contacted them. Neither did Genma until he came back, but it was to be expected. Honestly, she thought, it's not like they have pay phones in the middle of---wherever they went off to this time.
The blue haired girl wrapped a towel around her body and had another one attempting to dry her hair the best she could. With her left hand, she started to wipe away the steam coating the mirror when her heart and hand stopped.
Such a small golden band with nothing to decorate it.
Something stubbornly kicked Akane's mind and told her she shouldn't have gotten so upset. Upset was okay, upset was natural, but not so upset!
Cradling her left hand, she shook her head.
"I'm going to bed." Akane announced as she walked past the family room. Kasumi called her back though and led her to the kitchen where a tray happily sat waiting.
"Could you take this to Ranma?" Akane wasn't sure she had heard correctly. "The poor dear could barely walk straight after he left the bath."
Akane wasn't sure if she was going to smile and cry or just cry. What emotion would be blamed for the tears, she wasn't too sure yet. "W-when'd he get back?"
Kasumi, who had started to clean once the tray was in her little sister's hands, smiled. "While you were in the dojo."
And he didn't come and tell her? Why would he want to? Akane's mind asked boredly. There was no putting it off, with the tray in hand Akane slowly made her way up the steps towards their room. Perhaps if he was half as tired as Kasumi thought he was, he would be knocked out cold.
Of course, she wagered, he would probably smell food and snap out of a coma.
Carefully opening and shutting the door, the girl made her way blindly through her room. Without any accidents, she found the edge of her desk and slid the tray.
There was a soft tink sound where their shouldn't have been. Shrugging, the girl turned towards her bed. Her eyes adjusted enough to the darkness she could make out Ranma's person under the covers. As imagined, his back was facing her.
Should she get into bed? Maybe he wouldn't appreciate her just showing up---what! It was her bed first! Akane's pride reasoned. To the pits with him if he thought he'd make her even more uneasy in her own bed!
Taking a deep breath, the girl pulled back the covers and slid into bed he back facing Ranma's. She lay still for a good ten minutes, not knowing if the boy beside her was truly asleep or not. Then he let a soft snore escape and the girl rolled her eyes.
Ranma was out cold. He must've been tired not to wake up to Kasumi's cooking. Akane stubbornly refused to be weak in front of her 'husband' but since he was sleeping now…she could do what she figured out was the only way to make her go to sleep. Taking a deep breath, the girl made up her mind. Eyes focusing on the grays of her room, Akane cleared her throat. "I know you're asleep, but believe me, this is the only time you'll hear me say this." She paused momentarily. "I'm sorry for making a fuss over the name. It was kinda shocking, ya know?"
Scooting further down in her warm covers, Akane closed her eyes feeling sleep just at the border of her consciousness. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Ranma." The last line was almost inaudible.
Twenty minutes of silence followed and once Akane's breath became deep and steady, Ranma moved on to his back. Ten years of training on the road didn't leave him soft or a rock hard sleeper when a situation was tense. As soon as the girl had started up the stairwell, he had woken up.
A confrontation was one of the last things on his mind, so pretending to sleep seemed the only alternative.
Folding his arms behind his head, Ranma smiled slightly.