Author's Note: Hey, guys. . . it's me again! Sorry it took so long, but I
didn't forget! And I'm still writing this story!! I was stuck for awhile,
but I have new ideas and won't wait this long to post again. Comments to
readers are addressed at the bottom of the chapter :D
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Chapter 4
The night was dark and cold as Ranma rested his head back against the wall and watched Akane's chest move up and down from her steady breathing. His heavy eyelids almost fell a number of times, but Ranma always shook himself back awake. He wasn't going to fall asleep as Inuyasha sat on the other side of the room, waiting for Ranma to pass out so he could take Akane away and do who knows what to her.
The other boy was glaring at him from across the room. Ranma did not try to avoid his eyes. They had been staring at each other going on an hour, and he wasn't going to be the one to back down.
"Touch her and die," he growled at Inuyasha, finally breaking the silence. "If you think I'm going to fall asleep, then you've got another thing coming."
"Please," Inuyasha said, his eyes rolling. "I want nothing to do with your woman. The only thing I want is the shard around her neck. I thought I made that clear, moron."
Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Touch her and DIE," he repeated. "I won't let you near Akane."
"Shut up," Inuyasha spat back. "I don't want your woman."
The crickets outside seemed to quiet under the pounding of blood in Ranma's ears. "I'm not falling asleep, so you can leave us alone."
"Ha! Like I'd leave the shard... could you be any stupider?" Inuyasha paused for a second, finally tearing his eyes away from Ranma's. "Besides, if you're going to be up for the search tomorrow, you better sleep. I won't wait for you if you can't catch up."
Ranma blinked at him. If breaking eye contact had been a subtle way of conceding, then Inuyasha wasn't the man Ranma thought he was. Kagome had said that he had a nice side, but Ranma had yet to see it.
"Go ahead," Inuyasha snapped at him. "Sleep next to her for all I care."
Ranma was about to point out that if Akane woke up and found his arm around her, she would probably send him through the wall, but Inuyasha turned his back in a huff before Ranma could get out a word. It was then that Ranma noticed Inuyasha's hand had been resting on the hilt of his sword the entire time. . . as if he were waiting for some sort of attack.
But could he trust this guy?
He decided that he had no other choice, and scooted across the floor to where Akane was sleeping inside of a sleeping bag that Kagome had given her. He sat there for a moment, just looking down at her sleeping figure. The soft blue pearls of the Shikon necklace were woven between her fingers, the glow of the shard lighting up her hand.
"Please don't hit me," he mouthed before he lifted the blanket to crawl in beside her. Once inside the sleeping bag, he realized that there wasn't as much room as he thought there was, and he found himself pressed up against Akane. As carefully as he could, he reached around his back and unzipped the bag to about halfway down so that he could have a little more room.
Akane didn't stir until he put his head down on the pillow. Her eyes blinked open wide, but Ranma managed to cover her mouth with the palm of his hand before she could scream.
"Shh. . ." he hushed. "I'm just makin' sure that nothing happens to you." He slowly removed his hand from her lips. . . which he found softer than he would ever admit. "Don't make a big deal outta this."
"You pervert," she whispered back, but didn't make a move to knock him across the room.
He frowned at her, but it didn't last long. "I'm only protecting you. So be grateful."
"I don't need your protection," she told him just as the shard began to glow even brighter than before. Akane didn't seem to notice it. She dropped the necklace and threw her arms around him instead. "Hold me, Ranma," she sighed.
He would have fought her off; really, he would have... if only he could have kept his eyes open for a second longer. His hand landed somewhere on her waist just as their heads fell down onto the pillow. Ranma thought he could feel her hair at his nose, but was too tired to brush it away. It was only a few hours until dawn, and he was sure that Inuyasha would be dragging them outside the hut the second the sun came up.
*****
Akane woke to the sound of someone snoring. She was going to sit up and tell whoever it was to shut up, but for some reason, she couldn't move. Her eyes flew open in alarm, only to see Ranma snoring right into her ear. He held her so tightly, that she couldn't even move her arms. She was about to give him a swift kick, when the events of last night flooded back into her mind. Had she really thrown her arms around him like that? The memory seemed a little fuzzy, but then again, she had been half asleep at the time, hadn't she?
"Ranma," she said, squirming in his arms. "Wake up, PERVERT!"
Ranma's eyes opened slowly, and then blinked realization. He immediately leapt up from the sleeping bag, catching his foot in the zipper, and fell flat on his face next to Akane.
"Ouch," he mumbled against the wood.
"Serves you right, Ranma," she told him, propping her head up on the palm of her hand. "I don't know what you thought you were doing, but thank you for saving me the trouble of hitting you myself."
"You're welcome," he said as he pushed himself up from the floor and stood above her. "Because if I hadn't protected you, that asshole would have taken you away to try and get your necklace!"
He looked pretty upset, but Akane just put her head back onto the pillow and looked up at him. "You're too paranoid, Ranma. Nothing is going to happen to me."
"I've got news for you," he went on. "We're not in Nermina anymore. You're not always safe."
"Well, you didn't have to hold me THAT tight!" she said, her voice rising. "I could barely breathe!"
Ranma's face turned bright red, and he looked away from her. "It's not like I was holding you for fun," he mumbled. "Who would want to hold a stupid tomboy like you, anyway?"
Akane felt her face heating up in anger and embarrassment. She sat up and looked behind her where Kagome sat in her sleeping bag.
"Don't mind me!" Kagome said, smiling at them with a wave. "Pretend I'm not here!"
"This is stupid," Ranma said, and Akane caught a glimpse of his pigtail just as he exited the hut. With a sigh, she turned back to Kagome.
"Where's Inuyasha? He was here when we fell asleep."
Kagome pointed to the ceiling.
*****
Ranma leaned back against the hut. What was with Akane, anyway? Why did she have to be so uncute? But why had he held her so close?
It was pretty cold out, he reasoned. He was probably just cold.
"Women trouble?"
Ranma craned his head up to see Inuyasha's head poking out from the top of the roof. "What do you want?"
"Don't think I couldn't hear you two yelling at each other," Inuyasha went on. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"
Ranma blinked at him. "Excuse me? And how do you know how I feel?"
Inuyasha only stared at him.
"Do you have some sort of communication problem!?" Ranma wanted to know. "I asked you a question!"
"You didn't answer mine," Inuyasha responded as he leapt from the roof and landed firmly on his feet beside Ranma.
"I didn't have to answer your question, because it was stupid," Ranma shot back. "If you think that I would possibly be chasing Akane here out of anything more than obligation, then you're more insane than you look."
Inuyasha didn't say anything, but when Ranma glanced over at him, he had a small smile on his face.
"Are you making fun of me!?"
"How do you like it, asshole?" Inuyasha growled as he shoved Ranma into the side of the hut. "Or is that what you call everyone?"
Obviously, Inuyasha had heard that part of his and Akane's conversation, as well.
"I didn't want you here, but I was nice enough to let you tag along. If you don't keep your fat mouth shut, I'm gonna stuff you back into the time well, and you'll never see your precious Akane again."
"Precious..." Ranma scoffed, shoving Inuyasha away from himself. "Are you kidding me? Her father would have my head if I didn't bring her back!"
Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest as his golden eyes bored into Ranma's blue ones. "Whatever. I don't wanna hear your voice again."
Ranma stepped forward. "Is that a threat!?"
Inuyasha only walked past him toward the hut. "It is if you want it to be." He pushed the door open, and Ranma heard both girls scream.
"PERVERT!"
Something hard hit the door just as Inuyasha slammed it shut and leaned back against it. His face was bright red. "Don't go in there," he told Ranma.
Ranma almost laughed at him when he heard a clap of thunder. When he turned his head up, there were dark clouds looming close by. "Great," he gulped. "Rain. . ."
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Comments to Readers:
Kellie Evans – Thank you! I'm glad you like the story! Naraku is the main villain in the Inuyasha series. They're basically racing against him to collect the shards. If Naraku has the whole completed Shikon jewel, we can only imagine that BAD things will happen. . . lol.
strangerthanthou – Thank you for reading ( Ryoga will surely pop up later in the story, so don't worry about him, yet. As to who's stronger, Ranma or Inuyasha, I would place my money on Inuyasha. I mean, he has Tetsusaiga, plus he's half demon. Ranma is super strong, but he's only human! You asked a lot of questions that even I don't know the answer to, yet, but no, Kagome is not planning on killing Akane to get the shard, but it has crossed her mind that that would be a possible way to get it. About the rest of the Nermina crew, this story is mainly set in the Inuyasha storyline, but I will no doubt pull some Ranma's crew in at the end.
Peter Kim - You asked a lot of questions I don't know the answers to, too! Sorry! But a lot of those characters you mentioned will be included :D
gatogirl1 – I have no doubt that Ryoga and Kouga would get along! I don't think they'll meet in this fic, but that's an idea for another one! And I'm glad to hear that someone else agrees with me on the two greatest animes :D
CTHKSI – Ranma's curse. . . coming up in Chapter 5! :grin:
The Wielder of the Glaive, Elysium and Lonely Soul, Anonamyuopus, Tyrean, Born-Of-Elven-Blood, DangerousElixer, king louie, Bliss and Sin – Thank you so much for reading, and I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story! More to come!! Sorry for making you guys wait. . . I'll try not to put the story off for that long again.
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Chapter 4
The night was dark and cold as Ranma rested his head back against the wall and watched Akane's chest move up and down from her steady breathing. His heavy eyelids almost fell a number of times, but Ranma always shook himself back awake. He wasn't going to fall asleep as Inuyasha sat on the other side of the room, waiting for Ranma to pass out so he could take Akane away and do who knows what to her.
The other boy was glaring at him from across the room. Ranma did not try to avoid his eyes. They had been staring at each other going on an hour, and he wasn't going to be the one to back down.
"Touch her and die," he growled at Inuyasha, finally breaking the silence. "If you think I'm going to fall asleep, then you've got another thing coming."
"Please," Inuyasha said, his eyes rolling. "I want nothing to do with your woman. The only thing I want is the shard around her neck. I thought I made that clear, moron."
Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Touch her and DIE," he repeated. "I won't let you near Akane."
"Shut up," Inuyasha spat back. "I don't want your woman."
The crickets outside seemed to quiet under the pounding of blood in Ranma's ears. "I'm not falling asleep, so you can leave us alone."
"Ha! Like I'd leave the shard... could you be any stupider?" Inuyasha paused for a second, finally tearing his eyes away from Ranma's. "Besides, if you're going to be up for the search tomorrow, you better sleep. I won't wait for you if you can't catch up."
Ranma blinked at him. If breaking eye contact had been a subtle way of conceding, then Inuyasha wasn't the man Ranma thought he was. Kagome had said that he had a nice side, but Ranma had yet to see it.
"Go ahead," Inuyasha snapped at him. "Sleep next to her for all I care."
Ranma was about to point out that if Akane woke up and found his arm around her, she would probably send him through the wall, but Inuyasha turned his back in a huff before Ranma could get out a word. It was then that Ranma noticed Inuyasha's hand had been resting on the hilt of his sword the entire time. . . as if he were waiting for some sort of attack.
But could he trust this guy?
He decided that he had no other choice, and scooted across the floor to where Akane was sleeping inside of a sleeping bag that Kagome had given her. He sat there for a moment, just looking down at her sleeping figure. The soft blue pearls of the Shikon necklace were woven between her fingers, the glow of the shard lighting up her hand.
"Please don't hit me," he mouthed before he lifted the blanket to crawl in beside her. Once inside the sleeping bag, he realized that there wasn't as much room as he thought there was, and he found himself pressed up against Akane. As carefully as he could, he reached around his back and unzipped the bag to about halfway down so that he could have a little more room.
Akane didn't stir until he put his head down on the pillow. Her eyes blinked open wide, but Ranma managed to cover her mouth with the palm of his hand before she could scream.
"Shh. . ." he hushed. "I'm just makin' sure that nothing happens to you." He slowly removed his hand from her lips. . . which he found softer than he would ever admit. "Don't make a big deal outta this."
"You pervert," she whispered back, but didn't make a move to knock him across the room.
He frowned at her, but it didn't last long. "I'm only protecting you. So be grateful."
"I don't need your protection," she told him just as the shard began to glow even brighter than before. Akane didn't seem to notice it. She dropped the necklace and threw her arms around him instead. "Hold me, Ranma," she sighed.
He would have fought her off; really, he would have... if only he could have kept his eyes open for a second longer. His hand landed somewhere on her waist just as their heads fell down onto the pillow. Ranma thought he could feel her hair at his nose, but was too tired to brush it away. It was only a few hours until dawn, and he was sure that Inuyasha would be dragging them outside the hut the second the sun came up.
*****
Akane woke to the sound of someone snoring. She was going to sit up and tell whoever it was to shut up, but for some reason, she couldn't move. Her eyes flew open in alarm, only to see Ranma snoring right into her ear. He held her so tightly, that she couldn't even move her arms. She was about to give him a swift kick, when the events of last night flooded back into her mind. Had she really thrown her arms around him like that? The memory seemed a little fuzzy, but then again, she had been half asleep at the time, hadn't she?
"Ranma," she said, squirming in his arms. "Wake up, PERVERT!"
Ranma's eyes opened slowly, and then blinked realization. He immediately leapt up from the sleeping bag, catching his foot in the zipper, and fell flat on his face next to Akane.
"Ouch," he mumbled against the wood.
"Serves you right, Ranma," she told him, propping her head up on the palm of her hand. "I don't know what you thought you were doing, but thank you for saving me the trouble of hitting you myself."
"You're welcome," he said as he pushed himself up from the floor and stood above her. "Because if I hadn't protected you, that asshole would have taken you away to try and get your necklace!"
He looked pretty upset, but Akane just put her head back onto the pillow and looked up at him. "You're too paranoid, Ranma. Nothing is going to happen to me."
"I've got news for you," he went on. "We're not in Nermina anymore. You're not always safe."
"Well, you didn't have to hold me THAT tight!" she said, her voice rising. "I could barely breathe!"
Ranma's face turned bright red, and he looked away from her. "It's not like I was holding you for fun," he mumbled. "Who would want to hold a stupid tomboy like you, anyway?"
Akane felt her face heating up in anger and embarrassment. She sat up and looked behind her where Kagome sat in her sleeping bag.
"Don't mind me!" Kagome said, smiling at them with a wave. "Pretend I'm not here!"
"This is stupid," Ranma said, and Akane caught a glimpse of his pigtail just as he exited the hut. With a sigh, she turned back to Kagome.
"Where's Inuyasha? He was here when we fell asleep."
Kagome pointed to the ceiling.
*****
Ranma leaned back against the hut. What was with Akane, anyway? Why did she have to be so uncute? But why had he held her so close?
It was pretty cold out, he reasoned. He was probably just cold.
"Women trouble?"
Ranma craned his head up to see Inuyasha's head poking out from the top of the roof. "What do you want?"
"Don't think I couldn't hear you two yelling at each other," Inuyasha went on. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"
Ranma blinked at him. "Excuse me? And how do you know how I feel?"
Inuyasha only stared at him.
"Do you have some sort of communication problem!?" Ranma wanted to know. "I asked you a question!"
"You didn't answer mine," Inuyasha responded as he leapt from the roof and landed firmly on his feet beside Ranma.
"I didn't have to answer your question, because it was stupid," Ranma shot back. "If you think that I would possibly be chasing Akane here out of anything more than obligation, then you're more insane than you look."
Inuyasha didn't say anything, but when Ranma glanced over at him, he had a small smile on his face.
"Are you making fun of me!?"
"How do you like it, asshole?" Inuyasha growled as he shoved Ranma into the side of the hut. "Or is that what you call everyone?"
Obviously, Inuyasha had heard that part of his and Akane's conversation, as well.
"I didn't want you here, but I was nice enough to let you tag along. If you don't keep your fat mouth shut, I'm gonna stuff you back into the time well, and you'll never see your precious Akane again."
"Precious..." Ranma scoffed, shoving Inuyasha away from himself. "Are you kidding me? Her father would have my head if I didn't bring her back!"
Inuyasha folded his arms over his chest as his golden eyes bored into Ranma's blue ones. "Whatever. I don't wanna hear your voice again."
Ranma stepped forward. "Is that a threat!?"
Inuyasha only walked past him toward the hut. "It is if you want it to be." He pushed the door open, and Ranma heard both girls scream.
"PERVERT!"
Something hard hit the door just as Inuyasha slammed it shut and leaned back against it. His face was bright red. "Don't go in there," he told Ranma.
Ranma almost laughed at him when he heard a clap of thunder. When he turned his head up, there were dark clouds looming close by. "Great," he gulped. "Rain. . ."
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Comments to Readers:
Kellie Evans – Thank you! I'm glad you like the story! Naraku is the main villain in the Inuyasha series. They're basically racing against him to collect the shards. If Naraku has the whole completed Shikon jewel, we can only imagine that BAD things will happen. . . lol.
strangerthanthou – Thank you for reading ( Ryoga will surely pop up later in the story, so don't worry about him, yet. As to who's stronger, Ranma or Inuyasha, I would place my money on Inuyasha. I mean, he has Tetsusaiga, plus he's half demon. Ranma is super strong, but he's only human! You asked a lot of questions that even I don't know the answer to, yet, but no, Kagome is not planning on killing Akane to get the shard, but it has crossed her mind that that would be a possible way to get it. About the rest of the Nermina crew, this story is mainly set in the Inuyasha storyline, but I will no doubt pull some Ranma's crew in at the end.
Peter Kim - You asked a lot of questions I don't know the answers to, too! Sorry! But a lot of those characters you mentioned will be included :D
gatogirl1 – I have no doubt that Ryoga and Kouga would get along! I don't think they'll meet in this fic, but that's an idea for another one! And I'm glad to hear that someone else agrees with me on the two greatest animes :D
CTHKSI – Ranma's curse. . . coming up in Chapter 5! :grin:
The Wielder of the Glaive, Elysium and Lonely Soul, Anonamyuopus, Tyrean, Born-Of-Elven-Blood, DangerousElixer, king louie, Bliss and Sin – Thank you so much for reading, and I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story! More to come!! Sorry for making you guys wait. . . I'll try not to put the story off for that long again.