A/N: I AM ALIVE. MUAHAHA.

Mellow
Chapter 6

It was with great effort that Akane managed to get Ranma to follow her into the house. Kasumi had come out to welcome them, but for once, she had been so shocked at the sight of a bloody hissing Ranma that she had taken a slight step back unconsciously. "Oh dear," the oldest Tendou sister murmured. "Has something bad happened, Akane-chan?"

Akane looked up guiltily at Kasumi. "I'll explain," she said. "Could you get some hot water, Kasumi-nee-chan?" Watching as her sister returned to the kitchen urgently, Akane turned back to the redhead. "Come on Ranma…" she all but cooed pleadingly. "Come on… let's get up upstairs." To her surprise and relief, she followed her suspiciously, and before long, Akane had gotten Ranma into her room and shut the door.

There was a soft knock, and Kasumi poked her head inside. Glancing worriedly at Ranma, she passed Akane a kettle of warm water. "I'll be outside if you need me, Akane," she said, and Akane smiled slightly in gratitude. Once the door shut, she turned her attention to Ranma, who was now backed into a corner and hissing in a rather dangerous way.

She had one chance to do this… If she could get Ranma to calm down enough to pour the hot water on her, then hopefully she would snap out of the Nekoken. Should all else fail…She hoped her aim was good then.

Inching close, Akane held up the kettle. Ranma stared hard at the object. Taking a deep breath, she waited until she was just close enough to Ranma before she tipped the kettle and hot water came flowing over. Ranma gave a yelp, and Akane only watched in a mix of fascination and hope as the change took effect. Thankfully, her fiancé stopping hissing and snapped right out of the Nekoken as Akane hoped.

"Ranma?" she asked, almost afraid. "You okay?"

He didn't answer. His senses were on fire; everything seemed to have intensified drastically. He could recognize the place as Akane's room, but for the love of himself, Ranma had no idea what happened before this. There were vague memories bubbling up now… something about Ukyou and Shampoo and Kodachi? Yeah… yeah that was right. They'd been screaming like hell, and tossing weird powders around. He winced. That had been hell back in Ucchan's. He didn't know what they did, but he remembered the most intense feeling of agony all over himself. It was like his skin was trying to tear right off him, and damn, had that been painful. Everything had been a blur, but he had been confronted with a terrifying fear… and he had escaped, he knew. What happened after that, however, was pretty much a blur…

Ranma glanced down at himself. His skin wasn't burning anymore, but still his senses seemed out of whack. Everything was wrong: the colors of the room seemed to be leaping out at him fiercely and instinctively Ranma shrank back. Why were they so… loud? From the glaring harsh yellow of the walls to the cloying pink of the bed sheets… he shuddered. He was sure they had been muted before. Had Kasumi given the room a makeover or something? He could hear the clock ticking away, but with every tick the sound seem to smash into him brutally. Even when he breathed in, Akane's personal scent rushed in headily. Normally he liked it, but right now it was like having to stick his nose into a perfume bottle and inhale sharply.

"Ranma?" he heard Akane say, and the sound seemed to vibrate through him. He shrank back even more; this was giving him a really bad headache. But he wasn't prepared when Akane reached out to touch him lightly on the shoulder.

He could feel every stand of fabric of his shirt rubbing painfully against his bare skin, and it hurt. But what was worse was the sudden spurt of unexplained fear that shot up at the contact.

"Get away!" he yelled, or at least, he thought he yelled. But the sound that tore from his lips didn't sound anything like his voice at all. She shrank back, wide-eyed and silent.

There was a long awkward pause. He pushed himself against the wall and let his head droop, shutting his eyes tightly to stop himself from seeing the harsh sight before. It was a while before he realized that the ragged breathing he had been hearing for the past five minutes came from him. Cautiously, he opened his eyes.

That was better, he thought. The effects had been subdued slightly, enough for him to look without squinting now.

"Ranma?" Akane whispered warily. He looked at her. She was pale and looked on the verge of tears, her fingers gripped tightly around the hem of her shirt. With a gentle pat on the edge of her bed, she gestured to him. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll be back soon."

She didn't wait for him to answer. Instead, her eyes seemed to harden with determination instantly and she crawled to her feet, fixing a steely, almost angry stare on the walls before her. She paused only to give him the most comforting smile she could muster, which unfortunately was not much, then as quietly as she could, walked out of the door.

The door shut softly, but all the same Ranma flinched slightly at the sound.

He breathed. The clock ticked. Everything was still harshly glaring, but…

Carefully, almost guardedly, Ranma climbed up the bed, only vaguely aware of the murkiness that was fast overtaking his consciousness.

So tired.

He laid his head down and shut his eyes.

The smell of Akane was unbelievably strong, but unlike just now, he found it a little more comforting now.

-

"What did you do to him?!"

Cologne looked up warily, sighing as her customers started violently from the shock. It was the Akane girl in the doorway, her eyes red and her chest heaving. Hopping past on her stick, she beckoned Akane to follow her, all the while smiling patronizingly at her customers. "Free drink on the house!" she announced, and at the excited murmuring the smile grew a little strained.

"Come, child," she muttered to Akane. The girl drew in a deep shuddering breath and followed her to one of the back rooms. Ay, what has happened now? She wondered. Shampoo had come back fifteen minutes ago, frighteningly pale and bruised. She had said nothing, only disappearing into her room and Cologne had heard the telltale 'click' of the lock as soon as the door shut shakily.

Once Akane was in the room, Cologne shut the door and turned to her. "Now, what is this you speak of, Akane?" she questioned sharply.

"Don't play games, Cologne." The girl was furious, her eyes blazing. "What did Shampoo and the others do to Ranma? Tell me! Why did they try to drug him?"

Cologne stared, confused. "Akane, I know nothing of this thing you speak of…"

But she was on a roll now, and Akane pushed on stubbornly. "They were there, flinging powders on him… calling his name… maybe the okonomiyaki was just a distraction, maybe it was drugged too! It had pink powder, why would it have pink powder on it…" her eyes were wet now, her voice was hysterical, and she waved her hands about madly. "And now… now Ranma doesn't trust anyone! Not even me!"

Cologne had frozen. At last she spoke, her voice strange and clipped. "Where is son-in-law now?"

Akane sniffed, rubbing at her arms. "In… in my room," she answered.

Cologne turned away. "Go home, Akane," she spoke quietly. "I have some things to ask Shampoo. We will come along your house presently."

Akane nodded, wanting to have something to believe in for now. She turned to go.

"Akane!"

She turned slightly. "Yes?"

Cologne's eyes were warning. "Keep Ranma with you at all times."

-

Since then, they hadn't seen Shampoo around very much. Cologne did come back, looking awfully old all of a sudden. She said the best thing to do was to wait it out until the effects wore off, that was, if they would wear off. Akane was hopeful; Ranma seemed less jumpy now, though he still shrank away from human touch and had even gone to the point of insisting the clock be taken away.

She was at his side all the time. Even when night fell, she wanted to be by Ranma when he slept. That wasn't a difficult thing, since Ranma refused to be moved from the room. Since obviously she couldn't crawl into bed with him, so she settled for the next best thing instead.

She slept on the floor that night.

Perhaps that helped, because the next day he agreed to leave the room, but only if Akane came along. So she stood waiting while he used the bathroom, and she was still there waiting when he came out after his shower. He still wouldn't let her touch him, or anything touch him for that matter, and she had to talk softly around him, but she was heartened.

He was like a jumpy cat. Any sudden movements and he would bolt.

The few days after he had been drugged, everything seemed sort of surreal. They hadn't heard from the rest, and Ranma was slowly, but surely, regaining his senses.

Then the trouble started.

-

It started with Kunou.

Apparently Kodachi's distress could not be contained, and she spilled everything out to Kunou, including the parts about how Ranma was really the 'vile pigtailed girl'.

Of course, Kunou had waved his bokken around and ranted about wizardry and sorcery. Then he had jumped up with a scary glint in his eyes and proclaimed, "Now that the vile Saotome is weak and injured, I, Kunou Tatewaki, will free the fiery pigtailed girl and the beauteous Tendou Akane from the clutches of he!"

Kodachi had turned quite hysterical at that, it seemed. She had shrieked and yelled and pleaded, screeching for Kunou not to go near Ranma. Her brother had been almost surprised, but he went anyway.

So it was on a quiet morning that the front door flew open with a loud boom and Kunou stalked in, waving his bokken. "Prepare yourself, Saotome!" he yelled. "I shall smite thee!" Ranma and Akane, sitting in the living room, had jumped up at the noise, with Ranma looking quite disturbed. Kunou seemed to be entirely oblivious to Akane's yell of anger, because he rushed forward and swung the bokken at Ranma. "Smite!" he bellowed with each swing. "Smite! Smite!"

"Kunou!" Akane shrieked, rushing to Ranma, who had dodged each blow but had the strangest expression on his face. For a moment there, she felt fear creep up on her, and Ranma fixated a dark look on Kunou. "Stop it!"

Kunou stopped. "Oh fair Akane!" he murmured, pulling her into a passionate embrace and ignoring her heated struggle. "Fear not, for I, Kunou Tatewaki shall emerge victorious and--"

"Get the hell away from her!"

It happened so fast; she had no time to yell out. One moment Kunou was rambling, next moment he had sprawled on the floor, blood dribbling from his nose as he slumped, unconscious. Akane turned her gaze to Ranma, who was panting and trembling from the exertion for the punch. He looked up then, and she shrank back, frightened of the possessiveness and raw rage burning in those eyes.

"Ranma…?" she asked.

He glared at Kunou's limp form and stalked away.

She was left staring after him. Unconsciously, she began to shake. Here she was, thinking that he was about to heal…

The drugs hadn't just messed up his senses. They had messed up his head too.

-

Still, she grew closer and closer to Ranma in those two weeks. She was there when he cowered in a moment of weakness, horrified of the sounds and colors. She was there when he hissed and raged when the others tried to make advances on him. She was there in the nights, in the days. She was always there.

She wanted to be there.

In the second week, he seemed to calm. His physical senses were more or less back to normal now, she could even yell at him or smack him on the head. On the emotional side, though… the others, less wary now, began to make their way back to his life, eventually the cycle was restored.

Find Ranma. Demand something of Ranma. Chase Ranma. And then it repeated all over again.

On hindsight, Akane thought, perhaps that was the reason why Ranma never seemed to make any progress on his emotional state. Every time he tried to, something new happened.

Ukyou was back to delivering okonomiyaki and sneaking time in with her Ran-chan. She was more cautious, quieter, but it was the same. Kodachi tried to deliver a huge French dinner, but obviously it would be drugged, so no one bothered to eat it. It was, maybe, a show of her guilt. She spoke nothing of the gender-changing issue, or of the drug she had scattered on Ranma. It was as though she had forgotten about it.

Shampoo did not come close to Ranma, however. Mousse was happy, of course, although he knew he should not have been. Kunou was wary for a few days or so, before he went right back to his raving of the vile cheater Saotome ("How dare he sneak an attack with I, Kunou Tatewaki, was attending to the delicate needs of the fair Tendou Akane?"), but even then, he seemed more subdued, more cautious.

Akane tried to keep them back. But this was Nerima. Keeping them back was just about as likely as Happousai running off to be a monk.

Still, she tried.

-

It was on a Thursday night that while Akane was preparing for bed that Ranma looked down at her from atop what used to be her bed. She was by the bed; on a futon that Kasumi had given her (ironically, it was the futon that Ranma used to sleep in).

"Akane."

She looked up. "What?"

He seemed almost hesitant. "Do you…you want your bed back?"

She stood up and pondered about this. "Kind of…" she admitted. "I do miss it--"

She had gotten no further before Ranma's hand shot out suddenly and grabbed hers. With one fluid motion, he pulled, and she fell, right atop of him.

Akane froze.

Slowly, hesitantly, she placed the palms of her hands on the bed and pushed herself up as well as she could, pulling her flushed face out of the crook of Ranma's neck. She didn't go very far, only to the point where she could look down and see Ranma's expression.

What she saw in his face… she could never describe.

It was as though every single emotion in him had been dug up and pushed to the surface, displaying it all for her to see, like the time he had punched Kunou. She saw everything; possessiveness, want, longing.

And something else.

"Ranma," she whispered, eyes wide. Warm breath fanned on her face as he breathed out beneath her.

She didn't resist when he pulled her down to press his lips to hers. Just like that, her eyes fell shut and she was lost.

And, she reflected, so was he.

-

Morning came. When she finally opened her eyes, Ranma was already awake, staring down at her.

"Hey," he said quietly.

She pressed her face into his bare neck. "Good morning," she returned, her voice muffled.

He grinned lazily.

-

Inhibitions?

What inhibitions?

After all that happened since the start of their relationship, there simply wasn't any more space for inhibitions.

Akane realized that, after a while.

So did Ranma.

-

"Let's have a wedding!" Soun proclaimed proudly.

Akane sat up stiffly. "What?" she threw at her father.

"We noticed you two have been getting closer--" Genma started.

"—So we thought--" Soun continued excitedly.

"—Time for a wedding--" Genma cut in.

"—Yes! A wedding!" Soun finished, rubbing his hands.

Akane glanced furtively at Ranma, but he seemed to be thinking hard. Did Ranma… "When do you want the wedding?" she asked.

Genma and Soun looked at each other. "Sunday!" they announced.

Ranma reeled then. "It's Friday today!" he yelled.

Genma nodded solemnly. "All the faster."

Ranma seemed to be speechless. Suddenly he grabbed Akane's arm and pulled her from the room. Ignoring their fathers' protests, he slammed the door shut and turned to Akane.

"Ranma…" she started, feeling uncomfortably hot all of a sudden. "Do you want a wedding?"

He looked at her, and Akane's heart squeezed. It was happening again. It was as though she could see every emotion Ranma was feeling, see every though running through him mind as his face spelt it out clearly for the world. Ranma used to be so shy. It was as though his feelings had been… magnified.

It was scary.

"Even if I wanted a wedding, Akane," he told her seriously. "I want it to be one that we plan. Not one that our dads plan."

She took his hand, and smiled. "Okay." With one fast movement, she tilted her head and kissed him, just for the sheer fun of it.

He looked surprised. But he grinned.

-

Word spread fast. Even though they told their fathers not to go ahead with the wedding, apparently, they decided to go qahead with the planning anyway, except to push it to the next Sunday instead. Somehow the message that was being spread around Nerima was "WEDDING! THEY'RE HAVING A WEDDING TODAY!" And because rumors tend to get distorted… it soon became 'Ranma plans to sneak Akane away in the night and bed her' or 'Akane knocked Ranma out with her cooking and plans to force him to commit to marriage', depending of whichever you wanted.

And the trouble came.

Sunday morning was calm… until Akane was rudely awakened by a loud crash. Jumping to her feet blearily, she stared out of the window automatically before blinking awake fully. With a heave, she flung open the window and stared out in shock.

"Ryouga! Ranma!" she yelled, voice rusty. "What the heck are you two doing?"

Ryouga stared up at her in righteous fury. "Don't worry, Akane-san, I will avenge your honor…" his voice trailed off before his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he returned to his battle furiously, face now a bright crimson red. "Die Ranma!"

Akane blinked and glanced down at herself. She colored slightly… trust Ryouga to get wrong ideas at the sight of her wearing a slightly-more-risqué-than-usual nightie (hey, Kasumi thought lace was nice! Besides all her nightclothes were in the wash. This was the last thing left in her drawer.). It didn't help that her bra strap had slipped off her shoulder and was now exposed to the world.

Akane flushed. Oops, maybe she shouldn't be standing at the window in her a slightly-more-risqué-than-usual nightie and showing off her bra strap with the bright blue flowers. Yanking the curtains shut, she dove for her wardrobe and began pulling out clothes.

Halfway through changing, the door slammed open and Shampoo bounded in, and boy, was she mad. Brandishing her bonboris lethally, the Amazon snarled. "Shampoo kill!"

Akane thought to scream in rage, but she decided to sigh first. This wasn't turning out to be a good day.

-

The house was in shambles.

In the course of a few hours, Ryouga had come and gone, demolishing half the yard in his fight. Then Shampoo and Ukyou appeared, angrily seeking a fight with Akane, who would have taken them on if Ranma hadn't stepped in.

He had looked… dangerous. The girls had left, but not before reducing what used to be Akane's bedroom to a huge mess.

Mousse came. Ranma, at that point, seemed so angered by this constant fighting that he didn't even pretend to fight Mousse. He just watched Mousse start battle with a table lamp before he punched him viciously and watched him fly away over the rooftops.

Ranma was angry… and Akane couldn't help but feel worried. She wasn't the only one. They were all worried. Troubled by something that was different.

Kunou was the last. He came, he raved, and he was beat up to a pulp. Ranma seemed to have decided to use him as a stress outlet.

Kodachi did not come. It troubled Akane even more.

The sun was setting when Kasumi saw Ranma leaving. "Ranma," she had asked. "Are you staying for dinner?"

He shook his head. He had a strange expression on his face. Kasumi let him go.

He did not come back for sleep that night. Akane tried waiting up for him, but she fell asleep. She knew her family was awake, each of them waiting up for the troubled young man in an effort to be the family he had always needed.

Since Ranma had come to live with them, he had all but become family. Family members wait for each other.

She didn't mean to fall asleep. Neither did Kasumi or Soun.

-

The fire occurred that night.

To this very day, Akane had no idea what really happened. All she knew was that in the middle of the night, the phone started ringing. A sleepy Kasumi answered the phone, only to find Genma rambling about fires and Nodoka and Ranma.

It was the first time she had seen real panic in the older man. Usually so complacent and uncaring and thoughtless, Genma was for once, truly, really frightened.

Ranma still had not returned to the Tendou Doujou.

They went straight to the hospital. Passing by the charred remains of Nodoka's home, even Soun was stunned into silence. There was police tape around the still smoking house; Akane saw policemen examining the burnt wreckage.

Nodoka was warded for severe smoke inhalation. She had been asleep when the fire started. But what was confusing was that Kunou, Kodachi and Ukyou were warded for second and third degree burns. Through bits and pieces the story started to pour in: Ukyou had wanted to go to Nodoka's house to look for Ranma. Seeing how he wasn't at Akane's, she had assumed he would seek his mother out. She had initially taken Ryouga along, but at some point, he got lost. Halfway there, she met Kodachi and somehow started an argument with her. They argued all the way to Nodoka's house over whom Ranma should marry.

Nodoka, as expected, was not pleased to find two squabbling girls on her doorsteps. But what worried her more was the fact that her son was missing. She and Genma had retired to bed early that night; she did not fancy being awakened by her son's fiancées.

"Ranma is not here," she had said politely but firmly. "You girls may wait for him to turn up, but I believe my son has no problems finding a place for the night. He did grow up on the road, after all."

Then she had gone to bed.

Kunou came to pick his sister up, something that he did not do willingly. That much was sorted out by Akane. The rest she did not understand.

She didn't get a chance to know more before Ranma showed up, face white and eyes dark.

The nurses had to physically restrain him as he tried to scream at Ukyou and Kodachi in their ward. Of all the people around Ranma… his mother was one of the people he was most protective of, whether he admitted it or not. It was not known how he had found out about the fire, or where he had been all night, he just stood there, tirelessly attacking them with his angered words.

"Did you set fire to my mother's house?" Akane recalled him yelling in what could only be described as pure unrestrained rage.

Ukyou was crying. "We didn't, Ran-chan, we didn't… we were just there waiting for you when it started…"

He drew in a deep breath, and his eyes burned. "The police suspect arson," he clipped out.

Ukyou cried harder.

"This is all your fault, you know," he started suddenly. "All of you people's faults."

The nurses had stopped trying to restrain him. He was simply too strong… but he didn't seem like he was going to physically attack them, so they settled for attempting to usher him out.

For a moment, Ranma looked like he wanted to crush something. Then he deflated. "Screw it."

He walked out of the room. No one tried to stop him.

He was walking out of the hospital when Akane called out to him. Why she called out, she had no idea. "Ranma!"

He stopped. He looked back at her. Then he walked on.

That was the last she ever saw of him.

-

What happened after that was simple. Once Cologne heard of the fire, she took Shampoo to see Nodoka to explain everything from the start. Needless to say, Nodoka was more than a little shaken, so much that she declared all engagements null and void.

The Amazons accepted and left.

Ukyou left too.

Kunou and Kodachi sobered up.

Akane moved away.

Life went on. But nothing could truly ever patch up the empty gaping hole in their lives.

-

Confused? Scratching your head and wondering why the hell Ranma is so damn weird and exactly what made him that way? There is a reason for it… that you will hear of in the next chapter. Ha. Ha.

I've been trying to portray Ranma and Akane's relationship realistically should they grow much closer. Frankly I'm tired of fanfiction portraying Akane as a mallet-happy nut. Sure she is rather tomboyish and violent, but come on. Compared to the anime and manga, it's so exaggerated it's ridiculous. But I'll save my rants for another day… x/

Comments? Criticism? Just a note: the next update might take some time. School is torturous.