On the way home from school that afternoon, Akane still wasn't talking to Ranma, which was fine with him. If that stupid tomboy wants so bad to think that I'm some kinda pervert, I ain't got anything to say to her anyhow. He growled. Does she really think I'm some kinda weirdo like that old freak? The trouble with walking along the top of the fence was that there were no pebbles or bits of garbage to kick, so as to improve one's mood.
He noticed Nabiki about a block ahead of them, on her way to the library before going home. He hopped down from the fence, gesturing for Akane not to catch up with him as he ran on ahead.
Hearing his footsteps, Nabiki turned to see him approach. "You want something, Ranma?"
He fell into step beside her and pulled out his wallet. "Here," he said, thrusting two thousand-yen notes into her hand.
She looked at him evenly. This was largely due to the fact that Nabiki Tendo made it a point not to have a "confused face." "What's this for?"
"Somethin' happened earlier, made me feel like I owed you."
Nabiki arched a curious eyebrow. "Really? What?"
He broke stride, stopping to look her in the face. "Nabiki, you're two thousand yen richer than you were a minute ago. No questions asked, for once?"
She nodded. "All right. No questions asked."
"Thanks." He turned and started to head back toward Akane, then paused. He slid another thousand-note out of his wallet and passed it to the middle Tendo sister. "And thanks again." I hope this works. I wanna win an argument, for once. With that, he strolled back down the sidewalk in Akane's general direction.
Nabiki blinked. It's times like this, I almost wish I had a "confused face." Then she shrugged and pocketed the money, continuing on her way.
As Ranma neared Akane's position, he jumped back up onto the fence, walking backwards to keep pace with her.
"I don't even want to know what that was all about," she told him, her tone of voice suggesting volumes, all of them unsavory.
"Good, 'cause I wasn't plannin' on tellin' ya."
She glared at him. "Pervert."
He knew the course she was expecting this discussion to take. He'd call her a tomboy, and then she'd call him a jerk, and they'd go back and forth with insults until one of them ran out, at which point Akane would smack him with her schoolbag, and he'd end up in the canal. Not this time.
Turning around to face forward, he let a moment pass in silence, to draw her attention to the fact that something was amiss. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, pensive, almost sad. "…Is that what you really think of me, Akane?"
Akane opened her mouth, then shut it again. What's the matter with him? You'd almost think I hurt his feelings. But that's silly. "Well, you were trying to get into the girls' locker room."
He didn't look at her, didn't break his gaze away from the horizon. "Mm," was his noncommittal reply.
Again, Akane was taken aback. She had expected him to protest, to come up with some excuse to explain what he was doing in there. But he offered no defense… why? "If you had a reason for being there that wasn't perverted, why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have listened?" His tone carried no rancor; only resignation.
She shuffled her feet. "I… I would've… if it was a good reason…"
Ranma stopped walking, and turned to look at her. Even from his height on the fence, she could read the expression in his eyes: regret. It was as if his eyes were saying, "No, you wouldn't have. But I don't blame you. I only wish it were otherwise."
Her shoes, Akane decided, were a much better place to look than into those sad blue eyes. She swallowed past the lump that guilt was quickly creating in her throat. "Ranma… you're right. I'm sorry I called you a pervert. I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to tell me what was going on. It's just that you always come up with the most idiotic excuses for—" Akane winced. She sighed, and scraped her heel in the dirt. "And from now on, I'll try to be more understanding when you stick your foot in your mouth in the middle of an apology."
At that, Ranma had to smile. He hopped down from the fence and stood beside her. On impulse, he reached down and took her hand in his, figuring that if he got punted into the canal for it, at least he'd gotten an apology out of the deal. To his pleasant surprise, Akane squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Come on," he told her, "let's go home."
As they walked back to the dojo, Ranma pondered the spontaneous development of his newfound ability to pay Nabiki for the temporary rental of her quick wit and understanding of human reactions. He resolved to save up his yen and try out this new resource in extricating himself from his "extra" fiancées.
The power of suggestion is a wonderful thing.