And I'm back... Yippi-kay-ey! Just a couple of things I want to say before I let you guys get on with reading the story...;
Lerris - You're my toughest critic, but I got to admit that you get me thinking... I'm trying to clear out a couple of the things you think it problematic, and I know I also have a (bad?) habit of putting a lot of meaning in between the lines. I don't like it when things are spelled out too clearly, all the fun goes out of it then... But the story isn't over quite yet, so maybe everything will solve itself in the end...
encycer- You confused me a bit when I first read your review... Ranma and Akane never really got married... Their wedding was wrecked by the rest of the Nerima crew, and therefore Ryoga hasn't quite given up on being the one closest to Akane. And since I'm a big-time fan of Akane&Ranma, I'm not going to couple up everybody else in Nerima... It just gets old how everyone needs to get someone special at exactly the same time. Maybe I could do it in another fic, but this one is all planned out.
So, to all you other guys who keep reading my fic, and especially to those who leave me all those wonderful reviews... THANK YOU! You truly make my day! So... Enjoy!
The Eight Night
Walking groggily downstairs the next morning, Ranma froze as he saw Akane having a whispering conversation with Nabiki at the living room table. The sisters were sitting closely together, and he didn't like the aura surrounding them. He instantly knew that he needed to be careful around them.
Nabiki noticed him standing perfectly still in the background, and Akane turned to him to see what had caught Nabiki's attention. Seeing Ranma, she smiled slightly, making Ranma tense up even more.
"Good morning, Ranma… Slept well?" Nabiki drawled, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Um… Morning…" Ranma grunted in greeting, quickly retreating into the kitchen for safety and something to eat.
By the time he walked back into the living room, Nabiki had left, while Akane still sat by the table. Ranma noticed that Akane's eyes were slightly puffy, indicating that she'd shed quite a few tears during the night, and he almost cringed at the sight.
"You okay?" he almost whispered.
"…I don't know." Akane replied softly after a moment of tense silence.
"Are you very mad at me?" Ranma found himself asking in a small voice.
"Honestly? No, not VERY mad, but a bit mad – yes… It hurts that you didn't just tell me at once… But a lot of it is anger directed at myself… There were lots of clues that I should have gotten, but I let it all slip as I believed that you both were my friends, and I trusted that you would tell me if anything was wrong…"
Her voice was silent, and for some reason Ranma kept thinking about the hissing sound of a fuse burning towards a barrel of dynamite.
"A-akane… I tried to tell you… but I promised… and you were stubborn… and Ryoga just wouldn't give it up…"
"Ranma..! You just as many times protected the secret from being revealed to me! While I tried to sleep last night I remembered several times when you had the chance of exposing him without it being your fault at all… and instead you helped him to cover it up… Helped him trick me."
Ranma looked down at his shuffling feet in shame, feeling worse than before as her soft words left him defenceless. He could sense her shifting about, turning more fully towards him, and steeled himself for whatever she wanted to do to him as his punishment.
"Relax, I'm not going to hit you, Ranma… I've talked with Nabiki, and in exchange for telling her and Kasumi about my secret later, the part about seeing mother again and talking with her, she's agreed to help me out."
Meeting her calm, brown stare, Ranma felt himself sweating at the thoughts of all the nightmarish things Nabiki could plan for him and Ryoga.
"What! You've set Nabiki loose on us? May the gods have mercy on our souls...!" Ranma moaned, dropping down to his knees next to Akane.
Akane petted his hand, and winked at him before she smoothly got to her feet and left the room, leaving Ranma staring into the air with a terrified look on his pale face.
#8#8#8#8#
It was late enough that Ranma could finally excuse himself and go to bed for the night, barricading himself in his room. He hadn't discovered what Nabiki was planning yet, but the wait was just as bad, as his nerves made him jumpy, and his imagination kept coming up with horrifying things that made his stomach turn.
#I don't know what's worse, waiting for something to happen, or finding out what's in store for me… With Nabiki involved, I believe I'm almost better off just imagining the things she might do. Wow, I'm actually being honest with myself, admitting that Nabiki on the warpath scares me shitless… Well, since I'm being honest… all the Tendo sisters scare me shitless when they're mad…#
Ranma almost chuckled at the thought of him – martial artist extraordinaire – being scared of the girls, but his imagination conjured up the sight of all three sisters being mad at him, and he swallowed heavily as he glanced warily around his room.
Earlier in the evening Akane had told her sisters of her near-death experience and her conversation with their mother, resulting in all the girls coming out crying from Akane's room afterwards. Actually, he'd only seen Akane and Kasumi cry, but Ranma suspected that Nabiki had cleverly covered up her own tears before anyone else saw her and destroyed her reputation. The sight of the crying Kasumi had scared Genma into spending the night with Ranma's mother at their own house, leaving Ranma with strict instructions to stay and fix whatever he was sure Ranma had done to them. Nodoka – Ranma's mother – had agreed with Genma that he should stay, if not for the same reasons. She told her son to be manly, and stay and 'comfort' Akane, when Ranma had tried to follow them to get away from Nabiki.
Although the girls tears had kept his other fiancées at bay, making Shampoo, Ukyo and even Kodachi feel out of place at the Tendo house, Ranma wished he didn't feel so completely lost as he witnessed the sisters' bittersweet pain. Soun had been a wreak all day long, not knowing what had happened to his girls, and Ranma hadn't been able to stay a boy for more than a few seconds at a time because of the floods of tears, another reason that his female suitors so willingly left him alone for the time being.
Ranma looked over at his school-books, wondering if he should do some of his homework to make time pass until he could sleep. He always fell asleep at school, so if he were to do some homework he was sure to fall asleep quickly. The thought of Akane stopped his hand as he hesitantly reached for his history book.
#Will she cook tonight? But even if she is, there's no guarantee that she'll let me tag along again…#
Flopping down on top of his blanket, he felt something like depression fill him up, thinking about Akane being mad at him and not letting him taste her cooking ever again. He cursed loudly at Ryoga, blaming him for getting him into this situation in the first place, and sunk deeper into depression.
"Ranma? Aren't you going to join me tonight?"
Akane's whisper made Ranma jump, tripping over his feet and arms and land clumsily facedown on the floor next to his sleeping mat. He hadn't realised that the house had grown silent during his bout of self-pity, and still felt slightly out of it.
"Huh? I thought you were mad at me?" Ranma whispered as he got up and rubbed his bruised head, turning towards Akane, who peaked in through the door at him.
"I told you, I'm just a bit mad at you… Actually, I'm more hurt and disappointed than mad at you, but I'm not about to let old mistakes destroy our newly developed friendship. Unless you don't want to be friends anymore..?"
Ranma felt as if he'd been kicked in the stomach when Akane so easily said that he'd hurt and disappointed her, and a desperate need to make it up to her filled him.
"I'm probably not even worthy of your friendship, but I'll take it if you're still willing to give it." He whispered softly, trying to read her facial expression in the dark room as he knowingly left himself vulnerable to her words if she wanted to hurt him back as he'd hurt her.
"Heh, heh, heh… I know I'm far from perfect, Ranma, you're giving me too much credit. Besides, I've always wanted to be your friend. Come on, I thought I'd just make us some Ramen tonight." Akane laughed, making Ranma feel a whole lot better, and she left the room without looking to see if he'd follow.
#Akane, if anyone's close to perfection, it's you…# Ranma thought affectionately, not registering his own thoughts as he scurried after her.
"Akane? Is there anything I could do that would make you soften your revenge for the mess with Ryoga?" Ranma asked breathlessly as he caught up with her.
She looked at him as she fiddled with her supplies-bag, almost making him blush at the scrutiny.
"Maybe… For you. But not for Ryoga…! He's had his chances."
"I'm not sure I want you to go easy on him either. And I know I've screwed up royally, but I never meant to harm you in any way – you've got to believe me…! It's just… I tried to help Ryoga as I felt kind of sorry for him, and he made me feel responsible for his curse too. And despite everything, I still count him as a friend."
Ranma automatically went over to the radio in the kitchen, finding the same station they always listened to, and helped Akane take out the tools she needed.
"Swear to me that you'll never keep something that important from me again, and I'll make Nabiki soften up on you… But, you'll owe me one for it!" Akane pierced Ranma with her dark eyes, daring him to protest, and momentarily stopped her preparations.
"Sure, anything you want..!" Ranma breathed in relief, not thinking about the possible consequences of his promise.
Akane kept his gaze locked within hers for a few more seconds, before she nodded in satisfaction and continued with her cooking. She slowly relaxed, and was soon humming to the rhythms from the radio, and Ranma also relaxed and just enjoyed watching her work, happy that she was smiling again.
"It's good to see you smile again." He mumbled to himself.
Akane heard him, and sent him a dazzling smile, making his jaw drop. She just ignored his dumbfounded look, and let him sit in astounded silence while she finished up the meal. Pouring two bowls with steaming Ramen for them, she carried them over to the table where Ranma was still sitting and staring at her with large eyes.
"Here, take a bite and see if it's okay."
Snapping his mouth shut, Ranma accepted one of the bowls and inhaled the tantalising aroma coming from it. Being careful to not scold his mouth, he took his first mouthful, and instantly felt the taste fill him with a food-lovers joy and awe. He smiled brilliantly at Akane, who blushed and looked down into her own bowl, just to look back up at him with an astound look as she tried the Ramen for herself.
"It's good, really good..!" she said, sounding almost surprised.
"It's not just good, it's delicious." Ranma said brightly, feeling better with each bite.
"Thank you, Ranma…" Akane said shyly, looking at him through the corner of her eyes.
Ranma just grinned, and happily chatted with her about some of the things he'd imagined Nabiki could attempt as Akane's revenge, making her giggle at the variety and imagination Ranma showed. Soon, both of them were immersed in a conversation about the things she could do to Ryoga, and what Akane had told her sisters about her long talk with their mother. As Akane's eyes filled with tears again, Ranma automatically pulled her into a comforting hug, not realising what he was doing until Akane sniffled against his shirt. Stiffening slightly, but not moving since Akane hadn't protested yet, Ranma tried to come up with something to distract her thoughts. Looking around the kitchen, he suddenly realised something profound.
"'kane…? Do you know what? You just made the best Ramen I've ever eaten…"
Akane lifted a tearstained face, looking at him with a questioning gaze without moving away from his light embrace.
"Uhm… Thank you?"
"No, that's not what I meant… You easily made the best Ramen I've ever tasted, and I've eaten a lot of Ramen… Point being – you made a hell of a lot better Ramen than Shampoo has ever been able to make…"
This made Akane light up, a glow filling her eyes and face with happiness and hope, easily chasing away her earlier so gloomy thoughts.
"Ranma… I think you just gave me an idea… But I need to think it over first." Akane said intensely, suddenly bursting with energy as she jumped up and started cleaning up the slight mess they'd left in the kitchen.
Warmth from both her smile and her earlier closeness still filled Ranma, and made him keep his curiosity at bay, trusting her to tell him what she was thinking about when the time was right. Helping her with the dishes, he let her think without interrupting, and even kept quiet as they walked back upstairs. Nearing the place where they would separate for the night, Akane put a hand on his arm to halt him.
"I'll talk to Nabiki in the morning, to make sure she lets you off easily, and I'll tell you about my plan tomorrow night, okay? I just need to take care of some details first… A bit more thinking…"
Ranma nodded, feeling a lot better after re-establishing his friendship with Akane, getting his stomach filled with mouth-watering food, and the promise of both getting to know Akane's idea soon, and avoiding the worst of Nabiki's plans. Without thinking, Ranma swiftly bent down and kissed Akane softly on the mouth.
The feel of her warm lips pressed against his own made his head spin, and he even slightly nibbled innocently on her bottom lip before he realised what he was doing. Pulling back with extremely slow motions, shocked at the intense feelings that was at war inside of him, he longingly glanced at her mouth before he steeled himself and met her fiery eyes. Akane was staring at him, red in the cheeks, and slowly raised a hand to hesitantly touch her lips. Ranma felt his gaze drawn back her mouth again as she traced her red lips slowly with the tips of her pale fingers, and he desperately wanted to kiss her again. He didn't know if she could read the desire in his facial expression, but her eyes widened even more as she watched him. She didn't scream at him or hit him, just stared at him with an unreadable expression, and didn't even try to move away from him. Several strong heart-beats later she finally moved, just to place the hand that had touched her mouth on his chest instead, and smiled enigmatically at him before she let her hand drop, and at long last turned from him and walked back to her room, leaving Ranma alone yet again with his rampaging feelings.
#Wha-..?#
Authors notes:
So... okay kiss? #grins#