Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

Akane sighed. Ranma just had to come with her. Then again, she was kind of enjoying his company. He hadn't insulted her yet, at least. But she still would have liked to be alone. The thoughts running through her head were blocking out any concentration she had, so the conversation between Ranma and herself was limited.

God, you're such an idiot sometimes, Akane.

How do you expect anyone to know what you want if you don't know yourself?

Why can't you act like a normal human being?

What's the matter with me?

Why CAN'T I be normal?

Why can't I just act girly sometimes?

"Akane."

Is it me?

Is it just not possible for me to act like a regular person?

"Akane?"

I hate to say it, but Ranma's right. I am a stupid, uncute-

"AKANE!"

Akane was startled out of her chain of thoughts. Just as well, she didn't like where they were taking her. Ranma was standing in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face. He visibly relaxed after she moved.

"What happened? You stopped all the sudden and just stood there." Even though he had calmed down considerably, he still looked awfully worried. Akane was slightly touched by this. He was worried? About her? In a strange way, it made her insanely happy.

"Sorry, Ranma. I guess I just kinda lost it." Ranma was obviously not happy with her explanation, but decided to drop it.

"You're telling me." He grumbled. Akane couldn't resist. "Ranma, you weren't worried about me, were you?" Ranma flushed.

"NO! It's just you spaced out and it was weird, ya know?" Ranma's face turned serious. "If you had kept walking and hadn't been paying attention, you coulda walked in the road or somethin'. And then I'd have to save you." Akane turned angry. "Well, if it's such a pain in you butt to save me, then don't!" Ranma nearly fell over a this. "Then who is, you stupid tomboy? You're obviously not capable of taking care of yourself. Face it," Ranma smirked, "You need me."
All right, due to the fact Ranma had not insulted her, Akane had been trying very hard not to lose her temper. However, this line threw her over the top.

"NEED YOU! I'M NOT THE KINDA GIRL TO NEED ANYONE, LET ALONE A STUCK UP CREEP LIKE YOU!" Akane was way passed annoyed. She was in a full out rage. She didn't even want to hit him. She just wanted to get away from him. So she took off running towards the one place she knew she would be welcome. Kyle's place.

Ranma just stood there for a few moments after Akane ran away. He had been kinda harsh on her. He sighed and started walking after her. Not like he didn't know where she was going.

Akane reached Kyle's house in record time. She burst through the doors without so much as a single knock. She couldn't find anyone, and was starting to get desperate. She decided to knock on Justin's door. If she wasn't so unhappy, she probably would have hit herself over the head. She had never been so desperate that she had to go to JUSTIN for help. She knocked tentatively at first, then picked up speed. "Justin, you in there?" The door opened. "Hey dweeb, what are ya doing here? Mum and Kyle went out." Justin's persona went from egotistical to concern. "Hey, 'Kane, what's up? You look like hell." It was just then that Akane realized how upset she was. "Do you know when they'll be back?" Justin shrugged. "It's mum. Who knows? But if you want you can hang out here with me." He smiled jokingly. "I mean, you're still a dweeb. But you're a pretty cool dweeb." All right, so she didn't give Justin enough credit. She made a mental note to work on that. They were always teasing each other, but he really was like a big brother to her. Justin snapped her back out of her thoughts. "You wanna talk about it." Akane nodded. They went downstairs, where Akane settled on the couch and Justin plopped into a chair.

"It's just that…. Don't you ever just get sick of it all?" Akane sighed. "Me and Ranma…. Sometimes I wonder if it'll ever work. I mean, he's got two other gorgeous fiancés, and I'm just plain old Akane." She sighed again. "I'm just so tired of it all, ya know?" Justin looked at her. It was rare that she saw him like this. Now that she thought about it, Justin reminded her slightly of Ranma. Well, Justin was like her brother and Ranma…. Well, Ranma was hardly like her older brother, to say the least.

"First of all, you're hardly just Akane." He looked out the window. "Everyone feels like giving up sometimes. I'm sure even your precious Ranma does. But the point is you've never been one for giving up. And as far as the other fiancés go…" He grinned at her. "Well, are you really gonna let yourself lose to a couple of bimbos?" Akane grinned despite herself. There were times when she would kill to find out she was really part of this family. Justin, despite his annoying tactics, stupid pranks, and truly horrible jokes, really did make her feel better. Justin went back to his normal act of being egotistical and, well, Justin. "Now you go find what's-his-name, and you tell him exactly what you told me. If you don't…" He glared at her, "I'm gonna tell all my jokes to all your friends." Akane feigned mock horror. "No, not that! All right, I'm leaving." She turned back in the doorway. "Hey Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." And with that she went out to find a certain egotistical, annoying, and extremely adorable fiancé.

Near by the dojo….

Ranma spotted Akane. She didn't look angry, but….

Better play it safe anyway.

"H-Hey Akane. Where have you been?" Ranma seriously felt like smacking himself. Where have you been?

C'mon, Saotome, you can do better than that!

"Nowhere, Ranma."

"Well, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean what I said back there.

You're right. You can take care of yourself." Ranma had turned an interesting shade of red. Akane was smiling at him, though. Good sign?

"No, Ranma, you were right. With how spaced out I was, it was probably a good thing you were with me." She looked around. "Hey, Ranma, wanna go somewhere? Just you and me?" Ranma, while turning more red by the minute, could only nod. And, to Akane's surprise, when they started walking, Ranma jumped off the fence, and took her hand. He looked over at her, probably to make sure she wasn't going to pummel him, but she just smiled. Had anyone seen them, they probably would have been very, very confused. But at the moment, the young couple simply did not care.

A.N.: YAY! SO HYPER! Anyway, another chapter done, and I am trying to work in some Romance. I'll update as soon as possible. Thank you to all who reviewed, and to those who haven't, please do!