Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

Akane sighed. Things had been, well, awkward between her and Ranma since that day. Nothing had happened. They hadn't fought, and Ranma had actually been nice to her. She was honestly surprised about that. Happy, but surprised. But since that day, Ranma had been flat out ignoring her. He responded to everyone else, but for some reason, every time she tried to strike up a conversation, he promptly found something else to do. There were so many questions to ask, and honestly, she wasn't even angry with Ranma. She was sad. Sad and disappointed. What if Ranma had been testing her? What if he had meant for the whole night to be a joke, but his rule against hurting girls wouldn't allow him to tell her that when he saw how happy she was? What if-

"Akane?"

Akane rolled over on her bed to face the doorway, where Kasumi stood. "Yes, Kasumi?"

"Could you run a few errands for me? I would go myself, but I have to prepare a few things for supper tonight."

"No problem."

Kasumi smiled. "Thank you. Say, why don't you ask Ranma to go with you? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Akane, who had begun to brush her hair and put on better looking clothes, sighed. "C'mon Kasumi, you know he won't talk to me. He hasn't for a couple days now."

Kasumi frowned. "Just ask him, Akane. Surely if you ask politely…."
Akane sighed, exasperated. "Fine, I'll ask him. I'll even ask him politely. But I'm telling you, he won't talk to me."

"Ask him. I'm almost positive he'll agree." With that, Kasumi exited her sister's room. This should get interesting…"

Meanwhile

Kyle answered the phone at his house. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Kyle?" The voice was definitely feminine, but definitely not Akane's. And what other girl would be calling him?

"Speaking."

"Oh, hello Kyle. This is Kasumi, Akane's sister. She is going to the market, and I was wondering if you could meet her there. She and Ranma haven't been talking lately, and I…"

"Sure, of course I'll meet 'Kane there."

"Thank you so much, Kyle. She's leaving now, so anytime you're ready."

"All right. Well, goodbye then."

Kyle hung up the phone. Being friends with Akane for as long as he had, he had learned to expect pretty strange things from her family. This, however, most definitely took the cake.

Back at the Tendou's

Akane knocked tentatively on Ranma's door. "Ranma? It's Akane. Look, I realize you're probably mad at me or something, but Kasumi wants me to go to the market and I was wondering if you'd like to come too." Akane stood there for a few minutes, not really expecting a response, but as she turned to leave, Ranma came out of his room. "You ready?" His voice was more gruff than usual, but Akane was happy to hear it again.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go."

As they made it outside, Akane took notice that he had taken to walking on the fence again.

Not really all that surprising… I wonder why he decided to forgive me.

But little did they know, Kasumi had watched them walk out together. She smiled.

I knew he'd come around. I hate to do this to you Ranma, but you need a wake up call. And something tells me Kyle is just the right person to do it.

At the Market…

Akane read Kasumi's list again. Why had she sent her out for these things? Akane knew for a fact that Kasumi already had plenty of these, and they weren't on sale. Ranma was keeping his distance. Far enough away so no one could tell they were together, but still not letting her out of his sight. Suddenly Ranma was beside her. Akane was very confused.

"What's going on, Ranma?"

Ranma didn't answer. Just then…

"Hey 'Kane!" Akane turned around to see Kyle running towards her. She smirked. Well, that explained Ranma.

"Hey Kyle. What's up?"

"Nothin'." He glanced at Ranma. "Hello."

"Hey," Ranma said gruffly.
Kyle smirked. "Aww, what's wrong Ranma? Something up between you and one of your many fiancés?"
Ranma glared at him. "Yeah. The uncute one you're standing next to. Why are you here?"
"To make sure nothing happens to Akane."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can beat any loser who tries to hurt Akane."

"What about the loser walking with her?

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT!"

"I KNOW ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE MORE LIKE THE GUYS YOU SUPPOSEDLY SAVE HER FROM THAN YOU THINK!"

"OH YEAH! YOU'RE NOT EVEN WORTH MY TIME YOU WORTHLESS SON OF A" Ranma never finished the sentence. A giant mallet had landed on him and Kyle.

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! I DON'T NEED YOU TWO TO LOOK AFTER ME EVERY MOMENT! I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!" And with that she stormed off, leaving a crowd of confused people behind. Kyle turned to look at Ranma. He smiled weakly.

"Truce?" Kyle held out his hand. Ranma eyed it for a moment, before taking it.

"Truce."

About An Hour Later…

Kyle and Ranma were sitting in the park. They both had ice packs on their heads. They sighed. Ranma turned to glance at Kyle.

"By the way, what did you mean back there when you said I was more like the guys I protect Akane from than I think?" Kyle sighed.

"Well, you do hurt her. I'd say that's a common characteristic."
Ranma became extremely angry in record time. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I'D NEVER HURT AKANE!"

Kyle glanced at him. "Calm down. I wasn't accusing you. I know you don't purposely try to hurt her. I'm just sayin' you need to think about what you're gonna say before you say it."

Ranma thought for a moment, then got up. "I'd better get going. My guess is Akane's mad and she ain't getting any happier." Kyle got up as well. "I'd better be going to. Mum'll have a fit if I'm not home soon."

Ranma smiled. "Thanks for the advice Kyle."

Kyle looked at him. "She really loves you, ya know."

"What!"

"Yeah. And if you tell her I told you, I'll deny it. But she really does. So just know, I didn't do this for you. I did it for her. Despite what you may or may not think, I don't want to steal her from you. She's my best friend. I just wanna see her happy." Kyle smirked at him. "But if you tell her I said any of that, I'll tell her you're crazy."

Ranma said his goodbyes and started towards home. There were a lot of things he wanted to tell a certain girl.

A/N: I'm SOOO Sorry it took my so long. I got sick and then we had tests and…. Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed. I appreciate the advice.