Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all the characters, trademarks etc. belong to Rumiko Takahashi and to their other rightful owners. To sum it up: I don't own Ranma
"Spoken"
-Thought-
D-Day, February 14th… V-Day, March 14th
March 14th, V-Day… also known as White Day...
Akane woke up and immediately felt that something was amiss. The comfortable warmth that she'd come to associate as Ranma was not there like it had been for every morning during the last three weeks. She bolted upright and looked around in the room, there was no Ranma there but on his futon there was a heart shaped box with a letter addressed to her on the top. Her heart sped up… he had remembered white day…
Eagerly like a giddy little girl she grasped the letter and tore it open… it read.
"Dear Akane. I'm not good with words so I decided this way to wish you happy white day… Also watch your teeth when you are eating your prize, chew softly. What is there is there because I do care. Sincerely: Ranma"
They still hadn't talked about their relationship, she had tried a few times but Ranma had been unwilling to venture into the discussion only stating that they should bide their time. She would have gotten angry then but there was something in his eyes that stopped her… something that begged for patience. But now, she felt elated, there it was in writing… in black and white… he, Saotome Ranma did care. It didn't say 'I love you' or anything but, still. -Though most of this is really cryptic… chew softly… what's that supposed to mean?-
She showed her wonder aside and opened the box, finding inside a assortment of white chocolates and in the middle there was a largish chocolate heart that had a small note next to it saying "Eat me first… watch your teeth…" Akane shook her head and took the heart from its place and began softly to nibble on it.
Some fifteen minutes later there was a furious trampling sound when Akane blurred downstairs past the only partially awake Nabiki and Kasumi who was just setting the table, leaving them both look after their little sister in amazement. Ranma, who was sitting in the dojo trying to meditate to calm his nerves, cocked his ears at the sound but wasn't really prepared for the assault that followed… he was sent flying as Akane came in full speed and leap tackled him.
Ranma fell backwards and after a few moments of dizziness noticed that he was pinned down to the floor by glowing Akane who was sitting on his chest. He didn't quite have a chance to recover before Akane held something in front of his eyes and ask in a quivering tone. "Saotome Ranma… does this really mean what I think it means?" Ranma blinked and then focused at the object in her hand, blinked again and then nodded dumbly.
Akane squealed out in delight and gave him a bone crushing hug that nearly crippled him for life and with an almost triumphant smile slipped the intricate gold and silver band into her finger. She had really been surprised when the little chocolate heart had revealed an object wrapped in soft plastic inside. More so when the plastic had revealed a ring in which gold and silver bands came together to form a yin-yang symbol, and finally she was almost blown away when she noticed the inscription on the inside of the ring. There was his name and hers, with a small infinity symbol in between.
Suddenly she was shaken out from her reverie by a slight movement from beneath her, she blinked… right she was sitting on her fiancé. She blushed at first but began to smile mischievously a second later. Quickly checking that the dojo door was clear of any offending parents or fiancée wannabes she turned at the now quite hot feeling Ranma. She lowered her head just slightly and whispered. "Ne… Ranma, how about a little kiss for your fiancée?"
She watched in amusement as the boy swallowed nervously and nodded weakly. Suddenly though he seemed to go calm and brought his hands up behind her and began to pull her downwards, she complied and soon their lips were almost touching. Ranma flashed his trademark cocky grin and whispered "I'm so glad…" before pulling her closer for their first real kiss… and then the second, and so on as the pent up frustrations of the past year and a half, the last several months and the last three weeks in particular began to unwind.
Their technique was sloppy at start but the tentative and chaste kisses began rapidly to evolve into an intricate anything goes martial arts tongue fencing form. Taking only minute pauses to suck the much needed oxygen into their lungs they spent the next moments practicing this new an intriguing form of training. They were forced to stop when a soft "Oh my!" and an amused "Go sis!" were heard from the dojo door.
The pair stopped their, uh training but didn't spring apart as per usual but chose instead to stay right there wrapped in each others arms. Nabiki took advantage of the opportunity and flashed a picture of them stating that it was for 'posterity's sake' while Kasumi only stared, she wasn't privy on Ranma's master plan that involved chocolate and an 'uncute' tomboy. Kasumi was about to say something when Nabiki grabbed her sleeve and dragged her back into the house promising to explain it all to her in length.
In the dojo Akane rested her head on Ranma's chest before asking. "What now? I mean… what will you say to the others?"
Ranma shifted slightly and began to caress her hair. "Well I asked Nabiki for some help so… anyway if the old ghoul starts to give me too much trouble Nabiki said she could get a deportation order on them. You know, Shampoo lied to me… she said that she'd be executed should she return without a husband, but that's all bull. She was just trying to guilt trip me into doing stuff, what she really gets is a year or two of penance, cleaning the toilets and the like… personally I don't really care anymore, haven't after the failed wedding…"
He shivered lightly when Akane kissed his throat. "The Kuno's can't really be touched, that batty big 'Kahuna' is just too well connected, not to mention rich. Well they can't be touched unless they really go out of their way to hurt someone but… they aren't all that though really. And as for Ukyo… well mom informed me that basically she will only recognize one engagement and that would be the one I want so… and as for the yatai, it's cost was subtracted from the damages Ukyo did when she wrecked mom's house."
At this Akane sat up and playfully swatted Ranma on the head "You jerk… you mean to tell me that you have had his fiancée mess sorted out for months now and you didn't even bother to tell me." Ranma smiled sheepishly. "You… you jerk… why I even bother with you never ceases to amaze me." She lowered her face towards his. "And you haven't even said that you lo…hmph"
She was cut of by Ranma's lips that sealed hers for a moment. "If I say it out loud then something is bound to happen… this is Nerima after all… but still." He pulled Akane closer and then whispered almost inaudibly "I still do… you know… love…you…" he then turned his head while blushing madly, kissing aside, and that was something that was pretty much guided by hormones, he still wasn't really good with talking about stuff like this, he probably never would be.
Luckily he was saved by a gasp from Akane. "Ranma, you said you got help from Nabiki… how could you afford something like that?" The pigtailed boy began to squirm uncomfortably and muttered something causing Akane to narrow her eyes and demand "What was that?"
Ranma looked forlorn and said "I promised that she could sell our first born on the open slave market." Akane fell sideways to the ground only to be caught by Ranma. "Geeze Akane… give me some credit here. Actually I did promise her a small cut on the dojo's profits this summer, see I was thinking we could try to you know… teach summer classes. She even guaranteed full rosters if I would work in my girl form every now and then."
Akane started to make strangling sounds, selling their first born would probably be a smaller price to pay than the mysterious 'small' cut. After few moments she managed to wheeze out a question. "How 'small' a cut did you promise? 120 percent, 150 percent?" Ranma tried to evade the question but in vain, he was after all trapped underneath the inquisitor.
Frustrated Ranma finally blurted out "Look get it through your thick skull that she'd skin me alive if I told you that she settled for a five percent, seven and a half if …" He slapped his forehead while muttering "Crap… now I'm really dead… look Akane don't tell Nabiki but I think she's growing soft or something, I mean she offered a seven and a half deal which would include all the paperwork and public relations plus a few hefty deals from her local connections that need self defence courses."
Akane just stared Ranma for a moment thinking about her sisters uncharacteristic offer but shrugged it off -Well she'll probably claim it was an early wedding present later but still, it's a nice gesture… and it would be nice to try some teaching during the summer.- She decided that Ranma needed some tongue lashing anyway so proceeded to do just that, in a very literal sense… they both felt rather flustered when Kasumi again interrupted stating that breakfast was ready.
During the breakfast Ranma and Akane had to stand constant teasing from Nabiki who was fanning herself and constantly pointing out how they sat closer together and what not. She even inquired Akane things that made Ranma almost choke on his tea… seriously questions like 'So how's his finger dexterity, any great martial arts techniques there?' were not something you'd expect in a breakfast table. On an interesting note it Akane didn't seem to mind the questions and returned fire with her own barbed questions that made Nabiki's smile widen and Ranma's blush deepen.
Just before they left for school Kasumi promised to call Ranma's mother and tell her the good news and also to keep the moronic fathers in dark about recent developments. In fact neither Genma nor Soun had set foot in the Tendo household in the past three weeks, and were slaving away rebuilding the Saotome home.
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They made good speed towards the school until they came to the part of Nerima known as 'Amazon Ambush Zone' and surely enough a loud yell of "Airen, no go school come date Xian Pu!" was heard as a purple haired Amazon pedalled furiously towards the pair. Ranma managed to dodge the bicycle that was aimed for him but was unable to evade the boa constrictor like glomp of the lovesick catgirl.
This time Akane didn't mallet Ranma though, as he was trying to wiggle free from the death grip. Finally Ranma managed to slip from the hug and jumped a few meters away from Shampoo. "Now look Shampoo, I gotta go to school… but promise you won't bother me today and tomorrow and I'll come to the cat café on Friday…"
Shampoo's eyes sparkled "Ayah! Airen come see Shampoo?..." She was so ecstatic that she missed the loud "Mostly the old ghoul really." from Ranma as she picked up her bicycle and began to pedal towards the café to begin preparations for her big 'date' with Ranma. Ranma sweatdropped and looked at Akane who simply shrugged with an expression that said 'See I told you she's a bimbo.'
They made it to the school, again punting the 'blue thunder' to the skies and ran to the classroom where Akane's friends immediately spotted the ring on her finger. The squeal of "Akane-chan… did he finally propose to you?" got everyone's undivided attention, the guys ganging on Ranma and the girls swarming on Akane to hear the hottest new story in Furinkan high.
Some students even left the classroom to spread the 'info' before even verifying what exactly had happened, luckily though it was a commonly held fact that Akane and Ranma were a couple regardless of the other fiancées and vehement denials the pair used so the rumour wouldn't be too far of the mark.
Ukyo naturally was torn between anticipation and dread, it could have been Ran-chan who had proposed or it could have been the bacon-boy… she was not yet aware that Ryoga's cover had been blown and that he had gotten flat out rejected. Unable to stand the tension she made her gingerly towards the mass of girls and quietly asked from the group. "So you accepted the pig-boy's proposal right? Ran-chan is now mine and we can all be happy…"
She began to falter under the glares from Akane's friends, who had recently learned about the true nature of 'P-chan' from Akane. "So Kuonji… you knew about that creep and didn't even have the dignity to tell Akane-chan about that bastard. Why you should…"
They were cut off by Akane who waved her left hand prominently displaying the ring to Ukyo. "Why no Ukyo, I would never have anything to do with scum like him… and after all I have my Ranma-chan so why would I need some two bit lost boy…" Her words struck home like a lightning bolt making Ukyo to stagger backwards and finally scream out loud "NO!"
She turned around and ran straight into the horde of boys surrounding Ranma and then dragged him out by his pigtail. "Ran-chan tell me that Akane is lying… there's no way you could give an engagement ring to her. I'm your 'cute' fiancée remember." She put on her best pleading and reasonable look.
Ranma just shook his head "No Uccha… Ukyo, I have told you time and time again that all I ever wanted was to be your friend. I said that you are cute, you are, but it's you who decided that I loved you and wanted to marry you… without as much as asking me."
The okonomiyaki chef blinked, true she hadn't asked Ranma but then it was obvious she was the best candidate… not to mention the fact that Ranma was obliged to marry her. "Ran-chan… you are not thinking right, you are promised to me and you will marry me, remember you took my yatai so that's why you are going to do the right thing and give me that ring and then we…"
She got no further when Ranma all but screamed. "I owe you? I OWE YOU?" He threw his hands in the air in disgust. "First of all I didn't choose to take your yatai… it was pops, no matter how he would try to make it look like my fault. Second I, nor my family owes you nothing Kuonji… not for the yatai since the damage you did to my mother's house was far more than the cost of that yatai and whatever interest its value would have cumulated over the years."
Now the veins in his neck were bulging out. "I only wanted to be your friend but you are just like most everyone else… it's always about you, how I should just roll over and do tricks… be a good boy at your beck and call. Shampoo wants me as a baby machine for her tribe, you want me to be some weird daddy/chef/worker/whatever, pops wants me to be his meal ticket and Kodachi…well who even wants to know. But it's not going to happen… I do my own decisions and luckily my mother supports that, and this is the end of this discussion."
He sat down in a huff completely ignoring everyone around. Then something snapped in the mind of Kuonji Ukyo, so she formulated a quick plan and she screamed "Ranma you jackass… first you sleep with me and then you ditch me like some used plaything. I HATE YOU!" This caused several instantaneous effects, namely the area around the stunned Ranma cleared in a heartbeat and an ominous crackling aura began to make its way towards him.
Ukyo smiled inwardly when she observed the rage that was Akane descent upon the hapless Ranma. -In the end Ran-chan will thank me for this… I'm after all the cute one who can cook unlike someone.- She began to gloat "Yeah it's hard to believe isn't it, we've been sleeping together for almost every night for the last three weeks, I mean I could be pregnant already… that would be so nice." The mallet stopped in mid swing as Akane looked at Ukyo. "For the last three weeks?"
She nodded. "Sorry sugar but that's the truth, ever since 'Father' Genma got kicked out from your house I've been sneaking to his bed so that he wouldn't be so lonely, at his insistence of course…" Now Ukyo had gotten that piece of information from Nabiki when she purchased her weekly info about the comings and goings of the Tendo Dojo, but didn't know that Nabiki had been selling her incomplete information.
Akane's face got a predatory look on it as she looked from Ukyo to Ranma who was violently shaking his head to stop her from doing what she was about to do. -Oh man, if she blurts out that we've been sleeping in the same bed for that very duration those perverts that call themselves my friends will never leave me alone…-
Akane's smile widened. "You know you are right Ukyo… it is hard to believe, even harder seeing as how you didn't even wake me up. And I was snuggled right into him so you must have really been quiet." She shook her head and said "What you didn't know did you? For the first week we went to sleep on different futons only to wake up in the morning all tangled together in the middle so after a week we just decided to go to sleep all tangled up." She stretched languidly and added "Haven't slept better in my whole life than during these three weeks… must be that his chest makes such a good pillow."
Ukyo froze into her place and then slowly keeled over with a loud 'thud'. The boys who had a moment earlier vacated the area surrounding Ranma swarmed back and began to launch ecchi questions at him at lightning speeds. The girls massed around Akane asking just slightly less ecchi questions, making little 'Ooh how sweet' comments when she described their nocturnal behaviour and casting glares, that said 'You are so cut off missy', towards the prone Ukyo.
The rumour spread like a wildfire naturally and thus Ranma had to beat up Kuno twice while Akane administered a dosage of pain to the self proclaimed samurai legend once. All in all the general consensus around the school was 'It's about damn time.' although more than one girl was sighing in dismay because the hunkiest guy in school was now totally out of the playing field… not that he really never was there but the beefcake photos sold by Nabiki had kept their imagination active, and this was Nerima so the oddest thing could happen.
As it was now out in the open the pair exited school, holding hands first time in public and making more than one girl swoon at the sight of a perfect ending to a Valentine's Day/White Day story. The guys naturally hated Ranma because all they got was "Ranma did this for Akane on White Day" or "Ranma did that for Akane on …" from their girls...
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And herein ends the V-Day… Ranma managed to ask Akane to marry him without saying almost anything. Kodachi found out about the ring and flew into a rage, and in her blind rage she accidentally blew one of her smoke bombs and then fell into Midorikame's pond and got bitten by the alligator. Latest report state that the animal is still in critical condition due severe food poisoning, whilst Ms. Kuno is being held pending charges, depending whether or not the animal in questions will survive.
A/N…
Nothing here much, most of the notes will be in the last chapter. Including a small cultural reference on to white day/valentine's day in japan…