DISCLAIMER: Ranma & Co. are not mine, please don't sue me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I make you wait so long but after the couple's kiss I kept on rewriting this chapter because I didn't know how to continue it. I hope you like the final draft.
AKANE – CHAPTER 07
Akane woke up in a good mood, she went trough her morning ritual of washing and get dressed humming an happy song. She hadn't felt this way in a long long time. She entered the kitchen and she found Ranko and Nodoka having breakfast.
"Good morning." She greeted.
"My, we are in a good mood this morning!" said Ranko "Something special happened?"
"Nothing!" Akane blushed "I'm just happy because we're going to have fun shopping together today, that's all!"
Nodoka and Ranko exchanged a knowing glance "Yeah, right!" they said in unison.
"Good morning ladies!" an enthusiastic Ranma said entering the kitchen.
"Ranma, are you going shopping today, too?" Ranko asked winking at Akane that blushed a deeper shade of red.
A confused Ranma looked at his sister and then at his mother and Akane "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nevermind, what do you want for breakfast?" interrupted Akane.
"Anything sounds good to me." Shrugged Ranma "Mom, are you gonna visit Mrs Oda today?"
"Yes, she has been in the hospital for a month now and the doctors can't find what's wrong with her."
"I'm sorry but I can't come with you this morning because I've some classes to teach since the lady here..." he gestured towards Akane "...took the day off to go shopping."
"Well I can go shopping this afternoon if you want, Mrs Saotome, this way Ranma can come with you."
"Nonsense, the visit time is from 15 to 17 in the afternoon." Nodoka explained "You can go with Ranko this morning I'm sure you need to hang around a little like a woman and not like a mother for a little while."
Akane nodded at her last statement "You are right, I want to hang around a little without Yoshi complaining that he is bored and want to go home after fifteen minutes." She giggled "Last time he said he was gonna die of boredom if I can't choose a dress in the next five minutes."
"Good morning!" Yoshi entered the kitchen "I'm the only one that won't go anywhere today except school? That's not fair!" he munched a biscuit.
"Let's see if we can help that." Said Ranma taking the kid on his legs "Mom, do you think we can pick Yoshi up on our way back from the hospital and take him to the park?"
"Please!" Yoshi looked at Nodoka with big watery eyes trying to obtain the lady's sympathy.
"Yes, I think we can do that." She agreed.
"What do you say to Mrs Saotome and Ranma, Yoshi?" Akane scolded.
"Thank you very much Mrs Saotome!" then he turned to face Ranma and hugged him tightly "Thanks Ranma!"
Everybody laughed at this.
Later that morning Akane and Ranko arrived at the fashion centre and started window-shopping randomly. At last Ranko entered a shop followed by Akane and so they started their "adventure". After a couple of other shops Ranko leaded Akane in a lingerie-shop. "You should try this on, I'm so sure it suits you!" said Ranko showing a loin-cloth and the matching bra.
"Are you kidding? I'm never gonna fit in something so small!" said Akane sceptically.
"Come on! Try it on!" the younger girl said "I'm so sure my brother will love it!" she added with a wink.
Akane blushed at this "What makes you think that I'll ever show your brother this?"
"It's so obvious that you two guys care for each other, do you think I bought the whole 'I'm happy because I'm going shopping today' act?" Ranko asked handing the items to Akane.
"It was not an act!" she tried to protest Akane.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Ranma walked trough the crowd of visitors, doctors and nurses in the hospital's hallway leading his mother to her friend's room. He let her mother be the first to enter the room and he followed her to the bed near the window.
"Mrs Saotome!" the lady greeted his mother "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Mrs Oda, how do you feel?" Nodoka sat on a chair next to her friend's bed.
"Much better. They've found that I had a neglected pneumonia. I'm almost done with the cure, and I'd be at home in a week or so."
"That's good news to hear."
"Who is this young man, Nodoka?"
"My, it's Ranma, my son."
Mrs Oda watched Ranma from head to toe: "You sure have grown up, last time I saw you, you were five or six." She giggled lost in her memories "When you came to my house you were so scared of my cat! He wanted to play and you'd scream at the top of your lungs at him to stay back!"
"Your cat was huge! He was almost bigger than me!" he said scratching his head.
The two women burst out laughing.
When the visit hour finished Ranma and his mother said goodbye to Mrs Oda and exited the hospital. Ranma looked at his mother and saw that she had a smile on her lips.
"Are you happy that Mrs Oda is feeling good?" he asked leading her trough the streets towards Yoshi's school.
"Oh yes! I was so worried when she phoned me and told that she was in the hospital!"
"Everything worked out fine."
"At least I had the opportunity to visit you and see how you are living." She looked at him "You are not coming home to see your father."
"I don't know mom. I'm sorry. Have you seen how we are busy with the dojo. Luckily we'd had an increase in the registration this year, but we have had to plan more classes than we thought." He felt a little ashamed, but it was the truth.
"I see."
"I'm sorry." They reached the school gates "Here we are. He'd be out in a couple of minutes."
"Maybe in the summer break, then?" she looked expectantly at him.
"Summer break, ok."
* RING * RING * RING * the bell rang signalling the end of the school day.
After a minute Yoshi came out of the building.
"Ranma, Mrs Saotome!" he ran to them and surprisingly hugged Mrs Saotome that accepted the hug lovingly.
"Ready to go to the park?" asked Ranma.
"Yes!" the kid took Ranma's hand and lead him towards the park.
At the park Yoshi ran towards a group of children and started playing with them, while Ranma and his mother sat on a bench nearby. They started talking about random subjects telling the other what had happened in the period they had not seen each other. Nodoka couldn't help herself and told Ranma:
"I'll tell you something Ranma, and then I won't say anything about this subject if you don't ask me. Akane is a really beautiful girl, she is kind and a good mother. She loves you, I can tell by the way she look at you. But she is scared, I don't know what happened to Yoshi's father and I don't want to know. You have to think that if you take her, you take Yoshi as well. You'll have to think about the kid first."
"I love Yoshi." Replied Ranma.
"I know, but what I'm trying to say is that you won't have to hurry things. Take it slowly, think from her point of view, a mother with no husband on her side growing a child alone. Now you are offering to take half of the burden. She wants to be sure that you are a real thing, to be sure to be in love with you and not in love with the fact that you are offering in helping her with her loneliness."
Ranma looked at his mother, thinking about what she had just said:
"Thanks." He said in the end "Things are a little clearer now."
"You are welcome. Maybe now it's better if we go back home."
Akane and Ranko were seated at a fast food table laughing about how much they had spent that morning.
"I'm so sure mom is gonna yell at me for buying all this stuff!" giggled Ranko.
"I have spent a lot, too. But I enjoyed every moment of doing it!"
"That's why you bought everything you laid eyes on!" the two burst out laughing together.
"Excuse me, ladies." A boy came closer to their table and put his hands on the edge of it for support "My name is Hiroshi." He introduced himself.
"And I'm Daisuke." Said his friend stepping closer.
"I'm Ryoko and she is Ayame." Ranko said winking at Akane.
They shook hands.
"We've seen you laughing and we can't just go home without try to talk to you. You are both really beautiful."
"Thank you."
They talked for a few minutes then the guys asked if they'd want to go to the cinema with them that night.
Akane looked at Ranko for support.
"I don't think Ayame wants to go. Me neither."
"Why? We promise you'll have fun!" Daisuke insisted.
"Ok guys, the truth is that Ayame is married with my brother and they have a son." Ranko winked at Akane whom added:
"Yes. And Ranko here is gonna marry in a month. I'm sorry guys, you've picked the worst girls to know today."
"It's never a waste of time to know two beautiful girls like you." Hiroshi took Akane's hand "Besides I'm not jealous."
Akane removed her hand from Hiroshi's grasp:
"I don't think it's the case."
The two guys stood and with a last glance at the girls they started to walk away:
"If you change your mind just let us know."
They looked really sad, until they spotted other two girls and started talking with them. Akane and Ranko watched the guys leading the girls in a cafeteria and then exchanged glances.
"And I was feeling sorry for them!" Ranko exclaimed.
"We lasted, what? Five seconds in their hearts?" Akane said with melodramatically and the two burst out laughing.
"May I ask why you refused Daisuke's attention? I haven't asked yet if you have a boyfriend!" Akane asked curiously.
"Of course, silly! I'm gonna marry in a month, didn't you tell them so?" they giggled "No, seriously. No, I don't have a boyfriend right now, but I didn't like that Daisuke all that much. It's a skin feeling (AN: that's how we say it in Italy, I really didn't know how to translate it!) when I see a person I already know if we'll be friends or something...more if he's a boy."
"You need sparkles, right?"
"Yes. I've dated boys that at first sight said nothing to me and believe me, they didn't last the first five minutes. Have you have felt, you know, the sparkles?"
Akane seemed deep in thought: "A...couple of time..."
Ranko watched her new friend smirking and was unsure if laugh about Akane's expression or talk seriously, she decided for the second option:
"Akane, can I tell you something seriously?" she waited until Akane nodded "I don't wanna interfere between you and Ranma. You are grown enough to take your own decisions but I can tell you what I see: Ranma likes you a lot. He is happy like he has never been before. I know that you are a little scared about Yoshi being hurt in the process but you have to start living again."
Akane thought about it for a moment:
"You are right. But I need to protect my son."
"You can always keep it a secret to him for a little while, in the meantime you and Ranma get to explore your relationship and later, if that's the case, you'll let Yoshi know."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"What makes you think that there is something going on between me and your brother?"
"Well, first of all, it shows. And then, well, me and mom sort of saw you last night. We came downstairs to take a glass of water and we saw you." She blushed slightly.
"Oh." Akane colored of a deeper shade of red.
"You are a lovely couple." Ranko tried to comfort Akane, and hearing no answer she added: "Let's go home."
That evening Ranko excused herself after dinner saying that she had to study and Yoshi asked Nodoka to tell him a bedtime story, so Ranma and Akane were left alone doing the dishes.
"Did you have fun shopping, today?" asked Ranma drying the last dish and leaning on the counter.
"Yes. Your sister is a great person. We had fun together and, oh my gosh, we spent a lot of money!" she giggled.
"Have you bought something special in particular?" he asked resting his elbows on the counter and looking at her.
"Well...yes." she blushed thinking about the loin cloth.
"Hmm, from your blush you bought something I'd like to see..."
She looked at him sideways noting the same use of the words of his sister:
"Maybe..." she started "...or maybe I don't want you to see it!" she added joking.
"I've to try to convince you then." He hugged her from behind sniffing her neck and kissing it slightly.
"Sounds fun."
END CHAPTER 07
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I make you wait so long but after the couple's kiss I kept on rewriting this chapter because I didn't know how to continue it. I hope you like the final draft.
AKANE – CHAPTER 07
Akane woke up in a good mood, she went trough her morning ritual of washing and get dressed humming an happy song. She hadn't felt this way in a long long time. She entered the kitchen and she found Ranko and Nodoka having breakfast.
"Good morning." She greeted.
"My, we are in a good mood this morning!" said Ranko "Something special happened?"
"Nothing!" Akane blushed "I'm just happy because we're going to have fun shopping together today, that's all!"
Nodoka and Ranko exchanged a knowing glance "Yeah, right!" they said in unison.
"Good morning ladies!" an enthusiastic Ranma said entering the kitchen.
"Ranma, are you going shopping today, too?" Ranko asked winking at Akane that blushed a deeper shade of red.
A confused Ranma looked at his sister and then at his mother and Akane "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nevermind, what do you want for breakfast?" interrupted Akane.
"Anything sounds good to me." Shrugged Ranma "Mom, are you gonna visit Mrs Oda today?"
"Yes, she has been in the hospital for a month now and the doctors can't find what's wrong with her."
"I'm sorry but I can't come with you this morning because I've some classes to teach since the lady here..." he gestured towards Akane "...took the day off to go shopping."
"Well I can go shopping this afternoon if you want, Mrs Saotome, this way Ranma can come with you."
"Nonsense, the visit time is from 15 to 17 in the afternoon." Nodoka explained "You can go with Ranko this morning I'm sure you need to hang around a little like a woman and not like a mother for a little while."
Akane nodded at her last statement "You are right, I want to hang around a little without Yoshi complaining that he is bored and want to go home after fifteen minutes." She giggled "Last time he said he was gonna die of boredom if I can't choose a dress in the next five minutes."
"Good morning!" Yoshi entered the kitchen "I'm the only one that won't go anywhere today except school? That's not fair!" he munched a biscuit.
"Let's see if we can help that." Said Ranma taking the kid on his legs "Mom, do you think we can pick Yoshi up on our way back from the hospital and take him to the park?"
"Please!" Yoshi looked at Nodoka with big watery eyes trying to obtain the lady's sympathy.
"Yes, I think we can do that." She agreed.
"What do you say to Mrs Saotome and Ranma, Yoshi?" Akane scolded.
"Thank you very much Mrs Saotome!" then he turned to face Ranma and hugged him tightly "Thanks Ranma!"
Everybody laughed at this.
Later that morning Akane and Ranko arrived at the fashion centre and started window-shopping randomly. At last Ranko entered a shop followed by Akane and so they started their "adventure". After a couple of other shops Ranko leaded Akane in a lingerie-shop. "You should try this on, I'm so sure it suits you!" said Ranko showing a loin-cloth and the matching bra.
"Are you kidding? I'm never gonna fit in something so small!" said Akane sceptically.
"Come on! Try it on!" the younger girl said "I'm so sure my brother will love it!" she added with a wink.
Akane blushed at this "What makes you think that I'll ever show your brother this?"
"It's so obvious that you two guys care for each other, do you think I bought the whole 'I'm happy because I'm going shopping today' act?" Ranko asked handing the items to Akane.
"It was not an act!" she tried to protest Akane.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Ranma walked trough the crowd of visitors, doctors and nurses in the hospital's hallway leading his mother to her friend's room. He let her mother be the first to enter the room and he followed her to the bed near the window.
"Mrs Saotome!" the lady greeted his mother "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Mrs Oda, how do you feel?" Nodoka sat on a chair next to her friend's bed.
"Much better. They've found that I had a neglected pneumonia. I'm almost done with the cure, and I'd be at home in a week or so."
"That's good news to hear."
"Who is this young man, Nodoka?"
"My, it's Ranma, my son."
Mrs Oda watched Ranma from head to toe: "You sure have grown up, last time I saw you, you were five or six." She giggled lost in her memories "When you came to my house you were so scared of my cat! He wanted to play and you'd scream at the top of your lungs at him to stay back!"
"Your cat was huge! He was almost bigger than me!" he said scratching his head.
The two women burst out laughing.
When the visit hour finished Ranma and his mother said goodbye to Mrs Oda and exited the hospital. Ranma looked at his mother and saw that she had a smile on her lips.
"Are you happy that Mrs Oda is feeling good?" he asked leading her trough the streets towards Yoshi's school.
"Oh yes! I was so worried when she phoned me and told that she was in the hospital!"
"Everything worked out fine."
"At least I had the opportunity to visit you and see how you are living." She looked at him "You are not coming home to see your father."
"I don't know mom. I'm sorry. Have you seen how we are busy with the dojo. Luckily we'd had an increase in the registration this year, but we have had to plan more classes than we thought." He felt a little ashamed, but it was the truth.
"I see."
"I'm sorry." They reached the school gates "Here we are. He'd be out in a couple of minutes."
"Maybe in the summer break, then?" she looked expectantly at him.
"Summer break, ok."
* RING * RING * RING * the bell rang signalling the end of the school day.
After a minute Yoshi came out of the building.
"Ranma, Mrs Saotome!" he ran to them and surprisingly hugged Mrs Saotome that accepted the hug lovingly.
"Ready to go to the park?" asked Ranma.
"Yes!" the kid took Ranma's hand and lead him towards the park.
At the park Yoshi ran towards a group of children and started playing with them, while Ranma and his mother sat on a bench nearby. They started talking about random subjects telling the other what had happened in the period they had not seen each other. Nodoka couldn't help herself and told Ranma:
"I'll tell you something Ranma, and then I won't say anything about this subject if you don't ask me. Akane is a really beautiful girl, she is kind and a good mother. She loves you, I can tell by the way she look at you. But she is scared, I don't know what happened to Yoshi's father and I don't want to know. You have to think that if you take her, you take Yoshi as well. You'll have to think about the kid first."
"I love Yoshi." Replied Ranma.
"I know, but what I'm trying to say is that you won't have to hurry things. Take it slowly, think from her point of view, a mother with no husband on her side growing a child alone. Now you are offering to take half of the burden. She wants to be sure that you are a real thing, to be sure to be in love with you and not in love with the fact that you are offering in helping her with her loneliness."
Ranma looked at his mother, thinking about what she had just said:
"Thanks." He said in the end "Things are a little clearer now."
"You are welcome. Maybe now it's better if we go back home."
Akane and Ranko were seated at a fast food table laughing about how much they had spent that morning.
"I'm so sure mom is gonna yell at me for buying all this stuff!" giggled Ranko.
"I have spent a lot, too. But I enjoyed every moment of doing it!"
"That's why you bought everything you laid eyes on!" the two burst out laughing together.
"Excuse me, ladies." A boy came closer to their table and put his hands on the edge of it for support "My name is Hiroshi." He introduced himself.
"And I'm Daisuke." Said his friend stepping closer.
"I'm Ryoko and she is Ayame." Ranko said winking at Akane.
They shook hands.
"We've seen you laughing and we can't just go home without try to talk to you. You are both really beautiful."
"Thank you."
They talked for a few minutes then the guys asked if they'd want to go to the cinema with them that night.
Akane looked at Ranko for support.
"I don't think Ayame wants to go. Me neither."
"Why? We promise you'll have fun!" Daisuke insisted.
"Ok guys, the truth is that Ayame is married with my brother and they have a son." Ranko winked at Akane whom added:
"Yes. And Ranko here is gonna marry in a month. I'm sorry guys, you've picked the worst girls to know today."
"It's never a waste of time to know two beautiful girls like you." Hiroshi took Akane's hand "Besides I'm not jealous."
Akane removed her hand from Hiroshi's grasp:
"I don't think it's the case."
The two guys stood and with a last glance at the girls they started to walk away:
"If you change your mind just let us know."
They looked really sad, until they spotted other two girls and started talking with them. Akane and Ranko watched the guys leading the girls in a cafeteria and then exchanged glances.
"And I was feeling sorry for them!" Ranko exclaimed.
"We lasted, what? Five seconds in their hearts?" Akane said with melodramatically and the two burst out laughing.
"May I ask why you refused Daisuke's attention? I haven't asked yet if you have a boyfriend!" Akane asked curiously.
"Of course, silly! I'm gonna marry in a month, didn't you tell them so?" they giggled "No, seriously. No, I don't have a boyfriend right now, but I didn't like that Daisuke all that much. It's a skin feeling (AN: that's how we say it in Italy, I really didn't know how to translate it!) when I see a person I already know if we'll be friends or something...more if he's a boy."
"You need sparkles, right?"
"Yes. I've dated boys that at first sight said nothing to me and believe me, they didn't last the first five minutes. Have you have felt, you know, the sparkles?"
Akane seemed deep in thought: "A...couple of time..."
Ranko watched her new friend smirking and was unsure if laugh about Akane's expression or talk seriously, she decided for the second option:
"Akane, can I tell you something seriously?" she waited until Akane nodded "I don't wanna interfere between you and Ranma. You are grown enough to take your own decisions but I can tell you what I see: Ranma likes you a lot. He is happy like he has never been before. I know that you are a little scared about Yoshi being hurt in the process but you have to start living again."
Akane thought about it for a moment:
"You are right. But I need to protect my son."
"You can always keep it a secret to him for a little while, in the meantime you and Ranma get to explore your relationship and later, if that's the case, you'll let Yoshi know."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"What makes you think that there is something going on between me and your brother?"
"Well, first of all, it shows. And then, well, me and mom sort of saw you last night. We came downstairs to take a glass of water and we saw you." She blushed slightly.
"Oh." Akane colored of a deeper shade of red.
"You are a lovely couple." Ranko tried to comfort Akane, and hearing no answer she added: "Let's go home."
That evening Ranko excused herself after dinner saying that she had to study and Yoshi asked Nodoka to tell him a bedtime story, so Ranma and Akane were left alone doing the dishes.
"Did you have fun shopping, today?" asked Ranma drying the last dish and leaning on the counter.
"Yes. Your sister is a great person. We had fun together and, oh my gosh, we spent a lot of money!" she giggled.
"Have you bought something special in particular?" he asked resting his elbows on the counter and looking at her.
"Well...yes." she blushed thinking about the loin cloth.
"Hmm, from your blush you bought something I'd like to see..."
She looked at him sideways noting the same use of the words of his sister:
"Maybe..." she started "...or maybe I don't want you to see it!" she added joking.
"I've to try to convince you then." He hugged her from behind sniffing her neck and kissing it slightly.
"Sounds fun."
END CHAPTER 07