Sendai
By M. Zephyr

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. See the bottom of Chapter 1 for an author's note dealing with the entirety of this story.

Chapter 16. Final Term

The honeymoon was everything Akane and Ranma could have wished, and more. It was uninterrupted by family, by rivals, by freak accidents, by any of the disruptions which had marked the entire time that they had known each other. Even the trip back to Sendai was uneventful. It was on a dreary January day that they climbed out of a taxi in front of their building, feeling a little letdown to be heading back to the normal routine. The other two weren't back yet, so it fell to them to pick up the accumulated mail, before mounting the stairs to the fifth floor. Ranma turned the key and opened the door of the apartment, then turned back to lift his new wife up into his arms, causing her to drop the mail she had been shuffling through.

"Ranma, what are you doing!"

"It's a western tradition. I'm going to carry you across the threshold."

She giggled. "Okay. Just don't drop me, baka."

Ranma gave her a look of hurt pride. "Now as many times as I've carried you before, why do you think that I would drop you this time?"

He set her back on her feet inside, then went back out into the hallway to pick up the hefty stack of mail scattered all over the floor. Two envelopes in particular caught his attention. "Here are the letters from school, Akane. Do you want to look at my grades first, or yours?"

"Yours. I'm pretty sure I did okay, but I want to see if you did any better."

He slit the envelope open, and pulled out the report, scanning it quickly, but holding it so that she couldn't catch even a glimpse of what was on it. A hang-dog expression came over his face and his shoulders slumped forward in defeat.

"Oh no!" Akane cried out. "How bad is it?"

Ranma shook his head, his face working with emotion. "It's pretty bad," he said. "B- in math and B in English. No C's at all. A, A-, and two B+'s. That makes it a B+ average!" He ended on a note of triumph and laughter, defending himself against Akane's mock anger. Once she had pulled the report out of his hands, though, she settled back, confirming the grades for herself.

"Oops, you've got me a little worried now. My average last term was a B+."

Ranma smirked playfully. "What's the matter, can't handle the competition?"

She gave him an ambiguous look, then slit open the envelope with her name on it, pulling out the sheet and unfolding it. "Three A's, two B+'s, and a B. Not bad. I got the English up from a B to a B, but the history dropped from a B+ to a B, so you're ahead of me in that subject with your A-. Luckily, I don't have to worry about home ec anymore, since that was only the first term. Still, an A- average is pretty good."

"Yep, now we just need to keep these grades up and prepare for the entrance exams."

Akane shuddered slightly. "Don't remind me. I'm already nervous enough about them."

Her husband leered at her in a way that made her knees weak. "Heh. What do you say we go back to the bedroom and I help you take your mind off of them? I've been thinking about making this a proper homecoming all the way here from the inn, and since Kasumi and Tofu won't be back until tomorrow, we can be as loud as we want."

"Oooh. Are you planning to make me scream?"

"Over and over again."

Thus it was a couple of hours later before they headed down to the dojo, to get in some practice. Ranma in particular was concerned that they hadn't done any since two days before the wedding. Akane was less worried, but still eager to resume their training. They walked in to find a class on its way out.

"Hello, Hikari-san, we're back!"

The older man looked around, a smile lighting his face. "Saotome-san! Tendo-san! It's good to see you again."

"Ah-ah. My name is Saotome now also," Akane reminded him, holding out the hand with the wedding ring.

The dojo's master gave her a small bow. "Of course; I forgot. I am very sorry that I was unable to attend. I hope the wedding was perfect, and that you enjoyed your honeymoon."

Akane's voice was all bubbly cheerfulness. "The wedding was much better than I was expecting; there were only a few minor problems. And the honeymoon was wonderful. Also, by some miracle, nobody from Nerima mentioned Ranma's curse to any of our friends from Sendai, at least so far as we know."

Ranma gave her an inscrutable look. "Yeah, and how much was that due to those little talks you had with our friends in Nerima that you didn't invite me along for?" He nearly laughed at the look on her face. "Didn't know I knew about that, did you? And after the trouble I got into for doing something without consulting you. I admit, I am a little curious as to just what you threatened to do to them." Akane was blushing, and refused to meet his eyes.

Saeto ignored the byplay, and simply congratulated the young couple. "It is good to hear that things went so well, I am very happy for you. Now, if you do not mind, I need to step out for a little while. If you leave before I get back, please lock up for me."

"Of course. See you later."

The newlyweds started warming up and running through some katas. Akane was now as fast as Ranma's male form on the basic katas, and only a little slower on all but the most complex of the ones he had taught her so far. They took a breather before starting to spar.

"I'll be happy when we have the entrance exams over with and know how we did," Ranma said.

Akane responded to this in a supportive tone. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Ranma. You've brought your grades up nicely, and it's not like we're planning to apply to Tokyo University."

For Ranma, this brought up a previously unconsidered question. With a quizzical look, he asked, "So where do you think that we should apply?"

Akane had previously given this a little thought, and shared her opinion with him. "Well, if possible I'd like to stay here in Sendai. If we go someplace in Tokyo, we'd be under a lot of pressure to live with my father, and I'd like to stay independent a while longer. Besides, I've come to like it here, and we might be able to be in school with some of our friends from Masamune."

"I don't think I could get into Tohoku University," Ranma replied in a tone which ridiculed the idea that he could achieve such a thing. Then he continued more thoughtfully, "But, on the other hand, Sendai College is a good place for physical education."

"Yeah, we'll probably go to Sendai College. Although I can't see that it would hurt to try for Tohoku. The worst you can do is humiliate yourself utterly." She was grinning at him; he stuck his tongue out at her. Her fond smile faded again and she sighed. "We should probably consider a couple of other places as well, outside of Sendai. We can talk to the guidance counselor about that."

"If we do go to school here, I'm not sure that I'd want to continue living with Tofu and Kasumi," Ranma suggested, seeking her reaction. "It should be okay for another term, but now that we're all married, it would be better to have some more privacy, so we'd all probably be happier with our own places."

Akane nodded. "I agree. Once we know where we're going, we can get in touch with the school and see if they have recommendations for apartments for married students that are decent and not too expensive."

"Sounds good to me. You finished procrastinating and ready to suffer now?"

"Bring it on, Ranma."

While bathing afterward, Akane reflected with pride that she had managed to lay him out flat on his back not once, but twice during the session. Of course, he certainly wasn't going all out against her, and she was knocked flat seven times herself, but even so she was very pleased.

It was the final term of their final year of high school, on the first day of classes, and the bell was going to ring in about two minutes. The other students were gossiping about the wedding some of them had attended over break, what the honeymoon might have been like, and wondering where the newlyweds were. With about one minute to go before the bell, the couple in question tried to slide through the door as if hoping they wouldn't be noticed, realizing the futility as every eye turned toward them.

It was a sight to see. Both of them looked like they had had the worst bad hair day ever, with Ranma's pigtail in particular needing some significant repair work. They were both flushed and breathing heavily, looking a bit fatigued. Ranma's shirt was mostly untucked, and was pulled up in back showing some scratches. Akane had not realized that the zipper on the back of her dress was partially down until one of her friends leaned over and whispered to her.

There was shocked silence for a moment followed by a mass outbreak of giggling from the girls and chuckling from the boys, as everyone in the classroom instantly leaped to the same conclusion. Everyone was wondering what nook of the school they had selected for their tryst, but did not have time to ask before the bell rang. The two newlyweds blushed heavily, fully realizing what their fellow students were thinking, and trying not to notice all of the knowing glances being sent their way.

Worst of all, they didn't want to tell anyone the truth. So far, they had managed to leave most of the craziness back in Nerima, and were regarded here as being more or less normal. So they had no intention of trying to tell their classmates that they had been attacked on the way to school by a weirdly-named Chinese boy who had been cursed in the pool of drowned yeti holding an eel and crane riding an ox. They had won easily of course, especially as Pantyhose wasn't expecting Akane's current level of skill, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. All that they could do was grit their teeth and allow everyone to assume that the two had been doing something right before class which was sufficient to muss their clothing to that degree.

The notes which landed on their desks were unceremoniously dumped unread into the wastebasket between classes, and they managed to avoid responding to any inquiries. At lunchtime, however, Akane was surrounded by a circle of girls and Ranma likewise by a circle of boys, and they found themselves forced to sit apart to eat, unable to reach one another unless they had been willing to use force.

"Okay, Ranma, what was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Oh, come on man. Akane's a hot babe. What's she like in bed?"

Ranma stared at the boy, who was little more than an acquaintance, then slapped his right fist into the palm of his left hand, hard. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. The next question of that sort is going to result in the questioner digesting some of his own teeth. All I'll say is that Akane is wonderful, that I love her very much, and that I enjoy being married to her."

"Kenji said that there were a couple of minor incidents at the wedding. Something about your fathers making a spectacle of themselves when some old man showed up unexpectedly, and the father of the brides getting them mixed up."

Ranma snorted at the memory. "Yeah, that's about all that happened, unless you want to count the other groom throwing up before the wedding, and the fact that I got water poured on me not once, not twice, but three times before the ceremony started."

There was some general laughter. "He forgot to mention that last part."

Kenji defended himself. "I didn't know about it, I guess it happened backstage. I suppose that explains why his hair and tux looked a bit damp when things got started."

"So how was the honeymoon?" When Ranma scowled at him, the student who had asked the question quickly added, "I mean, in general, y'know? As a vacation? Not trying to pry into the personal stuff."

Ranma relaxed again. "It was pretty nice actually. We went to this remote inn up in the mountains. There was a nice hot spring there that we took advantage of, and the food was great, fabulous even. We found time to take several long hikes. Built a huge snowman in this clearing that we found where the snow had piled up pretty deep. We had a lot of fun." He decided to cave in a little to their grins at this last statement. "... in every sense."

Over in the other group, Akane was wishing that she could be sharing her lunch privately with her husband, but knew it was not to be that day.

"So how was the wedding, Akane?"

Akane's eyes unfocused. "It was beautiful, so much nicer than I was expecting. Well, not that that was difficult, since I was expecting a disaster. Ranma looked so handsome in his tuxedo, and I kept getting lost in his eyes and losing track of what the priest was saying."

There were sighs from several of the girls.

"How did you feel when he said you were married? You know, when he said 'I now pronounce you husband and wife'?"

Akane's voice was hesitant when answering this. "I felt ... different, somehow. It was very powerful, but I really don't know how to describe it. I'm sorry, but I just don't think I have the words."

"How about the honeymoon?"

A big smile appeared on Akane's face, and her eyes lit up. "Oh it was wonderful! We went to this lovely inn up in the mountains, and had so much fun. We went on several hikes, and it had this spa where I had a great massage."

"Yeah, yeah. But what about the other stuff that the two of you did together?"

Akane blushed. "I really don't want to discuss that. Let's just say it was as wonderful as I'd been hoping."

"Even the first time? Or maybe it wasn't your first time?"

"It ... it was. Um. Look, I really don't want to talk about it, it's embarrassing and ... private. It was good and ... the next time was lots better. Now that's all I'm going to say, please change the subject."

"Aww, spoilsport. I wanted to ask about how he was hung and stuff like that." Seeing the look on Akane's face, she suddenly decided on discretion. "But as you say, we'll change the subject."

Ranma rolled over from the position he had been in, and lay down on the bed beside his wife, pulling her into his arms with her head on his chest. They were both still breathing hard.

"I must be the luckiest guy in the world."

"Mmmm. Let's not argue about who's luckier, lover." Akane then went on, a little more hesitantly. "Ranma, do you ever think about trying this in your female form?"

Ranma grinned in a mocking fashion. "You don't have the right plumbing to do what we just did with me as the female."

She slapped her hand on his chest. "Baka. I'm being serious. I'm talking about making love in general, as two women."

Ranma sighed. This conversation was bound to come up sooner or later, and in bed together was a logical time to discuss it. "All right, then, I'll be serious. Yes, of course I've thought about it; given my curse it would be kind of surprising if the thought had never occurred to me. If the question is whether I've ever seriously considered attempting to talk you into trying it, then the answer is 'no' for a couple of reasons.

"First, and the primary consideration, is that I didn't think that you would be comfortable with it. I've never seen any indication that you feel any sexual attraction to other women, let alone that you actively contemplated engaging in any such acts with any female, even with me in that form. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right, I've never had any desire along those lines. Well, except for a few naughty sexual fantasies involving your female form specifically, that tend to leave me feeling a little uncomfortable afterward. But you're my husband and I love you. If it was something you wanted, then I think I could bring myself to experiment with it."

Ranma smiled down at the top of her head. "Secondly, I'm not comfortable with the idea either. True, I've accepted that I'll probably always be stuck with this curse, and that I need to spend time regularly as a female in order to control the number of accidents that I have with water. Still, that's not the same thing as enjoying being female. I was raised as a male, and that's my orientation, so my female form still feels fundamentally wrong to me and probably always will. While I'll admit to a few, um, experiments on myself in that form, I don't feel any temptation or desire to have sex with you as a woman. If I ever feel differently, I'll let you know, but I just don't see it happening."

Akane snuggled against him closer. "Good. I just didn't want to leave the issue unaddressed any longer. I'm glad to have it out in the open and to know for sure; now I won't have to worry about it."

"So, um, what other sorts of 'naughty' sexual fantasies have you had, that don't involve me being a female? ..."

Several weeks passed during which the couples gradually became accustomed to their married state. The time finally arrived for an event to which none of them had been particularly looking forward, the first visit from the parents. At the station, they watched as the train they had been awaiting came to a stop, and the doors opened, disgorging passengers. The three parents came out, looking about expectantly. Kasumi spotted them first, and raised her hand, waving.

"Daddy! Daddy, over here!"

The two groups met and hugs were exchanged between the two newlywed couples, Soun Tendo, and Ranma's parents.

"Welcome to Sendai," Tofu Ono proclaimed. "If you'll hand your luggage to Ranma and me, we can get to the car and head back to the apartment. I'm afraid it will be a little crowded," then added, with a small shrug and a slight, engaging smile, "but nobody wanted to stay behind."

"It won't be that crowded," Akane complained. "We can squeeze four in the back seat, so as long as I sit in Ranma's lap, we'll manage."

"I'm so looking forward to seeing your apartment, children," Nodoka gushed.

Tofu was trying to maneuver them to the exit. "We're looking forward to having you there. This way please."

The plan was for all three visitors to share Akane's and Ranma's room during their stay. Ranma's parents would share one of the futons, and Soun Tendo would take the other, while Akane and Ranma slept in the room with Kasumi and Tofu, using sleeping bags. They figured that they could manage with the inconvenience, as it would only be for one weekend.

That night they all went out together for dinner, to the same restaurant where they had once shared a dinner with Cologne. Once Genma determined that the children intended to pay for the meal, he wasted no time in ordering large quantities of food.

"So son, daughter-in-law, can we expect any grandchildren yet?" Nodoka was smiling beatifically as she posed the question.

Luckily Ranma was drinking water, and not anything more sticky, since the spray from his mouth drenched poor Doctor Tofu on the other side of the table. Akane's face turned red, and she had to thump herself a couple of times on the chest to dislodge the pickle before she could swallow it correctly.

Ranma found his voice first. "Mom! Akane and I are not ready to have any children yet! We're still in high school, and we both plan to go to college. We don't have time for any children yet."

Akane quickly spoke to support her husband. "Ranma's correct, Mother Saotome. While both of us do want to have children, we need to wait a while first. We may decide to do so before we finish college, but certainly not before we start it, and even then such a decision will be made at some point in the future."

"What's all this stuff about college?" Genma put in. "There's no need for that. As soon as he's out of high school, Ranma should start teaching in the dojo while you start raising your children."

The two teenagers became red-faced, and worked on reining in their tempers. "Pop, if the dojo is going to be run successfully and have more than a handful of students, then we need to have college degrees. We're both planning to major in physical education, which will give us the background we need to do it right, as well as the certification that prospective students will be looking for.

"Furthermore, Akane is my partner! Not just my wife, or the future mother of my children. She is the heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and we will run the dojo together!"

Soun found himself silently agreeing with his daughter and son-in-law. His mind filled with daydreams of a dojo filled with classes of students learning his art.

"But Ranma," his mother took up the thread again, looking somewhat confused, "the two of you are married now, and are presumably sharing a bed. Sooner or later Akane will get pregnant; these things do happen you know."

Akane's face now turned red as a result of a blush, rather than anger. "We have taken steps to see to it that no such accident will happen, Mother." The last title was said somewhat shyly.

"You don't mean that you are using some sort of birth control!" Nodoka Saotome was aghast, while Ranma was making shushing noises, looking around wildly, while Akane looked like she wanted to sink through the floor. The woman's voice had not been particularly quiet. "How could you do such a terrible thing?"

Akane looked puzzled now. "I'm afraid that we don't see what is terrible about it. We're not ready for children yet, so we're seeing to it that we don't have any yet. We will have children, but not until the time is right."

Nodoka merely glared at the two of them, not saying anything more, and the meal ended rather tensely.

The arguments about grandchildren, or starting to teach at the dojo immediately after graduating from high school, continued throughout the weekend. Although it was difficult, Akane and Ranma remained polite and barely respectful toward his parents, but continued to firmly state that they would be attending college and would wait before having children. Soun carefully stayed out of the arguments.

At the train station after their visit, Ranma was walking back from the restroom when he spotted his parents standing a bit apart from the others, apparently having a private word. He caught his mother's voice saying "what do you mean" and slipped closer to try to overhear.

"What I mean," his father was saying quietly, "is that I found the girl's birth control pills in the bathroom, and I nipped out and bought some vitamin pills that looked similar and replaced the original pills with the vitamins. That's why we should be hearing soon about Akane being pregnant. Further, if they have a child to raise, maybe they'll give up on this idiotic college idea and start teaching right away."

Ranma saw red. He stormed over and hit a pressure point on his father's back that made his legs collapse under him. He then dragged the man over to the others, Nodoka trailing nervously behind, and threw him down in front of his roommates, followed by grabbing the older man's shoulder in a pain hold.

"Now, old man, you will repeat to them what I just overheard you telling my mother. And by the way, the pills in the bathroom were Kasumi's you old fool!"

Genma went white, partly from the pain of the hold, partly from being caught, and partly from sabotaging the wrong girl. He managed to stammer out a confession and an apology, although the latter was so weasel worded as barely to meet the definition.

"Okay, Pop, your train is here. I suggest you get on it and get out of our sight. Mom," Ranma sighed, "I do love you, and I promise that one day you will get the grandchildren that you want. You just need to be a little patient. We would be happy to have you visit again, but I would like to ask that next time you please leave your husband at home."

His mother looked at him in exasperation, then sighed and nodded. She stepped forward and gave both him and her daughter-in-law hugs, then also hugged Doctor Tofu and Kasumi for good measure. While hugging Kasumi, she whispered a second apology into her ear.

"I'm sorry if my friend has caused you trouble, daughter," Soun said as he hugged Kasumi good-bye. While hugging Akane, he said, "I'm proud of you daughter, and I expect that you will do very well in college." He shook the hands of both of his sons-in-law, then climbed aboard the train with Nodoka.

As they were leaving the station and heading to the car, Akane said to her sister, "Well, one advantage to having to share a bedroom the last couple of nights is that the old fool's plans won't have done any harm. I know that I'll be glad to be back in our bedroom by ourselves tonight, with a bit of privacy again."

Kasumi however was still looking a bit shaken. "Unfortunately, sister, those trips that Tofu and I made to his clinic yesterday and this morning to straighten out some of his files were not spent only working on the files."

"Oh? Oh! Oops. Um, sorry." Akane was blushing. Interestingly, Kasumi was not.

Kasumi turned to her husband. "What will be, will be. We'll use alternate methods until I can refill the prescription, and see what happens."

Tofu nodded. "It's not very likely anyway. While missing days is a dangerous game to play, in reality it normally takes the body a little while to return to normal, so the risk should be low."

It was a couple of weekends after the parents' visit, and another, more welcome, visitor was arriving. Tofu, carrying several bags draped over his shoulders and in his hands, held the apartment door open to allow Nabiki to step through. The other three residents were sitting around a table piled with books and papers. The younger couple simultaneously said, "Hi, sis," while Kasumi called out, "Hello, sister."

"Hello yourselves. Studying hard?"

Ranma groaned. "Yes. I wanted to take a break half an hour ago, but my wife wouldn't let me. You'd think that the national entrance exam was tomorrow, rather than a week away.

"Well, you just keep studying hard, brother-in-law. You don't want to have to be on the outside looking in while my sister attends college. Can someone show me where I'll be sleeping?"

Tofu answered her. "You'll have the spare futon that's in Akane's and Ranma's bedroom. I'm taking your luggage back there now; come on and I'll show you."

After Nabiki came back out she sat and talked with the others for a while. It did not escape her notice that Kasumi was looking a little nervous. "So, older sis, what's up? You don't seem to be quite as calm and collected as usual."

Ranma spoke. "It was my idiot pop."

"Huh?"

"Ranma's father decided to substitute some placebos for Akane's birth control pills," Kasumi explained. "Unfortunately he got the wrong ones. Mine that is. Tomorrow I will be three days overdue, and will use a home pregnancy test to see what result it gives me."

Nabiki shook her head. "Is that idiot ever going to stop screwing up our lives? Oh well. We'll be there for you sis, whatever happens."

"What Nabiki said," added Akane.

After talking for a bit longer, Nabiki allowed the others to return to their studying, and she and Tofu started gathering up clothing to do the laundry. When they came back, she started on the dishes which had been piling up. She started to make a comment about the undone chores to her older sister, but then bit it back.

The next day Kasumi emerged from the bathroom looking rather shaken, to report that the pregnancy test had been positive. Her sisters came up and hugged her, lending their support. A few minutes later her husband came up to her.

"I just got off the phone with your gynecologist. I've got an appointment for you with her tomorrow, to have a more thorough test done."

Kasumi just nodded, but had accepted the fact that she was going to have a child. She was in fact more than ready to become a mother, it was just that she knew it was going to make her dreams of a medical career more difficult to fulfill. Akane for her part was looking at her oldest sister wistfully. There was a part of her which deeply wanted to have a child of her own, even if she knew intellectually that it would not be a good idea yet.

"So Nabiki, now that Kasumi and I are married, and it looks like she's going to be a mother, when are you going to find someone?" her younger sister wanted to know. "Isn't it time for the Ice Queen to melt yet?"

Nabiki flushed. "As a matter of fact, I've been dating someone since last term. I just haven't wanted to mention it anywhere that daddy might hear, because I don't want him trying to interfere in my life the way that he has in yours."

All of them were staring at her now. "Okay, I can understand your reasoning," Akane said, "but you've got to give us details. Now!"

Nabiki grinned. "Hah! I don't have to do anything, and I just think I'll keep his name secret for a bit longer. However, he's four years older than me, and is in law school at Tokyo University. His family could buy and sell the Kuno's out of their petty cash. Also, believe it or not, the money was not a consideration. As it happens, I managed to meet and start dating him before I found out how wealthy he is. Well, to be honest, it was obvious that he had some money, just from how he dressed and where he took me to eat and so forth, I just didn't realize how much until later."

"You just don't want to give us his name, because you're afraid that we'll tell him all about your past," Ranma declared.

Nabiki smirked at him. "Actually, you're right about that, brother-in-law. I want to make sure that I have him completely hooked before I give you that opportunity."

"Look, could you just call me Ranma, or even Saotome or 'baka'? All of those brother-in-law's make you sound like Cologne with the way she always called me son-in-law."

The next evening as they sat down to dinner, Kasumi spoke up. "I have an announcement. As it turns out, I am not pregnant. Apparently the home test produced a false positive. The doctor says that I'm probably late just because of the stress of worrying about it."

"Hey, that's good news sis!" Akane exclaimed. "... and ... sad news too."

"I know," the oldest of the sisters said softly. "I feel the same way. Well, it will happen one day," she continued more brightly. "For now, we need to get back to those books! I have a test to excel at now that I can put this concern behind me."

After the entrance exam was over, the three of them met outside the building where they had taken it. Akane and Ranma came out together to find Kasumi already waiting.

"I am so glad that is over with," Ranma stated with conviction.

"Oh? You haven't forgotten we have to take the one for Tohoku in just a few days?" Akane asked her husband.

He groaned. "You didn't have to remind me. Although I'm actually not as uptight about that since I don't expect to get in there anyway. I'm just taking it to be able to say that I tried. So how do you think you did?"

"I ... think I did all right. You?"

"I'm sure I did great." His voice did not sound anywhere near as confident as the words. "How about you Kasumi?"

"I'm sure that I did just fine, thank you."

"Come on, let's go get some lunch before we head back."

More time had passed, and the four of them were walking into the apartment building after work, where Tofu pulled the mail out of their mailbox.

"Looks like there are some official letters here. I think you've got your results."

Everyone grabbed the letters from him and tore them open, poring over the contents intently.

"So how'd you do dear?" Tofu asked his wife.

"Just fine," she beamed. "My scores were everything I could have hoped for. Akane, Ranma?"

Akane was now looking over her husband's shoulder, comparing his results to hers. "Baka, you only scored a few points lower than me. And you were so worried."

"Hey, who said that I was worried? I knew I had done great."

"Yeah, right, someday you need to remember what a terrible liar you are. In any event, I wouldn't say that either of our scores is exactly 'great' but they are pretty good. I'm happy enough with them."

The two couples were eating dinner when Kasumi and Akane spoke simultaneously: "I've got some news to share."

Akane smiled. "You first."

Kasumi looked around the table, then said, "I've been accepted into the pre-med program at Tohoku University."

"Kasumi! That's wonderful!" Akane exclaimed.

"Yeah, congratulations sis," Ranma added.

Kasumi smiled, then inquired, "Okay, what about you two?"

Akane looked at Ranma, and then back at the other two. "Ranma and I spoke to our guidance counselor today. We've both been accepted into the physical education program at Sendai College. It's not as prestigious as Tohoku, but it will give us what we want."

Tofu said, "That's great you two. So you'll be staying here in Sendai to go to college instead of going back to Tokyo. Do you plan to continue living here with Kasumi and me, or do you expect to get a place of your own?"

Ranma answered him, "Well, we'd like our own place, not that it hasn't been great living here with you two, Doc. Once we graduate we'll see if the college can help us find a decent place for married students at a price we can afford. But we're hoping to keep living here until we find a place."

"That's fine, Ranma. The two of you are welcome to continue living here, and contributing to the rent, for as long as you like. Or at least until Kasumi and I actually do decide to start a family, at which time we'll want the other bedroom, but that should be a long way off yet."

Graduation day arrived. Akane did not at first notice that Ranma, sitting beside her, had dozed off during the last interminable speech. With a trace of wonder in her voice, she asked, "Did you believe we'd ever make it to this day?"

"Huh? What?" Ranma snapped awake. He was amazed to find that the speaker at the front of the auditorium was even more incredibly boring than the one who had been talking when he fell asleep.

"I said, did you believe we'd ever make it to this day, baka?"

"Well, I always knew you would, tomboy," he replied with a grin. "I was never all that sure about myself, though."

"We've finished high school, or at least we will have as soon as that bore up front shuts up and they give us our diplomas. We're married. We've signed the lease to move into the upstairs apartment of that nice lady's house near the college in two weeks, even if it is rather small. And soon, we'll be starting college."

Ranma considered her words, then added, "Yeah, but there's a lot more to come. Graduating from college, getting the dojo started again, having children, spending the rest of my life with you. This isn't an ending, it's just one more stepping stone. I'm just glad that I'm taking the steps with you."

"That's sweet, Ranma."

"Yeah, well. At least the parents haven't made too much fuss since they got into town yesterday. Let's hope they continue to behave themselves."

Akane grinned, and reminded him, "Nabiki's helping to keep an eye on them."

Ranma sighed. "I wish Ukyo and Konatsu could have made it, and that we could have gone to her graduation. Stupid schools, scheduling them for the same day."

"Have you heard any more about how the two of them are getting along?"

"They're still dating. I haven't heard anything about it getting more serious yet. I did hear a rumor that she was caught trying to hide a massive hickey on her neck a couple of weeks back."

Akane giggled. "Well, I wish them the best. You ready for that party tonight?"

Ranma shuddered. "Oh, man. Do I have to go? You know he has a pool, and I got the worst feeling that somehow I'm going to end up falling into it. I managed to get through the whole year without any of the other students finding out about my curse. I really don't want to risk blowing it now."

"Ranma, you can't hide your entire life when such possibilities arise. You're just as likely, if not more so, to get splashed by a random glass of water when someone trips. Just stay away from the pool area, and I'll try to steer you clear of it if you forget."

"I suppose. All right, I'll go, I'll go." His voice sounded very long suffering.

Akane looked back up at the stage. "Hey, I think the windbag just finished! Yep, he's stepping back and they're signaling the first row to stand up and head toward stage. It's time to graduate, husband-mine."

Their row, the second, stood up and turned to the side to file out. Ranma found himself standing behind his wife, looking down at her athletic figure and short black hair. He was proud of her, that she had come so far with him through such adversity to reach this point. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick hug, before continuing toward the stage. They had come through the craziness together, side by side, as they would face any other challenges yet to come in the future. They were Ranma and Akane Saotome, partners in martial arts and in life, and they were the best.

Author's note:

Yes, I know that students in Japan generally find out results by looking for their assigned test number on a publicly posted board. I just didn't feel like writing it that way.