Chapter 5 To Date Akane
Then came Saturday. Akane spent several hours Saturday looking for the right outfit to wear. She just about drove Kasumi crazy trying to find just the right thing. This was her first real date and she wanted it to go right, even if it was just Ranma. Finally she settled on something, and came downstairs where Ranma was waiting for her. He was wearing one of his nicer outfits, one she had helped him pick out at the store the day before.
Ranma gazed at her as she came downstairs. His eyes widened as he saw how pretty she looked. Nabiki saw his reaction, and said to him in a low voice, "Like what you see, huh?" He just blushed, and then nodded his head, not quite trusting his voice. Nabiki elbowed him, and hissed, "Say something nice, you jerk!"
"Akane, that dress looks good on you, you look very nice," Ranma finally managed to say. Akane blushed, thinking 'He actually complimented me! Maybe this won't be too bad after all.'
Akane and Ranma left the house and headed toward the restaurant that she had selected. They walked along without speaking for a while, Ranma deep in thought. Finally, Ranma gulped, and said again, "You sure look beautiful tonight, Akane."
Akane blushed, and then replied, "Thank you Ranma, you look nice tonight too. I'm flattered you're wearing the outfit I helped you with." 'Another compliment, is he starting to like me,' she wondered. Ranma just smiled. They entered the restaurant and got seated at the table.
After ordering shrimp tempura for the both of them, Ranma started telling her about some of what he had seen and done during his ten years of traveling with his father. She listened in fascination as he described some of the training he had endured. Then she asked, "Ranma, how did you turn out the way you did? I know you figured out that your father wasn't the best role model, but how?"
"Ya know, we left a bunch of the schools in a hurry, often in the middle of the night. Well, once I was old enough to notice that, I realized he wasn't the most honest person in the world. I started trying to pay attention to what else wasn't making sense between what he said, and what I was seeing. I remember a couple of schools in particular. The first one had two senseis, one a man and the other his wife. They shared equal responsibility for training. They also shared the decision-making. That kinda proved that Pop was wrong about women being weaker. It also showed me that there was more to being a martial artist than just learning techniques. That part of being a martial artist was taking responsibility for my actions. The other school I remember was one we didn't stay long at. It was run by an assistant master of Kamiya Kas – something, I forget the rest. She was a woman with a strong sense of honor and responsibility as well. And I told ya about the Amazon women, before. One of the things I did because of those experiences was to start a journal where I wrote down the scams, and outright thefts that I found out about, with the eventual idea of trying to make amends," he said, "I guess that's why I turned out the way I did. I was able to find some better role models to pattern myself after." Then he began to describe some more of his adventures. She listened to what he was saying and lost herself in his eyes.
She could tell however that there were some things he was still hiding from her. After a while, she opened up and began to describe some of her life to him. He heard a tale of a close knit family, devastated by the death of their mother, the dissolution of the strong man who had been her father, the slow changing of her sisters from the playmates of her childhood to the people they were today, heard the sorrow in her voice as she described how much she missed the way her life used to be. He wished there was some way that he could remove the pain that he heard.
"Akane, I wish I had met your mother before she died. She sounds like a wonderful person. The fact that the three of you have managed to turn out so well shows me how well she must have raised you. All three of you are so different, but there is still the same inner strength that I can sometimes see. You must have gotten your inner fire from her. It's what makes you the person that you are. And then, all three of you have the same smile, one that really lights up your face," he said.
"Thanks Ranma, I loved my mother a great deal. I wish she had met you too, I know she would have liked you. And your right, knowing her even as short a time as it was, I can see some of her in both my sisters," she said softly.
"Akane, I envy you. I wish I'd known my mother; yours sounds so wonderful. The three of you must take after her a lot," Ranma said finally, "she must have been lovely."
Akane sat there for a moment, and then said, "Sounds like you feel like you missed a big portion of your life not having your mother with you. Was all the traveling really worth it?"
"I used to think so, but that was before I met you three. Like I said, I wish I had known my Mom, Pop doesn't talk about her, I think she may be dead, "he replied. He sat there looking slightly sad. Akane wished that there was some way she could have cheered him up.
They began to hear some music in the background. They looked up and noticed that there was a small dance floor tucked away in one corner of the room and a music group had just started playing some dance music. Several couples were already out on the dance floor, slow dancing together. Akane looked wistfully at the couples, eyes misting just a bit.
Ranma said, "Akane, I'm not very good at dancing, but, I mean, if ya want, I'd like to try with you."
Akane's eyes widened. She nodded, almost shyly, as Ranma helped her out of the chair and they walked over to the dance floor. Ranma put his arm around her waist, (a bit nervously to be sure) and held her as they began to dance. At first, they were a bit stiff together, but once they got past the initial awkwardness, they began to move gracefully around the floor. Akane rested her head against his chest and thought to herself, 'Why does he think he's no good at this? He's very graceful.' When the music finally stopped, after several slow dance tunes, she found herself reluctant to let him go. He smiled gently, and led her back to the table.
"Ranma, thank you. You did a fine job. Why do you think you're no good at dancing?" she asked.
He gallantly answered, "I think it had everything to do with my partner. It's easy to dance with you."
'Is he flirting with me?' Akane thought in shock.
He hesitated, and then asked, "You 'bout ready to go?" She nodded. He paid the restaurant bill and helped her out of her chair. They left the restaurant. As they walked down the street heading toward the movie theater, Ranma got splashed with water, triggering the change. Ranma just turned to Akane, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Sorry about this, Akane, I was having fun talking to ya, but I guess this ends the evening."
Akane thought to herself, 'It's still Ranma.' "No, that's ok, Ranma, that outfit still looks okay on you. We can still go to the movie," she said. "Though, maybe we ought to go see a chick flick, now," she said with a giggle.
Ranma mock growled at her, "Very funny, very funny. Whatever you want to see is okay so long as it doesn't get too mushy." They reached the theater, found a movie they both agreed on, and went in. After the movie was over, they left the theater and started home. They walked past an ice cream shop; Ranma grabbed Akane's hand and pulled her inside. They ordered a couple of ice cream sundaes. When they came, Ranma said, "This is one advantage of being a girl. Pop said boys can't eat this stuff, and I really like them."
Akane just giggled, and then said, "You mean boys can't eat ice cream?"
"Naw, we can eat ice cream, he just taught me that I can't eat sundaes and parfaits, things like that. Those are for girls, anyways that's what he says," Ranma said with a smile.
"Well, we know how accurate his opinions on girls is, don't we?" she replied, rolling her eyes. Both girls giggled, and then left the shop and headed home.
Ranma walked beside her for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Then she stopped. "Akane, have we become friends?" she asked wistfully.
Akane hesitated, and then hugged Ranma. "Yes Ranma, we are friends, I meant it when I asked you before, and nothing's changed that," she replied forcefully. Then she grabbed Ranma's hand and held it the rest of the way home.
As they were about to enter the gate to the house, Akane stopped him. "Ranma, this has been a wonderful evening. I glad you asked me out. Promise me, we'll do this again sometime," she said.
Ranma gazed into her eyes, and said, "I'm glad we did this too, 'kane. It's so much easier to talk to you without all of the distractions. Between school and everything, we don't always get a chance to talk. When you asked if I wanted to be friends the first day we met, that meant a lot to me. I never want to lose that with you." Akane gazed at her for a long time it seemed, and then sighed.
Akane led the way into the house, where they met her sisters. They dragged her off upstairs. Ranma sighed, went into the bathroom and changed. Then he headed outside to sit on the roof and think. He stared into the peaceful night sky, looking at all of the stars.
An hour or so later, Akane finally managed to get rid of her sisters. They had wanted to find out everything about the date. She still was blushing from some of the comments that Nabiki had made.
"Yo, Akane," a low voice said.
Startled, she said, "Who's there?"
Ranma replied, "Just me, Ranma. I didn't mean ta scare ya. I was just up here gazing at the sky. I like it out here sometimes; it gives me a chance ta think. Ya want ta join me?"
"Sure, how do I get out there?" Akane asked.
"Just climb out the window, I'll pull ya up," he replied.
She did as he asked, and he pulled her up to the roof. He led her over to a blanket that he had spread out on the tiles. They sat down. She stared at the sky for a while, and then said, "You're right. It's pretty and peaceful out here, I can see why you like it."
"Yeah, I always liked staring into the night sky when we were on the trail. It helped me think. Akane, I'm sorry I ended up changing into a girl on our date, there was something that I wanted to do," he said. He gazed at her intently; she turned her head to look at him. Her eyes got big when she realized what he had meant. She leaned over and closed the distance between them, brushing her lips with his. They both blushed, and drew back. "Thanks, 'kane. I'm glad my first kiss was with you. You're my closest friend, after all," he said.
Akane said, "Ranma, I'm glad my first real kiss was with you, too. I know this was supposed to be a 'just friends' date, but I wanted to end my first real date with a kiss, too. I'm still not ready to be anything more than just friends, though. Is that okay? Remember, I'm still supposed to hate boys." She giggled.
"This was my first date, too, 'kane. I wanted it to end the right way as well. I'm not looking for anything else yet, either, so friends is fine with me," he said. Then he yawned. "Sorry, I guess I getting pretty sleepy. Ya ready for me to take ya back inside?" She nodded, not trusting her voice. He grabbed the blanket, picked her up in his arms and lightly jumped down to the ground. He led her into the house. They quietly went upstairs to their respective rooms and went to sleep.