Akane's Secret Rendezvous
A Ranma ½ Fanfic written by Sabrina Anne
Disclaimer: The characters and stories of Ranma ½ are © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. This work is for non-commercial use only and is produced for the sole enjoyment of fans, not to be distributed for sale.
And so he had done it. Ranma had really kissed her. Akane wasn't sure what that meant exactly. Were they a couple now? Would things change between them? It felt like just a dream, but she could still taste the sweetness of his lips She pulled off her sweats and sat down on the stool next to the bathtub, looking in the mirror. Putting her hand to her lips, she smiled to her reflection at the memory of their kiss. His strong arms around her, holding her close to his body…a shiver went down her spine just thinking about it. Quickly she stood, and stepped into the bathtub to wash up for breakfast. When she came out, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a tanktop and came down the hall to the living room.
Everyone was there except Ranma.
Pretending not to notice, she helped herself to a bowl of rice and a piece of fish and began eating. For breakfast at the Tendou house, everyone was pretty silent.
Nabiki spoke first. "So Akane, where's Romeo this morning?"
Akane let out a quick cough, almost choking on her mouthful of rice.
"What do I care?" she answered, trying to make it sound genuine.
Kasumi came into the living room from the kitchen, placing a tray of pickles in the middle of the table.
"Oh, Ranma," she said, "I'm afraid he won't be doing much today. He has a horrible cold."
Akane smiled to her bowl of rice, not caring if anyone had been watching. She knew Ranma had stayed outside in the rain for the better part of the night. It wasn't until everyone had been asleep for a while that he came in, soaked to the bone and sneezing up a storm. She set her chopsticks down neatly over her bowl and looked back up at Kasumi, who had gone back into the kitchen and came back with another tray.
"Akane, will you bring this soup up to Ranma please?"
Akane nodded and bowed to her older sister, standing up to receive the tray from her. Now's not the time to be clumsy, she thought. With great caution, she climbed the stairs one by one, keeping her eyes on the tray. Would he be happy to see her? Would he be asleep? When she reached the guestroom that Ranma and his father shared, she set the tray down and slid the door open. Ranma was sprawled out in his usual fashion, his hair and tanktop soaked with sweat. His nose was red and a box of tissues lay next to his futon, its crumpled remnants scattered about the floor.
"Baka," she said as she entered the room. "That's what you get for staying out in the rain." She sat down beside him as he rolled over to look at her. It seemed that he was smiling, but he looked somewhat delirious.
Probably hasn't slept all night, she thought. He rolled over to lay on his side, coughing as he laid there. She could see the sweat rolling down his back. He didn't look good.
"Kasumi! Call Dr. Tofu!"
Genma's duty was to his son, and everyone had agreed that it was Akane's duty as well, as his fiancée. It didn't take long for Dr. Tofu to come out, his face smiling as usual. He came out, sliding the guestroom door closed and looked at Genma and Akane, who had settled by the door awaiting an answer.
"Not to worry, friends. Ranma just has a bit of a cold. Something tells me he spent some time in the rain yesterday, hm?" He glanced at Akane with that smile of his.
Akane looked down at her feet.
"Well then. Just make sure he gets plenty of bed rest and he'll be up and at it in no time. Now Akane, no beating up Ranma, ok?"
Akane bowed her head sheepishly as Dr. Tofu waved and was off. The rest of the family had done a good job of keeping Kasumi out of Dr. Tofu's way for fear of Ranma's health and safety.
Peering down the hallway to make sure no one was watching, Akane crept back into Ranma's room and knelt down beside him, unsure of what to make of the sight. Never before had she seen Ranma look so vulnerable, he was sprawled out, his cheeks flush but not with their usual energetic color. His breathing was fast and she gently laid a hand against his chest. His heart was beating fast too.
"Ranma," she whispered, "Can you hear me?"
His eyes fluttered and cracked open.
"Ah –Akane?"
"I'm here," she said, almost desperately. He sounded groggy. "Are you hungry? I brought soup, but…I can bring up a new bowl." She stood, the old bowl of soup in her hand.
Suddenly Ranma's face was overcome with a look of excruciating pain. He was sitting up, slowly, and brushed his bangs away from his face.
"Ranma! What is it?"
"The soup…." He said, coughing, "….you didn't make it, did you?"
Akane gritted her teeth and lifted the bowl of soup over her head, intent on hurling it towards his head. It was all she could do to hold back the urge.
"Why you….baka! You're lucky you're sick!" She shouted at him, stomping off towards the door and slamming it behind her, leaving a stunned Ranma behind her.
He looked around the room to see that there had been nobody else waiting for him to wake up. Normally there would be countless fiancées waking him up, screaming at him and throwing random projectiles his way. Even his father would always interrupt a good sleep to make him train early in the morning, but there was nobody else there.
Ranma couldn't remember a time when he had felt so alone…and hungry.
Hurling the bowl of soup out the window to release some stress, with a loud "Baka!" Akane came back down to greet her family. Her teeth remained clenched as did her fists as she took a seat at the table next to Nabiki and her father. The Tendous watched her in silence as she grabbed a bowl of noodles and angrily jabbed her chopsticks into it.
"I take it our Sleeping Beauty is awake?" Nabiki asked, reaching for a bowl of noodles.
"Hmph. I don't care if he is sick. He's still a macho jerk!" Finishing her noodles quickly, she stomped back up to her bedroom and slammed the door. Flinging herself on her bed, she picked up a magazine she had started to read earlier and angrily flipped through it until an advertisement had caught her eye.
Chef Mitsua's School of Culinary Arts Beginner Classes, Call today!"That's it!" She said out loud. Ripping the phone number out of the magazine, she quickly ran downstairs to make a phone call. Nabiki, who passed the whirlwind of her sister in the hallway, peeked inside Akane's room to see what the rush had been. She spotted the magazine and the advertisement, and a sly smile crept across her face.
I could make some money off this, she thought.
"Okay class, now before you get in the kitchen, we must first put on an apron and wash our hands."
When Akane spoke to Chef Mitsua on the phone, her first impression was that of a kind old man who had probably been cooking all of his life and was looking for something to do in his spare time. It was a different story altogether when she walked into his school. Greeted by the chef, she saw her impression was not correct at all. In fact, Chef Mitsua was just a young man himself, barely out of college. His family had owned many restaurants throughout Tokyo and he had worked as a chef in one of them to put himself through school. Now in his early twenties, Mitsua Yumizaka was indeed looking for something to do in his spare time, when he was not a chef in his own restaurant.
The class, made up mostly of young women, bowed their heads in respect and each picked an apron from the rack in a far corner of the room and took a place in a kitchen. The classroom, which was fairly large, had 6 small kitchens, each equipped with a sink, an oven, and counter space. It looked like her Home Economics class in school, but it was a lot nicer. And it didn't hurt that Chef Mitsua was pretty cute too.
"Today we'll be starting off with a nice treat. Your recipes are in your kitchens. Please read over the ingredient list and make sure you have everything."
Akane picked up her recipe and smiled. Chocolate chip cookies were her favorite. She used to watch her mother make them and put little candies on top as an extra special treat. As if accepting a challenge, Akane nodded to her recipe and slunk back in a fighting stance.
I will make the best darn cookies I've ever eaten! She said to herself. She hadn't noticed Chef Mitsua coming up behind her.
"Miss, what's your name?"
Akane blushed a little and bowed her head. "Akane…"
"Well Akane, I see we've a martial artist among us. Perhaps you can show me some moves and I'll show you how to cook?"
His smile was genuine, and sent chills down her spine. His soft brown eyes seemed to twinkle beneath dark brown layers of hair.
She barely got out a nod before he moved on to the next kitchen. She shook her head and remembered what he said to do. Quickly, she looked over her ingredients and read them aloud. The recipe certainly did seem very easy to handle. Chef Mitsua had typed it for them, laying out each step, beginning with turning on the oven.
Having only one small fire, the class went pretty well. Akane was glad she hadn't burned her cookies. In fact, she hadn't walked away from her kitchen even after a timer had been set and everyone else had gathered around the center of the classroom to talk. Akane watched and waited, determined to make the best cookies. She had followed the recipe perfectly, although unless you couldn't read, it was pretty hard not to follow. Chef Mitsua had noticed her tendency to grab the wrong ingredient early on and had taken Akane on as his chief student. He began by handing her the ingredients when she would call them out loud and would make her start over if she put the wrong amount in. After her third bowl of ruined cookie dough, Akane had become frustrated, but had to keep it concealed so as not to show Chef Mitsua, who merely smiled at her and told her to try again. The fourth time, he had her do it herself. She would read the recipe slowly and would check her ingredient label and the amount twice before putting it into her bowl. Most of the other students had gone home, having finished their product already.
"So Akane, do you think you have improved since the beginning of class?"
Chef Mitsua demonstrated how to take the cookies out of the oven and to remove them with a spatula and place them on a wire rack to be cooled. She watched him then did it herself.
"I…I think so." She said, shyly, slowly removing her cookies from the tray.
"You think so? Well, I suppose you'll have to come back for another lesson then, hm?"
He smiled at her again, and wrapped up her remaining cookies.
She nodded. "Yes! You really think I will be able to cook?"
He handed her the plate of cookies. "I think, Chef Akane, you are able to accomplish anything when you put your mind to it."
You are able to accomplish anything when you put your mind to it.
Chef Mitsua's words replayed in her head as she walked home, the plate of cookies in her hand. Anxious to try one, she reached her hand inside and tasted her first home-made cookie and gasped. There were too many chocolate chips, but aside from that, it wasn't half bad! With a smile, she ran the rest of the way home. When she reached the gates of her house, she debated whether or not to tell anyone where she had been. Deciding that they might laugh at her, she looked around for someone to give her cookies to. She was about to walk down the street to an elderly man who lived on his own, when she heard a familiar squeal.
"P-Chan!" She held out her arms to the incoming little black pig, forgetting all about her plate of cookies. P-Chan jumped in her arms and she hugged him to her bosom, hearing the crash of the plate next to her.
"Oh! My cookies!"
"Bwee?" P-Chan looked up at her, a content look on his little piggy face. She set him down as she began picking up the pieces of the cracked dish and the cookies that now scattered the pavement.
"So much for these, hm P-Chan? I'll just toss them." She scooped up the remaining pieces and dumped them in a nearby garbage can. She picked the little pig back up and entered the house. Just as she had thought, nobody asked her where she'd been.
"Akane, can you check on Ranma? Bring him some more soup and tea." Kasumi came out of the kitchen with a tray, barely noticing that Akane had just walked in the door.
Akane nodded to her older sister, and took the tray from her. P-Chan followed her as they walked up the stairs.
"Ranma's pretty sick," she said to her pet pig. "So he shouldn't be able to pick on you."
Sliding the bedroom door open, Ranma was still pretty much where he had been this morning, sprawled out on his futon, snoring. She set the tray down nearby and watched him for a moment. He looked harmless when he was sleeping. Deciding to leave before he would wake up and insult her for the soup again, she slide the door closed and went back to her bedroom, accidentally leaving P-Chan behind.
Ryoga looked at Ranma sleeping. He had used the hot water from the tea Akane brought up to change back into his human form.
"It's such a shame the way you lay here sleeping while Akane brings you your soup." He said out loud. "Now wake up, idiot!"
He planted a slap across Ranma's face, jolting him upright.
"Wha? Uhn?" He sat up, groggily. "Hey man, what're you doing here?"
"Watching you lazily snore your life away while the beautiful Akane brings you food! Ah the life you lead!"
Ranma, seemingly feeling much better than this morning, returned Ryoga's wake up slap with a nice punch to the stomach.
They continued to fight until at some point the soup Akane brought up had turned cold, and a soggy, seaweed covered black pig ran down to Akane's room.
It was a few days later and Akane had managed to keep her secret perfectly, even with Nabiki as her sister. Things had returned to normal around the Tendou house. Ranma was still sick, but fiancé after fiancé had dropped by to pledge that she would be the one to make him feel better. He was sick of soup, each girl practically forcing bowl after bowl down his throat, but at least he was feeling a little better.
He had his usual workout routine in the morning, and expected Akane to meet him in the dojo for her workout, but she wasn't there. When Kasumi called everyone inside for lunch, Akane still wasn't there. It had been almost the whole afternoon before Ranma began pacing around the house. He stopped by her bedroom door and knocked, but got no answer. He was about to enter, when a voice behind him spoke.
"She's not home."
It was Nabiki.
"Don't you want to know where she is?"
"Why do I care where that stupid tomboy is?" Ranma put his hands in his pockets and began casually walking down the hallway. Nabiki followed and whispered in his ear.
"She's got a boyfriend."
That was all she needed to do. The seed was planted, all she had to do was walk away.
Ranma snorted. "Yeah, like that idiot could ever land a boyfriend."
The words came out, yet something about it struck him.
Did Akane really have a boyfriend?
"500 yen and I'll tell you where she meets him every day."
He hesitated. He hadn't any money, so buying the information wasn't going to happen. He'd have to wait.
"I don't care who she sees or where she sees him."
"Suit yourself," Nabiki only shrugged and walked away.
Ranma grumbled and figured he'd work out some frustration out in the dojo with his dad. Just as he was walking out onto the porch, he noticed Akane come home. She looked happy and had a deep smile on her face. She hummed to herself as she took her shoes off.
He grumbled a little to himself as he watched her walk happily up the stairs to her bedroom and right past him.
"Hey uh… Akane?"
"Mm?" She barely turned to look at him. She had a smile on her face.
"You want to spar or somethin'?"
"Oh, no thanks Ranma. I'm a little tired. Maybe later." She turned and continued walking back up the stairs to her room where she closed the door behind her and laid on her bed.
Ranma's eyes narrowed in anger.
Something is definitely up. For Akane to turn down a sparring match with him, he knew there was something going on. Time for a visit to Nabiki.
"1000 yen and I'll tell you who he is and where she meets him."
"You said 500 yen!"
"Well the price doubled. A girl's gotta make a living, you know."
Nabiki sat with her legs crossed on her bed while Ranma sat indian-style on the floor. He had managed to find 500 yen in his father's pack, strange considering the man didn't really work, but he didn't feel guilty since it was probably stolen to begin with.
"Then forget it. I'll get my information somewhere else." He began to get up, when Nabiki placed a foot against his shoulder.
"500 yen and I'll give you half the information." She held out her hand and Ranma quickly paid up.
Nabiki handed him a slip of paper with an address on it and said no more. He stuffed the address in his pocket and left her room, thankful she hadn't tried selling him anymore information.
The next day went pretty much the same for Ranma. He had expected Akane to be out running in the morning as usual. Instead she was locked inside her room behind closed doors.
Mid-morning, Akane came out of her room and went downstairs to get her shoes on. She looked unlike herself. Ranma was surprised, she actually looked pretty cute. She was wearing hip hugging jeans and a short white t-shirt that bared her midriff. He plopped down at the living room table and watched her change from her slippers to a pair of flip flops.
Hmph. Ranma tried to ignore her but she was humming again.
"Hey Akane, you missed running this morning. You getting lazy or what?"
No reply. Akane merely waved goodbye to Kasumi and left the house.
Ranma was outraged. Not only did she miss running two days in a row, but she ignored all his usual comments. Standing up, he quickly made the decision to go to the address Nabiki had given him. He slipped his shoes on and tore down the street.
Sure enough, there was Akane, knocking on the door. She was greeted by a young man, a pretty good-looking young man, and was laughing at something he said.
"They're pretty familiar with each other," Ranma growled to himself. Across from the house was a small park. He decided to have a seat on a bench and keep watch.
A few hours later, and a nice nap, Ranma awoke to the sounds coming from the house. Akane was leaving and the young man was seeing her out. She looked sweaty and her hair was a mess. She was carrying a plate of some sort that looked wrapped in a handkerchief.
"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" She waved and started off down the street. Ranma jumped from the bench and followed her, but stayed behind her. She stopped just a block away from the house before dumping the plate into a nearby garbage pail and continuing into the house.
Trying to get rid of the evidence. Ranma thought. He was about to hop down from the building he had been hiding on top of and see what she had thrown out but the elderly woman who owned the garbage pail had come out of her house to throw more garbage in it. He decided to do what he always did and seek refuge in the dojo to work out some frustration.
The next day started similar.
On this particular day though, Akane just couldn't decide what to wear to her cooking class. She knew she really shouldn't be excited, but she couldn't help it. Chef Mitsua was so nice to her, and so cute! He complemented her and helped her, unlike Ranma who usually insulted her and made her feel worse.
Casually walking his way down the hallway, Ranma stopped in front of Akane's open door to see her holding up outfit after outfit in front of her mirror.
"That one makes your hips look big."
Akane was too busy thinking about which one she liked better to hear Ranma's comment.
Ranma had ducked, anticipating something being thrown in his direction, however nothing came.
Hm? She didn't even notice me. He thought, ducking behind the door. Probably trying to look good for her boyfriend.
Akane had decided on a short layered white skirt and a black tanktop with a rose on it. Taking a last look in the mirror, she hurried down the hallway to get her shoes on, barely noticing Ranma the spy sitting in her doorway.
"Hey! What's she doing?"
He followed her down the stairs and watched her wave goodbye to her family and leave the house.
Ranma made the decision to continue to follow her again, and followed her down a few blocks back to the same address she had been the previous day. She knocked on the door and the same handsome young man answered the door and greeted Akane with a smile. If they were talking, Ranma couldn't hear, but just the look of it made his blood boil. He couldn't see or hear anything even as he approached the house As the door closed, Ranma spotted an open window and dashed towards it, peeking over the edge. He was looking in on what seemed to be a living area, very nicely arranged with a big table and fluffy floor cushions. He couldn't see anyone, but he could hear voices.
"So Akane, do you think you're ready?"
It was a male voice.
"I…I don't know if I'm ready for this. Can we just take it slow?"
Akane's voice, and she sounded nervous. Ranma's eyes narrowed.
"Akane, you're ready for this. Just trust me."
That was it. Ranma's fists had clenched and he could take no more. He flipped inside the house through the window and listened again to find out where the voices were coming from.
"Oh!"
It was Akane. And this time he ran to the direction of her voice.
"Now listen here pervert! Akane is my fiancé and if you touch her…" he entered what he had expected to be the bedroom, but was the kitchen instead. The young man was sitting on a stool on the other side of what appeared to be a counter, watching Akane who had fallen victim to an exploding bag of flour. She had an apron on over her clothes and was standing at the counter with ingredients laid out in front of a big glass bowl.
"Ranma! What're you doing here?" She wiped her face and tried to dust herself off.
Ranma was standing there, his fists still clenched in anger, but was seemingly confused.
"I should ask you the same question! Who is this guy?" He looked at her then at the young man, who laughed softly.
"Ranma," he said, standing from the stool. He bowed his head and smiled when he came back up to face Ranma. "I have heard a lot about you."
Akane managed to dust off a little more flour, at least from her face and shoulders and stood next to them.
"Ranma, this is…" Akane started to speak, but Chef Mitsua finished.
"Mitsua Yumizaka. Akane's cooking teacher." He bowed his head respectfully and continued to smile.
Ranma's confused expression did not change. "Cooking…teacher?"
Mitsua nodded. "And she's doing very well, too. One of my best students." He turned to look at Akane and she smiled. "Why don't you have a seat? I will get us some tea while Akane finishes up her exam."
It wasn't until Ranma and Akane were walking home that evening when he actually spoke again. Akane was pleased with herself, she had passed the first step of the cooking classes and was holding her certificate with her name on it that clearly stated her achievement.
Ranma was carrying and eating the plate of the cookies she had made, dumbfounded about the whole situation.
"Ya coulda told me y'know," he said, stuffing his face with another cookie. He had to actually give it to her, they were good.
"You laugh at everything I do. Besides, it was funny to see you so jealous."
She reached over to him and grabbed the cookie he was just about to eat and took a bite out of it.
"Ha! I wasn't jealous, I thought he was trying to take advantage of you!"
He grabbed another cookie and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth.
"Then what was all that 'Akane is my fiancé' business?" She stopped walking and turned to look at him. He noticed her and stopped too, his face turning serious.
"So you don't want to be my fiancé anymore?"
She blinked.
"What?"
"Forget it. Do what you want. I don't care." He tossed her the plate and hopped up onto a nearby fence.
"Hey…hey wait a sec! I never said anything like that!" She hurled a cookie at his head and he turned back to look at her.
"Then what's with the lessons with chef googley eyes?" He folded his arms.
"He teaches the class! I didn't have a choice!"
"Right, and I'm sure the fact that he's good looking never crossed your mind, huh?"
Akane just stared at him. She had never seen him so jealous. Part of her was intrigued.
The other part just wanted to deck him.
"You are so stupid! Why would I care if he is cute?"
"So you admit it then! You think he's cute!"
Akane hurled the rest of the cookies at him, and he ducked each one.
"Baka! What difference does it make?!" She was getting frustrated and slammed the plate down against the pavement, cracked pieces of ceramic flying everywhere.
He hopped down from the fence and looked down at his feet. He fiddled around with his hands for a few seconds before answering. His voice was soft, and he sounded hurt.
"Do you like him?"
She folded her arms and thought for a moment. Did she like him?
"He is nice to me," she replied, "but he's my teacher…"
Akane wanted nothing more for him to take her in his strong arms, and kiss her as he had done a week before.
"…no, I don't like him." She finished, knowing in her heart what she wanted the most to happen was seemingly, not going to.
"If he lays a hand on you…" He started to say.
"….I'll knock his teeth in." She finished for him, smiling at him. She turned to start walking again, he followed, and she grabbed his arm to hold onto. At least if he wouldn't hold her, there was nothing saying she couldn't hold him. Ranma tried not to look at her, but she seemed so content holding onto his arm. He could smell her hair, that familiar scent of flowers.
The whole matter was settled in his head. Nabiki was obviously just trying to make money, Akane did not have a boyfriend nor did she like him.
He lifted his arm and took her hand as they walked back home in silence. She let go once they reached the gates. It was the same spot they had shared the kiss.
She wondered if he remembered or if it had meant anything to him like it did to her.
Ranma was pondering why she had stopped and what he would do. He knew it was the spot he had kissed her that night and almost instantly the memory of her soft lips against his filled his head.
Did she stop here for a reason? He thought, and looked at her. She stood there, almost waiting, her hands behind her back.
Slowly he reached his arms out to her and gently placed them on her shoulders. Akane's heart began to race and thought, this is it.
Ranma's own heart beated faster as he slowly, very slowly, closed his eyes and leaned closer to her. Akane did the same and just waited.
"Ow! Why you stupid…!"
Akane thought their lips were about to meet for one more time when Ranma's hands disappeared from her shoulders. She opened her eyes to see P-Chan biting Ranma's arm as he tried to contain the struggling pig.
She sighed.
"C'mon P-Chan. Lets go inside." She held out her arms and the little black pig squealed with delight as he let Ranma go and jumped in her arms. She stole a glance at Ranma whose eyes were narrowed and fists clenched. With a shrug and a small smile in his direction, she held P-Chan close and entered the house.
Ranma just sighed and knew, nothing could ever be that easy.