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.
Hi everyone! Thanks as always for reading. I know this story is shorter than my others, but I couldn't wait to get it out to you. Just a bit of a warning, there is a small hint of an adult theme in here, a sign of things to come in future chapters, so if you're not interested then please don't continue. Reviews welcome, thanks for your kind words!
It had been two months since he had seen her. Two ridiculously, excruciatingly painful long months.
He wondered, had she missed him? Would she look different? Would she be home? When he had left on the trip with his father, things between them hadn't exactly progressed from where they were, and he'd hoped that they hadn't gotten any worse.
Ranma dashed through the streets in his girl from, a giant panda creating havoc and screams behind him, as was the typical routine when coming home from a training trip. Gripping the straps of his pack with his thumbs he raced the panda back to the Tendou dojo. He wondered what he would say to her. Would she run out and greet him? Would she throw her arms around his neck and hug him as he dreamt she would?
And there it was, the Tendou home and dojo. He stood before the gates, dropping his pack. The sun had been up for a few hours, she would be back from her morning run already. The giant panda raced forward, crashing through the gates and thomping through the backyard of the house, letting out a loud growl to tell everyone of their homecoming. He heard a voice.
"Oh, Mr. Saotome! Welcome home!"
Kasumi.
Home. Yes, he was indeed home. And grateful for that too. It had been a grueling trip, and he was certainly tired.
He took one foot towards the gate before realizing he was still in his female form. Looking from left to right, he dropped his pack.
"Ok, gotta find some hot water."
Akane looked up from her book. Did she hear right? Mr. Saotome was home? That would mean…
"Ranma," she said to herself. Her eyes widened and a smile crept across her face at the thought. She looked down at her outfit and crinkled her nose. Quickly, she dashed to her closet, desperately searching for the perfect thing to wear, covering her floor with clothes in the process. Finally, she settled for an off-the shoulder light blue peasant top that bared her midriff and black leggings and took one last look in the mirror before running downstairs.
But when she came to the living room, it was only Kasumi, sewing one of Mr. Saotome's gis. She hurried out to the porch. Just her father and Mr. Saotome.
Where is he? She thought, running towards the dojo only to find it empty. Defeated, she slumped down to the floor. Maybe he didn't want to come back, she thought.
"Ahh…" Ranma said, drying his hair in a towel. A hot bath in the summer wasn't exactly refreshing, but he didn't want to get his clothes wet. He slid the bathroom door open and smiled, his heart racing a little. He went back to his bedroom and searched through his pack to find the little souvenir he had brought for her. Smiling to himself, he held it in his hands, knowing Akane would love it.
Now to find Akane.
He walked down the hall to the living room only to find Kasumi.
The back porch was only his father and Mr. Tendou.
Where is she? He thought, the excitement of seeing her beginning to boil up inside.
"Were you hoping to find someone else?"
The voice came behind him and he whirled around to see Nabiki standing there, sucking on an ice pop. His disappointment must have been clearly showing on his face.
"What're you talking about? I'm not looking for anyone," he said, quickly hiding his hand with Akane's gift behind his back.
"It's too hot for this," she rolled her eyes at him. "She's in the dojo." And with a shake of her head, she walked away, muttering to herself.
Ranma lingered a moment, not wanting to seem too eager, and waited until Nabiki was back in the house before heading to the dojo. He looked down at the small gift in his hands that was plainly wrapped in rice paper. It wasn't much, but he had seen it in a shop in one of the many towns he and his father had passed while on their way home from the mountains and had thought of her. In fact, he had thought about her during most of the training trip. It was strange for him, when they had left he told himself he would be able to do so much more training if Akane weren't there and part of him had been relieved their fathers had not made her go with them.
"This trip is not for women," they had said. If Akane had been upset by this, she hadn't seemed to show it and didn't give any of her usual protests.
He wasn't sure whether it was part of some scrupulous plan to keep them apart so they would be so happy to see one another and forget about all past differences. Ranma kept reminding himself that he was smarter than both fathers put together and would never fall for such a plan.
And yet, she was all he could think about. And here he was aching to see her again. Each night he had dreamt of her. Dreamt that she would somehow make her way to their camp and smile at him each morning, looking at him with those eyes of hers….
The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. It was as if his eyes hurt at the thought of seeing her smile at him again.
As he stood in front of the dojo door thinking about all the things he could possibly say to her, the door slid open.
There she was.
For a moment it looked as if she had been crying, and when she slid the door open to find someone there her expression turned to surprise. Now, knowing who it was, a smile slowly crept across her lips. It was that smile he was waiting for.
"Oh! Ranma," she said. "You've come back."
"Yeah um…well y'know, summer's over and all." He looked down at his feet, immediately forgetting all the things he wanted to say to her. He scratched the back of his head.
Akane looked down too, not knowing what to say either. He seemed different to her, yet still the same Ranma. Something about him had changed a little, she wasn't sure. He seemed a little taller, more muscular, he seemed…
Ranma's stomach gave a loud rumble and he looked up in embarrassment.
….he seemed hungry.
He smiled at her and shrugged. "I guess it's been a while since I've eaten."
They shared a laugh and broke the silence.
"Kasumi brought home some pork buns this morning," Akane said. "I could use one too."
Ranma nodded to her and stepped out of the way so she could exit the dojo. He kept his hand with her gift behind his back as he followed her into the house.
"I'll get them," she said. Ranma took a seat at the table and tucked Akane's present into his lap. She disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes and came back out with a small tray, which she set down in the middle of the table and plopped down, on the floor across from him. He grabbed a bun and began stuffing his face.
Akane grumbled. "You are such a pig."
"Eh? Oh…" he stopped his hands from grabbing another bun too quickly and slowed down. He waited for Akane to pick one up before taking another one.
I missed you, Akane.
You look…..cute..
I'm glad I'm here with you.
Ranma shook his head, once again fighting his inner voice and tried to find some words to say that wouldn't make him sound like a total idiot.
Akane thought about what she would say too.
It was quiet without you.
I'm glad you're home.
And so they sat in silence, as usual, until of course, someone around the Tendou home would break that silence for them.
While sitting there, looking down at the floor and discussing with their inner voices, neither had noticed Nabiki sneak up between them.
"Oh Ranma, give your fiancé a little kissy-kiss because you missed her!" She pouted her lips at them and made kissing noises before sitting back to watch the show.
"Nabiki! Don't be crazy! We weren't going to kiss!" Akane shouted, clenching her fists.
"Yeah! Why would I kiss a macho chick like her?" Ranma folded his arms just as he was hit in the head with the empty tray Akane had brought the pork buns out on.
"I don't know, Ranma! Why would you kiss a macho chick like me!" She screamed at him before stomping off to her bedroom.
"RAAAAANMAAAA!"
Soun's battle aura lunged into the dining room from the back porch.
"Yeee!" Ranma scrambled backward.
"Aplogize to my daughter!" The battle aura screamed.
Nabiki sat at the table, hiding a smile behind the last pork bun. I should charge money to see this, she thought. And should have taken a bet at how long it would take for him to get hit with something.
Akane slammed her door shut and slumped down on her bed.
"Jerk!" She shouted out loud, looking at her mirror across from her. It had been going so well, but someone in her family always has to ruin it. Then again, Ranma always did a perfect job of ruining things himself.
Did their kiss two months ago mean nothing? Did he forget? She was so sure things would have changed between them. Things would have been more out in the open. It seemed that every time they made progress, something or someone would get in the way. They had almost shared another kiss before he left. Almost. With a heavy sigh, the memory of that morning rushed back into her mind like a tidal wave.
"C'mon boy, it's time to go!"
Genma was already through the gates when he turned around to see his son lingering in the yard. His pack was on the floor and he was looking out onto the porch. Kasumi was waving with a smile, and Nabiki was there too leaning against the door.
Akane had been in her room, wondering what to say to him. She knew this wasn't one of those dangerous trips Ranma had been accustomed to taking. There was nobody to save, and no direct threat to anyone….so why had she been so worried?
Knowing he would be leaving for the summer, she had spent days going through waves of different emotions. One day she was happy, thinking of how much she could accomplish if he wasn't around. She could spend time with her friends, maybe take up a hobby, and get in more time to train. Then before she knew it, she would be sad, doing anything within her power to stop the tears from welling in her eyes. There were more sad days than she could count, and the few days immediately prior to his leaving she had locked herself in her room to keep anyone from knowing her pain.
Then came the morning of his departure and she was still locked in her room. She thought that if she didn't come out, the pain might go away and everything would be fine. But as she looked out her window to see him standing in the yard, her heart began to break. He was taking one last look at the porch before picking up his pack and turning around.
Was he waiting for her?
Without any further hesitation, she left her room and ran down the stairs down to the porch. On her way outside, Kasumi and Nabiki were entering the house, watching the whirlwind of their little sister as she flew by them.
Ranma was just past the gates when she caught up with him.
"Ranma…." She breathed, almost out of breath.
His heart had skipped a beat when he heard the footsteps and the sound of her voice. Quickly, he turned around. She was breathing hard and leaning against the wall to hold herself up. Her cheeks and eyes were swollen. She had indeed, been crying.
"Akane…" He looked down at her, not knowing what to say. Of course, he wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and share a kiss like the one they had shared in the rain. He had remembered how her lips felt against his, how her body felt against his, her hand clutching his shirt as if she thought he'd run away.
His face blushed at the thought and he looked down at his feet.
"Don't get yourself hurt, okay?" she said, choking back the next round of tears and putting on a fake smile, hoping he wouldn't see through the happy façade.
Take me with you, her mind was saying. She prayed he would grab her with those strong arms of his and hold her, maybe even kiss her.
Ranma nodded, returning her smile. It looked as though he was leaning closer to her and Akane's heart began to beat faster.
He's going to kiss me! She closed her eyes and waited, grateful that someone had been listening to her prayers.
"I said NOW!"
SPLASH
Akane felt her feet get splashed with water and she opened her eyes to see a drenched Ranma-chan looking sadly at her. He managed to wave at her before his father slung him over his shoulder and ran down the street.
With another heavy sigh, she stood and walked to her window. By now, her father would have screamed at him and forced him to apologize. She waited.
Ranma went to his usual spot on the roof and slid forward, hanging upside down in front of Akane's window. He hadn't expected her to meet him face to face.
"Um….Akane," he blinked, his face blushing.
"Get your apology over with Ranma, then get the heck out of my window." She turned her back to him and folded her arms, waiting.
"Huh-hey!" He swung forward and flipped into her bedroom. "Look, Akane…"
She spun around and glared angrily at him. "Look Akane, what? You always say stupid things whenever anyone's around! You're always poking fun at me! You leave for two months and all you can say to me are insults? I hate you!"
Sheepishly, Ranma looked down at his feet. Akane refolded her arms and waited once more. She wasn't sure if he would bolt out of her bedroom or if he would say anything at all.
This certainly wasn't how either of them wanted things to go after the long summer, but it was always how things ended up being. Just when they thought they had taken a major step, something always kept them right where they were.
"I'm…I'm sorry," he stammered. From his pocket, he found the small package so plainly wrapped and gently placed it on her desk before climbing out the window and flipping back onto the roof.
Akane whirled around and watched his feet as he leaped back up to the roof. It was then that she noticed the small box on her desk. Slowly walking towards it, she looked at the package and looked back at the window. Part of her hadn't expected an apology, and certainly none of her expected him to give her something.
Confused, she opened the wrapping and took the top off the small box to find a blue pendant necklace with a black chord. It had symbols on them that she wasn't able to understand, which could have been Chinese, but Ranma had given it to her and it was perfect. Since it happened to match her shirt, she stepped over to her mirror and tied it around her neck. She smiled, not only at how pretty it was, but that Ranma had given it to her. In all this time, Ranma had never really given her something other than during the holidays.
With a small sigh, she made the decision to go find him and try this again.
"I hate you!"
Akane's voice replayed in his head over and over, his heart breaking each time. As he sat on his usual spot on the roof, watching the sunset, he couldn't help but stare out over the horizon of Tokyo.
Did she really hate me?
He couldn't get the sound of her screaming it out of his head. Here he had actually missed her and she was screaming that she hated him. He thought back to the morning of his departure and wondered if she would have still screamed it had he been able to kiss her before…. Before his father splashed him and turned him into a girl. He remembered how sad she looked when she ran to meet him at the gate. Her cheeks were red and puffy and she needed to lean against the gate to hold herself up. He hadn't wanted to leave her and if she'd asked to go with him he would have caved at that moment.
"This sulking thing is getting a bit old, don't you think?"
It was Akane. He turned to look up at her just as she was carefully sitting down next to him. She had the necklace on, the black chord wrapped around her neck as the blue pendant dangled over her flesh.
It looked beautiful on her.
"I ain't sulking." He turned back to the sunset, resting his arms on his knees.
"So….what do you call it then?" Akane wasn't really sure what to say. She wanted to thank him for the gift and definitely didn't want to apologize for what she said, even though she didn't really hate him. But he knew that, right?
He grumbled a bit to himself, unable to come up with another word for it. After all, he was sulking.
"Do you really hate me, Akane?" He had turned to look up at her again and took her by surprise, almost as if he had been reading her thoughts. He looked like a lost puppy, so vulnerable and so hurt. What she really wanted to do was reach across the roof and hug him. Tell him exactly how empty the house had been without him and how quiet things were without him to make it all chaotic. That every morning she'd wake up and wish he was there, even if he was going to insult her, just his presence would have made her feel less abandoned.
But instead, she blinked at him and looked down. "What? No, I….don't….I didn't mean to say that. I was mad at you."
Tell her that you missed her. Hug her, hold her.
Of course, none of the inner dialogue found its way out. He simply sat there pressing his fingers together.
"So…..what do the symbols mean?" She asked, looking down at the pendant.
His face blushed a little and Akane was confused. She didn't think her question warranted such a response, then again she didn't know what the symbols meant.
"Village symbols," he started to say. "They um…. It means strength and courage." He glanced at her out of his eyes then looked back out over Tokyo.
She found herself blushing this time, but the smile was there. "You….you think I'm strong? And courageous?"
"Well you know….you are pretty mach…." He looked at her, remembering what she had told him about insulting her and decided to rethink his words. "You're the strongest, most courageous girl I know, Akane."
Akane's heart skipped a beat. Did he really just say that or had she imagined it? After all they had been through, she wasn't sure she was the one who deserved to wear such a pendant.
"Thanks," she said, sounding as if tears were welling in her eyes. He turned to look at her and had never seen her look so attractive. She seemed proud, looking down at the pendant. His words were the truth, no matter how much danger the two would find themselves in, she always risked her life to save his and vice versa. Her large brown eyes stared lovingly down at the necklace dangling just above her breasts.
He had been in a village shop looking for something to eat when he spotted a small shop with many different antique-looking items. The shopkeeper, an old man with eyes that seemed to smile had welcomed him and told him that each item had a story. The glare from the sun hitting the shiny blue necklace had caught his eye and he inquired the shopkeeper about its story.
"A brave young warrior received it as a gift from his only love before leaving to fight in a war. When he came back many years later, he found his love had passed away from heartbreak."
Ranma wasn't sure if he believed the story, but he knew of no one better to wear such a pendant than Akane.
"I'm not saying that I missed you or nothin'…." He paused and looked back out at the horizon. "… but it was a pretty long two months." He folded his arms and waited for her response.
Pathetic.
It was a good thing Akane was fluent in Ranma-speak and had translated perfectly. It was moments like this that made her forget just how mad he made her sometimes. She smiled as she did what she wanted to do all along and reached across the space between them to wrap her arms around his waist. His scent was a mixture of sweat and soap, and she liked it.
"Eh…?!" He blinked down at her and blushed, but still put his arms around her in return. Her hair smelled like vanilla.
"Ranma," she said, her face almost buried in his chest.
"Ah….Akane?"
"I missed you too."
She missed me too…
Akane could hear his heart thumping and felt her own begin to race. One of them would have to make a move before someone in her family came to ruin another perfectly good moment. She could feel his hands on her back. They were shaking, and his breathing became faster.
You've done it before, he thought to himself. You can do it again…
Nodding to himself, he decided to go for it. He closed his eyes and leaned down to her, not realizing his speed.
"Uhn!"
Akane pulled back from him, holding her nose. He had been leaning down to her and bonked her in the nose.
He immediately recoiled and let her go, his face more crimson than ever before.
She hadn't realized what he'd been doing until she saw how red he'd become. Stifling a giggle, she let go of her nose and covered her mouth so he wouldn't see her smile.
Too late.
Ranma turned to see her giggling and narrowed his eyes in anger.
"Keep laughing, tomboy!" He shouted at her, turning his back to her and folding his arms. How could she be laughing at him like this? Did she know how much it took for him to make a move?
"Oh Ranma," she shook her head. Knowing that he had been about to kiss her, she moved with newfound confidence and placed an arm on his shoulder. When he didn't budge, she leaned forward and twisted around him, losing her balance for a brief moment before ending up in his lap. Without missing a beat, she raised a hand to his cheek and tilted his head to her. It was not long before their lips met. Ranma's arms found their way around her once more as he held her, his heart once again feeling as if it would beat out of his chest. Akane closed her eyes and felt her mind drifting away. If someone came up to the roof to find them, it wouldn't matter. All that mattered was that he was home….he was holding her…he was kissing her. She lost herself completely in his arms.
Ranma had not only been angry that she was laughing at him, but he was mortified. All that had been forgotten the moment she fell into his lap and kissed him. At once, he felt her hand on his cheek and before he knew it, felt her lips against his. He slid his arms around her, holding her in a close embrace and clutching her as if she would evaporate into thin air. Akane slowly parted her lips and Ranma was quick to deepen the kiss. He could feel her chest pressing against his and immediately his body began to react. Blood rushed through his veins, to one particular body part and he knew he'd have to stop before Akane could notice.
"Dinner's ready!"
Ranma had never been so relieved in his life to hear Kasumi call the family inside. If Akane had noticed his reaction to her, he wasn't sure how she'd respond. Knowing her tendencies, she'd probably clobber him with any nearby object and in this particular sensitive state he didn't want to continue to find out. Quickly, their kiss came to an end and he gently lifted her out of his lap and onto the roof tiles. He gave a small sigh of relief that she hadn't mentioned feeling anything against her hips.
Still in a daze, Akane looked at him, a small smile still on her lips. She slid forward on the roof and swung her legs over the side, looking over her shoulder before making the leap off the roof.
"Are you coming?" She asked.
He didn't move, not wanting to trigger the growing bulge in his pants any further.
"Y….yup," he croaked. "M…meet you do…down there," he forced a smile as she nodded and slid off the roof. He gave another sigh and continued to wait.
Akane climbed in through her window and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her face was flush and she blushed, knowing exactly how Ranma had reacted to their kiss. Secrectly she wondered what would have happened had Kasumi not called them for dinner and quickly shook away the thought, knowing how improper the idea was.
Biting her lower lip in attempt to hide away her smile, she left her room and slowly walked downstairs to greet her family for dinner. Ranma had entered the living room a few minutes later, taking his usual place next to her and looking as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him. The rest of the family, barely noticing how silent the two were, continued to eat dinner with their usual chatter.
Ranma and Akane snuck glances at one another, but continued to remain silent.
I guess things are definitely going to change, Akane thought to herself, holding her bowl of rice up to her face to hide the smile.