all of the characters used belong to Rumiko Takahashi: )
The Trip
By Love-is-a-Tidal-Wave
Akane shivered, curling up under the duvet. She could hear Ranma's gentle snore coming from the other side of the room. Akane squinted in confusion. Ranma had been acting strange for the past two days.
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He had been acting normal while they were leaving the house though, criticizing and insulting her. They had both went to bed and got up at about midnight. Ranma had packed his bag and leaped out the window, landing without a sound. Up in the house, Akane was having problems. As usual, Akane had an unlucky star residing above her. First of all, the zipper on her bag had gotten stuck. Ranma had appeared on her window sill, wondering what the problem was. He startled Akane, causing her to trip over her bag and land with a thud on the floor. Akane got the typical response: Ranma guffawed and called her a clumsy tomboy. Akane then proceeded to knock him off the edge of the window, and, of course, fall in the koi pond, from where Ranma resumed bad-mouthing her. A typical encounter for the two teens.
During the trip up here, Akane had no idea where they were going- she just let Ranma take the lead. Most of the trip was spent in awkward silence, Ranma occasionally glancing behind his shoulder to make sure Akane was still there. Then, at one point during the walk, Akane tripped over a rock and stumbled, falling down in the dirt. Ranma appeared at her side, helping her to stand up while she blushed furiously. She had not been expecting that. Usually Ranma would've just stood there and laughed, calling her clumsy. But this time…
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Akane buried her head under the covers and tried to sleep, but her mind kept wandering back to the boy across the room from her.
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"Ranma, where exactly are we going?" Akane had asked.
"You'll see- it's beautiful there."
"You've been there before?"
No answer.
"What's it like?"
Still no answer.
"Ranma? Are you listening to me?!"
"Huh?! Oh, sorry. I spaced out," he blinked.
"So, you've been here before?"
"Yeah…but it's been a long time. My old man and me stayed here once during the training trip as a special treat for me," he stared off into the distance. They walked in silence.
"It's amazing there," he sighed.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. From what I remember, there's a hot spring, a beautiful greenhouse, a café and even a dojo, of course," Ranma smiled.
"It sounds nice…"
"It is nice."
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Akane shivered once more, the coldness tearing her away from her memories. It's not just Ranma that's acting weird, either… I can't believe I called him 'Ranma-chan'!