Akane and Ranma are making the best out of the situation at school. It is the beginning of their senior year and both were bombarded with questions after the events at Jusenkyo and the failed wedding. Akane seated at her desk, is doing her best to ignore the nagging doubts in her heart. She was so certain that Ranma loves her but now she's not sure. Now that they're back home, Shampoo, Kodachi and Ukyo have reverted to their old habits of chasing after Ranma and seeing them again served to remind Akane of her own inadequacies. Ranma's other fiancées are cute, they can all cook and have great fighting skills whereas she's always getting kidnapped, her cooking's always disastrous and Ranma calls her un-cute more times than she cared to count. Akane's troubled thoughts were interrupted when the teacher made an announcement.

"Class, let me introduce a new transfer student, Kyo Hirono. Help me make him feel welcomed at Furinkan High."

The class clapped politely and Kyo took a seat beside Ranma. The rest of the day remained relatively quiet and soon everyone was preparing to go home, except for Akane who had clean up duty after school. Ranma decided to go ahead to avoid bumping into Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi. He's had enough of them for the day. Akane was on her way home when she bumped into Kyo at the school gates.

"Hi Kyo, my name's Akane, welcome to Furinkan High, what are you doing so late after class?"

"Hi Akane, nice to meet you. I had to stay behind to sort out my transfer paperwork. So are you headed home? Can I tempt you with tea and dessert in exchange for some information? I don't know anyone here and it would be nice to talk to someone and hear more about the school and Nerima."

"I have a lot of homework to do so it will have to be short, ok?"

At the café, Akane was enjoying her conversation with Kyo and was about to ask him about himself when Ranma burst in looking furious. Ranma was initially relieved to find Akane unharmed but this feeling immediately changed to fury when he saw that she was having tea with the new guy. He marched over to them, hell bent on taking Akane home.

"Akane what are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is? Everyone at home is worried about you, when you didn't come home early we all wondered if something had happened to you. You didn't bother to call home and let us know you would be going on a little date after class." Akane was mortified but before she could respond, Ranma turned to Kyo. "And you, I know you're new here but Akane is my fiancée. You had better stay away from her if you know what's good for you."

"Oh I remember you, I sit beside you in class. I'm sorry, I didn't know Akane is your fiancée. I was just having drinks with her. We were just talking about school. Thank you Akane, I had a nice time and I'm sorry I took up too much of your afternoon. I'll see you both in class tomorrow."

The walk home was an awkward one for Ranma, he did not like what he saw. Akane looked like she was enjoying herself in Kyo's company. It had been a long time since he's seen Akane smile and looking so comfortable. He wished he had been the cause of Akane's happiness. Akane in the meantime, was really angry at Ranma for embarrassing her in front of Kyo.

"Ranma I was only trying to make Kyo feel welcomed and help him get accustomed to a new city and a new school."

Ranma refused to back down. He was really concerned when Akane didn't come straight home. He's been having nightmares ever since their trip back from Jusenkyo and he feared something must have happened to Akane.

"Well you should have called home to let us know where you were!"

"Fine, you're right, I will make sure to let the house know next time, I'm running late."

Ranma although pacified, couldn't help but think "Next time? There's going to be a next time?"