Chapter 3:
Is This Feeling Love
Akane sat quietly in her room. Both Nabiki and Kasumi had seemed slightly concerned for her, she had skipped dinner, and been locked in her room ever since she got home from spending more time with Nodoka. They had both assumed that something had happened during the shopping trip, but neither knew what it was. While the older Tendo sisters discussed what might have happened, Akane stared at a ring, one that she had saved for several years now. "It can't be, Ranma was a boy, Nodoka's a girl. It's just a coincidence."
She traced the circumfrence of the ring with a finger, remarking on how similar the ring was to the one Nodoka had. In fact, the rings were virtually identical in every way. Akane sighed and shook her head. It had to be a coincidence. It's not like that pair of rings was completely unique, was it? That had to be it, Akane had decided. There was no way it was the same ring. "She probably thinks I'm rude, running away from her like that."
Akane took a deep breath, comparing her ring to the memory of Nodoka's. Even then, she still doubted her conclusion, there were other things about Nodoka that almost felt familiar. Her appearence, her smile, even just being around her. It all felt so familiar to her. As she lost herself in her thoughts, she heard a knock on her door, and snapped back to reality, quickly putting her ring back in her memory box. "Who is it?"
"Are you ok in there Akane?" A familiar male voice asked. "Kasumi called and said you were acting strange, I hurried over."
Akane slowly approached the door, then opened it and looked at Ryouga with a smile. "I'm fine Ryouga, why wouldn't I be?"
"Kasumi had said you locked yourself in your room when you came home, she's just worried about you." Ryouga wrapped his arms around Akane and pulled her into a tight hug. "And I was worried too, hearing about it."
"Oh Ryouga... I'm fine, really, I just, I had some things on my mind." She couldn't tell him, the entire idea seemed silly to her, and in fact, she couldn't believe she'd thought it. Ryouga would probably laugh himself sill to learn he had such a dummy for a fiance.
"Well, since I'm here Akane." He smirked and pushed her bedroom door closed.
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Akane smiled as she looked over at Nodoka. "No, really, I'm so sorry about yesterday, I suddenly started to feel ill."
"It's ok Akane, you had me worried." Nodoka returned the smile.
Akane remarked to herself how comforting it was. That theory in her mind still bubbling near the surface nearly had her ask the burning question, but she suppressed it and settled for one that was a little less obvious then 'are you Ranma' might have sounded. "Uhm, that ring you wear around your neck, where'd you get it?"
"Oh, uh, well, uhm, it's something my mother gave me, a long time ago." Nodoka replied to the question nervously, and grasped at the ring beneath her shirt.
"Oh, I see, I just thought, no, nevermind. I have one just like it at home, that's all." Akane seemed to buy Nodoka's excuse, though it still left doubt in her mind.
Ryouga slowly made his way into the classroom, he was still early, an improvement over his usual. It had all been thanks to Akane that he developed a sense of direction. He immediately headed towards Akane and Nodoka and sat on Akane's desk. "I can't believe I'm early, I never knew people were here before class.
"Oh silly, you've gotten so much better at finding your way Ryouga, I'm so proud of you." Akane chided him, half jokingly, then looked back at Nodoka.
The red-head had turned her head to look out the window. She didn't want to see Ryouga and Akane together, and she was anything but confrontational, instead, she chose to ignore them.
"So anyways Akane, would you mind if I come over again tonight?" Ryouga smiled slightly as he looked Akane over.
"Ryouga..." Akane blushed a bit and looked at her desk. "You know we can't do that all the time, what if my dad catches us?"
Nodoka stood up and walked behind Akane's desk heading towards the classroom door. "Excuse me."
Akane paused a bit and looked at Nodoka then back at Ryouga. Ryouga's eyes had also followed Nodoka. Something seemed a little off about the girl, and he realized almost instantly that thier conversation had seemed to make the girl jealous? No, it had to be little more then just discomfort. "What's her problem Akane?"
"I don't know."
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"Well Akane, maybe she's well, you know."
"Nabiki!" Akane turned in her chair and staired at her older sister who was laying upon her bed doing leg lifts. "How can you say that, maybe she was just embarassed hearing me and Ryouga talk about those things."
"Well, I dunno, she did keep watching you a lot last night at Kareoke. She does seem a little boyish and all." Nabiki lowered her legs and sat up to look at Akane.
"She was?"
"We all saw it, well, except for Ryouga, he was just as fixated on you as she was." Nabiki shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the wall.
Akane thought for a moment, could she trust her sister with her theory. That thought vanished quickly, afterall, this was Nabiki the Ice Queen, come out with a crackpot theory to her, and by midnight the entire country would know what you had asked. Besides, there was still no way, Nodoka was a girl, Akane had seen her naked while changing for gym that day. There was no way Nodoka could be Ranma. "Maybe you're right, I don't know. What am I gonna do?"
"I dunno, maybe try talking to her, and let her down easy, unless you know, you're curious about the other side. No one would think differently of you if you tried it, and you've only ever dated one person."
"Nabiki!" Akane's face went bright red, there was no way she'ddo anything like that. Was there? Now that Nabiki had mentioned it, Nodoka was rather cute, and Akane had felt something strange about her ever since they met. She shook her head, banishing that thought. She loved Ryouga, didn't she?
"You're blushing dear sister." Nabiki chided almost playfully then stood up and patted Akane's shoulder. "Maybe you should give it a try, seems you kinda fancy this girl."
Akane glared at Nabiki as she left the bedroom then trapped herself in her thoughts again. What if Nabiki was right. She did feel a strange attraction to Nodoka, something she couldn't explain. That was compounded by the mystery about the girl, and that ring. Her theory didn't help much either. Akane grabbed her head and ruffled her hair vigorously, this line of thought just wasn't right. She loved Ryouga, didn't she? Or was he simply a replacement for Ranma?
Akane sighed a bit. "Why am I thinking about Ranma now?"
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"I'm kinda surprised you called me out like this Akane." Nodoka smiled a bit nervously as she looked around in the park. The meeting place was fairly secluded, and there weren't really any people around.
Akane was dressed fairly nicely, although she looked a bit sloppy possibly due to the nervous rush at which she got ready. Her face spoke volumes of how nervous she was as she looked at Nodoka. "W-well, I was wanting to apologize for the other day."
"But such a secluded place? It's almost like something you'd plan for a date."
Akane went bright red, she really hadn't thought things out all that well. No, she had to calm down, she was hear to try and figure Nodoka out. Or was it her own feelings she wanted to figure out, she wasn't sure anymore. "Would you like to go somewhere else?"
"I don't mind Akane, I'm just surprised is all." She giggled slightly and took a seat on the nearby bench a moment before Akane joined her. "I wonder what Ryouga would think, seeing us in a place like this, he'd probably get jealous or something."
Akane chuckled slightly in response, though her's had a slight nervous hint. She looked at Nodoka for a moment, then finally worked up the courage to ask what had been on her mind since her discussion with Nabiki a couple nights earlier. "You keep looking at me, a-are you gay?"
Nodoka blinked a bit and looked at Akane. "What?"
"Uhm, sorry sorry, I just blurted that out, it's just that the other night, you kept staring at me, and then the other day when Ryouga and I were talking, you seemed uncomfortable. If you're not, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't offend you." Akane blushed a bit more and looked away.
Nodoka also looked off in the opposite direction. "I know about you and Ryouga, whether I am or not it doesn't matter, you're engaged, I saw him propose."
"Y-you saw that?"
"I was in the tree above the slide, but that's besides the point. You looked so beautiful and happy then." Nodoka sighed and looked back towards Akane.
Akane had faced Nodoka as well, and without thinking leaned into the kiss and kissed her softly on the lips.