"Of Loss, Life, & Love"
A Ranma ½ Fanfic by Luna12
Chapter 28: "Library"
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The school bell chimed to dismiss class, but Ukyo did not feel the same euphoric relief as her fellow students. She had greatly ignored her Okonomiyaki shop in favor of lavishing her attention on Ranma, but the only result was a clueless and not-yet-in-love fiancé and a suffering business. Konatsu could only manage for so long, and Ukyo had invested too much of her pride and joy into her now flourishing shop to let it flounder now. If Ranma had shown the slightest amount of progress in falling for her, she'd let her shop burn to the ground – but the realistic and practical side of her knew that was a last resort. She loved her work, she needed the income, and right now she had everything to gain and not much to lose by leaving Ranma to his own devices for one day. She knew Ranma's training and teaching regime by heart. There were no classes in the dojo today, (Ranma boldly ignored his mother and continued teaching) and it wasn't Akane and Ranma's regularly scheduled day to train. Ukyo knew she could technically tattle on Ranma to get him to stop training and teaching, but even she realized to do so would make Ranma resent her.
Even more importantly, she had overheard Akane at lunch mention how swamped she was with school work. She had plans to meet up with her friends at the library to finish a class report. With her main rival busy, and Nodoka's honor-bound agreement keeping Ranma away from the Tendo residence, Ukyo deigned she could safely take a day off from her intense wooing.
So, she kindly invited Ranma to join her at Ucchan's since she'd be there til late. "No, thanks." He replied. Ukyo frowned. It was bad enough he was declining free food, but did he have to sport that happy grin on his face? She wanted to wallop him with her spatula, but that was not what a cute fiancée did. So she settled for a pout before leaving.
Ranma felt lighter, freer. He was being left to his own devices, instead of being forcibly dragged or strictly escorted. His entire evening was unrestricted. With no evening class in the dojo, and no Pop around to train, he could make his own plans...
...and he knew exactly who he wanted to make plans with.
The only hiccup was that he remembered Akane had homeroom cleanup duty today. The roster listed Daisuke as her partner, so he was in luck. He walked over to his friend, who was talking about video games with Hiroshi in the corner.
"Hey Daisuke. Mind if I swap places for the cleanup today?"
Daisuke's eyebrows raised, but then he remembered who he had been assigned with. He looked conspiratorially back and forth between the eager young martial artist and Akane, then slapped Ranma heartily on the back
"You sly dog! Of course I'll let you trade slots with me. Just remember to tell us all about it after."
Hiroshi wiped away a mock tear. "I'm so proud. Ranma's finally gonna make a move on Akane-chan."
Daisuke laughed. "About time, bro."
Ranma bashfully rubbed the back of his head. They were always ribbing him about his engagement to Akane, and not so long ago he would of stuttered heavy denials. Now, though, he was just eager to seal the deal. "You guys are overreacting, but thanks. I owe you one."
"You better tell us the details, later!" Daisuke elbowed Ranma conspiratorially.
Hiroshi nodded seriously. "Yeah. We can't all be chick magnets."
Ranma turned, and his eyes locked on Akane from across the room. She was chatting amicably with Yuka and Sayuri. Ranma cleared his throat and cautiously approached the female throng. It was so much easier to talk to Akane alone, but he didn't want to risk waiting and having her make other plans for the day.
Akane turned to him and noticed the remarkable absence of Ukyo from the room. It was the first time in a week that Ranma had a chance to speak with her without the chef around.
Ranma was rubbing the back of his head as he spoke. "So, uh, Akane... you doing anything after school?"
Yuka and Sayuri tittered and Akane shot them a glare, before she turned back to face Ranma. "I have cleanup duty, and then I promised Yuka and Sayuri we'd work on our group report at the library and study for that English test right after."
Ranma's good mood collapsed like a wet noodle. "Oh."
Yuka and Sayuri were whispering intently to each other, a mischievous smile on both of their faces. Yuka spoke up first. "We'll meet up with you later, Akane-chan. No need to rush straight to the library."
Sayuri nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I, uh, got somewhere else to be first, so I'll be, I mean we'll both be, late. Very late."
Akane tilted her head curiously at her friends. They were acting strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly they were doing.
Yuka pulled on Sayuri's arm. "We better go! See you later, much later, Akane-chan!" With that, the two girls were giggling as they made a hasty beeline for the door.
Deciding to just go with it, Akane returned her attention back to Ranma. She felt pulled into his deep blue eyes, which were watching her carefully. Akane felt her skin warm pleasantly. All their interactions lately had felt so...charged... and it seemed like they were finally getting a few moments to be together again.
"I guess I'll have some time after cleanup," she told him before smiling at him. It was the kind of warm smile that reached her eyes, set her face alight, and made Ranma weak in the knees. Did the girl have any idea how many guys she turned into a drooling mess with that angelic smile of hers?
Ranma forced himself to focus. "And during, too. I, uh, traded places with Daisuke. Doing him a favor, you know?"
Akane's eyebrows rose in suspicion, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face. That Ranma had made the switch - most likely for her, she wasn't buying his excuse for a moment - made her heart dance. The intent, almost hungry look in his eye made her chest flutter and her insides tingle. Akane couldn't deny the boost it gave her ego, too - despite all the fawning attention Ukyo lavished on Ranma, he was going out of his way to spend time with her.
While the few remaining students slowly filed out, Ranma and Akane got to work on the classroom. Working together, the cleaning went remarkably fast. After so much time together and their recent training sessions, they knew how to read each other nonverbally. Without speaking, they never tried to do the same task or bumped into each other. Both seemed happily intent on finishing as soon as possible, oblivious to how seamlessly they were working together toward that goal.
In record time their work was complete, and they went to the hall closet to return the various cleaning items they had used. Akane had just finished putting away the broom when she felt Ranma's tall, strong frame behind her placing items on the higher shelf. She turned to see him, so close and warm, and through his bangs his eyes seemed drawn to her, taking her in. He bent down, invading her space slightly.
His voice was a quiet rumble. "I missed you."
Akane felt her heart quicken, knowingly exactly what he meant. Despite their seeing each other at school and at the dojo, they were never alone, and it didn't feel the same. It was if they were given one precious, beautiful moment and it had all been shot to hell ever since they finally got to share that first kiss.
Akane bravely reached up to touch his face. "I've missed you, too." She leaned towards him, closing the scant remaining distance between them. He tilted his head, angled perfectly for their lips to meet.
"Happo-goen-satsu!"
Ranma's guard had been lowered, and he barely managed to grab Akane safely away from the closet. As a result, he ended up taking the brunt of Hinako-sensei's energy drain attack.
Hinako-sensei flashed her coin triumphantly. "Loitering and stealing from the supply closet, eh Saotome?" she accused.
Akane was hidden, buried under a very unconscious Ranma. She gently pushed his limp body off herself and stood up. Her least favorite and most crazed teacher just had to ruin everything.
Hinako-sensei's eyes grew wide when she saw Akane, but also softer. "Oh Akane-chan. How are you?"
In the past, the only reason Hinako treated her so nicely, while fiercely determined to "discipline" Ranma, was to suck up to her father. Although Akane and her sisters were greatly opposed to the match, she couldn't deny that Hinako had genuinely liked him. She had attended the funeral, and Akane's memory surprised her by vividly recalling the tears and slightly more demure mourning attire the voluptuous woman had worn.
Still, Akane felt it difficult to hide her annoyance. "Ranma wasn't loitering or stealing, sensei. We had just finished cleaning duty. You didn't have to drain us!"
Hinako nodded. "I...see." For a moment it looked like her teacher had something else to say as a mournful look cast across her beautiful face, but then she coughed delicately and shook her head. "Very well, Akane-chan. Please give Ranma-kun my apologizes when he wakes up." She put her coin away. "Now run off and don't let me catch you being delinquent."
Akane sighed, realizing the little time they had left would be ruined with Ranma unconscious on the floor. She bent over and gently tapped his face. "Ranma? Wake up!" He didn't even flinch. Hinako had got him good.
There was only one thing for a tough tomboy like her to do; she maneuvered him onto her back and carried him piggyback style out the building. It was a lot easier to carry Ranma when in his cursed form, but she didn't have any water on hand. Plus - she blushed at the unbidden thought - it was worth the extra effort to keep him male a little while longer.
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Ranma opened bleary eyes, not remembering taking a nap. He was plopped down on a hard chair, his head lying in his crossed arms across a large table. His neck felt stiff, as if he hadn't naturally assumed this position himself.
His memory cleared at the same time as his vision. Hinako had drained him! He jumped up, instantly on alert. "Akane?!" he called out, worried he hadn't protected her in time.
"Shh!" Several voices chorused out and seeing the telltale orderly rows of bookshelves, Ranma realized where he was: Kotake Library in Nerima.
Peeping around one of the nearby stacks, Akane walked back to the study table, a bemused smile on her face. She kept her voice down to an appropriate whisper. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Man, if only those pressure points weren't so perverted, I'd make sure she couldn't drain anyone ever again." Ranma took in the pile of books Akane was carrying and frowned. "You brought me to the library?" Ranma didn't mind reading - he was fond of chilling out now and again with a good magazine or manga - but being confined to a stuffy building with strict rules on noise and manners was not his idea of fun.
Akane shrugged. "I promised Yuka and Sayuri we'd meet up here later, and I do need to study for that English test tomorrow." She gave Ranma a doubtful look. "Have you finished studying already?"
Ranma had to sheepishly admit he hadn't yet. Akane smiled triumphantly. "Well then, I guess we can have a study date."
Ranma smiled back. "If it's anything like our last date, I'm all for it."
Akane blushed, grateful no one else was around to witness their conversation. "We really do need to do some actually studying, Ranma."
Ranma shrugged in acquiescence. Although far from his ideal way of spending time with Akane, he'd take whatever he could get at this point.
Even though Sayuri and Yuka seemed to be no-shows, Akane figured she should at least find and check out the necessary research material.
Akane was on the top rung of one of the short, rickety library ladders attempting to reach a tome on a high shelf. Ranma was below her, steadying it. He couldn't help but snicker. "You really are a shorty."
Akane turned and stuck her tongue out at him. "You're even shorter than me when you're a girl," she pointed out. Akane still couldn't reach it and frowned. "Why don't you get the book for me?"
Ranma gave Akane a mischievous gleam. "I like the view from down here. Unlike blue, yellow undies do suit you."
"Pervert!" Akane shouted out, only to get shushed loudly by the librarian.
Akane settled for giving Ranma a glare while she tried a small hop to reach the book. She was successful - until her feet returned from the air to hit the rung. The worn ladder wasn't meant to take such abuse, and the wood split, sending Akane tumbling to the ground.
"Ahh!"
"Umph," mumbled Ranma, lying flat on his back on the library floor, having used his own body to break Akane's fall. His arms were wrapped protectively over her.
Akane lifted up her face from Ranma's chest. Her heart was pounding fiercely from the unexpected fall, but now an entirely different tingle of excitement was running through her. Being pressed against Ranma's lean, strong body had her brain short-circuiting from the wondrous and somewhat nerve-racking sensations.
Miraculously, she managed to get her voice working. "Thanks, Ranma. Are you alright?" She asked him, carefully keeping her voice low.
Ranma laughed. "Yeah. I guess that's what I get for not helping you sooner. Shoulda known you'd break the ladder."
Akane felt her temper stir - exactly what was Ranma implying?! - and she tried to get up, but Ranma kept a hand on the small of her back, lazily tracing a circle. That motion melted Akane's temper and she shivered involuntarily. Her cheeks brightened further, her heartbeat accelerating wildly from the feeling of this intimate, loving contact. Smiling, Ranma started to raise his face to hers, and Akane realized hysterically that he was going to kiss her in public! In the library stacks! The overly cautious and easily embarrassed part of her mind realized she should stop him, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything because it felt so good for him to touch her like this.
Before their lips could meet, the decision was taken out of her hands. "What have you done to library property?!" Towering before them was the librarian. The elderly gentleman was pulling the remaining tufts of white hair from his head, and his volume was an awkward mix of shouting while whispering.
The embarrassed teens quickly got to their feet. Akane carefully smoothed out her school dress to regain a sense of decency after being caught in such a position, before bowing apologetically.
"I'm sorry," Akane began, "it broke while I was using it."
The librarian humphed disagreeably and gave the two teenagers a disapproving frown. "This is a den of learning, not a make-out spot, understand?"
Akane's face went crimson, horribly mortified, and even Ranma had the decency to blush.
Cutting off further discussion, there was a chorus of young female voices shouting "Creep!" and "Get away, old man!"
Ranma and Akane looked at each other and in a flat voice proclaimed the name of the new disaster: "Happosai."
On the other side of the library, the lecherous old master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts was following pretty young girls and reciting lewd scenes from cheesy romance novels. Understandably, the young women were terrified at the creepy and perverted way he was hitting on them and stalking them around the library.
Ranma and Akane raced to the disturbance, the librarian close behind them. Akane glared reproachfully at the old man. "Grandfather Happosai, leave them alone. You're just creeping them out!"
Happosai smiled widely when he saw her. "Akane-chan! It's been so long!" He lunged his small, deceptively frail-looking body at her bosom.
Ranma snatched him mid-flight. "C'mon old letch. Story time's over for you." Then, in the inexplicable way that Ranma, Genma, and Soun had never managed to learn or even figure out, Happosai broke free and was perched on a nearby bench, calmly flipping through a large hardcover titled "Modern Kama Sutra: An Illustrated Guide". He turned the book over to Akane. "With that cursed fiancée of yours, you'll want to study up, eh Akane-chan?"
Both teens turned crimson. The page he was showing them was full of intricate illustrations and diagrams of two naked women in complex poses of sexual pleasuring.
Ranma lunged for the old man, ready to wring his neck. Unsurprisingly, Happosai evaded - one of the few opponents in Ranma's life to really be able to challenge him. Happosai carefully tucked the book under his arm and scampered away as Ranma gave chase.
The little man cackled and stuck out his tongue to blow a raspberry at Ranma. "Too slow, sonny-boy!" Happosai ran around the library, hopping from the tops of the stacks and down to the floor again, with Ranma in hot pursuit, as the man raced under every available high school girl's skirt in the building - which was a good number, given the upcoming exam schedule.
At one point, Ranma had him cornered, and he cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Happosai's eyes widened in concern, but when Ranma lunged, all he had in his hands was a fire bomb. Ranma instantly dropped it to find Happosai laughing at him from behind. Ranma resumed chase as the bomb exploded behind him.
Akane grabbed Ranma's arm mid-pursuit to stop him. She pulled his ear down to her lips and whispered conspiratorially. Ranma grinned and nodded in agreement.
"Oh Grandfather Hap-po-sai!" Akane called out in a cutesy sing song, doing her best to imitate Ranma when in his over-the-top cursed voice. The old letch stopped mid-mayhem to turn around. Akane was twirling a pair of yellow underwear in her hands. He started to drool.
"Sweet-to!" he called out, his guard completely down as his eyes brimmed with tears of joy at the alluring sight of snatching Akane's panties.
! CLANG !
Ranma knocked Happosai out with a swift blow to the head via an old fashioned, heavy, solid metal projector. Even the grand master couldn't stay conscious with that strike to his skull.
Suddenly, Ranma recognized the underwear Akane had been twirling. "Wait, does that mean you're n-not wearing any?"
Akane blushed crimson, hiding the underwear behind her back in embarrassment. "I told you I'd distract him for you, and it worked, didn't it?" She had remembered all the times Ranma had successfully lured the old letch and figured it was worth trying herself.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The librarian didn't even try to control his volume - and it took a lot to make a librarian scream inside a library. This certainly qualified. Like a giant's domino set, the stacks had tumbled one into each other in a macabre pile.
The librarian quickly sprayed with a portable fire extinguisher at the shelves of magazines, newspapers, and journal articles that had caught fire from one of Happosai's fire bombs. Now the area was covered in chemical foam.
"Uh, sorry?" Ranma apologized as he held the unconscious old letch by the scruff of his collar like a misbehaved puppy.
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Ranma rubbed his head bashfully. "Sheesh, that librarian didn't have to ban all of us. I mean, it was the old letch's fault, not ours."
Akane grumbled in foul humor. "Honestly, I understand more and more why our fathers buried grandfather Happosai in a cave." She sighed in frustration. "I guess that's the end of our study date."
Ranma frowned. "Don't tell me you're giving up already?" He wasn't that keen on studying - he wanted to pass, of course, but it was not as pressing or desirable a need to him as training. Still, he was enjoying the reasonable excuse to spend time with Akane. Who knew how many opportunities he'd get with Ukyo tagging along every other moment?
Akane looked up at Ranma hopefully. "I guess we could do it together in the dojo."
Ranma shook his head sadly. "For the next few days, I only go in for training and teaching the Art."
"The school grounds?"
"And get drained by Hinako-sensei again for loitering?"
Akane smirked. "She does have it out for you being a delinquent."
They continued walking in silent contemplation.
Suddenly, Ranma pumped a fist into his opposite palm in excitement. "I know! The roof over the apartment!"
Akane's eyebrows quirked in puzzlement. "Wait, didn't Auntie ban me from coming over?"
Ranma smiled sneakily. "Yeah, but that was for her home. She doesn't own the building's roof."
Akane joined him in a conspiratorial smile.
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The late September sun started to set near five in the evening, signaling the change in seasons and stealing away the warmth of the day. It was overall a pleasant temperature, but it was still days away from koromo-gae, the official change to winter uniforms. Akane's short sleeved summer uniform was hardly designed for being out of doors at this time. A stiff breeze blew and Akane shivered on the rooftop.
Ranma noticed and frowned. "Hey, wait a sec."
In a blur of motion, Ranma jumped down from the rooftop - completely by-passing the rickety fire escape ladder - and swung himself neatly into his open bedroom window. Moments later, Akane felt the comforting softness of a well-worn, but equally soft, blanket drape over her shoulders.
Akane smiled. Ranma, for his part, just went back to his school book, as if the interruption and thoughtful gesture had never happened. A telltale blush on his cheeks, however, betrayed a very different story.
Akane's small left hand found his own under the blanket. She, too, didn't say a word, but he saw the soft blush grow on her cheeks. For reasons entirely unrelated to his threadbare blanket, Ranma felt as warm as a summer's day. Akane's gesture was innocent and sweet, and yet so intimate.
Ranma tried to force his mind to concentrate on his review notes, but his physical senses were overriding his mental ones. The feel of Akane's slim fingers gently overlapping his larger ones drove his mind to distraction. Instead of English conjugation forms, all he could recall was the feel of Akane's lips pressed to his.
Ranma stubbornly tried to regain control of his thoughts by mentally going through several complex katas, but even martial arts wasn't providing enough of a focus tonight. The breeze picked up the scent of the girl next to him. The pleasant, crisp aroma of apples from her citrus shampoo blended intoxicatingly with something light and sweet and undefiably Akane.
At the unobscured height of the rooftop, the autumn wind picked up its intensity, lending an extra chill to the cooling night air. Despite the blanket, Akane shivered again. Ranma was well used to roughing it in extreme weather, but Akane was not. Still, she hadn't said a word in complaint. Ranma cocked his head in wry reflection. Akane was never one to admit a weakness. They were very much alike in that way. Still, he could hardly let her stay out here in the cold. The last thing he wanted was for her to get sick or something.
Despondently, he realized the responsible course of action would be to send her back home. She could be comfortable and properly warm indoors, but the very selfish part of him wanted none of that.
Cautiously, Ranma cleared his throat. "Need another blanket?"
Akane shrugged. "I'll be okay," she replied and continued turning the page on her book.
The candle lit paper lantern Ranma had hauled up for them and the waning moonlight was all they had left to read by. The light illuminated Akane's face in an ethereal glow, highlighting and softening her features to an exquisite effect.
Ranma knew a solution that was just a little risky to him, but oh so temptingly desirable. He gulped and tried to steady his racing heart. It was now or never.
Without a further word, Ranma quickly pulled his hand away and scooped Akane up, tucking her smaller frame firmly against his chest and resettling the blanket around them.
Akane sputtered in surprise. "R-ranma?"
Pleasantly, Ranma noticed she didn't try to break away.
"Just trying to keep you warm, tomboy," he lied. Or at least fibbed, slightly. He was concerned about her staying warm. Even though the full truth was that he was strongly motivated for reasons he couldn't express. There was a chance she'd accuse him (somewhat justifiably) for having perverted thoughts. It was much safer for him to claim the chivalrous high road.
Akane purposely held back the startled instinct to smash Ranma over the head for being a pervert. She had trained her body to be on high alert against lecherous advances from the hentai horde and Kuno for so long, that it was second nature. The growing comfort and familiarity that she and Ranma had slowly built up helped her regain her center. He had held her this way on their date in the photobooth, and her body remembered the pleasant contact.
Akane slowly allowed herself the smug satisfaction that Ranma's excuses were simply that - excuses. He wanted to hold her, to touch her, and yet he still respected her enough to be a gentleman about it. She allowed herself to relax and enjoy the heat his body gave her. Her earlier chill and discomfort from the elements faded away under the ministrations of his strong arms wrapped around hers. The comforting rise and fall of his chest buoyed her back.
Akane closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ranma's spicy, masculine scent mingled pleasantly with the subtle outdoor smells of distantly burning leaves and the light honey aroma from the lantern's beeswax candle.
Akane felt one of his strong hands come up and gently smooth the hair out of her face, stopping to curl softly at the nape of her neck. At his touch, all thoughts of reviewing English verbs and tenses dissipated like a popped soap bubble. Akane shivered again, but it had nothing to do with the outside temperature.
Ranma pulled her in even closer. "You're still cold?" he breathed into her ear, almost a purr. Akane shook her head.
"No…you're keeping me warm."
Ranma felt himself grin like the love-sick fool he was.
"I thought so," he replied smugly, but his voice still carried an extra husky tone to it.
They continued to enjoy the warmth of their entwined bodies and the rare tranquility of the evening. As much as they loved activity and motion, the quiet stillness settled over them like a dream. Akane was enjoying the moment, but underlying the peace was a growing sensation that she was on the precipice of something more. Surging desires and hormones came into play, and she shyly turned in Ranma's lap to face him.
Then - - and neither one of them could recall who initiated the next move, or if it was a simultaneous motion between the two of them - - their lips met as one, sliding sensuously and slowly. Akane gave a soft moan of assent and Ranma deepened the kiss.
Ranma felt the world shrink and clarify into nothing but the intimate contact between them. Time lost all meaning. Instead of seconds or minutes there was only touching, teasing, and caressing; the moment marked only by the hard pounding of his heart.
The remainder of Akane's previous chill melted, replaced by an internal wave of heat that started at her lips before washing down the rest of her body. His tongue flooded into her, and she felt a heartbeat of panic and surprise. Protective instincts warred with what nature intended, until she reminded herself that this was Ranma. Her Ranma. After all the fights, all the rival fiancées, he had irrevocably chosen her. She trusted Ranma with her life, unflinchingly. It was time to fully trust him with her heart.
Akane felt her world sway, a sensation akin to falling as she let Ranma kiss her. Reciprocating his strong advances, she probed back, her breath quickening. His hands trailed down her back, sending tiny quivers of pleasure through her. In a fierce motion, she reached up and placed her hand around the back of his head, pulling him down further into her. A flood of adrenaline coursed through her, her heart pounding a maddening new rhythm meant just for him.
A voice called, and their private world collapsed.
"Ranma! Dinner's ready!" Nodoka's voice floated through the night air, muffled slightly but still audible via Ranma's open bedroom window.
Ranma and Akane broke away as quickly as if his mother had been directly in front of them. Ranma cleared his throat, feelings of embarrassment and unfulfilled sexual desire waged a brutal tug of war with his emotions. His gaze finally met hers, taking in the barely discernible blush on her cheeks visible from the lantern light. He searched her reaction, wondering exactly where they stood. She saw this and smiled softly, her hand coming up to tenderly brush the hair out of his eyes.
"Ranma!? Dinner will get cold!" Nodoka's voice was distant, but it pierced through the tender scene like a blade through a shoji door, and Ranma sighed in frustration.
Akane looked away in disappointment, the full reality and complexity of their situation brought to the forefront. "I should go. Kasumi will worry."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed reluctantly, his voice still a bit husky with desire. His body and soul longed in unison to have her right here and now. He took a deep meditative breath and dipped lightly into the Soul of Ice technique to help him regain his composure.
Ranma walked over to the mangled fire escape ladder, and waited while Akane worked her way onto the rungs between him and the pole. They worked their way down, Ranma warning of the frequently bent and missing rungs in the dark as they went. Near the bottom, Ranma simply jumped down to the street below. He set down the paper lantern and held out his arms with a playful smirk. Akane rolled her eyes, tempted to jump down without his aid - she was more than skilled enough to handle that - but she relented, realizing it wasn't a lack of respect for her skills rather than a sign of Ranma's respect for her welfare.
He easily caught her, but in an unexpected twist he continued to keep his hands wrapped around her waist, bringing his mouth down to steal a kiss.
The 'ching-ching' of a bicycle bell had them break apart on full alert, their bodies conditioned to enter defensive stances against a purple-haired Amazon attack. Instead, they were greeted by the light chuckle of a policeman on a bicycle. He tipped his hat as he continued his way down the street.
Akane laughed, the nervous tension leaving her joyfully.
Ranma turned to face her and felt his breath catch. In that moment, Ranma could hardly recall Akane looking more beautiful. Her smile, normally stunning, held emotions of peace and contentment, and there was something different - in a very good way - in how she was looking at him. Akane seemed more at ease with herself, a genuine confidence that gave her a subtle poise and made her look truly like a woman, not a schoolgirl.
Ranma felt compelled to say something, the moment seemed to demand it, but his pounding heart seemed to have taken residence in his throat. The comfortable silence dragged into awkwardness, until Akane broke it, looking slightly disappointed. "I better get going."
Ranma felt his muscles tense, ready to spring into action. His body, heart, and mind all screamed at him to stop her, to bring her back to his home and demand his mother put a stop to this ridiculous agreement with Ukyo. Honor be damned. No amount of forced separation was going to change anything. He knew who he wanted by his side; the short haired tomboy who had never chased him, but had always stuck by him in times of need.
But at the thought of his mother's reaction, her high blood pressure and the severe migraines she suffered at the very thought or sight of Akane, cooled his response. His responsibility as a son felt heavier than a lead-lined yukata. His mother had sacrificed so much, they both had, from those years he had been forcibly taken away by his father. It would be horribly selfish of him to act impulsively on his wants now. He just had to wait until they found a way to cure the Amazon brainwashing.
As if Akane could read the turmoil of his thoughts, she responded quietly. "We'll figure out a way to help your mom…. and I'll see you tomorrow at school." There was a gentle squeezing of his hand, and then she was gone, jogging briskly into the night, her fleeting form illuminated harshly by the fluorescent lampposts along the sidewalk.
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Author's Notes: I will freely confess a lot of this was inspired by two other Ranma fics, "Rooftop Confessions" by Sereko and "Black" by Joseph Palmer. Angela Jewell again saved my bacon by beta-reading and providing a lot of plot and humor fodder for the library scene.
Original Publication: Nov. 6, 2014 just before midnight
Sad Personal Note: I lost the baby. I went in for my 8 week ultrasound this morning, my doctor was all cheery and happy, who even thought I might be having twins - - my hormones levels were high and elevated, and I've had such strong 24-hour morning sickness early on - - only to discover I had a healthy placenta and gestational sac but no baby. My body doesn't even realize it lost the baby, and I may require surgery. In the meantime, I'm crushed. I'm still nauseated and exhausted, only now I'm heartbroken, too. Warm thoughts and well wishes greatly appreciated. It's why I needed to post this early. Send me some love?
