RANMA ½, ALL CHARACTERS AND PLACES FOUND THEREIN BELONG TO RUMIKO TAKAHASHI AND ANYONE SHE HAS DEEMED WORTHY ENOUGH TO ASSIST HER IN DISTRIBUTION OF HER WORK. I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE AND TRYING TO GIVE ME ANY MONEY OR CREDIT FOR THE WONDERFUL WORK SHE HAS DONE WOULD NOT ONLY BE WRONG, BUT ALSO ILLEGAL AND COULD GET ME IN A LOT OF TROUBLE. I HAVE THIS HORDE OF RABID, SEMI-TRAINED WEASELS YOU SEE, AND THEY LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE WHO PROFIT OFF OF OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK COME AROUND. THEY'VE TOLD ME THAT THOSE PEOPLE CAN BE QUITE DELICIOUS.

Apology

Chapter 7

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction

By FrictionX42

Ranma and Akane walked through the front door to the Tendo household. Well, Akane walked. Ranma was more or less dragged in by his tomboyish fiancee. The two of them looked rather tired and bedraggled, one due to injuries that he had yet to recover from, and the other from a few days of emotional turmoil and from carrying Ranma part of the way from the school back to the house. As the two changed out their footwear, Akane heard a crashing sound from the living room. Rushing to investigate, she found Dr. Tofu with a tea set on his head, dancing a jig on top of the table. Figuring what had occurred, Akane skipped asking the doctor anything and instead went to the kitchen to find Kasumi putting some muffins onto a serving plate.

"Hey sis, Ranma came to school, but wasn't feeling well, so he and I came back home. I'll take care of him this afternoon" she said quickly as Kasumi fixed her with a look that was somehow warm, comforting and nice, and at the same time accusing and icy.

"Welcome back Akane, that's so nice of you. Make sure you take good care of Ranma." Came the reply. Anyone less familiar with Kasumi wouldn't have detected the slightest bit of forceful edge to her voice, but Akane could tell. She managed a weak smile and continued as Kasumi took out two more muffins to place on the plate.

"Well, it's not like he had anyone else to help him Kasumi. Is that why doctor Tofu is here? For Ranma?"

Kasumi smiled before answering, "Well, you know Doctor Tofu, he's always so worried about keeping everyone happy. He does some of the silliest things!"

"You don't know the half of it, sis." Akane gave a wry grin. "So he's here to talk to Ranma then?"

Kasumi picked up the plate with the warm muffins and nodded to Akane, "Can you grab some extra cups for yourself and Ranma? Doctor Tofu already has the tea, I was just bringing out some snacks since he looked so worried. Honestly, I don't know of any doctor that works as hard as he does."

As Kasumi left the kitchen Akane opened the cupboard and took out two cups, one belonging to her and the other to Ranma. As she brought the two of them down, however, her hands slipped and Ranma's cup fell to the floor, smashing into many little pieces. Never ends, does it? Akane thought bitterly to herself. She heard Kasumi make a startled "Eep!" as the kitchen door flew open. She looked up to see Ranma leaning against the door frame, frowning.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought to keep from saying anything insulting. He'd been watching the doctor make a fool of himself in the living room when he'd heard the sound of something breaking. Before he could think about what he was doing or recall that he wasn't supposed to move quickly, Ranma found himself opening the door to the kitchen. He saw Akane there, with a cup in her hands and a guilty look on her face. Then he heard Kasumi's voice from behind him, "Ranma, I don't think you should be moving around like that so soon after waking up. Akane said you weren't feeling very well when you got to school today and I want you to rest and take it easy." She then returned to the table where Doctor Tofu was busy trying to eat his napkin.

Ranma glanced back at Akane, then at the remains of his cup on the floor. An arrogant smile crept to his lips as he turned away from her, making sure that the bald patch and stitches were in her view. "Hmph. Guess you'll never be anything other than a klutz, Akane. If it were me, I'd have had the mess cleaned up in the half-second before anyone else got here. No way you could move that fast though."

Ears burning in shame and anger, Akane retorted, "What makes you think I couldn't have done it that fast, Ranma? Not everyone tries to avoid taking responsibility like you do!"

Gotcha, Ranma grinned. He turned back around and took a step into the kitchen. Hooking one foot around the trash can, he slid it over to where Akane was standing. "Well then, let's see you do it, if you think you can. Half a second. If you lose, you feed me that muffin that Kasumi made!"

Akane stared back at him, shocked. "But-" she started, but was interrupted by a still-grinning Ranma.

"That is, unless you're too busy trying to avoid taking responsibility!" his eyes flashed, challenging Akane. He was starting to get a few ideas what to do to make her repay him for losing her control and maybe, just maybe, learn to keep a slightly tighter rein on her anger.

Akane stared at him a moment longer. He's, he's being such a JERK! But what's with the smile? Is he doing what I think he's doing? She let her curiosity get the better of her. She opened her mouth and whispered so that Kasumi and Doctor Tofu couldn't hear from the next room, "Ranma, is this what I need to do to make it up to you?" To her annoyance, Ranma just grinned even bigger at her in response. "All right then," Akane muttered, "get ready to start the clock, Ranma. I'm going to show you who's slow!" She positioned the trash can and got down on her knees, hands at the ready.

Ranma's face softened. He looked at her, saw the determination on her face as she glanced from him to the pile of broken ceramic. Ranma grinned as he noted her move her hands to a ready position just above the pieces of broken cup. "Now that's the Akane I love most," He said. As she shot him a very shocked look, Ranma got the distraction he was waiting for and he yelled "GO!"

"Mmm, Kasumi, this muffin is great!" Ranma mused as Akane withdrew her hand from stuffing part of it into his face. He grinned at her as she glowered at him. He caught a slight glint of amusement in her eyes though, so he felt it was safe to keep up with the teasing. Kasumi was pretending not to notice, but both of the teens could tell that she was ready to burst into laughter at any moment.

As Akane refilled Ranma's tea, Kasumi spoke up, "I guess you weren't kidding when you said you'd take care of Ranma this afternoon, Akane. You're doing a very good job so far. Isn't she, Doctor?" She turned to smile at Tofu, who reddened visibly and overturned his teacup on himself. "Oh, before I forget, Doctor Tofu had this bag when he arrived here, Akane. It has Ranma's name on it, so I assume it's for him. Since you're taking care of him this afternoon, I felt that maybe you should take it." Eyes twinkling in amusement on an otherwise serene face, Kasumi handed Akane a brown paper bag with 'Ranma' scrawled across the front in fanciful kanji. Kasumi then turned back to attempting to hold a conversation with Doctor Tofu, who was preparing to leave.

In between eating her own muffin and feeding Ranma bites of his, Akane checked the bag. Inside, a rolled-up piece of paper contained instructions for treatment of Ranma's head wound, and the bag held the medicine required to fulfill those instructions. As she and Ranma finished the last few bites of their respective baked goods, Akane got to her feet and looked down at Ranma.

"So Ranma, what do you want to do for the rest of the day? It looks like our dads are off chasing the old letch, so we'll probably see them around dinnertime." Ranma held up an arm to her, gazing up at her expectantly. She sighed and grabbed his arm, helping him to his feet. "You know, I could have won that little bet if you hadn't distracted me, Ranma." She exulted briefly as he put one arm around her as she steadied him. She mockingly glared up at his face as he let go of her.

Ranma smiled at her again, "All part of keeping control, Akane. Whaddaya say we head out to the dojo and you can practice a little?" Akane looked at him, confused. Ranma winked at her, "Grab your gi and meet me there in five minutes, Akane. Get ready for a hard workout." Ranma leisurely made his way towards the dojo.

Akane watched him for a few moments. It's so odd seeing Ranma move slowly, he's the fastest guy I've ever seen. Akane's memories flitted to the first couple of days Ranma came into her life. He was able to dodge everything I threw at him that first time we sparred. Then he avoided Kuno like it was nothing. Why is it that these days I seem to be able to hit him all the time? Come to think of it, why do I hit him all the time? I know I'm not that much faster than I was back then... And I know that he's faster than he was then. Maybe a lot faster... Akane snapped back to reality when Ranma opened the door to the dojo and went inside. Blushing, she ran upstairs to change into her gi. Then again, it is kind of nice watching him walk.

Sweat dripped from her forehead to the dojo floor below. Akane was on her hands and knees gasping for breath. Ranma had run her through a couple of katas she'd never done before. Akane could tell that they belonged to the Saotome side of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts since she'd spent almost as much time in the air as she had on the ground. Ranma had drilled her on them for over an hour before he'd called for a break. She looked up as Ranma walked over and stooped down next to her. He was smiling at her, and Akane couldn't resist returning his contagious grin. He reached down, cupped her cheek with his hand and looked her in the eyes as he spoke.

"Get used to it, Akane. As soon as I'm better, we're going to do those a few times a day, every day." He said softly to her.

"Ranma, why are you doing this? You've never been interested in my training before..." Akane asked, confusion masking her features.

Ranma looked pensive. He looked away, sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before answering, "Two reasons, Akane: the first is because right now, I can't do any training, so you're gonna do it instead. You need to work on your aerial combat anyhow. The second is because one of these days, you are going to have to deal with Shampoo and Kodachi."

Akane moved to sitting on her knees before asking her next question. "What do you mean by that, Ranma? You're not chickening out, are you?"

"NO WAY!" Ranma shouted as he turned to look at her again. The remainder of his retort was cut short by the smile she leveled at him. "I see, you're getting me back for teasing you earlier. Well, it's my day to tease you, Tomboy, so deal with it."

"Aww, you're no fun, Ranma." Came Akane's pouted reply.

"Akane, think about it. What'll happen if I tell Kodachi or Shampoo to take a hike?" Ranma looked serious as he gave Akane the question.

Akane thought about it for a moment. "They'd get upset, but ultimately they'll ignore it and keep after you."

Ranma pounced on her answer with vigor. "Feh, that's only if they don't decide to come after you first! That's why I can't say anything to 'em," He looked away and his voice quieted, "I'm too worried about what they'll try to do to you." suddenly Ranma felt Akane's hands grab the sides of his head and pull him into a fierce kiss. He froze in place as she continued to press herself into him, nervous lips parting to dart her tongue into his paralyzed mouth. Finally finding his motor control, Ranma wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Finally the two separated and stared into each other's eyes for a moment until Akane found her voice. It was breathy and husky as she stared up into his eyes. "Well, I just found my second wind. Mind helping me out with that second pattern again?"

Ranma could only nod in assent.

A half hour later, Ranma called an end to practice for the day and the two cleaned up and headed into the house. Akane washed up while Ranma grabbed the instructions that Doctor Tofu had left. He read them as he listened to Kasumi singing softly to herself as she made a late lunch for everyone. As he read them, Ranma's face lit up as he found a part he particularly liked.

At that moment, Kasumi called from the kitchen. "Akane, lunch is ready! Come downstairs please!"

As Akane descended the stairs, Kasumi brought out a plate laden with sandwiches from the kitchen. She gently placed them on the table and returned to the kitchen to collect the drinks. Akane sat down at the table just as Kasumi returned. The sisters made small talk while Ranma demolished the sandwiches that Kasumi had made. He smacked his lips appreciatively, "Kasumi, those roast beef sandwiches hit the spot! Thanks."

Kasumi smiled as she replied, "You're very welcome Ranma. Doctor Tofu's instructions were very specific as to the types of food you should be eating over the next few days, and I thought that those sandwiches would follow them nicely."

Ranma looked over at Akane and grinned. "Speaking of instructions..." he slid the paper over to her, finger pointing at one of the lines.

Akane looked at the entry Ranma was pointing at. 'Must do the following immediately after leaving the bath: Clean wound with herbal solution C, and hold the enclosed poultice against it for 15 minutes.' Akane began turning red as she contemplated why Ranma was showing her of all people that particular part of the instructions.

Kasumi came behind Akane and read the neat handwriting. "Oh my. Isn't it lucky that Akane has already volunteered to take care of you this afternoon, Ranma?" Akane couldn't be sure, but she thought she caught the flickering of amusement behind Kasumi's normally cheery-but-otherwise-expressionless face.

"Yeah, Kasumi. Well, I guess I'd better go take that bath then. See you in a few minutes, Akane." Ranma smirked as he got up from the table and made his way to the bathroom.

"But..." Akane meekly protested as she looked down at the instructions again. Her face turned bright red and she tried to not think of Ranma in the bath.

Akane knocked loudly on the door to the furo. "Ranma, are you ready for me to come in?" She waited a moment and listened to a variety of splashing sounds and then heard Ranma's reply.

"Yeah, sure Akane, I'm ready."

Akane could almost hear the arrogant smile plastered across his face, but steeled her nerves and opened the door. The sight before her was somewhat disappointing. Ranma was sitting on a small stool, towel wrapped around his waist, with his back to her. Well, here goes... Akane thought to herself, then stepped in and closed the door behind her. She moved behind Ranma and knelt on the floor.

As Akane prepared the medicine, Ranma broke the silence, "Akane, thanks for this. Can I ask you one more little favor?" Without waiting for her assent, Ranma continued, "will you wash my back for me? I'm just curious to know what it would feel like." He turned his head and, noting the shocked look on Akane's face, retracted his question with alacrity. "It's okay! Nevermind, Akane, forget I asked, Ok? It's fine I'll just-"

Akane had recovered from her shock at his request and silenced him with a finger to his lips. "It's ok, Baka. I- I was kind of wondering what it would be like, too..."

Ranma found her light-but-cute blush to be incredibly distracting, so he turned his head around to look at the wall opposite her again as she began to lather up his back. The two sat in silence for a few moments while Akane soaped Ranma's back and gently rubbed the tension from his shoulders. Ranma couldn't stifle his moan.

"Mmm, Akane, that feels good," Ranma sighed, then tensed up as he had a thought. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything like that just in case someone's listening in, huh?" he chuckled nervously, his cheeks threatening to make fire engines jealous of their hue. Behind him, Akane giggled softly.

"It's all right, Pervert. I'm done with that now anyways." Akane was glad Ranma was facing the other way or he'd notice that she also was flushed to a color more matching to her name. (Aka is red in Japanese, if I recall my classes from over a decade ago) With that, she upended a bucket of warm water to rinse him off, and stood, gathering the herbal solution to wash his wound. It came in a strange plastic container that she could squeeze to squirt small amounts of the liquid out at a time, and she took her time trying to be as gentle as she could. Akane could tell that it wasn't very comfortable for Ranma, since he tensed every time she squirted him with it. Finally, after she figured that it was as clean as she could get it, she readied the compress. As she was about to press it to the back of Ranma's head, he interrupted her again.

"Akane, I need to talk to you about some stuff. Can you sit on the floor for a while?" Ranma turned to face her again, and she could tell by the way his voice almost cracked that he was really upset.

"Umm, ok Ranma, I can do that. What about the compress?" She held it near his face to remind him that he still needed to have it.

"Just put it on your lap, Akane." As she sat on the floor, Ranma moved off the stool and lay on the floor, head in her lap positioned directly on top of the compress. Ranma's face was still rather red as he was still unused to the closeness he now felt between them.

Akane was flustered. She felt oddly comfortable and nervous at the same time. What's he want to talk about? Is it about us? Is it about today? Oh shoot, what am I supposed to do with my hands? They're not holding the compress, so now they're just... She stared down to Ranma's face and found herself lost in his eyes. After a minute of keeping eye contact, she couldn't help but glance at the rest of him as well. There were parts of him that were just begging her to take notice, even though they were covered by a towel.

"Heh, and you call me a pervert, eh, Akane?" Ranma's infectious grin was back, but his eyes just didn't seem to have the same kind of sparkle that his smile did. Then the happy expression died as well. "Akane, I visited Ryoga this morning when I went to see Doctor Tofu."

Akane was shocked back into reality by his words. She felt feelings of shame steal over her and she gave a hurt reply. "Not too good, was he? It's ok though, Doctor Tofu said that he'd probably recover..." Akane could feel the familiar tears start to form in her eyes as she remembered almost killing both Ryoga and then Ranma. It had taken the entire rest of the household to stop her, and she still had destroyed part of the house in her mindless rage.

"Yeah, did he go into details with you on what he'd have to do to make that happen, Akane?" Ranma had closed his eyes to try and ignore the look on Akane's face. He hated to hurt her, but knew that this was information she needed to hear. He cracked one eye open and looked up to see Akane shaking her head in answer. He shut his eyes again and told her the details that had kept his mind occupied for most of the day. As he mentioned what he'd have to give up, Akane gave a startled gasp, then the room fell silent again. Akane's hands found themselves drawn to Ranma's chest as she couldn't think of anything else to do with them, but wanted to feel closer to him and alleviate his misery. He finished filling her in on what had to happen, then cleared his throat. "I'm gonna do it, Akane. Ryoga doesn't deserve to go down like this. He may have made some mistakes, but hey, we have too and now we're starting to fix them. I think he should get that chance too." Akane numbly nodded her agreement, tears trailing down her cheeks and landing with a wet plop onto Ranma's face. His eyes snapped open and he studied her face carefully. Geez, she really does feel bad about all this. I better say somethin' to help her cheer up. He thought for a moment, then settled on teasing her lightly.

"Akane, you know you're really not that cute when you're cryin'." Ranma reached up and used a finger to wipe some of the tears off of her cheeks. Akane opened her eyes and glared down at him as he spoke again. "I really hate seein' you cry. I like it when you smile. I know I said it a long time ago, but I wasn't joking back then either: You're really cute when you smile." he gave her one of his infectious smiles and looked up at her face to see it reflect a little of the mirth he'd just tried to instill in their morose conversation.

Akane smiled back at him. All day he's been teasing me, but when it's important all he wants to do is cheer me up... Her smile turned to impish glee as her hands flashed over his bare chest.

"Ow! Hey Akane, gentle with those things!" Ranma sat up quickly and turned to look at her, an mockingly feigned expression of hurt on his face.

"That's for teasing me all day, you Pervert. The poultice has been on long enough, so I'm going to go help Kasumi clean up a bit. The instructions say that you're supposed to get some rest now, so go take a nap or something." She leaned forward, kissed him passionately on the lips, and stood up.

Ranma watched as Akane gathered up the supplies and left the room, throwing him a wink as she did so. When she closed the door, both of them had the same thing running through their minds: Oh man, it's gonna be tough to wait until we're married!

Author's Notes: threw this one together in 2 days. The first half was pretty easy, but the second half fought EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! I'm sure most of you are familiar enough with that feeling. Hope it still did well enough to entertain, especially seeing as how it's the first all-new chapter in the story. Whew! A long chapter, at that! Guess I'm getting more verbose in my later years...