Your Touch
By
Jeremy Harper
Note – Ranma ½ is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and is used without permission.
Chapter 5 Getting Bolder
"You stupid jackass!" Ukyo Kuonji screamed as she struck Ryoga Hibiki with her battle spatula with all of her considerable strength. The underhand swing sent the Lost Boy catapulting into the air, arcing high above the tops of the mountain trees. Ukyo watched the trajectory of his flight, her face flushed, her breathing heavy with anger and frustration. After Ryoga disappeared over the horizon she took one deep, exaggerated breath in an attempt to compose herself, then turned to face the two teens sitting on stools in front of the refreshment tent. Ranma Saotome and and Akane Tendo were watching her with wide-eyed, curious concern. Ukyo found herself somewhat unnerved – perhaps even a trifle embarrassed – by their regard. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her long, dark-brown hair, feeling frazzled. "I'm going back down to the train station," she muttered. "I'll see you there." She turned away hard on her heel and stomped off, muttering under her breath about idiot vagabonds and unperceptive ghosts.
"Are you sure that they're going out?" Ranma murmured to Akane after Ukyo turned the bend of the trail and disappeared behind a copse of tall pines.
"Well, I thought so," answered Akane. "It sure looked like it, the way they were acting in the caves. Like I said, healthy relationship, healthy fights?"
"Unh," Ranma grunted, finishing off his ice cream and throwing the stick into a waste bucket. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, threw that away as well, then sipped from a water bottle. "Well, I'll say this much – Ukyo has a good, solid swing. Bet Ryoga won't hit ground for another minute or two." He gave Akane a sly, sidelong smile. "You been giving her some pointers?" Akane's look, if it had not been diluted by affection and amusement, would have been quite withering.
"Baka," she said simply.
Ranma smirked. "Tomboy," he replied, taking another sip of water.
Akane finished her Popsicle, gently patted her mouth clean with a napkin, and threw her trash away. She did not answer Ranma, but instead sat still, her lips pursed in thought. She looked over her shoulder, into the refreshment tent, and saw that the attendant was out of sight. Smiling, she stood up from her stool, smoothing out her skirt with a downward motion of her hands. "Oh, Ranma-baka," she said in a sing-song tone, making him look up at her. He blinked when she stepped in front of him with a sashaying swing of her hips that made her skirt flare dangerously, and he took a deep breath when he saw her lovely Cheshire smile – a smile that was somehow angelic and devilish at the same time – and the playful gleam in her large brown eyes. She straddled his legs, sitting down in his lap and lacing her strong, slender arms around his neck, and he felt a hot thrill run through his blood. "May I ask you a question, Ranma?" Akane murmured in a breathy manner that made that thrill burn even hotter.
"Sure," Ranma said, feeling proud that he managed not to stutter.
"Back in the haunted caves, did you really mean it when you said you didn't want me hanging all over you?" She took his pigtail between two fingers and started to toy with it. For a reason he could not discern, Ranma found that the act of breathing was suddenly, oddly difficult.
"No," he finally managed to reply. Akane's smile turned into a pretty pout, and Ranma shivered, wondering why her pout made his blood burn even hotter than her smile had.
"Then if you didn't mean it, why did you say it?" Akane asked softly.
"...Because I'm an idiot?" Ranma ventured quietly. Akane smiled again, and Ranma felt himself flush very hard, and his breath rushed out sharply through his teeth.
"The judges will accept that answer," Akane murmured, and she leaned forward and embraced him, pressing hard against his chest, touching her check to his, sighing appreciatively when he hugged her back, his strong arms going around her shoulders and the small of her back and squeezing her with a wonderful pressure that made her wiggle a little in his lap. The sharp hiss of Ranma's sudden exhale tickled her ear and made her giggle, and his embrace tightened.
After a little while Akane loosened her hug and leaned back in Ranma's arms. "We better get going. Ukyo's waiting."
"Who?" Ranma asked. Akane laughed.
"Ukyo. Remember her, baka? The girl who dragged us both up here."
"Oh. Yeah, right." Ranma looked mazed for a moment, then shook his head and smiled at Akane as he let her go. Akane laughed, running her hands down Ranma's arms as she stood up, taking him by the hands and pulling him up. They walked down the trail to the train station holding hands.
Ukyo was waiting for them on the train platform, and when she saw the companionable way they were acting her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in a disapproving frown. Ranma flinched and shied away a little from Akane, but she checked him by giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. She returned Ukyo's sharp gaze with a challenging look of her own. Ukyo flushed angrily and turned away – this day had turned out no where near how she had planned. "The train should be here in five minutes," she grumbled before stalking off to the other side of the platform.
Akane sighed quietly, rubbing at her forehead with her free hand, then looked at Ranma. Her fiancé looked thoughtful, and a trifle sad, but when he returned her look his smile was honest and affectionate, and he squeezed her hand in return. Akane smiled back and bumped her shoulder against his. They sat quietly on a bench together, waiting for the train to arrive, still holding hands.