~oOo~
Wen
~oOo~
Wen is literary, cultural, mental. Wen is politics, refinement, education, self-control and containment. Wen is vital to being a true man.
~oOo~
Akane was feeling a little insecure about her position as Ranma's fiancé. With Kodachi on one side, desperate for a date and believing herself to be Ranma's true intended because Kuno had approved, Shampoo on another side because of the ancient laws of her Chinese Amazon clan, and Uyko only just barely fended off at the last moment – Ranma had said he only wanted to be friends with her, and had paid her back the bride price his father had taken from her, twice over. Actually, Ukyo had, sort of, become friends with Akane, though she obviously cared a lot more about Ranma. Still, it wasn't easy. Especially since they all knew the saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach", to which Ranma was no exception, and Akane was the only girl vying for his attention who couldn't cook.
It was kind of depressing actually. She'd tried and tried, but everything she made tasted bad. It didn't help that both Kodachi and Shampoo were always happy to point this out while Ranma wolfed down the food that they brought him.
No, that was unfair, he didn't really. He may have been happy to eat, but he never ate all of what they brought him. Actually, he really just had a large, obvious mouthful and then subtly passed it off to someone else nearby, or put the lid back on, or wrapped it up – and she knew he often gave the food to the elderly couples he worked for on school days, so that they wouldn't have to cook for themselves all the time, save them a little extra money.
Suddenly Akane wondered if maybe the reason he took such a large mouthful when they brought him food was to check that they weren't giving him something poisoned. He could withstand stuff like that, but he'd know whether it was safe to pass on to the old people to eat or not if he noticed anything odd when he was eating.
Still, she sighed to herself, it would be nice to be able to be the 'perfect wife' like the other girls could claim to be.
"No they can't Akane," Ranma said gently, coming up beside her in the school yard.
"Huh?" Akane asked, confused.
Ranma smiled a little. "You didn't notice you said that out loud?" he teased gently. "Shampoo and Kodachi can't claim to be 'perfect wives'," he explained.
Akane blushed. Oh. He'd heard that bout of insecurity.
"Do you want to know why?" he continued, brushing that long, dangling bit of her hair behind her ear.
"Sure," she said, fighting back tears, "tell me why."
"Because they never listen to a damn thing I say," Ranma said. "Good cooking is the only thing those two have going for them."
Akane's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Uh, what about having nice bodies?" she asked tentatively.
Ranma waved it off. "Pfft," he said. "I'm built better than either of them," he declared with a smirk that Akane knew was teasing. Ranma wouldn't ever really put anybody down like that – okay he might if it were true... and it was in this case. "What do I care about the outside if I can't stand what's inside?" the young man pointed out. "It's like they think 'no' means 'yes' and 'get lost' means 'take me I'm yours'."
Akane laughed.
"Besides," Ranma continued, glad that Akane was smiling again. "Shampoo is crazy and Kodachi is psychotic."
"But they can cook," Akane pointed out. "I just ruin food."
Ranma smiled gently and slipped his arm around Akane's waist. "Well, then I'll do the cooking," he said. "No shame in a man providing for his wife after all," he pointed out. "Or we could take cooking classes together, in the school holidays if you like. I really only know how to make soups and stews anyway," he said, pulling a slight face as he remembered that detail.
Akane giggled and let Ranma hold her.
"I'd like that," she said as they crossed the threshold into the Tendo dojo.
"But right now," Ranma said, holding up Akane's school bag – which surprised her, as she didn't remember him taking it, but then, she couldn't remember carrying it home either. "Right now we have homework," he said.
Akane nodded and went straight up the stairs to their room. Ranma decided to make a quick stop by the kitchen first, and was glad to find that Kasumi wasn't there. This would let him make something for Akane and himself to eat while they studied.
"Ranma?" Akane asked, surprised, confused and delighted to see him coming through her door with a small table in his hands, a tray of spring rolls, a bowl of fruit salad, and some still steaming dumplings all set out on the small table around a glass vase that held up a bright yellow daffodil – Akane's favourite flower.
"They may cook for me," Ranma said by way of explanation as he sat down and pulled out his own school work. "But you're the only girl I'm ever gonna cook for."
Akane smiled, and wiped at new tears of joy that were brimming in her eyes. "Thank you Ranma," she said. "Thank you so much."
Ranma just blushed a little and grabbed up one of the spring rolls, popping it in his mouth, then opened his books.
~oOo~