Clumsy at Love
Chapter 9: Say Something
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2
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Akane woke up and was startled to find Ranma sitting comfortably next to her. Her eyes darted around the room, making sure it was hers. "This is my room."
Ranma beamed. "You mean, what are you doing here?" he said, putting down the book she was reading before passing out last night.
"Yes, I meant that," she said promptly.
"I'm here because you're not answering my calls and I'm not gonna tell you who lets me in." He told her, coolly. "My turn. Why weren't you answering my calls? I've been calling you since forever."
"I didn't know you were calling. My phone's always in silent mode," she said, taking her phone out of her bedside table drawer. "See?" waving her phone to his face.
"But I told you to expect my call." he protested.
"What'd you expect me to do? Stare at my phone the whole day?" she grumbled. "Will you please get out of my bed?"
Ranma got up in one swift move. "What's with the grumpiness?" he asked, watching her as she started picking up the mess around her space. "You know, you shouldn't frown first thing in the morning."
"Then, should I be happy that you came here inside my room without my permission?"
He scoffed. "Like it's new. I've done this many times before. Remember when we're young?"
"...forgot about it," she mumbled.
"Seriously?"
"What do you want?" she asked in a strictly business tone.
"First of all, I want to apologize for what happened last time."
Akane stopped on her track and turned to face him. "What about it?"
"For not driving you home and because some girl suddenly appeared at my place."
Oh, that! she was busy getting flustered by his sudden appearance that she almost forgot about it. "You had a girlfriend!" she exclaimed.
"Huh!?"
"I knew it. You had a girl. You clearly had a choice. And she's... she's perfect." she trailed off. "I mean, you and Shampoo together... would make a perfect couple. You should have asked her to marry you instead of me."
"Wait, did you just tell me that I'm perfect?"
"No. Where did you get that?"
"You just said that Shampoo and I would make a perfect couple. How could that be if I'm not perfect as well?" he teased. "You knew Shampoo?"
"My sister's a fashion designer and literally dying to make Shampoo her model."
"Of course," he said, nodding his head in understanding. "She's quite popular in her profession."
"I said, you should have asked her to marry you instead of me." she reiterated, clinging to her sentiment.
He chuckles. "Really... that never crossed my mind. Believe me, she's not perfect. She's not even close to half of what you are." he told her. She blushed.
His face brightened up. "Why? Are you jealous?" he taunted.
"Of course not!" she snapped.
"Why wouldn't you? You're my fiancee. You don't suppose to let other girls jump on your fiance. It's alright for me if you would be a bit possessive, you know." he said, winking at her.
Akane rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What do you want?"
"Ah, yes… We have a wedding planner, and we'll meet her today. I've been trying to reach you so you could free up your schedule today but sadly... Anyway, do you think you could take emergency leave from work today?" he asked.
"There's no need for me to file a leave or anything like that. I'm not an employee of any company. I work solo at home."
"That's good... but, how come a Bachelor of Information Technology graduate works solo at home?"
She looked at him like he was some kind of alien. He knew? How come he knew what my course was? She felt her heart skip a beat.
"Hey?" he nudged.
"I, errr ~ do online proofreading and editing, and it's my choice." This is humiliating. she thought. "But there's nothing anyone can do about it, okay?" she added irritably. "Now, will you please get out so I can get ready?"
"Ah! There's one more thing, our wedding planner... it's my aunt."
"Your Aunt?!" she cried. "Our wedding planner is your Aunt? Are you nuts? Why did it have to be your Aunt? What if we slipped?"
"It's not like I had a choice." He scoffed.
Silence.
"Hey, relax. It's just my Aunt. You'll like her, I promise." he said, trying to calm her. "And it's dad's idea. If I deny it, they'll get suspicious."
He has a point but still… it's still nerve-racking. It's his aunt. Oh, dear God… she thought while absent-mindedly biting her nails.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine. We'll be fine." he assured her.
"I heard that already," she grumbled, scowling at him, making him laugh.
She then takes a long, deep breath before finally responding. "Okay, okay… now, get out, already."
"Right, I'll wait for you downstairs," he told her, then darted towards the door. "See you in a bit."
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Ranma waited for her downstairs, talking to her sisters.
"Done already?" asked Nabiki while staring at their wall clock. "In just 15 minutes?"
Ranma studied her briefly and suggested that she should put on some makeup.
"I've applied powder and gloss, can't you tell?"
Kasumi shook her head and offered to do her make-up while Nabiki criticized her dress. She's wearing the plain sky-blue aline dress. It's the only dress she owns, and she likes it very much. She decided to wear it today, and she will, no matter what Nabiki says.
"I have nothing against the dress." she heard Ranma say. "In fact, I like it. I think this will perfectly go with that," he said, picking up a box out of his pocket.
"Don't you think so?" he asked while showing what was inside the box. It's a Princess Diana-inspired blue sapphire ring with a diamond halo.
"Wow!" both Kasumi and Nabiki gasp in awe and excitement.
"Our engagement ring," he announced, looking straight at Akane's brown eyes.
He kneels beside Kasumi, who's sitting on the center table in front of Akane. He slowly stretched out his hand to hold hers and slipped on the beautiful ring into her finger. "Thank you so much for trusting me with your life."
She remained silent. Her heart starts to throb in pain. Everything seems perfect. The setting, the mood, the ring, and the groom. Except her and the condition they were in. It's like a dream, but in reality, it's a nightmare. Seriously, he's annoying me. What is he trying to pull in front of my sisters?
"Hey, Akane. Say something." ushered Kasumi.
"Thank you. It's beautiful," she said flatly, retrieving her hand from his and standing up. "We should go," she said and started walking out, wanting to get out of her sisters' prying eyes as soon as possible.
Ranma bid her sisters goodbye and followed Akane.
"About Shampoo..." he said as he caught up with her.
Oh, please… please, stop.
"We used to date, but we're just friends now. Whatever non-sense she blubbered last time, it's just her imagination, and I had to make it clear to her, that's why I didn't insist on driving you home. I needed to talk to her alone. So, after you left, we talked. We just talked, and that's all."
What she's supposed to say to that? Why is he being kind and all? She thought. Ha! Did he think that I still liked him? He must have thought that that's the reason I'd ignored his calls was that I was jealous! No, I'm not. I was just frustrated but not jealous.
She got to say something. She whirled around and put a big smile on her face, then told him. "Don't worry. I don't mind. Because I don't care."