Clumsy at Love
Chapter 15: Let's get the party started
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2
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She had hurt his feelings, but she doubts that he had the slightest idea that he had hurt her too.
But being hurt by him is not the reason why she's been tiring herself these days. There's this another reason that she just can't accept. And it's the glaring fact that it indeed bothered her that she had hurt him too.
"Ugh!" She groaned. "I hate you!" Punch. "I hate you!" Kick. "I hate you!" Punch, punch. Kick, kick, kick.
"You've been beating yourself for hours now. Why don't you give yourself a break?" Akane froze, then slowly turned her head to see Kasumi's head pop out of her bedroom's slightly open door.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
"Err~ sure," she said, blushing.
Kasumi walked in and handed her a tall glass of cold chocolate milk. "So, who do we hate?" She asked while setting herself on the bed.
She blushed again. "No one," she said promptly.
"Is it Ranma? Is he treating you bad?" Kasumi insisted.
"Ye ~ er, no," she answered. She wanted to say yes, but it was too far from the truth. "But I'm still surprised that he wasn't."
Kasumi frowned. "I'm confused."
"I think he's trying his best to accommodate my craziness, to the point that he looks like an annoying fool to me," she grumbled.
"You mean he's too kind and generous to you?"
"Hell, no!" she uttered, her face contorted in disgust. "He's just being his conceited self. You know, the overly self-confident Ranma who's dying of fishing some girl's attention."
Kasumi laughed. "Did he catch your attention?"
"Yeah, sure." She snorts. "He seriously had a gift of easily getting into my nerves. Telling me, I'm childish, stubborn, and short-tempered when he's a big-headed faker." she fumes.
"That's not actually a lie," Kasumi chuckled. "But mostly, you had your reasons," Kasumi offered watching her frown.
"Reasons…" she repeated, then heard Ranma say.
For me, she's like an angel in disguise that gave me that one big push that I needed to fulfill my dreams.
Her heart hurts with the thought. "It's just..." she tried again but heard him in her head once more.
She's far different from Shampoo and all other women that cling to me.
I get it! Her mind snapped. Okay, I get it. She repeated, calming herself down.
"It's just?" Kasumi prompted. She's been watching her erratic facial expression for a while now.
"It's just... I wish he didn't have to rub it to my face how he likes supermodels so much. Or how a certain person is important to him," she said weakly.
"Are you jealous?"
"Of course not!"
"Why not? Being jealous is a normal feeling when the person you like is being liked by many, or when the person you like already had someone they like."
"B~ but ~ " she stuttered. She wanted to deny her sister's accusation.
"Yes, you're jealous! Because if not, then it shouldn't affect you no matter how good he treats other girls."
"B~ but I'm not jealous because I like him!" She blurted out. "It's just… I just hate how he's always making me feel so small and vulnerable. I really hate the way he makes me feel things. Ugh! I hate him,"
"Your reasons and what you feel don't coincide, Akane. And he has no power to make you feel inferior because only we can do that to ourselves."
Silence.
Kasumi caught her. "I guess... you're right."
"Which one?"
"Well, the thing is..." she started, looking down at her feet as if there's something interesting going on down there. "He's been non-existent for three straight days and two nights." She finally decided to come clean to her sister.
"What do you mean?"
She sighed. "You see, for the past three months, since the engagement ordeal, every single day, even if he's busy or we had an argument, he'll drop by or at least send me a text message. But this time… maybe this time, he's too busy to even send a message, with his personal angel around."
"You miss him," Kasumi commented, and before she could deny the fact, she asked another question. "How's your fight end up?"
"How do you know we fight?" she asked. Kasumi just gave her a knowing smile. "Well, I told him to fuck off when he tried to offer me a helping hand." Kasumi winced. "But it's entirely his fault... if he didn't provoke me, I..." she paused. "Ugh! I think I just heard myself... I definitely sound like a whining stubborn child."
Kasumi laughs once again. "Nobody's perfect, Akane. We all make mistakes. Well, indeed, we cannot take back what has been said and done. But the good news is... we can always swallow our pride, accept that we are wrong, and say sorry to the person we hurt... But that's grown-ups stuff. Is that all you'll bring with you?" Kasumi asked, eyeing the two big red suitcases from the corner of her bedroom.
She nods.
"You're not planning to go back and forth, here and there whenever, are you?"
She shrugged. "It depends."
"Aren't you scared of living with Ranma?"
She shook her head. Her mind was still stuck with the grown-up stuff.
"Not even a bit?" asked flustered Kasumi.
"I know Kendo," she replied nonchalantly.
"But still, he's a man, and you're a woman. That's a big difference even if you know all kinds of self-defense."
She giggled. "You worry too much. He won't attack me."
"How do you know?"
Akane rolled her eyes. "First, he doesn't see me as a woman. Second, he already had someone in his heart."
"And you think it's not you?"
"It's really not me, Kasumi."
"Really? Are you sure about that? Because it didn't sound like that when I talked to him."
"Well, you got it wrong," she muttered.
Kasumi looked at her carefully, then frowned. "Am I the one who got it wrong?" she mumbled. "Still. You need to be extra careful when you start living with him. And remember, you can call me anytime."
"No, I won't do that," she told her firmly. "Because I'll come running back here," she promised.
"So, tomorrow is the welcome party for your out-of-town wedding guests?" She nods.
"And then on Friday, the dinner rehearsal. And then the day after that... it's the wedding day." She looked at her warily. "How do you feel? Are you not feeling overwhelmed or something?" she asked.
"With you pointing it out and breaking it down... it just scared the hell out of me." She replied. "But don't worry, I won't run."
Kasumi frowned. "I know you won't, but if you would... I'm not going to blame you."
"Kasumi..."
"You don't have to do this in the first place. As the eldest, it's my responsibility, but here we are... turning a blind eye, as you sacrifice yourself to save the company our parents loved so much."
"I'm alright, Kasumi. It's not that bad. I'm feeling good, knowing I could be a hero for once in my life."
Kasumi stared lovingly at her. "Come here," she said, giving her a warm, comforting hug.
Akane suddenly breaks free and leaped back, startling Kasumi. "I know, I stink,"
Kasumi nods, laughing. "You should take a bath."
It's true. She felt so much better now. It meant so much for her to know that she was not alone. That Kasumi's here for her, worrying for her. And that she's about to save the lives of the families of their company's ever-loyal employees.
And Kasumi's right; she had to apologize to his boss because that's what grown-up does. And she's been a jerk too.
"Thank you, Kasumi... I'm glad you don't hate me."
"Silly girl, why would I hate you?"
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Ranma lifted the wine glass next to his lips while sneaking a glance at the beautiful lady, who's wearing a frilly off-white dress, yet wearing a pair of sneakers for her feet. He chuckled. He wondered how she managed to get out here wearing those.
"You're being creepy," Ukyo commented.
"Am I?" He asked, not really paying attention. Something's telling him there's something odd in the way Akane has been looking his way. It was as if she was somehow trying to get his attention but too bad, her timings were off.
"For the last three days, you've been frowning, brooding like a grumpy old man, even before we came in, you're still grouchy, cynic and all, but now... You keep smiling like a total fool."
Yeah, she's right. He's been brooding like a fool for days, but upon seeing Akane's tentative smile towards him, all the negative emotions pent up deep inside of him had magically disappeared. The side of his lips quirks up, remembering the exact moment.
Ukyo rolled her eyes. "Weirdo," she muttered.
Akane sneaks another glance at him for the nth time this evening. His eyes widened as she caught him focused on her. She opened her mouth, he assumed to say something important, but his dad called him. He groaned inwardly. Ugh! Too many interruptions , and it started to get into his nerves.
But no. He exhaled as he tore his gaze away from the apple of his eye. For now, he would like to tolerate these minor annoyances a little longer if it means prolonging the amusement his currently enjoying.