Ranma 1/2: Video Reminder
(OK, titles aren't my strong point)

Written by: Xason Nexus (Xasonnex)

Disclaimer: Ranma ain't mine. Akane ain't mine. Ukyou ain't mine (much as I wish she were). Get the picture? Oh, OK, I don't own the Ranma Universe, and I am not making any profit. PLEASE don't sue me Takahashi-sama, Vid, Kitty, or anyone else.

Though I like the manga better, an element in this fic is derived from the anime series, so I guess this story takes place after the end of the anime series. Eh, can't win 'em all. Enjoy!

November 2023 Edit: Dialogue and events from Video Recordings will be bold. Regular memories will not.

Chapter 1

The day started in typical fashion for Ranma. He was rudely awakened by his father for morning sparring. Breakfast was a battle with the "panda". The trip to school was filled with banter between him and his "fiancée", as well as a near concussion because of a bicycle owned by Shampoo. Same old, same old. It was when Ranma got home after school that things got interesting.

"Yo! I'm home!" He yelled, entering the Tendo dwelling. Ranma casually tossed his schoolbag aside and immediately headed towards the kitchen. Before he could reach his destination, he almost bumped into Kasumi. "Oh, hey Kasumi, what's up?"

"Oh, hello Ranma. How was school today?" the eldest Tendo sister asked. She was holding a basket of clean laundry in her hands.

"It was OK. Akane won't be home for a while, she went home with some friends to work on a report. Say, where is everybody?"

"Our fathers are out with Happosai, and Nabiki is in her room. Ranma, would you mind taking up your father's laundry and putting it away? I've already taken yours up." She presented him with the basket.

"Um, yea, sure," he said as he took the large pile of clothes out of the basket. "No problem."

Kasumi smiled. "Thank you, Ranma. This will help me get my chores done a few minutes earlier. Now, be sure to put them away, not just lay them on his dresser, OK?"

"OK, I will," Ranma replied as he turned towards the steps.

"Stupid Pop," he grumbled to himself. "He can't have possibly gotten these many clothes dirty in a week. Unless he's sparring with me, he's just lying around the house doing nothing!"

As he entered the room that he and his father shared, he realized that he'd never put his father's clothes away before.

"Hmph, he probably hasn't either. Kasumi does all the work around here," the pig tailed one thought. Before long, he'd put all the clothes away and was about to leave for the dojo, when he realized there was a drawer he hadn't had to open. Curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the drawer. It was a junk drawer, filled with stuff that wasn't really interesting to Ranma. Pictures, a few small weapons, an old wallet, other stuff like that. But there was also an unmarked video tape, and that caught Ranma's eye. Ranma took it out and looked it over. "Hmm, I wonder what's on it?"

As the tape went to snow, Ranma sat dumbstruck. He'd taken the video down to the main living area and watched it, not knowing what to expect. What he'd gotten had surprised him. He picked up the VCR remote, rewound the tape, and watched it again. On the tape, there he was, along with Akane, kneeling on the dojo floor. The fact that there was a bandage across his nose reminded him that this was just after his first fight with Mikado Sanzenin. Akane had come in to patch him up, but their conversation had strayed for its usual format.

It was odd for Ranma, watching how he and Akane had interacted that day. Even from the distance his father had been filming the incident, Ranma could make out facial expressions, and was surprised when he saw his own. "Man," he thought, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think I actually wanted to kiss Akane!" He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out more. "Heck, it even looked like Akane wanted to be kissed! That can't be right!" Ranma was lost in thought, so he didn't notice when his heart began to beat a little bit harder and faster.

The tape ended again, and Ranma rewound it again. He pushed play, and this time he got closer to the TV and turned up the volume, so he could hear the dialogue better.

"You left yourself wide-open, Ranma!" Ranma remembered this line very well now. He'd taken offense then but looking back he saw that Akane had been right.

"Yea, I'd taken offense because I HAD left myself wide open. She'd been right. I, I just couldn't admit it," he thought to himself. He rejoined the video in progress.

It was after he'd denied trying to kiss Akane that the next line came out that stuck in his mind.

"I know you don't have the guts to do something like that anyway." That line still hurt, mostly because it was true. The next line that mattered was, "I dare you to do it, if you think you can."

The final line that got to him has spoken by him, not Akane. "If you don't mind, then I don't mind." When the tape ended this time, Ranma took it out, went upstairs, and put it back in Genma's drawer.

It was the end of a beautiful day. the sun was setting, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. Ranma could see it all so well from the Tendo's roof, but it was wasted on him. His thoughts went back to the incidents in the video.

"I know you don't have the guts to do something like that anyway," Akane had challenged.

"She was right," Ranma realized. "Up to that point I wouldn't have tried. I haven't really tried since, but that was the best opportunity I think we ever had. Wait, WHAT AM I THINKING?! So I didn't kiss the tomboy, big deal. It's not like I really wanted to or nothin', why do I feel like it was a missed opportunity? What's wrong with me?"

"I dare you to do it, if you think you can."

"That's it!" he thought, "She dared me and I never went through with it. That's what it is, it's unfinished business. I'd have done it, but since we were being watched I didn't. After all, if I had, we'd be married by now. If no one had shown up, I'd have kissed her, and it would have meant nothing. I didn't want to, but I'd have done it. I never back down from a challenge."

"If you don't mind, then I don't mind."

Ranma's heart was working overtime as he remembered this line. He drew his knees up to his chest and tried to remember his thoughts that day. "Of course, I didn't mind if we kissed, why should I have? It wouldn't have meant anything. A kiss don't mean anything."

A long-ignored voice in his head, fueled by the increased blood flow in his body, chose to make itself known then. So why did he care so much when Mikado tried to kiss her?

"Because she's MY fiancé!" his heart replied faster than his ego could stop it. This triggered a related memory. A line, a single sentence he'd proclaimed to Mikado.

"Akane is MY fiancé! You touch her and I'll kill you!"

Ranma's eyes went wide as he remembered this. He'd been able to suppress that memory so long because so much else had happened that day, but he couldn't repress it this time. "Did I really say that?" he wondered. "More importantly, did I mean that?" Ranma thought long and hard before he heard the call for dinner and decided to join them. As he went to stand, he wondered why his legs were so weak.

Dinner went as usual, except Genma, Soun, and Happosai were still out, so Ranma didn't have to inhale his food. In fact, he probably wouldn't have anyway, the gears in his head were still turning. Akane had come home only a few minutes earlier and also seemed preoccupied with thoughts, though Ranma guessed they were related to her report. Still, it helped him, since Akane didn't seem to catch the quick glances he kept giving her throughout the meal. If Kasumi or Nabiki thought Ranma was acting weird, they didn't say anything. Ranma, despite his slower than usual eating speed, finished first. Rather than going upstairs to continue his thoughts, he opted to go to the dojo.

Ranma sat cross-legged in the center of the dojo, perfectly still. He'd combined his thinking with meditation and was treating his thoughts as importantly as battle strategies. Something had to be done, he realized, or he'd never be able to think straight. He opened his eyes as he came to a decision. He got up, turned toward the Tendo shrine, and kneeled. He clasped his hands together and began speaking softly.

"Mrs. Tendo, I know you never met me or anything, but there's something I gotta do with your daughter tonight. If ya don't want me to, I'll understand, but... But it ya don't mind, I'd appreciate it if we weren't disturbed. Please, it'd mean a lot to me."

Akane stretched her arms out to the side as she made her way to the dojo for her exercise for the day. After dinner, she'd changed into her yellow gi, after waiting for her dinner to settle enough that it wouldn't bother her.

"Dinner," she thought. "Dinner was interesting tonight. I wonder why Ranma kept looking over at me. And why didn't he insult me?" She frowned, "Something isn't right with him today. Any day that jerk doesn't insult me during a meal, he's up to something" As she entered the dojo, she was lost in thought. She closed the door and almost jumped when she turned around and noticed Ranma in the center of the dojo, looking straight at her with unmoving eyes. "Ranma!"

"Ranma!" Her voiced prompted him to think. "It's now or never," he thought. He momentarily thought about standing up to greet her, but that uneasy feeling had returned to his legs. Taking a deep breath, he remained sitting, mustered up his confidence and spoke.

"Hey, Akane. Look, I don't wanna intrude on your time or anything, but there's something I'd kinda like to talk to you about. Would you mind?" he asked, gesturing to the floor space in front of him.

"Um," Akane replied a bit hesitantly, "Sure Ranma." She made her way to him.

She thought, "Well, I guess I'll find out what's going on soon enough. Still, what could Ranma possibly want to talk to me about?" She took her seat on the floor, kneeling in front of her fiancé. She noticed he was kneeling too. She also noticed him take a deep breath before he began talking.

"Akane, do you remember what happened the day I, uh, got kissed by Mikado?"

Akane thought for a moment before responding. "Yes. As I recall it happened because you left yourself wide open." "What's bringing this on?" she wondered.

"Yea, uh, so you said when we got home. In this dojo, in fact. You remember what happened after you said that?"

Akane didn't have to think hard to remember, but she had to put a little effort into keeping her voice steady for some reason. "Yes."

There was some silence before Ranma continued. "Akane, have you ever known me to back down from a challenge?"

"Never." Akane was surprised how easy that came out.

Ranma started shaking his head. "Then either you're lying, or you don't remember everything that happened that night."

"What? Are you calling me a liar?!"

Ranma was quick to raise his hands in defense. "No, no, I'm not. I guess you forgot exactly what happened, just like I did."

"What?"

"Remember how we got interrupted by everyone watching? Well, Pops was recording the whole thing. I found the tape today and watched it. Want another shot at remembering exactly what happened?"

"We, uh, almost kissed. Is that it?" Akane's heart was beating faster than normal. She wondered if Ranma's was as well.

"Do you remember WHY we almost kissed?"

"...Mmmmmm…" Akane shook her head "no".

"You dared me to." Ranma looked for a reaction on Akane's face and was pleasantly surprised to see her blush at the revelation. Ranma closed his eyes and rubbed his face before continuing. "You dared me, and I accepted the challenge. But I never did it." Ranma stopped there, as, for some reason, he almost lost his breath.

"Ranma," Akane began. She had to catch her breath before continuing. "Why, why are you bringing this up?"

Ranma had to steel himself before responding, not only had his legs gotten weak, but now he was having trouble sitting upright. "I'm bringing it up because after I watched the tape, it's all I could think of. I wondered why I didn't just kiss you if it wouldn't have really meant anything."

Akane felt a little angry at the implication that kissing her wouldn't have meant anything, but for some reason her anger couldn't surface. After close to a minute of silence, she asked, "And did you figure it out?"

The few seconds it took for him to respond felt like an eternity for both of them. "I think so, but I can't be sure. Look, Akane, I know it's several months late, but would you mind if I finally went through with it?"

"What!?"

"Would you mind if I kissed you right now?" he asked.

Akane looked into his steely gray eyes. They were both unsteady and unwavering at the same time. He was scared to ask her, but he wasn't going to leave without an answer. "Ranma..."

A mere block away from the Tendo dojo, Ryoga Hibiki was trying to decide which way to go at an intersection. When he chose the wrong direction, he wondered why he felt so right in going that way.

Nabiki had just decided things were getting too quiet around the house, and was about to investigate, when the phone rang. She answered, finding that one of her friends had called on a whim.

Happosai was leading his students out of the bar. "Time to go home fellas!" It was then that Happy spied a lovely young lady walking in the opposite direction of the path that would take them home. "On second thought..."

The wait was excruciating for Ranma. "Akane," he began, but couldn't finish.

"Ranma, I..." She couldn't say it! A lump had formed in her throat, and she couldn't speak to save her life. She brought herself to shake her head "no".

"Is that a 'no, don't kiss me,'" Ranma gulped before he could continue. "Or a 'no, I don't mind'?"

Akane whispered something Ranma couldn't understand.

"What?"

"The second." Akane almost fainted. Did she really say that?

"OK, if you really don't mind," Ranma crawled forward, closing the short space between them.

"I don't," she barley whispered. She looked into his eyes, then closed hers.

"I'm, I'm gonna do it," he said softly, their faces inches apart.

She could feel his breath. "Go ahead..."

"If, uh, you're gonna stop me now's the ..." He couldn't finish as Akane placed her hand on the side of his face. His breathing increased as his face flushed. Then, gathering every ounce of courage he had, he leaned forward, and their lips met.

Akane gasped as her lips met with Ranma's. "I don't believe we're doing this."

Ranma noticed that Akane's lips were very slightly cooler than his own. That, however, was the last thing he noticed as his brain shut down, and instinct took over. He put everything he had into the kiss, snaking his arms around Akane's waist, placing his hands on her lower and upper center back and pulling her tight. A sigh escaped his lips as he stopped for a breath, and then he continued.

Akane felt Ranma sigh before resuming their kiss and couldn't take it. She decided that either they had to stop, or they were going to make this the moment it was meant to be. She embraced him and upped the ante.

Ranma was surprised when he felt the tip of Akane's tongue lightly caressing his lips from between hers. "She's challenging me," he thought, "and I never back down from a challenge." With that, he responded in kind.

Two and a half minutes later, they finally broke the embrace. There was silence for some time, both had withdrawn back into each other.

"So," Ranma started.

"Yea," Akane echoed. More silence. "So, are you sure you figured it out now Ranma?"

Ranma let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "Yea."

"And?" Akane didn't know how her body could be so excited but feel so weak.

Ranma gathered all his physical strength as he stood. "And if you really want to know, I dare you to come up to the roof in five minutes and tell me exactly how you feel about me." With that, he left the dojo. And as soon as he closed the door behind him, he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. "I can't believe I finally did it," he thought as he turned his attention skyward. "Now to gather enough strength to get to the roof..."

"Ranma..." was all Akane could say as he closed the door behind him. She had some fast thinking to do. "And then, somehow, I have to get up," she thought, which was going to be difficult, considering her knees were Jell-O.

End Chapter 1

Authors notes: AAAAAaaarrrrrggghhhh! I didn't plan on this being a cliffhanger! It just happened, honest! Well, here it is, the first fic I'm ever posting. Why this one? Because discovering got my creative juices flowing like never before, so I thought I'd write a story meant to be posted on it. Please, I don't
ask for kindness, just review this and give me a straight response. Please. BTW, this is an anime story because in the manga, Genma didn't have the camcorder, and in this fic, that made all the difference.

Edit November 2023: I tried to reformat this for easier reading. Outside of minor fixes, I have left the story alone.