"We…we missed it."

Ranma's voice was full of disbelief. I could only sigh, not overly surprised at how our misadventures were continuing. Somewhere in the station the clock chimed the midnight bells. There wouldn't be another train until tomorrow morning.

I was still on Ranma's back, so I tapped his shoulder twice to get his attention. "You can put me down."

For a brief moment I felt Ranma's muscles tighten, resisting the idea. Then I heard as well as felt a big sigh escape him as he gently lowered me to the ground.

Ranma gave me one of his not-so-hidden glances, his eyes drawn to the blood stain on my yukata. He was likely still feeling protective of me, and failing to reach the last train in time was only going to injure his pride further.

Ranma pulled out his wallet, gloomily counting the scant amount of yen inside.

"Okay, so I think I got enough to pay for you to use a hostel to sleep tonight. I'm pretty good at finding a place to sleep outside without catching the authorities' attention, so-"

"What?! Absolutely not, Ranma." I crossed my arms, unconsciously steadying my feet in a stance as if I were entering a battle.

Ranma glared at me. "No way in hell I'm letting you sleep out on the streets, Akane."

"And you think I'd let you do the same?" I countered back.

"I'm a man, it's different!"

As if the heavens accepted his challenge, distant thunder rumbled.

"You just had to say that aloud? I wouldn't bet on you staying male for long." I felt myself on the edge of victory.

Ranma scowled. "It's still different."

I wanted to rip my hair out in frustration. "Ranma! Honestly! Stop being a stubborn, chivalrous idiot for one minute!"

Ranma glared and mumbled, "You're the stubborn one," but let me continue.

I took in a slow, deep breath to rein in my own temper and began again. "Look…even if I was willing to let you suffer alone - which I'm not - it's probably past curfew for any hostels, anyway, right? Assuming we even found one that had an opening on a big festival day."

Ranma sighed and nodded gloomily.

"And, well… your mother. She, uh, well…" Now that my temper had died down, embarrassment flooded my brain and I could feel a surge of heat in my cheeks and ears.

Ranma's right palm gently slapped his forehead in exasperation. "What else did my ma do?"

There was no point in dragging out the information, so I took a deep breath and let it out in a quick rush. "She got us a coupon for a free stay at - at a hotel for us."

"She did?!" Ranma's face cracked into a happy grin. "Why didn't you say something sooner? Let's go."

I felt my face grow even hotter. "Um, it's not a normal hotel."

Ranma quirked an eyebrow.

I pressed on, despite my mortification. "It's a rabuho."

My brain stuttered to a halt.

Rabuho. Love hotel. The rampant pay-by-the-hour (or night) pleasure accommodations for couples, secret lovers, and prostitutes.

My ma (or even Pop) setting up something like this wasn't surprising, but hearing Akane

actually suggest we stay at one made the gears in my brain jam.

Even so, my shocked system put the two obvious pieces of data together. "So… my ma gave you a giant stack of condoms and a free stay at a love hotel?"

Akane's face was now crimson. I'm sure mine was, too.

She was pointedly avoiding eye contact with me as she replied. "I'm not suggesting we do anything other than sleep, so don't get any perverted ideas, ok? I had to humor her when she shoved the condoms and gift card at me when we were leaving."

It was hard to tell if she was angry or embarrassed. Probably both.

As for myself, I was a churning mix of conflicted emotions and feelings I couldn't even describe. Only one thing I knew for certain: I had to take care of Akane. It was bad enough she'd been injured on my watch tonight, and I'd failed to get us to the last train home. There was no way I was letting her rough it out on the streets to boot, and the blush on her face told me she didn't feel comfortable sharing that hotel room with me. "You should use it by yourself," I told her. "I'll be okay."

Akane was pointedly not making eye contact with me, but she suddenly looked up and purposely met my gaze. "Ranma! I can't let you do that. I mean, besides the fact that I could just splash you with cold water…I don't need to because I trust you. As much as I've yelled at you about being a pervert in the past, I know better now. I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't."

I was stunned by both Akane's words and the beautiful scarlet cheeks that rendered her face beyond cute. I swallowed hard, and forced myself back into a semblance of normalcy. It wouldn't do to say something forward right when she trusted me to be the perfect gentleman.

I gave her my tell tale smirk. "Not to mention you'd punch me through the roof with your gorilla strength if I tried," I joked.

Akane didn't miss a beat, and sassed right back at me. "I believe the words you meant were 'amazing martial artist who can take care of herself.'"

I couldn't help but stare at the blood stain on her yukata. "Most of the time," I agreed quietly.

Akane's hand gently cupped my face, guiding it away from her injury and back to her face. "Hey," she said, all lightness and banter replaced with serious sincerity. "I'm okay."

I didn't want to dwell on her close call tonight. I swallowed hard and my hand reached up to touch her own, bringing it to my side and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Then let's head to that hotel and get some well earned sleep."

The architecture was garish, the neon lighting outside the rabuho obnoxiously bright and blinking in patterns to force the eye's attention. The cheesy, over the top name of "Ring My Bell" wasn't helping to ease our tension.

At least the actual entrance was subtle, almost difficult to find. Soon as I pulled on the door, the threatening rain clouds that had been following us burst open. Drops of water splattered the pavement, and the humid air only grew thicker.

Akane raised an eyebrow at me, "See? I told you."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. Not that I couldn't have handled some miserable weather and a forced gender change, but I was grateful to sleep in a dry bed all the same.

It was my first time in a rabuho, and Akane looked equally tense as we peered around the small room. Was this a lobby? Unlike regular hotels, there wasn't an employee present to check in and register guests. There was just an electronic kiosk, a bit like a ticket counter at the bus or train stations.

Thankfully, it accepted the coupon and gift card from my ma without issue.

However…there was an interesting message on the screen. "Be aware that maintenance is working on a burst water pipe. Some temperature fluctuations are to be expected. We apologize for any inconveniences."

I sighed and shrugged. At this point, I was starting to think the evening was cursed. Everything after our kiss had turned into one disaster after another. "Sounds like it'll be cold showers tonight."

Akane sighed along with me. "Better than nothing."

My head instinctively turned at the sound of the bathroom door opening, my eyes captivated. Akane's skin was pink and glowing from beneath the hotel's sleek bathrobe. Her hair was damp, tied back in a towel like a turban. It was almost a normal domestic scene, one I'd caught her in more times than I could count in the Tendo household over the last two years. Yet in the confines of our small, intimate hotel room, it felt different. The short, sleekness of the bathrobe was also worlds away in sexiness from the full length, fuzzy cotton robe she used at home. I felt myself exerting extra effort not to glance down at her bare legs exposed in the robe, but the fullness of her lips was hardly a safe place to gaze either.

"It's all yours," she beckoned. "Just be warned the water is actually pretty hot."

"Hot." I repeated absently, before my mind lurched back to the actual conversation. "Right. The water. Right." I was babbling like an idiot. Just great. C'mon brain, say something so she doesn't think you're a pervert! "That's good. Not stuck with ice cold water, so that's good. Uh, I'll just go in then."

I made a strategic retreat to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind me with a breath of relief. Akane's ruined yukata was dripping wet, hand washed and hanging behind the small bathroom door. It wasn't like we had spare clothes for tomorrow, so it was the best we could do. The blood stain was still visible, but much faded and mostly scrubbed out. Given the nasty tear, it wasn't likely we'd be saving these beyond our trip back home tomorrow.

I gave my own soiled garments a brief handwashing in the sink, too, trying my hardest to calm my racing heart.

Look, I'm not a pervert. Really, I'm not. I am probably the most honorable teenage male you've ever met. But hell, I am an 18 year old male. I have thoughts. I can't help them! And right now, my mind and body were keenly aware that I was in a private room, in a Love Hotel, with a scantily dressed Akane in the bed outside this tiny bathroom.

So naturally, my mind wandered a bit into some very R-rated territory.

Get a grip, I internally yelled at myself.

Once I was under the running water, I couldn't help but curse my luck. Of all the times I really, really wanted some cold water...and here I was surrounded by nothing but scalding hot. Akane wasn't kidding. Apparently "temperature fluctuations" meant all the cold water pipes were broken. It was almost as bad as the time with the Full Body Cat's Tongue. Almost.

The stinging on my skin wasn't enough to distract my previous thoughts. Today had been a pure roller coaster, and my tired mind kept wandering back to the feel of Akane's lips pressed against mine, and what more would have happened without that chaotic interruption in the midst of it.

I had to snap out of it. Not only because my skin was turning lobster red from the hot water, but other parts of my anatomy were definitely too alert and large, if you get my drift.

I scrambled out of the shower, toweling off and still in trouble. In the thin hotel robe, I didn't stand a chance of not getting hit by an Akane screaming at me for being a perv.

I forced my mind to think some truly vile and unsexy thoughts. Happosai feeling me up was a pretty good one, but forcing me to imagine Cologne in a bikini sealed the deal.

I carefully exited the bathroom, not sure exactly what to expect. I mean, Akane was probably just asleep, even if she was wrapped in nothing but a way too sexy robe.

I carefully looked.

Yup.

I sighed.

A deep sigh.

Not entirely of relief, either.

All the lights in the room were off except one. The side table's lamp cast a gentle, warm glow that just barely illuminated the bed. Under the covers, Akane sure looked asleep; her eyes shut, her breathing soft and even. She was not curled up on her side like usual, but stretched out on her back, with one hand over her stomach on top of the sheets.

Part of me was resentful. How come I'm all anxious and worked up when she's just asleep?! How the hell can she be asleep so fast in a love hotel?! How UNCUTE!

I was really - really - tempted to be a jerk; to be a little too loud getting in the sheets, or jump a little too roughly into my side, just to make things fair. I sure as hell didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep so quickly, even though it was god awful late and my body was beyond tired.

But when I looked at her face, not quite as smooth and relaxed as I was used to seeing, the guilt returned in full force. Here I was begrudging Akane for getting some rest when she had been hurt? Hurt, of all things, after saving my ass. How many freaking times would the tomboy throw herself in harm's way for my sake?

I climbed in as silently and gently as I could, leaving a cushion of honorable air between us. I was flat on my back, staring at the weirdly mirrored ceiling and our own dim reflection, but despite the soft sheets all I felt was a hard lump of guilt churning in my gut. I raked my hands through my bangs, tugging them hard in frustration. I'm sure it was mainly due to the exhaustion eating away at my brain, but the words flew out of my mouth unbidden. "I promise. I promise to protect you better, and myself, so you don't end up like this again." A shuddering breath escaped me. The realization of how things could have gone so much worse was like a weight crushing my chest and squeezing my lungs. "I'm sorry."

I fully expected her to be asleep, to not hear a word I said. So I was surprised when Akane turned her head, and beautiful brown eyes met my own.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," she spoke softly and sincerely.

I couldn't accept forgiveness that easily. "You got slashed while I was on my freakin' knees, Akane. That's hardly my best moment."

Her voice was quiet, but the weariness was there, too, and a steely certainty that was utterly Akane. "And who was it that kept me safe from further harassment on the train? Who defended my honor and reputation when being questioned by the police? Who carried me in a full run when I wasn't in top shape?" Her hand reached out gently, pulling mine away from tugging punishingly at my scalp. "It was my choice to butt in. It was my fault for being too reckless. And it was those jerks' fault for robbing us and fighting dirty. None of it was your fault. So get some sleep, guilt-free, okay?"

I swallowed hard, getting lost in the warmth in her eyes. The tension in my gut eased. Her hand was still holding mine.

Mournfully, I felt her release my hand. "Goodnight, Ranma."

"Goodnight, Akane."

After reassuring Ranma, I tried to sleep. I was certainly tired and ached for sleep, but my stitches itched and my injury burned as the local anesthetic wore off. I normally prefer to fall asleep on my stomach or side, (and yes, I'm aware I tend to toss and turn quite a bit into different positions once I am sound asleep), but the only bearable position right now was flat on my back, relieving any pressure off my leg.

I figured the exhaustion of the day would win out...but the final straw was being here, in a seedy Love Hotel room, inches away from Ranma on the same bed. I didn't even have the security of normal pajamas. While our hastily hand-washed clothing hung to dry in the bathroom, we only had the hotel's flimsy robes to cover us. How could he possibly be lying next to me without an ounce of tension?

I felt a strange mixture of relief that Ranma hadn't made a move - he's been quite honorable, honestly, and so… ugh, I'm going to sound like a complete hypocrite here, given all the times I've yelled at him for being a pervert - but I also was a bit disappointed. Did he seriously have no trouble falling asleep here and now? This wasn't the slightest bit awkward for him? After that amazing kiss in the park, there was a jumble of frustration, confusion, sexual tension and embarrassment competing for space in my head.

I tried counting sheep, anything to try and bore my brain into slumber and ignore everything else. It wasn't working. Instead my mind shifted focus to the sounds of Ranma's steady breathing next to me. He wasn't snoring, but at the same time...it didn't sound like he was asleep, either. I risked opening my eyes and turned my head towards him. His eyes were shut, but his muscles seemed drawn tight, and not nearly as relaxed as I initially believed.

I decided to risk a tiny whisper. "Ranma...are you still awake?"

"Yeah" his response was immediate, and although his voice was quiet he didn't bother to whisper, and there wasn't a trace of drowsiness to it.

I couldn't help but smile, nearly laughing at ourselves. "We're ridiculous."

"What?" Ranma wasn't following me.

I turned gently, wincing slightly to face him more clearly on the shared bed. "This -" I motioned vaguely. "Us. We almost got married, and we're too afraid to sleep in the same bed."

Ranma immediately bristled. "Hey, I'm not afraid of anything!"

In the face of his ridiculous bravado, I couldn't help my next reply. "Anything that's not a cat, you mean?"

Ranma glared at me, but before he could speak I seized the chance to continue. "Sorry. But honestly...we've never really stopped to talk about, well, our relationship...since the failed wedding."

Ranma swallowed hard and I saw the muscles in his jaw twitch and tighten. I half expected him to bolt from the room.

Just a few months ago, I thought I knew how Ranma felt about me. Nearly dying in his arms, and hearing - (or at least I thought I heard) - him scream he loved me, tears streaking down his face. I thought I finally had the answer. It's why I had agreed to the rushed wedding our fathers had sprung. As much as I'd like to help Ranma find his cure (for his own happiness), that alone wouldn't have been enough for me to marry him. I just can't bring myself to enter a marriage without love in it, from both sides.

But then he denied it, sort of. Or at least, denied he had ever declared aloud he loved me.

So it's left me wondering. I mean, he definitely never fails to protect me, and I know that he cares for me. But Ranma cares about a lot of people and doing the honorable thing. If anything, Ranma being such an honorable guy makes it all the more likely that his caring for me might not extend into actual love, just obligation.

And yes, even though he appeared really upset when he believed me dead at Jusendo, and again today when I got hurt, perhaps that was all just guilt for not being a "man among men" and an undefeatable hero of a martial artist. That wouldn't be love, just pride talking. I know too well how Ranma overreacts to his bruised ego and overly sensitive pride.

The real clincher is that Ranma hasn't made a move to settle things between his other fiancees. Was that kiss at the park as special as I want to believe it was? Was it truly something he would only do with me, and not another fiancee who gave him the opportunity? Because as much as I trust Ranma not to overstep boundaries, (the way I originally feared when our fathers thrust this engagement on us and I was battling perverted high school jocks from taking unwanted liberties), I don't know if I can trust him not to break my heart.

With all the firsts of tonight, our first real date, our first kiss, I shouldn't be greedy for more, but at the same time…I'm afraid of slipping backwards into doubts and his rival fiancees causing mayhem. How often would we get the chance to be private and uninterrupted? Not grasping this chance seems the biggest risk.

So I can't fall asleep, inches away in the same bed, without knowing plain and simply what Ranma wants. Not our fathers, or honor, or obligation, or pride. I want to know what his heart is telling him. Am I merely his innazuke, an engagement forced by parental arrangement? Or are we now konyakusha, a true engagement we are choosing and claiming?

I gear myself up for the most brutally vulnerable conversation we've ever dared to have. There was probably something in my expression that gave me away, because Ranma's eyes widened, half panicked.

"Ranma… I need you to be honest. Right now, without anyone else around, I need to know what I mean to you and our engagement."

My head was swimming and my tongue turned into a useless piece of clay in my mouth. What is Akane to me? Hell, she means so many different things to me, how can I actually put that into words? I'm the best freakin' martial artist there is, make no mistake, but I'm starting to realize that the training that got me there didn't do me any favors in figuring out people and emotions, mine or theirs. In my experience, letting my mouth loose leads to me sleeping on a broken rooftop.

"Well, what about you? How do you feel about me and the engagement?" I challenged her, buying myself time and turning aside her question like a judo block.

Akane's eyes went wide, not expecting to switch roles.

"Wait, I asked you first," she evaded.

"Hey, I got a right to know, too!"

Akane's eyes flashed as her temper started to rise. "Honestly! I'm not the one with multiple fiancees!"

Silence echoed in the small room. That was the big elephant in the room, alright. I haven't done squat to deal with the women chasing after me and the ones Pop has promised me out to like I'm a damn library book.

My mouth was half open to reply when Akane turned away from me to lie on her back. "Ugh, I don't even know why I'm upset. I'm sure we're both way too tired for this. Goodnight." Her last word was a puff of anger that wished me anything but a good night's sleep.

Akane grunted in discomfort, and then turned fully on to her other side to place her back to me.

Shit, what a mess. "So uncute," I grumbled, doing my best to squash the feelings of guilt pricking at my conscience. If she wanted to ignore me, then two could play at that.

I turned to my opposite side, so I could pretend she wasn't the one who had her back turned to me.

Maybe it was hours, or simply that the minutes ticked by like hours, but I still couldn't sleep. Damn it. Akane was mad at me, for...what? Things had been going so well until...untill I couldn't speak honestly enough to her. Even I had to admit, it really wasn't that unreasonable a question for her to ask me. We'd been thrown together in an arranged marriage for over two years. We'd been through so much since then, and we were now in our senior year of high school. We actually had a moment of privacy without a cure dangling over our heads, or my ma's katana, or even our fathers waiting with the priest on speed dial. I had started to open up, and then slammed the lid soon as I realized she was peeking. But that was no way to start -what? A life together? A relationship?

Is that what she was actually upset about? That I'm not open enough...or brave enough, to be with her?

Or worse….

Fury and annoyance and fear bubbled up into a nauseous cacophony in my soul. "Are you seriously so dense as to not get what you mean to me by now?!"

The words came out harsher than I intended, my mouth letting loose without a filter. As usual.

I heard Akane suck in a deep breath, and I feared she was taking this the wrong way and gearing up to fight. I couldn't risk that, so my unfiltered mouth opened again as I tried to clarify.

"Listen. You know how, well, for most of my life, it's just been me and Pop. Drifting place to place. Not getting too attached to anyone or anything. You've been a part of my life for just two years, and I don't even want to remember what it was like before we met. All the crazy shit we've been through, even the fighting, I wouldn't trade a second of the worst of it... if it means I couldn't be with you."

Akane was uncharacteristically silent. I sat up and turned the nightstand light back on, determined to see Akane's reaction.

Her eyes were extra shiny, and for a second I was worried I said the wrong thing again, because it almost looked like she was going to cry.

"Do you mean that?" she asked, her voice small and watery.

I swallowed hard. I was too tired for denials, and after a day like today, I was done trying to put aside the truth. "I do. You know I'm a crap liar."

Akane chuckled at that, and suddenly she was wiping away at her eyes as she sat up.

"So the reason you haven't done anything about your other fiancees is…?"

I sighed. That was the million dollar question. "It's not like I want all this engagement mess. I mean, it was flattering at first," Akane scowled at me, so I quickly pressed on. "But it's like this: have you figured out any way to stop Kuno from 'courting' and pinning after you?"

Akane grimaced. "Hmm. You have a point."

I nodded, relieved I was making sense and not sticking my foot in my mouth so far. "I don't got a solution. It's chaos. But don't ever let that make you stupid about us. 'Cause I don't want them any more than you want Kuno. They got nothing to do with us."

"Us." Akane breathed out the word as if it was something precious and fragile. Maybe it was.

"Us." I repeated, more strongly.

"I like the sound of 'us'." Akane reached over tentatively, her fingers gently moving a strand of hair out of my eyes before she gently brought her lips to mine.

I thought nothing could top the giddy rush of our first kiss.

I was wrong.

I was never so happy to be so damn wrong.

Her lips moved against mine, gentle but firm. Movement and action have always been my fluent, native language. In this I felt like I could understand Akane's intent; that she cared for me, wanted me, that she…she was solidifying the desire to be 'us' as a physical contract. What did words matter when this was solid and real and true?

My left hand rose to cup her face and bring her more tightly to me. Instinct guided me, my tongue tracing along her bottom lip. Akane's lips parted more sweetly than a flower, allowing me entrance. I took my time, tasting her, running my tongue over the inside of her mouth, familiarizing myself with this new world. A soft moan of pleasure escaped Akane and I felt my body thrum in response to this little victory.

My advantage was soon lost, when Akane nibbled my bottom lip in a combination of tenderness and teasing that left me moaning involuntarily in ecstacy.

Soon it was a fierce competition, a challenge of who could elicit the best reaction from the other, both of us refusing to give an inch. One of Akane's hands was tangled in my long hair, while mine had migrated to her hip, pulling her even closer. My body was on fire, burning at our contact but greedily desiring more and more.

Ranma's hand on my hip pulled me closer, and nervousness tangled with competing highs of lust and love. This was happening too fast, and altogether not fast enough. Two long years of fighting, of friendship, of dancing around each other and so many almost-moments only to freefall into this space.

My hand roamed from Ranma's hair to his neck, my thumb rubbing small circles into him as I went. The feverish pace of our kiss made me feel like I was on the edge of an explosion. Could a person burst apart from heat and happiness?

As wonderful as this was, I still needed to breathe. I slowed my pace, breaking contact for a moment to pull in air. Ranma recaptured my lips in his, but he matched my new pace, becoming slower and more tender. Before, our kissing was as thrilling and challenging as sparring, but now it was transforming into something akin to shadow boxing; mirroring each other beat for beat.

Ranma trailed the hand that had been at my hip down the length of my arm, sending a new shiver down my body. I drew my hand away from his neck and tangled my fingers with his.

Our lips were our own again, the intimacy remaining, but in a softer, steadier way.

Ranma's eyes met my own, and I no longer felt any doubts.

I knew. Like a kaleidoscope turned to just the right position, the world has shifted into a beautiful pattern I could finally understand.

I had heard him at Jusendo.

Aloud or not, it was the voice of his heart.

Ranma's mouth moved into a bashful smile, his fingers gently squeezing mine.

"So, uh…" he cleared his throat, a small blush growing on his cheeks. "You got my answer, but you never did answer my question…so does this mean…?"

I placed a gossamer kiss on his lips before answering.

"I love you, too, idiot."

Author's Note:

This is the end of this PG13 story. I have a stand alone continuing epilogue titled "Together: A Coda to Last Train" that is posted on Archive of Our Own. It's for mature (18+) readers only. You can find me on AO3 by the same username, Luna12. I have "Last Train" and "Together" grouped in a series titled "Firsts, Lasts, and Everything in Between".