That girl thinks she's queen of the neighborhood

I've got news for you, she is

"Akane! It's time to get ready for school!" Kasumi walked quickly through the hallways of the house and into the dojo. It was still early and she'd been up for two hours already, cleaning and working on breakfast for her family and her sister's in laws.

Well, eventual in laws.

Maybe.

After some time to herself and household chores, she had first peered upstairs into her littlest sister's room and found her bed was empty and made, from there to the bathroom where she didn't answer, finally moving to the dojo and there she was in her workout attire. She should've started looking there first to be honest. She looked on after she slid the door open and watched her youngest sister for a moment.

Akane had been growing her hair out, it was held back in a high ponytail that reached the nape of her neck. She had started growing it again after they returned from Jusenkyo.

More likely it had been after the failed wedding, the last trim she remembered her sister asking for being only a day or two before the disastrous ceremony.

Now it was a year later, both fiancés were close to graduation and preparing for life after high school, life as adults. Akane was planning on studying nearby, Ranma would likely be helping her father run the dojo taking on more students though he had mentioned attending some classes at school nearby. A suggestion made more so by his mother.

No wedding plans for the foreseeable future.

She watched as her sister moves through kata to kata, maneuvering around a wooden dummy. Her hands and punches have more precision they land where she wants. She doesn't seem as angry when she practices anymore. She seems more centered. More focused and serious, it's not about releasing the rage inside.

Kasumi has never asked or talked about what happened at Jusenkyo with Akane; she doubts her sister has spoken to anyone about it. But she's heard about what happened from others who were there, about what she did, what she sacrificed. According to them she died there and they saw the impossible occur when she returned to the realm of the living. Supposedly only Ranma knows the real truth but he's about as likely to talk about it as she is. She remembered the day when Akane was pulled away out of her room and stolen to China. How frightened and devastated they had all been when she was suddenly missing and the family could do nothing.

And then only later to hear her little sister had died there. What would they have done? In the dark parts that sometimes invaded her mind she wonders about that nightmarish scenario; she thinks it would've destroyed her family.

But she returned home with Ranma and within days she's suddenly willing to go through with the marriage, clearly something has to have happened. But at the ceremony itself all hell breaks loose and they can't even get Soun ready to walk her down the aisle before the dojo is destroyed. It really had been shortsighted to invite everyone like they did.

After the wedding is when she started to notice small changes in Akane. The interest in growing her hair again, she changed the way she dressed, opting for less girlish outfits, putting away her dresses and skirts and sweaters, now she was dressing more mature, in trendy pants and blouses that flatter her figure. She pierced her ears, started wearing a little makeup daily.

She becomes more interested in cooking, in caring for herself and the running of the house.

She visits their mother's grave more often than usual; she's gone once a season instead of their usual yearly trek.

But she also started training more, first asking Ranma for more time to spar which more times than not he complained about. That changed when Ryoga started making his way over more consistently, sparring or training with her anytime she asked him, then her fiancé was more than willing to help her.

But he still refused to lay a finger on her, always dodging her hits and evading. It had come to blows with Akane when she was finally fed up with his refusal to even attempt to hit her. She'd gotten him fairly solid in the jaw and told him not to bother anymore if he was going to be like that.

This was at the beginning of the summer and while they occasionally trained, he still refused to touch her.

Akane had begun attending another dojo that focused on grappling and brawling, where she felt she was a better fit than the more aerial, quick style that the Saotomes seemed more inclined to practice at the dojo at home.

Soun had lost it over her training elsewhere. To practice under the tutelage of another dojo? What was she thinking? Ranma had brushed it off as her just being stubborn and stupid, being unwilling to work at home with what she had.

Ranma blew a gasket the night she came home with a little black eye, a small violet pool beneath her left eye. Demanding to know the name of the dojo and who had landed the hit, she rolled her eyes and stomped off to her room, his following right behind not letting it go.

She continued going, much to his chagrin watching as she occasionally came home with a new cut, a new bruise.

Now in the winter of their senior year as she watched Akane from the side lines, a striking stomp kick to the dummy in front of her, it dawned on Kasumi.

Akane was growing into a woman.

She knocked on the doorway to get her sister's attention. She swung her head back towards the sound and smiles at her sister.

She looks more grown up than ever. She's lost a little of the cute softness she'd had all through high school. Her cheek bones have become more pronounced but her eyes are still bright and her smile sweet.

She's beginning to look so much like their mother.

Akane wipes her face with a towel, red nails this week.

"Sorry Kasumi! I got carried away, it's almost time I head out, huh?" She nods in return. Her sister bounces by her in shorts and a tank top to get to the bath. Kasumi listens as she runs into Ranma on his way out of said bath, he's said something stupid and she's responding accordingly.

She sighs. Another long day.

xXx

They leave for school together like always.

But this morning their interaction feels different.

Like something is in the air, even in the chill of late January.

They were annoyed about running into the other in the bathroom and with his and her dumb comments. But their convictions behind their insults to one another had wavered a bit.

Had been for a while to be honest.

This morning he had called her a flat chested tomboy for knocking into him after coming out of the bathroom this morning. She shoved him in the shoulder and walked away, calling him an idiot before going in to get ready.

Flat-chested tomboy

It was actually quite untrue as he had begun to notice over the last few months. Her soft eyes, her lean waist but ample hips, her perky chest, her pouty lips. How feminine she seemed to have become out of nowhere. She was still Akane but not the Akane he had first been engaged to: adorable, trying so hard to be cute, quick to violence and moodiness.

She was definitely still prone to the moodiness and violence but her interest in improving her training had changed her body, she wasn't just a thick thighed, cute 16-year-old now. Though he did like her thighs all the same.

At 18, her adorable curves narrowed into defined features, some of the softness of her body lost to her regiment. He realized he couldn't really call her unsexy moving forward. Well, he could but maybe just keep that opinion to himself.

He'd snuck glances at her plenty of times in the past, occasionally her chest guiltily, more so a smile. Now he felt like he had to pay attention to how often he looked at her so he didn't come off like a creep. Summer had seen to give him a death wish, her god damn black and white polka dot bikini was still haunting him months later.

This was a terrible position to find himself in now, his hormones already so out of whack, he felt he was walking around with a perpetual hard on already and now the girl he had a complicated relationship with had only gotten more beautiful since their return from China.

The nights of the last couple weeks had been a particular type of hell now that someone had introduced her to leggings for her winter workouts.

From across the fence, he didn't know what was on her mind while she walked to class but it wasn't far from the thoughts in his own head.

After calling her flat chested coming out of the bathroom and her palm against his bare shoulder, she didn't realize how used to seeing Ranma in the semi-nude she had become accustomed to.

Until this morning's interaction hit home again.

Warm and wet from the shower, his trim stomach and the towel that hung low against his narrow hips. The pronounced shapes of his abdominals and below, how the muscles in his forearm twitched and tensed as he gripped the towel as they bumped into one another.

He had grown more over the last few months, now he had a good head over her, something he liked to demonstrate as he'd mockingly bend towards her face to face. His body had changed as well, a leaner, stronger body than his 16-year-old self. He had developed a chiseled jaw seemingly out of nowhere, broad shoulders. His hands were huge now.

For a long time, she had considered him cute, boyishly handsome. Unfortunately, he had grown out of that and now was very much looking like a man, even if he had the brain of a 13-year-old.

Some nights were difficult for her, like when he'd come back from a particularly hard work out. When he'd tease her with cocky grins, like the one when he lifted only one side of his lip and show the white of his teeth or even worse, when both of his hands would grab her waist and he'd quickly lean over her back and say something stupid to get her mad or to scare her if she was reading or concentrating on something.

Those nights were the worst.

When her heart beat against her chest and all she had was the faint memory of his touch on her and the way he looked.

The way he looked at her.

Slightly squinting blue eyes beneath dark brows, something insensitive coming out of his slack jawed, full lipped mouth.

She had more than once used her hand to dispel the feelings of attraction the dark of her own room, struggling with them, about how she felt about him and was left feeling like she was no better than some pubescent preteen boy. Not to mention tremendously empty and starved for something she couldn't put into words.

She thought she had outgrown these feelings as she grew closer to being a university student and yet here is where she found herself. Still stuck.

She inaudibly groaned at her predicament as she rolled her eyes to the sky.

Of course, he took that opportunity to jump down and walk alongside her. She focused on the street ahead of them, keeping her thoughts of him earlier as far from her brain as possible.

"'You alright 'Kane? Yer pretty quiet this morning." She furrowed her brows, focusing more on the pavement

"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well is all."

He moved from running along with her to running backwards facing her, she rolled her eyes and gave a small smile. That helped ease him.

"What, you been dreamin' about me some more? I could see how that could get you all riled up."

Just what she needed, she balked and laughed.

"If I had been dreaming of you last night, I'd be staying home sick." She laughed and she stuck her tongue out at him. He leaned closer into her space.

"Ahhh don't say that, I know ya can't resist me." He spoke into her ear. "I bet if I really begged" he drew the word out. "You'd buy me some yakitori on the way home. Right, Akane-chan?" He smiled wide, putting on what was likely charming smile #15. She reached out to him; her hand stroked his jaw. She would see his volley to make her uncomfortable, to make her blush or trip and match where she could.

"Not even if you got on your hands and knees are you getting food out of me today, Ranma." She said seductively and pushed him away from her by the chin. She smiled big in front of him. "Unless I'm cooking it!" Now it was his turn to balk.

"UGH! Why would you even suggest that?!" She threw a rock that he watched buzz by his head. "And you missed me on top of it!"

"Who said I was trying to hit you?" She smiled and before he could answer she turned away and ran towards the school. He rushed behind her.

Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met?
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet

Getting to school was fine, the morning classes no problem at least for Akane. Occasionally she'd glance over at her fiancée as he was struggling to stay awake. She'd have to work with him before the end of the year to make sure he wouldn't fail. She had promised auntie Nodoka before she left on her trip that when she came back her son would be a high school graduate. She sighed and looked to the board, better that she not get caught looking at him when he was reprimanded for sleeping.

Ranma didn't care much for the lessons this morning, leaning against his arm he had fallen asleep easily. He'd have Akane up his ass for not paying attention but that was for a later him to deal with. And now his face was cradled nicely into his arm and soon he was off to sleep.

He was walking into the bathroom.

Oh, this was a good dream, wasn't it?

Her head turned around slowly from inside the bath. He stopped suddenly, preparing for her to completely lose it on him. All she did was smile.

He walked up closer to the bath and knelt by it.

'Ranma, you should know better.' She looked up at him, her hair in a loose bun and she gave a teasing pout. He flashed some smile at her.

'You're my fiancée. Who cares?' He scoffed and laughed.

'Silly, you should pay more attention in school. You're graduating in just a couple months.'

'I'd rather be here and paying attention to you.' He's unbuttoning his shirt as she giggles.

'You're a dummy.' She smiled and turned to him, her arms on the edge of the bath, the heat radiating towards him, he could feel the humidity against his clothes. 'You think about me a lot like this, why is that?'

'Because of when we first met.' He answered plainly to the dream Akane, it was easy to open and honest with her here in his mind. 'Sometimes I picture you with long hair or short hair, I like thinking about you the first day I saw you. I know you didn't like it but I liked it.' He answers earnestly and she smiles into her arm, like she's charmed by his truth. He's had this dream a couple times, the timing isn't great since he's in class in realty but it's nothing he can't handle.

Suddenly she's stands up from the tub, like she's been shocked awake.

'Ranma, wait.' She's standing in the bath topless, her hand presses against his now bare chest.

'Ah god, really Akane. Now?' He's pulling his top off as he looks at his nude fiancée peering off in his fantasy. She looks at him with strange eyes.

Jade eyes.

'Ranma. Something is wrong. Something is coming.'

'Yeah would've liked it be me n'yo-'

'Shut up, I'm serious.' She draws closer, her hands grasp his bare shoulders. 'Something bad is coming. For you and I. You need to wake up.'

'But...I want to stay here with you. I like when I'm here and I can kiss you and...be with you.'

'I know you like our sex dreams but you need to wake up. It's bad I can feel it. So can you.'

At first, he was embarrassed by her bluntness but then a stirring began in his stomach and chest and he looked to his dream Akane. She had short hair now, the long hair gone.

'Wake up Ranma, I'll see you soon. Remember, I lov-'

He stirred awake quickly, shaking his head fiercely, his eyes focusing on the world around him. The movement caught Akane's attention and she looked back at him. She gave him an annoyed face for being so obviously asleep in class.

His eyes were trying to focus and coming back to this world but she couldn't shake the seriousness on his face, not typical for him upon awakening. She broke her stare and looked ahead.

xXx

At lunch she sat with Yuka and Sayuri, only occasionally observing him and how weird he'd been acting since 3rd period. She looked down at her bento, this whole day felt off, felt dream like if she was being honest. Sayuri said something and when she didn't answer, she touched her arm.

"Sorry what?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go shopping Sunday?" She tilted her head a bit. "Is everything okay, Akane?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I just slept weird is all. I'm fine though." Conversation returned to normal but Akane still felt a chill in her spine, one that had little to do with the weather outside.

Across the room, Ranma had savagely eaten his lunch alone to gather his thoughts. His dream was so strange, granted in retrospect it was probably for the best he hadn't stayed asleep with that one in the middle of class, it could have easily led to a mortifying ending. He looked over at her, even she seemed off today.

His two friends rolled up with breads from the cafeteria and took seats around him. His mind was still a million miles away and they could tell.

"Hey 'Suke, check out Ranma. Daydreaming about Akane beating the shit out of him, yeah?" Hiroshi laughed as his buddy rolled his eyes.

"Please who'd wanna daydream about that tomboy?"

"Pfft, whatever you say man."

The two boys talked over the pigtailed young man, while he looked over some notes he had taken.

"Transfer student. Heard she was really hot."

His head poked up.

"What was that?" Ranma interrupted. Daisuke continued.

"I heard from Kenji in Class C there's a new transfer student and she's really hot apparently."

"And you think you have a shot with her?" Ranma laughed and felt himself relax finally. If he could get them to talk about some stupid new transfer student maybe then the weird pressure of the day would finally let up.

"Not like you exactly have a shot at her, Ranma. Maybe leave some girls for the rest of us, you're already engaged to two of them." Ranma obnoxiously chewed and went back to his notes.

"A new student?" Akane asked to Sayuri. She nodded.

"Apparently she's foreign and just moved here."

"God, how hard would that be to start somewhere with no friends graduating in just a couple months? Why bother?" Yuka piped in, Akane played with her ponytail some more. Suddenly they were interrupted by their instructor.

"Excuse me, Class. If you have a moment, we have a new student who will be sharing in some of your classes and I wanted to introduce you to her." Their teacher drawled out as he turned towards the door to the new student.

The rumors had been true, she was a beautiful girl. Petite and curvy, she wore her satin black hair long down her back in a pleated braid. She was dressed in a different school uniform, more of a traditional sailor fuku. She smiled sweetly and faced the class; beneath her thick dark lashes her eyes were bright green. Like jade.

Ranma felt his stomach tighten, feeling on edge. The girl smiled and bowed.

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Dariole Li. I look forward to getting to know you." She stood back up and looked at the class, her eyes connecting with Ranma's. She boldly dropped them slowly to look him down in his chair as the teacher continued on.

"I'd like if we could have a student from this class show her around the school. Help her familiarize herself with the layout."

Before the assigned member of student council who typically helped with this sort of thing piped in, the teacher turned their head warily towards Ranma and his small group.

"Saotome, you're due for helping around here and since it seems you need some assistance in staying awake, help Ms. Li around the school this week."

Tomoyo, the girl who typically helped with the introductions, felt her voice lost to the strange occurrence of having someone like him help. She was willing to bet he didn't know where half the things in Furinkan were, always sleeping during class but she was not one to go against what a teacher suggested.

Akane felt a thick coating of nerves and confusion as Ranma feigned a smile and sighed to his friends who were groaning at once again his good luck with girls.

And this new girl's wandering eyes were not lost on Akane who's mouth began to fill with familiar bitterness even as she chewed on her rice and vegetables. She reminded herself quickly that this girl was just a new student, maybe she was just imagining things.

She looked over to Ranma who was red and looking down at his notes as Daisuke and Hiroshi spoke over him about how pretty the new girl was. Akane fumbled with her high ponytail once again, more nervous than mad, wishing it was the other way around.

xXx

On their way leaving school for the day, Akane and Ranma walked by the entrance and caught a group of students talking to the new girl. They peered over as she chatted with them about herself and her old school, she seemed foreign so maybe she was an international student? It wasn't very often they had students from abroad but there were certainly stranger things that had happened before. Walking shoulder to shoulder, they looked her way out of curiosity almost ready to walk up and speak to her before Akane looked down ahead of them and began ignoring the scene. Ranma watched as this new girl looked up and caught his eye. She was in the middle of speaking but sent him a soft smile before returning to her conversation.

He looked away, blushing to walk along with Akane.

They walked in silence for a while.

"So that new girl, huh?" She offered up. He put his arms over his head.

"What 'bout 'er?" He stayed neutral.

"Well, she's pretty popular already." She kept her eyes centered ahead. "You may have your hands full showing her around."

"Well, she's a new student, Akane. People are gonna want to get to know her. And don't remind me, not like I wanna be some tour guide for this lame school." She tried to not snap.

"I think it's more than just people wanting to get to know her. She's really pretty." She baited. Ranma shrugged.

"Didn't notice." Akane rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Yeah, sure Ranma, I saw her look you up and down. Like you wouldn't notice that." He shrugged again.

"I got enough on my plate with girls. I really don't need 'nother one. Maybe I can get Dai or someone else to take my spot helpin' her around." Before she could give him an annoyed reply, from behind them came a familiar voice.

"Ranchan! Wait up!" They stopped and turned around and saw Ukyou running up to them out of uniform on account of being out of school today.

"Ucchan, whats up?" She smiled and nodded to Akane.

"Hey did you guys hear about this new girl? I ran into some students and they were talking about it." Akane could feel Ranma's nerves to her right just at the mere mention of another girl so she did him the favor.

"Yeah, I think she's a transfer student? She's got a really fancy name but she's not in our class, I think she's in Class B." She decided to save him the headache of outing him as the girl's guide around the school. All it would do is hold up their trip home.

"Fancy name?"

"Yeah, I think it was French?"

"Ooooh France, how romantic!" She gushed and crept near Ranma, pulling her arm around his. "You know Ranchan I would love to go to Paris one day, it's supposed to be the city for lovers." He got nervous and laughed awkwardly as Akane rubbed her temples. Now she felt like she should've said something.

"I've got to head home to do work, we've got a test this week I can't afford to fail." He took that as an out.

"Ye-yeah Ucchan I gotta study too!" She pouted but her smile turned back up.

"Well come over when you're done for some okonomiyaki! I'll throw in some yakisoba too with this recipe I've been working on." His stomach rumbled and he couldn't help it.

"Oh yeah that sounds great!" Akane had a tension headache building that could possibly only be fixed by punching something through a wall.

"Well, I'll see you later Ranchan! Akane!" She waved and winked and made her way back to the restaurant.

They continued their walk home in silence, Akane annoyed and Ranma hungry. Before either of them could break the awkward silence, a familiar bell rang.

"'Gotta be kidding me." Akane murmured under her breath and before he could say anything to her in acknowledgement he was grabbed and gripped severely.

"Aiyah! Ranma come visit Shampoo on her deliveries!" He groaned as she squealed with glee, holding him tightly.

"C'mon Shampoo, lemme go I gotta get home and study." He tried pulling himself off of Shampoo as she only held him harder.

"Airen come study at restaurant. Shampoo help him study so he can leave violent girl's house and come live with Shampoo." She looked Akane over and smiled. Akane wanted to retort but felt something on the back of her neck. Immediately she dug out her umbrella from her bag and pulled it open, her fiancée's brow quirked up before he realized what was happening. They both looked upwards.

"Looks like rain..." Akane spoke into the sky as the drizzle started and her male fiancée became a very female fiancée with a cat on her chest.

"Ge-get this cat offa me!" Ranma started swatting at Shampoo as she changed as well, her claws digging in. Akane with her umbrella in hand also tried reaching out and helping her off when Ranma went running in the distance towards the dojo or anywhere that wasn't with Shampoo. She was fairly stuck though and Ranma could be heard yelling out through the streets and alleys. She sighed quietly to herself and walked again.

Unaware of a pair of eyes on her.

xXx

As Akane made her way to the dojo she had done a little self-evaluation of the last couple weeks. She hadn't been nearly as violent as years past with Ranma but could definitely still get annoyed at the drop of a hat. Not always at him but a lot of the time it had to do with him, with their situation.

She didn't want to talk about Jusenkyo but it was never that far from her thoughts, her brush with death, his response to said death and his eventual confession. She had heard it, had sworn everyone had as well but when they returned home things were right back to normal.

The morning of their wedding, she was going to tell him everything. Everything she felt, had felt, why she did what she did. But when he had fallen back into denials and threatened to fight her, FINALLY FIGHT HER on their wedding day of all days, it had broken a little piece of her. And then for the wedding to fall apart and fail completely? Icing on the proverbial wedding cake that would never be.

This was months ago but she was just as confused and now she worried even less willing to go further in the relationship. Sure, they had become more "physical" if you counted when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and waist, it wasn't because he was trying to be close to her, he wanted to get into her head. Like any opponent would.

And when she let up on her shoves or tried to psych him out, wasn't it all because she wanted to have some kind of physical connection with him.

She could admit it. And be embarrassed about it and feel shamed over it. And stupid.

She sighed.

She could admit, she felt defeated since she left Jusenkyo. She had started training more because she refused to ever be taken like that again, be that weak or useless that she couldn't defend herself. She wanted to focus on becoming stronger, faster, better overall. And when he had not taken her seriously again, she went somewhere else, somewhere they would train her and not treat her like she was fragile and delicate. And she was forever grateful to find a place that wouldn't feel they had to be soft with her, it was invigorating and something she had missed tremendously.

Only when she came home beat up and unfazed had he finally taken her seriously. When he should've taken her seriously as a fighter for years, when she sacrificed herself for him.

But it was better than nothing, even if he was still too tender with her when they sparred.

Ryoga's visits were a welcome change up because while hesitant, he could at least be involved in the fight where every time with Ranma it was just deflections and distractions.

And she had to admit, everything with the other fiancées was weighing heavier on her. She thought for sure after the wedding he would have done something to make a decision or at least talk to them, but instead they were in the same place as before. And since then, they had even more of a reason to dislike her and their engagement. They had nearly been married, perhaps against his will and he was imprisoned with her and her family, just dying to get out.

And he was still as hesitant and skittish to do anything about them or his other engagements as before, nowhere close to even acknowledging his feelings he'd admitted in those cursed springs.

She felt trapped, felt stuck.

Not to mention the god damn dreams.

Was this it? Forever? Never going anywhere, two steps forward and five steps back?

She kicked a rock and watched it embed itself into a concrete wall as she walked up to it to check it. She ran her fingers over the smooth rock and thought of where she would find herself in a year, two years, five years. She didn't have an answer.

She sighed and continued on home, the rain turning dreadfully cold.

AN: Hello, hello! It's been too long huh? I wanted to write something a little more action/adventure but still a little romance, a little drama, a little sexy and a little intelligent and thoughtful. I've had this story idea rolling around my head since finishing A Return Home and I've decided to return to explore it. I want to just give a heads up I do intend for this to be a more Akane-centric story, however I do plan to explore a bit of the rest of the cast. There's also the chance of some potential heavy violence and a little bit of sexual themes. Also I am 100% showing my age with lyrics in the story lol I may keep them, I may toss we'll see.

Playlist is here:

playlist/7iWaeervOvS9lKsFKtSoaB?si=cde5f257e97f4ec8

Thank you again so much in advance, your reviews, views, even passing considerate of my story is so appreciated.