"I want to come too." Ukyo said as she began to walk towards Ranma.

"Why'd ya want to come with us?" Ryoga asked in an annoyed tone.

Ukyo glared at him intensely and said, "Because I want to stay by Ranchan's side; I can't leave him alone with you!"

"But you can't come with us, Ukyo, because if you come with us then I can't show Ranma what I really want to show him!" Ryoga said in an annoyed tone.

"But.."

"Please, Ucchan.." Ranma stopped her and firmly looked at her and said, "Don't worry about me, I will be just fine.. Please stay here, don't leave.."

Ukyo sighed defeatedly and nodded her head, she gave a warning look to Ryoga and said,

"Don't you dare upset him or else!"

"Huh! You'll thank me later for this, honey!" Ryoga said arrogantly and shrugged his shoulders as both of them left the place in a hurry.*


The loud buzzing sound of the music was vibrating through the whole pub. Every piercing beat was working like a hammer on Ranma's heart. He hates this type of place. Long time ago, Ryoga and his so-called other friends had taken him once, but then he never went there ever again. And now, he has to come to his most hateful place for a reason he doesn't want to think about at all!

'Damn it, am I making a mistake? I should not be doing this.. If I want to know, then I think it's better if I ask her face to face-and not catch her red-handed like this! This is wrong!!'

Ranma thought uncomfortably as sweat started to wet his forehead. After a while, he released a big sigh and said,

"I can't stay here! I am leaving..!"

"Wha!" Ryoga asked in disbelief and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving as he said, "Wait, Ya can't leave now! The party has just started, Pal.."

Ranma glared at him angrily and tried to snatch his arm out from his tight grip; and at that exact moment a woman approached their table.

"Oh my goodness! Two handsome guys at one table! Lucky me to be able to serve you..!"

Ranma looked at that woman with his wide nervous eyes; for a moment he thought that Akane called out to them. But when he found out that she is not Akane, he gave a big sigh of relief.. At that moment he felt so agitated that his body got lose for a moment as Ryoga took the opportunity to pull him down to his chair.

Ryoga smirked looking at that gorgeous lady, scanning her up and down like a buzzard. She was wearing a black skirt with matching black tops. Her top was in a choker style, backless, showing off curves where he would enjoy some view; and the length of the skirt was remarkably short , allowing him a view of her long stunning legs. And the kitty-printed golden apron she was wearing was making her look cute and sexy at the same time. All the waitresses at that pub were wearing the same outfit and did the same hair bun and makeup as well. After a moment of silence, she again slyly smiled at him with her red velvety lips, she slightly leaned down, her arms over the table as she asked Ryoga with a seductive tone,

"Or you can also ask me to accompany you tonight, you know what I mean! You look more than willing in my eyes. I promise you I won't disappoint you.." She seductively whispers to him as she lays her slender finger on his jaw..

Ryoga hissed and said,

"Ya are right, I am more than willing to do what you want.." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towders him to sit beside him. She was surprised by his action, she giggled at him and circled her arm around his neck as he said, "And who in the right mind wouldn't want a girl like ya to accompany them, right Ranma?"

This sly statement had earned him an angry growl from Ranma and sweet giggling from the woman.

"Oh, you know how to please a woman! I am sure I am going to have a thrilling night tonight!"

Ryoga smirked and said while intensely looking at her,

"My, my, You are a smart woman! You really can predict the outcome, huh?"

Ranma was getting irritated by their flirting , he slowly banged the table and said,

"Ryoga, I am not here to see all this!"

"Oh man, you are such a bore!" Ryoga grumbled and turned to look at the girl as he asked her, "You are so beautiful!! Uhh.. What's your name by the way?"

That girl puts her finger over the corner of her lips and said,

"Oh! We use different nicknames here, I can't tell you my real name! Anyway, everyone here calls me Mellow!"

"Mellow, your nickname suits you so well, ... I must say!" He triled a finger down to her cheek as he said, "I really want to spend my time with you, but before that I need a favour from you.."

"Favour? Like what?" She asked, confused.

"Uhh we came here to meet a girl named Akane. I saw her an hour ago. Can you call her for us please?"

"Akane?Who that might be? No girl named Akane works here.. And anyway, why do you need anyone else if you want to spend the night with me, huh? Too much power to spend?" She asked laughing.

"But Mellow, I swear I saw her here!" Ryoga asked in a panicked tone.

"Oh dear, I promise no girl named Akane works here.."

Ranma gave a big sigh of relief.. He ruffled the back of his hair in nervousness and again banged the table in excitement! He looked up at them and declared in a serious tone,

"I KNEW IT!! I knew she wouldn't work in this place.."

"But Ranma, I promise I saw her! Just give me a moment !!"

"NO!! THAT'S ENOUGH!! I WONT TOLERATE YOUR STUPIDITY ANYMORE!" Saying that he stood up in a haste to leave the place he hated so much.

"Mellow, Mr Aito asked me to give you this. He said.."

Ranma's eyes went wide with surprise as suddenly a new person approached their table and began to talk with Mellow. His eyes were fearful as he looked at Ryoga, his smirk making his blood go cold. The way the girl paused her speech in the middle and the tone of her voice made him completely alarmed! He didn't even had to turn and look at the girl to confirm his suspicion. He sat back in his chair with a heavy huff, unable to do anything or look at her.. He looked down defeatedly, suddenly his throat became dry as no words came out from his mouth.

Akane drops her extended arm in shock. Her eyes fixed on Ryoga's arrogant smirk as for a moment her mind became completely blank. This is the last thing she wanted to see today. She still couldnt belive her eyes; its feeling as if she is living her worst nightmare.

"Juliet! Juliet, hey girl, are you okay?"

Mellow stood up and went to her side and gently shook Akane's arm, forcing her to face the nightmare she wants to avoid. Still unable to reply, she quickly glanced at Ranma and saw him sitting with his head down. She quickly averted her eyes from him as she bits her lower lip hard.

"Juliet?"

Akane sighs and closed her eyes, then looking at her she said with a steady tone,

"Here you go.." She handed her a small note and said, "He asked you to met him as soon as possible .."

Saying that in a haste, she tried to leave but Mellow stopped her.

"Can you please wait a moment, let me check what he wants from me…. Ummmm.. that moron, I will break his nose today! Uhh sorry, anyway; can you please wait for me, handsome! Uhh Juliet, would you mind serving my clients until I come back, I will be right back!"

"But, Mellow.. I !"

"Please, please, pretty please.. I don't want to lose this handsome boy.. I know I will have a deal with him tonight .." She winked at Ryoga, who smiled back at her and winked at her. She giggled seeing that, but before leaving, she paused and turned to him and asked, "Uhh.. just for reminder, you guys do know the rules in here, right? I can tell you if you.."

"Please.. I know everything alright! Now just leave already.." Ryoga said quite irritatingly.

"What did you say!" Mellow asked slightly taken aback by his attitude.

"Uhh.. I mean, the more you hurry up, the more we can spend some quality time with each other.." Ryoga tried to smooth the situation..

"Oh! That's sweet then.. See you soon!"

Saying that she sent him a flying kiss and ran off to met their boss. Akane kept standing their, unable to move or do anything. Ryoga smirked at her and said,

"Aren't ya going to serve us? Ju-li-et.."

Ranma balled his hands to control himself to punch Ryoga for using that tone towards her. Akane took a deep breath and slowly walked towards their table and asked them,

"What can I do for you, sir?"

Ryoga smirked at her and asked back to her,

"That's my question to you too, Juliet; what can you do for me?"

Akane bits her lower lips to control her anger as she said,

"As I said, I am here to serve.. please tell me what you want to order for tonight ?"

" I want to order "You" actually.." Ryoga said, smirking, then he quickly reached out and grabbed her hand as he tried to pull her to sit beside him, just like she did to Mellow.

She flinched at his touch, but didn't move an inch; she quickly tried to pull her hand from him and said,

"What are you doing? Leave my hand, Please!"

She said hissing as she tried to pull her hand from his tight grasp; but the more she tried the more his hold gets tighter. She gave him a heated look and said as calmly as possible ,

"You cannot do this! Please leave my hand, sir!"

"Ya heard what she said, Ryoga!" Ranma heatedly looked at Ryoga and warned him by saying, "Leave her hand this instant!"

Akane looked at Ranma, she was using all her power not to break down in front of him, but she could tell that she was slowly losing this battle with herself. But soon her helplessness turned into anger as she heard Ryoga's next perverted words,

"Huh! Chill, Ranma! She is just trying ta act innocent here!" He looked at Akane and said, "I know what ya want!Girls like you wants only one thing!" He reached out to his coat pocket with his other hand and pulled out a bundle of money and threw it infront of her as he said, "Now stop resisting and start your job, Juliet!"

Akane looked at money with pure disgust as she still tried to say in a composed tone,

"You are mistaken me for someone you know or want, sir! I don't do things like this here! Please, EXCUSE me! I will call Mellow for you.."

She used her strength this time to pull her hand from his deadly grip. But he didn't let her leave, he quickly stood up and grabbed her shoulders and tried to force her to sit by his side,

"STOP RESISTING WOMAN !! SHOW YOUR TRUE SELF AND DO YOUR JOB, DAMN IT!" Ryoga said angrily as he kept trying his best to make her move! But Akane didn't move as he would have like to. She kept resisting as she said angrily,

"LEAVE ME,SIR! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO IT!!"

"RYOGA!" Ranma stood up hastily and harshly pushed Ryoga by his collar, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YA? SHE SAID NO!!"

Ryoga got more aggregated and insulted by this; he growled and said,

"Ya are such a dope, Ranma! Can't ya see what she wants! And you.." He heatedly looked at Akane and said, "Why are you resisting so much, huh! What is your price? Name it! If This won't satisfy ya, then wait.." He pulled out one more bundle and threw it infront of her and without any warning pulled her towards him and pulled her body close to him as he circled her arms around her waist.

Akane was completely horrified when she saw him throwing more money towards her. But before she could react to that, he pulled her as he pressed his body to her. As soon as she felt his body crashed to hers she lost all her cool and without thinking about the outcome, she punched him on his face using all her power, which left him falling backwards on his seat, semi unconscious.

Hearing the commotion, Mellow and other stuffs rushed towards them. When Mellow saw Akane's devastating state, she couldn't utter any word. She angrily looked at Ranma and said,

"He said he knew the rules, then why did he break it? I am sorry, Juliet! I shouldn't have trusted this guy with you.. This is my fault."

Akane hastily shook her head, her breathing uneasy as she couldn't control her tears anymore as she said in a breathless tone,

"It's not your fault, Mellow! No.. no.. , they are all the same!! Insensitive,…… jerks, ……perverted!! They are all the same..! Same..!!"

Saying that she broke down into tears as she ran out from that place in a devastating state.

"Juliet!!" Mellow and others called out to her.

"Akane!!"

Ranma didn't waste a single moment standing there, his eyes never left Akane since she punched Ryoga hard. Her tears were breaking his heart into pieces! Her broken state and the way she said those last words, worked like a punishment for him. As soon as she started running away, he started following her too. Calling after her, begging her to stop!

"Akane, please stop...!!"

She was too fast for him, he couldn't match her speed. In one moment he saw her throwing her white apron away from her as she kept running faster. The road was quiet, it was only lit by the light of the street and he could only hear their loud footsteps and her sobbing sound. He used all his power to reach her as fast as he could, but he was unable to do so..

Akane couldn't breathe properly. Her body and mind was practically begging her to stop running and take some breaths. But she couldn't stop now, because she could hear Ranma's voice behind her, practically begging her to stop. She doesn't want to face him! Not after how everything had happened, she didn't talk to him anymore. She never felt helpless like this before in her lifetime! Not insulted, but hurt! And this pain was practically squeezing her heart so tightly that it became impossible for her not to burst into tears like a weakling! She hates it when anyone see her like this! She never wants to show her weakness to anyone! She doesn't want anyone to comfort her or feel pity for her. She made herself act strong in front of everyone! And now, she can't let Ranma find out how weak she really is, she can't show him the side she is not comfortable showing to this cruel world. She has to run away as quickly as possible. She used more strength to run faster, but in her haste, she tipped on her shoes. She closed her eyes in fear as she could feel that she was about to fall to the ground badly.

Everything happened so quickly and unexpectedly after that. She felt a strong arm catching her by her waist at the very last moment as it saved her from getting badly injured. It didn't take her long to understand who this person is. She was thankful for his gesture, but at that moment her mind was not ready to thank anyone or even show respect to anyone's kind gesture. Her body became more tense, her breathing rough, mixed with her hitched sobs. And with her eyeliner making trails with her tears, She knew how terrible she might be looking at that moment. But she cared less about that as Ryoga's harsh words ran into her mind again and again. She hastily pushed Ranma and looked at him hard. She was using all her power to control her emotions, which was not working at all, but she kept looking at him strongly.

Ranma was also breathing heavily as he tried to approch her,

"Akane, ... Please... please listen to me.." He took a step closer, but she took one step backwards and said,

"STOP right there..!"

"Akane please.."

"NO!! NO! NO!! Why are you following me! What do you want from me! I am not that type of girl! Why don't you leave me alone!!" She cried out desperately as she tried to move backwards.

Ranma gulped as he tried to approach her again carefully ,

"Please calm down. I am not that type of guy too! I am your friend, Akane. Please listen I.."

"FRIEND!! NO! I DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS! YOU GUYS ARE ALL THE SAME! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE! I…. I….." She paused for a moment as she realised something, then looking at him with a hurtful expression, she said, "So that's the reason why you were avoiding me for so long, isn't it?"

For Ranma, it felt as if someone has hit his gut hard as he became completely dumbfounded and scared at the same time,

"Wait, What!! No! That's not true at all!"

Akane laughed while crying as she shook her head in distress,

"That's the only truth, Ranma! I know, you can't fool me anymore!! You must have felt so disgusted with my presence and THAT'S WHY YOU DIDN'T EVEN WANTED TO SIT BESIDE ME ANYMORE! !"

"NO!! It's a complete misunderstanding!! Please let me explain!!" Ranma asked with desperateness lacing in his voice.

Akane shook her head and cried out to him,

"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU ANYMORE!! NO!! NO!! NEVER!!"

Saying that, she again tried to start running but this time, Ranma stopped her immediately and forcefully made her turn to face him. He grabbed her shoulders to make her stop resisting and didn'tlet her move an inch... .

Akane got more anxious at this and angry at his intenseness. If she thought she was hurt before, after all this rivalation , she became completely devastated. She started to push him hard, she even started hitting him over his chest to let her go. But he was not letting her move. She kept protesting as she said in a wild panic tone,

"Leave me!! LEAVE ME!"

"NO!! You can't leave without listening to me!" Ranma said with a same panicked tone.

"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU! LEAVE ME NOW, YOU PERVERT!!"

"KANE!!" Ranma roared loudly, as he shook her to make her quiet. That outburst of him somehow worked; she stopped protesting and looked up at him with wide surprised eyes. Her breath hitched now and then as she became completely speechless. Ranma's heart was breaking into a million pieces to see her broken like this. He gave a heavy sigh and said,

"I am sorry.. I shouldn't have yelled at you, but ya have ta listen ta me, Kane! Please..." He gently puts his hands on her cheeks and said in a genuine tone,

"Akio.. He told me you guys are engaged and he warned me to stay away from ya! I know I shouldnt have listened to him, but… but after I found out about your relationship, I don't know why but it became hard for me to digest this! That's because I… I…" Ranma shook his head in distress and decided it wouldn't be the right time to say any more words to her. He gave her a pleading look and said with a trembling tone, "That's the reason why I acted like a fool! Please trust me, this is not related to what happened just now! And about today, all I can say to you is….." He paused as he warmly smiled at her, he slowly creased her hair with his one hand and whispered honestly,

"I trust you, Kane! You don't have to explain anything to me! And hear me loud and clear, ...we ARE friends.. no matter you want it or not.. I am not going ta leave your side.."

His words were so warm, just like his touch. In her life she never felt this secured before. Like, she needs to trust him and hold onto his words to live freely. Her heavy heart instantly became lighter and she became exhausted of her turmoil emotions. She doesn't want to run away from him anymore, she doesn't want to show her strong exterior to him anymore! She wants to relax for a change, she wants to believe, she wants to trust and she wants to cry!!

She began to sob as she looked at him with her tired eyes. She clutched his hand tightly, which was laid on her cheek. She felt his soft finger trying to reach out and wipe her tears clean. At his kind gesture, she couldn't hold herself anymore and completely lost herself. She quickly circled her arms around his waist in a desperate hug as she broke down into wild sobs over his warm chest. For the very first time, she let her emotions win the battle against her stubbornness as for the very first time, she showed her vulnerable side to the person she desperately wanted to trust and hold onto...


A/N: Oh God this chapter was tough! But worth it :)!! I like the way it turned out :)!! To write my imagination into English letters is so tough for me! I hope I can continue to write my imagination for my readers! But I do need your help. Please continue to review every chapter; it will surely give me encouragement that I am going in the right path. Please help me to complete this fic with your positive reviews.. Thank you so so much!!!