"Juliet! Have you seen him? Look, he is peeking at you again! Ehhhh!"
Akane sighed, her face red like a tomato as she tried her best to avoid her colleagues' teasing.
"Oh, he saw me and looked away again! Aww, he is such a shy cutie! Hmmmm, isn't it so romantic, Mellow! This guy is coming to see our Juliet every weekend!" Joe, Akane's other colleague, chimed in a singsong tone.
Mellow laid her hand over her heart and whispered dreamily,
"This is call true love, Joe.. You won't understand that:"
Akane moaned in embarrassment,
"Guys! Please stop it! He is just my friend."
"Friend! Is that so!" Mellow chuckled and began to play with a clean wine glass in her hand, "I doubt that, Juliet! Maybe….. he is just a friend to you, but you are more than a friend to him."
Akane began to tidy the wine glasses on the cupboard as she said in a soft calmer tone,
"You are taking it the wrong way, Mellow. He also thinks of me as his friend."
"But I also have lots of friends, why don't they come here like he is doing for you!" Joe said with a soft whining tone. Her arm on the table, she kept looking at Ranma with a dreamy state as she said. "Anyway, I would be more than happy if what you are saying is true though!"
Akane growled in annoyance and kept herself busy with her work,
"I AM telling the truth! We are just FRIENDS!" Akane insisted.
"REALLY! In that case.. Can I go and flirt with him? I thought you guys were dating that's why I stopped myself! Now that I know your relationship status, maybe I can ask him for a date straight away!" Joe diclared excitedly; ready to run to his table.
Akane was not expecting to hear that, she lost her concentration for a second, resulting in a glass falling from her hand. She was dreading the impact but thankfully, Mellow caught the glass just in time. She casually handed the glass to her, a sly smile on her face as she whispered,
"You know, I would also rip off my golden apron if he ask me out just once!"
Akane looked at Mellow with wide surprised eyes. She has known her for such a long time, and she knows she would never do it for any other guy. But for Ranma…
"He is so sweet and exceptionally hot too! I never saw both qualities fit so magically in one person." Mellow winked at her.
Beep beep beep..
"Service time!" Joe stands up from her chair and checked the monitor to see which table she has to go to now. Suddenly realizing it was Ranma's table, she yelped cheerfully and declared,
"Oh my God! My lucky day! It's him! I guess he wants to order now!" She grabbed her white apron and put it on in a hurry and without saying anything at all, she ran to attain Ranma's table.
Akane looked at her with a foul expression on her face as a not-so-familiar uneasiness settled on her heart.
Mellow noticed Akane's uneasiness, she smiled at her and said in a soft whisper tone,
"Don't fool yourself, girl! He is right there waiting for you. Believe me or not, you can't ignore him all the time, honey!"
Akane turned to look at her with a helpless look on her face. Mellow winked at her and left when she heard another beeping sound on the monitor. After Mellow, it was her time to attend a table. She checked the table number and went to the table with her white apron on. Then when she saw she had to attend the table next to Ranma's, she frowned and cursed her luck in her mind.
She passed Ranma's table in a hurry and ignored looking at him. She gave a big sigh of relief when she reached the table she had to serve, then, she again became nervous to take orders from the guys at the table as she could feel Ranma's intense stare on her. She tried to ignore him again and concentrate on what the gentleman was saying to her. She was doing just fine, but her concentration broke when she heard Joe's laughter coming from behind her. Curiosity got better than her resistance, She couldn't hold back anymore, so she looked back to see what they were up to. She became surprised when she saw Ranma shyly laughing alongside Joe as they kept chatting and teasing each other.
She growled angrily and snapped the pencil in half.
"Uhh.. Excuse me, Miss? Are you alright?"
Akane took a deep breath and looked back at the customer. She tightly smiled at him and politely said,
"I am so sorry! I was just distracted. Can you please repeat what you said, please?"
"Hahaha, Ranma dear! You are so funny.."
She could clearly hear their voices which made her blood boil in fury! Akane greeted her teeth in annoyance and tried to finish her job as calmly and as smoothly as possible.
At 3 am Akane's shift was finally over.. .Her long shift made her completely worn out and exhausted. But she was not only feeling tired, but also angry at one particular person. And when she saw that said particular person was waiting for her outside her workplace, she became even more agitated. She saw him casually waving at her with his one hand as he held a hot chocolate cup with his other hand. She huffed at him and looked away from him and started walking by herself as if she hadn't even seen him standing there.
Ranma was surprised to see her react like that. He had been coming here for the last two months but she never acted this way! When he saw her walking away from him, he acted quickly and started running after her,
"Akane! Hey, wait up!"
Akane didn't wait for him as she kept walking at a normal speed. Ranma easily reached her side and started walking by her side, silently. After a while of silent walking, he asked her,
"Anything wrong?"
"Nope!" Was her harsh reply.
Ranma scrunched his brows and asked her in a suspicious tone,
"Are ya angry?"
"Nope!"
Ranma stooped walking and said,
"You are angry! What's wrong? Did anyone misbehave with ya again?"
Akane paused walking, but didn't say anything ,
Ranma took her silence as yes, he growled and said,
"Let me go there and check!"
"I TOLD you, nothing HAPPENED, Ranma!" Akane swiftly turned towards him and said with an angry pout in her face, "How many times do I have to tell you not to come here, huh?."
Ranma was shocked at first, but he hides his surprise with a frown . He crossed his arms in front of his chest and replied in a casual tone,
"And how many times do I have ta tell you, I would never stop coming here until you stop working here.."
"Awww! WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN, RANMA!"
"Whatever, It's either you quit this job or you will see me here every day.." He retorted with strong determination.
It's almost been three months since they have met each other. At first they used to feel hesitant and shy to start a conversation with each other. But as time passed by, they became more and more comfortable talking and sharing and even fighting with each other. Hesitation gone, resistance gone, sometimes they act like the long lost best friends and sometimes they fight like two wildcats. Just the way they are doing now..
Akane growled at him and said,
"WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE, CASANOVA ! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Ya very well know I won't, tomboy! Now tell me what's going on with you? Why are you so worked up right now?" Ranma asked her with concern lacing through his tone.
Akane took a deep breath, huffed and started walking away from him again. Ranma sighed and shook his head as he started following her silently.
"Hey.." He tried to start a conversation again.
Silence*
"Kane.. At least tell me , Why'd Ya call me a casanova?" Ranma asked in a confused tone.
"Because you are a CASANOVA!" Akane replied in an annoyed tone.
"And what I did to deserve such a great honor, huh?" Ranma said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
Akane stopped walking and looked back at him. She gave him a hard stare and said,
"Look, you don't have to pretend to me anymore."
"Pretend to you!?"
"Ofcourse! You don't have to lie to me anymore! I know everything! What do you think of me , I am not an idiot! Your secret is out, Mr!" Akane said with her greeted teeth as she pointed an accusing finger at him.
Ranma's heart skipped a bit as sweat started to wet his forehead. He gulped hard and asked her politely,
"You know everything? What do you know?"
"I know everything!"
"But… Who… who told ya.."
"Who would tell me, dummy! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Ranma took a deep breath and said,
"Look Kane, please I could explain to ya.."
"Explain to me what! Mostly WHY!"
"Please calm down for a second.."
"I am calmed!" Akane took a deep breath and said,
"Look, Ranma! You don't have to explain anything to me. We are just friends so it doesn't matter to me if you want to go out with another woman!"
"Yes, you are right but…huh!" Ranma became dumbfounded as he asked her, "Excuse me! What did ya just say?"
Akane crossed her arms in front of her chest and said,
"Why you look so surprised , Ranma? You can't hide it forever!"
"Hide what, damn it! Akane, you are confusing me now! What do you mean by all this!"
"I mean..; you don't have to lie to me anymore! You are not coming here for me! You are coming here for Joe, not me! So now stop pretending and go walk her to her home."
Ranma stood there speechless as no word came out of his mouth. After some moment, he released a deep breath and asked her politely,
"Akane, first can you please tell me where ya got this dumb idea! And who the heck is Joe, anyway.."
Akane's mouth open in shock as she said in disbelief,"Don't try to be over-smart, baka! Now you don't know who Joe is!"
"Of course I don't know her!" Ranma said in a confused tone.
"Ranma! Honestly, Joe is that girl who always comes to serve you and with whom you were happily chatting with tonight !"
Ranma blinked his eyes in confusion as he tried to remember what he had done that day. Then he remembered..
"Ohh! That girl! She is good and all but what gave ya the idea that I like her!"
Hearing his amused tone, she became flustered as she said,
"Well, the way you guys were laughing and chatting tonight does made me believe that!"
A flood of relief come upon him. He relised a big breath and he started laughing lightly to break his tension. He shook his head in disbelief and said,
"Jeez; you sure jump to conclusions so fast! Listen, I do believe that she is a nice girl; but that doesn't mean I have any feelings for her! Today out of nowhere she suddenly asked me out on a date and she insisted continuously. I tried to laugh it off, dummy! I was not happily chatting with anyone!"
Akane's face becomes completely red with embarrassment. Ranma understood her uneasiness, he stopped laughing and gave her a warm smile. He offered her the hot chocolate cup again and said, "It's getting cold, ya know.."
Akane moaned, but before she could say anything to him, Akio called out to them in an annoyed tone.
"What is taking you guys so long! I had to come all the way here to get you!"
Akans huffed and shifted her anger towards Akio.
"Stop complaining, Akio! You used to come here every night; now that Ranma started coming here you have become lazy!" Akane said with an angry hard tone.
Not expecting her sudden outburst, Akio pulled up his hand in a surrender way and said calmly;
"Sesh, Akane! Calmdown girl! What's wrong with you!"
"Awww! NOTHING is wrong with ME! You know what, both of you guys are baka! BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!"
Akane huffed and started walking ahead from both of them.
Ranma and Akio both looked at Akane with a dumbfounded expression on their faces. Then suddenly Akane stopped and turned to face them. In a blurred motion she hurried towards Ranma and snatched the hot cup from Ranma's still-extended hand. She started drinking from the cup and casually she resumed her walking towards her home.
After a moment of silence, still shocked, Akio asked Ranma in a soft whisper,
"Did I miss something?"
"Akio! Are you coming or not!" Akane called out angrily.
"Oh man, … this girl sure will drive me crazy someday!" Akio sighed defeatedly and shook his head as he started following Akane.
Ranma smiled as he kept looking at their retreating form, his empty hand still extended in the open air. After some moments he came back to reality ; he looked at his hand and whispered to himself,
"I guess ….. she has already driven me crazy!"
Akane nervously entered her classroom. She saw Ranma already present at his bench as he animatedly talked with Ukyo as they laughed together. She stood by the door and started to feel hesitant to join them. She still couldn't get over what she did last night. She was utterly embarrassed by her overreacting behaviour last night. The way she lashed out at Ranma and the way he calmly acted on that matter, had disturbed her all night.
She was angry at herself, but moreover, she was confused at her change of behaviour. Why did she acted like that ? Why does it matter to her if he likes someone else or not?! And what is this burning sensation she felt when she saw him interacting with Joe! It felt as if some unknown force was squeezing her heart so tightly it became hard for her to take breath. And then when Ranma told her he doesn't have any feelings for Joe, she felt a weird satisfaction which is very new to her.
She was worried about what Ranma was doing to her. He was somehow messing around with her emotions , which surprisingly, she wanted him to continue doing so. She doesn't want this confusion to go away and if she is honest with herself, she want more from him. For some reason, she wants to know Ranma more than she ever wanted to know about any other people. She wants to see how far he will go for their friendship. That's why she never stopped him when he decided to accompany her every weekend. Because , his presence always made her feel so safe and secure like she never felt before.
But after last night, she is thinking of talking to him and asking him not to come anymore. Though she values everything he is doing for her, she can't selfishly take advantage of his generosity.
"Umm, Miss Akane! You are blocking my entrance, sorry can you please let me in.."
Suddenly, hearing their professor's voice coming from behind her; she immediately turned to face him. She bowed down to him apologetically and smiled up at him.
"I am sorry, Mr Katashi! I was just spaced out!"
He smiled back at her and nodded.
"It's alright. Please take your seat."
Akane nodded her head and quickly went to her place and sat beside Ranma.
"Hey, you 'Kay?" Came Ranma's whispered tone.
Akane looked at him, no smile on her face. She sighed and said,
"I need to talk to you at lunchtime… Alone..! Can you give me some time, please?"
Ranma scrunched his one eyebrow up and said,
"Just command me, Princess, you will always find me where you need me."
That made her smile. Her simple small smile brought a blush on his face and made his heartbeat thumping more violently. She shook her head at him and looked back at the professor who started taking their lecture.
Akane and Ranma went on the roof to talk privately. Akane checked if anyone followed them or not, then when she saw the coast was clear she turned to Ranma and said,
"You can't keep coming to my workplace!"
"Huh! But why?" Ranma knew she would raise this topic and he made himself prepared for this conversation.
Akane looked panicked as she said,
"Ranma you can't just keep coming there for me!"
"Who said I go there for you? I love their foods and I go there to enjoy it every weekend!."
"No you don't..!"
"And not to forget, I also go there because I want to see Joe and Mellow too.. It's my duty to say hi to them every weekend, ya know!" Ranma paused as he winked at her.
Akane pouted at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Haha! Very funny, Ranma! But I am serious here."
"I am also serious, Kane.."
She growled angrily,
"No! You are not taking me seriously!"
Ranma stopped smiling and gave her a serious look,
"Of course I take you seriously . And that's why I told you, until you leave that job I won't stop going there! No matter what.,"
Akane sighed defeatedly and said,
"Ranma, you are wasting your weekends because of me. You are wasting your money there for me. You are wasting your time and sleep too!" Akane walked towards him and held his hands tightly, " Please, please you have to listen to me Ranma, you don't have to be there for me. I will be just fine myself."
Ranma sighed and said,
"I know you will be fine by yourself.. It's just me, Kane. After a long time I got a friend like you and I can't see you going to a place like this all by yourself. Please don't worry about my expenses, I don't have anyone who is dependent on me. And now at least I am happy that I am spending it to be with my friend.."
"But , Ranma.,"
"No, Akane! Please.. If you really want me to stop going there; you need to change your job. Or else I have to follow you no matter what.."
He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. He started walking away from her, but when he reached the first step of the stairs, he had to stop as he heard Akane calling him. He turned to face her, she had an uncertain expression on her face. Taking some steps towards him, she asked him in a soft whisper tone,
"Ranma, would you…" She took a deep breath and said, "I want you to come with me to my house today. Would you come with me?"
A/N: I hope I am not too late ! I really really hope you guys had enjoyed this chapter. Please do let me know how you feel about this fic. Your comments and opinion is very important for me. Lots of love guys! Take care.. :)