Akane sat alone on a bench in a park. She looked around and saw many kids playing with their parents and enjoying themselves wholeheartedly. She smiled looking at them and sighed deeply as she thought of a certain person. She missed him so badly. The funny part was, it's only been one day since she last saw him. But still she was missing him; because, since he came back from his trip from China two weeks ago, he had changed completely..

He had been acting so strangely lately…. so unlike him; moody and upset most of the time. He talks to her daily and he never showed any irritation while spending time with her; but still she could definitely tell that something was missing in him. And that something is the spark and the excitement she always used to see in his eyes. She wished she could bring the old Ranma back somehow. But she failed every time she tried.

At the beginning of their relationship, he was the one who always used to talk more and now she has become the more talkative one. To bring him back to his old self, she losend her teaching techniques, but he became more serious than before. She started telling him silly stuffs that she never ever imagined she would say to anyone. She even lied to her sister and went to watch a movie with him once and gave him a treat at an ice cream parlour ! But still, he remained the same; less talkative, less active and more solemn nature.

"Akane!!! Hi..!!"

Akane looked back and saw Ukyo and Ryoga waving at her. She waved back at them, smiling and saw them coming towards her.

"Hello Akane-chan, we came as you asked us to.."

"Where is Ranma?"

"Where else! At home, his most favourite place..." Ukyo said, shrugging her shoulders. She took a seat beside her and asked her, "Anyway girl, what happened? Why did you call us here privately?"

Akane pressed her lips nervously and said,

"Actually, guys, I wanted to discuss about Ranma."

"Ranchan?! What about him, Akane?" Asked Ukyo with a nervous filled tone. 'Oh no; did she found out about him?' she thought to herself.

"Umm. I am not sure how to say this but.. I ... I really miss him.."

"Huh?" Ryoga and Ukyo both exchanged a look of confusion as Ryoga asked her, "But you just met him last evening, Akane-chan! And anyway, if ya are missing him you could have come to my apartment to see him.." Ryoga said with a tight voice, swallowing his jealousy.

"No wait.. I think what Akane meant to say is that she is missing our old Ranma.. Isn't it, honey?"

Akane showed her a worn-out smile and said while nodding,

"Yes, Ukyo. I am missing our old Ranma. Since he came back to Nerima again, he has been acting like a … a.."

"Heartbroken poor boy.. Yeah.. I know.. I agree with you.." Ukyo said with a sad sigh.

Ryoga's body shook slightly as he said dreadfully,

"You guys just saw him for few hours and I have to stay with him 24/7; his depressing aura is driving me crazy girls.. If you guys can really fix him, please do so! It will help me more than him!"

He said with a big sigh and sat down beside Akane. The three of them sat at the same bench; face down, looking troubled and lost in each other's thoughts..

After a few moments of sitting silently, Akane started again,

"We have to do something about this. We can't let him stay depressed!"

Ukyo sighed and said,

"But we are trying Akane. Nothing is working for him. Last weekend you went to a movie with him, right?"

She blushed slightly and said,

"Uhh.. Yeah.. I wanted to cheer him up. But he stayed the same.. Maybe I selected the wrong movie to watch that day!" she finished moaning.

"So what should we do now, Akane?" Ukyo looked at her worriedly.

"I don't know anymore! I tried whatever I could. But he is still the same."

"Hey, I know.." Ukyo said beaming, "Why don't you cook for him and surprise him? He loves to eat and if you cook for him then that will surely cheer him up."

Akane moaned again, pouting embarrassingly,

"He is already depressed enough, Ukyo. I don't want to make his belly go through a trauma."

Ukyo giggled hearing that and asked,

"You can't be that bad at cooking, girl!"

Akane poked her tongue out at her and said in a warning tone,

"Don't underestimate my power, Ukyo. Anyway, where were we?"

"Ranma.." Ryoga said, grunting, "Let's just focus on finding a solution for this problem." He kept a serious expression on his face and began to think deeply.

Both girls sighed and nodded and began to think of a plan.

Time went on and they kept thinking..

Morning shifted to afternoon..

Akane and Ukyo shifted from the bench to the swings..

Ryoga shifted to a swinging wooden horse and a toddler kept looking at him with an annoyed expression, who was waiting for his turn for a long time..

And after a while...

"I GOT IT!!"

Suddenly, Ryoga declared loudly; he looked up with a bright smile on his face and stood up in haste, making the toddler run back to his parents in fear.

Ryoga ran in front of Akane and said,

"We should go and celebrate our victory, Akane-chan..!!"

Akane stopped swinging and asked,

"What victory are you talking about?"

Ryoga smiled cheekily and said,

"Well, me and Ranma passed our exams with great marks! I wanted to celebrate it before we went to China! Why don't we celebrate it now?"

"You want to celebrate your passing numbers! Seriously?!" Ukyo asked sighing tiredly.

Ryoga blushed slightly and said,

"Look it may still not be the best scores; but it's the best we did our WHOLE life, Ukyo! Anyway, if we have a party, we can enjoy ourselves throughout and Ranma might enjoy himself and forget everything!" He suggested, excitedly.

"That's the lamest idea!!" Ukyo said angrily.

"No wait, Ukyo; maybe Ryoga has a point here.." Akane looked at Ukyo and said,

"If he goes to a party and enjoys, then maybe.."

"That's the problem here, Akane; Ranchan doesn't like to go to any party! He HATES it!" Ukyo glared at Ryoga and said, "You know Ranchan well, don't you? He would be furious at you if you suggest him to go to any party!! He would reject the idea as soon as he hears it..!"

Ryoga smirked hearing that and said arrogantly,

"Huh, what did you take me for, Ukyo? I am not a dumb!"

"But Ryoga, Ukyo said he won't agree to go to any party, then how is your plan going to work then?"

Ryoga smirked devilishly and said,

"He won't say no this time, Akane-chan. My plan is foolproof!"

"And how is your plan foolproof!?" Ukyo asked, feeling annoyed.

Ryoga smiled with the side of his lips and said,

"Look, If we say Akane-chan will come with us to that party, then do you think he would say no?"

"Who? Me? But I can't come to any sort of party!" Akane dismissed the idea immediately.

"But Akane, he is right! If you come with us then he could never say no!" Ukyo said with a big smile on her face.

"I know but I can't come, Ukyo! You know Akio; he will kill me if he finds out about it!"

"He will find out about it if you tell him, otherwise who would tell him!!" Ryoga asked in a desperate tone.

"How is he not going to find out about it, Ryoga? And anyway, I don't like to lie to them.."

Ryoga kneeled down in front of her and said,

"Akane-chan, please, I beg you. Just this once! I promise we won't take much time from you! Ukyo is coming with us too, so you don't have to worry.."

"But.." Akane still hesitated.

"Akane, don't worry honey! I will be with you and we will be home before you know it.." She then paused and asked, "Hey, but I don't even know which party we are attending? Listen Ryoga, with Akane, time really matters! We can't go to any late-night parties!"

Ryoga shook his head and said,

"I know that and that's why I am excited about this! I just got a perfect invitation for this coming Friday! We can go to that party at the evening and come back early! Akane Chan's family already knows that she comes at our place for tuition , so they won't even find out about it!"

"So you are saying. I can't tell anyone about it ?" Akane asked, doubtfully.

Ryoga shook his head and said,

"The way Akio controls your every move, it's better if ya say nothing to them! We will attend the party, have some fun and return back to home quickly, so that you can return back to you place quickly. What say Akane-Chan? Please don't say no! We really need your help! He won't agree if you won't come with us and we won't get this type of opportunity again!!"

Akane looked down and began to think about it deeply. She sighed intensely and said,

"But I don't have any party dress.."

Ukyo chuckled upon hearing that and hugged her sideways,

"Don't worry about that, sugar! I can land you one of mine! Anyways, you have to come to Ranma's apartment to get ready.."

Akane gave a nervous smile and said,

"Alright then.."

Ryoga stood up howling victoriously as he jumped like a little kid, making both the girls laugh at his childish act. Ukyo stopped laughing and asked him,

"So, when will we break the news to Ranchan?"

Akane also paused laughing and said,

"Shall we go and tell him now?"

"Akane, …. Akane!" Ryoga sighed and shook his head and said, "What would you guys do without me? Anyways, we are not telling Ranma until the day of the party.."

"What!" Both girls asked at the same time.

"Look, you have to agree with me, Ranma is acting way too genariously these days, and if you guys tell him now and say that, you are keeping it a secret from the other Tendo's, he might not agree with that.."

"Oh my God, Ryoga! What happened to you today? I think you should often sit on that baby swing horse if it helps you to think so brilliantly!" Ukyo said with an awe tone.

Ryoga was stuck between feeling proud and doomed at her comment. He plainly cleared his tone and added,

"So, anyways, that means we have to keep it a secret from him until the day of the party. So girls, are you ready for this mission?" He asked and offered his hand to them to take.

Ukyo giggled and agreed immediately; Akane was still hesitant, then she began to think about Ranma and why she wanted help him so badly.

'He had done so many things for you Akane! You can't back out now girl!'

Akane thought to herself; She gave a long sigh and puts her hand over Ryoga and Ukyo's hands to seal the deal with them.

—--

Ranma looked at Akane suspiciously. For past few days she had been acting so strangely, suspiciously. Not only her, he also witnessed the same behavior on Ryoga and Ukyo as well. In some occasions he would find them showing each other secret signs; or he would find them talking secretly. He asked them lots of times, but everytime they would make dumb excuses and would flew from that sight.

"What happened?" Akane asked him in a low tone as she kept writing her notes.

"Huh?" Ranma asked in confusion.

She just gave him a sideway look, her lips slid up at the corner with a smile as she continued her writing and told him with a silly tone,

"If you keep staring at me like this, people might get funny ideas about us, baka.."

Ranma understood what she meant. He was indeed staring at her for too long. He blushed slightly and looked down at his paper and started writing whatever came to his mind as he whispered back to her.

"I am sorry. I uh… I dont understand this topic, can ya please help me with this topic at home today?"

"Today? Today is friday, isnt it?" She asked, pausing for a second.

Ranma also became confused,

"Yeah, are you not coming today? It's okay if you can't make it.."

For a moment Akane forgot about keeping the party a secret from him. She remembered just on time and turned her attention down on her paper immediately as she said in a haste,

"How silly! Ofcourse I will come!!. I was just spaced out, that's all!"

"O-kay then…" He gave her one more suspicious look, shook his head, and started concentrating on his lesions again.

—--

Ranma sat in his living room area, all prepared for his tuition with Akane. He bought all his books on the table, and some snacks for them to have as Mr Hiro left to see his family today. He checked the wall clock and noticed he have to wait for an hour more for her to arrive here. Then, suddenly Ryoga came out from his room and to his surprise, he looked all ready with his blue casual party wear to go out for a party. He gave him an oaught look and asked him,

"Are ya forgetting something, buddy?"

"Am I?" Ryoga asked, smirking as he kept checking himself on the small mirror nearby.

Ranma grunted and said,

"Akane is coming to give us tuitions and where the heck are ya think ya are going now?!"

"Heh! Ya soon gonna find out my friend.."

At that exact moment, their doorbell rang and Ryoga hastily ran to open the door. He gave a cheeky smile when he saw both the girls standing at the door. But before he coud greet them. Ukyo pushed her way inside and greeted Ranma.

"Oh hello, Ranchan.!!."

"Ucchan!? What are you doing here?" Akane also entered the house, he looked at her with a smile and said, "Hey Kane, you are early today!"

Both the girls exchanged a knowing look and started giggling sillily. Ukyo grabbed Akane's hand and started dragging her inside Ranma's room.

"C'mon sugar, we don't wanna be late.."

Akane giggled and went inside Ranma's room with Ukyo and both of them closed the door.

Ranma kept standing at his place with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He looked at Ryoga and asked him,

"You definitely know what's going on here! Spill the bean , Ryoga!"

"Huh!! Who, me?! I am just an innocent little boy! Don't blame me!"

"Don't give me that answer!"

He saw Ryoga ignoring him completely, and instead of answering him, he turned on the loud music on the speaker which they have in their living room and started dancing to the music, making Ranma more nervous as he heard the hard beat. He began to ask Ryoga more questions, tried to snatch the remote from his hand and made multiple efforts to close the music; but Ryoga kept dancing and kept stopping him from doing anything.

Ranma had enough of this playing around; he was confused by everything that was happening, and when he was confused it makes him furious all the time. He growled angrily and finally managed to snatch the remote from his hand. He paused the music and snapped at him angrily,

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YA GUYS!!"

Ranma began to scream at the top of his lung, but stopped, when suddenly Ranma's door opened and Akane and Ukyo came out from the room.

His jaw almost dropped on the floor when he saw both the girls. His eyes went wide with disbelief when he saw what Akane was wearing at that moment. He wanted to ask so many things to them, but it was as if he had forgotten how to talk at that moment.Ryoga looked completely opposite of him, he walked towards them and started praising them,

"Oh gosh girls! You both look amazing!! And Akane you.." He whistled naughtily, making her blush madly.

Akane tried to hide her curves with her brown leather jacket, which was not working as she wished it to work. She tried to give him a casual smile and said,

"Thanks, Ryoga."

"Anyways, shall we go now?" Ukyo asked, excitedly.

They all looked at Ranma, who still looked as if a lightning had struck him. Ukyo giggled hard and went to him and started waving her hand in front of his face.

"Earth to Ranma!! Hey!!"

Ranma looked at Ukyo and observed what she was wearing. She wore a golden choker knee-length dress, her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and with her nude lipstick and makeup it was hard for him to believe that this is the same Ukyo he knew. He realised a big breath and said,

"Oh my God! What is this! What are you wearing? Why are you wearing this? And Akane.."

His eyes fell onto Akane and he almost gave into his urge to sigh dreamily. He observed her carefully; She was wearing a black deep-neck top with a dark brown jacket, her black short stretchy skirt showing off her legs beautifully. Like Ukyo, she also wore some makeup and some jewelries on her neck and ears,and the maroon lipstick in her lips, stuck him directly on his heart.

Like a fool, he kept gawking at her, making her blush more and more. When Ukyo understood they won't get any response from Ranma after this, she waved at Akane and told her,

"Akane, we don't have much time, remember?"

Still blushing madly, she nooded her head and walked infront of Ranma and said,

"Hey, let's hurry. I don't want to miss the fun!"

Ranma shook his head and tried to ask her in a shaky tone,

"Fun? What are you talking about, Kane? And why are you.. you … you dressed up like that?"

She sweetly smiled up at him and said,

"Because… we are going to a party."

"Party?!"

"Umhmm, I always wished to go to a party but Akio never let me go. That's why when Ryoga and Ukyo asked me today, I couldn't say no to them..But they also said you don't like to go to parties like this? That's so sad! I wish you would come too."

Ranma was still having hard time talking to her. Her deep neck top was distracting him so badly and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes on her face and not on other particular places..

"Ranma..! Hey are you listening?" Akane asked with a concerned tone.

Ranma's whole body shook as he looked at her and said,

"Yeah..yeah.."

"So, are you sure you don't want to come with us? I would be really happy if you could join us.."

"I., I… I.. yes.. I mean NO! I mean this is wrong!! You can't just go there looking like this!!"

"What? She is looking just fine! C'mon Ranchan! Grow up a little!!" Ukyo said tiredly.

Ryoga came to them and held both the girls hands and said,

"I told you guys, it's useless to ask him to come with us! So let's not waste our time here! We should be heading to the party girls, I don't want to miss the DJ!"

"Alright, let's go!" Ukyo said happily and started walking with him.

Akane also started walking, she gave Ranma one last look, sighed sadly and continued walking out of the door.

"WAIT!!"

The three of them stopped, a sly smile on each of their lips.Ukyo and Ryoga turned to face him with an attitude, while Akane looked at him hopefully.Ranma cleard his voice and said,

"Uhhh.. I will come with you guys. Let me just go and change quickly, please don't leave without me."

Saying that, he hastily went inside his room and as soon as he closed the door, the three of them silently shared a victorious high-five with each other, celebrating with a high whispered tone,

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!"

A/N: Get ready for the party guys and don't forget to review!!! :D ..