A week later

~~~"We are in the middle of the end of the world; and you are still looking cute as hell.."~~

"Mmmmmm…."

~~~"Are you crazy?! Do ya have any idea how hard it was for me to restrain myself!!"~~~

~~~~"I hate it, Kane! I really really hate it..! I wish you weren't drunk right now! Or else.."~~~

"Aww!! No! No! No! No! No!!"

Akane kept whining slowly; her face pushed down on her pillow as she rolled over her bed while thinking about last Friday's event. She again woke up very early in the morning; unable to go back to sleep because of her constant dreams of that fateful night as the memories kept playing on her brain like a broken radio!

~~~~"You don't have any idea what you are doing to me, woman! Please don't take any more tests of my patience.." He then slowly moved closer and gave a soft kiss on her forehead.~~~

"You idiot, Ranma!! You dummy, dummy, dummy!!"

Akane squirmed into her pillow as many thoughts of that night kept roaming through her brain. It's been happening this whole week! She knew she had messed up while she was drunk. When she went to Ranma's house with her family; she remembered most of the important things, like the way she behaved with him, the way she kissed him. But some of her memories were still fuzzy at that moment, she didn't remember the things they talked about. And this whole week , tits of bits of those fuzzy memories were coming back on her mind one after one.

The most frustrating thing she faced during this week was when her mind suddenly stopped giving her warning! Her fuzzy memories started popping up in very random situations! Like, when she was having dinner with her family; she suddenly remembered the way she danced with Ranma and the intimate way he covered her body to save her from others' view. And sometimes when she was at her classroom infront of her lecturer; out of nowhere she remembered the demanding words she said to Ranma. Not only that, when she was focusing on giving tuition to Ranma and Ryoga; Ranma's husky voice and his frustrated growl unexpectedly whispered to her ear just like a wind had passed by.

The memories and the words that were said by Ranma made her so shocked and unprepared that she often got caught looking at Ranma with a distant expression. Ranma was worried about her change in mood; but whenever that poor guy tried to approach her, she would react in a most awkward way and sometimes she even ran away from him! She knew her behaviour was making him concerned; but she was helpless in this situation. She kept reminding herself about the talk they had in his bedroom that evening. How scared he felt when he was telling her that he didn't want their friendship to reach an awkward situation. Although she had assured him that day that everything was okay between them; but still she managed to behave awkwardly with him the whole week! Which caused him to look doubtful and insecure again.

But she doesn't know how to control her emotions anymore! It's so frustrating for her!! Her raging hormones are driving her crazy!! She could still feel the way she kissed him. The feeling of his lip on her, the memory was still fresh on her mind! His touches on her bare skin as he tried to save her dignity from others eyes, were still burns her skin. His raw voice as he kept telling her why he was resisting kissing her. The way they danced under the rain. His hot breath against her cold skin; his smell, touch of the tip of his nose, and the way he bit onto her lips before pulling out from her kiss…

'Huh! ... Wait a second...!!'

She thought in disbelief as she paused her train of thoughts for some moment. She turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling with a shocked expression on her face. Her fingers making their way towards her lower lip on their own. Because suddenly, her fuzzy memory got a glimpse of one more memory with Ranma. She thought she was the only one who had kissed him that night; but she had no idea that he had also responded to her! Maybe not the way she wished he had done but... he did kissed her back ! No matter it was just for a fraction of second, no matter if it was just a bite onto her lower lip to stop her.. But still it does count, right?! RIGHT?!!

She gulped hard as her face became bright red, "Oh Kami! Please help me..." She whispered breathlessly.

~~"Yo! How come ya suddenly feeling so alive, Kane?"~

Akane heard him clearly; she giggled hard and turned towards him. She ran towards him and offered him her hand. He took it and she pulled him up to a standing position. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and said cheerfully,

~~"Because you make my life so beautiful, Ranma!"~~~

A soft smile played onto her lips then. Her face started blushing with a healthy hue of red. For some reason, she was not feeling uncomfortable thinking about these things anymore. His words, his touches , the way he responded to her kiss; was actually making her giddy with excitement! She giggled to herself and pulled one pillow towards her chest and hugged it tightly as she thought to herself,

'What am I going to do with you, Ranma? Why did you come to my life? Why are you messing up everything? Before you came, I never thought anyone had this ability to trigger this emotion on me! Am I … am I falling for you? Do you …. do you feel the same for me?'

Akane sighed deeply and closed her eyes and whispered defeatedly,

"Baka!!... My baka…"

~~~~Knock, Knock, Knock ~~~

"Akane dear! You will be late for class if you don't hurry up now.."

Akane hastily sits up and leaves her bed in a blink as she called out hurridly;

"Coming, Oneechan! Damn it.." Akane muttered the last word to herself as she quickly started dressing up for the day.

Akane looked at the mirror and checked herself for the last time. Today, she has to try to act normal in front of Ranma. Because for the last two-three days the way she kept behaving with him, if she doesn't correct herself today, she might find him going into the same depressed state from which they worked so hard to pull him out. And today….. She also has an important thing to discuss with him.. This is a big deal for her; but… after what he had done for her, this is the least she could do for him. With a detamanied sigh; she nodded her head, looked at herself in the mirror and left the room in a haste.

She and Akio reached the university just in time. As they entered the pavement, suddenly a loud thunder cracked outside, followed by heavy rains. Akane and Akio were quickly walking towards their classroom which was on the second floor. When she heard the sound of the rain, she couldn't stop herself, as she absentmindedly slowed down her pace. She gazed up at the wide open sky, and just like that, the gentle rain reminded her of that wonderful day she had shared with Ranma under the rain.

It's embarrassing for her to think, but she had to admit it to herself that she never imagined she would ever find any guy as good-looking as him!. She used to ignore all the men; they never excited her before, that's why it was easy for her to ignore them. But the way she feels about Ranma, it's so different! So unlike her! Her face blushed as she remembered him sitting on the ground and back brushing his wet hair. No wonder her tipsy self couldn't hold back her need to touch the fetching sovereign.

" Kane..!!"

Her whole body jerked slightly as the sovereign himself suddenly appeared beside her side and called out to her. She looked at him with wide surprised eyes, and as if her imagination suddenly came to reality as she saw him standing in front of her half-wet from the rain outside. He had a brilliant smile on his face, his hair dripping water droplets now and then. She shook her head slightly and whispered to him,

"Ranma?"

"Hello, Akane-chan!!! Good morning!!" Ryoga called out as he quickly ran past both of them in the hallway. "Come quick!! The class will start soon!!"

Ranma showed him his hand as he turned to look at Akane again as he said to her in a casual way , "I thought we are the only ones who were late! Anyway, what are you doing here standing alone? You will be late if you don't hurry up.."

Akane blinked her eyes in confusion, still lost in her day dreaming. Ranma scruntled his eyes and deeply looked at her. He went close to her face and asked her in a concern-filled tone,

"Hey, you alright?"

For some unknown reason, she couldn't say anything to him. She blushed madly and kept looking at him.

Ranma gave her a narrow smile and then he said to her in a playful way,

"I think ... ya are still sleepy,.. Let me help you with that.."

Saying that, he wildly shook his wet head in front of her face; making the water droplets shower her face. Akane had no time to hide from that impact, she yelled in surprise and before she could react to his childish act, he laughed playfully and ran out from the scene; leaving a stunned Akane behind. Another thunder brought her back to reality, she growled angrily and ran behind him to catch him to punish him for his silly act!

The class went on smoothly after that. Ranma was feeling relieved to see Akane behaving comfortably around him again. He was very scared because she seemed to act so unusually around him for the last few days. It worried him so much that sometimes he couldn't even sleep properly. Although he was worried about her change of behavior; but he silently enjoyed the way she kept giving him looks and blushing all the time. It reminded him of his times when he used to look at her secretary and started daydreaming sometimes and she used to catch him doing that. Now it's as if, the situation has been revised and honestly, he was enjoying every part of it!

This new part of her is arising a hidden desire in his heart. He's a little nervous thinking about it, but he can't help but wonder if maybe she's starting to feel the same way about him that he feels about her! If that ever happens, he would surely fly over to the clouds! But he knows it's just his imagination, she could never fall for a guy like him. Sometimes he wonders if he made a mistake by hiding his real identity from her. To her, he is just an ordinary guy who is babysitting a billionaire's boy. According to her, he has nothing and he is struggling with his life. Would she accept a guy like him? Would she judge him by his identity? Does she even deserve a guy like him? Why does he always think so negatively about him? Ranma rested his head on his hand and released a long tired sigh..

"What's this long sigh for?"

Akane looked at him with confusion; he faced her tiredly and gave her a serious look and asked,

"Why is my life so complicated, tomboy?"

Akane was shocked to hear that at first, she giggled softly and shook her head and said playfully,

"Because you are Ranma, that's why.."

Ranma smirked and sat up straight; he stretched his arms forward and said, "Yap! I agree! I am my big problem!"

"Hey, Akane-chan!" Ryoga called out from behind them, and asked her when he saw both of them turn to face him, " Are you coming with us today?"

Ranma rolled his eyes at Ryoga and said in an obvious tone, "Today is Friday, she would definitely come with us dummy.,"

"Umm; about that.." Akane smiled at Ryoga and said, "I am sorry, Ryoga. But I can't come today. I have some important things to do.."

Ryoga's face got sad instantly as he said, "Aww that's so sad! I was actually looking forward to spending time with you today."

Akane smiled at him; she then turned to look at Ranma and saw that he was also giving her a sad look. She shook her head and said, "Sorry, but I need to do it today. Maybe tomorrow I will go to your house.."

At that moment, their professor entered the classroom; She looked at the front and noticed how gloomy Ranma looked at that moment. She smiled knowingly as she quickly wrote a note to Ranma and carefully passed him the small note.

Ranma was busy thinking about how bad his day would go, when suddenly he felt a touch on his hand. He looked down and was surprised when he found a note. He quickly opened the note and saw,

"Meet me at the park near to my house! Come Alone! Don't tell anyone.."

Ranma gave her a surprised look. Akane looked down, noticing his surprised glance, the corner of her lips slid up with a smile as she just nodded her head and said nothing to him.

During the whole class Ranma kept thinking about why she wanted to see him in private! His curiosity was making him act impatiently! He tried to ask her many times; but she told him to keep it secret from everyone; which made his curiosity more vivid.

When their class ended, Akane left in haste and didnt say bye to any of them. Ranma had to make an excuse to Ukyo and Ryoga to escape from them. He quickly walked towards the park and soon reached the place. He looked for Akane there, but he couldn't see her anywhere. He sighed and tiredly sat on a bench and waited for her. Thankfully he didn't had to wait for too long as he saw her walking towards him. She was holding some heavy grocery bags on her hands as she went to him with a big smile on her face. He quickly got up and took the bag from her hand as he asked her,

"What happened, Kane? Why are ya carrying so many things?"

Akane shook her head and said, "Oh it's nothing! Its just some things that Oneechan asked me to buy.. Anyways, shall we go now?"

Ranma was shocked as he asked her, "To your house? Really?"

Akane beamed at him, and nodded cheerfully. Her excitement was clearly palpable as they strolled toward her house. Ranma couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions about it all. He was actually looking forward to visiting her place, especially to check out her dojo. He had been there a couple of times before, but things felt different this time—and in a good way!

When they reached the house, Akane happily called out their presence to her sister, who also came out from the kitchen and welcomed them to the house. She offered them to have some tea first, to which Akane agreed and the three of them had a short tea break at the kitchen dining area. After some time, Akane stood up and asked Ranma to go to the Dojo and wait for her there. He first helped Kasumi to wash the plates; and then excitedly went to the dojo and stared looking at that place with pure joy. Ad exactly that moment,

"Ranma! What are you doing here?"

"Akio?" Ranma turned towards the door and saw Akio Standing at the doorway as he looked at him with a questioning look. He smiled at him at said, "Hi, sorry; Akane asked me to wait for her here.."

"She did? But why?" Akio asked as he slowly went towards Ranma.

Before Ranma could answer him, suddenly they heard Akane's stern voice talking to them, "Yes, I did ask Ranma to wait for me here!" She entered the dojo wearing her yellow gi and walked towards both of them.

Ranma's mouth opened widely with surprise! He had never seen her wearing a Gi before. For him, at that moment she looked like a Divinity that came out of nowhere! Akane seemed to notice his astonished state, she smiled at him and said while handing him one package,

"Here you go, Ranma. This was my father's Gi when he was young, I washed it for you, I hope it will fit you."

"Huh?!" the only word that came out of Ranma's mouth.

Akio shook his head and asked her, "Why are you giving him Oji-sans Gi? What are you upto, Akane?"

Akane gave Akio a narrow look and said, "From now on I am going to teach Ranma martial arts. He is already half-trained; he self-trained himself. I am a trained martial artist, so from now he will be my student.."

Akio shook his head in disbelief and asked, "But why are you suddenly deciding that?"

Akane crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "Because, if next time anyone tries to punch him for no reason, he could break his jaw too!" Akane gave him a meaningful look and pouted at him.

Akio growled and sighed defeatedly then said, "What about Oneechan? Does she know about this?"

Akane beamed when hearing that and said, "Of course she knows!! She was the one who gave me father's old Gi when I told her about my plan.." Akane then looked at Ranma, who was still looking at her with a state of disbelief. She went close to him and touched his shoulder and said,

"Ranma, I am sorry to surprise you like that! I didn't want to tell you earlier because I was afraid if Ryoga would find out about it, he might not allow you to learn martial arts. That's why I asked you to keep it a secret. But if you don't want to learn it then.."

"Are you crazy!!! OF COURSE I WANT TO LEARN!!" Ranma called out happily, his excitement evident by his eyes. His voice became shaky with excitement as he said , "This has been my dream all my life that I will learn martial arts one day!! Akane, please don't prank me and tell me it's for real!"

Akane smiled hearing his voice. She held his hand and laid the package over his extended arms as she said,

"This is not a prank, Ranma. I promise I will teach you everything I know. Now, please change your clothes quickly, we need to start our session.."

"Oh Kane, thank you so much! You have no idea what you are doing for me.." Ranma said with great appreciation, his eyes getting wet with emotion.

Akio also noticed it, he shook his head and said to Akane, "Why don't you go out for a few seconds, Akane, I will help him put on the Gi."

Akane took a sharp breath of surprise dramatically, she then giggled when Akio gave her a narrow stare as she said, "Good boy! I will be outside, call me when you are done.."

Saying that, she quickly ran out of the dojo and closed the sliding door. Akio shook his head and said to Ranma,

"She is pretty scary when she becomes vengeful! Anyway buddy, you got a good Sensai! Although I don't say it to her much; she really is a very good martial artist! You will learn a lot from her.."

Ranma smiled at him and nodded with excitement as Akio helped him to change into a Gi.

Akane stood outside the Dojo. Her heart was still pounding nervously. This would be the first time she would teach anyone. Before, her father used to be a sensai at this dojo, but after the tragedy happened with Kasumi, they completely closed the door for all students. When Ranma came to her house for the first time and he asked her if she could teach him; she felt so guilty that even if she wanted to teach me, she wouldn't be able to do it because she didn't want to make her oneechan upset.

She almost gave into her urge to teach him, when he came back from China. His self esteem was so broken at that moment, she knew that if she could teach him the martial arts, he could easily gain back his self-confidence. But that time she also couldn't gather the courage to teach him. But this time, when this incident happened with her; she felt that it's her duty to at least help him to fullfil his long time desire, which is learning about the arts. She discussed this matter with Kasumi; and thankfully, she was happy to accept him as a new student at the Tendo dojo.

After a few minutes of waiting outside, Akane entered the dojo again. She gave Ranma a firm look, took a long breath and formally bowed down to him. He gulped and also did the same to her. At that moment, as she looked at him wearing a Gi, she had made up her mind that, maybe she is not as highly trained as some of the masters she knows; but she would definitely teach all the techniques to Ranma. And for some reason, she has a high hope that, Ranma would adopt every lesson easily. Akane nodded her head and stood in a fighting position, as she asked him in a serious tone,

"Are you ready to learn martial arts, Ranma?"

Ranma smirked at her and said with a serious tone, "With everything I have.."

A/N: In this lifetime, you will rarely find anyone who would cheer you up to move forward. But you will find a crowd of people who would want to pull your leg to drag you down. I know its life, it happens. But I never imagined it could happen in here as well!

When I first started writing fanfics, I felt so much positive vibes here. But since last year, I have been hurt by so many close people. The people whom I thought to be my great supporters, in reality, they smashed my confidence in a way that If I didn't have some reader's support, I would have quit writing for my whole life! It's working like a slow poison for me! So many times I cried because I have doubted myself. Because I never thought I would ever get hurt from this platform; and from those people whom I trusted.

Anyways, don't worry. I won't stop writing. I am very thankful to all my readers who send me so much love and positivity! Thank you all so so much :)..