Ranma followed Akane inside Dr. Tofu's clinic, feeling the pit in his stomach grow heavier. There was nothing in the waiting room that could be considered dangerous–in fact, the only occupant was a lone elderly man, peacefully dozing off in the corner–but standing there gave Ranma a strange sense of dread.

He knew why Akane was so excited to get here in the first place. The tomboy's crush on the doc hadn't been subtle the first time they met, and it certainly wasn't this time either. Sure, maybe he could admit that he had been a little, just the tiniest bit bothered by it the first time, but it certainly did not cause the same level of inner turmoil he was feeling now.

"Looks like Dr. Tofu might be seeing someone else right now," Akane said, breaking him out of his thoughts. Her eyes lingered on the patient room door.

"Well ain't that a shame," Ranma replied, perking up. "Uh, why don't we just head back, Akane? I'm sure Kasumi can just patch ya up at home! Don't wanna be bothering the doc when he's busy, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm sure it won't take too long, Ranma. Dr. Tofu is the best around here!"

He cleared his throat, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "You sure? I mean, the doc does seem like he'd be busy." He gestured in the direction of the old man.

"Ah, that's the Tanaka family! His wife comes in here often because of her back problems so he's waiting for her. Dr. Tofu usually sees her pretty quickly."

Ranma nodded, his facade faltering. "Ah. Gotcha."

"Here, I can go boil some water for you while we wait," Akane said, gently pushing Ranma over to one of the chairs. She made her way over to the complementary tea set sitting on the counter. Humming to herself, she poured water into the teapot from the sink.

"Akane, wait."

Akane peered over her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Listen, um..." Ranma scratched the back of his head.

He knew he had words he wanted to say, but they were lost in the back of his throat. And he didn't know exactly what he wanted to say either. So he stood there, awkwardly, as the teapot whistled in the background while he struggled to find the right words. Akane stared back at him, waiting, and he suddenly found it hard to meet her eyes. He wasn't sure what expression was on his face now.

Akane then slowly took a few steps back towards him. "What is it?"

Ranma squeezed his eyes shut. Screw it! He would just say it. "Akane, I…I don't–!"

"Ah, thought I heard voices out here!"

A tall, good-looking man emerged from the patient room, a warm smile on his face as he escorted an elderly woman out to join her husband. Akane whipped back around, her long hair grazing Ranma's face as she did so, making him flinch. She immediately bowed her head down. "Oh, Dr Tofu! H-hello!"

Dr. Tofu beamed at her. "Good to see you Akane! How have you been doing?"

Akane stood back up straight, not quite able to meet the doc in the eye. "I've been good! Thank you for asking," she said softly, her cheeks turning a slight rosy color. She opened up her hands, showing the half-hazardly bandaged gash she had on one of them. "I seem to have gotten into a little accident today," she said, adding a bashful laugh at the end. "Thought it would be a good idea to drop in."

"Oh dear. Well that's nothing a little ointment won't fix!"

"'Accident', she says," Ranma muttered under his breath.

Akane continued to gaze at the doc, as if forgetting that his presence was even in the room anymore. Watching her, Ranma felt his insides churn.

Akane's shy, cutesy act around Dr. Tofu was exactly what he wanted to avoid seeing. Ranma couldn't even recall a time that she had acted all doe-eyed and blushing to him before. How dare that tomboy even try to act all girly and cute to another guy when he was standing right there!

Ranma's fist tightened against his side. 'Akane, you idiot! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you-?

The bow in Akane's hair ruffled as she tucked some strands behind her ear. Her long hair. A shy laugh. His fist loosened, as he observed her, reminded of his reality. He was back in the past. Which meant…

'The doc's her first love.'

Swallowing down a lump, the realization made Ranma feel more bitter than he wanted to admit. Confronted with such strange emotions, he decided to do what he did best.

And run away.

The bell on the door jingled as Ranma disappeared without a trace.

Dr. Tofu adjusted his glasses, peering behind Akane's shoulder. "Oh, looks like the young lady behind you left, Akane."

"Young lady?" Akane turned back around, finding an empty spot in lieu of the red-haired martial artist. She blinked, confused by his absence. "Ranma?"

"Well, I'll have to say hi to your new friend next time then. Why don't we get your hand fixed up quickly so you can catch up?"

Akane nodded, smiling, then spared one last glance at the door before following Dr. Tofu.

— -

In spite of his better judgment to go somewhere far away from the clinic, Ranma ended up in the nearby oak tree, perched up high on a branch. The thought of Akane being truly alone with the doc had bothered him more than he wanted to admit. So despite feeling like an idiot, he was now sitting at a good vantage point where he could get a decent view into the clinic room.

Akane and Dr. Tofu were chatting inside the room. had his clipboard out, jotting down some notes as Akane sat down in the chair. The two continued to talk for a bit, and the doc stood up to pull a container from a cabinet. He then opened it, swabbing some of the ointment and then ever so gently applied it on Akane's wound. Akane winced for a second, then relaxed, her gaze lingering on the doc as he wrapped her hand with gauze.

Ranma tore his eyes away. He could have laughed at his situation if it wasn't so… irritating. More so because of himself than because of the tomboy or anyone else. It was all so annoying. His annoying curse. The annoying pendant. These annoying emotions he never knew what to do with!

Why did he have to feel so bothered by Akane's first love being someone else?

Sighing, he leaned back against the tree. He stared absentmindedly up at the sky for some solace, as he no longer wanted to watch what was going on down below.

He was not jealous.

He was not jealous.

He was not…

"Alright, what if I am!" he snapped, sitting back up. "There, I admit it! Over something stupid like this!" Groaning, he shoved a frustrated hand into his red hair. "Damn it, Akane, what am I supposed to do here?"

"What are you saying up there?"

Hearing another voice speak made Ranma freeze. He looked down, catching Akane peering up from below. How long had he been lost in his thoughts? "A-Akane?"

She pointed up at him. "I thought I saw red-hair when I looked out the window! Why were you spying on me?"

"Wh-what! I was not spying on you!" he retorted, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Then why did you run off up there?"

"I, uh, just had a lot to think about."

"Like what?"

"Nothing important!" Quickly wanting to change the subject, he hopped back down to the ground. He glanced at her hand. "So, uh, how did it go?"

Akane held up her hand, which was now neatly bandaged. "All good now! Dr. Tofu was able to fix me up fast."

He nodded. "Good, so you weren't ogling the doc for too long?"

Akane reddened immediately. "Wh-what? Ogling? I wasn't–I did not–!"

"Liar. Look at you." Ranma gently flicked her forehead with his finger, amused by her reaction. "The tomboy's gettin' all flustered."

"I'm not–! You're being ridiculous," she huffed. "What do you mean by ogling?"

Ranma clasped his hands together, and batted his long eyelashes. "Oh, Dr. Tofu! Look at my wittle hand!" he squealed, in an exaggerated girly tone. "See? Just like that."

Akane scowled. "Quit that! That's not like me at all."

"You're right. You don't haven't my level of cuteness and charm–"

"Ranma–!" Akane threw a kick at him that he jumped backwards to dodge. When he landed back on the ground, she threw an object at him. Catching it, he looked down to find a canister in his hands.

"What is this for?"

"The hot water from earlier, dummy."

Ranma blinked. "You remembered?"

"'Course I did! Did you think I was going to let it go to waste?" Akane said, pushing past him.

Feeling strangely moved, Ranma poured its content on his head. Albeit cooled down a bit, the water was still at a warm temperature, allowing him to turn back into his male body. He looked at the canister in hand for a second, and then briskly jogged to catch up to where Akane was. "Hey, wait up!"

"Not if you're gonna try to tease me again."

"C'mon, I was just stating the obvious."

Akane stopped in her tracks, her head lowered to the ground. Sensing something was off, Ranma moved up in front of her only to find her hair covering her face. Tilting his head, he tried to see her expression, only for her to shift away again.

Ranma gulped. Maybe he had gone too far. "H-Hey, Akane–"

"Was it that obvious?" she asked softly.

"Obvious?"

"You know…"

"Know what?"

"You know!"

"Huh?"

"That I like him, dummy!" she spat, lifting her head up to glare at him.

Ranma stared back in response. "Uh…"

She frowned, her cheeks turning pink. "Well, was it?!"

Ranma cleared his throat. "I–I mean, yeah. Well, It's not like I care that much or anything in particular, but it was kinda obvious, but it's really not that big of a deal to me at least, don't get me wrong–" he rambled, then paused when Akane continued to walk forward, her gaze on the ground. "Akane?" he called out. "Hey, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing!"

"You really think I'm gonna let you go home mopin' like this?"

"I'm not moping!" she retorted, glaring at him. Her expression then softened. "It's just… if someone like you can tell then…"

Ranma's eyes twitched. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, if you can tell then maybe it really is obvious then."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Because–!" Akane bit her lip, conflicted in thought. She then sighed, looking sullen. "Nevermind. Just please don't tell my family."

He blinked. "Oh. 'Course." On hearing that, Akane gave a weak nod and continued walking. Ranma kept up with her pace, observing her expression from the side. Gloomy. He could tell her head was filled with all sorts of unpleasant thoughts.

Damn. He hated seeing Akane like this. And he knew exactly why she was like this.

"So what, you don't want them to know 'cause the doc is in love with Kasumi?" he blurted.

Akane stared at him, shocked. A few seconds passed as she found the words to speak again. "How did you…? How do you know about that?"

Panic shot through Ranma. "Uh–I–um–wel–well–" He rummaged through his mind for a valid excuse." Well–most people in the area know, right? I, uh, heard about it while I was outside!"

Akane slowly nodded, sending relief through Ranma. "Oh… Yeah. Most of Dr. Tofu's patients are aware of his infatuation with her." She then looked up at the horizon, the sunset's pink glow casting a shadow over her face. "How pathetic, right?" she said, gaze cast afar. "Me being in love with a man in love with my sister?"

"Hey, who said anything about you being pathetic?" Ranma snapped. He grabbed her shoulders, making her stare back in surprise. "Quit lookin' like it's the end of the world! Look, Akane, so what if the doc's in love with your sister? So what if you're too much of a violent tomboy to be all ladylike like your sister?"

"Are you trying to cheer me up or insult me?" Akane grumbled, a fist slowly rising up.

"H-hey, listen! Well it's just… It's not like you can force people to feel the same way you do right? Sometimes…that's just the way things are," he said slowly, wondering if this all applied to him as well.

Akane's gaze softened. "Yeah…I know."

"But regardless… At the end of the day you still gotta do what's best for you, y'know? Like…whatever you gotta do so you don't regret anything in the end."

"Oh," Akane replied. She looked down at the ground for a second, before turning her head back up to face him, a small smile gracing her lips. "Thanks for that, Ranma. I'm…not quite sure what that would look like for me just yet, but…I think I get it. I feel better now."

Ranma grinned in response. He let go of her to rub his nose with his finger. "See? I'm not too shabby at this."

"Hah! Don't give yourself too much credit."

"Besides Akane, maybe the doc will come around by how much business you bring to him from your fights–OW!"

Akane jabbed Ranma in the side with her elbow.

"What was that for?!"

"For being a jerk!" She stuck her tongue out at him and ran off, her blue dress billowing behind her.

"Jeez, after I cheered her up? How uncute…" he muttered, rubbing his side. He watched her for a second, and a smile unconsciously formed on his face.

"Guess I'll just have to wait for you to catch up to me, Akane."

"Hey, wait up!" he called, running after her.