'Why can't I take my eyes off her!? Oh Kami, she is so beautiful! It's like, I can keep looking at her for days and I won't get tired of it!' Ranma thought to himself as he kept staring at Akane with his soft fascinated eyes.
Akane also had a dreamy expression on her face, her eyes unblinking as she thought to herself,
'Do I know him? Why am I staring at him? I should be scolding him for staring at me like that and making me uncomfortable, but why am I staring back at him?! It's strange, What's wrong with me! Oh Kami, his eyes are so attractive and expressive too..! It's like I am drowning in his ocean-blue eyes..'
'Am I dreaming now? This is not happening, right?! I mean, why would she look back at me then?I thought she would get angry at me and yell at me! But she is looking back at me with her beautiful eyes, no trace of anger in it.. ! Wait a second!... If she is acting this way then maybe it means.. No!... This can't be real at all! I sure am dreaming right now!' Ranma released a big dreamy sigh as he continued thinking to himself, 'If that's the case then, this is the best dream I ever had! I ain't gonna wake up anytime soon! Nope! No matter how loud the alarm rings, no one can get me out of my dream now..'
Poke ... poke*
"Hey buddy..!"
Ranma didn't even flinch, as he kept examining Akane.
'Wow, her eyes are so glossy! So warm and gentle..'
'Poke' 'Poke' poke'*
"Akane!"
'He looks so simple, but... graceful. Is he a martial artist too? He looks like he is though. Which school did he train from?'
"AKANE!"
Akane jerked in surprise as she stood up in a haste. She looked behind her and saw Akio giving her an annoyed look.
When Ranma saw Akane standing up in fear, he was also harshly pulled out of his daydreaming. He looked back and forth between Akane and Akio and then to Ryoga, who just shook his head at him and slapped his own forehead in frustration.
The whole class started to laugh and murmur to themselves. Akane gulped as the reality slowly made sense to her. She silently turned around and sat on her bench, her head down in embarrassment as she bit her lower lip in worry.
Ranma also realized the mistake he had made and now because of his foolishness, he made the whole situation awkward for both him and Akane.
Akane could feel that all the students were giving them strange funny looks and laughing at them. She moaned inwardly and wished nothing but to bury herself deep under this building.
The professor loudly cleared his throat to draw all the attention towards him and announced loudly,
"Class, please! Keep Quiet! And you two, please try to concentrate on your class now."
"Haha! Don't mind them, professor! They must have been playing the eye contact game and that surely does prove the competitive spirit both of them have! Well done kids! Hahaha!" Mr Kuonji tried to make it a casual incident.
"Uhhh.. Really?! If you say so, Sir." The professor said in a confused state.
Ranma gave a sigh of relief when he saw his uncle making a backup story to save him from embarrassment. He looked at them and saw his uncle interacting with other students and changing the subject. He looked down in worry and carefully tried to sneak a look at Akane. She was looking down with a sad expression on her face, her face blushing as she bit her lower lip.
He also looked down feeling ashamed. He should have listened to Ukyo, he should have been careful about his behaviour while being around her. Now because of him, she has become even more uncomfortable than before. But how could he blame himself! He just completely lost his control and couldn't control his need to keep looking at her! He was impatiently waiting for her to arrive at the classroom , and when she really did came, she chose to sit beside him. He felt as if he was dreaming and the way she was looking back at him, confirmed to him that he was indeed living in his fantasy world. But in reality, he wasn't; and now, he is doomed!
'I really want to make everything normal between us! But how?! I bet she hates me now! Damn it!'
He bitterly thought to himself, as he tightly balled his hand over the table. Then suddenly he remembered something. He took a deep breath and pulled out his notebook and started writing his apology in writing. This is the first time he felt embarrassed about his handwriting and he hates his writing style! His mother always used to ask him to improve his writing, but he was way too ignorant about it and now, he is ashamed. With a defeated sigh and after loads of scratching and scrambling, he finally wrote what he wanted to write. He looked at his front and noticed that his uncle was gone now and the professor had started taking his lesson. Pretending to concentrate on what the professor was explaining to them, he quickly and carefully shifted the small note towards her.
Akane's heart was still beating from the hustle that happened not too long ago. She still couldn't believe that she had practically gawked at a complete stranger! That was not like her at all! She was dying of embarrassment now! She knows as soon as this class ends, Akio will tease her about it with all his might! She just couldn't believe her luck! Since the day she meet this stranger, he is only causing trouble for her! And now because of him, for the very first time the whole class laughed at her! She gripped her pencil tightly and thought to herself,
'Awww! Just wait until this class ends, Mr! I won't spare you this ti..'
But she couldn't finish thinking as she felt a quick touch on her hand. She looked down at her hand on the table, and noticed a scrambled note there. She realized who gave it to her, curiosity got better on her as she quickly looked at the note and it says..
"Akane.. I am sorry. Would you forgive me, please?"
'Wait a minute, how does he knows my name? This is really strange!'
Although confused, she could clearly tell the struggles he had done to write the words clearly. She bites her lips to control her anger as she looks up at the professor. She could feel his concern-filled stares looking at her from time to time , as if asking for her approval. When she again felt he was looking at her , she just sighed and gave a quick look at his direction . Then looking forward, she plainly nodded her head.
Ranma's foul mood instantly brightened up after seeing her nodding. He wanted to leap in joy, but this time he checked himself and didn't dare to do anything that might make her more embarrassed..
Hours later...
The professor left the classroom and some students began to leave the classroom for lunch. Ranma had been eagerly waiting for this lunch period to come so that he could properly apologize to her. He felt more than ready to face her , but before he got any chance to turn towards her, he felt a loud smack over their table. He fearfully turned to face Akane and before he could understand what was happening, she grabbed his collar and made him stand up in front of her. She pulled his face closer to her and asked him in an angry filled tone,
"What the hell is wrong with you, pervert? How dare you stare at me like a moron?"
Ranma became too shocked to answer her. He looked at her with his wide surprised eyes as he became completely speechless. Akane growled loudly when she saw his expression as she angrily shook him again and said,
"First because of you Akio kept teasing me and calling me a ghost and now the whole class laughed at me! Who are you? Why are you making my days worse?"
"Hey! Leave his collar, woman!" Ryoga intervains from behind their sit as he tries to pull Ranma backwards to get her hands out from his collar.
Akane growled even more and gripped his collar more tightly as a messed up chaos began between them. Then suddenly Akio came behind Akane and without saying anything, he poked Akane on her sides. She was extremely ticklish and that touch shook her badly. She immediately left Ranma's collar and felt a strong arm around her waist as it lifted her off the ground and started pulling her away from Ranma and Ryoga. It didn't take long for Akane to understand who that person was, she started hitting his hand continuously as she cried out in an annoyed tone,
"Akio! Put me down THIS INSTANT!"
"Calm down, wild cat!" Akio said as he carefully puts her down on the ground and made sure to put a safe distance between them.
"Why did you do that for?!" Akane snapped at him angrily as she looked at him with an angry pout.
Akio sighed and said plainly,
"Keep quiet, dummy! You being angry won't work here, let me talk to him.." Akio shifted his stare towards Ranma, who was silently looking at them with a stunned expression on his face. Akio cleared his voice and asked him with a straight voice, "Is there anything wrong, buddy? Why are you bothering her so much? Are you stalking her or something? Do you even know who you are dealing with, man?"
Before Ranma could say anything to him, Ryoga stood in front of him and said,
"How dare you talk to us like that!"
"And who are you?" Akio asked him while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Me! You are asking me?! How dare you accuse the great Ryoga Saotome!" Ryoga asked arrogantly ..
Akio and Akane shared a dumfonded look with each other.. But before any of them could confront him again , Ukyo came rushing to them and hugged Akane tightly,
"Akane! Wait please.."
"Ukyo! You wait a second, let me deal with this guy first.."
"No no no.. please, honey. He didn't meant to do what he did! Let me explain it to you .."
"You know him?" Akio asked her in a surprised tone.
"Yes, I do!" Ukyo said hastily.
"But do you know what this guy is doing to.." Akane tried to say but Ranma interrupted..
"I am sorry.."
That stopped Akane as she looked at Ranma. Ukyo took that opportunity as she hastily grabbed her frantic friend's hand and said,
"Lets go outside, honey! I need to explain everything to you.."*
They quickly went outside the building and stood in the garden area of the University. Akane crossed her arms over her chest and kept glaring at Ranma. Ukyo cleared her throat and said,
"Akane, let me introduce you guys first.. He is Ryoga habi..ahm ahm.. uhh sorry something went inside my mouth.. So where was I... oh yes, he is Ryoga Saotome, he is my cousin and he is Ranma; he is.."
"Who stares at me for no reason.." Akane said with an irate pout.
Ranma blinked his eyes nervously and sheepishly smiled at her.
Ukyo giggled and said,
"Well, you won't believe me, but there was a reason behind it, honey.." Ukyo paused for a moment as she looked at Ranma and asked him, "Ranchan, can I tell them about your dream, sugar? I need to explain it to her.."
At first Ranma looked hesitant about this, but later he sighed defeatedly and nodded his head...
"You are home early today! How's your day, honey?"
Mr Kuonji turned towards his bedroom door and smiled at his wife as she slowly entered their room and softly closed their bedroom door.
"Mika, how are you feeling now, honey?"
Mika smiled at him and laid her hand over his cheek as she asked him,
"Only you can make me feel better, dear. I was eagerly waiting for you to come home, you know! Now tell me, … did they meet each other today? What happened, please tell me.."
Mr Kuonji smirked and puts his arms over her shoulder as he said,
"You are acting kind of impatient, you know that?"
Mika nodded her head excitedly. He sighed and told her in a shaky tone,
"They did meet each other today. I even made them sit next to each other.."
"WHAT! Really! Oh Kami, did they remember each other?"
Mr Kuonji smirked and said,
"Honey, your expectations are way too high! How can they remember each other? They were so little when they last saw each other!"
Mika sadly sighed and said,
"Yeah.. I Know.. But I just can't suppress my excitement anymore! If it was in my hand, I would have talked to them directly and tell them everything!"
"Don't you think I would have done the same! But I won't do it."
"But why not, honey?"
"Because I know my sister very well, Mika. She will never approve this to happen."
"But it's not her opinion who Ranma would choose, right?"
"I know, and that's why I wanted to give him a chance to meet her . Honestly, I thought that this day would never come , but finally, God gave me a chance to fix my mistakes.." Mr Kuonji said in a sad tone as he looked down.
"Oh honey! Don't blame yourself for anything! It was not your fault!"
"But I couldn't stop them that time, Mika and that pain is still hunting me."
He sighed sadly and started walking towards his drawer. He opened one drawer and carefully pulled out a picture from inside as he looked at the picture in his hand. Mika silently followed him and looked at the picture, as her eyes filled up with unshed tears,
"This picture brings back so many memories.. Look at Ranma here, honey; he is looking so happy and active in Natsumi Onechan's arms!"
He nodded and said,
"Everyone in this picture is looking so lively and happy; I still remember that day when we took this picture, we were having a family picnic that day and this was the last family picture of us. Ranma was so attached to Soun Onii-can and Natsumi Onee-chan and my sister used to adore Akane so much.. But everything changed.. Only because of greediness, name and fame!"
Mika sniffed and bites her lower lip and said,
"This is really hard to believe! What the Saotome family did to the Tendo family, is so horrible, honey! If they hadn't betrayed them then things wouldn't have been so rough on this Tendo family."
"That's the only reason why I am not telling them anything. But I do remember that one promise that my sister and Nataumi Onee-chan made with each other, that they would engage Ranma and Akane when they would grow older. But after the betrayal I don't trust the Saotomes anymore. I still remember that day , when they promised each other, Mika! My Natsumi Onee-chan was so happy about this decision because she loved Ranma like her own son. That's why I want to give a chance to Ranma. It won't be fair to him if we judge him for what his parents did. He always seems so different from them. And now, they have only two years for themselves. If Kami wants them to be together, eventually their love would find each other. But if not, then at least I can tell myself that I tried to get them together! It's now on God's hand, honey!"
Mika sighs and nodded then asked in an excited tone,
"I just hope they get closer to each other, Oh Kami! But tell me more about them, honey, did they talk to each other?"
He smirked and said jokingly,
"Talk! They have already done more than talking, my love.."
"Really! Tell me every single details, please,please.."
Back at the University
Ukyo finished her explanations which made all of them silent and shocked at the same time.. Akane became completely speechless as she tried to ask them in an uncertain tone,
"Uhhh.. So you want to tell me, he saw me in his dream?!"
"Not dream, honey, dreams!" Ukyo said while winking at her.
Akane still couldn't believe her ears , she dumbfoundedly kept staring at Ranma as her face became bright red. Ukyo laughed at that and said,
"So now you understand, girl! My friend here was just shocked to finally find his dream girl! He didn't mean any harm to you!"
Before Akane could say anything to her , suddenly Akio brusted out laughing hard as he said in between his laughter,
"Oh Jeez , Akane; hahahaha.. now at least you can rest properly! This poor girl kept looking at herself in the mirror for days! She couldn't figure out from which side she was looking like a ghost! Hahaha! The way he looked at her that night and the way he ran away! Haha! This is hilarious! This whole dream thing is unbelievably hilarious!"
Ukyo and Ryoga also started laughing hearing that as Ryoga said in between his laughter,
"Darn, thank Goodness, I am not the only one who thinks his dream is dope!"
He laughed more as Akio and Ryoga both shared a high-five! Ukyo was laughing too as she said,
"Stop it , you guys! You are making it hard for me not to laugh !"
"Well, at least I am happy that he didn't run away thinking that I am a ghost or something like that.." Akane said as a relieved filled smile spread over her face.
"If you don't believe me then don't;.. but ya guys have no right to laugh at my dream..!"
Ranma said in a misery-filled tone as he eyed Akane with a sad expression. Akane also looked at him, feeling confused about how to react. Her heart skipped a painful bit as she noticed his eyes and how sad he looked at that moment. But before she could say anything to him, she heard Akio and Ryoga laughing more as Akio said,
"I am sorry, buddy! But your dream sounded extremely funny to me..!"
"And for me it was a complete horror! Hahaha!" Ryoga added while laughing hard.
Ranma didn't say anything after that. He looked at Akane for the last time and silently left the place.
"Oh no! Ranchan! You guys, stop laughing! He is upset now. I have to talk to him.."
Ukyo was about to run after him , but she was stopped by Akane as she held her hand to stop her. She looked at her and said in a panicky tone,
"Akane, I need to talk to him. He is very sensitive about this topic.. I have to.."
"Let me talk to him, Ukyo."
"Huh! But Akane.."
Akane smiled at her and said in a warm tone,
"Let me talk to him. I am her dream girl after all…."
A/N: Hello guys! I am glad that you guys liked the poster of this fic. Thank you for your well wishes! Communication between readers and authors is very important. It not only helps to improve the writing, it also gives encouragement to us to post faster :).. I hope you guys will continue to support me with your kind reviews :).. And I am sorry if I made any mistakes in this fic. Thank you :)..