He kept staring at the wall, counting every little laceration on its bubbled surface. He was at 25 marks. Some were from before he and his father had arrived, but most, he knew, were from them. The times people would break through the roof, the times he and Happosai would brawl. The time Kuno came tumbling in, slashing toward Ranma with each stroke of the sword, leaving another mark. It was amazing the Tendos hadn't kicked them out yet. He knew the reason why.

Because he was supposed to marry their youngest daughter, Akane, now aged 17.

Her birthday had been today, a week from their unsuccessful wedding. They had spent the day shopping, eating out, and - unfortunately - bickering after a run-in with a certain Amazon who didn't understand boundaries. It was a shame.

It had been a really nice day.

Ranma turned restlessly to his side as he stared now at the shadows dancing listlessly on the floor. He had meant to apologize to her that day about the wedding. He wanted to tell her she had looked beautiful, but he knew he wouldn't be able actually to say it, but he would have found some way. Some backhanded compliment. He was going to say it when he gave her her gift after dinner, but then Shampoo showed up and created a scene, and now that tightly wrapped present remained in the pocket of his pants, tossed in a corner of the room.

He didn't really want to apologize. It wasn't his fault that things went tits up with all the suitors arriving and causing a cacophony of chaos, but he couldn't let go of what Nabiki had said the day after.

"Ranma, you should really apologize to Akane about the wedding." Nabiki had been looking at the TV, and Ranma had wondered if she had said anything at all.

"W-why should I do that? S'not my fault all those guys busted in. And besides! It's your fault that they knew about it in the first place!"

Nabiki had glanced over to him, slight agitation in her usually cool eyes. "I did it because I knew you weren't ready. How is that fair to Akane to be married to some chump who can't even man up and tell a couple of little girls that he doesn't like them?"

Ranma swallowed and looked away, blushing. "It-It's more complicated than that," he grumbled.

She guffawed and muttered, "Some martial artist."

Ranma quickly shifted to his knees, about to rise up in anger, "Hey! That-" The look Nabiki shot him had his blood run cold and he dropped his shoulders. It wasn't like Nabiki to be angry. Not like this, anyway. Not for her sister's sake.

"Listen. Whether or not you and Akane were ready to actually be married is beside the point." She sighed and looked back at the TV, her voice dropped to a whisper as she said, "She had looked so happy."

So now Ranma lay in bed, unable to sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep much at all since he and Nabiki had talked. In his very classic way, Ranma had spent the first few days pondering what to do and say. Did he get her a gift? Did he crack a joke? Did he tell her to stop being such an uncute crybaby over not getting to be Mrs. Ranma Saotome? None of those sounded right. As much as he balked at showing affection, Ranma no longer felt that same desire to tease her mercilessly. In the last few weeks, she had become precious to him.

To an extent, she always had been, especially when her childhood love - or whatever he had been to her - had popped up. Ranma had thought he had finally lost her then. This is where it had exploded, from a simple childish hair-pulling crush to realizing he was in love with an uncute tomboy. He had stuffed those feelings down, hating the idea she had that kind of power over him, but in Jusenkyo - when he almost lost her - those feelings came in full force. He hadn't been able to stuff them back in since.

So now he laid down in silence, his mind whirring with thought. Maybe he could still salvage today. The sun hadn't risen yet. It was still her birthday until the sun came up.

Feeling energized by the sudden decision, Ranma jumped up from his sheets and went to his bunched-up pants. He rummaged through the pockets to retrieve the carefully wrapped present, and he quickly went to the door. He opened it hesitantly, trying not to wake his father until he remembered that his dad no longer stayed at the dojo. Quietly, he tiptoed to Akane's duck-adorned door. He went for the handle and twisted it silently to discover it was locked. He sighed and turned, went down the stairs, and slipped outside.

Now, he stood under the window to Akane's bedroom. He climbed quietly and went to slide the window open. The metal on metal caused a slight hiss that was no more than a whimper but made him wince. Quickly, he hoisted himself up and slipped himself into her room.

In a flash, he grabbed the wooden sword Akane had swung towards him. He looked over to see her shocked, blushing face. "Ranma?" She hissed quietly, "Quit sneaking into my room you pervert!"

"Who's a pervert?" He whispered back. "You think I'd come crawling into your room for that?" He asked, feigning disgust as a small part of his brain quickly shouted 'Yes!'

"Oh right, I'm sorry. Who would ever want to crawl into an uncute girl's room?" Akane asked with her annoyance growing. "So why the hell are you here? And why are you in your underwear!" Ranma looked down and saw he had, in his excitement, forgotten to put the pants back on and was instead only in his boxers and a black tank.

'Wrong, wrong, wrong!' Ranma thought, irritated with himself. He wasn't here to start a fight, so why did it always feel like he was? He looked down to his feet and held out the wrapped gift. It was a small gift, no bigger than his palm. "Sorry," he murmured as he felt his face tingle with a sudden heat.

"What's that?" She whispered, but this time, her tone had a perfect mix of curiosity and excitement.

"What's it look like? Your birthday gift." Gingerly, Akane reached out her hand and picked up the gift. Ranma's hand dropped to its side, and he turned his face to the ground. He heard her ripping the gift wrap and felt his anxiety grow. "It's nothing big. I just saw it and thought you might like it. I don't know; you can toss it, too. Like I said, I just saw it. And I had a little more pocket money and since y'know, it's your birthday, I figured I could get you something nicer. But if you think it's stupid -"

"Thank you." His ears pricked up at her earnest response. It came out gentle, and he felt his heart crash. He looked up at her to see her holding the necklace up to her face, the chain hung limp towards the ground. Her fingers were moving to open the locket up. Ranma knew that he must have been completely red at this point. He watched her frown and his stomach dropped to his knees. She looked up at him, "There's no pictures in here. I thought maybe you would be…"

He threw his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed the tensed muscles. Oh god, please kill him and take him away from this place where the embarrassment slowly drowned him. "I, I didn't know if you would w-want me or y-your sisters or someone," he gulped, "important to you…"

She giggled, and Ranma looked back at her in surprise. Her eyes looked at him warmly; a smile was buried in there as well. "It's perfect. Thank you."

He turned away from her, almost certain that he would pass out at any moment. "S-so don't ever say I don't do anything for uncute macho chicks like you!"

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

Why did he keep doing this? "Sorry," he said quickly, still not looking at her, "I didn't mean that."

"Ranma?" Akane asked. He must have seemed insane to her with the amount of personality switches he had done in the last five minutes.

"I'm also sorry," he swallowed, "for the wedding, I mean. I know that wasn't how a girl likes those things to go." He shuffled his feet, suddenly feeling like a little schoolboy who was in trouble. "I… you looked very…. I-I I t-thought…." he swallowed, but there was no more spit left in his mouth, "I thought that any guy who got to be m-married to you would b-be lucky" his voice cracked on the word lucky, and he wondered if he could use his Neko Ken to turn into jelly and slither through the slit in the door. He quickly turned away from her, not wanting her to see just how red his face had gotten.

Akane didn't reply, and before Ranma could turn around to gauge her reaction, he felt warmth wrap around him as her hands slithered around his sides and met just below his naval. He felt her body press against him and the gentle resting of her head between his shoulder blades. He was incredibly aware of the hot breath hitting his skin and her breasts - bare outside of the oversized nightshirt she wore - pressed against him.

Slowly, he brought his hands up and clasped them over hers. He thought he could pass out at any moment with the blood in his body, fighting for where it would go next. They stood silently like that for a few minutes, feeling each other's warmth. Finally, he heard Akane whisper, "Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you…" he felt her head drop lower down his back, "Love me?"

On instinct, he squirmed away from her, turning to face her, and almost yelled, "Wha? Me? You? HA! Like I'd-"Quickly, her hand covered his mouth.

"Do you want to wake up the whole house?" She asked quietly through gritted teeth. She sighed and looked at her feet. "Please. Can you be honest with me?" He looked back at her, surprised and embarrassed. He both loved and hated when she looked like this, serious and vulnerable. "When we were in Jusenkyo, I know you said it then - or didn't say it, but I heard it." She met his eyes and he could see they were pained, yet hopeful. "Did you only feel that way because you thought I was dead?" She swallowed. "If I hadn't been dead if, if you weren't feeling so desperate, would you have still thought that you loved me?"

Ranma looked at her quizzically. He had never really thought of it like that before. Maybe she was right. Maybe he wouldn't have ever really come to that conclusion if it hadn't been life or death.

He brought his hand up to hers and wrapped it around her wrist, pulling her hand down gently away from his mouth. "Maybe," he said honestly, "I don't know."

"But, do you love me?"

He blushed again and went to turn away before he felt her other hand grab his arm. He froze in place, "B- Don't be… don't be an idiot!"

"Ranma!"

"What?" He hissed, voice low. "Do you love me?" He asked, thinking he had caught her in her own trap. To his surprise, she blushed.

In the quietest voice, no louder than the squeak of a mouse, she said, "Please don't make me say it first."

The response shocked him. She had basically just admitted it then, right? By saying don't make me say it first, that meant that she loved him, right? He thought for a second to gloat and rub it in her face that she had basically admitted it, and he remained number 1, but something inside of him quickly snapped, 'Don't do it, stupid.'

Slowly, he turned back to her and with his free hand, lifted her chin so that their eyes would meet once again. She looked at him, desperate.

"I… I love you." He whimpered and immediately hated how unmanly he sounded. He said it again, firmer this time. "I love you."

Akane smiled up at him, took the hand she had been holding, and tugged him slightly to her. She lifted her head up towards him and whispered, "I love you, too." And then, she kissed him.

To say that it felt like a million fireworks burst in his heart was an understatement. Every part of his brain seemed to fire on all cylinders. He gasped, and as if he was possessed, he grabbed her waist tightly, lifted her up, and pressed her to him, kissing her back with as much force as he could muster. He was sure that this kiss was terrible for her as he had never really kissed anyone before. It was probably too forceful, but his brain couldn't stay on a single thought for more than a second. He felt hungry for her like he could nibble on every corner of her body to see what each unique part of her tasted like.

They parted lips, both breathing heavily. They stared at each other, both eyes flickering to each other, trying to figure out what the other one was thinking. Ranma was panting heavily. He held her closer to him and kissed her again. He didn't even realize he had brought her to her bed, but now he was on top of her, kissing her, running his hands up and down her side, feeling her shiver. He brought his tongue to her mouth and licked her lips, which she opened. It was awkward, trying to figure out what to do with his tongue. Not that she was much better. It was like two hens pecking at the same worm.

He pulled away and chuckled at how silly this all was, but when he saw her concerned face, he pushed back her hair to reassure her everything was alright. "I love you." He said again, finding it much easier to say this time. She smiled at him, and he bent back down to kiss her.

They continued to kiss as his hands roamed outside her clothed body. He could feel his boxers tighten, and his dick tried to poke from the hole in the front of his shorts. He tried keeping it tucked away but found it continued to try to peek out. Akane hadn't seemed to notice, so he left it alone.

He reached up, grabbing one of her breasts as he felt the fabric stiffen at a certain point. He brought his fingers to the nub and gently rubbed it. Her reaction was instant as her hips bucked upward, gently caressing his hard-on. She paused for a second, seeming confused and then embarrassed as she realized what it was. He blushed, too, but quickly went back to kissing her. He hoped it would distract her enough to keep going. He didn't know what the end goal was, but he knew he really wouldn't mind if she brushed up against him again.

As they continued to kiss, he felt her hands gently move up and down his back. At one point, he tried to put his hand under her nightshirt, but she quickly knocked it away. He felt like he was going crazy. He pressed his member against her legs again, waiting for a reaction. Surprisingly, she didn't turn away but instead pressed back. He shivered, letting out a single low moan. He rubbed against her, feeling the friction against his member as he glided across her slit, wishing the pajama bottoms were gone. He could feel moisture start to drench his boxers and was surprised at how warm it was. 'Girls pee a little when they're excited?' He wondered. Sex ed had failed him tremendously, whether that was because he was constantly out of school or because he was too embarrassed to pay attention was a mystery.

He thought the idea would gross him out, but it was Akane, and she felt so warm. He wanted to touch her there, too.

Testing the boundaries, he brought his hand down to her pajama bottoms and gently moved his hand to her delicate space. He swept a finger on the crease of the pants and felt her shiver and cover her mouth to keep noise from escaping. He dropped his head on her shoulder. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears and could feel a strong tingle in his loins. He wanted to hear those sounds terribly. Even with a full house, something took over him and he knew he wanted to hear her scream his name and shake uncontrollably by his doing.

He moved his hand to the hem of her pajama bottoms, and went to pull them down…

And suddenly, Akane pushed him off of her.

He tumbled back, surprised at the abrupt shift in change. "What's wrong?" He asked.

She shakily sat up, her body still trembling with elation. "I-I can't go that far."

He blinked and realized what she meant. He supposed that it would be pretty crazy to lose your virginity after one "I love you" and have never had an official date. If it had been Shampoo or Ukyo, it would have been in the bag. But Akane wasn't like that. She wasn't desperate enough to give away every piece of herself in one single stage. Someone like Akane - as much as she protested - liked to be romanced.

However, the horny monster every 17-year-old boy has to deal with that had awoken in him was not easy to bring down. "S-so we can go on a date or something? I can take you to that amusement park you've been yapping about." Still desperate to touch her again, he tried to bargain, "I'll even win you one of those stupid stuffed animals you like so much." He reached out to touch the back of her hand and she sharply pulled it away. Ouch.

"It's not about dating - we've been on lots of dates, even if you didn't realize it - or me, too." She looked away and brought both hands to her chest as if she was protecting herself. Double ouch. Ranma could feel his erection quickly falling away. "It's just… I mean, think about today. With Shampoo. She interrupted our date. And if it's not her, it's Ukyo, or Kodachi, or Kuno, or…" she sighed. "The point is that I can't do something like that with you and then have to pretend it never happened. It's too… special." She groaned. "Ugh, that was cheesy."

He watched her intently and said, "It's not." She looked back at him, seemingly surprised. "You're right. It is special." Still, try as he might, that burning was still there. "But if I can get them to leave us alone, like, actually leave us alone, would you… I mean, could we." He was embarrassed. He felt like he was begging, and he hated begging. But what could he say? He was desperate. He wanted to feel her naked breasts, to kiss her naked stomach and hips, to push himself inside of her and feel the warmth between her legs that he had felt earlier.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but a bright red blush painted itself across her face and she quickly looked down at her lap again. She wiggled slightly and Ranma wondered if she felt the same way as him: desperate. Did she want to touch him and kiss him all over? Did she want to take his member between her hands and kiss that, too? The thought almost made him pass out and he almost didn't hear her say, "You can have me."

But he did hear it.

Before she could react, he leaned over and kissed her again, his hand going to the back of her neck to keep her steady. When he pulled away, he smiled at her as he watched her lips redden. "I never back away from a challenge." He told her in a low tone he didn't recognize as his own.

Then he got up and walked to the window, and climbed out. A new resolve on his mind.

But then the sun rose and the night's activities felt like a dream.

And also he was really, really bad at turning people down.

A/N: One and only Author's Note if I have it my way. I haven't written in years, and it's a hobby I miss. With the reboot now upon us, I have found some inspiration. I wrote fanfiction when I was much younger, but it is the path I used to eventually start writing my own original stories, so I'm hoping this spark will bring something back. We'll see. This is more for fun, and this specific story has plans to have several chapters to it (I'm on the 2nd one now) so I will hopefully keep the motivation up. Overall, I don't foresee this story having more than four chapters in it, but we shall see. Let me know what you think so far, and we'll see you next week!