Disclaimer - I do not own Ranma 1/2
Chapter 3 – The Magic Number
Akane had brought her swimsuit cover with her; she grabbed it from the changing area before heading for the roof. She was sure that was where she would find Ranma, still in boxers and an undershirt that barely covered her breasts. Shaking her head in frustration she climbed the ladder. They should have talked about it first; she just assumed he would want to know as much as she did. She stood on the roof and looked around but there was no sign of Ranma anywhere. Sighing heavily she look toward the dojo, the lights were not on but that didn't really mean anything.
Meanwhile, Ranma was sitting in the dark. She knew Akane was looking for her but she wasn't ready to talk yet. While debating whether or not to change back to a boy she heard footsteps on the roof and briefly smiled, Akane always knew the best places to look first. Next she would check the dojo and be disappointed. Ranma was regretting storming out of the bathroom; Akane had meant well and had no idea how agitated he had been when Nabiki made the comment about how 30 degrees might not be hot enough. She was right, and Akane was also right that they should know, but the thought of swimming and playing in the water as a guy had gotten his hopes up too high. He had started to think of the water slides and wave pool; goofing off with his guy friends. He had even thought about how nice it would be to get Akane into the water; she couldn't swim at all so he would have to hold her. As a girl people would give them strange looks and his friends would make perverted comments. Even worse was the thought that Kuno could show up and chase her around. If she got splashed somehow with hot water then the swimsuit would become very uncomfortable.
Akane was in fact feeling disappointed and was now worried that Ranma had left the grounds to find a place to pout. If she was going to keep looking she needed to change into her normal clothes. Heading up to her room she was muttering to herself rather loudly. "If she is out there somewhere in boxers and a tank top with her stupid breasts hanging out I am going to flatten her. If she changed back to a boy first then I will flatten him anyway."
"I don't want to be flattened as a boy or a girl."
Akane jumped and shrieked, "YOU WERE HIDING IN HERE?"
Sitting on the floor against Akane's bed, Ranma shrugged and said nothing.
Akane turned on the light and sat down facing her fiancé, who had her hands wrapped around her knees and was definitely pouting. "I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about it first. I just thought you would want to know."
"I did want to know. I just really wanted it to work."
"It doesn't really matter if you go swimming as a boy or a girl. You have always gone as a girl in the past. I know our friends will be there but they aren't mean."
"The guys are perverted and when we went swimming before it wasn't like a date. It was just the family going."
"Other people always showed up anyway. But you are right it will feel different and if you don't want to go we will find an excuse not to go." Akane climbed up on her bed and sat with her back to the wall. "Come up here with me. It is more comfortable."
Ranma gave her a questioning look but stood up and sat on the bed. She started to sit beside Akane but instead was pulled in front of her. She felt Akane wrap her arms around her waist and rest her chin on her shoulder. They had often sat like this but with him behind Akane. "What are you doing?"
"Comforting you silly. It always helps when you do it to me."
Ranma smiled, it was amusing how Akane would sometimes naturally slip into a role reversal. She felt her squeeze tighter and leaned back against her chest like she so often did to his male side. She felt Akane's lips on her neck; she inhaled sharply and tensed but didn't say anything. Akane had proven again and again that she really didn't think any differently about his female side. I need to stop freaking out every time she tries something new or she will stop trying.
Akane felt Ranma tense but when she didn't jump up or say anything she continued. She loved it when Ranma did this to her. It made her feel so loved and relaxed; she could only hope that it would do the same for her stressed and disappointed fiancé.
Eventually she felt Ranma relax back against her. Akane continued to plant light kisses up and down Ranma's neck and behind her ear. She heard what sounded like a soft whimper after a few minutes and smiled against her shoulder. "Like that?"
Ranma was glad she couldn't see the blush that was surely bright on her face. "It feels really good." She said breathily. Was that my voice? She felt an odd tightness below her belly button and didn't know what to think about it. "We can go back and you can finish using me as a lab rat now if you want." She felt funny and a little sensitive as she moved to stand up. This is really weird.
"Are you sure you want to?"
"You said it was possible that the pools could run warmer too, so if 31 changes me then it could be a problem. Let's just get it over with but if I have to be a girl tomorrow to go then I ain't wearing a bikini."
Akane chuckled, "Fine." She grabbed her hand and they went back to work.
They finally determined that 37 degrees was the magic number. Akane thought it made sense that body temperature would be the changing point. When Ranma had a high fever he couldn't be changed by cold water, it warmed up too quickly against his skin.
Ranma was back to being a guy and both of them had finished bathing, separately, and were downstairs ready to hear what their fathers had to say.
"We might have to help protect sacred shrines in our area. Two representatives from nearby towns were at the meeting to warn us that their shrines had been damaged."
"Who would do such a thing?" Akane hoped there would be a way to convince them to let her help.
"Is it a demon again?" Ranma really hoped not because the last demon had actually been Happosai in an octopus pot.
"There are no clues they could give us to determine who might be doing this but they both thought it was a human who had damaged the structures. At one shrine an artifact was stolen and at the other several small statues were shattered." Soun explained. "For now they are going to have added protection around our shrine and secure any sacred objects; however if another one is desecrated then they will likely come to us for help."
"Protecting the town is an important responsibility of our dojo and I want to be a part of helping this time." Akane was worrying her hands under the table waiting for Ranma and her father to yell at her.
Ranma knew this was coming and he when he heard her mention the responsibly of the dojo he rolled his eyes. Leave it to her to come up with a way to make it sound like she had to be included because she was going to inherit the dojo someday. "I don't think we can make a decision about who should go until we know more." Ranma hoped that would be enough to both appease Akane and give him time to figure out how to keep her safe without making her hate him.
"I think that is wise Ranma." Soun looked at Akane, "I am pleased that you are taking your future responsibilities seriously."
Akane glowered at Ranma, who wouldn't look at her. "Fine." She finally conceded with a huff.
80 kilometers away a lone figure stood in the shadows near a sacred shrine, moving quickly and quietly they began their search for a scroll. Legend said that the scroll would make its master the perfect warrior. In order to master the scroll, first four objects had to be gathered, the legends were unclear exactly what the objects were but one thing was clear; they were protected by their own individual shrines. The problem was there were so many damn shrines in Japan. Finding the right four was going to be a challenge. This was the largest and supposedly the most powerful of shrines in all of Japan. It seemed like people were there all the time, waiting until dark to search had been necessary. Nerima's shrine would have to wait, staying away from Ranma and Akane was imperative. Hopefully all the items needed would be found in other shrines.
The figure reached the back door to the shrine and looked closely at the lock. It was a simple lock to break and soon the figure was inside. The figure scanned the displays, hoping that the priest or priestess who ran the place was careless enough to put the scroll out in plain view. It didn't seem that was the case. Checking the backside of various displays for storage area the figure searched all that were found. Finally one contained scrolls. Having been shown the correct symbol to look for along the upper margin, it was easy to check each one. The scroll didn't have to be opened very far to see if the symbol was present and soon discarded scrolls lay in a pile by the display.
None of the scrolls had the symbol. The figure heard a movement from another room and quickly replaced the unneeded scrolls. Damn, more research.
On the way out the door the figure spied an unusual looking object. It was a ceremonial knife that had a Jade hilt with what appeared to be a story drawn in gold. Picking it up and slipping it a pocket, the figure escaped into the night.
Ranma knew Akane was probably still irritated with him for not being supportive about her helping protect the shrine. If we even have to, the thief might end up being stupid kids and get caught by the police. She had gone up to her room and he decided to leave her alone for a little while. He watched TV until it became dark outside, he had found live coverage of a karate competition and watch to see if he could predict the winner. If the rules weren't so rigid he would probably enjoy competing, some of the contests even offered prize money.
Akane knew she was pouting and that nothing had been decided yet anyway; she was being petty and she needed to find a way to stop before she started a fight with Ranma. He had let her leave the table and even after an hour hadn't checked on her. She supposed that she should be happy he was giving her space instead of trying to force her to understand but he was her fiancé and should trying to cheer her up.
Ranma checked on her every night and he wasn't about to let tonight be any different. He decided to face the fire and go see if she was just sulking or truly mad. Climbing the stairs he saw Nabiki's door ajar. He knew Nabiki had a limited ability to detect an aura so he blocked his and peeked into the room, he could see her sitting at her computer and appeared to be watching something on the screen. He focused on the screen and noticed that it was the video she had taken of Akane and him in the dojo yesterday. Looks like she is going to sell it soon. That certainly won't cheer Akane up. As he watched he saw himself pick up Akane and wrap her legs around his waist. Watching it was awkward but he couldn't help but remember the moments before they realized Nabiki was there. Akane had better not be holding a grudge against him because right now he really needed to get his hands on her.
Leaving the door and moving down the hall, he knocked on Akane's door. He heard her call for him to come in, he smiled knowing that if she was really mad at him, she would have yelled at him to go away. Pushing the door open he walked in to find her sitting at her desk reading a book, she had already changed into her pajamas. "Will you hear me out?"
She closed her book but didn't turn to face him. "Yeah, okay."
He carefully closed the door behind him and leaned against the frame. "Look I know I haven't said whether or not I think you should go, if we are asked to help. I haven't because if any of the shrines that are the in other towns ask for help too then I don't know which is worse, leaving you here or taking you and risking you getting hurt. Sometimes the problems have been pretty minor but if it is dangerous then I worry that things will be like after Jusenkyo again." Ranma wanted to grab her and kiss her until she forgot she was upset but he knew they had to talk about this first. "I guess that probably didn't make much sense."
"I think I get what you are trying to say. You don't like not knowing what to expect." She wished she could find a way to convince him that she would be an asset to have along with them. "I want to actually use my skills."
"That's not it." He took a deep breath and tried again to explain. "I don't like not knowing how I will react. Just a few months ago I flipped out being in a different classroom than you and nearly chocked Shampoo over a slap." He walked over to her and tilted her face up to look at his. "If it were to come to a real fight, not a duel but a fight for your life situation, I don't know what I would do if you got hurt."
She stood up and put her arms around him. "But you said leaving me behind would be hard too, right?"
"Yeah, that is the other problem, I don't want to go back to nightmares and panic attacks either."
"Okay, we drop it for now. When we have more information then we will talk again. If I think I can truly help then I am going to fight with you, dad and uncle Genma if I have to."
Ranma's mouth twitched at her stubbornness. "We'll see about that." Taking another deep breath he decided he need to confess what he saw a short time ago. "I have to tell you something."
Akane didn't know what to think about that statement. Ranma sounded like it was bad news but he had a glint of mischief in his eyes as well. Sucking in air though her nose and narrowing her eyes at him, "What is it?"
"Nabiki is in her room editing that video she got of us."
"And?" Akane's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "That isn't really surprising."
"It got me thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
"Perverted thoughts…" He grabbed her waist and pulled her toward him, "about you…" he leaned down and planted a row of kisses along her neck, grinning when she tilter her head to the side to give him better access, "Her door was cracked and I could see us on the screen. All I wanted to do after that was come in here and kiss you."
Akane was having trouble focusing, "But, um, you still brought up the, um, shrine stuff."
"It was torture but I needed to explain. Now I won't feel guilty about doing this." He put a hand on the back of her head and tilted her mouth up to meet his.
She was not about to let him take all the control, stepping into him she used her body to push him back to the bed. When he sat down she climbed onto his lap and resumed kissing him; playing with his hair she pulled out the tie and undid the braid.
Ranma flinched out of habit before he remembered that he didn't have to worry anymore about his hair tie. "You going to redo the braid for me later?"
"Sure." She pulled back and smiled at him while she ran her fingers through his dark hair. "Has it always been wavy like this?"
"Nah, it used to be really straight but since I drank that soup and started braiding it…" he twisted his mouth and thought for a moment, "yeah, I guess I never have really wanted to go back to my old style. I like the braid."
"Principal Kuno would freak out if he ever saw it all down like this."
"Ugg, I would never wear it down to school. Wind blows it across my face and into my mouth and…" He noticed Akane trying not to laugh at him. "What?"
"I used to have long hair when you first met me. Remember?"
"Yeah but it is cute on you short."
"Thanks but that is why I used to tie mine back and Kasumi puts a bow in hers. It is also frustrating to train without it tied back. I don't want you to wear it down; I, well, just wanted to play with it."
"Oh, okay. I don't mind. It feels good."
She returned to kissing him and running her fingers through his silky hair. His hands on her hips started to grip her tighter before he let go and pushed them under her pajama top. He rarely explored her body like this, probably because he was afraid of getting caught. She couldn't bring herself to care anymore; with Kasumi's help they had been able to mostly keep their fathers under control. She pressed herself against him as his hands moved up her back.
His heart was beating wildly against his chest; it did anytime he got his hands on her. She drove him crazy, she smelled like soap and her strawberry shampoo. He really liked that she didn't wear perfume often and when she did it was a pretty flower scent. He didn't know what type of flower and he didn't care. He gently ran his hands up her sides and accidentally brushed the sides of her breasts with his thumbs, he usually made sure to avoid that intimate of contact since he didn't know how she would react. This time she was pressed against his chest and he hadn't thought about adjusting his path along her body. He heard her gasp against his mouth. When she went right back to kissing him, he felt empowered.
The instant that Ranma's thumbs brushed her breasts Akane had gasped with surprise and pleasure. She had no idea how much different the touch would feel compared to the rest of her skin. She had certainly entertained the idea of letting him do this sort of thing but she was still too embarrassed to say anything. Instead of pulling away she relaxed and enjoyed the new sensation. She felt him shift his hand and gently rub the underside. Oh god that feels so good. He stopped and did the same thing to the other breast. She pulled back from him, letting her head fall back and exposing her neck.
When she lean back Ranma shift one hand to her back to hold her up and felt her relax into his hold. He took her movement as an invitation and kissed her slowly from her chin to the soft area between her collar bones. He felt the vibration of her moan against his lips and smiled, "Like that?"
Unable to form a coherent thought, she simply nodded.
Ranma's ego was definitely being stroked and he was feeling braver still. He watched her face closely as he took the hand still on her chest and fit it over her entire breast. He used to tease her mercilessly about her smaller chest but he was a fool. He gently squeezed and reveled in the soft texture under his fingers. Akane shifted her hips firmly into him and he nearly dropped her. "Oh god you can't do that unless you want to end up on the floor."
Akane brought her head back to face him and tightened her gripped on his neck, "Oh yeah?" Her eyes sparkled with mischief. Shifting against him again, she watched as his eyes rolled back in his head. She prepared to torture him further when she heard the creak of someone climbing the stairs.
Ranma heard it too and rapidly disengaged himself from her and went for the window.
"Where are you going?"
"I really don't want anyone to come in and find us or rather me."
"But…"
"Akane it is going to be a little while before it stops being obvious how exciting that was for me."
She blushed and tried to resist lowering her gaze. "Oh"
He climbed out the window, turning before the climbed to the roof, "Hey Akane, I'm sorry I ever made fun of your chest." He twitched his eyebrows at her and smiled cockily.
"Get out of here pervert." She couldn't help but smile back at him.
AN: If I decide to write more intimate scenes that this one I might have to seriously consider increasing the rating to M. I never wanted this to contain a great deal of smut but I do want Ranma and Akane to slowly work through their embarassment. I don't foresee it being a problem for the next few chapters at least.