"Why's Ranchan taking so long? God, I just hope he didn't get into any more trouble!"
Ukyo sighed tiredly and started pacing impatiently on the stairs. For the last fifteen minutes she had been waiting for Ranma to return to his apartment. His apartment's door was locked because Mr Hiro was away from home, that's why she had no other choice but to wait for him to return home, so that they could enter his apartment.
She started shivering as her damp cloth made her feel cold. As if her misfortune had broken down upon her, when she was rushing towards Ranma's house, it started raining very hard. The intense rain didn't even give her time to hide somewhere, as its intensity made her wet in a flash! No choice in hand, she had no other option but to continue to run towards her Ranchan's house.
She shivered badly as she hugged herself by hugging herself with her arms. She wanted to call him on his cellphone to ask him where he was; but she feared that maybe Akio would call her again, and this time she won't be able to make any more excuses. She moaned tiredly and whispered to herself,
"Aww, Ranchan!! Please come soon.."
As if her prayer had been answered; at that exact moment she heard some noises coming from the staircase and soon she saw a shadow climbing up the stairs. She gave a big smile of relief when she saw Ranma walking up the stairs. Her relief-filled smile soon turned into worry, when she realized how badly he was struggling to walk up the stairs while carrying Akane.
"Ranchan!!" She called out to him in a surprised tone.
Ranma somehow managed to look up at her, the way Akane tightly held his neck, her head was almost covering half of his face. It made it hard for him to look at Ukyo fully, but still, he tried to say with a muffled tone,
"Ucchan.. Please… Help..!"
"Oh no!!" Ukyo ran towards him and gave him some help to carry Akane upstairs. When they reached in front of the door, Ranma showed her his pant pocket where he had put the keys of the house; she quickly took it out and opened the door for them. They hastily entered the house and she left the door open for Ranma to close it after as she said,
"Wait, Ranchan; let me turn on the lights first.."
"Thanks Ucchan!" Came Ranma's muffled tone as he pushed the door with his foot and tried to close it blindly.
"No worries, sugar! I am always here to help you.." She turned to look at him and walked towards him, "How is she? Is she awake?" She asked worriedly, eyeing Akane's semi conscious body.
"I think she is fine! But you need to change her clothes quickly! She is shivering.."
At that same moment, Akane stirred and moaned; as she hugged his neck more tightly and almost blocked his mouth from talking.
Ukyo giggled seeing him struggling with Akane like that; she shook her head and asked him jokingly,
"Need any help, honey?"
"Please.." Came out his muffled voice.
Ukyo kept giggling sillily and tried to loose Akane's hold on Ranma's neck. Akane moaned, feeling annoyed suddenly and turned to face the intruder who dared to break her peaceful slumber. She couldn't even open her eyes properly, but she somehow recognised Ukyo's face. She smiled broadly and said in a sing songy tone,
"Ukiyooo!!! Honeyyyyy!! Why did you leave me there..!!"
Saying that, she again flopped her head back over Ranma's chest.
"Hmmm, I am feeling sooo sleepy now!!! Awww Ranma.. mmm you are so warm.."
Ranma's face blushed red as Akane began to rub her face over his chest in front of Ukyo. He gulped hard and tried to defend Akane's action by saying in a shaky tone,
"Uhh Ucchan, she is completely drunk right now! She doesn't have any idea what she is.." Ranma paused when she noticed the way Ukyo was staring at him. She looked so horrified and shocked, her mouth opening and closing like fish out of water.
"Ucchan? Are ya.. are ya alright?" Ranma asked with a concerned tone.
After a moment of complete shock, Ukyo pointed a shaky finger towards him and whispered in a wobbly tone,
"Ranchan… you.. she…did you? Or she…"
Ranma got even more confused, he shook his head as he asked her again, "What you want to ask? Why are you looking so nervous all of a sudden?"
Their concern-filled conversation made Akane curious; she looked back at Ukyo and saw her giving Ranma a fearful look and she was pointing at him for some reason. She followed her finger and where she was pointing at and looked up at Ranma. At first, she smirked and then she started giggling sleepily looking at him. Ranma looked down at her, feeling more and more confused every passing second. Akane slowly laid her thumb over his lips and started rubbing off something at the corner of his lips as she whispered to him, while giggling..
"My lipstick mark is on your lips, Ranma.. So silly…! What ….. what is this brown mark doing here? Strange!"She tries to rub off that brown mark from the corner of his lips. Eventually, she got tired and gave up. She giggled sillily and fall back over his chest again.
Ranma couldn't say anything after that, he understood then why Ukyo was giving him that haunted look. With nothing to say anymore, he stood there bomberd with embarrassment as he waited for Ukyo come out of her stupor, so that he could tell her everything that happened with him..
Akio stood outside the door. It was very late at night, that's the main reason why he was hesitant to knock on the door. But he knew that he had to do it! Or else he wouldn't get any rest at all! He tried to knock on the door again but his hands stopped on their own. He gave a big frustrated sigh and started pacing crazily in front of the door.
"HAHAHAHA!! Don't think about it too much, Mr Kenji!"
"No really I am sorry for leaving this late, Mr Kuonji!"
Mr Kuonji opened the door widely and set outside first and said,
"All I could say, it was a pleasure to…" Mr Kuonji Paused, surprised;as suddenly he saw the least person he expected to see at his doorstep. "Akio!"
"Do you know this young man, Mr Kuonji?" Mr Kenji asked, suspiciously looking at Akio up and down.
Mr Kuonji shook his head and smiled broadly and said,
"Of course, I know him!! He is one of my favorite students!!"
Mr Kenji checked his wristwatch and said nonchalantly,
"Well then, Mr Kuonji; I will see you next month then!"
He again gave a strange look to Akio and went to his car as he waved back at Mr Kuonji..
"Bye, Mr Kenji!! I hope I won't have to see ya until next year!" He started excitedly, but ended the last sentence with a low grumbling tone. He then turned to face Akio and asked with an excited tone, "Akio!! My son, what are you doing here so late?"
Akio bowed down apologetically, then looking at him, he said,
"I am so sorry, Mr Kuonji! I know I shouldn't be here at this late hour; but I just came here to give you back the umbrella you gave me last week."
"My umbrella? Oh yeah, I remember that.. But ya didn't have to bring it at this hour!"
"I know, I am sorry; I was just… I just finished my tution and walked past your house so I thought.."
Mr Kuonji shook his head in amazement and said,
"You work this late, son! I really appreciate your willingness to work hard, Akio! There is a lot to learn from you! I always tell Ukyo to learn something good from you and Akane! Hahahaha!!"
Akio took that opportunity and quickly asked him,
"Where is Ukyo? Can I say hi to her?"
Mr Kuonji looked at him, smiling and said,
"Sorry son; but she is fast asleep now! Last time I checked on her she looked so tired too! No worries, you can see her on Monday or give her a call tomorrow!"
Akio tried to give him a smile; as he began to think of a plan to ask him indirectly about Akane. He didn't have to think much longer as Mr Kuonji said again,
"Akio, I am sorry son, I can't invite you to come inside my house right now! My wife is already pissed off because of Mr Kenji. But I would surely invite you and Akane for dinner sometime soon! My wife will be thrilled if Akane comes to join us for dinner! You guys hardly accept any invitation..!"
Akio controlled his uneasiness; he took a deep breath and asked him calmly,
"Mrs Kuonji hadn't met Akane?"
"Of course she did! You remember the last time she met her on the convocation for your graduation ceremony! Since then she had been asking me to bring Akane home; but my dear Akane is always so busy!" He gave a big sigh and said, " Anyway son, please give my love to Akane! Tell her that I won't take any no for an answer the next time I would ask her to come to my home! So,I will meet you guys on Monday then?"
Thunder cracked over the sky at that exact moment. Akio couldn't even pretend to fake a smile any longer. He bowed down to Mr Kuonji again and whispered hoarsely;
"I will let her know that! Thank you so much, Mr Kuonji!"
Ranma quickly ran towards Ryoga's room to use the washroom. Ukyo had given him very little time to get ready because handling Akane became a hard battle for both of them! Akane didn't want to let go of Ranma and held his neck as if her life depended entirely upon it! It was a hard battle for them to untangle Akane from him.
At that moment, how he wished that Akane was not drunk and did this on her own will! But he had to remind himself everytime that Akane was drunk now and she won't even remember anything after she regains her senses. After the long struggles, they finally managed to pull her away from him. But when they did it; the way Akane stared back at him; it felt like he had betrayed her badly. Her look still haunted him badly. Not only that, after that, she yelled at his face that she hates him and ran inside Ranma's room. Ranma wanted to follow her inside the room, but Ukyo had stopped him and asked him to change quickly and then come to his room; so that while she would change, he would be able to look after her for a few moments.
Ranma washed his face quickly and looked up at the mirror for some moment. A warm smile spread over his once tensed face. He touched the corner of his lips where the brown mark was. He hissed slightly as he felt a little tingling pain as he touched it, but it felt like pleasant pain to him. The color of this mark was getting deeper, he noted. He wondered how he would face Akane with this mark on his lips.
He smirked when he remembered Ukyo's face when she realized what it was. He had to tell her all from the beginning to make her believe that he is innocent and he didn't do anything to her. Akane also made it a hard task for him; when he was trying to convince Ukyo. She kept moaning into his ears as she explained to them how thrilled her kissing experience was! Akane kept babbling nonchantly and from there, he mainly got the information about why Akane had kissed him in the first place! It's because Ukyo had told her that Ranma was upset because Akane didn't kissed him and started dancing with Ryoga instead. That made Ukyo agitated; and then she realized her mistake and didn't say any more words to him.
In reality, Ukyo was right. He was indeed exceptionally upset when their kiss got interrupted. At that moment he wanted to beat Ryoga up so badly for ruining their moment. But now, after all these revelations, he was more thankful to him than angry. If he hadn't interrupted them at that time, he and Akane might have gotten engaged in doing something that neither of them could have any explanation for. Because at that time, he didn't have any idea that Akane was drunk; and he would have thought that Akane was kissing him on her own will. And he is sure, it would have been hard to stop him from kissing her if he started that time.
Ranma trembled with the raw feeling he was feeling for Akane. He never felt like this for anyone before! It was so new to him! And it felt so right! He smirked as he shook his head in amazement. He still does not know how he is going to face Akane with this mark on his lips; but for some reason he was feeling giddy with happiness as if he wanted to show off this to the whole world that Akane has kissed him..
"RANCHAN!! ARE YOU DONE YET!?"
He couldn't think much as he heard Ukyo calling him in an urgent tone. Ranma called out to her immediately,
"JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE, UCCHAN!"
"PLEASE HURRY UP!!"
"Yes! Yes! Coming!!"
He replied hastily and quickly cleaned up and wore a plain white shirt from Ryoga and black loose pants to go with it. In his haste he didn't even care about the water that was dripping from his hair which was damping his shirt.
He could hear Akane's whining from across his room. He knocked slightly and slowly opened the door to enter. As soon as he entered his room, he was attacked by a pillow which was roughly thrown at his face.
Ukyo giggled seeing that as she asked Akane kindly,
"Now, now Akane! Be a good girl now and let Ranchan stay with you.."
"NO!! TELL HIM TO LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Akane said while huffing angrily.
Ukyo growled and looked at Ranma, who was looking like a heartbroken kid staring at his mistress. She gave a big sigh and declared hotly,
"Ranchan, I don't know how you are going to handle her but I have to go and use the washroom now or else I am sure I am going to catch a cold!"
"Don't worry, you go ; I will take care of her.." Ranma said as he carefully entered his room, but he again got attacked by another pillow.
"No!!" Akane whined and turned her face to the opposite side when she saw Ranma nearing her.
His heart was flattered by a calming sensation when he noticed what Akane was wearing at that moment. Ukyo made her wear his green pyjama; it hung loose on her body; but it looked perfect on her as if it was meant to be worn by her...Ranma sighed with a warm smile and tried to approach her carefully;
"Uhhhh….. are ya still mad at me?"
Akane huffed and turned her back from him.
Ranma smiled at her and went closer to her. He sat beside her and said softly,
" Kane.. hey… look at me, please?"
"I hate you.." She replied, still not facing him..
"No, you don't.." He replied casually.
Akane growled at him and looked at him from the corner of her eyes; and before Ranma could do anything, she quickly turned around and sat over his lap. She gripped his collar tightly and pulled his face closer to her. Ranma became so surprised by her sudden attack that he almost lost his balance and flopped back to the bed. But he managed to hold himself in a upright position with the help of his one arm and with his other hand he had to hold Akane's waist, to keep her in a safe distance from a particular place, which would be fully the end of him.
Ranma gulped hard as she glared at him, pouting cutely as she said,
"You are so so so mean!! I hate you, Ranma! First, you ignored kissing me! Then you lied to me that we would be alone at your house and you would kiss me! And now Ukyo is here and you left me with her..! How could you, Ranma?!" Suddenly her eyes got sad as her eyes filled with unshed tears, "Do you… do you hate me this much!"
Ranma's eyes went wide with surprise, he sat up immediately and softly placed his hands on her cheek as he whispered softly,
"I don't hate you; it's the complete opposite, Kane! I wish I could tell ya what you are doing to me."
"Then kiss me!" She dared him.
Ranma again almost lost his balance as he asked her back in surprise,
"Huh?"
Akane pouted and said in a challenging tone, "If you don't hate me then prove it; kiss me..!"
"Now?" Ranma asked, feeling trapped.
Akane nodded her head and closed her eyes and pouted up at him.
"But.."
Ranma gulped hard and looked around for an escape. But he failed to find any. He looked at her and saw her slowly losing her patience and she looked as if she was ready to start crying anytime now. He sighed not finding any solutions and decided to give her what she had wished for.
His hands were still on her cheeks, holding her close to his face. His sudden movement made her stiff as well. She slowly opened her eyes to check him and when she noticed that Ranma was actually listening to her, she immediately closed her eyes again with a pleasant smile on her face. Ranma's heart started beating so painfully hard. He took a deep breath and without any more words, he pulled her face close to him and kissed her, on her forehead.
It took a moment for Akane to realize what just happened, she whined when she realized what he had just done. While kept whining, she angrily looked at him and dropped her head on his chest as she said,
"You are so bad! It's cheating!!"
In reply, Ranma started chuckling softly as he hugged her casually as he said,
"See, I don't hate you..."
They stayed like this for a few moments; Akane resting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. After a few silent moments, Ranma decided to ask her something that was bothering him so much. He wanted to wait for her to come back to her senses first before he would ask her; but now, in the peaceful way they were sitting together; he felt that maybe it was the right time to ask her. Because he doubted that after she would come back to her senses, she would want to talk about this event at all. But he really needed some answers from her; or he wouldn't get any rest till he finds out the truth. Gathering some courage, taking a deep breath , he started saying,
"Kane?"
"Umhmm.." She replied, sleepily.
"Can I ask you something?"
She yawned and nodded her head.
"Why did ya choose me?"
"Hum?!" She asked, confused.
Ranma took a deep breath and said more clearly,
"When those other guys wanted to dance with you, you did dance with them but you didn't let them touch you. Then, why me? How come you pushed them away and not me?"
Akane chuckled lazily hearing that and said,
"Baka, ... because you are Ranma! I know you, silly!"
Ranma was still not satisfied with her answer. He shook his head and asked her again,
"What if it was Ryoga and not me!? You know him too.. Would ya.. would ya have ki– kissed him the same way… ya.. you know.."
Akane broke their hug, she clutched his collar tightly to make her steady; she looked at him, her eyes intoxicated as she whispered to him,
"Kiss Ryoga? But.. he is not Ranma… Why would I kiss him? I would have knocked him off if he had dared to lay a finger on me! No one can touch me, Mr.."
As if a huge load had been lifted off from Ranma's heart, he gave a big sigh of relief. He chuckled hard and unintentionally tightened his hold on her as he asked her back in a whispered tone,
"If no one can touch you then how come I am allowed to touch you, huh?"
Akane giggled and laid her hands on his cheeks. She nuzzled her nose with his nose and whispered sweetly,
"Because you are Ranma, that's why…"
Akio's mind became fully blank as he kept walking with heavy steps. The road was wet because of the heavy rain that fell not so long ago. His final destination was right in front of his eyes. He quickly started climbing the stairs and reached the apartment that he wanted to check out.
He was about to knock on the door, but when he laid his hand on the door it opened up on its own because it was not locked from inside. He took a sharp breath in and entered the apartment. He looked around the house and found no one in the living room. Then suddenly he heard some soft noises coming out from inside a room. The door was semi-closed and he could clearly hear Ranma's soft laughter as he was talking with…
As the realization hit him, he swiftly ran towards the door and the scene that he witnessed made his blood cold on the spot. He froze to his spot as he saw his sister Akane shamelessly sitting over Ranma's lap, her hands over his cheeks She was nuzzling her nose with Ranma and he hugged her waist with both his arms tightly. Their faces were so close to each other as they talked with each other and then, Akane's next move made him alarmed when she circled her arms around Ranma's neck and tried to kiss him…
~~"AKANE!!!"~~
The loud scream of Akio scared Akane so much that she blindly stood up from Ranma's lap and tried to stand up. But in her haste she almost tripped off backwards, but Ranma quickly grabbed her hand and prevented the fall from happening. Akane was still swaying as she stood up. Ranma stood up beside her and helped her to stand properly. She looked at Ranma and then turned to look at Akio with her fearful eyes as she whispered, his name heavy on her lips,
"Akio…"
"Move away from her!" Akio said with a deadly hard tone, his eyes unwavering as he glared at both of them.
Ranma wanted to move away from her; but he noticed the way she gripped his hand, her nails almost leaving their trace over him. Her body was shaking unsteadily and she was having a hard time standing by herself. Ranma looked at Akio in urgency and told him,
"Akio! Please listen! It's not what it looks like!"
"LEAVE... her hand.." Akio replied with an angry tone.
Ranma looked at Akane's fearful state and sighed deeply and said,
"Sorry, but I can't leave her right now.. Please, listen to me first.."
"I SAID LEAVE HER HAND THIS INSTANT!!"
Akio's venom-filled screem filled the whole room; and before Ranma could contemplate what was happening, Akio ran towards them in an lightning speed and snatched Akane's hand forcefully.
"Ahh! RANMA!!" Akane screamed in a painful tone.
"HEY! WATCH OUT! AKANE!!" Ranma tried to call out to her and stop him from holding her so intensely; but before he could do anything to them, he felt a sharp punch on his cheek as she flew few feets away from them.
"NO!!! RANMA!!"
Akane got scared when she saw how hard Akio had punched Ranma. She pushed Akio hard as she tried to ran back to Ranma to help him up. But Akio was quicker, he grabbed Akane's arm tightly and pulled her forcefully towards him. Akane started forcing him to leave her hand as Akio asked her in a shocked tone;
"You are DRUNK?!"
Akane stopped protesting and fearfully looked up at him. He angrily growled at her and cried out to her in a disgusted tone,
"HOW COULD YOU!! YOU ARE PATHETIC, AKANE, YOU SHAMELESS!!" Saying that he pushed her towards Ranma's bed.
Ranma looked at the scene fearfully and got up on his feet in an instant as he cried out angrily;
"AKIO!!! STOP IT!! IT'S NOT HER FAULT,YOU ARE GOING TO HURT HER!!"
"I AM GOING TO HURT HER?? AM I?" Akio revised questioned back him and advanced towards him again. Before Ranma could explain to him anything, he again punched him hard on his belly as he said in an aggressive tone, "I KNOW THAT IT'S NOT HER FAULT!!" He punched him again, "ITS YOU WHO MADE HER DRUNK AND TRIED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER!! YOU SCOUNDREL!!!"
His last kick was forceful enough to send Ranma backwards. Making a big blister as he hit the nearby dresser and it broke into pieces as he lay flat on the ground, unmoving.
"RANMA!! No… No please.. Akio, please... stop.." Akane begged while sobbing in distress as she sat on the floor.,. Then, she noticed Akio didn't stop there and ran towards Ranma to hit him again; she couldn't take the pressure anymore and passed out on the floor.
Akio clutched Ranma's collars tightly and hissed over his face, "I KNEW YOUR INTENTION WAS BAD!! I TRIED TO WARN HER AGAIN AND AGAIN!! BUT SHE WAS DAMN STUBBORN!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO AKANE, HUH!? SPILL IT OUT… TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!"
Akio was about to punch him again but he was harshly pushed away by someone. He was not prepared for that push and fell backwards ungracefully and glared at the person who pushed him. He saw Ukyo sitting beside Ranma and hugging his head possessively over her chest as she called his name again and again.
When Ukyo heard some noises coming from outside, she thought it was Ranma and Akane. Akane got really seriously intoxicated and she needed help. But when she heard the sound of a broken object, she started to call out to them and when she got no response from them, she decided to look out and see what was happening. She quickly wrapped herself in a blue bathrobe and went out of the washroom. And when she saw Ranma lying on the ground, his head bleeding, for a second she got frozen to her spot. Then when she saw Akio clutching his collar again to punch him, she ran towards him and pushed him hard. She immediately started checking Ranma. He was growning in pain; but his eyes were open slightly and he was only looking at Akane who lay flat on the ground. She remembered what Akio told Ranma before she pushed him, she glared back at Akio and cried out angrily; "YOU MONSTRE!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! HOW COULD YOU HURT MY RANCHAN LIKE THIS!? I WAS HERE ALL THE TIME WITH AKANE! RANCHAN AND AKANE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE, YOU IDIOT!!"
"THEN WHY YOUR FATHER LIED TO ME, HUH? THAT YOU ARE SLEEPING AT YOUR ROOM!?" He asked her , equally frustrated.
Ukyo was shocked at first, she bites her lips and said with a trembling tone,
"BECAUSE I DIDN'T TELL HIM THAT I AM COMING TO RANCHAN'S HOUSE!!"
"Akio.." Ranchan tried to say with a cracked painful tone, "Please… check on Kane.. Akane!"
Akio growled frustratingly and yelled out at them,
"JUST SHUT UP! YOU GUYS ARE JUST BUNCH OF LIARS!! DON'T YA DARE GO NEAR HER AGAIN!! LEAVE US ALL THE HELL ALONE!!!!"
Saying that, he stood up and hastily ran towards Akane. He first checked on her and when he saw that she had fainted; he swiftly carried her bridal style and started running out of the house in urgency…
Ranma was looking at their departing way with his helpless eyes. He could hear Ukyo calling him, but he couldn't respond to her as the only word that came out of his mouth before he closed his eyes was,
"Kane…."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading it ;p!! Don't forget to let me know, guy! Please do review and let me know :).. See you soon :)!!!