Chapter 2

 

“Hey, Hurry up Akane!” Nabiki yelled.

“Give me five more minutes Nabiki!” Akane replied as she adjusted the fit of the dress across her breasts. Akane then turned and grabbed her purse. Then turned, she looked at herself one last time to make sure everything was in place.

“Perfect, Ranma will probably die of heart failure when he sees me.” Akane smiled to herself and giggle escaped her as she applied red gloss to her lips.

“AKANE!” Soun yelled. “Its time to go or you will be late!”

“Sorry Daddy! I’m coming!” Akane said as she walked to her bedroom door and exited her room. A shiver of nerves walked there way down her spine as she reached the stairs. She noticed everyone’s stunned look when they finally saw her. “Well how do I look?” she asked.

Soun who was staring at his youngest daughter with a mixture of pride and complete shock finally snapped out of his stupor and stepped forward.

“OH, Akane, my little girl. You look just like your mother when I first met her! You make your father proud!” Soun’s eyes started to tear up and leave trails down his smiling cheeks.

“Daddy!” Akane said as here face started to heat up. She could feel her cheeks stinging in a mixture of embarrassment and happiness.

“Wowza! Akane you look hot,” Nabiki said.

“Oh My!” Kasumi said as she lifted her hand to cover her mouth in a surprised gesture.

“Oh Akane, I’m very honored to have you for my daughter in-law,” Noduka said as she walked from the kitchen doorway to grasp Akane’s hands in her own. She gave a small smile and started to sniffle. “Dear, you do look just like your mother when she was your age.” “She would be so proud of you to see how much you’ve grown.”

“Oh, no Auntie, don’t cry,” Akane pleaded.

“I’m not crying dear, Sniffle, I’m so happy for you. You look so beautiful, doesn’t she Ranma?” Noduka looked over her shoulder to her son who was standing there in complete silence.

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Ranma, was tying his bow-tie and trying to hide how nervous he was from everyone when he heard Nabiki yell “Hey, Hurry up Akane!” He glanced to his left and saw Nabiki holding a camera and tapping her foot. She was already dressed to go to the dance. The outfit she wore was a black sheath-like dress with spaghetti straps and high heals.

Ranma heard Akane’s faint reply. “Give me five more minutes Nabiki!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see what Akane’s wearing,” Kasumi said.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine Nabiki,” Soun said as he glanced at the clock on the wall. Then yelled, “AKANE! Its time to go or you will be late!”

“Sorry Daddy! I’m coming!” was Akane’s reply. There was a faint noise from someone coming down the stairs that caught Ranma’s attention. He looked up towards to stairs and saw her.

Ranma’s jaw dropped to his chest, his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he sucked in a shocked breath. “A.. “A...A...Ak...Ak...A...A...Ak…,” he stammered.

“Oh my, Ranma’s so shy he’s having trouble talking,” Kasumi said.

“Oh, good one Kasumi, He’s not shy exactly. He’s in so much shock that his lights are on but no one’s home. In other words, he has completely shut down,” Nabiki said in a sarcastic tone while waving her hand in front of Ranma’s eyes.

“Ranma! Say something to your fiancée,” Genma said.

“Yes, Ranma, snap out of it,” Soun said.

Ranma finally came back to himself a bit; he shut his mouth while finally started breathing again. “C. . . cute,” Ranma whispered. Akane heard him and glanced into his eyes and blushed furiously.

“Oh my manly son,” Noduka said as she lovingly glanced between Ranma and Akane. “Look Genma, See how much he likes her.”

“Yes dear, How soon can you set up the wedding ceremony?” Genma said.

“Genma! You must be patient and let the children sort it out themselves. Besides, after the last wedding we don’t have the funds for it until Christmas. Just think, a Christmas wedding ceremony. Oh how romantic,” Noduka said.

“Yes Saotome, we haven’t recovered from the last one,” Soun said as he looked at his friend.

Akane noticed how handsome Ranma looked in his suit. She smiled at him while her face cooled down. “Thank you Ranma,” She whispered demurely. “We better hurry or we will be late.”

“Um, Uh yeah. Um, oh here this is for you,” Ranma said while he handed Akane a red rose. “Um, they didn’t have your favorites so I got ya this one instead.”

“Oh Ranma, thank you its very pretty,” Akane said while blushing slightly.

“Not as beautiful as you Akane.” The words came out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. This caused Akane to blush a brighter shade of red then the rose she was holding. They stared at each other, both with looks of affection in their eyes.

“AWWWWW!” Soun, Genma, Kasumi and Noduka said as they heard Ranma’s words, and saw Akane’s response.

“Oh my, what a nice couple they make,” Kasumi whispered to Noduka.

Noduka smiled, nodded her head and whispered, “Yes they do Kasumi-chan, yes they do.”

“What did I say Tendo, Our schools shall be joined,” Genma said to Soun.

“Yes Saotome, Oh happy day! “How about a drink to celebrate?” Soun said as he slapped Genma on the back.

“Good idea Tendo,” Genma replied.

“Alright, That’s enough of that you two,” Nabiki said. She turned to Ranma and Akane. “Come on our ride is here.”

Akane and Ranma snapped out of it. Ranma grabbed his jacket and put it on then he grabbed Akane’s shawl from the hook on the wall and put it on her shoulders. Akane whispered her thanks. Then placed her hand on Ranma’s arm while Nabiki took some pictures.

“Ok that will do for now Nabiki, go before they won’t let you in the doors,” Noduka said. “Oh, and don’t stay out too late since we are leaving early on the training trip to the mountains.

“Ok Aunt Noduka, I’ll make sure they get home on time.” Nabiki turned to Ranma and her sister. “Hurry up lets go.“ Ranma, Akane and Nabiki waved their good byes and walked out to door to the waiting car.

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They arrived at Furinken high with a few minutes to spare before the doors are locked. Nabiki opens the car door, walks towards the entrance while saying over her shoulder to Ranma and Akane who were just getting out of the car. “You two have fun and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.” “Oh, and try to stay out of trouble.” “Nabiki!” Ranma and Akane yelled while blushing in embarrassment.

Nabiki grinned, gave them a slight wave of her hand while saying. “Ta Ta.” She then walked towards the dance just down the hall. Ranma looked up at the cloudy night sky and gave Akane a pained look and said. “Common lets go in before it starts to rain.” “Ya know with my luck its bound to happen.” Akane grinned at Ranma while giving a slight nod of her head then they walked inside heading towards the source of the loud music down the hall.

When they walked through the doors, they were separated immediately when their friends surrounded them. “Wow, Akane, This is a definite surprise. You have never worn a dress like that one before,” Yuka said.

“Yeah, you better watch yourself and make sure that Kuno doesn’t see you or he’ll be grabbing at you,” Suri said.

“Oh boy, wait until Ukyo sees you. She’s going to be so surprised. I mean Ranma’s always calling you the uncute one, but look at you! Your not uncute, your beautiful!” Yuka said.

“Thanks guys. But what do you mean when you said that Ukyo would be surprised when she sees me. She went to see her father four days ago,” Akane said while she smiled at her friends.

“You mean you didn’t know?” Suri said while giving Akane a surprised look.

“Know what Suri?” Akane asked.

“Well Ukyo came back a little bit early and she’s here at the dance.” She didn’t come with anyone, but when we asked her about it she said that she was waiting for Ranma to show up,” Yuka said.

“What! “Grrrr, she better stay away from him if she knows what’s good for her, I mean after what she did at our wedding!” Akane growled to her self.

Yuka and Suri backed away a little bit as Akane started emitting a slight battle aurora. “Akane, please calm down. We're here to have fun not fight,” Suri said nervously.

“Yeah, you know that after the fiasco at the dance last year that they said they wouldn’t have another one. You remember how difficult it was to get them to give us this one? I mean Nabiki had to practically black mail them to give it and at the cost of one thousand yen apiece to all of us.” Yuka said.

Akane didn’t hear them as she was much too far into her own thoughts as her battle aurora grew larger. “Grrr. That. . . that wedding destroyer. That hussy! Grrrrrr!”

Yuka watched as Akane’s aurora started to grow brighter and elbowed Suri in the ribs while saying. “Um Suri, I think now would be a good idea to go get Ranma. He might be able to calm her down a bit.”

“Alright, But Ranma? Calm Akane down? You have got to be kidding me?” Suri said as she turned to get him. She had only taken three steps when she bumped into him.

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“Hey Ranma, looking good man!” Daisuke said as he pulled him away from Akane. "You lucky dog you. Bringing Akane to the dance. I mean Wow! What a looker!” he continued on, oblivious to Ranma’s reddening face.

“So have you… ya know with Akane yet?” Hiroshi said while elbowing Ranma in the side.

“Guys! It's not like that! Our fathers expected me to take her and. . .,” Ranma said and was interrupted by a shout from his left. “Ranma honey!” Ukyo called as she walked up behind a frozen Ranma. “I’m glad you came to the dance. Now you can dance with me,” Ukyo said as she grabbed his arm and started to drag him on to the dance floor.

Ranma, who was still a bit upset at her for ruining his wedding, didn’t budge against her pulling on his arm. He looked into her eyes and said while trying to explain. “Um, Ukyo I can’t. I’m with Akane, and she would get really mad if I danced with anyone else. Besides, I don’t know you anymore. I mean after what you did. I’m not sure I can trust you. You almost hurt Akane by throwing those bombs.”

Ukyo looked stunned by what he was saying and pulled back a little while she replied with a hurt look in her eyes. “I’m sorry Ran-chan, I thought you didn’t want to marry her. You never said that you wanted to marry her! You were always coming into my restaurant and complaining about how Akane was uncute and violent and was always trying to poison you with her cooking. At the wedding, I wasn’t aiming for Akane. I was aiming for you. I didn’t mean for her to get caught in the explosion,” Ukyo whispered.

“Ukyo, that’s the only reason I’m still standing hear talking to you. Shampoo was aiming for Akane when she threw those bombs. I’m really disappointed in you, but I have been doing some thinking in the last six months and I’ve come to a decision. No Ukyo, let me finish, Ranma said while raising his hand as she drew a breath to speak. “As I said. I’ve been thinking about the engagements and I’ve decided that I’m going to marry Akane. I know this is something that you don’t want to hear, but I don’t have the same feelings for you as I do for Akane. I haven’t told her how I feel yet, and I know that you think that I am honor bound to marry you too. But, it’s pop’s fault in the first place when he took your Yati. He knew that I was engaged to marry Akane first. Its up to pop to pay you back and to regain your honor,” he said while looking into her eyes with a serious expression on his face.

“You don’t mean that Ran-chan. You're not serious…,” Ukyo said. But as she looked into his eyes and saw the look on his face, comprehension finally dawned. “You do mean that don’t you?” She whispered brokenly. Ranma nodded his head. “Ukyo, I want us to still be friends,” he said while holding up his hand in a pleading gesture as Ukyo slowly backed away with tears in her eyes.

“I, I don’t know if I can do that Ran-ch.. . Ranma, but I can’t stay here anymore. I have to go. I need to think and maybe I will see you later,” Ukyo said as she turned and ran out of the dance hall. Ranma took a few steps to go after her when he felt his Ki sense acting up. There was only one person who had Ki that felt like that. Akane.

“Oh man, what’s going on. What’s gotten her so mad? I better go and calm her down before Hurricane Akane erupts,” he muttered to himself, but his friends heard him anyway.

“Hey Ranma, what do you mean by that comment,” Diasuke asked as he grabbed Ranma’s shoulder preventing him from moving off.

“Yeah, Ranma what do you mean by hurricane Akane? I mean she’s such a sweet girl,” Hiroshi said with a puzzled expression on his face.

“SWEET!” Ranma exclaimed in surprise. “That tomboy! Have you guys ever seen her when she’s mad?” he asked them.

“Yes, we have seen her when she’s mad Ranma,” they said.

Ranma shook his head while waving his arms up and down in agitation. “No I mean when she’s really, really mad!” he said to them rather loudly.

“Um, No,” they both replied while shaking their heads.

“Trust me guys, you don’t want to get in her way when she’s like that. I mean, nothing can stop her when she’s like that,” Ranma said.

“But couldn’t you stop her? You’re a martial artist too,” Hiroshi asked him.

“No, when Akane is in that state like that. Her battle aurora gets so strong that it’s scary. Her strength and speed increases she manages to hit whatever she’s aiming for. Mr. Tendo says that somewhere along time ago there was a family member who when angered his reactions increased ten fold. He says that it pops up every now and then within the family line. He told me that Akane might have that in her blood, and she also has a really bad temper. Believe me when I tell you this, I can’t even calm her down when she’s like that!” Ranma said.

“How can you tell when she’s really mad?” Disuke asked him.

“Well, it's when she gets really quiet and her voice sounds like Nabiki’s does when she’s mad. It gets all chilly. But, it has only happened a few times, and thankfully she’s calmed down a bit since Jusendo,” Ranma replied.

“Oh,” Both Disuke and Hiroshi said. Gulping in fear, Disuke let go of his shoulder.

Ranma nodded his head and walked towards the group of girls where Akane was located. When he got within three feet of her he bumped into Suri. “Oh, Ranma, I was, ah, just about to get you,” she said nervously while glancing over her shoulder at the glowing Akane. “Um, how did you know that we um, kinda needed you here?” she asked while she quickly pulled Ranma towards Akane.

“I uh, I could kinda sense her aurora. I figured I should come over here and maybe distract her. What did you say to her that made her mad anyways?” he asked.

“Um, we told her about Ukyo being here. And about her wanting to dance with you,” she said.

“Oh man. That was not a good idea,” Ranma said while shaking his head.

“We realize that now, but can you do something before she blows her top?” Suri replied.

“What do ya want me to do? If I say something wrong she’s likely to hit me instead!” he exclaimed in agitation.

“Well, why don’t you ask her to dance?” Suri replied.

“Dance? I, um don’t know how to dance!” He whispered heatedly.

“Well, do you have a better idea?” Suri asked him. Ranma shook his head no. “Good, because dancing is just like one of your marital arts kata’s” Suri said.

“Really?” he asked her as his face brightened. “I can do that. If it has martial arts in it.”

“Yes, really,” Suri said in exasperation.

“Oh, um, ok. Ranma said as he turned towards Akane, gulping he walked up to her and nervously asked her while stuttering slightly. “Hey, um Akane. . . do.. do ya want to d...dance with me?”

This question surprised Akane so much that she immediately snapped her out of it. “You want to dance with me?” she whispered shyly while peeking up at him through her bangs.

Ranma nodded his head like a jackhammer while gulping. His voice cracked while he replied. “Y...Yes. But I’m not very good at it.”

“Oh. That’s all right I don’t mind. Yes, I’ll dance with you even thought I’m not very good at dancing myself.” Akane said as she tentatively reached out her hand, grabbed his hand and tugged him onto the dance floor.

When they turned to face each other a waltz started to play. Gulping, Ranma nervously tried to figure out where to put his hands without getting clobbered. “Um, Akane where do I put my hands?” he asked her.

“Ranma one goes on my waist and the other goes on my back,” she said while giggling and grabbed his hands placing them into their proper positions. Then they started to dance clumsily around the dance floor.

Akane got so caught up in the dance that everything around her started to fade. As they whirled around the room they eventually ended up in a quiet corner. Ranma pulled to a stop just below one of the windows. A shaft of moonlight softly illuminated Akane’s face, giving an ethereal quality to her features. Ranma’s heart skipped a beat as he got caught up in Akane’s eyes, then his heart started to beat a bit faster. Butterflies started to dance in his stomach. Before he knew it, he was leaning forward while tilting Akane’s face up towards him.

 

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“Someone get a fire extinguisher!” A kid yelled jokingly when he saw what was happening just below the window. This caused Yuka and Suri to glance in the direction of the voice. Then they spotted Ranma and Akane in a tight embrace.

“Whoa! Look at that. They’re finally going to kiss,” Suri said while elbowing Yuka as she spotted Ranma and Akane about to go into a lip lock.

“I’ll be damn, I never thought I would see the day. When those two go and do something like that!” Yuka replied.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. Look,” Suri said as she pointed towards the pair. When Yuka glanced over to look she saw Ranma jerk his head up at the sound of a loud boom. She saw Shan-Pu step through the newly made door and then Moose. She saw Ranma taking up a defensive position. Then the fun really began. “Oh brother, here we go again,” Suri muttered.

“Well look at the bright side, this is our senior year,” Another girl said.

“Yeah, for you maybe, but what about the prom? They’ll never let us have one now!” Yuka moaned.

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“Why did we stop dancing?” Akane thought as they came to a stop just below the window. Akane noticed how tense Ranma had become and wondered if something was wrong. Then she noticed his breathing had increased. Before she was about to ask him if anything was wrong she felt Ranma’s fingers tilting her face up towards his as he leaned forward. “Oh my god. He’s going to kiss me! Do I want him to? What if someone sees us?” Throughout all this, Akane’s heart overrode her thoughts and she started to lean forward into his arms while tilting her chin up towards his lips when from near by she distantly heard booming noises.

Ranma, immediately startled, snapped his head up to see what the commotion was all about. Suddenly a new door was made in the wall.

“Niho! Ranma, you dance with Shampoo.” Shan-Pu jumped over her newly made door, then bounced over towards them. Shan-Pu ran with her arms ready to hang onto him in her most devastating Amazon glomp. She glomped onto Ranma with enough force, causing Akane to loose her balance and tumble to the floor.

“Shampoo! Wait for me my love!” Moose yelled as he also came threw the newly made door. When he saw a red blur he turned and threw six shirkin in the general direction. Unfortunately the blur turned out to be Akane.

When Ranma finally managed to push Shan-Pu away, he saw the projectiles rushing towards Akane. “Look out!” he yelled as he rushed to her side. He stood in front of Akane, defending against the incoming weapons. Shan-Pu pulled out her bonbori and charged.

Shan-Pu came in from the right trying to get around him. “Ranma let Shan-Pu take care of obstacle.” Shan-Pu remembered how Ranma was leaning towards Akane and yelled. “Ranma kiss Shan-Pu, not violent pervert girl!” she said as she swung her bonbori. Ranma dodged then and then noticed Moose drawing back his arms. Moose, hurled six chains, each tipped with spikes. Ranma saw them coming and managed to dodge the spiked ends, then he grabbed the chains as they passed. Ranma using Moose’s momentum hurled moose into Shan-Pu, knocking them both into unconsciousness.

Ranma had heard what Shan-Pu said. And so did the whole school. In fact the whole studen body waited with baited breath to hear his next words. Panicking, Ranma leaned over them and yelled while his brain took a vacation while his mouth ran by itself. “Why would I want to do something like that with an Uncute girl like her,” Ranma said, then he turned around and saw Akane fuming in front of him. He started to wave his arms in the air in a warding gesture as he backed up. Ranma saw the hurt, angry look in Akane’s eyes and started to apologize. But before he could, Akane wound up and let fly with a hard right cross, sending Ranma spinning head-first in the direction of the bleachers.

“RANMA you jerk!” she said brokenly as tears stared to rundown her face. Then she noticed them looking at her and couldn’t stand for everyone to see how hurt she was. She turned while trying not to breakdown into sobs, and ran out of the dance hall heading straight for her special hiding spot.

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When Ranma came too, he noticed everyone looking at him with mixed expressions on their faces. He then started searching the crowd for the one face that was not there. “Where’s Akane?” he asked them while craning his neck.

“She left in a big hurry. She was pretty upset when she ran out of here,” Suri said.

“Yeah, she was crying,” Yuka joined in while glaring at him.

Ranma felt like the lowest life form on earth when he heard that she was crying. He hated seeing her cry. “Oh man,” he said as he rubbed his head. “I gotta go look for her. Which way did she go?”

“Hey anyone see which way Akane went?” Yuka yelled to the crowd.

“Yeah, she was headed towards the bridge. But I kind of lost sight of her when she turned a corner,” Gosunkugi said.

“Gee, thanks man!” Ranma yelled as he ran out of the hall after Akane. As he ran down the street calling Akane’s name, Ranma said to himself. “Why do I gotta go and say somethin like that?” Then he thought. “Man, I really wanted to kiss her too.” This surprised him so much that he almost lost his balance as he reached the bridge. In fact, he did loose his balance when his desperately scrambling foot landed on a loose stone, causing him to tumble down the embankment and land right at Akane’s feet with a loud thud.

Akane was startled out of her thoughts when she heard someone land in front of her. She glanced up to where she heard the noise, saw Ranma sprawled flat on his back groaning while holding the side of his head. Even though she was still upset at him for what he had said to her. She walked over to him to see if he was ok. “Are you all right Ranma? I though that as a great martial artist you had a great sense of balance.”

“Yeah well, I got distracted ok,” he said.

“By what?” Akane asked.

“Well, um, ah, ya see I was ah, thinkin about somethin an it kinda startled me, an I kinda tripped,” he mumbled while his face started turning an interesting shade of red.

“Oh, I see. You were thinking about the kiss that almost happened weren’t you?” Akane said.

“Your not mad are ya?” Ranma asked her.

“Why should I be mad? I mean who would want to kiss an uncute tomboy like me right?” she replied as she turned her head away to stare into the river.

“Akane! I didn’t mean to say that, honest. I kinda panicked. Ya saw all those people watching us right? I mean if I’d kissed ya while all of them were watchin it woulda gotten back to our fathers and we would be m...married faster than we could blink,” he said.

“Oh, you mean that I’m not good enough for you to kiss?” she asked him while arching her eyebrows at him.

“Akane! That’s not what I mean,” he protested.

“Well, there’s no one watching us now. Do you still want to kiss me?” Akane asked while watching Ranma’s expression. Ranma stood up, brushed the dirt off of himself, looked Akane in the eyes and nodded. “Y..Yes. But, ya gotta promise not ta hit me.”

“I promise not to hit you unless you do something perverted,” Akane said as she moved closer towards him. When she got within touching distance she stopped and gave him an expectant look.

Ranma gulped nervously closing the distance between them while reaching for her with his right hand. When his hand met her soft shoulder, he froze and asked. “Ya sure about this?” Akane nodded her head and tilted her chin up towards his face. Steeling himself, Ranma leaned down the rest of the way and slightly tilted his head to kiss her on the lips. As his face got closer he could smell her scent. It was uniquely Akane, and it excited him so much that his breath started to come a bit faster. When their lips touched lights exploded just behind his eyelids and he pulled her tighter to himself while groaning in pleasure.

Akane thought she would die from pure excitement. She could feel herself becoming more lightheaded and weak in the knees as the kiss continued without a break for air. She realized that she had almost two years of suppressed feelings to express. So acting on instinct, she brought her arms up and latched onto him with a desperation that surprised them both. Akane started to kiss Ranma more aggressively as she further lost herself in the immense pleasure of Ranma’s lips.

Ranma was surprised. When Akane pulled herself closer to him, kissing him passionately while making whimpering noises in the back of her throat. Those noises sparked something deep within that made him realize that it was him that was causing her to make them. He wanted to hear her make more of them so he intensified the kiss.

Just when they were about to fall to the ground and start pulling each other’s clothes off, thunder sounded and the sky opened up. Rain came down in sheets, drenching the pair; Ranma shrunk and filled out in certain places. For once in his/her life Ranma was too distracted to notice the change.

Akane felt her fiancé shrink and was startled. What if someone came along ad saw her kissing a GIRL! Her eyes popped open in surprise, out of the corner of her right eye she saw two people watching them. Akane drew a deep breath and pushed her away. “You pervert!” she yelled while slapping Ranma-chan.

Although Akane slapped Ranma, she didn’t hit him too hard. As Akane turned her back on him/her, her mind was in turmoil. The kiss that they had just shared confused her so much that she was unsure of which way she liked it. It was pleasurable to be held in his arms, but when she held Ranma in his girl form it gave her a sense of power. Sure she was attracted to him in his male form, but when Ranma was female, she was really sexy. Akane was confused. “Am I bisexual? No, better to think that I’m normal. I can’t let anyone think that I’m attracted to girls. I know that when I’m in the girls locker room I don’t get excited seeing all of their naked bodies. But when I see Ranma like that I can’t help myself. Well, that’s it then, It’s just Ranma I’m attracted to. Whether he is male or female. I better deny it, act like I’m mad at him,” Akane thought to her self.

“I’m going home!” yelled Akane as she ran away.

“Akane, what’s the matter? …. Akane!” Ranma yelled. Then he looked down at himself, then at Akane’s departing back; then he noticed the two people watching them and understood. From those people’s perspective, they saw two girls kissing. Ranma knew this was frowned on upon in Japanese society. So he turned and yelled at the to strangers.

“I’m a guy! Haven’t you ever seen a Chinese curse before?” The two strangers turned away in embarrassment, while Ranma ran after Akane.

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When the two arrived at the gates of the Tendo house, they found their parents had been waiting up for them. Akane recovered her composure by the time they walked in the door. “So how was the dance boy?” Genma said.

“Yes, did you have fun?” Soun asked them.

“Ranma, tell me what happened to make you come home early? Why are you a girl now?” Noduka asked her son even though she knew that it was raining outside.

“Oh, ah, um, ya see, um I kinda…well it’s a like this..um….” Ranma stammered trying to think up an excuse to not get married right away, while looking like he desperately wanted to be somewhere else. He gave Akane a pleading look for help. Akane noticed and gave him/her an annoyed expression then relenting she nodded slightly; no one noticed it except Ranma.

“Oh Auntie, there was an accident at the school where someone spilled a glass of water on Ranma and the water heater is broken right now so she couldn’t change back. The dance is for couples only. Since Ranma is a girl right now, they said we had to leave,” Akane said while crossing her fingers behind her back while using her acting abilities to properly school her features into a forlorn expression.

“Oh, then that all right dear. Well since you two are home so early you might as well get ready for bed. We will be leaving at 6 am tomorrow morning,” Noduka said while turning to face her son. “Ranma, you go on and change before you go to sleep.”

“Yes mom.” Ranma-chan sighed as she trudged off towards the bathroom, Akane not far behind. “What are you doing following me?” she asked Akane while looking at her over her shoulder.

“I have to remove my make-up," Akane said loud enough for their parents to hear her. Then is a whisper she said. “I have to talk to you in private.”

“Oh, um, ok,” Ranma-chan said while she opened the bathroom door, walked towards the fuiro and turned it on. Ranma then proceeded to strip with her back turned from Akane. Akane closed and locked the bathroom door. At the sound of the lock sliding in place, Ranma tensed up while turning around to face Akane he asked. “Um w...why’d ya lock the door Akane?”

“You don’t want our parents barging in do you?”

“Um, N...no, b...but they might think that somethin was goin on in here,” Ranma said while glancing at Akane, nervously twiddling her thumbs.

“Well they wouldn’t be completely wrong,” Akane replied.

“WHAT?” Ranma yelled with a startled expression on her face. The thoughts running through his mind were anything but innocent. He tried not to think about himself and Akane naked and rolling on the floor. But, it wasn’t working until he pictured what Akane would do to him when she found out what he was thinking. Shaking his head he cleared his thoughts and barley caught the tail end of the conversation.

“……like that Ranma,” Akane said.

“Huh? Wha’d ya say? I kinda missed it,” Ranma-chan said while dumping a bucket of cold water over her head and scrubbing herself.

“Argh! I said, that its not like we’re going to be doing something perverted or anything like that Ranma,” Akane replied while she picked up a washcloth, wetting it to clean the makeup off.

“Oh! Um, right,” Ranma said as she picked up a washcloth and covering a strategic area of her soon to be male anatomy then grabbed the bucket, filled it with hot water, dumped it over her head.

Akane turned around and saw Ranma wet, naked and definitely male. She unconsciously let her eyes roam over his muscular back while admiring his strong shoulders and then it wandered further down towards his firm backside. Blushing furiously, Akane turned to face the mirror again, clearing her throat while saying to Ranma, in a husky voice that sent shivers of excitement up his spine.

“R...Ranma, since I covered for you back in the living room you have to promise to teach me some Chi manipulation techniques. I..I know I’ve gotten much better since you’ve started training me. But I would really like to learn one of those,” Akane said.

“But...,” he said.

“Ranma! Promise or I’ll tell your mother what really happened!”

“Oh,...ok, ok I promise. Geeze. . . ya’d think it was a big deal or anything, I woulda thought of somethin to say eventually,” he muttered under his breath as he searched for a towel large enough to cover himself up.

“Um, Akane?” he asked.

“What?” she replied.

“Um, can ya hand me that towel over there,” he said as he pointed towards a towel hanging on the bathroom door.

“Sure,” Akane replied as she moved off to get the towel. But as soon as her back was turned, Ranma quickly dove for the fuiro with a loud splash.

“Ranma, here you go,” Akane said as she headed towards the tub. When she reached it Akane folded the towel and placed it on a stool that stood near the fuiro.

Ranma broke the surface of the water taking a gulp of air and then leaned back against the rim. “Thanks, tomboy.”

“Your welcome you baka,” she said as she turned to leave the bathroom.

“Akane? Can ya come here for a sec?” Ranma said as he gave a huge yawn while stretching out his sore body.

“Sure. What’s up?” she asked as she walked back towards the fuiro

“Um, I ah, kinda pulled a muscle when I landed wrong back at the bridge. I can’t seem to relax it. Can ya give it a massage for me please?" he asked her as he turned his back to her and completely missing the incredulous expression on Akane's face. Akane thought to herself, "He better not try to do anything perverted!" Then she heard the rest of his explanation. "Otherwise it’ll stiffen up," Ranma finished saying and waited. Akane relized he wasn't being perverted, and being the martial artist that she was, understood how painful a pulled muscle could be and decided to relent.

“Oh, um ok,” she said as she knelt next to the tub. Akane reached out her hands and started to give him a firm massage. But, when her hands came in contact with his skin, shivers of pleasure raced up and down her spine. There was one thing that Akane didn’t want to admit to anyone, and that was how much she wanted Ranma at that moment. She knew that in order for her to do something like that they would have to be married. “Oh god! He feels so nice, I’m going to have to hurry it up or he might see how much he’s affecting me,” she thought to herself. “Ok Ranma, I’m done,” Akane said as she stood up and walked towards the bathroom door.

“Thanks Akane,” replied Ranma as he rolled his shoulders experimentally to see if there was any residual stiffness. Finding none he rose out of the water, gabbed the towel and started drying off. When he turned his attention back to where Akane was standing, she was gone. Ranma sighed, finished drying off, then wrapping the towel around his middle, he walked off towards bed.

As Ranma passed Akane’s door he paused and said “G’night Akane.”

“Good night Ranma.” Was the muffled reply through the door, then the light went out, covers rustled, she sighed and then silence.

Ranma smiled to himself as he moved past her door and into his room. “I hope none of the gang bother me tonight. Hopefully they won’t know were gone until after the fact. Ranma dropped onto his futon and soon dropped off into a deep sleep. The night went by peacefully without any disturbances.