Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Universe: Alpha and Omega ❯ Chapter 8: Return to Class ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: ST Pika

Chapter 8: Return to Class

Thanks to Luke and Tex for their help with this chapter and for the prereading. You guys rock!

The next morning, Monday…

After getting ready for school herself, Akane heads over to Ranma's room to see if he's ready to go to school. She slowly opens the door… and then sighs aloud. `He's still sleeping! If he doesn't get ready soon… we'll be late for school. I'm going to wake him up…'

Akane slowly tip-toes over to the sleeping Ranma and prepares to wake him up… and then stops dead in her tracks. `What'd he just say?'

“Akane…” The youngest Tendo blushes as her name is uttered once again. A few moments later, however, there is a different utterance from Ranma's mouth.

“Akane… don't… don't leave me…” The unconscious Ranma mumbles softly, causing Akane to feel worried. She moves in closer and notices that he's clutching his pillow tightly… and tears appear to be falling from his still closed eyes.

After taking a deep breath, she pauses and tries to figure out what's going on. `Why is he crying? He said… “Don't leave me”… why did he say that? Oh, Ranma…'

Akane whispers quietly in his ear that she'll never leave him... and then she slowly moves back to the door and steps outside. `I know… I'm supposed to be working on this… but… we need to get going… sorry Ranma…”

Pushing open the door hard she yells "RANMA! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN!"

“Huh? What?” A startled Ranma says, being jolted from unconsciousness by an all too familiar yell.

“I said we're going to be late… get up and get dressed!” Akane yells from the entrance of the room.

“Oh, okay… I'll be out in a second…” Ranma says as he stands up. Akane closes the door and suddenly finds a grinning Nabiki standing right in front of her.

“My, my… is that anyway to wake up your man in the morning?”

“Look… we're going to be late if he doesn't get moving…” Akane says, trying to explain away what she just did. Nabiki, however, doesn't buy that idea…

“The way you just reacted… reminded me of something…”

“Like what?” Akane asks, curious about what her sister means by that.

“An old sci-fi movie… Star Trek II: The Wrath of A-Khan-e…”

Akane rolls her eyes and then pounds on Ranma's door. “Are you ready yet?”

Ranma's door opens a second later and the now dressed Ranma emerges from the room. “Ready… let's go…”

“You two lovebirds be safe now… see you at school…” With that, Nabiki heads downstairs and quickly rushes out the door, determined to beat the couple to school. After a brief pause, Ranma and Akane rush downstairs and out the door, stopping only to get a bento from Kasumi for their lunch.

About halfway to school, Akane pulls Ranma aside into a side alley. After looking around and making sure that no one is in sight, she looks intently at Ranma.

“What yah doing? Aren't we gonna be late if we don't keep going?” Ranma says with a sigh.

“Ranma… I have something important to tell you…” Akane says softly.

“Oh…” Is about all Ranma can say. He focuses all of his attention on Akane so he can hear every word that she has to say.

She looks into his eyes and smiles. “Ranma…”

“Y-yeah?” Ranma nervously replies as she gets closer and closer. Akane gives him no audio reply but chooses actions over words… using her lips to convey her feelings. Ranma's eyes close as he wraps his arms around her and gets lost in the warmth of her lips…

As the kissing continues, Ranma's pigtail suddenly shoots straight back. `Did she… just do that? Was that her… tongue?'

Akane gently breaks the kiss and looks at the stunned martial artist. `He's frozen in place… I think my tongue was a little too far… but I wanted to do more with him…'

“Ranma… I'll never leave you…” Akane says softly as she gently touches his cheek.

A few moments later, Ranma regains his composure and is about to say something… but then remembers something very important…

“Umm… s-shouldn't we be getting to class?”

“Yeah… and Ranma… I'm sorry if we get in trouble at school… I just had to umm… talk to you before we got there…” Akane says as a blush creeps across her face.

Ranma nods his head and then the two hurriedly continue towards the school, praying that they'd get there before the morning bell…

Their prayers, however, were not answered. Upon entering the school, they notice the time and pause to catch their breath…

“I guess… after all that… we missed it by five minutes…” A nearly out of breath Akane says to Ranma.

“It's okay… we tried…” Is Ranma's reply a moment later.

Several students pass by as the two recover from their sprint to school… each one has what appears to be a collection of photos…

“What's with all those photos?” Ranma asks as the two make their way to the classroom.

“I don't know… but I have a bad feeling about this…” Akane says as the classroom comes into sight. Both teens hear some commotion as they move closer to the door…

Ranma reaches out to open the door when all of the sudden he hears an all too familiar voice behind him…

“I would have a few words with you, Akane Tendo…”

Akane and Ranma turn around and find Kuno standing there, holding up a photo sheet… which just happens to contain several pictures of them from yesterday's date…

Ranma and Akane exchange a knowing glance and a single word. “Nabiki”

Kuno is about to say more to Ranma when the door to the classroom suddenly opens. The air between Akane and Ranma is suddenly cut by many small objects passing by at high speed. The two watch as Kuno is thrown back against the wall and pinned there by several mini-spatulas…

Slowly, Akane and Ranma turn around and find Ukyo standing there, her hands defiantly on her hips and staring at the now unconscious Kuno. “He'll be all right in a little while… didn't want him to spoil the party…”

“Party? Ukyo… what are you talking about?” Ranma says, slightly stunned by what he just witnessed.

“Oh, nothing… just the little party going on right behind me in the class…” Ukyo says with a smile. “It's good to see you again, Ran-chan…”

“Um, yeah…” Ranma says, unsure of what to do due to the fact that Akane is standing there next to him. Akane moves closer and looks at Ukyo, not knowing how else to react.

“I looked at the pictures Nabiki is selling… I guess you are treating him right, just like I asked you to do…” Ukyo says to the silent Akane.

Akane, not knowing what to say, just nods her head. Ukyo motions down the hallway…

“Can I talk to you for a second?”

“S-sure…” Is the stuttered response of Akane a moment later. “Ranma… I'll meet you inside in a minute…”

Ranma wonders what's going on but shrugs his shoulders and heads inside the classroom… where he's suddenly surrounded by his classmates. Words like “Congratulations, good job, and `It's about time…'” fill the air.

Back in the hallway, Ukyo walks a short way towards the next classroom and looks out an open window. “Akane… a part of me wishes… that I was in your place… or that you were back to your old self… yelling at Ranma all the time…”

“I'm never going back to being like that… I've…” Akane's voice starts to drop off.
”I've hurt him too much… and I don't want to hurt him anymore…”

Ukyo sighs aloud and looks at Akane. “As much as it pains me to say this… I think he's really in love with you… especially this new you… he looked… comfortable but a little nervous…”

This time is was Akane that sighed aloud. "He probably thinks I'm going to hit him or yell at him at any moment..." her last words were barely heard. However, Ukyo swore she heard Akane curse at herself.

“This kinda thing… is new for both of us… I'm nervous, too… nervous about showing my feelings… nervous about what others think or would say…” Akane pauses to take a deep breath to regain her composure.

“Oh… that's how it is…” Ukyo looks down for a moment and then back up at Akane. `Akane is… really being open and genuine with me… this is a good start. I want to be friends…'

“Let's get back to the party… it's mainly for you, after all…” Ukyo says, motioning towards the classroom. Akane smiles.

“I guess it is… let's go!”

Ukyo and Akane head back into the classroom and join the party in progress. A long sigh is heard in the hallway a moment later.

“Kuno-baby… what did you get yourself into now?” Nabiki quips, looking at Kuno.

When she hears no response, she moves closer and asks the same question again. After getting no response, she starts removing the spatulas from the wall…

`Why do I always have to be the one to do this? He keeps getting himself into trouble because of that big mouth of his…' Nabiki thinks as she removes the final spatula, causing Kuno's slack body to fall. She picks him up and slowly carries him down to the nurses office, silently wondering if he'll be all right…

“What happened to him?” The head nurse exclaims as Nabiki enters the office, Kuno en tow.

“I have no idea… but he must've gotten Ukyo angry… he was pinned to the wall by mini-spatulas…”

“Oh, I see…” The nurse walks over to Nabiki and the two pick him up and lay him down on a nearby table. Nabiki silently watches as the nurse checks his vital signs and performs other basic tests on the unconscious Kuno.

“Well… it seems like he has a minor concussion… but other then that, he'll be fine. I'm going to get some bandages… can you keep at eye on him, please?”

Nabiki nods her head and the nurse leaves the room. One of Kuno's hands begins to move and Nabiki takes it and holds it. “Hey, wake up…”

Kuno suddenly sits up, his body ramrod straight. “Where am I?”

“You're in the head nurse's office… you got Ukyo pissed off and then got pinned to the wall…”

“I do not recall any such incident…” Kuno says as he places a hand on his head.

“Really?”

“I remember saying something to Akane and then… darkness…”

“Oh…”

“My medicine… where is it?” Kuno asks as he scans the room. Nabiki silently wonders what he's talking about.

“Sasuke! I summon thee!” Kuno exclaims… and a moment later, the ninja comes into the room.

“What is it, Master?”

“Where is my medicine?”

A moment later, the head nurse returns. Kuno asks the question again, and the nurse starts looking around… about thirty seconds later, a white bottle is produced and placed on a nearby table.

“Hold on a second… what's that for?” A curious Nabiki asks.

”I'm under strict orders to make sure that he takes this everyday… that's coming straight from the principal…” The head nurse replies as she begins to pour out some of the liquid into a separate glass.

Sasuke steps up to the table. “I'll take care of that… I'm sure you have other things to do… and this is my Master after all…”

“Sure… I'll be back in a while to check on Mr. Kuno again…” Is the hearty reply a moment later.

Sasuke finishes filling the glass as the nurse leaves… and then stops as soon as she's out of the room. “This foul liquid must be disposed of…”

Kuno watches as Sasuke takes the medicine to a nearby sink and begins to pour it down the drain. “What are you doing?”

“Now hold on a second…” Nabiki says, holding back Kuno. “Just what's in that medicine?”

After motioning towards the bottle, Sasuke says plainly. “See for yourself…”

Nabiki releases Kuno and takes a closer look at the bottle. `What the hell is this? It's got so many warnings on it… it sounds like a poison instead of a medicine. Why is his father making him take this?'

A concerned Nabiki looks at Kuno. “This stuff looks pretty bad… why are you taking this?”

“I do not want to…” Is about all the kendoist can say back.

Sasuke shakes his head. “I've slowly been reducing his dosage… it's near zero now. This medicine is doing much more harm then good… I couldn't bear to see my master in such pain and such a sorry state so I've been secretly lowering the dosage…”

“This medicine… just doesn't seem right…” Nabiki says, agreeing with Sasuke.

“I… want to stop taking it… everything seems different recently… in a good way…” Sasuke looks over at Kuno and knows that what he's been doing has been for the best.

`All these delusions… and him acting like an ass… are the result of this medicine?' Nabiki ponders. `Come to think of it… he wasn't always delusional… that must've started when he was given this medicine…'

“Oh, I almost forgot…” Kuno pulls out some money from his pocket. “This is for your services the other day… thank you for restoring my mother's ashes to their proper place…”

Nabiki slowly reaches out and takes the money. “It was no problem…”

Sasuke bows and excuses himself from the room. Kuno looks up at the clock and then at Nabiki.

“You should go back to class, I will be fine after some more rest…”

“Uh, sure…” Nabiki looks up at the clock and notices the time. `I guess he's right…'

Nabiki says goodbye to Kuno and heads up to class. As the day goes on, she cannot help but think about certain things. `I was making money… off of his sickness and his delusions…'

The school day passes by slowly for Akane, Ranma, and Ukyo… all three are thinking about various things… Ukyo is thinking about what Nodoka told her a few days ago… and Ranma and Akane about another pressing problem.

After school, Akane leads Ranma outside and the two head over to a more isolated part of the schoolyard and sit under a tree. After looking around and finding no one nearby, Akane starts to speak her mind to Ranma.

“Ranma… we have a problem. It's… hard enough to do this without having our private lives showcased in front of everyone. I'm not ready for everyone to see me like this…”

“Akane… you're right. I umm… like our time together… and I wanna take my time getting to know yah… I don't need pressure from other people…”

Akane leans against Ranma and sighs. “I know my sister isn't being mean… but still… I'd feel a lot better if she stopped taking pictures of us…”

“Problem with that is… how to do it?”

“Hmm…” Akane starts to think of a solution to the problem. About twenty seconds later, she has the answer. “Why don't we sell some pictures of her?”

“They'd have to be some… interesting pictures for her to get the message… hmmm…”

Akane has an idea. “She takes pictures of us in… revealing situations… so…”

Akane and Ranma turn and look at each other and speak the same thought aloud a moment later. “Get her in the same way…”

“But how?” Ranma wonders aloud. “She's always on guard… she'd know that we were up to somethin'…”

“Well…” Akane begins to blush. “I have an idea…”

“Are you thinking about one of those… yah know… underwear stores or somethin'…”

Akane's eyebrows shoot up and she looks over at Ranma and whispers softly. “Pervert…”

Instead of going on the defensive, Ranma just smiles. “I guess I was right, huh? That'd mean I wasn't the only pervert here…”

“I umm… don't know what you mean…” Akane's blush grows even more intense. `He's onto me… I think he can tell that I have feelings and ideas about certain things… especially if they have to do with him…'

“So… what's the plan?” Ranma says, trying to change the subject slightly and not get into a fight with Akane.

“I guess I could take her out shopping… which would get her out of the house for a while. You could set up a hidden camera or something… so when we show each other our outfits, you can get some pictures… there's just one problem…”

“What's that?” A curious Ranma asks.

“We'd probably need one of those spy cameras… and those cost a lot of money…”

Ranma thinks for a second and then pulls out some money from his pocket.

“If it'll help us out… I'm willing to spend some money. Besides… maybe we could give the pictures to Kuno and see how she likes it when he starts wanting more pictures of her.”

Akane smiles. “Hmm… that sounds good. He'll still want pictures of us… but also of her… good thinking, Ranma.”

“Well, umm Akane… I can't take all the credit…” Ranma looks down at Akane. “We were thinking alike, yah know…”

Akane looks up at Ranma. “I know… and I guess that shows that we are two of a kind…”

Ranma starts to blush and so does Akane… after realizing what she just said. Both have a similar thought pass through their minds… `Us… two of a kind… that's… what we've been denying to each other for so long… but it's true… we are more alike then we admitted before…'

Ranma and Akane head home after spending a few minutes together in silence, confident in this new idea of theirs. Akane looks around the house for Nabiki and finds her in her room, counting up a large sum of money.

“Can I come in?” Akane says as she peers inside the half open doorway.

“Sure sis, come in. Don't mind me… just counting some cash…”

“Oh… all this from pictures of me and Ranma?”

“Not exactly. I helped Kuno out this weekend with a crisis and he paid me… quite well…”

“Oh, I see. Well umm… did you want to go… shopping with me?” Akane asks, hoping for a “yes” response to her query. `I'm sure she may want to spend some of that money she just got… this should work…'

“I guess… I do have a few yen to spare…” Nabiki chuckles. “Are we going clothes shopping?”

“Well, umm…” Akane blushes slightly. “I guess you could call it that…”

“Oh… you wanna get some lingerie, don't you?” Nabiki says, realizing what Akane must mean… her blush was a dead giveaway to that fact. "You two are getting that close already? It's only been a few days since you won that fight for him and now you want something he can see you in… or out of…" Nabiki says that last part with a wink, causing Akane's blush to deepen.

Akane manages to softly reply to her sister's question. "It's not like that, Nabiki... we've only been out on one real date as a couple so far..."

"Sure, okay sis, whatever..." Nabiki said in disbelief.

“Well, if you don't believe me, I'm leaving!” Akane turns around and heads for the door.

“Wait a second… don't be like that. I'll come with you… and I'll even help you pick out something really nice for Ranma…”

Akane stops moving and sighs. `I hope this is worth it…' With her back still to Nabiki, she responds. “I'll be ready in five minutes…”

“Sure… I'll meet you down by the front door…”

Akane heads over to Ranma's door and quietly enters the room. Ranma looks up and sees Akane.

“We're about to leave… you know what to do, right?” Akane says in a near whisper.

”Sure… pick up one of them spy cameras and make a small hole looking from your room into hers. As long as no one sees me go into or leave your room, I'll be safe…”

Akane smiles. “Sounds like you got it down, Ranma.”

“You umm... do realize what I will have to umm... see while I take these pictures..." Ranma says with much hesitance and fear.

"I know what you mean... and I'm kind of embarrassed to let you see me like that, despite all the times we've seen each other in different states of undress. As for Nabiki and what she'll have on- you better not look more then you need to or else!" Akane said with a hint of jealousy at the end.

"Feh, its not like I want to see her that way…"

Akane is stunned as he said that. "So you don't want to see her in her in her.... you know..."

"Why would I?"

"B-because she's um… " Akane looked down at herself and sighed about how developed her sister was over her.

"She's what?"

"Damn it Ranma! She's bigger than I am!" Akane said though clenched teeth.

"Is that all... its not like it matters, I mean it doesn't matter to me."

Akane blinked, hard. 'It didn't matter to him?' She thought in wonder.

"Geeze if I only looked at those... umm... " He blushed. "Then I'd picked Shampoo a long time ago..."

Akane is dumbstruck. "I knew you looked at her chest!"

"It's kinda hard not to when she was thrust them in my face! It like she wanted me to

see them..." His body convulses. "I swear I'll never understand girls. First they say don't look then they force them in my face and I just don't wanna look at them... its..." He stops speaking as he notices Akane giggling.

“Oh, come on… how many times have you used your girl form to get stuff… or to mess with certain other people…” Akane says that last part with care, not even wanting to say Ryoga's name aloud.

`Damn… she's got me there…' Ranma thinks while trying to think of what to say next.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier, and I can only say one thing, Akane." Ranma places his hands on her shoulders. "I've used my girl form to save my life, yours, and several others without any benefit to me... remember when we fought the Orochi and saved Shinnosuke's life..."

"Of course I remember... and I ended up saving you in return..." Akane blushes as she remembers what Ranma was wearing after the defeated the orochi with the Unicorn Mongoose's horn...

Ranma smiles at Akane, he was always thankful that she came after him and saved him. He notices Akane's blushing and decides to make a comment...

"You know, you looked pretty nice... like when you were in that white dress on Toma's island… I really liked that a lot…" Akane turns even redder after this comment by Ranma.

"I thought you said that you didn't really pay attention then..." Akane snapped back. “But… I do have that dress still…”

"Well, umm..." Ranma mumbled, trying to stall for time. His prayers were answered when Nabiki's voice was heard a moment later...

"Akane, what's taking you so long?"

"I'll be right there, sis..." Akane yelled back. She immediately focuses on the task at hand.

"Ranma, are you ready to do this?"

Thinking about Akane in that white dress... Ranma hears her say “are you ready to do this?” He gulps thinking about how nice it would be to take that white dress off slowly. And then... and then... he is slapped in the face.

"Quit daydreaming and get busy!"

Touching his now stinging cheek, Ranma quickly replies. "Sure… I'll be ready… good luck.”

“Thanks…” Akane looks at Ranma and feels a pang of regret for slapping him a moment ago. She places a soft kiss on his other cheek and then leaves the room… and a stunned martial artist, who wonders what he's really gotten himself into.

Kasumi sees the two sisters leave the house and is surprised… but also happy to see them spending some time together.

On the way to the store, Akane mentions her “reason” for wanting to go to the store to Nabiki. "Since both of us seem to lose half our stuff to Happosai, we might as well get something nice now and maybe we can find a hiding spot where he won't be able to find them..."

“Good thinking… I'm tired of my lingerie disappearing…”

A few minutes later, the two Tendo sisters arrive at the lingerie store. `I guess this is it…' Akane thinks to herself as they head inside.

“Hello there! I see you've brought someone else with you today…” A voice calls out from the back of the store.

“Who's that?” Akane asks of Nabiki.

“It's my friend Naru… she runs this place…”

“Oh…”

As if on cue, Naru appears in front of the pair. Akane takes a glance at the woman who runs the store- she's a tall brunette with long hair and a warm smile who greets them both. “It's good to see you again Nabiki… who's this?” She says, motioning towards Akane. “Could this be your sister that you keep talking about?”

“Knowing my sister… I'll have to say yes. I'm Akane Tendo…” Akane extends out her hand and shakes Naru's hand.

“Naru Narusegawa… nice to meet you.”

“My little sister wanted to go shopping… I think she wants some lingerie to show off for her fiancée, Ranma…”

“Nabiki!” Akane exclaims, embarrassed.

“Well, you did fight for that guy, right? Your sister was kind enough to show me the video of the fight…” Naru comments, trying to get Akane to feel a little more comfortable about her visit here, if that is the real reason for the visit.

“Yes… I did… but… you're getting something too, right sis? You said outside that you lost a lot of lingerie to a certain pervert…” Akane says, trying to make sure that Nabiki also buys something here.

“Sure, why not?”

Inwardly, Akane smiles. “Why don't you get something for yourself… and maybe Naru can help me out…”

“Sure… but why don't I help you pick out something?”

Akane shakes her head. “No thanks…”

“Fine… but you will show me later, right?” Nabiki says, curious to see what her sister picks out.

“Hmm… why not?” Akane says as she starts looking around the room. Nabiki heads off to the other side of the store and begins looking around. Naru steps up to Akane and asks her a question.

“Are you sure that you don't want your sisters' help?”

“Actually… I'd rather have you help me out…” Akane's voice trails off. “She'd probably tease me, anyways…”

Naru shrugs her shoulders. “Well, what kind of lingerie are interested in?”

“Well… I was just looking for something nice… a few more bra and panty sets… nothing… ummm… very revealing…” Akane's face starts turning red.

“I think I can help you out… just tell me what colors you like and I think you'll like what I pick out…” Naru says, knowing what Akane wants.

“Sounds good…”

The two Tendo sisters continue their shopping while Ranma is returning from the store with his new purchase. `Thank goodness I had all that money… who knew that these things were that expensive…' He soon arrives back at the house and sneaks inside… and very carefully makes his way over to Akane's room.

`Time to set up this hole…'

Ranma carefully makes a small hole in the wall, giving him a view of Nabiki's room. He puts the camera against the hole to make sure that the angle and view are just perfect before putting the camera down on her desk.

After another five minutes go by, Ranma starts pacing around the room. `How long are those two gonna take? I wonder…' Ranma's thought start to drift to other things as he taps his foot on the floor softly. `That dress… she still has it…'

Another ten minutes go by before Ranma's curiosity begins to get the best of him. After staring out the window, his mind drifts again. `Her closet… it's gotta be in there…' Slowly, Ranma makes his way over to her closet before stoppign himself and sitting down in the cair. "No... no way.... not gonna look." He muttered. However ten minutes later he opens the door. Light pours into the closet and illuminates the inside…

`There it is! Gods, it's beautiful…' Ranma thinks as his eyes gaze on the white dress that Akane had worn on Toma's island. He begins to drool and a slight trickle of blood could be seen coming out of his nose.

His eyes now closed, Ranma's hand reaches out for the dress and gently caresses the fabric… he imagines that he's touching Akane …

“Oh my…”

A now mortified Ranma slowly turns his head and sees a blushing Kasumi standing in the doorway. He looks down at his hand and realizes that he was touching the dress right where her breasts would've been had she been in it. `Oh shit…'

“It's not… it's not what you think… I mean…” Ranma begins waving his hands in front of him defensively.

“Ranma… you shouldn't be in Akane's room unless she's here…” Kasumi said in a slightly scolding tone.

“I umm… guess you're right…” Ranma says as he slowly makes his way out of the closet and towards Kasumi.

“Don't worry, Ranma… your secret is safe with me…” Kasumi says with a smile as she heads out of the room and back to what she was doing before. Ranma stands still for a moment, still in shock over what happened. `I got caught… feeling Akane's dress up…and Kasumi thinks I'm a pervert now… geez… I'm really a pervert now… I guess Akane was right…'

Ranma leaves Akane's room and closes the door behind him. He heads towards the bathroom… with the intent of taking a cold bath. `I can still feel that fabric on my fingers… her warm body beneath it… damn! Better hurry so I'm done before they get back…'

Thirty minutes later, Akane and Nabiki return from their shopping trip. Akane heads to her room to drop off her bags… only one bag was from Naru's shop, due to the fact that Nabiki decided to do some other shopping on the way back… `I got a few other things, just to keep up this ruse..' She notices the camera on her desk and looks at her wall, soon discovering the small hole. `Okay, there's the hole… so where's Ranma?'

“RANMA!”

Nabiki's calls out to her sister. “Hey, I thought you were going to show me what you got first!”

“I wasn't calling him for THAT… geez…” Akane says, her face turning red. Ranma comes running down the hallway and stops in front of Akane.

“Yeah?”

Akane whispers in his ear. “I'm heading over to Nabiki's room… are you ready?”

“S-sure…” A nervous Ranma stutters back.

“Ranma… you can do it… I… have faith in you…” Akane says sweetly, causing Ranma to smile.

“Umm… see you in a second, I guess…”

Akane reaches for her bag with the lingerie in it and heads into Nabiki's room. Ranma quietly enters Akane's room again and softly closes the door. After taking a few deep breaths, he gets the camera and gets into position. `I hope I can make it through this… Akane in lingerie… damn… this is gonna be hard…' Ranma gulps and shakes his head. `Please… let me get through this…'

In Nabiki's room, Akane puts her bag down and sits on Nabiki's bed. Nabiki takes the initiative. "You first, I wanna see what my baby sister got to impress her man…"

Akane blushes like a tomato...

Behind the wall, Ranma blushes as well. He was curious about what she got in that bag she had earlier... and now he gets to see. He had seen lingerie before, how could you not in that house, with Happosai around... but most of the times he seen Akane with less then a full set of clothes on he paid for it quite dearly.

Akane thinks to herself... 'Here goes nothing...' She starts to undress and then turns her back to where the camera is before taking off her bra and panties. She doesn't mind too much letting Ranma see her in lingerie, but naked is too far for this point in their relationship.

After taking off the last piece of clothing, she digs out her new bra and panty set and puts it on. Ranma nearly has a nosebleed when he gazes upon her as she does various modeling poses.

Nabiki looks at what her sister has picked up and comments on it. "Not bad, sis... black is a good color for you. A bra with lace is always sexy. Same thing goes for the panties. Ranma would probably die if he seen you in this outfit..."

A moment later, Ranma does nearly die- the way Akane looks is affecting him so profoundly. He can't breath and his nose wants to explode...

Akane blushes a little and then speaks. "I hope not... but I'm sure he'll like it..."

Ranma can only nod his head slowly... he most certainly likes what she is wearing. His view of her will never be the same again. Akane bends over to pick up her clothes and put them on Nabiki's bed and unknowingly gives Ranma a very nice view of her behind.

Nabiki responds a moment later. "I see you even picked the one that enhances your own figure... you get anything else?”

“Sure… I picked out a white one, too…”

Akane goes through the same motions with the other bra and panty set… and Ranma's eyes are as large as saucers. `She's gorgeous… why the hell did I call her uncute? Unsexy? Damn… she's definitely both cute and sexy…'

“Okay… now it's my turn. Let me show you something that will really wow a man..."

Nabiki goes over to her closet and takes out a bag. "Akane, here's what I got... let me know if it was a good choice."

Ranma watches as Nabiki pulls out a type of lingerie that he hadn't seen before.

Akane looks at the garment and wonders aloud. “Who's the lucky man?”

Nabiki, with a hurt look on her face, replies. "No one yet"

Akane feels hurt about her comment after seeing how her sister reacted. She decides to cheer her up... "I'm sorry, Nabiki. I'm sure you would look great wearing that..."

Nabiki tries to smile and then nods her head. "Do you still want to see it?"

"Of course I do... and whatever else you picked up today."

Nabiki starts to undress and Ranma starts to take pictures as she does so. His eyebrows rise as each piece of clothing comes off... and his eyes bug out at the site of a naked Nabiki.

Ranma and Akane begin to feel bad after hearing Nabiki's comment a moment ago. They both have a common thought… `She's lonely… this could make things worse…'

Nabiki puts on the purple merrywidow and then models the outfit for Akane.

“What do you think, sis? I think it looks good..."

Akane pauses before responding to that. `And I thought I was a pervert… still… it looks kinda nice…' She clears her mind and then speaks…

“I never seen someone wearing of those before... and you look great in it."

Akane places her hand on her sisters' shoulder and smiles. Nabiki feels a lot better inside after seeing her sister's smile, she can tell that she is sincere about her comments.

Akane is curious about the other purchases her sister made, and asks her to show her whatever else she got at the store. Ranma switches film and barely gets the new roll in before Nabiki starts to change into the second outfit.

Nabiki soon has outfit number two on, a black halter babydoll. She does a pose and then asks for her sister's verdict on this one...

"Looks like something you sleep in..."

Nabiki puts her hand on Akane's shoulder. "Sis, you don't know much about lingerie, so I'll let you in on something. This kinda lingerie isn't meant to be worn for more then 30 minutes at most..."

"Oh... then why wear it?” Is Akane's response a moment later.

Nabiki sighs. “Sis... you... well... you'll learn eventually...” She clears her throat and then decides to tease her sister a little. “Oh Ranma! I picked this out just for you!” She says, fake swooning in Akane's voice.

“What!!!”

“Oh Ranma, don't you just love it?” Nabiki says, continuing her teasing. She does a few modeling poses, giving Ranma and Akane a view of her breasts and other -ass-ets.

Nabiki imitates her sisters' voice once again. “Oh Ranma... I don't think I can get his off by myself... can you help me?”

Ranma nearly passes out from blood loss as he pictured Akane wearing what Nabiki was currently wearing.

For her part, Akane tried to keep herself from shouting, but was unable to do so... "Quit it Nabiki!"

“Oh, so you've thought about showing this off to Ranma already then?” Nabiki points at her sister.

'It's a little too late for that...' Akane thinks to herself. `I'd better give Nabiki an answer.'

"Ranma and I... are getting closer. Maybe one day he'll be lucky enough to see this wonderful outfit I have on..."

A dreamy Ranma mutters something about already having seen it to himself.

Nabiki continues teasing Akane. “Oh, so you're no longer my pure sister? What will father think!” After clearing her throat, she begins impersonating Soun. “Oh my baby girl is finally a woman!”

Akane just rolls her eyes and focuses on the end result of this plan… and wonders if it was worth it.

A moment later, Kasumi knocks on the door. "Nabiki, you have a phone call."

"I'll be there in a moment!"

“Thank Kami…” Ranma says, trying to catch his breath.

Nabiki turns and looks at Akane. "Well, sis... it's been fun. Thanks for your opinions...”

Nabiki's smile really hits Akane... the thought of `Are we doing the right thing' crosses her mind as Nabiki changes back into her regular clothes.

Ranma packs up the camera... after one last look at Akane...

`Damn she's beautiful... and I used to call her uncute... what an ass I was…'

After Nabiki leaves, Akane sits on Nabiki's bed, still clothed in her lingerie and thinks about her sister and her situation. Ranma waits patiently in Akane's room and is worried when she doesn't come back right away.

`Somethin's wrong… I'm gonna go see what's going on…' Ranma decides to sneak over to Nabiki's room. He finds a very worried Akane just sitting on the bed and staring at the floor...

After sitting down on the bed, Akane leans against him, causing him to blush...

"Akane, what's wrong?"

"I'm having... second thoughts, Ranma. My sister is very lonely, I can tell... and I dont want to hurt her."

“Let's talk about this later… I... I...”

Ranma is taken by her appearance and with great difficulty tears his eyes away from her. There is a moment of silence before the sound of voices can be heard in the distance... very familiar ones...

"It was nice of Akane to invite Nabiki to go shopping with her, I hope they had fun. You three need to spend more time together..."

"You're right, father."

Ranma is the first one to cringe. "We gotta get out of here, now!"

Ranma stiffly stood up... mainly to hide a certain reaction from Akane...

"But Ranma, I'm not even..."

"No time, grab your clothes and let's go!"

Akane urgently grabs her clothes and then both her and Ranma run out the door, ending up in Akane's room a moment later. After Ranma shuts the door, he sits down on the bed next to Akane. Suddenly, Soun and Kasumi's surprised expressions are heard near by… they're surprised to find Nabiki's door wide open and no one in the room...

"Father, I thought Nabiki said Akane was in her room... maybe she went back to her own room."

"Maybe, let's go see..."

Akane's eyes grow wide as she hears the footsteps come closer...

"Ranma, hide the camera and then go hide in the closet. I can't have you being caught in here with me looking like this!"

Ranma's eyes traveled her body and he made a good impression of a statue at just the sight of her... but with a little slap to the back of his head he began to move.

"Now, Ranma!" She blushes. "You can see this another time! Move!"

Ranma quickly runs into her closet and hides before a knock is heard on the door. She promptly closes the door, leaving him in darkness. Akane's last statement rings in his mind... she said that I can see her in that outfit another time. A smile forms on his face as he utters a few words to himself...

“I certainly hope so, Akane... you certainly looked sexy in that lingerie...”

“Akane, are you in there?" A voice calls out from the hallway.

“I'll be out in a second…” Akane replies back, trying not to sound nervous.

Akane takes a look at the closet and sighs, hoping that Ranma will be okay after all of this. She quickly grabs a pair of pants and a black sweater, to conceal her new purchase. Afetr changing she gently taps on the closet and whispers to Ranma…

“I'm leaving… so sneak out when you can, okay?”

Ranma whispers back. “Sure…”

After taking one last look at her closet, Akane leaves the room. Ranma waits until the sounds of the others fade away before slowly opening the door. After walking out of the closet, he moves to close the door when his eyes once again catch a glimpse of something all too familiar…

`There's her white dress… damn… seeing her in that dress was bad enough… but now her in lingerie… wow… she's really beautiful. I'd better get out of here while I have the chance…'

Ranma quietly tip-toes for the door and slowly opens it. After peeking outside, he carefully opens the door all the way and walks into the main hallway… and stops dead in his tracks.

"What were you doing in there, Ranma?" Nabiki says with a smile.

Not knowing what to say, he gives the best response that he can. Unfortunately for him, it came out in what sounded like Ranma-chan's voice. "Ummm... nothing…"

"Oh, really? I'd bet you were in there looking through her stuff... especially her "personal" stuff... did she tell you that we went shopping today?”

Ranma thinks. 'I gotta make up an excuse for Nabiki...' He tries to make up a reasonable excuse. "I was just leaving her a um... surprise present..."

"Sure, Ranma, whatever... I bet you wanted to see her new lingerie…"

Ranma shakes his head though Nabiki has no idea that he's already seen the lingerie… with her in it.

“Hey, there's no need to lie… you two are a real couple now, right? No suitors or fiancées to stand in the way of your love…”

Nabiki leans over and says something to Ranma before heading downstairs. “Don't worry… you're secret is safe with me…”

Ranma watches as Nabiki heads downstairs and just shakes his head. `I've only heard that twice today… now both sisters think I'm a pervert…'

Downstairs at the dining room table, Nabiki sits down and joins the discussion that Soun is having with his daughters. Ranma heads back to his room and thinks about what Akane said.

“Hey sis, I just saw something interesting…” Nabiki says, nudging Akane in the ribs.

“Look… I don't wanna hear it… I've got stuff on my mind…” Akane says defensively.

“Oh, but don't you want to know what your fiancée was doing upstairs?”

Akane stands up and excuses herself from the table. `I need to go workout… but I can't go upstairs and change…'

Nabiki and the others are surprised by her response. Kasumi thinks about what Nabiki just said and has a good idea of what Ranma may have been doing… but decides not to say anything… being a woman of her word.

“Nabiki, let's talk about something else…”

“Oh, you're no fun…” Nabiki says, disappointed in the fact that no one's interested in hearing this little tidbit about Ranma.

As Akane leaves the house and heads over to the dojo, she fails to notice Ranma sneaking out of the house and onto the open street. `I've gotta pick up somethin'… and get this film dropped off, too…'

Over in the dojo, Akane goes through a number of exercises and lets her feelings flow as she works out.

`He saw me… in lingerie… and it makes me feel a bunch of different things. I know I'd normally be angry for him seeing me like that but… but… now I feel different. I almost feel… good about this. Maybe Happosai was right… there's no reason to push these feelings away… he was looking at me and it's good to be noticed. Maybe I should ask him what he thought of my new purchases… hmm…'

Akane takes a break after a while and wipes the sweat off of her brow. `I wish I hadn't picked a sweater… I'm getting really hot. Might as well head inside and take a bath…'

Akane heads inside and takes a long soak in the bath… letting her muscles and her mind relax. As she leaves the bathroom, Nabiki approaches her.

“Hey sis, you didn't let me finish what I was saying earlier… I caught Ranma sneaking out of your room a little while ago… he said something about leave you a surprise or something… but I don't believe that…”

“I'm sure he's telling the truth… he has been working on being more romantic lately…” Akane says, trying to stand up for him.

“Well… why don't we go and see then?”

“All right…”

Akane leads the way to her room and Nabiki opens the door. The two look inside to see who was right… two sets of eyebrows are raised as they scan the room, though for two separate reasons.

“I uh… guess I was wrong…” Is about all Nabiki can manage to say. A bouquet of pink roses sits on Akane's bed next a similar one of red roses. Akane blushes and feels very warm inside.

`Oh, Ranma… they're beautiful… this is so romantic…'

“I told you he was in here for a good reason… look at these wonderful roses. Ranma is trying his best for me…”

“It's only taken him how long to get you some flowers?” Nabiki says, trying to save face.

“Wait a second… he may have gotten flowers before… but he got me two bouquets… not because he had to… but because he wanted to…”

“Oh really… if he really wanted to, there would be a card in there…” Nabiki quips back.

Akane giggles as she reaches over to the red rose bouquet and pulls a small card that had been attached to the base of the bouquet. “No card, huh sis?”

Holding his breath, Ranma looks in on the scene from above Akane's window and can't help but think to himself. `Damn that was close… another minute or two earlier and they'd have caught me…'

“Sooo…” Nabiki looks over her sisters' shoulder. “What'd he say?”

Opening the card, Akane begins to read aloud. "To a very se... special... Tomboy. Signed... your baka." She finished with a bright blush adorning her face. 'I can't believe Ranma called me 'sexy'!' She thought happily and clutched the card to her chest.

“Okay, okay… so I was wrong… I'm outta here…” Nabiki says, making a quick exit. She goes back to her room and lies down on the bed. `Who'd have thought… Ranma thinking ahead… and being romantic… I guess he's really taking this seriously… good. I don't want to see my sister hurt…'

Ranma decides to wait a little while before returning inside. `I think she really liked the roses… and the card.' He tries to calm his beating heart before casually entering the house and heading upstairs.

A gently knock on her door gets Akane's attention away from her new flowers, now displayed prominently in two vases on her desk. She had been looking out her window at the sky…

“Hey Akane, you in there?”

"Ranma... come in…" Akane says happily.

"I umm... see you got the roses I bought yah…"

“Ranma… close the door…”

“Uh, sure…” Ranma says, not knowing what's going to happen next. As soon as the door closes, Akane walks up to Ranma and gives him a hug… resting her head against his chest.

“I loved the roses… some of those petals fell off onto the bed… so I have a bed of roses now…” Akane says softly.

“Y-yeah… umm… I was hoping that would happen…” Ranma says, not totally understanding what that phrase meant.

“I think I liked your card the best, though…”

Ranma laughs nervously. “Really? Ya know I ain't no good wit' words…”

“Ranma… you can hold me too if you want…” Akane says, trying to make him feel more comfortable and hoping that he cannot hear the pleading tone of her voice.

“S-sure…” Ranma's arms slowly wrap around Akane and she looks up, a smile on her face.

“So… I see you've given up on calling me an uncute tomboy… now I'm a sexy one, huh?”

Ranma blushes. “Well, umm… yeah…”

Akane blushes as well. “You can call me `your tomboy'… but only under one condition…”

“And what's that?” A curious Ranma asks, wondering what that condition could be.

“You're MY baka…”

Ranma grins. “Yah know… people may think we're fightin' or somethin' if we call each other names like this…”

“Does that bother you?”

Ranma has a strange glint in his eyes. “Yah know… that don't bother me at all, tomboy…”

Before Akane can respond vocally, she feels her body being pulled closer to his. She closes her eyes and rests her head on his chest again. “Baka…”

As the couple enjoy a warm moment in private, events were happening elsewhere in Japan that would affect them both in the future…

“Do you realize what you've done? I'm really surprised that Ranma turned out as good as he has… he certainly didn't have the best role model for a father…”

“But Nodoka…” Genma says, waving his hands. “You haven't heard the whole story…”

Nodoka shakes her head and briefly touches her sword, causing Genma to cringe.

“Yes, I have… your son told me about everything that you've done… Genma, I'm really ashamed about the way you've acted…” Nodoka says with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“But…” Genma sputters.

“I don't even know where to start…” Nodoka reaches for a scroll and holds it above the floor… the bottom drops and the paper starts rolling. “How about all these debts? You even had the nerve to put some of them in Ranma's name… dishonoring him when they weren't paid back. You're lucky that I talked to some of these people… otherwise you wouldn't be alive today…”

“Do you know how long it'll take me to pay all of this back?”

“I don't care.” Nodoka shakes her head. “It's your duty to take responsibility for your actions… that's why you're working two jobs effective tomorrow. I'm not going to stay with a lazy, good for nothing husband…”

“You wouldn't leave me… would you?”

Nodoka gives him a withering stare… causing Genma to know her answer in a heartbeat.

After a brief pause, Nodoka continues her “discussion” with her husband.

“You've lied… cheated… tarnished the honor of Ranma and yourself… and interfered in the lives of many others. I don't know how you got lead down this path… but I'm going to make sure that Ranma doesn't go the same way. He has a chance to form a meaningful relationship with that young lady, Akane… who fought so hard for him. I will not allow you or your friend Soun to mess up their relationship…”

“But you're forgetting how talented of a martial artist Ranma's become…” Genma says, trying to change the subject.

“He is talented… but I wonder… is that because of what you taught him… or is that in spite of it? There's more to martial arts then the techniques… how can he take over a school if he doesn't know how? And then there's the matter of ALL of these fiancées… Genma…”

“Isn't a martial artists life is fraught with peril? Ranma and I had to make certain… sacrifices to be made in order to keep training…”

“Don't tell me about sacrifices… I had to give up my husband and son… and this is what I get in return? Ranma's having a very hard time dealing with Akane… I've had to really help him out… how can my son be manly and know how to properly treat a woman with a father like you… one who hasn't shown him how to treat a woman…”

“I'm sure he'll be fine…”

“Genma… I talked to Akane as well… if he did know how to treat a woman, he would've treated her differently. You're directly response for another one of his fiancées… Ukyo. That poor girl has had a horrible life ever since you stepped into it…”

“But she is a martial artist and has turned out for the better…” Is all Genma can come with for a response to his wife.

“Better? Damn it, she was forced to abandon being a girl... living a life that was a lie… and seeking vengeance instead of living. She spent 10 years in training just to get back at Ranma… when she should've been training to get back at you. If you had been a man like you claim to be and kept your word… Ukyo would've never been a problem or gotten between Ranma and Akane. However, since you failed to act like a man and keep your wits… I have no choice but to do this…”

Genma moves back in fear as Nodoka's hand moves towards her sword… on its way to some nearby legal papers.

“Umm… what are those for? Those aren't divorce papers…” Genma gulps.

“They could be… if you don't get your act together. I've had these made up a few days ago… all that's needed is a signature from us. We're going to take care of Ukyo… it's the least we can do to make up for her… misguided life.” Nodoka stares at her husband. “You will get your act together so you can at least TRY to be a father.”

Genma's head sinks low on his chest. “Yes, No-chan…”

“Since it's too late to do it tonight, I'll take these papers over first thing in the morning…” Nodoka signs the papers and passes them over to Genma, who also does the same thing.

Genma yawns aloud.

“Oh no, we're not done yet… so you'd better stay awake. We have several other topics to cover… this “neko-ken” technique, selling your own son for food, these other fiancées, Ranma's curse… the list goes on and on… we may be up for a while, DEAR…” Nodoka says that last part while staring at Genma… who suddenly becomes quite awake.

“You… promised me a family… more children…” Nodoka tries to hold back tears. “You've really messed up the one that we have now… how can I expect you to uphold your word? This is your last chance Genma, to make good on your promises… to uphold your honor… to make amends for the lives you've hurt... and replace the things you've stole. I can't live with a man who isn't responsible for his actions… if you fail, then all the Saotome debts will be put in YOUR name, especially those in Ranma's name… and I will take my son and put both of us on MY family's registry. Do I make myself clear?”

Genma is silent for a moment and then looks up at his wife. “Yes, dear…”

“Good. Now let's talk some more… we have a lot to discuss…”

Much later that evening, after several hours of “discussion” with his wife, Genma makes a few phones calls. `Soun's right… I'm sure that special suit we've heard about may help… I'll get right on it after work tomorrow…'

To be continued in Chapter 9: A different point of view

Look for another chapter soon… and also be on the lookout for a reposting of my NGE story, in narrative style, starting from chapter 1. I'll be back on fanfiction.net soon… watch for it! Please Read and Review!