Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Universe: Alpha and Omega ❯ Chapter 9: A different point of view ( Chapter 10 )

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

By: ST Pika

Chapter 9: A different point of view

Thanks to Danny171984 for the preread on this chapter. Also, in case you, the reader, didn't know, Tiffany Grant celebrated her birthday a few days ago. Happy Birthday Tiffany!

This is my longest Ranma chapter so far… and arguably my longest chapter period for any of my stories… 31 pages…

The next day Ranma gets up early and does some practice exercises near the crack of dawn. His mind is still full of new thoughts and feelings about what happened last night. `She liked it… when I called her sexy… and she looks really good in that lingerie…'

After finishing his morning kata, Ranma decides to head into the house and wake up Akane… `She woke me up yesterday… but I'm not gonna yell at her to wake her up…'

Ranma heads into the house tiptoes his way upstairs. The door to Akane's room quietly opens and he peers inside. `She's still sleeping… but it's still early…'

After deliberating about it for a moment, Ranma decides to enter her room. He looks down the hallway in both directions before heading inside and closing the door. `I hope she doesn't get mad that I'm in her room…' Ranma thinks as he moves closer to the sleeping Akane.

“Mmm… Ranma…” Akane mumbles in her sleep, causing the martial artist to blush.

`She must be thinkin' about me… I wonder…' Ranma carefully sits down on her bed and looks at his sleeping fiancée. `Akane… you look so happy… I don't think I've ever seen yah like this before… I guess everything's working out okay with us so far…'

He stares at the sleeping Akane for the next few minutes, thinking about all of the things that they've gone through since he came to Japan. Ranma's thoughts are interrupted by Akane's talking in her sleep…

”Ranma… touch me…”

With eyes as big as saucers, Ranma focuses on the young woman next to him. `What kinda thoughts is she thinkin' about me? She used to call me a pervert… it sounds like she's thinkin' about those kinda things now… still…'

After gulping Ranma decides to satisfy some of his curiosity by gently caressing her hair…

“Lower, Ranma, lower…”

Eyebrows go up as the shock of what was just said hits Ranma. “What!” He looks at Akane's face in shock… and finds her tongue sticking out at him.

“Gotcha!” Akane says after retracting her tongue. “Honestly, Ranma… did you think I was having some kinda perverted dream about you…”

“Well, umm, yeah…”

“I heard you come into my room… and I decided to have some fun…” Akane says with a giggle.

“Well, I umm… I was gonna wake you up…” Ranma crosses his arms across his chest. “And I wasn't gonna yell at you… like you did to me yesterday…”

Akane sighs. “Ranma… I'm sorry. Old habits die hard, you know…”

“I guess…”

“Well, since you're here… I have something to ask you, Ranma…”

Ranma's interest is peaked by that statement. “Sure, go ahead…”

“Did you want… to go out again tonight? I liked our last date and I want to spend some more time with you.”

Ranma nods his head. “Sure… I had this feeling that something good was gonna happen today when I woke up.”

Akane smiles. “I'm glad you like my idea.” She sits up on the bed and yawns.

“Ranma, I'm going to get ready for school… but before you go…” Akane extends her arms out. “How about a morning hug?”

Ranma blushes. “Anything for my tomboy…”

After taking a deep breath, Ranma moves closer to Akane and allows her arms to wrap around him. He closes his eyes and slowly puts his arms around her, making the embrace a very close and intimate one.

“Starting early, huh?” An all too familiar voice chimes a moment later. “Better not do too much… we have school you know…”

Akane's eyes narrow. “What do you want, sis?”

“Oh, nothing… I heard some noise in here and decided to see what it was- that's all…” Nabiki says back in return.

“Well, I'm fine… so can you leave us alone please?”

“Sure… you two lovebirds play nice now, okay?” Nabiki says with a wink as she leaves the room. `Another date, huh? Hmm… could be profitable… I need another source of income. Kuno doesn't seem to be interested in the pictures of Ranma and Akane… he seems different lately ever since Sasuke's been weaning him off of that medicine…'

Akane and Ranma continue to silently hold each other, both wondering if they'd ever get any real privacy. `Not in this house…' Is the common conclusion both come up with in their minds.

“Akane…” Ranma says as he feels her hold around him tighten. Her chest is now pressing against him, causing his face to turn red…

The youngest Tendo feels him tremble a little but says nothing for several long seconds. “Ranma… I'm sorry… I'm just making sure that this is real and not a dream. I know I've said that a lot lately…”

“It's okay… all of the stuff that happened lately… it could've felt like a dream or somethin'… but you did it Akane… you made it… and I'm glad yah won…”

“Thank you Ranma…”

The two continue to silently hold each other until the call for breakfast is heard. The two slowly release each other and head downstairs for breakfast.

“We've been waiting for you two…” Soun says, motioning at the teens as they enter the dining room. “Nabiki says that Ranma's been making quite a few visits to Akane's room… is that right, Ranma?”

Ranma sits down at the table and then replies. “Well, umm… maybe a few…”

“Daddy… we're not doing anything… I don't know why Nabiki's even bringing it up for…” Akane says quickly, trying to head off any wrong ideas before they start. She sits down and begins to eat her breakfast.

“I'm just worried, that's all. I know you two are finally on good terms and working at the relationship…”

“Yeah, we are… Ranma and I are taking our time…” Akane says as she looks up. “Let us figure this out for ourselves…”

Soun nods his head and decides that Akane is right and says nothing else about it. Kasumi smiles inwardly, glad that her father is not trying to force his ideas on the “new” couple. Nabiki finishes eating and is the first the leave the house… she is followed soon after by Akane and Ranma…

A little while later, at school, Akane and Ranma enter the room and sit down. Both of them look up at the clock and realize that it's nearly time to start class… and the teacher's nowhere in sight.

“Hey Sayori… where's the teacher?” Akane asks her friend.

“No idea…”

“Akane… Ukyo's not here, either…” Ranma says after looking around the room. “I hope nothin' happened to her…”

Several minutes pass by before the teacher walks in… Ukyo is right behind him.

“I apologize for being late… but I had to take care of some paper work for this young lady…”

Several students start whispering to each other, wondering if Ukyo got into some kind of trouble… the teacher starts writing something on the board…

“I know you already know her… but I'd like to introduce her again. This is your new classmate… Ukyo Saotome…”

Ukyo bows and then introduces herself. “I'm Ukyo Saotome… sorry about this…”

The class erupts in conversations as they contemplate what was just said. Akane and Ranma hear various questions being asked within earshot.

“She's a Saotome now?”

“I wonder… did she marry Ranma behind Akane's back?”

“Didn't she lose the fight? Why is she still going after him?”

“Way to go Ranma! You're getting two girls!”

A loud clang is heard as Ukyo's battle spatula hits one of the boys, knocking him to the ground… with her eyebrow twitching just a little bit.

Ranma nervously looks over at Akane. “Akane… what do yah think is going on?”

“I don't know…” Is about all Akane can say in return.

The teacher sits down and takes a rest for a moment… rubbing his forehead and wishing he had an aspirin right now or better yet, a sedative. He knows that it would be futile to try and quiet the class down right away. Ukyo clears her throat and addresses the class.

“I know this is sudden… but Ranma's mother and father just adopted me…”

She waits a moment to allow this to sink in before continuing. “I`m now part of the Saotome clan… and Ranma is my BROTHER…”

Various students exclaim aloud: “Your brother? Awww man…”

“Yes” Ukyo says with a strained smile. “Ran-chan is my brother…”

Akane looks over at Ranma and notices that he's frozen like a statue from shock. She motions Ukyo over to her desk… the other students begin talking amongst themselves as Akane asks Ukyo a question. “You're his sister… that means…”

“I'll be your sister in-law soon…” Ukyo says with a smile. “I mean… whenever you two decide to get hitched, that is…” A wink follows that comment, causing Akane to blush.

“Well… you certainly introduced yourself like a Saotome… Ranma said that the first time I saw him… he was in girl form…” Akane nudges Ranma. “Right, Ranma? You said the same exact words…”

Ranma, still in shock, just nods his head. Ukyo nods her head.

“I was told to say that- pops said it'd be the best thing to say…”

“Figures pops would say that…” Ranma says with a smirk, snapping out of his imitation of a statue. `She's calling him pops… just like me… I'll bet the old man is gonna have a fit when he hears this…'

“Well…” Akane extends out a hand. “Welcome to the family… though you picked quite a unique one to join…”

Ukyo shakes Akane's hand. “So did you… but mom offered to adopt me… she said to make a decision after the fight… and I did. I really don't have a family… and since I didn't win Ranma and have no dowry… what would there be for me back home? I'd rather be here… with my new brother and future sister in-law…” Ukyo says that last part while nudging Akane with her elbow.

Akane blushes as a result of that last statement. The teacher stands up and calls the class to order. The conversations come to end and class begins… though most of the students aren't really paying that much attention to what's being taught. Ukyo is quite happy about what happened today and is very alert and attentive as the class period continues.

Ranma thinks about what happened just a little while ago. `Mom… she really helped out Ukyo… pops took her cart, so there was nothin' for her go back to after she lost to Akane. I did tell her that I thought of her as a sister… and now she is… I swear there's never a dull moment here in Nerima…'

During lunch time, news spreads around the school about the adoption… Nabiki's eating lunch at her seat when Kuno walks up to her.

“What's going on, Kuno-baby?”

“Saotome has a new sister it seems…”

“What're you talking about?”

“Apparently Ukyo was adopted into the Saotome clan this morning… so there are now two Saotome's here at Furinkan…”

“I… don't believe it…” Nabiki says, shocked at the news. She sighs aloud. “It must be Auntie Nodoka's work…”

“I am not aware of the details… tis all I have heard thus far…” Nabiki is silent and Kuno wonders aloud if she's all right.

“Oh, yeah, I'm okay… it's just so… so sudden, that's all.” She remembers a question that she was going to ask Kuno and looks at him. “Are you still taking that medicine?”

Kuno shakes his head. “Sasuke has been keeping it away from me… and I feel like a new person this morning… did I have a different persona before?”

That comment brings a wry smile to Nabiki's face. “Kuno-baby… you really don't remember?”

“Regretfully not.” Kuno says with an over exaggerated sigh.

“I'll have to fill you in… and don't get offended by what I say…”

Kuno looks at her curiously and asks: “Why would I be offended by what you have to say?”

Nabiki nods her head and begins elaborating on the “old” Kuno. After she finishes, he's shocked to say the least…

“I did such things?”

“Yes, you did…” She says flatly while looking at him, waiting for him to challenge her words.

His shoulders soften and his head dips slightly as he accepts what she just said. Then he looks up at her resolutely. “Then I owe Akane and Ranma an apology…”

Kuno silently walks away and begins thinking about all the things that Nabiki just mentioned to him. `I interfered in Akane's life… challenged her each morning…'

Memories of some of these times begin to surface… he promptly calls Sasuke to his side.

A moment later, the ninja appears and asks for his new orders.

“Did I really act this stupid while on this medication? She has triggered these memories within me… did I really unjustly challenge Akane without asking for her permission or asking what she desired?” Tatewaki Kuno asks, hoping not to hear a yes… but expecting one nonetheless.

“Yes”

“When Ranma showed up, did I continue to interfere in her life without consulting her?” Kuno says as the questioning continues.

“Yes on all counts. Sadly, Miss Tendo is correct. You did challenge Akane without consulting her first, you did continually harass her on a daily basis…”

“So I did cause her grief… caused her pain…” Kuno says sadly. “I have a lot to think about… you are dismissed, Sasuke.”

The ninja takes his leave and Kuno begins thinking about all the things that he's done. `I am supposed to be a samurai… yet I have acted dishonorably in this matter… what have I done?'

Kuno spends the entire lunch period thinking and returns to class just before the bell rings, signaling the start of the 2nd half of the school day.

After school, Akane and Ranma head into central Nerima to get the pictures they sent in to be developed the previous day. On the way, Akane asks Ranma a few questions that are on her mind.

“Ranma… did you take any pictures of me?” Akane asks out of curiosity.

“Well, ummm… maybe a few…” Ranma stammers out as a blush creeps across his face.

“I was just wondering, that's all… I know I'm too much tomboy for you to resist, right?” Akane asks that last part while nudging Ranma.

Ranma turns his head and can see Akane staring at him intently. Their eyes meet and he begins to sweat. “Y-yeah…”

Akane smiles and begins walking a little faster towards the store. Ranma hears her humming a tune to herself as they near their destination.

`She seems really happy right now… I just hope I don't get it when she looks at those pictures…'

The pair arrive at the store a few minutes later and Akane gets the three sets of pictures and pays for them. She's surprised about how silent Ranma has been since they left school but passes that off to nervousness… especially after hearing that he took a few pictures of her. On the way back to the Tendo house, Akane cannot help but notice Ranma taking a few glances at her. `He's nervous when he's talking to me… but he keeps looking at me…'

About twenty minutes later Ranma and Akane arrive back home and quickly head up to Akane's bedroom. Ranma closes and locks the door behind him as Akane puts the pictures down on the bed.

“Let's take a look and see what we got here…” Akane says as she opens up the first set of pictures and starts to spread them across the bed.

Ranma nervously watches as his fiancée sorts out the pictures. He waits for the next words out of her mouth, knowing that they could determine how the rest of his day goes…

“Say Ranma… you said that you took a few pictures of me, right?” Akane says as she looks over the first set of pictures. She takes a deep breath and sits down on the bed and stares at Ranma with narrow eyes.

“Damn it, almost every one of these pictures is of me! You were supposed to take pictures of my sister, not me!”

“I'm sorry… umm… I umm… couldn't help it… you looked…”

Akane's expression softens a little and she decides to find out what Ranma was thinking.

“How did I look? You must've liked how I looked if you spent almost an entire roll taking pictures of me…”

“Akane… I umm… thought you looked really… nice… and umm…” Ranma's face turns red. “Sexy…”

Akane blushes. “Oh…”

“Sorry I used up all that film like that…” Ranma says, hoping that she won't get angry.

A smiling face graces Ranma's vision as Akane makes a quick decision about his actions. “It's fine Ranma… let's see the other two sets of pictures and talk about what we're going to do…”

The other two sets of pictures are opened up and spread across another part of Akane's bed. Roll number 2 is almost all Nabiki… `Certainly a lot of good pictures here… I didn't know that Ranma was such a good photographer… he must've been really nervous about seeing Nabiki and in clothes like this… but he still managed to take some really useful pictures.' Akane turns her attention to roll number 3 and starts moving pictures from all three sets into a small pile.

“So umm… did I take good pictures?”

“They're fine Ranma… though I'm not going to use all of these pictures of my sister. As much as I want to get back at her… some of them are just too much…”

Ranma breathes a sigh of relief. “Yeah… I don't think she'd be too happy if some of these pictures got out…”

Akane gets up and walks over to her desk drawer. Ranma watches as she takes out a white envelope and returns to sitting on her bed.

“What's the envelope for?”

“I already know who I'm gonna give these pictures to… this should work out perfectly…” Akane says as she mentally plots out her course of action. “The rest of these pictures of Nabiki and I… well… I'm gonna hold onto…”

“Good idea… but you should hide them so certain people don't get their perverted hands on them…” Ranma says, making an obvious reference to Happosai.

“Don't worry, I have a few spots that he hasn't found yet…”

Akane takes the small pile of pictures and puts them in the envelope. She then takes the remaining pictures and stacks them together.

“Ranma… you're about to see one of my hiding places… no one else knows about it…”

A nod is Ranma's response to that comment. `She's showing me her secrets… stuff she won't show to anyone else… she's trusting me…' A smile spreads across his face and Akane wonders what he's thinking about.

Akane looks around the room out of habit before placing the pictures in a secret space underneath the floorboards of her bed. After doing that, she sits back down and the bed and sighs deeply.

“Ranma… come here…”

`Uh-oh…' Is the thought passing through Ranma's mind as he walks over and sits down on the bed next to Akane.

“I happened to notice something… almost two out of every three pictures were of me… that's a more then a few, Ranma…”

“I…” Ranma's mind goes blank… he doesn't know what to say in response to that. `She caught me…'

“You think I should be a model or something? I must look really good if you took so many pictures of me…” Akane says as she stands up and does a few poses… which cause Ranma to picture her doing those same poses in the lingerie he saw in her yesterday. Thoughts of Akane as a lingerie model begin passing through Ranma's mind. His face turns red and a trickle of blood starts coming from his nose.

Akane clears her throat and Ranma quickly returns to reality.

“Anyways… you and I were supposed to go on a date, right? Where'd you wanna go?”

Ranma thinks about the question seriously for a moment before having his mind changed by the loud boom of thunder. He peers out the window and notices that the skies have turned pitch black. Rain soon begins to pour out of the clouds as the heavens unload their burden onto the ground below.

“There goes my idea…” Ranma says, realizing that any date outside would require him to get wet… and change forms. `Knowing my luck, I'd have to change back a couple times during the date… there has to be somethin' else we could do…'

“Well… we could stay here…”

“What do yah mean by that?” Ranma asks, curious about any idea that would keep him dry and make the date more enjoyable for them both.

“How about we order some food and have dinner together in my room? We could talk and maybe I could show you how to dance?” Akane says, hopeful that Ranma will go along with her idea.

“Sure… that sounds good and then we don't have to go outside… who knows how long it's gonna storm anyway…”

“Glad you like my idea… now… what to order?”

Akane and Ranma discuss their upcoming date while over in another part of Nerima, Ukyo is having a discussion with Ryoga. As they talk, she notices that he's still shaking…

“Ryoga, are you okay? You're shaking like you were yesterday…” A concerned Ukyo says, worried about her patient.

“I feel better… but I still have these shakes… I still feel cold.” Ryoga says, trying to dispel Ukyo's concerns.

“It could be the fever breaking… I don't know…” Ukyo touches his hand and notices that it's warm. `Why is he feeling cold then? I guess I have no choice… I have to do what works…'

“Ryoga… lie back down and face the other way…”

Ryoga nods his head and does what she asked. After a deep sigh, Ukyo lies down next to him and pulls the blanket over them both. `I hope this works… I don't want to have him overreact… I hope back to back keeps working…' Ryoga's shakes slow down and eventually stop as the warmth from Ukyo's body is felt.

“Umm… t-thanks… for umm… keeping me warm…” A very nervous Ryoga says, still not used to this female presence next to him. `I'm glad I'm facing this way or she'd…'

“No problem…” Ukyo says as she blushes slightly. `I'm doing this as a friend… but why do I have this feeling like…'

“Hopefully I'll be better soon… I'm sorry about all this…”

“Well… I guess it's okay for me to take a break from running the restaurant once in a while…”

“Yeah…”

Silence once again fills the room and Ukyo is about to fall asleep when she remembers something that she needed to ask Ryoga.

“Ryoga… what do you think of the Saotomes?”

“Those people…” Ryoga says sarcastically.

“Is there something wrong with them?” Ukyo says as she tries to restrain the anger that's building inside of her.

“Well, there's that Genma… he's a cheat and liar…”

`Well, no disputing that… but still… he better not have a problem with mom or…' Ukyo begins thinking to herself as Ryoga mumbles to himself.

“Let's no forget about his son… that Ranma…”

“What's wrong with Ran-chan?” Ukyo says, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice.

“What's wrong with him? He's a no good fighter and a coward…”

Ukyo hits Ryoga's shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain. “I hope you know who you're insulting…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ranma's my brother… at least, as of today…”

“Huh?” The revelation stuns Ryoga. “How… when… why?”

“Since Ranma's father took my dowry… there's really nothing for me back home. My father treats my like a son and wouldn't accept me back unless I married Ranma… I have nothing back there…”

“Oh…”

“Ranma's mother talked to me before the fight… and I realized something. Ranma likes me as a friend… and now we can be even better friends… I'll have a family again…”

Ryoga says nothing and tries to grasp all that he just heard. `She's his sister? This is gonna take some getting used to…' He feels a sharp pain as Ukyo hits him again.

“I have something else to talk to you about… you're lucky that I haven't kicked you onto the street… really… I didn't think you were like that Ryoga…”

“Oh no...” Ryoga exclaims, having some idea of what she may be referring to. “It's umm… not what you think…”

“Oh, really? I just happened to run into Nabiki… she talked to me after school and I mentioned that I was taking care of you… and then she told me everything…”

“Everything?” A gulping Ryoga says.

“Yes, everything… you really hurt Akane, you know that? You kept saying that you wanted to go out with her and yet… you used your cursed form to be in her bed… to see her changing… to…”

“But…”

“No buts! Is that how you treat someone you like? I'm this close to booting you out the door, sick or not… I'm really mad at you Ryoga… women don't like being treated like that…” Ukyo says quite angrily.

Ryoga sighs and tries to ignore Ukyo… a hit on the shoulder brings his attention back to the brunette that's right behind him.

“I'm giving you five minutes to think about what you've done and then I want an answer. Either you agree to apologize to Ranma and Akane for what you put them through or…”

“Or…?” Ryoga says with a gulp.

“Or else you're back on the street and out of my house. Five minutes, Ryoga…”

Ryoga begins contemplating the situation while Ukyo begins mentally counting down the time. He's about to give her an answer of some sort when he hears the sound of Ukyo sleeping behind him. `I guess I get some more time to think about this… but why is she so concerned about me? Could it be that she… likes me?'

While Ryoga ponders what to do next, Ranma is sitting in his room and debating what to order for dinner. `It's gotta be somethin' nice… I wanna have a good meal with her… hmm…'

Ranma finally figures out what he wants to order and heads downstairs. When he gets to the phone he begins to get frantic…

“Where's the phone book?”

Kasumi pokes her head out from the kitchen. “It's over on the dining room table Ranma…”

“Oh…” In the wink of an eye, Ranma is opening the phone book and flipping through it. `This'll cost me the rest of my money… but mom did give it to me to use for this datin' stuff…'

About a minute later, Ranma finds a suitable restaurant and makes a phone call. `Here goes nothin'…'

Upstairs, Akane is getting changed for dinner. `I wonder why Nabiki suggested this dress? I guess it'll work… we're just staying in the room and Ranma does seem to like it a lot…'

A minute later, Akane hears a knocking on the door. “Is that you, Ranma?”

"I ordered us some dinner… it'll be here in about 30 minutes or so…” Ranma says and wonders why she's changing.

"Don't come in until the food's here..."

"What, why?"

"Let's just say it's going to be a surprise, okay?"

"Um, ok!" He says with a happy nod.

Nabiki sees Ranma heading back to his room as she walks down the hallway. `Sounds like little sis took my suggestion… heh. Ranma's gonna be in for a nice surprise whenever she lets him in…'

The next thirty minutes seem to be the longest in Ranma's life. He tries to pass time in his room by meditating and thinking about the surprise…

“Ranma! Food's here!” Nabiki yells from downstairs.

“Be right there!”

The martial artist gets on his feet and is downstairs in a heartbeat. Nabiki watches as Ranma pulls out a few larger bills and pays for the meal. `I wonder where he got the cash from? Ranma's normally broke…'

After getting the food, Ranma turns his attention to the task at hand. A tune fills the air as Ranma begins humming. He takes the food upstairs and knocks on the door to Akane's room.

A moment later, he hears a reply from within. “Come in, Ranma…”

The door opens and Ranma steps inside. He walks over to the desk and carefully places the food down on Akane's desk. The smell of Japanese food fills the air…

“Mmm… smells good, Ranma…” Akane says as she closes the door. Ranma slowly turns around…

“Akane…”

The rest of Ranma's words die as he gets a good look at what his fiancée is wearing. `She's wearing that? She looks so… so… damn… it's that white dress from Toma's Island again…'

Akane watches Ranma's face turn red and his eyes widen to the size of saucers. `Looks like Nabiki was right… Ranma loves seeing me in this dress…'

A stunned Ranma can do nothing but move his eyes and give her another look over. `Akane… you're… beautiful… I don't know how I could've said you were uncute before…'

Akane lets him stare for a few moments before bringing him back to reality… with a kiss on the cheek.

“Come on, let's eat before the food gets cold…”

Ranma slowly nods his head and sits down on the extra chair that Akane had brought in earlier. She sits down in her chair next to him and marvels at the food in front of her. Two containers holding miso soup are in the center of the desk, along with two salads. Several sealed dishes hold various dishes such as beef teriyaki, chicken yakatori, sushi, vegetable tempura… along with some white rice.

“You really ordered a lot… wow…” A wide-eyed Akane says as she looks over the food again.

“I figured you were hungry… I know I am…” Ranma says as he rubs his stomach. The two say thanks for the food and break the chopsticks apart.

“Let's eat!” Akane says as she reaches for the container of miso soup.

The two dig in and begin eating their food, engaging in conversation as the dinner gets eaten. Ranma begins to open himself up a little more, expressing thoughts and feelings to Akane that he had previously kept inside. This impresses Akane and she does her best to answer any questions that Ranma throws her way…

“I have an idea… for something we can do together here after dinner…”

Ranma looks up at Akane and wonders what her idea is.

“What's that?”

“Dancing… I want to dance with you…”

Ranma wipes his mouth with a napkin. “You want to dance with me? I don't know anythin' about dancin'…”

“Oh, come on… it'll be fun…” Akane says with a slight pout.

“I don't do dancin'… it's not…”

“Manly?” She says, finishing off Ranma's thought. “You won't sing as a guy either…”

“Nope.”

Akane backs off for a moment and tries to figure what to do. `Doesn't he want to be romantic? This was his perfect chance… maybe if I show him how to dance he'll do it…'

Ranma looks at Akane and wonders what she's thinking.

“What if I show you how to dance?”

“Dancin's for girls…” Ranma says with a hint of defiance.

With narrow eyes, Akane reaches for her glass… which still has some water in it. “Just for girls, huh? Why didn't you say so earlier?”

Before Ranma can say anything, Akane takes the glass and splashes him with the water, triggering the all too familiar transformation…

“HEY! What was that for!” A very vocal Ranma-chan says as she wipes the water off of her face.

“You said that only girls dance and sing… so now you can dance with me. I go out of my way to put on this dress and you get all macho on me…”

`She is wearing that dress for me… I guess I could…' Ranma-chan sighs. “I guess I could… learn to dance…”

Akane's mood immediately changes and she smiles. “Good. Let me turn on some music and we'll get started…”

For the next half hour, all that can be heard from Akane's room is the sound of slow dance music… and the occasional yelp of pain…

“Damn it, Akane… you're steppin' on my feet again!”

“It's not my fault… you still haven't gotten the rhythm down yet…”

“One more time… from the top…” Akane sighs aloud. “You say you're the best martial artist around… but you can't dance… that doesn't make any sense to me…”

Ranma-chan steps up to the challenge… just like Akane thought she would. “Oh yeah? I'll show yah that I can do this…”

A smirk forms on Akane's face for a moment as she resumes her dancing lesson. With renewed focus, Ranma-chan quickly picks up the dance steps and rhythms and is soon comfortable with the idea of dancing and not hurting the other person's feet…

“Well Ranma… I'd say you're ready for the final test…” Akane says with a smile. “Are you ready?”

“Of course… what's the final test?”

“It's easy… go to the bathroom and splash yourself with some hot water and then come back… I want to dance with the male Ranma…”

“Oh…”

“Go on…” Akane starts pushing Ranma-chan towards the door. “I'll be here when you come back…”

“But…”

Akane opens the door and nods at the open doorway. “Ranma… do this for me… I'm doing my best to be… romantic… just for you…”

`What do I have to lose? Mom told me to be open with her and to do stuff with her…' A nod acknowledges Akane's request and Ranma-chan walks out into the hallway and down towards the bathroom. Before she gets there, however, she's stopped by Akane's sisters…

“What happened? Did you get Akane pissed off?” Nabiki says as she makes note of the fact that Ranma is currently in girl form.

“Naw… it's nothin' like that… she was just showing me how to dance, that's all…” Ranma-chan says, trying to save face.

“How nice… looks like Akane is really doing her best to be romantic…” Kasumi says happily. “I told you, Ranma, that she's liked you for a long time… and now she gets a chance to show it without worrying about getting attacked every five seconds…”

“Well, that was going to be my second guess… my first one was that Ranma tried to touch that dress again… we all know how much he likes that dress, right sis?” Nabiki says with a grin.

“Yes…” A blushing Kasumi says a moment later.

“It's nothin' like that! I didn't touch her… never mind… I'm going to the bathroom…” Ranma-chan quickly excuses herself, leaving Nabiki and Kasumi to talk amongst themselves. Over in the bathroom, Ranma-chan runs some hot water and quickly splashes herself, triggering the transformation back…

`I don't believe that I'm gonna be doin' this… but I gotta try. She needs me… and I need her…' The martial artist takes a quick look in the mirror and straightens out his hair before leaving the bathroom. `Here goes nothin'…'

“Go get `em, tiger!” Nabiki says as Ranma walks by on his way back to Akane's room. He doesn't comment but sticks his tongue out at Nabiki for a moment.

“Is that anyway to treat your future sister in law?” Nabiki says with a small laugh. “You'll never be rid of me you know…”

`Damn it, she's right… aargh!' Ranma brushes off the last comment and reenters Akane's room. He quickly closes and locks the door behind him.

“Is something wrong Ranma?” A curious Akane says after observing him lock the door.

“I don't want your sister spying on us…”

“I see…” Akane flashes Ranma a smile. “You want to be with me in private…”

“Umm… yeah…” A nervous Ranma says as he walks over to Akane. “I'm umm… r-ready for the final test…”

“Ranma… you need to calm down before we start…” Akane says in a soothing voice.

“But I can't… you look so… so…”

“That's nice… but…” Akane tries to calm down but is getting frustrated more every second by his nervousness. `I know I look nice in this… but he's all nervous and I even see a trickle of blood coming from his nose. Geez…'

Ranma's attention is focused on Akane's body and not her voice… at least until her next comment.

“If this dress is so distracting, then I'll just take it off…”

Ranma's face turns a crimson red at the mere thought of that… and Akane quickly realizes that she goofed up. She puts her hands over her mouth and blushes. `Ooops… I didn't mean it like THAT!'

A few seconds later, Akane is surprised to hear the sound of Ranma laughing… at her.

“Now who's the pervert? You always called me one… but…”

“Damn it, Ranma, that's not what I meant… I meant that I should change clothes…” A flustered Akane says, trying to save face.

“Sure…” Ranma folds his arms across his chest. “What ever you say…” He turns his back to Akane.

A few moments later, Akane turns around and is now back to back with Ranma, her arms now crossed just like his. `Now what do I do? He's being a jerk…'

The two silently stand back to back until Ranma decides to make the first move.

“Akane…”

“Yes?”

“I… I…” Ranma gulps. “I'm… I'm sorry…”

The expression on Akane's face softens and her attention is now focused completely on what Ranma has to say next. “I'm listening…”

“I didn't mean to call yah a pervert…” Ranma says, swallowing his pride.

“Ranma… it's okay…” Akane turns around and walks in front of Ranma. “Let's forget about this and have some fun… I don't like it when you're depressed…”

`She's right… why should I be down right now? I'm with a beautiful woman and we just had dinner together…' Is the thought running through Ranma's mind as Akane puts her arms around him.

“One more dance… please?”

Tilting his head down, Ranma looks into Akane's eyes. He can see the hopefulness in her eyes… and decides to give it a try.

Ranma's hands slowly wrap around Akane and then, much to her surprise, begin gently running down her bare back. `What's he doing? He's rubbing my back…' A soft sigh escapes Akane's lips as his fingers continue their work. `I guess this is better than dancing… I feel so comfortable that I'm falling asleep…'

Ranma continues rubbing Akane's back as she rests her head again his chest and falls asleep, giving him some time to think about his innermost feelings…

`This datin' thing ain't too bad… she likes everything I did for her today… and she even put on that nice dress, just for me. I don't know why pops kept saying that women were weak. I guess I know a little bit about how they feel since I've been one myself but… he didn't tell me anything about women. All he cared about was eatin', training, and joining the schools. I almost messed this up `cause of not knowing what to do…'

Several minutes pass by before Ranma does anything else. The sheer fact of having Akane so close and her not doing anything hurtful to him is finally starting to sink in. `There's nothing to be afraid of…' Is the thought that finally sinks into his subconscious.

Upon looking down, Ranma sees Akane's blue hair. He slowly moves his hands up and begins to gently run his hands through her hair.

`This ain't bad… her hair feels nice and soft…'

Akane feels the motions of his hands but does not stir from her unconsciousness state. Ranma finally begins to understand some of his own personal desires as this touching continues. `Pops never told me anything about girls… anything good. She is cute… and sexy… I don't know why I called her those names before… she does look nice, especially in this dress…'

Ranma's hands move down to her shoulders and then carefully down her side… as much as Ranma wants to touch her chest… he knows that'd be too far.

“Mmm…” Akane suddenly feels a slight grab on her behind. “Ranma… what are you doing?” She says softly.

“Umm… just umm… exploring my umm… feelings for yah…” Is the response back from the now nervous martial artist.

“Oh… well… if that's the case… I'm not gonna say anything. You do like me a lot… I know you wouldn't be grabbing just anyone's butt… at least, I hope not…” Akane says that last part with a slight giggle, causing Ranma to roll his eyes.

Ranma begins blushing a moment later and is silent. `She… liked what I was doing? I could've sworn I heard her moan a second ago…'

“Umm… yeah… you ummm… have a nice body…”

Akane looks up and smiles at Ranma. “Thank you…”

Before Ranma can respond to that, Akane plants a kiss on his lips. At first, Ranma is shocked… but soon begins responding to her kiss with one of his own. Time seems to pass by slowly as the two get lost in the moment.

Just outside Akane's room, Nabiki has her ear on the door. `Sounds like those two are going at it… good work, sis. I knew that he couldn't resist you in that dress…'

“How are they doing in there?”

“Huh?” Nabiki says as she steps away from there and sees Nodoka Saotome standing right behind her.

“How's my son doing on his date? I know you've probably been over here listening for some time now…”

“Well, um… I guess you know me too well… but everything seems to be okay. They had dinner together and danced… and it sounds like their kissing now…”

“Good… I'm glad those two are making progress…” She bends down and slides an envelope under the door. “That should help…”

“What was that?” A curious Nabiki asks.

“Oh… just some more suggestions for those two, that's all…” Nodoka says with a smile. “I've got to go…”

“See yah later, Auntie Nodoka…” Nabiki says as Nodoka heads back downstairs. “I guess she was worried about the date… but I wonder what was in that envelope? Hmmm….”

“Nabiki! You have a phone call!” Soun yells from downstairs, knowing full well what his daughter is probably doing at the moment.

“Be right there!” Nabiki yells back. `Damn… just when things were getting good…'

Nabiki heads downstairs and answers the phone…

Meanwhile, up in Akane's room, the two teens finally break their kiss and are staring silently at each other, their hearts racing as they realize just how much they truly are attracted to the other.

“That was… very nice…” Akane says, breaking the awkward silence. “Did you want to umm… do our homework together? We have that geography project you know…”

“I guess so… might as well get that over wit'…”

Akane smiles. “Good… but first, I'm going to change into something more comfortable…”

“Do yah want me to leave for a few minutes?”

“Well… I don't want you to get harassed by Nabiki so…” Akane gently pushes Ranma back towards her closet. “Why don't you wait for me in the closet? I promise I won't take long…”

“I umm… guess I could do that…” A nervous Ranma replies back.

“Good…” A nodding Akane says as she opens the door and gently motions towards the inside. Ranma steps back slowly and the door is soon closed in front of him.

“No peeking, okay?”

“But Akane…” Ranma says, trying to tease her and break his nervousness with a joke.

“Hey! You already saw me in lingerie and this dress… isn't that enough?” Akane snaps back.

Ranma chuckles. “Yeah, you're right. I saw all that and I didn't even get hit or anything… I think I'm pretty lucky…”

“Yeah… you are… if that was the old me, you'd have been malleted halfway across Japan by now…” Is the response from Akane as she begins to undress.

Despite his comment, Ranma represses the urge to even move the door a little. `I don't wanna tease her too much here… I did get to see a lot today already…' He closes his eyes and meditates, clearing his mind and allowing time to pass while Akane finishes changing.

“I'm done, Ranma…”

Akane waits a few seconds and calls out again. “Hey Ranma!”

Walking over to her closet, Akane opens the door and finds Ranma standing there, his mind focused in deep meditation. She gently caresses his cheek…

“Wake up…”

Ranma's eyes flutter open and he finds Akane standing right in front of him, her facing sporting a concerned expression.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah… I was just meditating, yah know, to pass time `till yah finished…”

“Women don't take THAT long…” Akane says jokingly, causing Ranma to roll his eyes. “Anyways… let's get started…”

The couple leaves the closet and Ranma notices the envelope on the floor. He picks up and notices the writing on it.

“It says it's for us… probably from my mom…”

“Well, go ahead and open it up…” An anxious Akane says, wondering what's inside.

Ranma opens the envelope and pulls out a sheet of paper. He begins reading the contents aloud.

To my son and his fiancée Akane,

I'm so happy that the two of you are working on your differences and spending time together. I just stopped by to “check” on you two and I'm glad things are going good so far. A couple quick suggestions for you two. Akane, show Ranma your new martial arts skills. Ranma, help out Akane with her cooking or her swimming. If you choose swimming, there are directions below to a nearby hot spring where you two can go.

I'll stop in again later this week and check on you two again. Have fun with each other, I can't wait for grandchildren!

Nodoka Saotome

“Definitely your mom… that last line says it all…” Akane says, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, that's my mom all right…” Ranma says as he puts the paper down on Akane's desk. He begins thinking about what the note said and sits down on Akane's bed.

Akane silently sits down next to him and ponders the words that she just heard. `She's suggesting I show Ranma those moves I learned from Happosai… it'd be kinda awkward for Ranma to be touching me like that, especially my breasts…'

A warm, red blush crosses Akane's face as she continues to think about Nodoka's suggestion. Ranma looks over and notices the blush on her face. `I wonder why she's blushing? Wait a second… I don't believe it… I didn't even notice what she was wearing until just now… she looks nice…'

“Akane… it's been a while…”

“Huh? What're talking about?” The youngest Tendo exclaims as she turns her attention to Ranma.

“You're wearing jeans… and a T-shirt… I can barely remember the last time I saw yah in that kinda outfit…”

“Oh… yeah… well… I just wanted to feel… comfortable, that's all. Ranma… what'd you think about your moms' suggestion?”

“I think I can help yah out… which one did yah wanna work on with me first?”

“Hmm…” Akane thinks about her answer for several seconds before giving it. “Swimming… I want you to teach me how to swim. We can always work on cooking later…”

Ranma smiles. “Sounds good to me… and with it being at a hot spring, I can stay a guy and still give yah lessons…”

“Yeah… that'd be nice.” A short period silence ensues before Akane speaks again. “Your mom mentioned something about teaching you those techniques that I learned from Happosai… Ranma… I feel a little awkward… showing you those moves… even if you're in girl form…”

“Hmm… the only other way is for me to ask the old man myself… and I don't want that old pervert touching me… I know I'd have ta be a girl to learn this stuff…”

“Yeah…” Akane says with a soft sigh.

“Yah know what… let's worry about that later. I wanna get this report done and over with…”

Akane smiles. “Good idea” She gets up and grabs one of her textbooks from the bookshelf and places it down on the bed. The two teens stretch out and start looking through the book.

“Ranma, why don't you pick a country for us to do a report on…”

“Well, okay… I'm glad you're here… you know I ain't no good at this school stuff…”

“It's not your fault that you didn't go to school before… your dad wanted you to work on martial arts instead of school…” Akane says as Ranma takes the book from her hands.

Ranma nods his head and then turns to the world map and starts looking around, trying to find something interesting to write on. Akane watches him out of the corner of her eye while pretending to look at the map. `I can't believe that we're spending all this time together… and it's going great. I don't believe that I almost lost a chance to be with this handsome…'

Akane blushes as she stares at Ranma's muscular body but he's so focused on the task at hand that he fails to notice what she's doing.

“I don't believe it… wow… this has gotta be the one we do a report on!” An excited Ranma exclaims a moment later.

“What country are you talking about?” A curious Akane replies back.

Ranma chuckles. “This one…” He points at a small island nation in Equatorial Africa, just off of the west coast. “It's mine, after all…”

Akane leans in for a closer look. “Sao Tome and Principe… wow… you weren't making that up…”

“Are yah sure that you're not tryin' to marry me for my island?”

“Very funny Ranma…” Akane says crossly. “It's definitely different, though… let's go ahead and see what we can find on this country…”

Ranma watches as Akane gets up and gets an encyclopedia from her bookshelf and returns to her prior position on the bed, stretched out flat on her stomach. She starts looking for the entry on Sao Tome and Principe when she notices what Ranma's doing…

“Is there something wrong back there?”

“Oh no…” Ranma blushes. “I was just umm… noticing how nice you looked in these jeans, that's all…”

“So you like my butt?”

The answer Akane gets back is a silent nod from a now red-faced Ranma. He tries not to react in a “yes” fashion but can't stop himself… Akane knows that he's a pitiful liar. `I can't believe he's staring at me like this… but it feels nice to be appreciated instead of called names like we used to do…'

“What about my thighs? They aren't thick, are they? I think you've made some comments about them before…” Akane says with a grin.

“Huh? I did? They umm… look fine to me…” A stuttering Ranma says as he takes another look at her waist.

“Look… I'm glad you like my behind and all… but let's get this report done…”

“Yeah… sorry about that… it's just… I never got to do this before… you'd have called me a pervert for lookin' at yah like this…” Ranma says as his face moves closer to Akane.

“That's true… and you'd been all defensive in return… and a macho jerk…” She says back as she moves her body closer to his.

“Yah know, when you're not violent and hitting people with that mallet… you can be really cute…”

Akane smiles. “And when you're not being a jerk and hard-headed… you can be quite handsome…”

The two teens move closer and are soon face to face.

“Tomboy…”

“Baka…”

Both are almost drawn into a reflex action of hitting or yelling at each other… memories of the past surface in both teens and they do their best to suppress them. There's an awkward silence as the two stare at each other, nose to nose, for a few moments before Ranma puts his hands on her shoulders.

“But you're my tomboy…”

Akane puts her hands on his shoulders.

“And you're my baka…”

The couple moves into an embrace and hold each other for a few minutes, reaffirming their feelings for each other. Ranma slowly turns his eyes back towards the encyclopedia and stretches out on the bed… Akane does the same thing a few moments later. Both teens want to be more comfortable while they do the report and in Ranma's case, it's now harder for him to have his eyes wander off of the book in front of him.

Over the course of the next half hour, the two teens find out a lot of information about their research topic and write up a draft. One point in particular catches Ranma's attention…

“So if my last name was spaced out like that… it'd mean Saint Thomas in Portuguese…”

“That's what it says…”

“Yeah… but don't we need more information about this place?”

“That's right… guess you and I will be going to the library tomorrow… good thing this isn't due until Friday…” Akane says as she stretches out. “I know you'd like to spend more time with me but… I want to have some alone time tonight…”

“It's okay… I need some time to think, too…”

Ranma nervously leans in and Akane gives him a good night kiss before he exits the room. He heads back to his room and stretches out on his futon and thinks about all that's happened tonight…

`I think I did pretty good… and I learned about Akane tonight. She has a side of her that I'm now startin' to see… and she looked great tonight… very sexy…'

Back in Akane's room, Akane is doing the same thing on her bed. In her hands are the pictures that Ranma took of her earlier in the week.

“I look… good. There's no reason why I shouldn't want to feel nice and wear stuff like this all the time… he did like my lingerie after all… I'll have to stop in and talk to that woman Naru again… she seemed nice and she was very understanding…”

In another part of Nerima, Mousse is preparing for the return of Shampoo and Cologne by cleaning up the restaurant and thinking about a strategy for beating the young woman…

Over in Ukyo's bedroom, the brunette begins to wake up and her eyes immediately focus on a nearby clock.

“9 o'clock? What the hell happened?”

“Oh, you're awake…” Ryoga says with a yawn. “You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you up… you looked tired.”

Ukyo takes note of the fact that she's still next to Ryoga and he hasn't moved at all since she fell asleep… `He didn't even leave my side… does he like me?'

“Did you decide what you're going to do?” Ukyo says, her mind and thoughts focusing on the important question that she had asked the Lost Boy earlier.

“Yes… I did…” Ryoga takes a deep breath. “I will… apologize… but there's a few conditions…”

“What conditions?” Ukyo asks skeptically.

“First… you have to come with me…”

“Believe me sugar, I'm going with to make sure… what else?”

“Give me until Saturday… I still haven't recovered fully yet… and I know she'll be angry… I want to give her some time to cool off from the last incident…”

Ukyo contemplates his words. “Hmm… I guess… but if you wait until Saturday…”

“I'd umm… like to… stay here… if that's okay…” Ryoga blushes. “I'd be more than happy to help out with your restaurant as a way of repayment…”

“You did impact my business… so I guess that's fair…” Ukyo says, thinking about the words just presented to her. “It's a deal…”

“Good…” Ryoga yawns. “I'm going to bed…”

“Weren't you just sleeping?” A confused Ukyo asks a moment later.

“I was up thinking… and I was umm… watching you… you seemed tired and restless…”

“I was?” The chef sighs aloud and then remembers how early she had to get up this morning to take care of the adoption matter. “I guess I was tired… I got up pretty early this morning…”

“I thought I heard you get up… it wasn't as warm after you left…”

This brings a blush to Ukyo's face. “Umm… yeah…”

After some stretching, Ryoga yawns. “I'll talk to you in the morning… if you have some time before school…”

“Sure…”

With that, Ryoga quickly falls asleep after knowing for sure that Ukyo is okay. She looks down at the young man sleeping next to her and wonders…

`What's wrong with me? He's been a jerk in the past to people, especially Ranma and Akane but he's had his good moments… especially when he was helping me out. I wanted to kick him out… but part of me was hoping he'd say yes and apologize. I wonder how he feels about me?'

That last question is on Ukyo's mind as she crawls back under the blanket and reaches for a nearby alarm clock. “At least I'll be well rested for tomorrow… I have to start working on that geography project and open the restaurant after school…”

After setting the alarm, Ukyo goes to sleep. The next several days will bring many unique events to Nerima and people living therein…

To be continued in Chapter 10: Ready.... 1... 2... FIGHT!

My next project is to work on the next NGE chapter and another redone simultaneously. I will try and get those both up before I go on my next school break on November 8th. Keep an eye on my fanfiction.net profile for updates- they will be posted there.