Chapter Text

Nerima Mew Mew Kiss Kiss

Episode VII

Akane's Eighteenth Kiss

Their search for Ryoga having ended empty handed, Akane caught a moment to pull Ranma into her room, closing the door behind them.

"Ranma, we… should talk," Akane said quietly, aware that Nabiki (or anyone else in the family, for that matter) could be listening in, even if they were careful and quiet. Akane kept a hopeful smile going as she watched her… boyfriend's face.

"Don't worry." Ranma fidgeted with the straps of the overalls, which were clearly a little too small for his current frame, even at their longest. He kept his expression neutral, nodding, as if entirely unconcerned. "I'll… change back to your girlfriend, if we don't find him soon. I was gonna change back after the fight anyway."

"You…" Akane rubbed her hand at her face, slumping down in her spinning chair. "You're doing it again, Ranma. You've been weird ever since we kissed like this." She gestured to herself and upwards towards the boy's lips to drive the point home.

"No, I haven't," Ranma lied, leaning at the wall next to Akane's bed, trying to look nonchalant. He crossed his arms behind his back. "What are you talking about?"

"I-," Akane tried and stopped herself once again. "I know you don't mind being a girl for me, and I adore you for it, but…" She sighed. "I know you're good for your word, Ranma… but you're clearly not… you're pushing it, I can see it, and I don't want you to do that." She tried to catch Ranma's gaze but he was looking a little ways off, even if still somewhere in the vicinity of her face. "I want you to be happy about us too, Ranma," she said. "And that kiss… Look, Ranma, I didn't exactly hate it," she ended up saying, and then bit at her lip. She hoped that last part was true.

"Very encouraging," Ranma said sarcastically, tilting his head back until it bumped into the wall and then he continued looking intensely into the ceiling. His fingers moved to tap nervously at the same wall behind his back. "You certainly didn't love it, that's for sure. That's why I-"

"I want you to kiss me," Akane interrupted. "One average kiss doesn't ruin anything, dummy." She took a deep breath. "Doesn't matter… if boy or girl."

"I don't think an average kiss should make a girl cry," Ranma pointed out. His gaze still drifted down to look at her lips, only occasionally darting back up.

"I'm sorry," Akane said. "I was… It was a bad time for a test," she tried to explain.

"And now is?"

Akane licked at the very edge of her upper lip, nervously. "I… It won't happen like that, I promise," she said. "I want you to kiss me," she repeated, firmer.

Ranma jolted. He heard.

"Whenever you want," Akane said, cheeks burning at the thought of getting another kiss of her g- boyfriend. "If you want to spend time as boy, if there's a fight we need a magical girl for - or if you just feel like it. In either form. You know, because it's great and because we're dating, and I enjoy it."

Ranma stared at her like she grew a second head.

"I've kissed you a whole bunch," Akane whispered, standing up, and unsteadily tiptoeing closer to Ranma, slowly, as if stalking down a fleeing animal.

Ranma didn't move.

"But you've only did it once, and only when you thought you needed to change for a fight. You're my girlfriend, and, I guess, my boyfriend too, so… yes. Now, later, whenever. Whenever you want to. If you want to."

"I… want to," Ranma said and swallowed, taking a step closer to Akane himself, towering over her seat.

She smiled brightly for him.

They stayed almost completely still, both frozen in inaction.

For quite a while.

Akane's breaths were turning uneven. She couldn't help but worry he'd never move forward, and that was on top of the nagging, intrusive thought on how kissing the catgirl would have been much more fun and pleasant.

Smile, Ranma's overalls outfit said, blurring the line a little for where her girlfriend ended and boyfriend began. Ranma's pose… wasn't that of a manly figure sweeping Akane of her feet, rather, a shy girl approaching her crush.

However much Akane tried to fix that image in her head, it just blurred together.

Then, Ranma finally leaned in closer.

Akane closed her eyes.

And waited some more…

"Please don't cry," Ranma whispered, quietly.

Akane stilled.

There was a soft touch of his lips on her cheek.

She couldn't help but let out a short giggle, as the beet red Ranma took a step back, looking at her expectantly.

Instead of saying anything, she grabbed him in a short hug. "We'll work on it," she whispered into his ear, laughing at the way he shuddered from that statement.

Ranma shuffled a little awkwardly on his feet when Akane released him.

"Thank you," she said. Akane wanted to return the kiss, except there was a muted crash nearby, somewhere else in the dojo, maybe even in the next room. "Think that might be Ry-"

"Hey!" Nabiki's sudden shout from the other side of the wall confirmed it. "What are you doing here, you dirty pig, out! Out!"

Akane and Ranma exchanged a look and dashed to save her sister from the intruder in her room.

Said intruder turned out nothing more than a literal, wet and miserable looking piglet. Nabiki's attempts to force it out of the room had left a handful of scattered periodicals and an upturned chair, so it was up to Akane to capture the little creature, and bring it out to the main room to take care of it.

Nabiki didn't appreciate the assist much, only shooing them out of the room. Akane was glad to oblige. After all, there was a sad-looking piglet to take care of, a clearly bigger emergency.

It didn't take long to clean up the piglet with a towel, and while it squirmed awkwardly in Akane's grip, and even tried to bite Ranma when he reached for it, it was otherwise well behaved. Wearing a little piece of cloth as a collar. A bandana?

"Maybe it only likes girls?" Akane suggested when Ranma clearly took the pigs instinctive hatred for a personal insult and started sulking a little.

"Yeah, well, I'm at least half-girl, so it should know better," Ranma protested, taking a closer peek while Akane was looking the piglet over. "Looks like a girl herself, so maybe you're right. Don't worry, little pig, I'll change in a bit to match."

Akane tugged at the bandana. "Think she's someone's pet piglet?"

Ranma leaned closer, almost getting bit on the nose for the trouble.

"Think she might be… Ryoga's?" Ranma leaned back, evading the bite by a mile. "Angry just like him."

Akane chuckled, petting the piglet.

"You know what…" Ranma said, looking around. "I think Ryoga's a lost cause tonight, and he's gonna have to come and get his pet anyway… whenever he finds us. So… if you don't mind, I might just change for the night, if you don't mind."

Akane nodded.

"Give me a second, then," Ranma said and dashed towards the kitchen in a blur.

Akane was very happy to help get her girlfriend back, grabbing the cat that emerged from the kitchen after a literal second had gone by - Ranma could be very quick when she wanted to be.

The piglet in her arms watched the flash of the magical transformation with wide eyes, stomping its little hooves on the floor. However, it grew still when neither girl broke the kiss for a little while longer.

"Hey, look, she's blushing," Ranma chuckled, after catching her breath, ears twitching and tail pointing skywards, only the very tip waving about. "Never seen two girlfriends kiss, little pig?"

Akane's Nineteenth Kiss

"Maybe she's jealous," Akane suggested jokingly.

Ranma narrowed her eyes. "No."

"What do you mean… no?" Akane asked.

"You're not kissing that pig," Ranma crossed her arms over her chest, swatting the tail about with a jingle of the bell attached to it. She was still in the magical outfit, since the transformation only happened seconds ago.

"I… wasn't planning to," Akane defended herself. It was… only a little misleading. The piglet was very cute - and she knew it was clean enough now, and the little snout did look very adorable. "Would… would you be… jealous if I did?"

"What! I'm not jealous," Ranma protested, tapping her boot-clad foot on the floor.

"Wow, you really are," Akane laughed, and showed Ranma her tongue for a moment. "Jealous of a little adorable pig, seriously? You know that you're my girlfriend, right?"

"I'm not jealous!" Ranma shouted, a little too loud for the lateness of their conversation. "I'm just-" she thew her hands up. "You know what, fine! Kiss the damned pig, for all I care." Ranma leaned suddenly to grab the piglet, pushing it into Akane's hands.

"I already said I don't want to."

"No, no, I insist, do it." Ranma hooked her finger inside her mouth, pulling a silly face and wagging her tongue back at Akane. "Or do you want me to do it?"

Akane tilted her head, in imitation of the catgirl's usual gesture. "So… now you want me to kiss it?" And she waved the pig for emphasis.

The piglet kept glancing between Akane and Ranma, even as it was being swung about, entirely confused by what was going on.

"Yeah!" Ranma said, putting her hand on the pig and pushing it down, getting into Akane's face. "That's what I've been saying! I don't care either way!"

Akane weaved to pull the pig away from Ranma, lifting it back up, much closer to her face. "She is cute," she said, "for a pig. But I'm not gonna-"

"Oh you totally should," Ranma said once again, tripling down.

Akane stared at her girlfriend's annoyed expression, and an mischievous thought came to her mind. "Well, if you insist, then I will," she lied. "Watch me."

Ranma leaped forward like a whirlwind, trying to snatch the little creature out of her grip, as if she hadn't just handed it over herself, a few moments back. Unfortunately, at the same time, the piglet decided to try and slip Akane's grip, clearly unhappy being swung about as much as it was.

Both girls fumbled trying to catch it, and then it basically fell right onto Akane's face.

Suddenly, for some unfathomable reason, Akane could taste the bitter sweetness of the dark chocolate on her lips.

There was a somewhat familiar flash of bright light that followed.

Akane's eyes widened, as she slowly understood the position she was now in.

She was locked in a kiss with an entirely different girl, one closer to her height, with short, messy dark green hair, wearing a yellow magical girl's dress. It was cut in sharper lines than Ranma's and the top straps were crossed over each other. A bright sun colored ribbon affixed to the back of her head was quite massive, dotted with black spots. Another large bow on the back of her dress had long tails that fluttered in the air.

The new magical girl didn't exactly have gloves, instead there were snug hand warmers that ran from her elbows to almost to the middle of the palm. Her legs were partially covered with short black legging shorts, and her yellow shoes where a polar opposite of Ranma's sizeable boots - simple, slip-on ones, tied to the legs with thin golden ribbon. She was tanned, as if having spent quite a bit of time in the sunlight, and her dark green-fur animal ears were much, much shorter than Ranma's. She was also taller than Ranma - very slightly above Akane's height, sporting well-toned muscles.

Ranma was standing a little to the side, eyes wide, mouth agape, her tail slowly growing larger and larger as the hairs on it all stood straight.

Another difference was… while the girl had fangs quite like Ranma did, they were much more pronounced, sharper and pointed upwards, Akane keenly aware of them digging into her upper lip.

Akane's mind was otherwise buzzing with static. It happened again. An animal turned into a breathtakingly pretty girl!

It took another flash of light finally jolting her into action, and Akane pushed the new girl away, recoiling back a few steps.

The second flash of light had been entirely mundane this time. Nabiki was standing close by, a camera in her hands. They had been too loud.

Akane's Twentieth Kiss

"Congrats on figuring it out Akane," Nabiki said, lowering her camera after taking yet another picture, and grinning. "I've been waiting for you to do that ever since you were eleven, but wow, even I never expected you to go for two girls at once."

Akane gaped at her sister, trying and failing to ignore how her lower lip tingled and trembled.

The new girl was almost completely frozen, one hand lingering at her lips, and another very slowly patting at the rest of her face.

"How… How?" Ranma hissed out, hunching forward a little, and setting herself up for a leap forward, as her fluffed up tail continued to twitch nervously. "Who?"

"Ranma?" the boar-girl's gaze snapped to the side, as she clearly recognized the catgirl. "What did you do to me?"

The realization of who the girl actually was came to Akane and Ranma at the same time.

"Ryoga? You've also got a Jusenkyo curse?" Akane asked, taking eyes off Nabiki for a second. Does my kiss work like this on anyone cursed? was a question she kept to herself, for now.

However, her questions were completely overshadowed by Ranma letting out an angry yowl and leaping forward at the same time. "Ryoga Hibiki," she shouted out, swiping with her hand right at Ryoga's face. "Prepare to die!"

The hit connected, leaving a red gash at Ryoga's face, and both combatants tumbled outside, from the force of Ranma's pounce alone.

Akane slapped a hand at her face, while Nabiki raised her camera, snapping a few more pictures.

"The lighting could be better," Nabiki complained, as if the angry ball of two girls trading lightning fast punches in their yard wasn't in any way dangerous.

Ranma was entirely on the offensive, raining heavy punches and following up with an occasional kick, jumping at Ryoga from, seemingly, all sides at once.

However, the boar-girl was weathering the storm. Blocking and weaving, with more and more confidence in her sudden new strength and resilience. Sure, she was very quickly covered in all kinds of scrapes and bruises, the nail marks on her face bleeding actively, but she was still standing strong, treating it all like mosquito bites.

Nabiki's camera flashed a few more times, before Akane decided it was enough. "Stop it, you two!" she shouted. "It was clearly an accident!"

To Ranma's credit, she actually wavered in the attack, glancing towards the house and Akane.

Ryoga used that moment of hesitation to headbutt her opponent, following up with a heavy punch in Ranma's stomach, sending the catgirl flying into the koi pond.

At this point in commotion most of the household was once again awake, gathering in the main room, peering into the garden curiously.

"Stop!" Akane shouted once again, even louder.

Ranma climbed out of the pond, all dripping wet, and ears drooping down.

Ryoga-turned-magical-girl was digging one foot into the ground, but didn't charge forward, not yet.

"Oh, Akane kissed the little pig and it turned into the magical girl," Nabiki casually explained to Kasumi, clearly audible in the silence caused by the pause in the fight.

"It was an accident," Akane breathed out the quick excuse again.

"Oh, but I bet you knew exactly how it works, Akane," Nabiki said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Was it also a different accident each time Ranma transformed?"

"That's… different," Akane tried. "Ranma's my girlfriend."

"Of course he is," Ryoga grumbled from her side of the garden. "Figures! Everything good that happens is always happening to Ranma! And I get to be stuck as a small p-" She feel silent, looking down at herself once more, suddenly blushing. She flayed her hands about quickly, creating a few quite strong gusts of wind. If she were standing closer to the wall, it would have probably cracked.

The scratch marks on her cheeks left by Ranma's nails were hardly bleeding now, and Akane could swear the were much smaller than before, already healing up and fading.

"Yeah, well now you get to be the girl with a huggable body, congratulations," Ranma said, shaking her head, splashing water everywhere. "Because you're not getting to kiss Akane to turn back into a pig, buddy, don't even dream about it."

Ryoga blinked a few times, flushing even brighter red, and stomping on the ground, forcing it to crack beneath her yellow shoes. "Why- why would I want to change back?" she asked quietly.

"What was that?" Ranma asked quickly.

Ryoga didn't answer, only bit her mouth closed as if afraid something more would escape.

"Well, if you wanna ever return to being a boy," Ranma pointed out, face furrowed in thought. "You need to get the Jusenkyo curse to start working again."

"… working again?" the boar-girl asked, slowly. "What do you mean?"

Ranma gestured to the wet hair that clung to her face. "Well, genius, I clearly don't transform with cold water anymore, and neither do you."

Ryoga stared. "Like this… I won't be in danger of becoming a pig again?"

"Now she's getting it," Ranma said, tone a little mocking, testing the limits right away. Whatever else Ranma wanted to ask - and she clearly did, she didn't get to, because her father had other plans.

"O ho," Genma piped in suddenly, with his observation, "that does sound quite convenient, my girl. And it makes you stronger, too, quite a useful technique to know! Akane-chan, would you agree to test-"

"No," Akane said as coldly as she could, clenching her teeth after shuddering at the thought.

A moment later, a thrown red boot - surprisingly quickly removed - slammed right into the forehead of Ranma's father, knocking him on the backside. The boot ricocheted upwards.

Ranma, hopping on one foot, caught the boot in the air and then spun around to sit down on the wooden deck overlooking the garden. She took another off almost just as fast, placing both on her side, and then spun around to stand back on her bare feet. "Don't you dare, Pops," she added and hissed, fangs bared for emphasis.

Genma rubbed a painfully red bootprint on his face and said nothing.

Smart.

"Maybe it's not just Akane?" Nabiki suggested, grinning, and turned to her father. "But I hope our daddy won't be let his daughters be test subjects for this. I'm sure the two of you can figure it out without us."

Kasumi joined in for a very short glare at their dad, and Soun got the message, ushering Genma away. Very quickly.

"While it has been quite the commotion," Kasumi suggested, shifting the target of her mild irritation towards the others present. "It's late, and it would be best if everyone went to sleep. Ryoga, would you mind sharing a room with Ranma and his father for tonight? We'll roll out a different futon."

"Ranma could sleep in my room," Akane offered suddenly. "I don't mind."

Kasumi's sudden glare was icy cold.

Akane swallowed and shivered. It was if the room had grown suddenly chilly. Probably the wind from wide open view into the garden.

"If… you're saying you want your fiancé in your room with you, that's not very appropriate, Akane," Kasumi said slowly, seriously mulling over the suggestion. "But maybe if Ranma's going to turn back into a boy…" She tapped at her chin, imagination clearly running wild. "It would help you against weird ideas, and would be a return to normalcy, but what if…"

Kasumi's vivid imagination painted a very… scary picture.

"We're too young!" Akane shouted out, waving her arms, trying to banish away the ghost of teenage pregnancy, all the while Nabiki broke into laughter. Akane was very glad their fathers weren't around or she'd have died of shame.

Ranma was frozen, red in her face. Ryoga remained confused, clearly out of tune with Kasumi's colorful imagination.

Kasumi tapped on her cheek a second time. "No, you're right, this would be way too early, so…"

"Please stop," Ranma piped in, breaking Kasumi's further thoughts and visions. "Me and Ryoga can share a room, it's fine! The rooms big enough, let's just stop talking and go, I'll get him a futon for storage, you can all go to sleep! Like now! Don't worry or think about it at all!"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble," Kasumi said, "that would be for the best. Thank you, Ranma."

Ranma and Akane exchanged a look.

"You sure you two are gonna be fine sleeping with the panda?" Akane asked as both her sisters headed back upstairs, Nabiki continuing her little laughs on the way.

"Sure," Ranma said, collecting herself somewhat, and pulling Ryoga towards the guest room. "Me and Ryo can definitely share, and the room's big enough for three. I've slept over at his place once, I should return the favor."

…

Akane didn't get much sleep that night, even though neither Ranma nor Ryoga caused any further disruption. It was all her own thoughts keeping her awake.

She clearly liked Ranma, enjoyed each and every kiss, and, if the stories she read were true, maybe was on the right road towards the elusive and mysterious true love…

Akane wasn't sure what love felt like exactly, but she knew the warmth she held in her heart each time she was close to the magical catgirl - and maybe there was something about the stories of destined loves' kisses being magical.

But… why then? Her thoughts just wouldn't let it go. Strawberries are a new favorite, but why is there this new, bittersweet taste of chocolate lodged in here too? It was inescapable, however much she tried not to think about it at all.

It was that first night after kissing Ranma, come back to haunt her again. Except now there was another girl swirling inside her head - even if it had been an accident, Akane couldn't help but feel like she had to apologize to Ranma about it, a hundred times if she need to.

The alarm clock was cruel, waking her up much too early.

Still half-asleep, Akane jogged out of her room dressed for the morning run, and almost crashed into Ranma, who leaped back at the last second, jumping onto the railing of the stairs leading down.

"Morning, Akane," she said, blushing. The way Ranma fidgeted and buzzed, made it clear whatever greeting was said, it had to have been rehearsed, and yet the next words didn't come. Ranma clearly wanted something, but couldn't get herself to say it.

Akane lit up with a bright smile of her own, even as she struggled against a yawn. "Hey," she said, trying to think of a better way to bring up an apology she felt she needed to say.

Both of them were silent for a moment or ten.

"You said… when I wanted to," Ranma reminded yesterday's conversation, finally getting the words out. She beckoned Akane closer, making it clear what exactly she was after. "But I'd still like to go to school as a girl today, if you don't mind doing it twice."

Akane's train of thoughts on apologies was entirely broken. "Oh," she breathed out and giggled. "Gladly."

The first kiss was very short, just long enough to turn Ranma into the cat.

Akane's Twenty-First Kiss

The second one was quite a little bit longer.

Without breaking it, Akane swung her magical girlfriend around her, completely waking up.

Clearly, neither of them wanted for this kiss to stop.

Akane's Twenty-Second Kiss

"Are you gonna let me pass any time today?" an unfamiliar, annoyed girl's voice from behind them made Akane spring apart from Ranma, however much she wanted to stay lost in the comforting presence of Ranma and her magical strawberry lips.

"Oh, hey, Yoiko," Ranma chirped, once again perched on the railing, as if nothing of note had happened. Still, her expression was kinda dreamy as she glanced back at Akane.

The boar-girl grumbled, and pushed herself past Akane with a grunt. She was mostly out of the magical uniform, wearing a simple loose back shirt, but her bright yellow arm warmers remained. She had also kept the tight shorts that had been peeking from under the magical dress - clearly having used these as an improvised pajamas.

She tried to push Ranma off the railing as she passed, with a quick swat of her hand, but Ranma simply evaded the half-hearted attempt.

"Yoiko, huh?" Akane asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's that about?"

Ranma snickered.

"Shouldn't have ever told you," the girl in question complained, continuing to slowly stomp down the stairs. "It's not- You know what, whatever. Yoiko's fine. You're still an ass, Ranma."

"See, we were talking, last night waiting for Pops to actually come to sleep - he never did, by the way," Ranma started explaining, ignoring the insult entirely, "and I remembered the last time we were sleeping over in the same room, you know, at Yoiko's parent's place, after getting to eat her mom's gyoza! And while I don't always remember every detail, I happen to recall Yoiko here saying that's the name she'd choose if she were born a girl, should she have a choice in the matter."

"Ranma!" the girl stopped her descent and turned around, her short dark green ears pointing forward aggressively. "That's not… exactly what I said, that time! And it was a private thing, anyway!"

Akane blinked a few times.

"You did say you don't want to transform back just yesterday," Ranma pointed out. "So if you're giving the whole girl thing a try… I don't see why you'd be mad about trying the name you wanted."

"Which is why I said whatever," Yoiko growled, standing still and looking up from the middle of the stairs. "You didn't have to bring the whole thing up in the first place! I'm starting to reconsider the whole truce thing."

Akane rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Please don't fight or break the house before breakfast."

"So yeah - Yoiko." Ranma chuckled, and switched the conversation around. "Hey, Akane, think we could actually swing by wherever you get your outfits from after school, get her some more options outside of her little magical yellow dress? She's actually got money, so it's not like it would be a charity case. What do you two think?"

Yoiko slammed her forehead into the railing, a crack appearing in the wood with a loud creak.

"Ah… sure?" Akane said, hesitantly. "If… she wants to."

"Of course I want it." Yoiko groaned, not lifting her head. Her voice echoed strange, strained. "It's not like I haven't spent multiple sleepless nights daydreaming about what it would be like to be a girl, instead of being stuck as a pathetic excuse of a boy that I was. I could have worn pretty outfits! I could have been training with my dad more, gone even more into the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, since there's an actual proper girls division, unlike the joke that is the boy's one!"

"Oh, that last one's new," Ranma commented, for Akane's benefit, "I've never met Yoiko's dad, but I think he trains our national team, right?"

"So of course you offer to take me clothes shopping!" Yoiko continued her rant, never clarifying what her father's actual job was. "If this is a joke, Ranma, I'm gonna put you so deep into the ground, no one's gonna ever find your body." She took a heavy breath. Her voice wavered, but she pushed on, a little hoarse, "things like this don't happen to me! It's you who gets to play the girl with your dumb dad for some sort of scam every other week, and I get made fun off by everyone the one time I try something on, even by you!"

Ranma slipped off the railing, but she was fast enough to hook both her tail and one of her legs over it, suddenly handing upside down from the second floor, head swaying somewhere around Yoiko's current height. Ranma's magical outfit, summoned by the magical kiss, swayed a little, only somewhat affected by the gravity - it took very little effort for Ranma to keep the puffy skirt from flopping upside down.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that one time, water under the bridge, right?" Ranma said hurriedly, not even bothering to adjust herself from the precarious upside-down position. "I'm not playing a trick on you, I swear. And… I haven't really run any scams like that ever since leaving for China. I… didn't know you even remembered those. And it wasn't every other week, more like… four or maybe six times total, until I got a little too tall to play a believable little girl, according to Pops."

"Doesn't change that you got to live every guy's dream," Yoiko commented. "And I didn't."

"Every guys dream?" Akane asked incredulously, as she was taking a few steps down the stairs until she stopped right next to Yoiko, one step above. The girl was clearly having a difficult time, even as words and hurt poured out of her in almost perceptible waves.

"Well, you know, every boy thinks about how our life would be different as a girl. What we'd get to wear, how our friends would treat us different," Yoiko confirmed, keeping her face hidden though it all. "What our name could be. Who we could date, all things like that."

Akane glanced between Ranma and Yoiko… and said nothing. Even as the word date echoed incessantly in her mind.

"I never got the part about the different name," Ranma added, trying to nod while hanging upside down. "But the other stuff's kinda true. It's great being a girl…" Her eyes darted from side to side, until they focused on Akane, as if hoping to judge her reaction. "I still want a guy day here and there, I think?"

Akane answered in a barely perceptible nod.

"Yeah, well, you've always been a little weird boy, figures you'd like it," Yoiko said, finally lifting her face up, baring her fangs, and not even hiding the tears trailing on her face. "I'm not changing back if I can help it. I dare you to laugh in my face, now, Ranma."

Ranma didn't laugh, not at all. There was a look in her eyes…

Akane really didn't wanna think about what it meant for Ranma to look at Yoiko like this. And yet, the boar-girl clearly need whatever affection she could get. Akane couldn't help but lean a tiny bit closer herself.

Yoiko's tears continued to flow, even as she was trying to regain control of her face and failing.

"I don't think that's exactly an every guy thing, Yoiko," Akane said, swallowing an entirely different question that wanted to escape. She pushed it aside, banishing it away, swallowing whatever hint of the jealousy there was. After all, she was the one to kiss Yoiko, even if it was by accident, not Ranma.

Yoiko continued to look quite miserable.

Akane refocused. She'd already climbed down the stairs to stand close to Yoiko. All she need to do… was reaching out. It wasn't really a choice. "I'm gonna hug you now," she warned, and did.

Yoiko slumped into Akane's grip, standing one step below, so even with their heights being similar, Akane's chin was basically resting on Yoiko's head.

Akane threw a quick glance at Ranma, who, once again, attempted an upside down nod, and rolled her eyes.

Feeling at least partial confirmation from Ranma, Akane planted a little soft, chaste kiss on Yoiko's forehead.

The boar-girl started sobbing into Akane's chest. Whatever dam there was holding back her regrets had well and truly broken down.

There was a little muted crash as Ranma released her foot's grip on the railing, twisted in the air and landed on her feet on the floor. Moments later, she was a step below Yoiko, casually draped on the railing, as if she didn't care one bit.

However, her shoulder was leaning against Yoiko's back as if on accident, and her tail was wrapped protectively over both Yoiko's and Akane's waists.

This did not alleviate Yoiko's hoarse sobbing. If anything, it made it a little worse.

But… that was okay. Sometimes a girl needed a good, ugly cry. Especially when she had a friendly shoulder to cry on.

And if Akane knew one thing she was really, really good at, it was making new friends and helping them.

She'd make it work.