Chapter Text
"Hello! Anyone here?" Calls a delivery boy to a seemingly empty Nekohanten, unsure as he pushes the door slightly, the small, golden bells adorning it jingling at the movement.
There's a female figure standing in the middle of the place, with long hair and broom in hand. "Restaurant no open yet, customer wait" informs the girl with a strong Chinese accent, not bothering to look up at the man as she continues her task.
"I'm here for a delivery, miss. I have a package for a certain... Cologne?" asks the man rechecking the delivery's details.
"Is great grandmother, she not here. You give Shampoo."
"You're a relative then? Well, no matter, all I need is a signature here to confirm the delivery anyways" says simply the delivery man, to which the young girl easily complies.
"Xiè xiè!"
Curiously, she unwraps the package, which contains a small bottle made of a delicate glass with hints of emerald green all over it.
While admiring the beauty of the bottle's design, a small tag attached to it catches her eye; the paper's quite ruined, and the writing contains an ancient Chinese dialect she struggles to comprehend.
One part, however, reads clearly:
Perfume of love
At the sight of those words, the young girl's ruby colored eyes gleam with interest. "Aya! Great grandmother always get best items!" she pushes excitedly, already planning a way to put the newfound treasure to use as she looks around.
Great great grandma wasn't gonna return for another couple of days, and lazy Mousse was still upstairs resting after his shift.
With a decision made and a new scheme brewing, she undoes her apron's laces. "Restaurant no open until Shampoo say so, now go out for date!" exclaims gleefully the girl as she heads out, leaving the ringing of small bells adorning the door behind.
Sunlight was slowly starting to fade away from the streets of Nerima, leaving place to the pale light of the early evening instead.
As usual, the youngest Tendo led the way, with one and only Ranma Saotome unsurprisingly by her side on the protective fence that served (and usually failed) to prevent people from falling in the river.
Then again, barely anyone who isn't Ranma Saotome ever risked falling anyway.
"Wanna grab something to eat before heading back?" Ranma suggests absently, breaking the comfortable silence.
The short-haired girl hums in acknowledgment, rather tempted by her fiancé's offer.
The day at school had been astonishingly long, and thanks to Ranma sleeping in as usual, she didn't get to grab breakfast and forgot to take her food with her on the way as well, resulting in an entire day of pure starvation.
As if on cue, her stomach growls in need, making the decision for her.
"Well, dinner's still hours away, so yeah, why not?" Akane agrees easily.
"Great! Have any place in mind you wanna go? I'd kill for some curry rice right now."
"How about some ramen? We could get the short way and go to-"
"Ranmaaa"
Before she can give it any further thought, a loud greeting pierces through the two's ears, similarly to how the bike's front tire pierces through the boy's face.
"Nihao! Shampoo have gift, you go on date and is yours!" proclaims the young girl as she shows said gift smugly.
"Thanks, but no thanks" replies the braided boy unimpressed. "And what am I supposed to do with perfume anyways? That's obviously meant for a woman, keep it yourself" he adds, his voice tinted with the usual disinterest as he hands the bottle back to its owner.
"Ranma try before say he no like! Refuse gift is rude!" laments the purple haired girl who relentlessly begins to spray the infuse all around.
Swiftly, he avoids every single attempt.
"I said I don't want it, stop trying to spray me!" he yells to no avail to the insistent girl.
He dodges and dodges until there's not a single drop to spray, which the young amazon realizes one moment too late.
"Aya!" exclaims she as she peeks at the now empty bottle in her hand, to which Ranma smirks in proud, arrogant triumph.
"Mmph! Ranma so not nice, Shampoo mad!" exclaims indignant the young girl as she retrieves her two-wheeled vehicle and make a dramatic exit.
Well, as long as long as she doesn't turn herself into a cat, he's fine with that.
Sheesh, they really are more relentless than ever lately he sighs to himself. It almost seems like she, Ucchan and Kodachi have formed a club with how often they showed up and ganged up on him simultaneously.
Have they grown more desperate?
He does wonder sometimes what exactly they think will happen whenever they try to pull stunts like these.
It would be a lie to say he didn't find the advances flattering once, there was a time in which he needed it even; the affirmation they brought him, especially after the catastrophic blow that was the denial of a proper encounter with his mother due to his.. situation, feeling much appreciated to his especially fragile manly ego.
It's not their attention per se that he minded, after all, who doesn't like being liked? And with his curse, a reminder here and there that he's desirable as man was very well appreciated, but couldn't they just express their admiration without pestering him or expect anything from him?
It's particularly annoying when said something happens to be attempted blackmail, potion him into marrying one of them when he had no intention to.
Oh well, he can handle any challenge anyone throws his way just fine, he'll always win. It's fine as long as they don't bring troubles to-
"Mmh? Akane?"
He snaps back to the moment, noting the now empty street below him. Confused, he leaps ahead in an attempt to spot her.
Soon enough, he does. With speedy leaps that felt natural to him but were nearly inhumane for the next person, he catches up quickly, although the short-haired girl made no effort to stop or even slow down in her tracks.
"Akane, wait up!" he calls out, but to no avail; he's completely ignored.
"Hey! You deaf or something!? Where are you going anyway? Restaurant's the other way" he presses, louder to catch her attention.
"Tofu-sensei" replies the girl absently, a tone so off, and dare he say–emotionless– that it startles him a little.
Is she mad?
She doesn't sound mad though. She doesn't sound anything really.
And she wants to go to the clinic all of sudden.
'Maybe she's not angry but she doesn't feel well?' He wonders, initial annoyance making space for concern.
"Why do you wanna go there? Is something wrong?"
Again, no response.
"Oi Akane-" he makes to grab her shoulder and stop her in her tracks to make her turn around to him, but as soon as his palm grazes her, she flinches as if touch had burned her.
"What's your deal?!" He snaps angrily, the way she fled at his touch making his chest hurt in a way he didn't really like.
Unfortunately, his growing frustration is only met with further silence.
"Fine! Be it as you want, I'm going home" he fumes at last, jumping back on the fence near the street they were walking on.
___
"What's with that dummy? Acting so weird out of the blue" grumbles the pigtailed boy all the way home.
One moment she's fine and then she starts cold-shouldering him for no reason.
Was it because of Shampoo? Nah, can't be that. She hardly pays it any mind anymore, shrugging it off as one of the gazillion shenanigans they both have to deal with every now and then, as does he anyways.
But what is it then?
Restless, he begins to ponder– she announced she was going to Tofu's out of nowhere, and right after they just had made plans too.
What if his initial assertion had been correct and she really did feel sick? Dread starts to take over him as thousands of scary scenarios make their way into his head.
What if she faints on the way or something? What if some guy finds her weak and passed out and takes advantage to try something weird on her?
In a flash, he's out of the futon and the house, leaping through the muted night sky of Nerima.
"Akaneee! Do you hear me?! Akane!?" He yells from roof to roof.
Every street he crosses, there is no sight of her, which he supposes is good, considering his main concern was for her to pass out on the way.
Still, he wants to make sure all was well; after all, it was pretty late, she should've been home by now.
She said she was going to Tofu's, right? So that's where he'd be going looking for her.
What a stubborn, stupid girl that she is. Always acting like she's all good when she couldn't be further from it.
Why on earth couldn't she tell him if something was wrong? He would've escorted her himself in a heartbeat, even carry her if she let him – which he unfortunately doubts she would've.
Honestly, she can be so hardheaded and stupidly proud it drives him crazy. She always tries to act strong when she clearly struggles, he hates it.
She is strong, he knows as much, but she doesn't need to prove it all the freaking time.
He's her fiancé, for goodness's sake! She should be relying on him and drop that stupid "I'm so tough I can handle anything" attitude of hers already.
Akane, you dummy... why can't you just rely on me? If you don't let me take care of you, what good am I for?
When he arrives at the neighborhood's doctor, the place is quiet and dark, as one would expect at this hour.
Unsure, he makes his way towards the entrance. After having received no reply, he slowly slides it open, unsure.
"Mmh hello, anybody here? Sorry to disturb" He speaks out,
There are some faint noises coming from the consultation room; it's barely audible, but clear enough to tell.
"Sensei?" he calls feeling the pit in his stomach grow heavier for some reason, a sense of dread he can't quite explain.
The rattling sounds on the other side grow stronger for a moment, as do the muffled voices he's certain he's heard.
Ranma decides that he's had it and bursts into the room at once. It's not like he didn't try to announce himself anyways.
He didn't really think about what he might walk into once he would've opened the door, however he could not imagine, not even in a million years, the scene unfolding in front of him– Greeting him on the other side of the room none other than Akane, his fiancé, on another man's lap, caught in the middle of what awfully looks like a kiss.
All the blood in his body drains from his face, leaving him in a ghostlike paleness.
And then, it rushes back and it boils.
For a moment, all he sees is red, one as intense as his favorite shirt. An anger he quite never felt before fills his veins, an urge to launch himself at the infuriatingly still man in front of him so strong he's trembling with it.
"Ranma!" It's quiet, almost a whisper, but enough for him to catch it just the same.
Akane's voice.
His gaze snaps away from the older man and towards her, and he freezes.
Her eyes are wide with alarm, so full of guilt, fear and, dare he say... shame? She looks exactly like a woman would look when caught with her lover.
He feels like an ice filled bucket just got poured on him, the only way he knows it hasn't being the fact that he's still in his male body.
It was a lie, all of it.
She wants him, she's always wanted him, you're a fool if you thought she ever stopped, the fool she's stuck with – a voice that feels familiar but isn't quite his whispers through his mind, cruel and mocking.
"Ranma I-"
In a daze he didn't even realize he was in, he hasn't noticed how much closer she's gotten– which is absurd; he can always sense a presence near, threat or not.
Startled, he steps out of her reach, feeling the urge to distance himself from the scene.
She looks like she wants to tell him something, but he can't bring himself to hear anything she has to say. His ears ringing, his heart thrumming so loudly against his ribs he feels deaf.
What does she have to say anyways?
"Sorry you had to find out like this Ranma, but you know I've always loved him, so no hard feelings yeah?" his cruel, twisted imagination conjures a voice that is not enough to sound like her, but does just enough to make his chest tighten.
Yeah no, he absolutely can't do this.
And with that, merely a moment before she gets to part her lips to speak, Ranma does what he knows best when he's hit with feelings he doesn't want to deal with.
And just like he's entered, he storms out of the room in a blur of speed light.
As soon as he's out, he leaps from one rooftop to another, getting a full view of the neighborhood.
He runs and runs, needing his heart to race and hurt for the physical fatigue and not for what he just saw.
Unfortunately for him, it'll take much more for his trained body than a mere run, his durability and stamina being for the first time in his life a pain instead of a reason for pride.
With one last leap, he's gone, disappearing into a now starless, cloudy night sky.
"Hello! Anyone here?" Calls a delivery boy to a seemingly empty Nekohanten, unsure as he pushes the door slightly, the small, golden bells adorning it jingling at the movement.
There's a female figure standing in the middle of the place, with long hair and broom in hand. "Restaurant no open yet, customer wait" informs the girl with a strong Chinese accent, not bothering to look up at the man as she continues her task.
"I'm here for a delivery, miss. I have a package for a certain... Cologne?" asks the man rechecking the delivery's details.
"Is great grandmother, she not here. You give Shampoo."
"You're a relative then? Well, no matter, all I need is a signature here to confirm the delivery anyways" says simply the delivery man, to which the young girl easily complies.
"Xiè xiè!"
Curiously, she unwraps the package, which contains a small bottle made of a delicate glass with hints of emerald green all over it.
While admiring the beauty of the bottle's design, a small tag attached to it catches her eye; the paper's quite ruined, and the writing contains an ancient Chinese dialect she struggles to comprehend.
One part, however, reads clearly:
Perfume of love
At the sight of those words, the young girl's ruby colored eyes gleam with interest. "Aya! Great grandmother always get best items!" she pushes excitedly, already planning a way to put the newfound treasure to use as she looks around.
Great great grandma wasn't gonna return for another couple of days, and lazy Mousse was still upstairs resting after his shift.
With a decision made and a new scheme brewing, she undoes her apron's laces. "Restaurant no open until Shampoo say so, now go out for date!" exclaims gleefully the girl as she heads out, leaving the ringing of small bells adorning the door behind.
Sunlight was slowly starting to fade away from the streets of Nerima, leaving place to the pale light of the early evening instead.
As usual, the youngest Tendo led the way, with one and only Ranma Saotome unsurprisingly by her side on the protective fence that served (and usually failed) to prevent people from falling in the river.
Then again, barely anyone who isn't Ranma Saotome ever risked falling anyway.
"Wanna grab something to eat before heading back?" Ranma suggests absently, breaking the comfortable silence.
The short-haired girl hums in acknowledgment, rather tempted by her fiancé's offer.
The day at school had been astonishingly long, and thanks to Ranma sleeping in as usual, she didn't get to grab breakfast and forgot to take her food with her on the way as well, resulting in an entire day of pure starvation.
As if on cue, her stomach growls in need, making the decision for her.
"Well, dinner's still hours away, so yeah, why not?" Akane agrees easily.
"Great! Have any place in mind you wanna go? I'd kill for some curry rice right now."
"How about some ramen? We could get the short way and go to-"
"Ranmaaa"
Before she can give it any further thought, a loud greeting pierces through the two's ears, similarly to how the bike's front tire pierces through the boy's face.
"Nihao! Shampoo have gift, you go on date and is yours!" proclaims the young girl as she shows said gift smugly.
"Thanks, but no thanks" replies the braided boy unimpressed. "And what am I supposed to do with perfume anyways? That's obviously meant for a woman, keep it yourself" he adds, his voice tinted with the usual disinterest as he hands the bottle back to its owner.
"Ranma try before say he no like! Refuse gift is rude!" laments the purple haired girl who relentlessly begins to spray the infuse all around.
Swiftly, he avoids every single attempt.
"I said I don't want it, stop trying to spray me!" he yells to no avail to the insistent girl.
He dodges and dodges until there's not a single drop to spray, which the young amazon realizes one moment too late.
"Aya!" exclaims she as she peeks at the now empty bottle in her hand, to which Ranma smirks in proud, arrogant triumph.
"Mmph! Ranma so not nice, Shampoo mad!" exclaims indignant the young girl as she retrieves her two-wheeled vehicle and make a dramatic exit.
Well, as long as long as she doesn't turn herself into a cat, he's fine with that.
Sheesh, they really are more relentless than ever lately he sighs to himself. It almost seems like she, Ucchan and Kodachi have formed a club with how often they showed up and ganged up on him simultaneously.
Have they grown more desperate?
He does wonder sometimes what exactly they think will happen whenever they try to pull stunts like these.
It would be a lie to say he didn't find the advances flattering once, there was a time in which he needed it even; the affirmation they brought him, especially after the catastrophic blow that was the denial of a proper encounter with his mother due to his.. situation, feeling much appreciated to his especially fragile manly ego.
It's not their attention per se that he minded, after all, who doesn't like being liked? And with his curse, a reminder here and there that he's desirable as man was very well appreciated, but couldn't they just express their admiration without pestering him or expect anything from him?
It's particularly annoying when said something happens to be attempted blackmail, potion him into marrying one of them when he had no intention to.
Oh well, he can handle any challenge anyone throws his way just fine, he'll always win. It's fine as long as they don't bring troubles to-
"Mmh? Akane?"
He snaps back to the moment, noting the now empty street below him. Confused, he leaps ahead in an attempt to spot her.
Soon enough, he does. With speedy leaps that felt natural to him but were nearly inhumane for the next person, he catches up quickly, although the short-haired girl made no effort to stop or even slow down in her tracks.
"Akane, wait up!" he calls out, but to no avail; he's completely ignored.
"Hey! You deaf or something!? Where are you going anyway? Restaurant's the other way" he presses, louder to catch her attention.
"Tofu-sensei" replies the girl absently, a tone so off, and dare he say–emotionless– that it startles him a little.
Is she mad?
She doesn't sound mad though. She doesn't sound anything really.
And she wants to go to the clinic all of sudden.
'Maybe she's not angry but she doesn't feel well?' He wonders, initial annoyance making space for concern.
"Why do you wanna go there? Is something wrong?"
Again, no response.
"Oi Akane-" he makes to grab her shoulder and stop her in her tracks to make her turn around to him, but as soon as his palm grazes her, she flinches as if touch had burned her.
"What's your deal?!" He snaps angrily, the way she fled at his touch making his chest hurt in a way he didn't really like.
Unfortunately, his growing frustration is only met with further silence.
"Fine! Be it as you want, I'm going home" he fumes at last, jumping back on the fence near the street they were walking on.
___
"What's with that dummy? Acting so weird out of the blue" grumbles the pigtailed boy all the way home.
One moment she's fine and then she starts cold-shouldering him for no reason.
Was it because of Shampoo? Nah, can't be that. She hardly pays it any mind anymore, shrugging it off as one of the gazillion shenanigans they both have to deal with every now and then, as does he anyways.
But what is it then?
Restless, he begins to ponder– she announced she was going to Tofu's out of nowhere, and right after they just had made plans too.
What if his initial assertion had been correct and she really did feel sick? Dread starts to take over him as thousands of scary scenarios make their way into his head.
What if she faints on the way or something? What if some guy finds her weak and passed out and takes advantage to try something weird on her?
In a flash, he's out of the futon and the house, leaping through the muted night sky of Nerima.
"Akaneee! Do you hear me?! Akane!?" He yells from roof to roof.
Every street he crosses, there is no sight of her, which he supposes is good, considering his main concern was for her to pass out on the way.
Still, he wants to make sure all was well; after all, it was pretty late, she should've been home by now.
She said she was going to Tofu's, right? So that's where he'd be going looking for her.
What a stubborn, stupid girl that she is. Always acting like she's all good when she couldn't be further from it.
Why on earth couldn't she tell him if something was wrong? He would've escorted her himself in a heartbeat, even carry her if she let him – which he unfortunately doubts she would've.
Honestly, she can be so hardheaded and stupidly proud it drives him crazy. She always tries to act strong when she clearly struggles, he hates it.
She is strong, he knows as much, but she doesn't need to prove it all the freaking time.
He's her fiancé, for goodness's sake! She should be relying on him and drop that stupid "I'm so tough I can handle anything" attitude of hers already.
Akane, you dummy... why can't you just rely on me? If you don't let me take care of you, what good am I for?
When he arrives at the neighborhood's doctor, the place is quiet and dark, as one would expect at this hour.
Unsure, he makes his way towards the entrance. After having received no reply, he slowly slides it open, unsure.
"Mmh hello, anybody here? Sorry to disturb" He speaks out,
There are some faint noises coming from the consultation room; it's barely audible, but clear enough to tell.
"Sensei?" he calls feeling the pit in his stomach grow heavier for some reason, a sense of dread he can't quite explain.
The rattling sounds on the other side grow stronger for a moment, as do the muffled voices he's certain he's heard.
Ranma decides that he's had it and bursts into the room at once. It's not like he didn't try to announce himself anyways.
He didn't really think about what he might walk into once he would've opened the door, however he could not imagine, not even in a million years, the scene unfolding in front of him– Greeting him on the other side of the room none other than Akane, his fiancé, on another man's lap, caught in the middle of what awfully looks like a kiss.
All the blood in his body drains from his face, leaving him in a ghostlike paleness.
And then, it rushes back and it boils.
For a moment, all he sees is red, one as intense as his favorite shirt. An anger he quite never felt before fills his veins, an urge to launch himself at the infuriatingly still man in front of him so strong he's trembling with it.
"Ranma!" It's quiet, almost a whisper, but enough for him to catch it just the same.
Akane's voice.
His gaze snaps away from the older man and towards her, and he freezes.
Her eyes are wide with alarm, so full of guilt, fear and, dare he say... shame? She looks exactly like a woman would look when caught with her lover.
He feels like an ice filled bucket just got poured on him, the only way he knows it hasn't being the fact that he's still in his male body.
It was a lie, all of it.
She wants him, she's always wanted him, you're a fool if you thought she ever stopped, the fool she's stuck with – a voice that feels familiar but isn't quite his whispers through his mind, cruel and mocking.
"Ranma I-"
In a daze he didn't even realize he was in, he hasn't noticed how much closer she's gotten– which is absurd; he can always sense a presence near, threat or not.
Startled, he steps out of her reach, feeling the urge to distance himself from the scene.
She looks like she wants to tell him something, but he can't bring himself to hear anything she has to say. His ears ringing, his heart thrumming so loudly against his ribs he feels deaf.
What does she have to say anyways?
"Sorry you had to find out like this Ranma, but you know I've always loved him, so no hard feelings yeah?" his cruel, twisted imagination conjures a voice that is not enough to sound like her, but does just enough to make his chest tighten.
Yeah no, he absolutely can't do this.
And with that, merely a moment before she gets to part her lips to speak, Ranma does what he knows best when he's hit with feelings he doesn't want to deal with.
And just like he's entered, he storms out of the room in a blur of speed light.
As soon as he's out, he leaps from one rooftop to another, getting a full view of the neighborhood.
He runs and runs, needing his heart to race and hurt for the physical fatigue and not for what he just saw.
Unfortunately for him, it'll take much more for his trained body than a mere run, his durability and stamina being for the first time in his life a pain instead of a reason for pride.
With one last leap, he's gone, disappearing into a now starless, cloudy night sky.