Chapter Text
The slap sat on Ranma’s face.
The sting lingered, hot and sharp, like his face hadn’t quite caught up with what had just happened.
He stared straight ahead, refusing to rub it even though every instinct screamed to.
It’s not like I meant to, he thought. I didn’t even know she was in there.
Beside him, his father sounded entirely too pleased. “She’s an energetic, cute fiancée,” he said.
Ranma snapped back immediately. “She isn’t cute!”
The words came out sharper than he meant, but he didn’t take them back.
Behind him, her sister’s voice floated in, amused. “Who cares? He was a girl.”
“I care!” Akane said.
That made him turn. Not all at once, just enough to look over his shoulder, half-way, like he was checking something. Like maybe she’d see his face and understand he hadn’t done it on purpose. That it was an accident. That—
She glared at him.
Then she turned away with a sharp huff.
Just like that.
That was it?
Something twisted in his chest. Hey, he thought, irritation flaring hot and sudden. You don’t get to just—
His face burned, and not from the slap this time. He gritted his teeth hard, jaw locking like that might hold the frustrated feeling in place.
He turned forward again, irritation spiking where it didn’t belong.
“There is nothing cute about her!” He didn’t know why he said it louder this time.
Didn’t know why being ignored bothered him more than the slap ever did.
“Please come this way.”
The woman standing there smiled softly, hands folded in front of her apron. Akane’s oldest sister, Kasumi, if he remembered correctly. It had been a long day. Too long for names to stick properly.
She led them through the house, with an ease that made it seem like nothing unusual had happened at all, pointing things out as they went. The kitchen. The hallway. Rooms that belonged to the sisters. Everything was neat, lived-in.
He followed without comment.
When she slid open the door at the end of the hall downstairs, Ranma paused.
“This will be your room,” she said. “I prepared the guest room for you.”
The pigtailed boy stepped inside, taking it in out of habit. The room was already set up. Two futons laid out neatly, blankets folded, space cleared like they’d been expected all along.
“Thank you,” he said, automatically.
His father bowed. "Thank you very much!”
Kasumi smiled, the same calm smile she’d worn all day, and closed the door quietly behind her.
His old man looked around, clearly satisfied. “Isn’t this nice?”
Ranma dropped his bag onto the floor. “Shut up.”
Genma laughed, kicked off his sandals, and flopped down onto the nearest futon. He didn’t even bother settling in properly.
Snore.
Ranma stared at him.
“…Unbelievable.”
He changed quickly and laid down on his own futon, hands folded behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. His body felt heavy, worn down by travel and fighting, but his thoughts wouldn’t slow.
The room was unfamiliar. The house, too. Even the quiet sounded different.
He rolled onto his side, then onto his back again.
Tch.
His old man snored on, perfectly content.
Ranma exhaled through his nose and stared at the ceiling some more. Sleep didn’t come.
He kept staring at the ceiling, though his eyes weren’t really seeing it. His mind kept spinning over everything that had happened today.
The engagement. One conversation between adults and suddenly his life was decided for him. He clenched his jaw. It wasn’t fair. None of it was. Who did his father think he was, acting like this was normal? Like being told your future had already been decided was just another casual afternoon?
He had other priorities. This was not the time to be engaged. He was cursed, and he needed to deal with that before anything else. The stupid old man was cursed too, but he acted like it was no big deal.
And then there was her.
Akane.
This… infuriating, uncute, macho girl. What was her deal? What had he ever done to her? He hadn’t asked for this engagement any more than she had. He’d been dragged into it just the same. But she didn’t have to act so… mean about it. She sounded like it was the worst thing that could’ve happened to her.
Her voice echoed in his head, sharp and furious. “I’m not marrying that pervert!”
He clenched his fists.
Pervert? Seriously? She was the one who had barged into the bath. He hadn’t known how to react, he was completely frozen. And it wasn’t like she’d looked away immediately, either. She’d taken a good look at him.
The memory sent a shiver through him, goosebumps tracing down his arms just thinking about it. A sudden rush of awareness he didn’t know what to do with. He remembered the way her eyes had flicked over him, quick and curious.
Heat crept up his face as he shifted on the futon, the embarrassment settling in now that he was alone with it. The way the moment had stretched, awkward and silent, his ears had burned when he remembered it.
He was a little thrown by how clearly he could still picture it. She was…
He flushed harder and immediately shoved the idea aside. No. He wasn’t thinking about that.
Suddenly… her smiling face slipped into his thoughts without warning. “I’m Akane. You want to be friends?”
If he was honest, and he really didn’t want to be, that had been the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. It shouldn’t have mattered, it really shouldn’t have, but somehow it did.
He shook his head, chiding himself silently. He shouldn’t feel that way. Still, the feeling didn’t go away.
He remembered how grateful he’d been in that moment. Truly grateful. The whole day had felt like one long ambush.
She hadn’t humiliated him the way the others had, his father, everyone else in the house, the way it had felt like he was on display, awkward and exposed, she had… softened it. She had made him feel… better. Made him feel welcome, like he was… normal, even for just a moment.
When he thought about their sparring, a small smile tugged at his lips. He laughed quietly to himself, remembering her words: “Don't worry, I’ll go easy on you.”
She was obviously no match for him, of course, but there was something in the way she fought, real fire, a kind of passion he could relate to.
He found himself responding differently than usual, dodging with a softness he hadn’t realized he was capable of.
At the end of their sparring, he poked the back of her head. She turned, brown doe-like eyes blinking at him innocently, and he couldn’t help but laugh. She laughed too, light and easy, and suddenly the weight of the day didn’t exist.
It wasn’t a real challenge, nothing like the fights he usually enjoyed, but it had been fun. Really fun. For a moment, he forgot about his problems.
Until she realized he was a guy. It was like a switch flipped. The warmth vanished, replaced by anger, walls and distance.
What was her problem with guys anyway? He didn’t understand, and that only made him more curious.
He wanted to figure her out. He wanted to know her, to understand her, to figure out what made her tick and why she acted the way she did.
She exasperated him. Thoroughly.
And what frustrated him most of all, what really wouldn’t leave him alone, was that smile. It came back again, uninvited and persistent.
“I’m Akane. You want to be friends?”
Ranma swallowed.
And the worst part of it all… was that he did want to. He really did.