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Ever the early riser, Akane wakes up to the morning shadows of Yuka’s room. With no run to immediately get to, she cuddles deeper into the pillows and waits for her friends to wake up. She unplugs her phone from the charger to bide her time, noticing a new text on the screen.
Dummy
text me when ur up
what r yall hving 4 brkfst
She groans a little as she reads Ranma’s texts, knowing that he’s intentionally using terrible abbreviations to drive her insane. She shoots him a quick reply, not expecting a response. With school out, he’s probably still fast asleep.
I’m awake
Sayuri really loves the bakery down the street
we’ll probably end up there
Now that her phone is open to the text chat, the photo he sent her last night is right in the middle of the screen. Absentmindedly, she taps it open.
Ranma’s abs greet her.
Hoo boy, and what a set of abs they are.
A cocky grin is on his face as he looks at the camera, likely because he knows how good he looks. His hand engulfs the phone, highlighting the ridiculous strength of his arms that comes with being an Anything Goes Martial Artist.
Akane finds herself zooming in on the photo, staring a little more intensely than she usually would. Yuka’s advice from last night echoes in her mind, about how Ranma has always been a man of action and not words. It’s true, highlighted by the various mean names he’s called her that contrast deeply with his willingness and almost frustrating ability to swoop into any nasty situation and spirit her away.
She hates that he does it because he thinks she’s weak. She hates how much she inevitably finds herself relaxing into his arms the minute he grabs her.
Sayuri and Yuka are right though. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she told him how she feels. Would he run away, if she told him that every time she’s near him, her heart starts to flutter and her stomach feels like it’s going to flip inside out?
He’ll probably think she's insulting him if she phrases it like that. Yuka is right—direct communication is a skill she should work on.
Urgh, if only it were that easy! She continues to scroll up through their chat history. There’s another picture from a few weeks ago, taken when the two of them had gone out for dessert to celebrate their university admissions. Her redhead is sitting in a booth with a parfait that’s practically twice the size of her head, looking like she’s ready to devour it in one bite. Akane knows that if the camera had been flipped on her at that moment, her face would have reflected a similar hunger, only focused on the girl across from her.
Their chat history is a collection of memes, shared jokes, and snarky comebacks. Ranma is so stupidly funny when he doesn’t have his head up his ass. She tries not to read into the messages too much, but every time her phone chimes with his personalized text tone, she knows he’s thinking about her. It makes her stomach clench in the best way possible.
“’Kane, you up yet?” Yuka’s yawn interrupts her thoughts, and Akane knows that Sayuri will be waking up momentarily too. She turns her phone off with a snap, hoping neither of them caught her mooning over Ranma.
After plenty of grumbling and stumbling and general morning disorderliness, the girls start the lazy process of getting dressed for the day ahead. From her bag, Akane pulls out a floaty apron dress and a white puff sleeved shirt to go under it. She changes quickly, making space for Sayuri to use the bathroom next. Sitting in front of Yuka’s mirror, she brushes her hair and then adds a clip to one side to pull it away from her face. Ranma still hasn’t texted her back.
As the three of them head toward the kitchen, a knock echoes from the front door.
“Yuka, were you expecting someone?” Akane asks.
“No, with my parents out of town there shouldn’t be anyone coming by. Maybe it’s a neighbor or something?” Yuka moves to peek through the window, then gasps. “Oh, how sweet!”
To Akane’s surprise, the door opens to reveal Ranma standing in the entry way holding a bag as big as his torso. It’s got a bakery label decorating the front. “Ranma, we weren’t expecting you! What’s all this?”
Ranma’s eyes meet Akane’s over the top of the bag, and he flushes slightly. “I, uh, thought y’all might want some breakfast? And I came over to, uh, offer to walk Akane home and this place was on the way—” he motions with his one free hand to the bag in his right arm, “—and I figured I could grab y’all food because you’d probably be hungry but if you’ve already eaten I can totally—”
“We haven’t eaten yet, that’s so sweet of you! Here, come in.” Yuka cuts him off, grabbing for the bag and ushering him inside the entryway. He hasn’t stopped looking at Akane once.
“Mornin’ tomboy.” He grins at her.
“Good morning to you too, dummy. I didn’t think you were awake yet.” She smiles softly at him, watching him fidget under her gaze.
They make their way into the kitchen where Yuka has spread out the feast Ranma brought them. There’s an assortment of breads and buns, all deliciously light and smelling like they came out of the oven mere minutes ago.
“Ranma how did you even buy all this?” Akane asks him, overwhelmed by the amount of food on the counter.
“Put it on my old man’s card, he can suck it if he doesn’t like it.” Ranma huffs.
Giggling at his attitude, Akane reaches for some anpan. “I can’t believe it worked! I would have expected all his cards to be maxed out or locked.”
Ranma laughs, a genuine one from his chest. The warmth that spreads through Akane when she listens to it makes every bit of rudeness worth it.
“So, did y’all have a good time last night?” Ranma asks, looking at the girls. “It certainly looked like it, from the picture I got.” Akane inhales sharply, and then fights not to choke on her breakfast that’s trying to disappear down the wrong side of her throat.
“Mmmmm yes, the picture Akane texted. It was good, right?” Yuka questions playfully, expecting Ranma to fall apart and stammer like he always does.
Ranma takes all three of them by surprise when he responds. “It was.”
His voice is softer than it normally is, with a hint of genuine emotion behind it instead of his usual bluster. He immediately realizes what he’s said when the room stays quite, everyone dumbfounded into silence. A blush creeps up his cheeks, but instead of denying it rapidly, Akane watches him stuff his mouth full of bread to avoid saying anything stupid.
“’Kane, are you ready to head home? Or do you have other things you wanna to do today?” Ranma’s words are a little choked up since he hasn’t finished chewing.
“Jeez, eat and then speak Ranma.” She gives a quick hug to Yuka and Sayuri, both of whom are still staring a Ranma, a little bewildered by his behavior. “Let me just get my bag and then we can go.”
Shortly thereafter, Ranma and Akane step on to the sidewalk in front of Yuka’s house, setting a path for the Tendo household. Ranma hops up on the low stone wall that borders the neighbor’s yard, then immediately changes his mind after looking at Akane where she’s walking on the side walk. With a light hop over her, he places himself on the side of her that’s closest to the street. He walks backwards, and Akane watches the way he scans the neighborhood with narrowed eyes.
“Are you looking for someone in particular?”
“Nah, actually just trying to make sure we’re alone and no one is gonna bother us.” He flips around, finally facing front, just in time to avoid a light pole.
“Here, let me carry that.” In one movement, he reaches across himself to take her overnight bag in his right hand. Then he slides his left hand into her newly empty one, intertwining their fingers and squeezing slightly.
What the fuck. Is happening.
Akane’s brain takes a moment to buffer, causing her to stumble a bit over her own feet as she tries to figure out what’s going on. Ranma is staring almost aggressively ahead and not letting go of her hand. They keep walking, the quiet of the morning pressing in on them.
He’s holding my hand. . . voluntarily???
She starts looking him over for a cursed item or talisman, trying to place where this unusual display of affection is coming from and if it’s genuine or forced.
“What are you lookin’ at, tomboy?” He asks.
“Just trying to figure out what cursed item is affecting you right now!” She waves at their linked hands, indicating the situation.
“I’m not cursed! At least no more than usual!” He blushes heavily, “Jeez tomboy, all you had to do was say you didn’t want to.”
He starts to disentangle his hand from hers, only to find she’s squeezing it too hard for him to do so. Akane puts her other hand around where they’re linked, so that she’s got his one hand sandwiched between both of hers. “I didn’t mean that! It’s just rare for me to get attention like this.” She looks down at the ground as they walk, remembering Yuka telling her to be open, honest, and direct. “I like it, I don’t want you to stop.”
Ranma stumbles a bit, then rights himself, never once letting go. Akane knows that they’re both so red they probably look sunburned, but can’t bring herself to care.
He’s holding MY hand! Not Ukyo’s, not ShanPu’s!
“So did y’all have fun last night?” Ranma starts. Akane smiles at his intro, knowing he’s just trying to break the awkward silence because he’d already asked that a few minutes ago. She proceeds to tell him about the sleep over, describing the stupid things they dared each other to do. She shares the new gossip that Yuka told her. Ranma eats it up, because despite acting like a tough guy, he’s a bigger gossip than Yuka is. The whole time, they walk hand in hand, their shoulders brushing as they meander down the side walk. They don’t rush, walking slower than they usually would. It doesn’t last nearly as long as she wants it to.
They’re interrupted by the sound of a bicycle bell. It’s a few blocks off, not right behind them like usual, but both of them are immediately on alert. Akane is suddenly being herded into an alley way between two houses and pressed up against a wall. Ranma’s back is to her, and his head is poking out just enough so he can see into the street. After a tense moment, he seems to understand that ShanPu isn’t going to teleport on to his head, and that the two of them have escaped her notice.
It’s a damn miracle, that woman seems like she has a tracker on Ranma sometimes. Akane thinks, waiting for Ranma to finish his security sweep. Maybe we should check his phone. I wouldn’t put it past her to have shared his location with herself or something equally weird. Though that’s more of a Kodachi move, I think.
“You OK?” Akane places her hand on Ranma’s arm, and he finally turns to look at her.
“I’m good. Just didn’t want to see ShanPu today.” She can feel his gaze rest heavy on her face, and then focus lower, almost like he’s staring at her lips. “She’s been botherin’ me more than usual. Especially after that shit she pulled at the wedding, I can’t say I’m lookin’ forward to seeing her any time soon. Come on, let’s go the long way around, just in case.”
Ranma grabs her hand (again?? for the second time that day??) and leads her out the other side of the alley. She lets him pull her along, enjoying the feeling of his hand holding hers.
The long way around includes some extra street crossings, a small wall hop, a brief foray through someone’s garden, and a mild dead end into a 10 foot high cinder block wall. Ranma stares at it, as if confused about where it came from.
“Not used to navigating this neighborhood from down on the street like the rest of us, hm Ranma?” Akane teases him. A faint blush colors his cheeks.
“I really thought the park was right through here, I feel as turned around as Ryoga right now.” That pulls a full laugh from Akane, and she can feel a smile blooming on her face. Turning to Ranma, seeing him a little dumbstruck, she can’t help but feel endeared with the situation. It’s so rare that Ranma shows any weakness, even a glimpse is treasured.
“Well let’s just turn back, it’s no big deal. It’s not like we have somewhere better to be.” She turns on her heel, about to head back toward the street, when he stops her.
“Now wait a minute ’Kane, it’s not even that tall. Let’s just jump it and keep going.”
She turns to stare at him, boggled, and waits for him to remember she can’t jump as high as he can. When he doesn’t take the hint, she huffs. “Ranma, you expect me to scale that wall in a dress? I know you have very little feminine propriety and see me as practically a zoo gorilla, but I do still have some modesty.” She finishes with an eye roll, joking, but also not really.
“Aw c’mon, it’ll be easy.” He starts toward her, already reaching for her, and she lightly shoves his arms away.
“Ranma I’m not climbing that wall.”
“I just said it’ll be easy. C’mon ’Kane, don’t you trust me?” He closes in quickly and hands her bag back. She’s caught by surprise when he scoops her into a bridal hold. Akane yelps and immediately wraps her one free arm around his neck. Her bag is cradled against her stomach. The way he’s carrying her places his face right next to hers, and her whole right side is pressed against his chest. She can feel the muscles shifting in his abdomen and arms, immediately supporting her and lifting her like she weighs nothing. His picture from last night briefly flashes across her mind. Abs, oh my god. For a man who regularly complains that she’s built like a brick, he seems to have no problem picking her up. He actually hasn’t mentioned that insult lately. In fact, he hasn’t had many mean things to say since Jusendo, just teasing, light remarks. It’s strange, but nice at the same time.
Ranma carries her up and on to the wall in a flash, and then instead of jumping down, he continues up to the nearest roof. Akane is glad her skirt is tucked between her knees and his arm, held down against the wind billowing around them. From here, they can see the park that Ranma was originally aiming for. It’s just a few blocks over, with the trees just starting to get leaves on their branches.
Akane relishes the view from up here. She’s always been a little jealous of Ranma’s skills, the way he sometimes treats gravity like it’s optional. She doesn’t realize that Ranma has been watching her until he interrupts her thoughts. “Enjoying the view, tomboy?”
She flashes him another smile that makes him briefly wobble in the air. When he’s righted their course, she answers, “Of course, it’s incredible. I’m excited for spring, and to start university. We’ve got really good things ahead of us, don’t you think?”
Ranma is quiet as they descend. When he sets Akane’s feet back on solid ground, she continues. “That felt so freeing! Are you sure you won’t train me, Ranma? I’d love to be able to jump the roofs to get to classes more quickly.”
She stops on the path and looks back at where he’s standing frozen, watching her. “You wanna learn how to jump the roofs?” he asks.
“Duh, it’s a cool skill and would make it so much easier to avoid unnecessary crowds.”
He starts to move forward, keeping eye contact the entire time. “I’ll teach ya.”
Akane looks up at him with shock. “Really, Ranma? You’re not teasing me, right?”
“Not teasin’ ya tomboy, I’ll teach ya’. It’ll have to be soon though, you’ve got a lot of practice to fit in before you can walk the roofs of Tokyo University.”
She’s so full of excitement she can barely speak. Instead, she ends up squealing, grabbing Ranma’s hand with her one free one and shaking it a little to get out her feelings. “Maybe we can start this afternoon? I don’t have any plans!”
Ranma nods, letting her hold his hand as he watches her. There’s a look on his face that she’s only seen once or twice in all the two years she’s known him. It’s soft, with a small smile, and she wonders what he’s thinking.
Open, clear communication, Akane, she can hear Yuka’s voice echo in her head again. Well, practice makes perfect, and no time like the present.
“What are you thinking about?” She decides to ask.
He pauses, then states, “You said ‘we.’”
“What?”
“You said ‘we.’ ‘We’ve’ got good things ahead of us.” Surprise colors his tone, creeping in around the edges.
“Well duh, we’re not going to just . . . stop talking in college or something ridiculous like that.” Akane flushes a bit before admitting, “You’re my best friend Ranma, of course we’ve got good things ahead of us.”
“I thought Yuka and Sayuri held the best friend title,” he jokes.
“You know what I mean.” She rolls her eyes and starts to turn away, only to be stopped when Ranma pulls his hand from hers and grabs her shoulder instead.
“You’re my best friend too.” His hand moves to rest at the juncture of her throat and collarbones, trailing delicious sparks along her skin. He swipes his thumb along her neck, absentmindedly. There’s a sudden tension in the air, and her eyes flick traitorously towards his lips before she wrenches them back up to meet his. Her bag feels heavy in her hand, and all she wants to do is set it down and wrap her arms around him instead. Ranma tilts his head to the side, leaning forward infinitesimally. Akane feels herself swaying inward, mirroring his movement, feeling like there’s a magnet in her chest pulling her toward him.
Just as suddenly as it started, Ranma breaks eye contact. With a small huff, he slides his arm along her upper back and briefly pulls her into a hug. Akane’s head rests on his chest, and the heady scent of him engulfs her briefly. Then he’s pulling back and pivoting so she’s tucked into his side. His arm is slung around her shoulders, and Akane savors the grounding weight of it as they start walking again. It’s the second new experience of today, a way of being held that has never happened before, outside of injured limping and battle recovery. It sends small shivers down her spine, reminding her of the way she felt when he first claimed their relationship publicly.
Akane is MY fiancée. Lay a lip on her and I’ll kill you.
She plays that moment over in her head far more often than she would ever admit aloud. Something in his tone makes her weak, his words sinking into her bones and making her heart beat faster.
They walk in silence for a little while, enjoying the sound of the park coming alive in the light spring day. The background noise of the park allows her thoughts to drift.
She’s still half convinced that his boldness today is the result of a cursed amulet, but they haven’t been interrupted once. If someone was plotting to get his affection with a talisman, they would have interrupted long ago. Unless it was our dads who plotted it. Maybe they fed him something this morning? No wait, he brought us breakfast. Well, he could have eaten before he got us food. But even if they did spike his breakfast, they wouldn’t be able to resist watching it work. They’d definitely have been creeping on us and Ranma would have sensed them already. She surreptitiously looks around, peeking over Ranma’s arm, making sure no one is stalking them from the bushes.
“Whatcha thinkin about, tomboy?” Ranma turns her earlier phrase back on her, watching her face.
“Nothing interesting.” She replies, refusing to give words to any of the thoughts she had just had. “Well, actually, I’m thinking about university. It’ll be nice to live away from home for a little while. I’ll really miss the dojo, and Kasumi’s cooking. But I can’t wait to be away from both of our dads for a few years.”
When she looks at Ranma’s face, she can see that he’s torn between agreeing and something else. For what is probably the first time ever, Ranma says what he’s thinking, plain and simple. “You’ll still come back though, right?”
“Of course, I’ll probably be home every weekend. I don’t want to leave completely, just get a little distance and enjoy being an adult, you know?” She smiles, looking down at the ground. It’s cute, the way he’s worried about her leaving. “You’ll come visit me too, right Ranma? At the dorms?”
He smiles when she asks. “Hell yeah, you couldn’t keep me away if you tried.” They laugh together, and he pulls her a little closer.
“Good. But you’d better behave yourself, Yuka and Sayuri said they’d charge me for any property damage we inflict when you come over.”
Ranma scoffs, “It’s not even my fault half the time! Unless there’s a cat, but by then I’m not even in control. How do you expect me to handle that?”
“You can’t shift all the blame for your property destruction to your neko-mode, Ranma.” Akane is glad he can’t see her face very well, because that means her instinctual eye roll is at least a little bit hidden from him.
“Oh please, like you’re a paragon of perfection yourself.” Ranma is trying to keep is voice light, but Akane can hear the slight strain behind it. She can sense an argument brewing, like an old, itchy scab just begging to be picked at.
Don’t pick at it, Akane’s brain whispers, but what slips out instead is, “Well, at the very least you should tell your other fiancées that campus is off limits. That will significantly decrease the number of broken walls. They can just deal with not being able to compete for your attention anytime, anywhere.” Her tone is sharper than she wanted, doing nothing to diffuse the situation.
“You know what, Akane?” Ranma’s arm tightens slightly around her shoulder. “I will.”
Her surprise at his response must be apparent, because he continues, “I’ll tell them to fuck off if they follow us.”
WHEN they follow us, more like, but the ever-present jealousy is tempered by Ranma’s promise to keep them away.
”I don’t even want them around any more.” Ranma continues, “I’m still pissed at them for what they did at our, uh, wedding, ya know. Who knows what might’ve happened if they had just butted out.”
Akane feels her body slip out of fight mode and directly into flight mode, her heart rate ratcheting up like it always does when she thinks about their failed nuptials. “Yeah well, things would probably be pretty different if they hadn’t ‘butted in.’ At this point, maybe we should just take it as a sign.” Disappointment flashes briefly across Ranma’s face, and his arm slips off her shoulders.
“I just mean,” she continues, desperate not to give him the wrong idea, “we have the rest of our lives to get married. Why rush when we have so much time ahead of us, you know?”
She looks up at his face. The angry tension from before has softened, replaced with something thicker, more expectant. The two of them draw to a stop on the path again, staring at each other. Akane realizes what she just admitted, and then finds she doesn’t care as much as she expected she would. I want him to know, she realizes. I want him to know that I care about him. Love him, even. I want him to know how much I want him around forever.
Akane reaches for his hand again, pressing her fingers into his palm and then wrapping her hand around his. “I’m not in any rush,” she continues, looking down at where their hands rest together.
“I know we don’t really talk about it all that often Ranma, but I think you know where I stand. I hope you know, at least.” She takes a deep breath. “That I’ll stand by your side, as long as you want me there. Best friends, but also whatever else you’ll give me.”
She can feel her face flushing, and she keeps her eyes on their hands. There’s too much emotion welling up inside her, and it turns out oh wait there’s the anxiety! She fidgets with his fingers, trying to figure out a way to end her little speech that won’t pressure him to admit his feelings but also won’t leave her feeling like she’s hanging off of a cliff. “I just—you know. Actually, never mind, I’m going to stop talking now. Let’s keep going, we’re almost home.”
She drops his hand, only to find she can’t move away because he’s brought his arm around her waist. His free hand comes up to rest against her neck again, his fingers sliding through her hair and pulling just the slightest bit. His hand is so broad, it encompasses the entire side of her throat, allowing his thumb to rest along her chin, tilting her head up towards his.
He’s pulled her so close their bodies are flush against one another. When her eyes meet his, she can see the flood of emotion in them. “Akane,” he whispers, leaning towards her. He hesitates for just a moment, making sure he can see the yes in her eyes, before he finally closes the gap.
Their first kiss is soft, and a little awkward. Neither of them have done this before, and it’s simultaneously exactly what she expected and surprisingly different. His lips are rougher than she would have thought, a little chapped because he refuses to carry chap stick around. Their noses bump a little. Akane feels the pressure from his thumb intensify, and he pulls at the back of her neck just a little harder.
The change in angle is magic, narrowing Akane’s whole world to the press of their lips. They’re as close as they can possibly be, a molten heat building between them. Ranma lets out a soft, barely there groan, and it lights up Akane’s nerve endings so brightly she feels just the slightest bit unmade. Knees so weak she’s worried her bones have dissolved, Akane leans back slightly into the reassuring grasp of Ranma’s arm, letting him take some of her weight as he bends forward to chase her lips.
Ranma kisses like he fights. Full of intensity and single-minded focus, he’s a dedicated student in the face of a new technique. Warmth blooms across her lower lip as his tongue slides across it, giving her a tantalizing idea of what else is in store. Their lips slide back together, and when Akane finally gasps for air, Ranma chases her, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth and biting it lightly before pulling back.
“Akane,” he whispers again, before planting another kiss on her now swollen lips. He follows it with a kiss on her nose, then both her cheeks, and finally her forehead. “Best friends and whatever else you’ll give me.” Ranma echoes, and it sounds like I love you.
Her whole face suffuses with heat. It’s a mix of light embarrassment at being perceived and a radiant, effervescent joy at finally having kissed the person she’s in love with. She giggles, feeling the happiness welling up from some deep part of her.
“Oyy, are you laughing at me?” He pulls back a little, gaping down at her incredulously.
“No, not at you! Never at you—” she’s still laughing, “—but I can’t help it. I’m just so happy right now!” Her smile is so wide it feels like it’s going to split her face open. She pulls him in by his shirt, realizing one of her hands had made its way to his chest a while ago without her even knowing. He comes easily, leaning down, and she presses her lips to his again. A lighter peck, easy, a release of the hot, heavy tension that was keeping them connected. Then she turns back towards the sidewalk, ready to continue the walk home. “C’mon dummy, you’ve got skills to teach me.”
“Oh? So you admit I’m the better kisser of the two of us?”
She rolls her eyes, “Roofs, Ranma, you promised to teach me how to jump between buildings.” Tugging him along, she can hear him laugh. Just to provoke him, she adds, “Besides, I think we both know I’m the better kisser.”
“Tomboy, are you kidding? I just took all the initiative!”
“Hey, I confessed first! And,” she stresses, “you caught me off guard. I haven’t had a chance to display my full range of techniques yet.” She fake pouts at him, watching his eyes gleam with mischief.
“Careful ’Kane, that almost sounded like a challenge. You know I don’t lose challenges.”
Skipping in front of him and then turning around, she leans forward and sticks her tongue out at him. “Take it however you want, but we both know I’ll be winning this one, for once.”
His answering laugh echoes through her body. Together, they keep walking toward home.
