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[RANMA]
“Up! Up! You need to get fat to take your medicine!” He put the tray on Akane’s desk, careful not to spill the soup or knock over the glass of water.
“Ugh.. Ranma?” She scratched her eyes before opening them.
“Hmm… no reaction to being called fat? That fever must still be pretty high…”
He kept his voice cheerful, but as Akane rose from the pile of woolly blankets to sit up on the bed, he put his hand on her forehead to check on her.
Ranma acted carefully, though. He had learned from the prior day not to touch his forehead with hers… that’d been dangerous! With that faint blush on her cheeks, the lowered eyelids and dreamy eyes, ruffled hair… He’d looked at her lips and wanted to do something he had no business wanting.
“Not so high like I imagined…” He put his hand away. “Whatever, eat this. Kasumi’s orders.”
Akane took the spoon and bowl of soup from him and drank from it, docile as a lamb.
Also slow as a snail. But he had nowhere else to be. He couldn’t catch her cold. Nabiki, Kasumi, and he had passed it in recent weeks. Which is why they were taking care of everyone else now: Genma, Soun, and Akane.
Oh, and Ranma getting assigned Akane’s care by drawing straws? Coincidence. He’d never learned how to cheat at that right from his old man. Shhh! That's a secret!
“I’m tired…” Akane put down her spoon.
“From eating? New weakling record…” Ranma snickered.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Shut-p… I meant…”
“Here, just a few more.” Ranma grabbed the spoon from her and helped raise more soup to her mouth.
Interestingly, she drank it. It felt strange to see her act so compliant. He’d have to make sure no one else got access to her to take advantage of that!
“I mean… I'm tired of being in bed. It’s so boring…” She sighed, looked at him, and blushed. Then, moving a bit quicker, she grabbed the spoon back from him.
He suppressed a smile at seeing her act more like herself. “In that case, I’ve got bad news for you: Based on everyone else who passed this, you still have at least one more day of bed rest ahead of you!”
Akane dropped her shoulders in defeat. After a couple more slow spoonfuls, she put the spoon down again, now having finished the full contents of the bowl.
“Ranma… ?” “Mhm?” He quickly started preparing the medicine pills. “What?”
She didn’t reply for a while, just took the pills he handed her together with the cup of water. After some consideration, she drank them.
“...will you stay with me to keep me company?” She looked up at him, shy and with extra-shiny big eyes. Add a cute little red nose.
It took Ranma at least ten seconds to realize his mouth was hanging open.
Ugh… is this the fever speaking?
“Ranma…?” She frowned and tilted her head a bit, as if she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t replying. But did she even realize what she’d just asked?! Docile Akane was more normal than THAT!
“I… should bring this back to the kitchen… onion soup… it’ll smell if I don’t…” He grabbed the tray and rushed to leave the room.
Something about Akane had him on edge lately. The forehead touch, seeing her trust in him taking care of her in a vulnerable state... and now asking for his company!? Bad! VERY bad! He had done the smart thing by getting out. Ranma really didn't want to do something he’d regret. Or that would make her mad later on.
However, once he started soaking the tableware in the kitchen sink, an image of the last moment he’d glanced at Akane came back to him. She had looked so pitiful when he’d left…
Ranma took a deep loooong breath.
I’M DOOMED!
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[AKANE]
Akane woke up feeling much better. What time was it? The walls looked kind of orange… Had she napped the whole afternoon?
One bigger question:
WHY was Ranma holding her hand, asleep there in her room, sitting on the floor with his torso leaning toward her bed?
Problematically, having a clearer head now didn’t make prior feverish memories precise… Did I ask him to stay? I think I did… but didn’t he leave? Obviously, either she remembered it poorly, or he’d changed his mind. Given the lack of soup on her desk, the latter had to be true.
His face rested rather close to hers, so Akane took the selfish moment to observe his features. After a year living together, she had noticed slight changes in him. Such as growing taller in his male form and his facial features becoming sharper. Asleep, however, his expression relaxed. He seemed much younger. Innocent. What was that darker shade above his lips and on his chin, though? Did Ranma shave? Huh!
To inspect that, Akane approached him a bit more, getting startled when he suddenly snorted. Her fringe hair must have tickled him, so he shook his head slightly and made an adorable sleepy sound before relaxing his head down again.
Awwwww!!!
Darn it, she didn’t want to fall further for him. She already liked him more than enough. And having him so close, taking care of her and holding hands felt too precious. Akane bit her lip and… she did what she shouldn't: without a sound, she lightly kissed him on the tip of his nose.
“Hmpf?”
He noticed! She stilled herself while Ranma slightly opened his eyes in front of her.
“-ka…ne…?”
He looked at her lips then and leaned in. Is he… about to kiss me?! Is this happening!? KYAAAA! Akane started to close her eyes in anticipation.
Suddenly, he inhaled sharply and backed three inches, blinking with gigantic wide eyes.
“CRAP! SORRY!”
“Why?” Akane tried to mask surprise and disappointment. She had to put herself together. What was she trying anyway?!
“I… I wasn’t about to… Ah… Akane, you have a fever! Please forget that…! Ugh…”
“I'm feeling much better, actually.” She did, which is why she knew she’d done something wrong.
“Ah… Aha…? Great for you!”
His gaze traveled around the room nervously. When he spotted their linked hands, he tried to pull his hand away, but she kept a strong hold of it. She couldn’t let him get away before talking.
“Ranma…!?” She started, with a serious undertone.
He looked at her in the eyes and stayed still. Tense, yet waiting. Good, saying what she had to wouldn’t be easy.
“Thanks for staying. And… sorry. I think I kissed your nose.” Akane’s voice had grown gradually lower. She felt her cheeks burn and wished she wasn’t so much of a decent person that she had to confess that moment of… weakness?
“You did what?” He stayed there, with an unbelieving frown directed at her.
“Sorry.”
“Uhm… Sure! That’s… of course…? The nose?? Okay…” He rubbed his nose, uselessly trying to look at it.
Akane couldn’t help giggling at the sigh.
“Hey! What's so funny now?” Still sitting on the floor next to her bed, he crossed his arms and glared at her.
“Nothing. Just that now you're also red and making no sense. I think you have a fever.”
“Wh- I don't! This isn’t fair!
“You’re right. As I said, I’m sorry. And… if you want to… I don't know! Maybe…” When trying to think of some payoff to excuse herself, the image of him approaching her earlier inspired her to be bold. “Maybe you can make it even?”
“M… Make it… even?”
“I took advantage and kissed you…so… maybe… you also can…” She looked at his lips.
Ranma gasped. “Akane, I… I DON’T WANT TO DO THAT!”
All games and smiles were smashed as the knife gutted her. What?! Ranma looked aghast at her now, he even stood up.
Akane felt the nasty emotions bubble up: embarrassment, pain at rejection… But she would NOT give in to crying, so ‘fair’ or not, she funneled them the usual way: anger. She sat up closer to the edge of the bed and raised the desk chair above her head to throw it at him. Too bad, the cold had left her body rather weak, and she wobbled.
In a split second, Ranma knelt to the ground and extended his arms, grabbing her wrists to support her with the chair’s weight. The idiot…! She didn’t want HIS help!!
Oh, no… The tears would win after all… and right in front of his stupid face!!!
“Please, don’t cry! I’m sorry!!! Forget about the kiss you gave me… okay? I… I don’t mind! I just can’t kiss you to like… ‘even a score’?! I can’t do what you don’t want me to!”
She blinked and saw him anew. His quick support of her. His pleading eyes. Her heart warmed up with a spark of hope.
“What if I wanted to?” She whispered.
Ranma blushed, looked again at her lips, but then just as rapidly his eyes went back to hers.
“Akane, I think… you still have a fever… let’s just forget…” Contradicting his word though, he’d started to get closer to her.
“I think you have a fever too?” She got closer too.
“I…maybe…yeah… ”
Their lips met, soft against soft. Then separated a bit, brushing each other. They kissed again, this time with a gentle smooch at the end. Nope, no fever. They acted pretty consciously from both ends. To a level she was soon confirming Ranma didn’t have to shave yet. Too smooth. When the exploration turned deeper, Akane appreciated a hint of that corn tea he liked so much and vaguely hoped she didn’t taste like onion soup. Even with that cringey fear, she couldn’t stop kissing him. Same as he wouldn’t stop kissing her back until…
“OUCH!”
Too lost in themselves, her hands had relaxed, and the chair had ended up clunking on Ranma’s head.
He let go of her wrists to catch the piece of furniture and put it back into place. He turned to look at her while rubbing the top of his head. Did he see her face had turned red? His was…
“Ranma?!” Kasumi’s muffled voice came from somewhere in the house. “Please bring Akane the next batch of soup and medicine… Where are you?”
“Uh… I have to go. You need medicine. LOTS of fever!”
“Aha… You too!” She yelled after him as he rushed out.
They made no sense, and she didn’t care a bit. Because Akane caught the corner of his mouth lifting, and she wore the same mischievous smile as he did.
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