************* ^_^ **************
'Have a nice day' 
    by David Thune
E-mail  davidt@algonet.se
URL     http://www.algonet.se/~davidt/newhome.htm

************* ^_^ **************

It was a beautiful evening in Nerima, the sun descending slowly.
People walking slowly, going nowhere, just enjoying the moment.
Birds chirping in the air, hunting insects for their small ones.
Everything was calm, almost.

"Stand still you jerk!" Akane shouted for the nth time but Ranma just slipped
past her again.
It was 2 hours since Ranma and Akane got home from school and started
practice in the dojo.
Ranma was doing as he always did, not hitting back, and this just added fuel
to the rage Akane was slowly building up.
"Why don't you hit back instead of just dancing around?" asked Akane between
a couple of round kicks.
"I told you once and I'm telling you again, I don't hit girls" said Ranma
ducking again.
"Girls ? Talking about yourself again?" came the response after yet another
fist attack hitting nothing but air.
"What do you mean by that? I am a MAN!" shouted Ranma, starting to loose his
temper.
"Oh, you could have fooled me, I mean you sure DANCE around doing your nice
girly pirouettes all the time." The last sentence came with a nasty smile.
Something within snapped in Ranma at the last remark.  In just one sentence
she had not just insulted him but also his martial arts training, hurting his
precious honor badly.
"Take that back or I will make you pay for it!" Ranma screamed.
"How? You going to dance me to a defeat" Akane said, missing the fact that he
was glowing just a little bit to much.
Ranma didn't answer, instead he did the one thing he didn't think he would do
in his life.
He stopped, pulled back and hit her square on the chin.  The moment he felt
something on his hand he realized what he had done.  In pure terror he saw
her eyes rolling back up and then he heard the sound of her body slamming in
the wall followed by the soft sound she made gliding down the wall to the
floor.  He just stood there for a couple of seconds staring at his hand and
after that he started to shake.  He fell down to his knees still looking at
his hand.  Slowly he forced himself to look at Akane.  She didn't move.
He slowly reached out his hand to check if she was OK.  She was still
breathing but there was a small trickle of blood coming from the corner of
her mouth.
<No, what have I done.> was the first thing that come up as his mind started
to work again.
<I hit a girl, I hit AKANE!> guilt him hard as he collected Akane in his arms.
He was not aware of his tears falling to Akane's yellow gi making dark spots.
"NOOOooooo...." he screamed between sobs as he stood up holding
Akane's still body in his arms.

He walk slowly to the house careful not to disturb her, opened the door with
a foot and headed for the stairs.

"What happened to her?" asked a worried Kasumi.
Ranma didn't answer, he looked up to meet Kasumi's eyes, tears falling.
"Oh my..." was all she said. 
She turned around and went for her first aid kit.
Ranma continued his careful walk up the stairs and into Akane's room.
There he put her on the bed as Kasumi entered with her things.
"What happened ?" Kasumi repeated her question.
"......I....I....h..hit her" he managed to say, just before he broke down.
"Oh. Maybe you could wait outside while I check her over?" she asked in a
voice sounding more like an order than a question.
"..." was all he could say as he went out the door.

Ranma wasn't sad, he wasn't angry, he was MAD AS HELL at himself.
<Is this how much my training is worth? One smart word and I loose it.>
He was back in the dojo looking at the spot Akane had hit the wall.
Slowly, almost without thought he started to do katas.
He continued doing this and focusing all his thoughts at it,
but his heart was not in it.  His eyes more than once was drawn to the place
where it had happened, reminding him of what he had done.
After maybe half an hour he heard someone coming in to the dojo.
He turned around and saw Kasumi standing there looking at him.
"H..How is she ?"
"She's resting now but otherwise OK. How did it happened ?"
"I lost it. I don't know. We fought like we always do but then my mind
blanked out and the next thing I know is Akane on the floor."
The last came out from his hands as he had covered his face in shame and
fallen down on his knees.
"Why don't you go up to her and talk to her and see if you can sort this
thing out"
"I don't think she want to see me after this, and I don't blame her."
"Just go up and find out for yourself"
"H..Hai"

As he opened the door he expected to get the all too familiar mallet planted
on his head but nothing came and he opened his eyes.  There on the bed she
was.  She was in her pajamas tucked in under her blanket.  He walked to the
bed.  She was asleep.  Her chin was a little swollen but nothing else could
be seen.  He sat down on his knees by the bed and took her hand in his.
The tears came back.  
"I'm sorry" he said with a low voice, soon he was crying his heart out.
<What happened> Akane thought when she woke up in the moonlit room.
Then the pain in her chin reminded her.
<Ranma hit me!!! He actually hit me!> waves of anger ran through her body.
<So much for not hitting girls.>
She tried to raise her hand to her face but something was holding it down.
She looked down and saw Ranma sitting on the floor head resting on the bed
still holding on to her hand, sleeping.
<That pervert! Sitting in my room when I sleep!> She was just about to raise
her hand and knock the living daylight out of him when she heard him.
"I'm sorry" he mumbled in his sleep.
Now she was fully awake.
<Did I hear that, was he sorry? 'Mr. I'm always right' said he was sorry?>
She started to pull her hand from Ranma's as she felt something wrong with
the sheet, they where damp.
<Why are they damp?> she took a closer at him and saw that the only
possibility was that Ranma had been crying.
<He really IS sorry> the anger shattered to be replaced with a calmness
seldom experienced.
She noticed a shiver in Ranma and realized that it was rather cold in the
room due to a previous argument between them resulting in her kicking Ranma
through the window.  She was feeling a little guilty about the whole thing.
<Why should I feel guilty, that jerk knocked me out!>
But she knew that she had teased him for one of the few good things about
him, that he never hit a girl and she did that with a combination of an
insult about his training.
<Not a good thing to do.>

She took a good look at him <He is kind of cute when he sleeps.
Even if he insults me all the time, especially about my cooking,
he has never done anything to hurt me, and he does protect me when
I'm in danger. Why can't he say what he feels about me?>
She continued to look at him for a while, listening to his soft
mumbles as he slept sitting on the floor with his head on the bed.

<What should I do now, I can't just let him sleep on the floor like this.>
She tried to wake him up by poke him, shake him and finally slap him
(not to hard) but to no avail.
<I wonder how long he has been here?> she turned around to look at her clock,
it read 02:47.
She crawled out of her bed and tried to lift Ranma but he just slumped to the
floor.
<Oh, OK I guess he can sleep there for tonight.>
She noticed him shiver again.<I shouldn't do this but what the...>
She pulled her blanket from the bed, lay down on the floor beside Ranma and
pulled the blanket over them.  Ranma turned around in his sleep and put his
arm around her and pulled her to him.
<That's it! Now he's going out the window!> she turned around within his arms
and was just about to give him a one way ticket with Tendo-airlines when she
aw that he was still asleep.
He held her in a soft embrace with a small smile on his now relaxed face.

<Maybe he does care for me after all.>

She smiled and cuddled a little bit closer to him and returned to sleep.

Ranma open his eyes as the first beams of light drifted in from the blue sky.
<Something is wrong, but what?>
He changed position a little and then he knew what it was, he had something
in his arms. No, someone in his arms.  He looked down and saw Akane curled
into his arms, the sun playing on her face, smiling in her sleep.
<Man is she cute sometimes.> but he changed that line of thought
<No, she is always cute but now she was beautiful.>
He tried to remember how they ended up like this.
All he knew was that he entered her room and saw her sleeping in the bed,
he sat down by her side and held her hand as he tried to apologize to her.
<I must have fallen asleep. But why is Akane down here on the floor with me?>
As by cue a shiver run through his body reminding him that is was rather cold in the room.
He looked at the broken window and smiled <So that's why it's so cold>

<Maybe she does care for me after all> he smiled

Ranma was not a man to take advantage of a situation like this
<not like that pig Ryouga!> he thought with a edge.

He slowly raised from the floor, bent down to collect Akane in his arms,
lifting her up and put her on the bed.  He pulled the blanket over her as
she curled up in the cold air.  After a while she relaxed completely as the
bed got warmer.
"Sweet dreams." he said as he removed some stray hair from her face.

He opened the door went out and with a last look at his sleeping fiancee,
he closed the door and went to his room.

<Yuck, I didn't get a bath after yesterday's disaster!>

Ranma got some clean clothes and went to the bathroom to get clean.
Soon he was relaxing in the hot bath, enjoying the warmth around him.
The alarm in Akane's room started and Akane grudgingly open her eyes
and reached out with an arm to turn the clock off.
<Whoa, what a weird dream that was, me sleeping on the floor with Ranma?
No way that would happen in real life.>
She closed her eyes and tried to remember as much of the dream as she could.  She hugged herself at the thought of Ranma holding her in his arms.  A small voice in the back of her head was saying something, but she couldn't make it out.

Something was wrong, she couldn't put her finger on it but something
was wrong.  She concentrated for a long time and then she knew what
it was, something smelled different.
She took a whiff at her pajamas and it smelled like...   Ranma?
<Maybe it wasn't a dream after all, but how did I get back to bed?
Did he put me in bed? I wonder what he thought when he woke up on the
floor with me.>
She smiled at the thought and soon she was laughing softly for herself.
Akane went to her closet and grabbed some clean clothes and went to the bath.  She took of her pyjamas and opened the door to the bath.  A wave of hot air rushed her as she entered the steam filled room.
<Ah, Kasumi you are an angel, preparing a bath for me.>
She didn't notice the small stirring coming from the water.

Ranma was totally relaxed, only his face was above the surface, eyes closed.
<Man this is good, maybe I should go up earlier so I can take a nice long
bath like this. But on the other hand I would miss my morning training
with pop.>
He sighed loudly as he started to think about Akane again.
<I wonder if she will forgive me after this. I have been mean to her before,
teasing her and insulting her, but I have never hit her before, not even
thinking about it.>

<WHAT WAS THAT!>
Akane almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the noise from the bathtub.
<If it is Happosai trying to sneak in again I'm going to kill him, period.>
Anger was a feeling she was used to and she was almost drowning in it now.
When she got to the bathtub and saw Ranma in it she was just about to
strangle him on the spot when she heard the little voice in the back of
her head screaming,
"Just wait a second here will you. YOU walked in on him this time"

<Ooops> Akane was embarrassed to say the least. 
Ranma hadn't noticed anything, he was to deep in his own thoughts.
Akane looked down at Ranmas face
<He look so relaxed, he's always so strung up usually, always ready for a
fight or something.>
The little devil in her suddenly appeared as she reached out and with a
smile pushed his head under water.<He He>
Ranma felt something grabbing his face and pushing it down.  He spluttered as
he grabbed his attacker <Damn you pop, disturbing me like this> and pulled
down the attacker.  Akane screamed, surprised by Ranma's reaction, splashing
down into the water and Ranma's arms.
<This ain't pop, too small, and it can't be Happosai because he wouldn't
do this while I'm a guy.> Ranma managed to pull himself up from his
involuntary impression of a submarine to find himself with a armload full of
Akane.  Ranma's brain decided to take a short vacation so the only thing
he was able to do was to say was,
"...Eh?"
"..." was all Akane was able to say in response, not even moving as her
brain had joined the other brain on its vacation.

After maybe a minute Ranma noticed the ugly purple bruise on Akane's chin.  
"A...Akane. I'm really sorry for hitting you yesterday. Does it hurt much?"
he asked as guilt returned in force.
Akane put a hand on the bruise and winced slightly at the touch. 
"Only when I touch it." She looked at Ranma and saw a single tear falling
down from his face. 
"Don't worry. It will be all right soon. It's partly my own fault for teasing
you like that." She tried a small smile.
She wasn't used to see Ranma like this and was really surprised when he
pulled her against him, holding her as he spoke softly in her ear.
"No it's not your fault at all. I should never made that swing against you."

"Akane! Are you all right in there?" Kasumi's voice cut through the door.

Reality made it self known as both Ranma and Akane thought about the
situation they were in.

Ranma naked in the bath holding a naked Akane in his arms.
Both of them froze up like a deer in the headlight of a car.

They looked in horror as the door was opened.

Ranma let go of Akane and dove behind her, pushing her in front of him as
Kasumi entered.
"I heard a scream..." she said.
Finally Akane woke up from the shock.
"It's nothing, I just slipped on the floor and fell into the water,
I was surprised, that's all."
Her face was in a nice shade of red.  Ranma who had his head just behind
her back couln't help but to smile at the not to inaccurate comment.
<Well I never thought I would hide behind Akane like this.  And in the
bath of all places.>

Kasumi looked at the bruise, concern written over her face.
"Does it hurt ?"
"Only when I touch it"
"Did Ranma talk to you yesterday? Nobody knows where he is."
"No, I didn't speak to him yesterday and no, I don't know where he is right
now, since I'm taking a bath." she managed the half-lie with a straight face.
"Are you still angry with him for hitting you? He looked really upset when he
carried you in yesterday. I can't remember seeing him cry like that before."
Akane was shocked <Ranma cried! He really does care for me after all.> 
But she was still peevish because of the situation she was in and wouldn't
let Ranma get away easy this time, so the little devil took over.
"Oh I don't know if I can forgive him for this one, I mean he HIT me in the
FACE."
Akane could fell Ranma become tense behind her.
"But on the other hand he did take care of me, and he can be nice sometimes."
Ranma relaxed a bit hearing the last bit.
"What do you feel about Ranma anyway, Akane?" Kasumi suddenly asked in a
serious voice.
"Huh..... wh..what do mean f..fe..feel about him?" Akane managed to reply.
"What I mean is, you fight almost all the time, never agree about anything,
but when something or someone threatens you, you always defend each other."
"We do?" Akane had never thought about that, but it made sense, they did
always helped each other when they where in danger.
"And I have seen Ranma look at you when you didn't know. He even follows
you when you go out for a run at night."
"He does?" Akane was confused. Most of the times she went for a run at
night was after they had a fight and she needed to calm down.
Ranma didn't know what to think or do, he couldn't say or do anything.  
<Oh man. Now she going to yell at me for following her or tease me.>
Kasumi continued
"You didn't know that?" she was a little surprised.
"No I never knew..." her voice low.
"And I have seen how you look at him when he doesn't know. Also I have seen
you watch over him when he's having a nightmare."
<She does?> Ranma couldn't believe what he heard, but it made sense, he
some how could feel someone calm him down when he had a nightmare, most of
them about the cursed pool that forever changed his life.
"Well, I must continue with the breakfast or there will be war out there."
Kasumi smiled and walked out.

Nothing moved, there was just silence.
Slowly Ranma sat up looking at Akane as she turned around and looked at him.
"Do you really follow me when I go for a run ?" Akane asked in a small voice.
Ranma looked down at his hands, poking his index fingers together.
"Yes..."
"Why?"
He looked her in the eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I don't want anything to happen to you. Do you know what strange people
there might be out there in the night?" he said straight from his heart.
Akane blushed as she heard him speak and she knew he meant every word of it.

"Do you really look after me when I have a nightmare?" he wanted to know for
sure.
Now it was her turn to look down.
"Yes..."
"Why?" his voice soft.
"You look so scared and vulnerable..."
Silence was again dominant, until Akane noticed Ranma wince as he moved a bit.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I'm a little stiff after hiding behind your back. I couldn't move too much
you know." he flashed her a quick grin as he said it.
Akane added a shade of red to her face.
"Do you want me to g..give you a...a..b..backrub ?" she asked with a stutter, looking down.
Now Ranma's face was a nice shade of red.
"I...if you don't mind..." he said as he turning around.
Akane approached him slowly and put her hands on his shoulders.
She started to give him a gentle massage.
<What am I doing? Yesterday I would not even think about this,
but now I'm in the bath together with Ranma and giving him a massage.>
Akane marveled at the thought.
<This is weird. Yesterday I wouldn't believe I was going to share a bath with Akane like this, even less that she would give me a massage.  I must say I like it, a lot.>
Ranma thought as his muscles relaxed under Akane's competent hands.
After a couple of minutes Akane stopped, still holding her hands on his
shoulders.
"Ranma?" she asked.
"Hmm, yes." he purred with his eyes closed, feeling good.
His eyes popped open as he could feel her hands slid forward when she
moved in to hug him from behind.

"Thank you.." she said softly in his ear.
Ranma reached up and took her hands in his.
"Your'e welcome, and thank you Akane...  chan." he replied in a voice
matching hers.
Akane hugged him even closer as she heard the last word and then released him.
"Don't peek." she said as she got out of the bath and grabbed her towel on
her way out.
After a couple of minutes Ranma got up to get dressed.

When Ranma got down to breakfast he saw that everybody was already there.
He sat down beside Akane.
"Ohayo tomboy." he said with a small smile.
"Ohayo to you too hentai." she answered without the usual ending using her
mallet but with a small smile.
Genma didn't notice the change in attitude since he was busy stuffing himself.
Neither did Soun, he was reading the newspaper.  
Kasumi just smiled as she always did.
Nabiki on the other hand was truly disturbed. 
<Something happened, I wonder what it was? And how could I miss it!>
To say she was upset was an understatement.
<They probably did something last night and I don't have any pictures. Argh!>
The food soon disappeared from the table due to the human vacuum cleaner
named Ranma competing with the bottomless hole named Genma.
Soun looked up from his paper and saw Akane's chin.
"What happened to you ?" he asked.
Before Akane could answer Ranma put down his bowl and said.  
"It's my fault. I hit her yesterday when we were sparring." he said looking
guilty.
Genma actually stopped eating.
"What way is that to treat your fiancé Ranma ?" he shouted.
Soun did his demon head-thing looming over Ranma.
"You HURT my DAUGHTER, your FIANCEE !!!" Soun screamed.
<Hmm, there must be a way to earn some money on this> Nabiki thought.
"It should be better in a day or so." was all Kasumi said smiling as always.
Akane waved her arms between Ranma and the rest of her family.  
"Dad, Mr. Saotome, it's all right. He has apologized already, so there is 
nothing more to say about this." Akane said looking at them.  
"Yes, I'm sure they talked it over already." Kasumi added.
Two red faces stared at Kasumi.  The breakfast continued quietly.
After the table was cleared and Kasumi had given the other their
lunch-boxes the trio walked out from the house.

On their way to school Ranma seemed disturbed by something.
"What's the matter Ranma?" Akane asked.
Ranma looked up (no, he wasn't walking on the fence ), and was about to say
something when he noticed Nabiki walking beside them.
"I...   um...   tell you later, OK."
"Hmph..." was her answer, but then she saw the look Ranma gave Nabiki.
<He must want to talk about this night. I can understand if he don't
want Nabiki of all people around.> She flushed a little when images of the
last night and morning went through her mind.
"OK" she added.
Now, Ranma wasn't the only one thinking. Nabiki was ready to go ballistic.
<Nothing is as usual. They don't argue, fight or nothing. WHAT IS WRONG?>
She could almost see all the yen fly away from her on little wings.
<Oh well. When you don't know, ask.>
"Say, what happened between the two of you?" she asked casually.
Both Ranma and Akane stopped on the spot and turned beet red.
"NANI?" they said in unison.
"Well you don't behave like you usually do. I mean you're NICE to each other."
"Nothing has happened between us." Ranma managed to say after some silence.
"Oh sure...." Nabiki said as she rolled her eyes.
All of a sudden Akane got a glint in her eyes and said
"Oh besides that we slept on floor together in my room and took a bath
together this morning nothing happened, just like Ranma said." she smiled her
most innocent smile.
Ranma looked like lightning had hit him.
"Yeah sure, like something like that would happen in this lifetime." Nabiki
said mockingly.
"Now what REALLY happened last night ?" she couldn't take it any more,
she had to know.
"Just what I said dear sister." Akane smiled and started to walk again.
Ranma finally got enough clues together to return to the living and followed
Akane.
"FINE, have it your way then. I WILL find out what happened!" Nabiki shouted
as she followed the others to school.
Akane was very happy.
<YES! At last to be able to pull a stunt like this on her and get away with
it.> She looked at the still shocked Ranma and smiled.  Ranma looked back at
Nabiki, who was ranting for herself, then back to Akane, he smiled.
"That was really a good one Akane, but please give some warning next time."
He laughed.
"No, I like to shock you too." she laughed with him.
"Is that so ? About this morning..." he said seriously.
"Yes, what about it ?"
"I just wanted to say that you are not cute." he said straight-faced.

Akane couldn't believe what she heard, this perfect morning was shattered
around her like a smashed mirror. The world was a dark place to be in.
She couldn't move or say anything, her eyes tearing up.

Ranma bent down and whispered in her ear "No, you are beautiful most of the
time." he straightened up and looked at the impact his words had on her.

Akane's world suddenly became a very bright beautiful world with birds
singing in the air and flowers everywhere, she was still in shock so she
couldn't do or say anything.  The tears started to fall but it was tears of
joy.  She looked up and saw his smiling face and playing eyes.

"Got you back." he said and poked her chest with a finger.
He turned around and started to run to school since they probably were
late by now.
<Oh man that's a face I'll remember forever.> Ranma thought.

Akane looked after the running Ranma.
<He said that I'm beautiful!> Akane still couldn't comprehend Ranma's words.  After a while doubt entered her thoughts <did he really mean it or was he just teasing me again? That jerk, why must he always do this to me?> 
She was back to normal again.

Nabiki finally got control over her emotions and caught up with Akane.
"So, why is he running from you like that?" she asked
"That baka! He said I wasn't cute." Akane said between some oaths.
"What's the big deal about that? He says that all the time." she wanted
to get back at her for hiding information from her. No information was the
same as no money for Nabiki so of course she was upset.
"Well...  he does. But sometimes...  sometimes he can be so nice you wouldn't
believe it." she sighed.
Nabiki's eyes bugged out 
<Is this my sister, the one who always said she despise boys. Hmm...  maybe
it's about time.>
"Are we talking about the same person here. We were talking about Ranma,
right?" Nabiki asked with hew eyebrows raised.
Akane blushed at the comment and her own declaration about Ranma.
Nabiki smiled at Akane's reaction.
"Well, whatever. But we should hurry up if we don't wanna be late."
They followed Ranma at high speed.

Ranma smiled to himself all the way to school, he even smiled when Kunou
stepped out of the shadows from a tree at the gates.
"Hold it enslaver of women, oppressor of the beautiful Akane and the
pig-tailed goddess. Today I, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, will free my
beloved from yo..."
Ranma even smiled after planting his foot in Kunou's face, rending him
unconscious.

When Akane entered the classroom Ranma was already at his desk looking out
the window, resting his head on his hands.  As she sat down her friends
noticed her chin and promptly attacked her with questions about what
happened and who did it and so on.  Ranma heard this and became very nervous, fiddling his finger and looking around at everything and nothing.
Akane noticed this and became defensive.
"Eeh, it's nothing, just an accident, that's all." she said evasive.
Her friends looked at Akane, then at the nervous Ranma, then back to Akane.
"HE did it didn't he?" they said in unison.
"Well... yes but..." she couldn't say any more before everyone had rushed
over to Ranma.
"How could you do such a thing to Akane !!!" they said before they started
to beat him up.
"Wait *ouch* it's not *ow* what *ite* you think *hey, that hurts*"
"Stop it!" Akane's voice broke through to noise.
A lot of angry faces looked up.
"We were sparring together, that's all." she said when she had their
attention.
"Really?" a lot of disbelieving faces said.
"Yes, really." Ranma managed to say from the floor.
After that little incident the teacher came and the lessons started.

At lunchtime they both sat down separately with their friends to chat and eat.  Halfway through the food Ranma was startled by some shouts around Akane and looked up. He saw Akane clutching her throat and her face turn blue.  Ranma jumped up and rushed over to her, spilling his own food all over the place.
"What is it ?" he screamed on his way to Akane.
Akane pointed at her food and then at her throat.
<Oh no she's choking!>
Ranma went around her and locked his arms around her and with a sudden motion
he pressed his thumb into her solar plexus.  Akane threw up the food that had
stuck in her throat and took several deep breaths.  Ranma let out his own
breath as he realized she was out of danger.  He sat down on the floor still
holding Akane in his arms, gently.
"Are you all right ?" he asked as she leaned against him.
Akane just relaxed <It's true! He always come to me when I'm in danger.>
She turned her head and looked at his face, his eyes showed nothing but worry.
"It's OK now. Thank you Ranma." she smiled at him.
<Thank god she's OK.> he held her a little closer.
"Don't scare me like that, you uncute tomboy." he whispered in her ear.
"Look who's talking you hentai baka." she said as she indicated the others
standing around them looking at the unbelievable, Ranma hugging Akane!
It was at this moment Kunou decided to honor this classroom with his presence.
He couldn't see first what everybody was looking at but as he got closer he
saw them, and heard the last two words Akane said.  The world around him
turned red as he saw Ranma attacking his innocent pure Akane, completely
missing the way she said it.  He raised his bokken above his head.
"How dare you attack my beloved, you lowborn peasant, I shall do justice upon
your body!" he yelled.
Ranma being in the situation he was in, had no chance to defend himself from
Kunou's attack from behind, and was knocked out cold.
"Fear not fair maiden, for I Tatewaki Kunou the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High,
have saved you from this lecherous sorcerers grip."

Kunou watched as Akane got up on her feet and walked toward him.  
<Ah, at last she is free to show her true feelings and come to me.
If only I could free my pig-tailed goddess from this evil villain my
success would be complete.>
He looked into Akane's eyes and saw a fire he hadn't seen before.
<How wonderful the fire of love for me burn in her eyes.>
He heard Akane say something in an angel-like voice.
<What a bliss!> he thought when she reached up to touch his face with her
hand.

Akane looked at the semi-conscious Kunou after she had yelled her battle-cry 
"JERK!" and promptly knocked him into the wall.
<What a moron! For once Ranma and I seem to get along and he has to interrupt
and ruin everything. What can I do to make him stop chasing me...  and Ranma?
Hmm... yes, that should do the trick.>
She looked at Ranma and then back to Kunou.

"Hey Kunou, you want to see something funny?"
Kunou was trying to sort out the impressions of Akane's gratitude but
couldn't understand why his chin was sore and hurting, he could only nod
in answer.
Akane walked over to the comatose Ranma and poured a glass of water on
him/her and shook her awake.
"Wha...  what happened ?  Wait a sec...  Kunou hit me !" spluttered a wet
Ranma-chan.
Kunou couldn't believe what he saw, one moment the evil Ranma was there
and the next his beloved Osage-no-onna.
Akane whispered something in Ranma's ear, who looked down at herself and
then over at the bug-eyed Kunou.  Ranma-chan got up on her feet and walked
over to Kunou.  She looked up at him with daggers in her eyes.
"You hit me, you asshole!"
"How could I hurt you my beloved pig-tailed goddess. I only attacked that
wretched sorcerer and enslaver Saotome, may his soul burn in hell forever."
He tried to glomp onto Ranma-chan and was greeted by a fist in the face.
"Oh yeah, pray tell me what this is then." Ranma ran her hand through her
hair and showed him the hand, it was blood on it.
Akane came back to them.
"So you see ant-brain, whatever you do to Ranma you do to her."
Kunou was confused, how could his pig-tailed goddess be hurt, he only hit
Ranma didn't he?
"What black magic does that cur use to hurt you like this?" he said.
"Because we are the same you dimwit!"
"No it can not be, he has deluded your mind with his magic to keep you from
me. I shall find the coward and make him free you!" Kunou shook his broken
bokken in the air trying to look noble.
Ranma sighed <some things never change>
"Hey Kunou, you recognize this?" Ranma-chan made sure she had his full
attention.
"TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" she yelled as she started to work him over.
She didn't use the full force, she wanted him to feel every blow.
After three seconds and 546 punches later a very hurt and confused
Kunou barely stood in front of Ranma and Akane.
"That..  that didn't hurt." he managed to say.
"No, but this will!" Akane said as she pulled out her mallet king-size
deluxe from hammer-space (tm) and promptly hit him on the head, hard.
Kunou went out like candle in a hurricane.
Ranma looked at Akane, a little irritated.
"Why did you but in on my fight Akane, I was about to send him into LEO."
"Oh I just couldn't help myself." she just shrugged her shoulders and smiled
as she looked at the heap of garbage named Kunou.
"Well...  I appreciate you hitting him instead of me." she laughed as she
went to find some hot water.

"Ranma." Akane called after her.
Ranma-chan turned around.
"What you said on our way to school, did you mean it?" Akane asked
looking down, nervous.
Ranma-chan took a good look at Akane, remembered how she looked like when
she slept in her/his arms last night and on their way to school this morning,
the sun playing in her short hair and her smile.
"Yes." was all she said before she was gone.

*******

Again Ranma was walking beside Akane on their way home from school.
"Ranma, this morning you were about to talk about something but you didn't
because of Nabiki, right?"
"Well...  yes. There's something that's bothering me all day."
"Like what?"
"Like...  this morning, did you put my clothes on the bench in the bath?"
"No, I didn't see any clothes when I got there. If I had I wouldn't have 
entered the bathroom, would I ?" she seemed surprised.
"Then who did it, because when I got out they were in perfect order."
They both thought about it for about 2 seconds and then looked shocked.
"Kasumi!" they said in unison.
"That mean she knew I was in the bath with you all the time." he added.
Both added a nice shade of red at the implication and walked home in silence.

*******

Akane had just changed to her pajamas when she heard something outside 
her door. She opened and saw...  nothing, but then something nudged her leg.
"P-chan!" she picked him up the little black pig and hugged him to her chest.
Ryoga was in heaven.
"Oh P-chan, you wouldn't believe what a perfect day I had today."
<Ranma got himself killed?> Ryoga wished.
"Actually it started yesterday after Ranma knocked me out."
<WHAT, that bastard hit Akane! I'm gonna kill him.> Ryoga squealed angry in 
Akane's arms.<How dare he!>
"You can keep a secret can't you P-chan." she looked at the pig and smiled.
Ryoga nod-nodded, everything for a smiling Akane.
Akane sat down on her bed, hugging P-chan.
"This morning we took a bath together and before that we slept together." her
smile was even bigger.

Ryouga's brain burned out.

Someone knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"It's me, Ranma. Can I come in?" Ranma-chan asked from the other side.
Akane put down the shocked pig on her bed and pulled her blanket over him.
"Don't move." she said.
She opened the door to let Ranma-chan in.
She walked in with a kettle in her hand.
"What happened to you?" she asked as she saw the soaked Ranma-chan.
"Oh pop thought I needed some training since I missed it this morning."
"I see." she teased.
"Just wait a sec."
She took the kettle and poured some hot water over herself.
"That's better." Ranma-kun said and put the kettle on Akane's desk.
Ryoga woke up from his shock when he heard Ranmas voice and peeked
out from the sheet <What's he going to do now, that bastard.>
"What do you want? I was just about to go to bed you know."
"I just wanted to say goodnight and thank you for a nice day." he looked 
down as he said it fiddling his fingers.
Akane took his hands in hers.
"Thank you too, this day have been perfect." she looked down too.
They stood there holding hands and then slowly moved together, Ranma 
slipped his arms around her waist as Akane put her arms around his neck.
After what seemed like an eternity they looked into each others eyes.
Their faces came closer and closer, their eyes closed and then their lips met.
Ranma pulled her against him as Akane hugged him closer.
They didn't let go for a long time.

Ryoga only stared at the scene in front of him too shocked (again) 
to do anything, the shattered pieces of his world spinning around him.

When they broke the kiss they stared into each others eyes, their faces red.
"Wow. That sure beats fighting all the time." Ranma whispered.
"Mmm...  " she said softly and rested her head on his chest.

The held each other and thought about what just happened.
<This is better than I could ever imagine. I guess I really love this violent
tomboy after all.> Ranma smiled for himself.
<We kissed! We really kissed. How long have I dreamt about this?
And it was better than in my dreams. I guess I really love this hentai baka.>
Akane smiled for herself.

"I guess we should go to sleep..." Ranma said finally.
"In our own rooms." they said in unison.
They laughed as they let go.
"Well, good night again Akane." Ranma said.
"Good night Ranma, and sweet dreams." Akane said.
He walked out the door and flashed her a last smile before he closed the door.
Akane walked to her bed, picked up her pig and sat down on the bed.
"He really is a nice guy, isn't he." she said to herself.
She crawled into her bed and pulled her blankets over her, she reached out
and turned the light out.

Ranma walked to his room, changed clothes, crawled into his bed and 
fell asleep with a smile on his lips, dreaming sweet dreams.

Ryoga was furious, mad and very sad. 
His mind replaying the event over and over.
<How could this happen? Are they not supposed to fight all the time?
Don't they say they hate each other all the time? She said he knocked
her out yesterday, shouldn't she be mad at him? They SLEPT together ?
And they took a BATH together ? NOWAY, she must have dreamt it,  what a 
nightmare. What did Ranma do to her. It's all his fault anyway, it always is. 
Yes, that must be it. I'm going to kill him and then Akane will forget him 
and we will be together. Yes, that's what I will do.>

Ryoga crawled out from Akane's grip and jumped down on the floor.
Akane woke up from the sudden move and looked at her little piglet.
"What is it P-chan?" she asked.
Ryoga jumped at the sudden sound and hit Akane's desk.
The kettle fell down and on Ryoga, spilling out the rest of the hot water.
Akane looked in shock as her pig became bigger and bigger and took the form
of a human.

Lucky for Ryoga it was dark, so she couldn't see who it was.
Unlucky for Ryoga was Akane's short and very violent temper.
In less than 1.3 seconds she had her mallet out and with a scream 
hit his head and kicked him out through the window.

"O...  that...  how...  I'm gonna...  pervert... KILL!!!" Akane was so mad
she couldn't think or speak coherently.

Ryoga flew out the window like a rocket.
<What happened? Why did she hit me?> He scratched his head as he sailed
through the air. He looked at his arm <I'M HUMAN!!! But how did this
happen?> Then it hit him, the street outside Tendo's, when his air-trip 
ended in a crash. <The kettle Ranma left on Akane's desk! It wasn't empty!
It's all his fault! When I find him I'm gonna kill him.>

Ranma woke up from his sleep at the scream. <What was that?>
He rushed to Akane room and opened the door, to see a fuming Akane, holding
her mallet, shaking.

"What is it Akane?" he asked.
Akane turned around, dropped her mallet and threw herself at Ranma, crying.
"It's... it's P-chan. He...  he's a pervert. I saw him turn into a human when 
he got hit by hot water." she cried out from Ranma's chest.
Ranma held her close, stroking her hair. <So he finally did it huh.>
"Did you see who it was?" he asked a bit nervous.
"N..no, it was too dark." she continued to cry.
"You think you'll be all right?" he asked as he continued to stroke her hair.
"No not for a while...   can... can I sleep with you? I don't want to be alone
right now, and not here." she asked quietly.
<She want to sleep with me?>
"...  OK. If you don't mind a snoring panda." he answered.
They walked back to Ranma's room.
Genma was in his panda-form and snoring softly in his corner, not aware
of anything but his dreams of food.
Ranma led Akane to his futon, they crawled in under the blanket.
Akane put her arms around Ranma and continued to cry some more.
Ranma just held her.
Finally Akane fell asleep, her head on his shoulder.

<This is weird. Two days ago neither of us would have thought we would
end up like this. Funny Ryouga would expose himself like that, he's lucky
she didn't recognize him. At least this means no more P-chan.> 
He smiled at that.
Soon he was asleep too.

Meanwhile Ryoga managed to find his way back to the house without
attract any attention, he was naked after all.
<Maybe Akane thought I was a burglar and didn't see my transformation?
Or maybe there is a chance to explain it to her. Yes, that's it, I'll go
check on her first and then I will kill Ranma. Now if I only could find my
clothes.>

After some time he found the entrance and even later the bathroom where
he had hidden his clothes behind some tiles.
He found Akane's window and peeked in.
<She's not here. Maybe she's looking for P-chan, I hope.>
Somehow he managed to go straight to Ranma's window.
He saw Ranma under his blanket and Genma in the corner.
Carefully he opened the window and entered.
<This time you're not getting away Ranma.>
When he got closer he noticed that it was a rather large bump under
the blanket. <That's odd.>
He carefully pulled the blanket back and his worst nightmare became true.
<No, it can't be, but it is, that's Akane sleeping besides Ranma.>
Ryouga's legs couldn't support him and he flopped down on the floor. 
Akane woke up at the sound and saw him.
"What do YOU want here in the middle of the night, Ryoga?" she asked in 
a voice bitter from crying.
"Is this another 'Prepare to die Ranma' thing?" she added with more anger.
Ranma stirred in his sleep.
"Mmm... Akane..." he mumbled and hugged her.
Akane smiled down at him and then looked at Ryouga.
"Whatever it is, it has to wait. I want to sleep, get out." she snapped at
him and cuddled down with Ranma.
Ryoga stared at them and slowly managed to stand up, he turned around, tears
falling and slowly walked to the window.
"Ryoga." Akane said quietly.
He turned around looking at Akane, who rested her head on Ranma's shoulder.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just that, I'm very upset about something
right now." 
"What?" he had to know for sure.
"I just found out that P-chan wasn't a pig but some totally perverted with
a curse like Ranma and the others." anger returned in her voice.
Ryoga looked miserable.
"I see..."  he said more to himself.
Akane yawned and pulled the covers around herself and Ranma.
"If you see him, you can sell him to a restaurant for all I care, but now
I really need to sleep, so could you please leave us, thank you."
Ryoga got his senses back and jumped out the window, crying.

*******

Kasumi woke up and got dressed.
On her way down to start breakfast she saw the door to Akane's room was open.
She looked in and saw the empty bed and the smashed window, smiled and 
walked to Ranma's room.
When she opened the door she could see Akane and Ranma sleeping,
arms around each other.
She entered and gently shook them awake.
They opened their eyes and looked at Kasumi's smiling face.
"Ohayo, you two." she said simply, still smiling at them.
"..." they answered.
"I thought it was for the best if I woke you up before our parents or 
Nabiki found out." she continued.
"Before I found out what." they heard from the door.
Three pair of eyes looked up, as Nabiki entered the room, hiding her camera
behind her back.
"Oh don't worry, I won't say anything." she added.
Ranma looked dejected.
"How much?" he said looking for his pants.
"Nothing, this one is on the house." she smiled at them.
"Thank you oneechan." Akane said a little embarrassed from the bed.
Nabiki bent down and hugged her little sister.
"It's about time you two got together."
She stood up and looked down at Ranma's red face.
"Good work Ranma-kun." Nabiki said on her way out.
"She's right you know. But maybe you should get up before Mr. Saotome
wakes up, unless you want to be married before lunch, that is." Kasumi winked
as she stood up.
"Kasumi..." Ranma said.
"Yes?" she turned around when she reached the door.
Ranma looked at Kasumi, then at the still red but smiling Akane and 
back to Kasumi.
"Thank you for yesterday."
She flashed him a big smile and disappeared.

When Kasumi went down the stairs she heard a scream from Nabiki's room.
She smiled and looked down at the roll of film she had taken out of Nabiki's
camera the day before.


***  Finis ?  ***


My words:

I know it's a bit too cute for the real characters, but I like nice-nice.
I hope nobody think of this as a lemon, because it ain't.
I used the bathroom for a neutral place where it's easier to be honest.
Like I said (wrote) in the beginning, comments are more than welcome.
Should I write more or just erase every word-processor from my HDD?

Ja ne!


************ ^_^ *************

The following text is an alternative ending (sort of) and starts when Akane
hears Ranma's deep sigh from the water.
I wrote this very late (or early depending how you look at it) after a couple 
of beers on a empty stomach. My brain was in a twisted mode. >8^)

************ ^_^ *************

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Akane nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound.
She walked to the bathtub and saw Ranma floating in the water, eyes closed.
<Just look at him that pervert, how dare he be here when I'm taking a bath!>
Akane totally ignored the inner voice screaming that SHE walked in in HIM.
She reached back with her arm.
"BAKA!" she screamed and hit him on the chin.
Akane ran out from the bath.

Ranma felt an intensive pain in his chin and then his head hit the bottom. 
"Ouch!" he tried to scream, but only bubbles came out.
He managed to pull himself above surface just in time to hear the door close.
<What the hell was that all about!> he rubbed his chin looking confused.

After a while there was a knock on the door.
"Yes." he said
"It's me, Kasumi, is everything all right in there?" she asked from 
the other side.
Ranma's mouth being a lot quicker than his brain said
"No it's not."

The door opened and Kasumi entered, closing the door after her.
She blushed a bit when she saw Ranma in the bath but took a stool and 
sat down beside the bathtub.
"What happened? I saw Akane stomping away from here." she asked.
Ranma blushed at Kasumi's presence.
"Ka.. Kasumi, I'm in the bath!" he stuttered.
Kasumi just smiled.
"Oh I have seen you run around the house half-naked so many times it doesn't
bother me." she said as she looked him over.
Ranma added a couple shades of red.
"Now tell me what happened." she added.
"I really don't know. One second I'm relaxing in the bath and the next someone
hit my face, hard." he said still confused.
"It must have been Akane who did that." she said somberly.
"But why?"

Silence

"How are things between you two anyway?" Kasumi asked suddenly.
"That's one more thing I don't have a clue about. We fight all the time and 
then we almost act like we actually liked each other. But then we fight again.
I really don't know."
Kasumi looked at Ranma's chin, it was red and a little swollen now.
"Does it hurt?" she asked, reaching out with her hand and touched it.
Ranma winced a bit at the contact.
"Yeah.. a bit." he said as he let out a deep breath.
All of the sudden Kasumi looked very insecure.
"Ranma, what do you think about me?" she asked quietly and blushed a bit.
Ranma acted again before his brain could think things over.
"I think you're a very sweet, beautiful woman, and whoever marries you
will be a very happy man." he said truthfully.
Kasumi looked up at him quickly and down again, even redder than before.
"Do you really think that." she whispered.
"I know so. Why do you want to know?" Ranma was curious.
"If Nabiki and I wouldn't hoist Akane on you, who would you choose?" she asked
in a small voice. She looked him in the eyes.
Ranma was flustered, he fiddled with his fingers and looked down.

"You." his voice just a little bit more than a whisper.
"Why?"
"You... you looked so sweet, and you took care of me, no matter what." he said, 
still fiddling.

"And what about the others?"
"Well, Akane was mad at me from the very beginning and still is, and Nabiki?
Heh, the first thing she does is grabbing my breasts and make snide comments."
Ranma looked up and saw tears falling down Kasumi's face.
"What? What is it? Is it anything I said?" he asked in panic.
Kasumi shook her head as more tears came.
"It... it's nothing." she whispered.
She stood up and walked towards the door.
"Wait." said Ranma as he got up from the bath and ran to her.
He had even forgotten that he was naked as he turned her around.
"What is it?"
Kasumi started to cry in earnest and leaned against Ranma.
Ranma put his arms around her in a hug and was rewarded by even more sobs.
"This isn't like you Kasumi, what ever happened?" he asked stroking her hair.
Kasumi hugged him as her life depended upon it.
"You have no idea what this means to me, Ranma. Arigatoo."
"Anytime Kasumi, but why don't tell me what it is?"
She looked at him and suddenly she was kissing him.
Ranma didn't do anything, but after a while he kissed back.
They enjoyed the closeness of each other for some time before they broke up.
"It's you silly. I think I have fallen in love with you." Kasumi said.
"Nani?" he was shocked.
"You shocked eh ?"
"But... but you always say that younger men bore you."
"A girl can change her mind can't she?"
"Why me of all people?"
"In the beginnig I didn't know what to think about you and your curse,
honestly it scared me. That's why we hoisted Akane on you. But then I
learned to know you and what kind of person you really are."
"And what kind of person do you think I am?"
"A loudmouthed violent jerk, but also a very passionate, caring person 
who really doesn't want to hurt anyone."
"I think you are the first person to call me caring."
"But it's true, I mean, you haven't told Akane about Ryouga's curse because
you knew it would upset her. And whatever you do, you put everything 
you have into it."
"You knew about Ryoga?"
"It's kind of hard not to notice, sometimes my sister can be very dense." 
"You got that right." he laughed softly.
She rested her head on Ranma's shoulder and Ranma continued to hold her.
"But I always thought you liked Tofu?" 
"Tofu? He's just a friend, and besides he's a bit weird." she frowned.
"But that's because he's madly in love with you, silly." he laughed softly.
"He is? That put him in a situation like you and Ukyou then, doesn't it?"
"Yeah...  something like that." he said quietly, more to himself.
"Ranma...  what do you think about me now, do you still like me?" she looked
nervous again.
"I think I always have, but since your declaration that only older guys 
interested you, and the thing with Tofu. I don't think I dared to pursue
that line of thinking." he looked shyly at her when he said it.
Kasumi's smile was like the sun coming up. She looked deep into his eyes and
moved in for another kiss. This time Ranma saw what was going to happen
so he met her halfway. Ranma held her close as Kasumi played with his pigtail.
Suddenly Kasumi broke the kiss and looked at him with big eyes.
"Ranma...  you're naked!" she said shocked at the something she felt.
Ranma eep-ed and ran for cover. 
He slipped on a wet spot and slammed into a bucket with cold water.
A very embaressed Ranma-chan was laying on the tile-floor.
"Are you all right?" Kasumi asked as she help her up.
"Yeah... I'm sorry about that." she didn't even dare to look up.
Kasumi hugged the much smaller Ranma-chan.
"Don't be. Actually I'm flattered that you feel like that about me." she 
whispered into her ear.


***  Finis ?  ***


More of my words:

Thanks goes to my friend Per 'Tucker' Larsson for proof-reading my text
so blame him for the spelling, not me. ^_^;;


              \\|//
               o o  
---------oOOo--(_)--oOOo---------

David Thune