Chapter II
Kissing is Such Sweet Sorrow

	Akane slammed the door open, knocking it out of the slider. Kasumi looked
up and said, "Oh my. You are home early today, Akane!"
	Akane was furious, confused, and embarrassed. As with Ranma, this did not
make a good combination. She opened her mouth and said, "I felt sick. I came
home. LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
	Akane stormed past a blinking Kasumi, went upstairs to her room and slammed
the door.
	"Oh my," Kasumi said again, looking at the place where Akane had stood,
frowning.
	Kasumi finally turned around and walked up the stairs. She put her ear to
Akane’s door and heard a lot of stomping, pounding, and banging, mixed with
several shouts of, "BAKA!!!"
	"Ranma." Kasumi thought.
	Finally the noise quieted down and Kasumi knocked on the door.
	Akane: (muttered) "Come in."
	Akane was sitting at her desk, her back to Kasumi, looking out the window.
There were weights and bokkens and other objects thrown about the room.
Kasumi frowned, wondering where to begin, when Akane turned and said,
quietly, "I am sorry I yelled at you, Kasumi."
	Kasumi smiled. "That is OK, Akane. I know we all have bad days. You want to
talk about it?"
	Akane began to tear up a bit as the whole story, including why she was
pissed at Ranma, her anger at and the nosy students, and, finally, how she
was feeling strange... almost sorry... that the wedding had not happened...
that it hadn’t even FAZED that jerk, Ranma... It all came out in one
tearful, blurred, rush.
	Unspoken was the truth of the matter: Akane was confused, still, about how
she felt about Ranma.
	Kasumi went over and hugged her sister and said, "You should know, Akane,
that Ranma has spent so much of his life training in the marital arts that
he never received any social training. The way he shows affection to his
father is by fighting him, insulting him, and practicing martial arts with him."
	Akane: "So?"
	Kasumi sighed and said, "Well, Akane, who else do you know that Ranma
treats like he does his father?"
	Akane looked blank.
	Kasumi laughed and pointed out, "YOU, you silly. Ranma is very shy and
doesn’t know how to express love. It terrifies him. Nothing has ever been
permanent for him, anyone he loved except his father was taken away from
him. Permanence, such as in admitting love, scares him. He is probably
afraid he will lose you the same way he had to give up his mother."
	Akane STILL looked blank and asked, "And your point is....?"
	Kasumi said sternly, "My point is that sometimes Ranma’s insults are his
way of saying, ‘I love you’, and are just his way of fighting his
insecurities. Akane, Ranma DOES love you. It is just hard for him to say the
words."
	Akane started to tear up again and said, fiercely, "But he DOESN’T, Kasumi!
Wouldn’t I have SOME feeling that he does?"
	"Akane," Kasumi said, looking sad, "You are just as insecure and just as
unable to say how YOU feel. I think a lot of that has to do with our losing
our mother, we have all been a little closed since then, scared to show our
love "...As our mother did..."
	Akane began to cry harder. Kasumi began to tear up a little herself, and
walked over to hug Akane. Kasumi leaned down and kissed Akane on the top of
her head, the way Mother used to do, and then started to walk out of the room.
	Akane: "Kasumi?"
	Kasumi, her eyes sparkling, turned back to look at Akane.
	Akane sniffed, smiled, and said quietly, "I love you, Kasumi."
	Kasumi nodded, and said, "I know. I love you too little sister."

*****

	Kasumi just reached the bottom of the stairs when Ranma walked in the door.
Kasumi smiled and said, "Hello Ranma!"
	Ranma looked very uncomfortable and was shuffling his feet. He looked up at
Kasumi and asked, "Um... is Akane home...?"
	Kasumi nodded and smiled, her eyes drier now. 
	"Yes she is here Ranma. Maybe you should go up and talk to her?" Kasumi asked.
	"Was... was she upset?" Ranma asked haltingly, noticing that Kasumi looked
a little upset herself, and added, "Uh, are you O.K.?"
	"I'm fine," Kasumi said, and smiled. "I think Akane needs you more than I
do right now."
	Ranma sighed, nodded at Kasumi, and began to walk up the stairs. He crept
along the hallway until he reached Akane’s door. He hesitated, and then
raised his hand to knock. After a few seconds had passed, and he still
hadn’t knocked, he realized that he couldn’t do it. He didn’t know what to
say. Ranma turned and went to his bedroom, sat down on his futon, and began
to think.
	Akane had heard Ranma’s familiar step in the hall and knew he had paused
outside her door.
	"So, he did follow me home from school... took him long enough!" she thought.
	Akane’s heart began to thump. She wondered if he would knock. If he would
apologize. Then, she heard the steps begin again and the sound of the door
to Ranma’s room opening and shutting.
	"Chicken. Baka. Fool!" she said quietly.

*****

	By the time Akane finally left her room, Ranma had already given up on
apologizing and gone to practice in the dojo with his father. Akane decided
she would do something nice for Ranma; maybe being friendly would help ease
the tension between them. Akane entered the kitchen with high hopes.
	"Kasumi- can you help me make dinner for everyone tonight?" Akane asked.
	Kasumi looked a bit afraid.
	Akane smiled and said, "I PROMISE I will listen to you, too."
	Kasumi sighed in relief.
	Two hours later Kasumi sent Akane out to get Ranma and Genma. She entered
the dojo, watched Ranma and Genma sparring for a minute, and then said,
"Ranma, Mr. Saotome, dinner time!"
	Ranma looked at Akane. She smiled at him.
	Ranma thought, in abject fear, "Why is she being so NICE to me?"
	Then, it hit him. She must have..... OH NO.... COOKED!!!
	Genma was not quite as quick as Ranma, and also missed the look of horror
on his son’s face.
	Genma smiled and said, "Sounds GREAT, Akane!" and ran off to go attack the
food before his son could get it all.
	Akane smiled after Genma’s retreating form, and turned to look back at
Ranma. Then, she saw the grimace on his face.
	"Ranma... aren’t you coming? I am OK... about earlier..." she added,
frowning, and reinforced her words by saying, "Really!"
	Ranma sputtered at this, not knowing what to say. Finally, what seemed a
safer course popped into his mouth and he said, "Uh... did you cook, Akane?"
	Akane nodded, smiling, and said, "Yep! And it came out great too!" She
blushed and added, "I made it for you.... it is that curry that I make that
is OK..."
	Ranma blanched again, and, then, damn fool, he said it. "So you ARE still
mad, Akane!! Except you are trying to be all nice and then secretly come up
and try and kill me with your rotten cooking!"
	Akane looked crushed, and then she began to look angry. A blue aura began
to form around her and she whipped a mallet out of nowhere, whamming Ranma
with it several times before she stormed out of the dojo.

*****

	Ranma finally crawled from the dojo into the dining room. Nabiki, Genma,
Kasumi, Soun, and Nadoka were all already munching away happily. Ranma
looked at the food on the table.... it looked... well, NORMAL.
	Ranma sat down, picking up a bowl and some chopsticks. He put some of the
food in his bowl and poked at it. He leaned down and sniffed the mix and
thought, "Hey... it even SMELLS good."
	Nadoka looked at her son and asked, "Is something wrong Ranma?"
	Ranma shook his head and said, "It is just, well... Akane said she cooked
dinner!"
	Kasumi smiled and said, "Yes she did Ranma! She listened to me very closely
and tried all the dishes herself before she served them.... I think she was
cooking for you especially, Ranma!"
	Ranma sighed, closed his eyes, and began to eat. He realized that it was
actually... good. Which made him feel terrible. Ranma opened his eyes and
noticed everyone was looking at him.
	He blushed, and then groaned, thinking, "What ELSE can go wrong today?"
	Nabiki grinned and said, "Guess you better go apologize, eh Ranma?"
	Ranma looked frustrated, but, knowing he couldn’t fight well on an empty
stomach, finished eating before he went to go apologize for the second time
that day. But, fate had other ideas.
	Suddenly, a cry filled the Tendo Dojo.
	Ryouga: "Ranma, where are you???!!!"
	Ranma realized his day was about to get, unbelievably, even worse. He
groaned and got up to go greet his "guest."

*****

	Ranma tapped Ryouga on the shoulder. Ryouga was looking into the coat
closet asking, "Ranma? Are you in here?"
	Ryouga turned around at the tap, saw Ranma, and assumed a fighting stance.
	"RAAAANNNNNMMMMAA!" Ryouga shouted.
	Ranma wasn’t even fazed. He asked, "Ok, Ryouga, what did I do now?"
	Ryouga, as usual, looked really pissed off, and said, "I have been thinking
about it, and I STILL can’t believe that you allowed the wedding between you
and Akane to be called off. I LET you have her because I thought you loved
her and were going to marry her!!!"
	Ranma backed against the wall, hands raised in the typical Takahashi "oh
shit" manner.
	Ranma stammered, "Lll....llll....looo...? Ryouga, what are you TALKING
about? After that whole fiasco you were HAPPY I didn’t marry her... and then
you wandered off!"
	"I care only about her happiness!" Ryouga shouted, raising his umbrella to
strike Ranma, and adding, "Even if I must sacrifice my own!"
	"I guess this means you just couldn’t FIND Akari, huh, pig-boy?" Ranma
said, spitefully, getting angry finally.
	Ranma moved just in time as Ryouga’s swipe knocked a very large hole in the
wall where Ranma had been standing. Ryouga, his balance off, fell through
the new "doorway." Ranma looked out at Ryouga’s prone form, thought for a
minute, and then decided that this was the perfect way to work off some of
the stress he had built up from the day’s events. 
	Ranma shouted, "Ok, Ryouga! Let’s fight then!" and jumped outside.

*****

	She was furious, furious, furious!! Akane scrubbed her hair violently, as
if trying to wash the anger and the voices out of her head. All the words,
however, were still floating in her mind and echoing in her ears. She had
made Ranma a wonderful meal, she had even tasted it herself!! It was, for
once, not only edible but somewhat good!
	**"So you ARE still mad, Akane!! Except you are trying to be all nice and
then secretly come up and try and kill me with your rotten cooking!"**
	"Baka!" she screamed as she dunked her head into the water, rinsing out the
shampoo, then placed her rinsed face in her hands, tears mixing with the
water streaming from her clean, shiny, cropped hair. She thought, "As if you
should talk, hentai. You made me like you, you jerk, and for some stupid
reason I try to please you! I am such an idiot! Ranma you fool!"
	She got out of the bath, letting the warm water start to drain. She picked
up a warm, fuzzy yellow towel and wiped down her lithe, athletic figure. She
looked in the mirror and thought, "Not bad!" She sighed. She was good enough
for Kuno, Shinnosuke, and even... well, she knew Ryouga had some kind of an
attraction for her. But oh no! Not Mr. high- and- Mighty- I- have- Shampoo-
Ukyou- and- Kodachi- after- me- Ranma- Saotome! She thrust her feet into her
slippers and strode to the door, sliding it open with a blow that she wished
had struck Ranma himself. Looking down at the ground she fumed, storming out
of the laundry room... and right smack into Ranma-chan, who was coming in
the door.
	She looked up, realized who it was, and threw her hand back in preparation
for attack. Ranma backed off as quickly as he/she possibly could toward the
bathtub and said, "Wait wait wait! Akane, I didn’t know you were in here!
Ryouga threw me into the pond and...."
	Akane shouted, "Pervert!!" and strode up to him/her, where he stood in
front of the bathtub, and thrust him/her back into the draining bathwater.
	Ranma grew before her eyes and his voice deepened. "What dija do THAT for,
Akane?" he muttered, his boxers, towel, and tank-top now soaking wet AGAIN.
	"You.. you... jerk!" Akane screamed."I wanted you to be a boy" (this said
particularly scathingly) "for what I am going to do to you!"
	Ranma thrust his hands out in defense, "What, what did I do Akane? Are you
still mad about the dinner? Jeesh. I ate some after you left you know, it
was pretty good... I mean for a tomboy’s cooking and all... I was just
teasin ya Akane, ok? OK?" he looked up at her, expecting to see that blue
aura glowing and her body set in Ranma-die-mode.
	However, the fact that Ranma had actually eaten her food, and admitted he
liked it, placated her somewhat and was enough to stop her attack. Ranma was
surprised to notice tears at the corners of her eyes, she looked up, her big
brown eyes glowing, and asked, "Oh Ranma, do you really mean it?"
	Ranma hoisted himself out of the bathtub and smiled.
	"Sure I meant it Akane! You think -I-" :here he gave her a wicked grin:
"would I eat it if I couldn’t stand it?"
	"Ranma..." Akane looked like she wanted to say something more, thinking,
"Is this the way it is always going to be between us? A contest of wills?"
but instead sighed and turned to leave, saying over her shoulder, "Have a
nice bath..." and started to walk out.
	Suddenly, Ranma was behind her, his hand on her shoulder, turning her to
face him. He lifted up her chin with his hand, looked down at her, and asked
cautiously, "Does this mean I am forgiven? Or should I be waiting for a
surprise attack?"
	All of a sudden Akane’s eyes began to glitter mischievously. She smiled up
at him and said, "Oh I would be prepared for the surprise attack..." and
then she reached up and pulled his head down to hers.
	"Akan...!" Ranma began to shout, but it was too late... she was already
kissing him as if her life depended on it. Ranma began to sweat and chills
overtook his body. What was he going to do? If he rejected her she would
kill him! Then, he began to realize how pleasurable the kiss really was,
and, he remembered how cute she had looked right before she grabbed him....
when she smiled...
	Ranma finally gave into the inevitability of it all and tightened his arms
around Akane, his fiancee, his best friend, and.... something else he would
have to think about later..... He deepened the kiss and realized that this
was something he had wanted to do for a very long time.

******

	Ryouga came trotting down the hallway, P-chan in form after his tussle with
Ranma in the pond, and was heading for the baths to clean up and turn back
into himself. He was amazed that he had actually found the bathroom so
quickly in this enormous house! Maybe he was getting better with that
direction-dyslexia problem...
However, this happy thought quickly disappeared from Ryouga’s mind when he
waddled into the bathroom, looked up, and saw his worst nightmare.
	Ranma and Akane. KISSING.
	"BWEEEE!!!!" a black lightning bolt of piglet fired against Ranma, who,
though distracted, by reflex blocked Ryouga’s attack. The kiss was ended,
however.
	Akane realized that it was P-chan, and picked the pig up, trying to calm
him. She thought that the way Ranma had been holding her had scared her
little pet... maybe he thought Ranma was attacking her. Akane paused
mid-thought. "The way Ranma had been holding her...." She suddenly, P-chan
blubbering in her arms, turned to look at Ranma, but was only in time to see
Ranma’s shadow as he slid the bathroom door shut.
"Not a word? What is he thinking? Why is he hiding in the bathroom?" she
wondered.
	Then, with the force of a year of frustration and indecisevness finally
concluded, it hit Akane what had happened. What had REALLY happened, and all
the connotations of what it might mean tore at her. And he had turned away…
disappearing behind the door. Tears began again to flow down her cheeks,
dripping on P-Chan. She thought, "Oh Ranma, Ranma.... what have I DONE?!"
	Akane fled from the laundry room, ran to her room, slammed the door, and
flung herself down on the bed and began to cry. A day for tears indeed, she
thought. She looked up at the frame and picture that Ranma had given her
that past Christmas, of her and Ranma, and all of the Gang. She thought of
that moment when he gave the frame to her… had they almost kissed that time?
There had been so many half-kisses and interrupted moments… or was that only
the way it seemed to her? She stared at his handsome face.
	"Oh Ranma," she thought, "What ARE we exactly? Are we friends? or fiancees?
or are we... in love?"

Marisa Price
marisa@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Anime Page!!! includes my Ranma and MI picture pages!!
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/
Mermaid Saga Web Page!!
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~marisa/mermaid.html
Member of COR and UDIC.
Anime otaku forever! Medieval Studies and English major.