*****************************************************************
Disclaimer:
     All characters in here are the property of Takahashi
     Rumiko. Doomo arigato, Takahashi-sama, for the wonderful
     characters and story of Ranma �!
*****************************************************************

     Ranma-kun stood in the doorway, his heart aching. Closing
his eyes, he heard his voice whisper, "A-Akane... I..." His
throat constricted, but he got the last word out. "Gomen...." he
finished, closing the door gently before running down the
Tendo's stairs.

     At his apology, Akane lifted her head, and wiped her eyes.
"Ranma...?" she said, looking around her room, just in time to
see hear door shut, and Ranma's footsteps...

     "Hi, Ranma-kun!" she heard Kasumi greet Ranma brightly,
then, "Ranma-kun...? What's wrong...? Why are you so upset? Where
are you going?" The door to the Tendo's shut, and Akane turned to
her window just in time to see Ranma-chan running outside in the
rain.

     "Ranma! Matte!" she cried, opening her window, but Ranma
made no move to turn around... she just kept running. Akane
watched despairingly as Ranma-chan jumped up onto a fence, and
kept running.

     "Ranma..." Akane's eyes filled with tears as she threw
herself on her bed for the second time that day. "Gomen... Gomen
nasai," she whispered. Burying her face in her pillow, she
sobbed softly as she called his name....
*****************************************************************

     All had seemed to be normal at the house... or normal for
the Tendo dojo, anyway. Kunou had crashed in with his bokken,
calling for his Osage no Onna and "the beautiful maiden", Tendo
Akane to "come, jump into my arms". As a result, he met
Ranma-chan's foot while Kasumi invited him to stay for lunch.
Ryouga had walked in as P-chan during the noon meal, making
Akane inordinately happy, as "P-chan" had been lost for several
weeks.

     After lunch, Kunou decided stay a little longer after he
saw his Osage no Onna go into the bathroom and come out as
Ranma-kun, charging Ranma with "defiling" his "vision of
loveliness, Osage no Onna", and starting his speech about the
vengeance of heaven. After an (in Ranma's mind) uneventful fight,
Ranma succeeded in booting Kunou from the premises (reminding
himself to do it outdoors... Soun-ojisan got mad enough when Akane
booted him out from her bedroom as it was), when Shampoo came by
with a bowl of super-deluxe ramen for him.

     Akane helped Kasumi with dinner, and as usual, most of the
family tried to think up excuses to get away with not eating it.
Among the comestible casualties on the table was a something
that looked suspiciously like a volcano (Ranma assumed that if
he were to try some, he'd end up being the volcano); what Ranma
_assumed_ to be tonkatsu (pork cutlet), but cooked so that it
resembled a dog's chewed up toys; and a congealed, grayish-purple
mass that Akane claimed was miso soup with tofu. Nabiki, Soun, and
Genma got away with eating only what Kasumi had cooked (the
difference between the two cook's culinary accomplishments was
dramatic), but Ranma was almost forced to eat Akane's cooking. 

     "Why're you trying to poison me?" Ranma had gagged, his
standard response poking at the "miso soup" with his chopsticks.
It wiggled like jelly...in some areas. He picked up a chunk.
"Look for yourself, Akane! You said this was soup?"

     Akane fumed. "You could at least try it before you make fun
of it!" she told him, preparing to stuff the iron pot it was
cooked in down Ranma's throat.

     Ranma was about to give her his "I don't have to eat it to
know it's toxic" line, when Akane put the pot down and asked, in
a hurt voice, "How come you can eat Shampoo's soup, but you
can't eat mine...?"

     Ranma looked to the family for help, but all were looking
in different directions, except for Kasumi, who looked to Ranma. 

     "Ranma-kun," she said to him in a slightly reproaching
tone, "it won't hurt you to try it. Akane worked really
hard on it." Ranma gave Kasumi a shameful, but dubious, look.
Kasumi was usually so nice and easy going that any reproach from
her made a person feel really low. 

     Nabiki looked at her older sister, then back at the soup.
She doubted that Ranma would eat it, hard work or not. <Not that
I really blame him if he doesn't...> Nabiki thought, taking
another look at the soup. Nabiki glanced at her younger sister,
who had a look between sadness and anger. She saw Ranma glance
at her too, and his mournful look increased. <Just make her
happy, Saotome,> Nabiki thought, reaching for a pickled
vegetable, <If you don't, chances are we're gonna have to get
more money to repair the dojo...> Her thoughts changed. <Then
again, that might not be so bad...> She popped the pickled
turnip in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

     Genma continued to look straight at his bowl, stuffing
himself silly, wishing to avoid the whole scene. Soun looked as
if he wanted to tell Ranma what Kasumi had told him in a less
tactful way, but glancing at his youngest daughter's congealed
excuse for a soup, he decided not to. <After all,> Soun thought,
<I want him to marry my daughter, not die...>

     Ranma looked again from the soup to his bowl, and then to
Akane's sad/angry face. He knew from the half-liquid consistency
that she really _did_ try hard on the soup. The last time she
made miso soup it was pretty much all gelatinous. The color,
however, just did not look right to him. Swallowing, he asked
Kasumi for a soup bowl. Handing him one, he swallowed hard again
before ladling the soup into the bowl. Three chunks and a little
liquid fell in with a small "plop". Taking a spoon, he became
aware of the whole family watching him: Kasumi's smiling face,
Nabiki pitying face, Soun's sympathetic one, and his father's
"Hurry up and eat it already because I don't get to eat until you
do and I'm hungry...!" expression.

     Summoning all his will, Ranma meant to take a sip, but it
turned out to be a bite. <I've never _chewed_ soup before,>
Ranma thought, a little amused. He swallowed, and smiled a
little...

     "He... he did it?!" Soun cried. "That's my...!" Soun cut
off his sentence as Ranma fell to the ground, unconscious...

     When he came to, he was in his room, with Kasumi and Nabiki
hovering over him. "Y'know, Ranma-kun," Nabiki said as he sat
up. "I think Akane's really mad this time..."

     "What makes you say that?" he asked, holding his aching
head. Kasumi handed him a cold, wet towel.

     "Well," Kasumi said, also handing him a glass of water.
"After you fainted, Akane started yelling at you, but you didn't
hear it."

     "Then, she started beating the hell out of you while you
were out of it," Nabiki told him. "Haven't you wondered why your
head hurts?"

     Ranma gingerly touched the bump on his head. "She should
know better than to hit me when I'm down..." he humphed, a
little annoyed.

     "I really think that you should have a talk with her,
Ranma-kun," Kasumi suggested. "She thinks you insulted her
cooking."

     Ranma made a face. "Kasumi-san, we _all_ know what Akane's
cooking is like. I didn't wanna insult her!"

     To his surprise, Kasumi and Nabiki nodded. "Yeah," Nabiki
told him, "her cooking does stink, and everyone in this house
but Akane is gonna say it. And we all know that your
fainting wasn't intentional."

     "But Akane thinks that you did it on purpose," Kasumi
explained. "She thinks you did it just to insult her."

     "Why don't you just give her cooking lessons?" Ranma asked
Kasumi, taking a sip of water to take away the bad taste in his
mouth. 

     "I've tried, Ranma-kun," Kasumi replied. "But you know that
Akane can be really stubborn, and determined. She wants to prove
herself. All she needs is to slow down a little, and make sure
the ingredients are correct, that's all."

     "Prove herself?" Ranma asked, confused.

     Nabiki chuckled. "Ranma-kun, you are such a dummy
sometimes that it's a wonder that I don't make more money off
your stupidity." Nabiki ignored Ranma's scowl. "Do you think
Akane would care if me, Oneechan, Otousan, or Ojisan spit up that
soup or fainted? Sure she'd get mad, but she wouldn't flip out
like that."

     Ranma was still confused. He looked to Kasumi. "Honto ni,"
Kasumi nodded. "She made that for _you_, Ranma-kun. That's why I
wanted you to at least _try_ it... I didn't say you had to like
it." She smiled benevolently, prompting both Nabiki and Ranma to
take a double-take.

     Ranma took in a deep breath, and then sighed. "I guess I
should go apologize then, ne?"

     "It wouldn't hurt," Nabiki told him, as he got up to go
find Akane.
****************************************************************

     He found her in the dojo, angrily going through a kata. He
watched her for a bit from the doorway.

     "You mad, Akane?" he asked after a few minutes. Akane
dropped her stance, and stood to face him.

     "Baka," she muttered, looking at him. "You didn't have to
insult my cooking like that!" she told him angrily.

     "Hey! I wasn't trying to insult your cooking, you
tomboy...! I tried it, didn't I?" he countered.

     This was true, and Akane had to admit that he did at least
try it first. "And then you passed out," she humphed.

     Ranma was beginning to get more than a little annoyed.
"Hey! If you were told to eat something you _know_ is gonna
probably kill you, don't you think that you'd try and..."

     "You didn't know it was going to kill you!" Akane told him,
standing up straight. "Whenever I cook, all you ever do is
insist that it's going to kill you, even before you taste it!"

     Ranma gave her a look. "C'mon, Akane, we all know that your
cooking isn't like Kasumi's or..." Ranma stopped himself from
saying any more, hoping Akane wouldn't continue.

     "Like Ukyou's or Shampoo's, right?" Akane asked Ranma
bitterly. Ranma couldn't answer, just stood there, looking more
than a little sorry. Akane ignored the expression on his face.
"Just because I can't cook like them doesn't mean you can insult
my cooking!"

     "How many times do I gotta tell you that I wasn't trying to
insult your cooking?" Ranma asked her, exasperated. "I was just
trying to tell you the truth."

     "And what's the truth?" Akane asked him, her eyes daring
him to make the wrong move.

     Ranma, as usual, did not pick up on the hint, and went
ahead in his blunt, untactful way. "That your cooking stinks!" A
light went off in his head, and inwardly, he groaned.

     That did it for Akane. Ranma instinctively turned to run
away from Akane and her hyperdimensional mallet. They ran all
about the premises, Ranma continually ducking her blows, looking
back occasionally to throw another insult, while she threw his
insults right back at him with another missed strike. The family,
of course, ignored all of this, having heard this fights all too
often in the past. Eventually, the two found themselves upstairs,
with Ranma backed into a corner, but still hurling his normal
barrage of insults.

     "You baka!" she cried, swinging the mallet, almost
promising to hit him.

     Ranma hurriedly ducked, and cried out. "HA! You missed you
kawaiikune tomboy..."

     "If I'm so kawaiikune, why don't you just leave me alone,
you jerk?" she asked, swinging the mallet. Though she was
yelling, she really meant what she asked.

     Ranma stuck his tongue out. "I don't know... maybe cuz
you're such a good sparring partner; y'know, stubborn, strong as
an ox, violent as a gorilla.... You're so kawaiikune sometimes,
that it's just like fighting a guy..."

     Ranma had thought that his little dissertation on his
interpretation of his iinazuke's disposition wouldn't hurt her
too much. After the number of times he'd said this, how much
could it hurt now? Thus, he was surprised to see Akane drop the
mallet, and just stare at him, tears forming in her eyes.

     "A-Akane..." he asked, more than surprised that his speech
had warranted this reaction.

     She looked him dead in the eye, a tear rolling down her
cheek, and told him, "I hate you."

     "Eh?" Ranma blinked, totally unprepared for this. For once,
since he'd known Akane, he'd had no insulting rejoinders.

     "I hate you!" Akane shouted at him. Then sudden
comprehension dawned on her face. She covered her mouth, aghast,
and ran to her room, locking the door.

     "Akane!" He ran to her door, and started to knock.
"Akane..." There was no answer. "Akane..." He continued to
knock, but there was still was no answer. He heard her
bedsprings squeak. Sighing, he went outside on the roof, and
tried to peek into her room hanging upside down, like he
normally did when Akane locked her door. It was almost
predictable, at least that's what Ranma thought. Almost every
time she'd locked her door, she'd keep her window open, which
made Ranma glad, because he knew that she was at least ready to
accept an apology from him. This time, though, she'd closed the
window and shut the blinds tight, and there was no light coming
from her room. However, he could her soft sob...

     He went back upstairs, and tried her door again, finding it
unlocked. He stepped silently into the room, admitting with him
a small slit of light that fell upon her. She was on her bed,
her face in her hands, still sobbing softly to herself.

     <I made her cry,> Ranma thought mournfully. "Akane...?" He
asked softly, wanting to go over to her and apologize, but he
just couldn't. She didn't respond. He continued to stand in the
doorway. <Kuso...> he thought, looking down. He closed his eyes,
and said his apologies before closing her door again and running
out of the house.

     He heard Kasumi say something to him as he left, but he was
just too upset. He needed to get out of the house, he needed to
get away from Akane's tears... and so he ran out of the house,
and out into the rain. He heard Akane call his name but refused
to turn around. <I made her cry,> Ranma-chan thought to herself
as she leapt up onto a nearby fence, still running with all her
might. <I made her cry...>
***************************************************************

     Akane continued to cry on her bed after Ranma left, softly
calling his name, her mind continuing a sad litany. All she
could think of was she said she hated him. <I didn't mean it,
Ranma,> Akane thought sadly, her sobs decreasing a little.
<Please, come back...> She thought to the image of Ranma-chan
running in the rain, away from her.

     "Why don't you just leave me alone, you jerk?" Her words
came back to her from their fight earlier. She could forgive
Ranma for fainting from her food. Deep down, she knew it wasn't
his fault. She sighed, and her sobs decreased a little more,
diminishing into mere hiccups. 

     "Akane?" Kasumi knocked at her door, uncertainly. "What
happened between you and Ranma-kun...?"

     "O-oneechan... I really..." Kasumi flicked on the light, and
looked at the form of her younger sister on her bed, her head
down, curled into a ball. Her pet pig, P-chan, sat on her bed
watching her. Kasumi was painfully reminded of when Akane had
been told her mother had just died, so many years ago.
She'd curled into the exact same position she was curled in right
now, sobbing the same way.

     "Akane..." Kasumi sat on the bed next to her sister and
held her like she did when Akane was little and crying. Her
sister's caring presence eased Akane's pain a little. "Tell your
oneechan what happened..."

     "Oh Kasumi," Akane cried, holding onto her sister's apron.
"I..." Her words echoed in her mind again. "I told Ranma I hated
him! And now he's run away!"

     "Akane," Kasumi said again, holding her youngest sister
in the motherly way she had, learned over the years after her
mother's death. She'd held Nabiki like this after their mother's
death, as well as Akane. Though Nabiki was only a year older than
Akane, she didn't need quite as much mothering as Akane did.
After Akane got older, she didn't cry, wanting to show everyone
that she was grown up. "Just like Oneechan," she'd insist as she
grew up, grimacing instead of crying when she hurt herself. Kasumi
stroked Akane's hair much like she did when Akane was just a little
girl. She knew that for Akane to cry like this was a rarity.
"Shh... it's okay..." Kasumi told her.

     "But he's run away, Kasumi-Oneechan!" Kasumi nodded to
herself. Ranma often avoided Akane after they fought, especially
if it was as violent as this fight had been. But Kasumi was no
fool, and she knew that there was more to what Akane was crying
about.

     "Tell me, Akane..." Kasumi implored gently. "What's
wrong? You know Ranma-kun runs away sometimes, he always comes
back..."

     Akane looked up at Kasumi, her eyes red and swollen. "I'm
scared, Oneechan," she told Kasumi, hiccuping. 

     Kasumi looked a little confused. "Scared of what, Akane? Did
something bad happen between you and Ranma?"

     Akane shook her head. "It'll be my fault if he doesn't come
back..."

     "Akane..." Kasumi looked at her youngest sister in
earnest. "What are you talking about? You know Ranma-kun always
comes back."

     "I-I told him that I h-hated him!" A fresh round of
sobbing started. "And when I called him back, he didn't even
turn around! He probably hates _me_ now, Oneechan! And it's all
my fault."

     Kasumi nodded again. She'd seen Ranma run outside, and she
saw the look on his face. Sad. Disbelieving... She continued to
hold Akane as she cried....

*****************************************************************

     <Run,> the innate voice inside her said. <Run, and it'll all
be okay...>

     So that's what Ranma-chan did... Run away, run away from the
pain, run away from Akane's tears...

     <Baka, baka, baka,> Ranma thought to herself, never slowing
her pace. <You idiot!> Akane's tear streaked face appeared in her
mind's eyes and she tried desperately to shut it out.

     Ranma had only run like this once previously, when he was in
the forest of Ryugunzawa, when he heard of Akane's wish to stay
with Shinnosuke rather than go home with him. He'd run away,
run, run, run... he couldn't stand to think that maybe Akane
didn't like him as much as she seemed to like Shinnosuke. But
now, he couldn't stand what he'd seen.

     Now, that feeling of despair that Ranma never really had to
deal with before was back. Akane's tears... it was too much for
him to take this time. He'd seen Akane cry before, but never
sobbing continuously, never even hearing him. He couldn't tell
whether or not Akane had heard his apology, because he knew that
when someone cried the way she was crying that you can't hear
over your own sobs.

     <Akane...> Ranma-chan thought, still running away. In her
mind, Ranma-chan could still hear Akane calling for her to come
back, to wait.

     "Gomen..." Ranma-chan whispered, her frantic running
slowing, cramps forming in her legs. <How long have I been
running?> Ranma-chan thought to herself, feeling her legs turn to
rubber, her lungs on fire. Her body ached, and she gasped for
breath, only to feel the beginnings of a sob. She choked it
back... <Dammit, I ain't gonna cry...> she thought determinedly,
feeling her legs almost give beneath her, her fist clenching.
<I'm a guy!> she thought fiercely, trying to run some more but
finding that her legs pretty much refused to obey her. She gave
her exhausted body a little bit of a rest, slowing her slow run
down to a jog, and finally into a plodding walk.

     For the first time, Ranma-chan looked around, disoriented.
<So this is what Ryouga feels like,> she thought to herself
wryly, looking at the shops around her. There looked to be one
that she vaguely remembered... "U..." She squinted at the kana
on the sign, her vision blurry from the rain.

     "Ucchan". Ranma-chan smiled a little, and went to the door
to knock...
*****************************************************************

     Akane pulled away from her sister's motherly embrace, wiping
her eyes. "Gomen ne, Oneechan," Akane told her sister. "I guess
I'm being a little silly."

     "No, Akane-chan," Kasumi replied, looking at her sister
earnestly. "You're not being silly at all. You're hurting."

     Akane shook her head stubbornly. "No. It's stupid of me to
think that Ranma won't come back. You're right, he always
does..." Akane trailed off as her sister shook her head.

     "That's not why you're crying, Akane," Kasumi told her.
"I know you better than that. You wouldn't cry just because
Ranma-kun ran away like that after a fight."

     Akane lifted her head in the proud way she had. "Why should
I care if he hates me, anyway? He's the baka...." Akane knew her
words sounded hollow as she trailed off again.

     "Akane..." another voice called. Both sisters turned to
see Nabiki standing in the doorway, her arms folded across her
chest. "I heard you crying earlier. You okay?"

     "Hai, Nabiki-oneechan. I'm fine."

     "Sure you are, that's why your eyes are all red and your
nose is clogged," Nabiki grinned, plopping on the bed beside her.
Nabiki had always been the sister that acted her own age, if that
meant anything. She'd never had the motherly tact Kasumi had
developed over the years. Akane considered herself lucky to have
both Kasumi and Nabiki, even if Nabiki did charge a little too
much in the ways of interest. "And I bet you'd say Ranma-kun's
okay, too?"

     "Why wouldn't he be?" Akane countered. "Ranma can take care
of himself."

     "You don't think Ranma's upset, too?" Kasumi asked Akane.

     "Why would he be upset?" Akane replied. "It's not like he
actually _cares_...."

     Nabiki made a noise. "It amazes me how much you and Ranma
are alike sometimes," she told Akane, shaking her head. Akane
scowled.

     "What do you mean?"

     "I mean, that if I could just figure out how to market the
stupidity both you and Ranma have, that I could make the Kunou
family fortune look like peanuts!" 

     "Nabiki!" Kasumi said, shocked. "Be nice...!"

     "I'm just kidding, Oneechan, Akane knows that," Nabiki
told Kasumi, who still looked fairly dubious. "Ne, Akane?"

     "Un..." Akane nodded, not really listening. "What
do you mean, Oneechan?"

     "You and Ranma-kun..." replied Nabiki, sitting up. "You two
sit there day after day, week after week, and whatever, throwing
insults and who knows what else at each other. Don't you two ever
get tired of fighting?" Akane opened her mouth to reply. "It
looks like a no, since the fighting never stops."

     "Why don't you just admit what you feel for him, Akane?"
Kasumi suggested.

     "Admit what?" Akane said, blank faced.

     Nabiki fell onto the bed with a groan. "That you two DON'T
hate each other, for one thing," she muttered, her voice muffled
by Akane's pillow.

     "But I don't feel anything for him!" Akane tried to protest,
the hollow sounding words ringing in her ears. "I don't hate him,
but I sure don't-"

     "Love him?" Kasumi finished for her younger sister. "Akane,
we're not saying to admit you love him-"

     "-You're not, Oneechan, but I am!" muttered Nabiki, her
voice still muffled by the pillow. "Those two bakas just need to
figure it out for themselves, that's all!"

     "But to admit that you do have some feelings for him,"
Kasumi continued, unperturbed by her untactful sister. "You do
have some very strong feelings for him Akane. You'll see
that in time. You wouldn't be so upset about what happened
earlier tonight if you didn't feel that way."

     Akane thought about what Kasumi had to say. She supposed it
did make sense.

     "And Ranma-kun wouldn't be upset either, if he didn't feel
the same way," Kasumi finished, catching Akane off guard.

     "Ranma doesn't care about me like that!" Akane told Kasumi.
"Why would he be calling me all the names he does if he _did_
care?"

     "Why do you call him a baka, Akane?" Kasumi implored.
Akane blinked. 
     
     "Well... because..." Akane tried desperately to find a
reason. Her usual response "because he just is" didn't look like
it would pass her sisters. Nabiki lifted her head from Akane
pillow, and began to tap her fingers on it impatiently.
     
     "We're waiting, Akane..." Nabiki told her, while Akane
continued to try to find a reason.
     
     "Chotto! I do have a reason!" Akane told Nabiki angrily. "I-

     "Don't..." Nabiki finished for her younger sibling, leaning
back in an almost bored manner. "If you did have a reason, a REAL
reason," she amended, "you would've thought of one by now."
*****************************************************************

     An urgent knocking sounded at the door of Ucchan's
okonomiyaki-ya. Kuonji Ukyou looked at the door, annoyed. She'd
had a busy night, with orders for okonomiyaki coming in almost
one after the other.
  
     "Sumimasen, but we're closed," Kuonji Ukyou called out,
wiping her clean grill with a cloth. <And this grill is going to
STAY clean if I can help it,> she thought to herself, smiling to
herself in the sparkling grill.

     "Ucchan?" called a female voice.

     "Ranchan?!" Ukyou dropped the rag, and bounded over to the
door quickly to let Ranma in. She was happy that Ranma had
thought to visit; he hardly ever came this late.... "Ranchan!
It's so late... what're you...?" She took a quick double take a
soggy, sad eyed Ranma-chan walked toward the table.

     "Gomen... for this wet mess," Ranma said, gesturing to the
floor.

     "Oh Ranchan," Ukyou said worriedly as Ranma set herself down
on a counter stool. "Don't you worry about that....Here, I'm
going to get you a towel and a blanket," she told her as she
hurriedly unlocked the door that led to her apartment steps. "Do
you want some hot water?"

     "Eh?" Ranma seemed distracted. "Hot water? Oh, sure,
Ucchan...."

     Ukyou ran upstairs and fetched the towel, water, and blanket
as quickly as she could. As it was, she still ended up taking
awhile. But when she came downstairs, Ranma was still staring at
the floor with the same expression.

     Ukyou sighed, and poured the hot water over Ranma's head,
transforming him to his normal, male form. She smiled a little to
herself as Ranma changed. She'd always regarded it as somewhat
fun to watch. Despite Ukyou's amusement, Ranma was still looking
at the floor, still with the same expression. He looked so
preoccupied that Ukyou wondered if he'd even noticed he'd
changed. Handing him the towel, which he accepted and started to
towel off his hair with it, Ukyou wrapped the blanket around him.

     "Sorry there's no clothes for you to change into, Ranchan,"
Ukyou said, tucking in the blanket close to Ranma's body. "This
should keep you warm.

     "Clothes?" Ranma still had that faraway look in his eyes.

     "Hai," Ukyou replied, looking at him in concern. "You're
soaked clear through; I'm surprised you're not changing back into
a girl." Ranma blinked, and then nodded. Ukyou tried another
tactic. "So, what kinda okonomiyaki you want Ranchan?" she asked
him gently. Ranma merely shook his head, still toweling his hair.

     "I guess I'm not really hungry, Ucchan..." he told her,
looking up at her.

     Ukyou worry compounded. If Ranma wasn't hungry, there must
be something wrong. "What happened, Ranchan?"

     Ranma looked at his best friend's worried face and sighed.
"I saw her cry, Ucchan..."

     "Who? Akane?" Ukyou asked him. Ranma nodded in response.
"What happened?"

     "I made her cry, Ucchan," Ranma told her, sighing again, his
gaze abstracted. "I tried to tell her that I was sorry, but..."
Ranma's eyes lowered, "I just guess that she's mad at me again."

     "Ranchan..." Ukyou tried to grasp at something to make Ranma
feel better. This just wasn't like him to get so sad over a
fight with Akane. After all, the two fought all the time. <I
wonder what happened...>

     "I've seen her cry before, Ukyou," Ranma was telling her.
Ukyou's heart constricted to hear him call her "Ukyou". He never
just called her "Ukyou". <He must be really upset,> Ukyou
thought. 

     "But never like that... never sobbing, never..."
Ranma swallowed, continuing. "I never thought I could hurt her
like that..."

     "Ranchan..." Ukyou patted his shoulder, almost freezing to
the touch. <Well what did you expect? It's cold and raining
outside...> she reasoned, a bit startled that Ranma wasn't
shivering.

     Ranma shook his head. "Ucchan, I..." Part of Ukyou sighed in
relief, with hearing him call her "Ucchan" again.

     "Ne, Ranchan," Ukyou told him, "Here, I'm going to make you
some tea, okay? You're cold..."

     Ranma nodded. He turned to watch Ukyou as she bustled about,
gathering the ingredients for tea. "Ne, Ukyou?"

     "Hai?" she asked, setting a kettle of water on the stove.

     "Have you ever hurt so bad that you just wanna run away from
it?" he asked.

     Ukyou turned around to look at Ranma, who was sitting in the
seat Akane-chan usually sat at. A wave of sadness swept over her
for a second. "Hai," she answered, softly. Then louder, "But,
there are times when you just can't run away." She turned back to
her tea making preparations. "Is that what you're doing now,
Ranchan? Running away?"

     She heard Ranma's sad sigh. She'd never heard him sigh this
much before, and it made her heart constrict more. "I guess," he
replied. 

     Ranma was silent for a few minutes, his eyes downcast, and
his hands fiddling with the blanket that was wrapped around him.
Ukyou finished the tea, and handed him one of the handleless
cups.

     "Arigato," he told her, accepting the warm tea readily. His
hands were cold.

     "So," Ukyou asked, taking a sip of her tea. "What exactly
happened tonight?"

     Ranma kept his eyes on the cup of tea in front of him. "I
don't know. We were fighting, like we always do. I called her a
kawaiikune tomboy gorilla like I always do... next thing I know,
she dropped her mallet, looked at me with tears in her eyes...."
Ranma paused, and took a sip of his tea. "Next thing I know, that
tom..." he trailed off, before beginning again. "She told me that
she hates me."

     Ukyou watched Ranma for a few minutes, as he briefly
summarized his argument with Akane, her crying, and his running
out of the house. His normally confident, almost over-confident,
posture was shattered, and it looked to Ukyou as though he was
really trying to keep his feelings under control. Her mind
flashed back to just a few minutes ago when Ranma-chan had come
through her okonomiyaki-ya door. She'd looked lost, and had an
unaccountable sadness that Ranma was still trying to control.

     Ukyou had always regarded Ranma as someone who didn't show
his true feelings a lot. At least, that's how she comforted
herself by hoping that Ranma really did love her the way she only
wished he did; he just wasn't showing it. It wasn't that Ranma
was cold, or anything. While not always extremely cheerful, Ranma
was usually in a fairly good mood whenever Ukyou saw him. But
she'd noted a long time ago that Ranma never really said anything
about how he felt, at least not to her. She'd wondered, from time
to time, if he'd ever shared his feelings with Akane. Ukyou
doubted that Ranma would ever share his feelings with anyone
besides Akane, even though she wished with all her heart that
Ranma would open up to her like that. 

     He never really spoke about how his strange life affected
him. Ukyou supposed that she couldn't blame him. He'd been
dragged all over Japan from a young age, training in martial
arts. The good thing was that Ranma enjoyed martial arts more
than anything else. Ukyou doubted that Ranma could ever live life
without martial arts; it was his livelihood much as hers was
okonomiyaki. Ranma's martial arts training had outwardly affected
him in several ways: his separation from his mother, his fear of
cats, and most obviously, his curse. That was the only part in
his life Ranma ever showed any outward animosity towards, but
despite that, Ranma seemed to be fairly used to his female half.
True, Ranma wouldn't regret being cured, but it looked that being
female at times did have it's advantages.

     Another part in his life Ranma would comment on was his
engagement to Akane, from calling her a violent tomboy, to
kawaiikune. But everyone saw, but didn't acknowledge, what Ranma
and Akane had developed into. Engaged for more than a year,
Ranma and Akane's outward disposition hadn't changed much. Ranma
still called her a "kawaiikune tomboy", and in return Akane
usually called him an idiot.

     But watching Ranma, Ukyou realized that he just didn't have
any way to get around this little fight; he had to deal with it.
He'd never say "I hate you" to Akane, no matter how much they
fought, and he'd never hurt her deliberately. Ukyou knew that if
anything were to come between him and Akane, Ranma would tear
them to bits.

     <But this is different,> Ukyou reminded herself, still
watching Ranma. He had no way to fight this. <You'll either admit
now, or not, Ranchan,> Ukyou told him silently, her brow
furrowed. Without watching what she was doing, she started to
make herself an okonomiyaki.

     "Ucchan?" Ranma lifted his head a little at the sound of the
batter being stirred in the bowl. "Whatcha you doing?"

     "What I do best," she replied, giving him a smile. He gave a
weak one in return. She looked down ruefully at the grill she'd
worked so hard to clean, and then back at Ranma's face. <Oh well,
I guess if I'm gonna have to clean it again, it might as well be
worth it,> she thought. "You sure you don't want one?" she asked,
pouring a pancake. "Your favorite, super-deluxe, covered with my
secret sauce..."

     Ranma was glad for the distraction. "Sure," he told Ukyou,
trying to forget why he'd come here. "I guess I am kinda hungry
after all..."

     Ukyou smiled at Ranma. She knew he wasn't hungry at all.
***************************************************************

     Akane stretched out on her bed again, her sisters having
left her after she argued with Nabiki over and over again that
she was okay. Nabiki had shaken her head in what Akane took to be
amusement before she left the room. Kasumi, however, had stayed
with her for awhile before leaving, coaxing a little out of her
at a time.

     Akane sighed a shuddering sigh, not surprising considering
the amount she'd cried in the past hour or so. She felt drained;
she'd never cried that much before... at least, not in a really
long time.

     She caught sight of a movement next to her, and P-chan sat
on her bed covers, watching her intently. "Ne, P-chan," Akane
said, absently petting P-chan on the head. "I guess I look really
terrible after crying so much..." P-chan sat watching her
silently.

     Akane sighed, pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested
her chin on her knees, as she'd done a million times before, and
stared sightlessly into the room. She'd turned off her lights,
telling Kasumi that she wanted to just sleep. That was an utter
lie though; sleep was one of the last things on her mind.

     She kept thinking about Ranma's running away from her, and
her sisters' comments afterward in her room. <Why am I so upset,
anyway?> she thought to herself, confused. Ranma took off a lot;
it's not like he never came back. Her words came back to her, as
she told them to Kasumi. "It'll be my fault if he doesn't come
back..."

     Akane had often wondered what it would be like if Ranma were
to just disappear. Even though he teased her almost non-stop,
badgered her P-chan, and a million other annoying things that
Akane wished he'd stop, Akane just couldn't imagine what it would
be like if he were ever to leave. Ranma's teasing was mainly
playful, she knew that now, and he always sprung right back after
their fights, ready to put up with her wrath the next day.

     Sure, Ranma complained a lot about the frequency with which
she bashed him over the head. <He deserves it, though...> Akane
thought with a slight smile, a memory of Ranma-kun running around
and calling her "kawaiikune". She wouldn't care so much of
someone else called her kawaiiku nai; only Ranma calling her that
could make her mad. <Why?> Akane wondered to herself. What made
Ranma so important that she didn't want to be teased by him?

     She rested her head on her knees wearily, trying desperately
to make herself see what she had to see. Ranma was important to
her, she'd at least admitted that to herself. Ranma was someone
whom she wanted to like her, and to admit that he liked her. She
wondered why. She knew she had plenty of guys chasing after her,
much like Ranma had girls after him. <And guys,> she thought,
with a small smile, but then sighed. She thought again, Why
Ranma? He was rude, disrespectful, teased her unmercifully, had
girls chasing after him all day and all night.... She sighed.
Ryouga-kun wasn't at all like Ranma. He respected her, called her
"Akane-san" and was always there to flatten Ranma for her when he
stepped out of line. 

     "Why can't Ranma be more like Ryouga-kun?" Akane found
herself wondering aloud, taking no notice of P-chan visibly
perking up. She shook her head. "No," she told herself quietly.
"He'd never be like Ryouga-kun... and I don't think I'd want him
to be." P-chan's head drooped.

     Akane's thoughts strayed to Kunou. Kunou could lavish her
with gifts, treat her like a princess. Akane sighed. She had no
interest in Kunou. His verbose, conceited manner just didn't
appeal to her, not to mention the fact that he'd treated her like
property. <Telling everyone that in order to date with me that
they had to beat me in a fight!> Akane thought indignantly. <Who
did he think he was?> Money and presents might mean something to
Nabiki, who was always there to bilk just another yen out of
Kunou, but that just wasn't Akane's style. She never cared much
for money; what she cared for was someone who was caring. Ryouga
certainly fit that description, and he was cute, though Akane
would never really admit it. <He looks like Ranma, actually,>
Akane thought to herself, <only without that pig-tail, and
Ryouga's got those fangs....> Even though Ryouga would sort of
fit her description of an ideal guy, he was easily tempted. Akane
shook her head in disgust, thinking about the times Ranma-chan
would disguise herself and fool poor Ryouga-kun.

     Ranma didn't fit her description of a perfect guy, at
least, she didn't think so. He wasn't outwardly affectionate, he
was mean at times... <And he's a girl half the time!> Akane
thought, feeling as though she was arguing with herself. Akane
never really said that she didn't like Ranma's girl form, except
for when she first met him, and only then because it had been
such a shock. <What did he expect?> Akane thought. <I thought he
was a girl, and then I walk into the bathroom to see a naked
guy... of course I'd call him a hentai!> Akane suspected that
Ranma wondered what Akane really thought about his girl-form. The
truth was that Akane would accept Ranma either way, curse or no
curse. It didn't matter to her whether Ranma was male or female.
For all intents and purposes, Ranma was a guy, and it showed even
when his body was female. 

     <Sometimes, there's a look in his eyes when he's a girl... I
know that inside that body, it's still Ranma, the man...>
Akane thought to herself, remembering times when he'd looked at
her that way. She couldn't deny it. When he looked at her in
those ways, it made her feel good inside, made her feel really
special. She blushed at her thoughts.

     <He makes me feel special sometimes, even if he teases me,
even if we fight.> Akane closed her eyes, memories flooding her
mind's eye. Ranma fighting for her, for their engagement. She'd
never thought about Ranma's actions in this sense before, never
thought to. There'd been times she'd suspected that Ranma fought
only for the right to say that he won; she knew that for Ranma to
lose was almost like heartbreak. Ranma never lost, and if he did,
he'd find some way to get his opponent back somehow. She'd always
assumed that when he fought men for her, that it was because of
his ego, his innate sense to always be a winner.

     <But what did he tell Toma?> Akane tried to remember. She
heard Ranma's voice come back to her, as though they were still
in that hollow mountain. "No one's gonna take her from me;
Akane's mine! And she's engaged to me!"

     Despite all Ranma had done for her, Akane tended not to
think about those situations which he'd fought for her. It's not
that she didn't appreciate them; it was more along the lines of
that she didn't know how to deal with it. <What did Ranma mean
when he said that?> Akane wondered. <Did he do it out of pride?
Or out of caring?> Akane had no answers. Ranma never really
talked about how he felt for her... then again, Akane never
talked about how she felt for him. When it came to feelings,
there were no words to be exchanged between either of them. 

     <We're too stubborn, I guess,> Akane thought. She had
feelings for Ranma, she knew she did, but it was almost like if
she admitted it to anyone, it would make it reality. She wasn't
ready for that, yet....

     "Ne, P-chan," Akane said again, still absently petting the
now distraught P-chan. "What do I do now...?"
**************************************************************

     Ranma-kun plodded home, his hands in his pockets, not really
looking forward to going back to the Tendos. <What if she's still
crying?> he asked himself, <What do I do then?>

     "Kuso..." Ranma muttered, kicking a coffee can ahead of him
in the street, carefully avoiding the puddles, not bothering to
look up. It was times like this when he wished he had someone to
talk to.

     Yeah, there had been Ucchan just a little while ago, but
Ranma didn't think that she'd understand. He was no fool; he knew
Ukyou had more feelings for him than he did for her. He loved
her, but only as a friend, and never could love her as anything
more than a friend... as long as Akane was around. Ukyou knew
that too. It was important to Ranma that he had Ukyou's
friendship. She was about the only person his age that he met
during his travels around Japan with his father. True, he did
think that she was a boy back then, <But that don't matter now,>
Ranma thought, <does it?> He kicked the can.

     For the most part, Ranma was alone in the world; or at
least, that's how he felt at the moment. For the second time that
night, he had an inkling of what Ryouga must feel like, the
loneliness at least. Ryouga wandered about Japan, trying to find
whatever spot he's trying to find and getting utterly lost along
the way. But Ranma, though surrounded by friends, and almost-
family (as far as the Tendos were concerned), sometimes felt
pretty lonely.

     It wasn't something Ranma thought about a lot, mainly
because he just didn't feel like dealing with it. He knew it
would sound pretty stupid, considering how many people he
interacted with on a daily basis. But it wasn't so much lonely
for people as it was lonely for someone to share his feelings
with. When he was younger, he only had his father as his constant
companion, and as he found out, old Oyaji didn't make the world's
best confidant. Sure, Ranma knew that his father loved him, but
there were things that his father did that Ranma just couldn't
forgive, like engaging him to little girls in exchange for food,
Jusenkyou... and a number of other things. After he'd come and
settled in Nerima, he found more people wanting to kill him than
be friends with him. <Those idiots do keep me busy, though...>
Ranma thought, kicking the can again. <At least I get to fight
people other than Oyaji.>

     Ranma wasn't one for sharing his feelings much, especially
having grown up with only his father around, and he still hadn't
learned to be able to share them. It was hard for him to actually
get out into words what he felt for people. It wasn't as though
it was hard for him to make friends wherever he went though; he
was pretty popular at school. Unlike some people, Ranma never
really put a huge importance on popularity. He'd rather just have
good friends, like Ucchan. But if it came down to sharing his
feelings with his friends, even Ucchan, he just didn't know what
to say.... He'd spent a good two hours at the restaurant, at
first starting to tell Ucchan about the fight, but he found that
after she'd made the okonomiyaki, he just didn't know what to
say. <What did I have to tell her, anyway?> Ranma thought to
himself. <Why I was so upset? _I_ don't even know why I'm so
upset....> Instead of telling her exactly why he was so upset, he
ended up talking about small, inconsequential stuff....

     Ranma sighed to himself, thinking. He'd had such a strange
life, he was surprised that it was even true. First, taken away
from his mother, then meeting her again, and always, always, that
damned Jusenkyou curse. Ranma kicked the can again, a little
harder this time. <That stupid Oyaji... going to China and
couldn't speak nothing in Chinese....> His thoughts swam. After
falling in Nyanniichuan, things only went from bad to worse... or
at least that's what he thought then. Dragged from China back to
Japan to be engaged to some girl he never met, Ranma thought that
his life couldn't get any more weird. 

     Ranma had to admit that he kinda liked Akane when they first
met, at least while he was a girl. Even back then, she was cute
when she smiled and laughed. Then, came the little incident in
the bathroom, and then finally the table on the head. His head
throbbed in memory. He could admit now that Akane did have a
(little) right to bash him over the head with the table. <But it
wasn't my fault if my girl body's better built...> Ranma thought,
rolling the can along with his foot now, rather than kicking it.
<Not that Akane's body isn't all that bad. She's not half as bad
as I make her out to be come to think of it....> He blushed.
<What the hell are you thinking?!> he thought to himself,
returning to kicking the can with renewed vigor.

     Despite his agitation at the thought of Akane's body, his
mind wandered to their engagement. He didn't really like to think
about her in regards to their engagement, but there were
times like now when he did. He realized that, with all things
considered, they probably would be married, forced or not. He was
never one for physical displays of affection, at least, not after
living with Oyaji alone for so long. Not that Akane was either,
but she was a girl, and it seemed to him that most girls were
fairly comfortable with physical displays of affection,
considering the times Shampoo's tried to kiss him and Ucchan's
hugged him. Part of the reason that he didn't return their
displays of affection were that he wasn't used to receiving (or
giving) it, but mostly it was because he just didn't want to. He
didn't mind Ucchan's hugs so much since he loved her as a friend,
but he didn't really appreciate Shampoo's kisses, though he knew
Mousse wanted to kill him for that. Ranma knew, deep in his
heart, that the only one he'd probably return any affection to,
if he was to receive it, would be Akane. <Not that _that_ would
ever happen,> Ranma thought, more ruefully than he wanted to
admit.

     He looked down at himself, at the foot that was kicking the
can. He was male right now, and he was glad. Then, he looked back
up at the sky over Nerima, the black clouds, and around him, at the
puddles left from the previous shower, and sighed a heavy sigh.
Even though he'd gotten used to being half-male, it still bothered
him from time to time. He hated the fact that he wasn't "normal".
He couldn't enjoy the simplest things, like a nice cold swim as a
guy, or walking in the rain.... But his curse really hurt him when
he thought about Akane and their engagement. With physical
affection, there was one thing that scared him most. If Akane was
ever to become his wife (he ALWAYS felt uncomfortable with that
thought), he wouldn't want her to be with him, at least not in an
intimate sense, while he still turned into a girl. It wasn't
something he thought about a lot; he couldn't usually bring himself
to admit that one day, he and Akane would be.... <Baka,> he
thought. He sighed again. There was one thing that he hated most
about his curse: the fact that he could never be secure in his
manhood. That was always important to him, even before he'd heard
of his father's stupid promise to his mother. He didn't think it
would be fair to Akane, or fair to anyone for that matter, to be
married to a guy that was half-girl. At first, he'd wanted his male
body back for his sake alone, but as time wore on, there was always
Akane to consider....

     "Baka..." Ranma muttered aloud, taking his frustrations out on
the can again. "What the hell do you think you're talking about?"

     He sighed, and brought his thoughts back. He was lonely. He
knew that he could probably turn to Ukyou with his problems; he
knew that Ukyou would be more than happy to help him. <She always
greets me with a smile, never yells at me, never fights with
me...> Ranma thought wistfully, still kicking the can in front of
him. 

     <Akane's always mad about something, always gotta be yelling
at me for stuff. Mad that I pick on her "P-chan", mad about Ucchan,
Shampoo, Kodachi...> Ranma humphed, holding back the urge to boot
the can. <It's not my fault that they're after me; how many times
do I gotta show her that I ain't interested in them?> Ranma thought
back to the three other girls. <Yeah, Ucchan sure is kawaii, but,
I can't like her the way she likes me. She's just a friend;
Shampoo... well, I just don't like her in that way. Too
unpredictable I guess. Kodachi...> Ranma shivered. <Yeck... A
Kunou... I think Akane would know what I thought of Kunous by
now...>

     Ranma's thoughts went back to Akane, her smile, her
laughter. <You really are kawaii, Akane,> Ranma thought, the can
rolling away, forgotten. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. <I
just wish you would smile at me more than you hit me.>

     "Ranma..."

     Ranma started, quickly looking around to see where the voice
had come from. Hibiki Ryouga, leaned against a fence, watched him
with an amused look.

     "Ryouga." He sighed, and looked around again. "If you're
gonna try and kill me again, I'm really not in the mood, okay?"

     "What's wrong with you?" Ryouga asked, still leaning against
the fence. "You don't look so happy."

     "Well, I ain't all that happy; thanks for noticing," Ranma
replied sarcastically, trying to walk on. Ryouga raised his
eyebrows; Ranma wasn't one for such blatant, biting sarcasm. He
raised his umbrella to keep him from walking away. Shrugging,
Ranma jumped onto the fence he was leaning against. Ryouga got
off the fence and looked at him.

     "It's not like you and Akane-san to get so upset over one
little fight..." Ryouga told him, poking at him with the
umbrella, which Ranma irritably shoved away with his hand while
trying to keep his balance.

     Ranma sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about,
Ryouga," he said, looking down at him.

     "What happened, Ranma? What did you do to Akane-san this
time?" Ryouga asked angrily. "I've never seen her cry like that
before!"

     To Ryouga's surprise, Ranma jumped down from the fence, and
leaned against, facing him. "Well, I ain't never seen her cry
like that either, and to tell you the truth, I ain't all that
happy about it."

     Ryouga blinked. He wasn't expecting that kind of response
from him. "What happened, Ranma?"

     Ranma shrugged. "I don't really feel like talking about it,
okay Ryouga?"

     "C'mon," Ryouga poked Ranma with his umbrella. "You might as
well tell me."

     Ranma shoved the umbrella away again. "We got into a fight,
Akane started crying, told me she hates me, locked herself in her
room, and won't talk to me, so I left."

     Ryouga put his umbrella back atop his backpack and regarded
Ranma with a serious look. "As much as I hate to say it, Ranma,
and as much as I probably wish she would," Ranma bristled, "I
don't think Akane-san hates you."

     Ranma glanced at Ryouga skeptically. "She sounded like she
meant it," he replied, his sad voice conveying his feelings.
     
     Ryouga, unexpectedly, softened. He hadn't seen Ranma as sad
as this... ever. "Again, Ranma, I don't think she hates you."
Ranma continued to look at him dubiously, while Ryouga leaned up
against a wall opposite Ranma. "I didn't hear the fight, and I
didn't see the fight, but I came in a little after you'd left, I
guess."

     Ranma rolled his eyes. "Where'd you go? The bathroom? Akane
was looking for you since Kunou left..."

     "Shut up," Ryouga said softly, glaring at Ranma. "Why don't
you try finding your way back to the Tendo's after getting chased
around by some lunatic with a cleaver that wants to have you for
tonkatsu?" He shook his head. "All I know is, you weren't there
by the time I got to Akane-san's room. She had the door open by
then, and Kasumi-san and Nabiki-san were there talking to her."

     "What was she saying?" Ranma asked, curious. "Did she say
anything about me?"

     Ryouga smiled an almost sad smile. "Not in so many words.
But she doesn't hate you, Ranma." He paused, thinking of Akane's
reaction to what Kasumi had told her, and debating whether or not
to tell Ranma this. "I was there after Kasumi-san and
Nabiki-san left." Ryouga looked down. "All I know is that she
didn't talk for the longest time; I think she was just sitting
there thinking. She didn't say much, only to say something like,
'Ne, P-chan?'..." Ryouga smiled a little bit then. "She only says
stuff like that when she's thinking really hard..."

     "I didn't know that," Ranma said quietly.

     "No," Ryouga replied, looking up. "You wouldn't. It's
something she does when she's alone... or with me, since she
really does think that her 'P-chan' is just a pig." Ryouga shook
his head, an almost sad kind of envy in his eyes as he looked
back up at Ranma. "There's a lot you don't know about Akane."

     "Well there's a lot she don't know about me..." Ranma
muttered.

     Ryouga sighed. "I'm gonna hate myself for this," he
muttered. "You know why you guys don't know about each other?
It's because you don't talk to each other, Ranma."

     Ranma made a sound. "You think she's gonna listen to me if I
try and talk to her now?"

     Ryouga nodded. "Hai. I think that she just might, by the
mood she was in." His eyes unfocused as he thought back to
Akane's quiet introspection. "She didn't even notice that I'd
gone after I left." Ranma looked up and felt a little sorry for
Ryouga. After all, Ryouga could admit what he couldn't say....
"But that doesn't matter," Ryouga went on to say brusquely. "Just
try talking to her, Ranma... for once... for her sake."

     Ranma blinked, almost in a daze, shook his head, and walked
off a ways before looking back to Ryouga who was still standing
there.

     "C'mon..." Ranma gestured for him to follow him, looking up
at the sky. "It looks like it's gonna rain again tonight; you
wanna spend all night lost in Tokyo as a pig?"

     Ryouga didn't exactly smile, but he made a sound which Ranma
supposed passed for a small laugh. He knew that it was Ranma's
way of thanking him for telling him what he had. Ryouga refused,
and Ranma looked back one more time before walking off, still
slowly, in the direction of the Tendo Dojo.

     "Ranma," Ryouga said quietly, watching Ranma's retreating
figure. "Just make Akane-san happy, okay?" He sighed again,
softly. "For reasons I just don't understand... I think you're
the only one that can make her happy."
****************************************************************

     Akane sat at her desk, looking out of her window, at the
night sky, disappointed to see the black clouds taking up the
entire sky. "Rain..." she muttered, blindly organizing the manga
that was shelved neatly on her desk.

     A soft knock sounded at her door. Akane turned around, and
stared at the door not particularly wanting to answer it.
<Please, think I'm sleeping, Oneechan,> she thought.

     The knock sounded again, even softer this time. "I'm
sleeping, Oneechan," she called out, feigning fatigue in her
voice.

     "Akane?" Ranma's voice was muffled by the door. There was a
small pause before Ranma called, "Uh, don't let me bother you....
Oyasumi nasai, Akane..."

     "Chotto..." Akane muttered, crossing the room and opening
the door a little to reveal Ranma's retreating form. "Ranma..."

     Ranma turned around. "Go ahead and go back to sleep," he
told her, starting to walk again towards his room.

     "Matte, Ranma," Akane said, leaning in her half-open
doorway. Ranma turned around again to look at her. "Uh, you want
to come in?" she asked, opening the door all the way to permit
him inside.

     Ranma nodded, and stole into her room flipping on her light
switch as he went. "You weren't sleeping, huh?" he asked, sitting
down at the desk chair she was just at.

     "Un," she replied, nodding and sitting on bed. 

     "Were you crying?" he asked, glancing out her window to see
a sky devoid of any stars.

     "Does it matter?" she replied, watching him.

     "You were crying, huh?" He turned around in her chair to
look at her. "Your eyes are still all red and swollen."

     "Thanks for reminding me how bad I must look right now," she
replied bitingly. "'Kawaiikune' as always, ne Ranma?"

     Much to Akane's surprise, Ranma didn't come back with a
sarcastic rejoinder, as he normally would. Instead, he just
turned away to look out the window. "That's not what I meant," he
replied. 

     "Then what did you mean?" she asked, dropping the sarcasm.

     "You were crying earlier; I just wanted to know if you were
still crying," he said simply.

     That took her by surprise. <He's... concerned?> she thought
confused. "When did you see me crying?" she asked him.

     "When I opened your door," Ranma replied, turning around.
"Plus, I heard you crying before you unlocked your door."

     "When did you open my door?" she wanted to know.

     "Right after I got down from the roof and tried to see if I
could talk to you through the window," he answered. "But you
closed your curtains."

     "Huh?"

     "_That_ was after I tried to open your door but you locked
it." He paused. "That was right after you said you hated me," he
finished quietly. Akane took a deep breath, and started to say
something, but Ranma continued. "So, you okay now?"

     "I... guess..." Akane replied, uncertainly. Ranma smiled a
little. 

     "Good. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He got up
from the chair and crossed over to the door. "I just didn't want
you to go to sleep crying like that, that's all," he explained.

     He opened the door before Akane took a deep breath. "Ranma,
matte...."

     "Nani?" Ranma turned around to face her. She bit her lip.

     "I don't hate you, Ranma."

     Ranma blinked, then smiled a little. "I'm glad." He turned
to leave again.

     "Ranma?"
     
     He half-turned. "Hai?"

     Akane smiled a little. "Gomen ne... I don't want you to go
to sleep thinking that I hate you."

     Ranma shrugged, and smiled back, a full smile this time.
"Gomen ne, for what I said." He paused. "You're not always a
kawaiikune tomboy gorilla...."

     To his surprise, Akane chuckled. "Hai; only some of the
time, I guess." The couple laughed together, softly, for a
second, before Ranma said good night again before leaving the
room.

     Akane sat watching the door close, and heard Ranma's
footsteps pad over toward his room.

     "No Ranma..." Akane said quietly as the door slid shut. "I
could never hate you."

****************************************************************

I hope you liked this fan-fic about Ranma and Akane. I wanted to
add a new twist to the normal Ranma and Akane fight. If you liked
this story, or if you hated it and want me to know, write me at:
                                     
                           mi-chan@ix.netcom.com

Any and all comments are appreciated!!

Also, I'd like to thank my pre-readers Mario Lee(-kun) Bansen III,
Christopher Joseph, and John Bogan on their input for this story.
Doomo arigato, guyz!!

Ja ne!

Mi-chan

***************************************************
* Ranma � * Tenchi Muyo! * Dragon Ball Z *
***************************************************
   "Honto wa kantan-na no shiawase ni naru 
    koto..."
                       -"Positive"
                 Ranma � Nettouhen Ending
***************************************************
   "The simple truth makes me happy..."
                        -"Positive"
                 Ranma � Nettouhen Ending
***************************************************