Okay. I've already started on that continuation fic. I decided to
drop the ueber-angst; I'm kinda tired of it anyways, by now. Here's the
intro part of it. Don't expect any more to be posted, though, for a bit.
Kun-chan, I hope you like this one. Do read it! ^_^

alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/

  Inspired by _A Lesson in Love_, TMTC/TPOH, and other excellent Ranma
fics out there. You might note that this draws a bit on some of my other
Ranma fics. Well, that would only happen if you guys read my stuff,
which sometimes I'm not so sure about. :)
  You know the drill, characters and universe belong to Takahashi-san
and all that stuff. Sue me, and you won't be getting much money.

And now, Oddzilla Productions presents....

"These are the Days to Remember" by Andrew Huang
(Apologies to Billy Joel)

<...>: thoughts
*...*: sounds

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-Oh What a Night
(apologies to Frankie Valli)

  Step. Step. Gently, now. Step.

  "Hmmm...."

  This wasn't the way the dance was supposed to end.

  Step. Step. Step.

  No, not at all.

  *giggle* "Wha'cha thinking, Ranma?"

  But we get ahead of ourselves. Let's go back a bit.

  To begin, this dance party was one being held by Furinkan for the
entire school population. He wouldn't have gone if the collective might
of Tendou-Saotome patriarchy hadn't threatened him with a demon-head and
numerous swats of wooden signs. So, he and Akane (and Nabiki, but that's
a different matter at the moment) went to the school, bickering all
along the way.

  When Shampoo showed up (as was her wont), Ranma expected to be
launched back out, when Shampoo glomped onto him. However, that didn't
happen, since Shampoo got lost somehow in the course of things and never
made it to him.

  Ukyou's appearance certainly presented another moment of danger.
Fortunately, Ukyou wasn't feeling to up to actively courting Ranma
tonight, and just chatted amiably with both Ranma and Akane.

  Kodachi _was_ launched from the premises as soon as her laugh was
heard, though, so no problems there.

  It all really began with the refreshments. Akane had grabbed some
sushi with just a bit too much wasabi in it. So had Ranma, but being
used to Akane's cooking, he was able to handle it better. Akane had
immediately rushed over to the punch bowl and downed several cups to
wash the heat down.

  (For those who don't know, wasabi is this green paste made from
Japanese horseradish; if you exhale the wrong way while eating it,
you'll never have stuffy sinuses again.)

  Unfortunately, someone had spiked the punch. A lot. A whole lot.
Enough that Ranma could taste the stuff in the drink with his first
gulp. Akane, being in the hurry that she was, didn't pick up on it at
all. No doubt, the atomic sushi and the spiked punch were meant to be a
paired effect.

  Akane is not a drinker. She has very little tolerance to alcohol--at
least, in _this_ Ranmaverse that I'm writing....

  *giggle* "Hey, this is fuuuuuun. *hic* Hee!"

  Which brings us to the present, a sparse thirty minutes after the
start of the dance/party. Remember that scene from the first season of
Ranma 1/2? The piggyback bit after a visit to Toufuu's? Reverse the
roles for both and the gender for one, and you have a general picture of
what was happening now. Ranma wisely (Ranma? wise?) decided to take
Akane home quietly before something really bad happened.

  "That's nice, Akane." <How did this ever happen?>

  "Wow. I never knew being drunk was soooo nice. I gotta do this again."
Akane raised her head from Ranma's broad shoulders and nuzzled his hair
a bit. This scene was now reaching past bizarre.

  "Sure, sure...." Ranma wasn't really listening, which normally would
have earned him a smack upside the head at the least. However, very
fortunately for Ranma, Akane made a pleasant drunk. Very pleasant.

  "'N' thanks for carrying me back...but I still want to stay a little
longer!" Yes, she had only now realized that.

  Ranma decided not to answer. Akane made up for the silence by humming
one of Kasumi's cooking (heh) tunes, punctuated with a hiccup here and a
giggle there.

  <I'm _so_ glad she's not getting angry at me like usual. You know,
maybe I should get her drunk more often.> He chuckled slightly at the
thought.

  Finally, after a bit, they arrived back at the Tendou's. The fathers
had gone out to a bar to celebrate their victory against the forces of
stubborness, and Kasumi...was, well, her location could be revealed by
the screams of agonized patients as shiatsu points unknown to the Fist
of the North Star were jabbed blindly.

  Ranma carefully ascended the steps, walked into Akane's room, and
gently set Akane down on her bed. Unsure what to do next, he looked
around for a moment, before just deciding to settle down here for a few
moments and make sure things were okay.

  "Akane? Ummm...."

  "Yah?" She smiled. It was _that_ +smile+. It really caught Ranma off
guard.

  "Uh...umm...that is...are you feeling okay?"

  "Sure! I feel great! Never better. *giggle*"

  "Oh, well.... Okay." Ranma relaxed a little. If she hadn't hit him by
now, he was entitled to let down his guard a bit. "Figures a tomboy as
slow as you wouldn't taste sake in there until it was too late." Oops.
Letting down one's guard in moments of relative safety is okay, but he
probably went a little too far. He cringed, in that Pavlovian way, but
no hammer/fist/table/instrument of doom was coming. He opened his eyes
to see Akane pouting at him.

  "*hic* Well, I couldn't help it. That was a llllllot of wasabi!" A
tear glimmered in her eye.

  "I'm sorry! Sorry!" For once, Ranma was given the chance to apologize
before reaching mid-level crusing altitude. It was a strange thing for
him.

  Akane's face brightened immediately. "Oh, well, then. That's okay.
But you also drank some yourself, ya know. Baaaaaaaaka. *giggle*" She
+smile+d again. She idly fingered the skirt of her dress, that yellow 
dress with the suspenders over her fine blue satin blouse, the one dress
which showed her legs off so nicely. Her cheeks were a bit flushed from
the alcohol, giving her face a beautiful glow. Her eyes sparkled with
the forgotten tears, catching Ranma's in her gaze.

  Part of Ranma's mind instantly liquified. You know, the part which
always insisted that he have nothing to do with this sexless tomboy. The
part which survived the collapse was mumbling "kawaii" in its near-
meltdown state.

  "Ummmm.... Ummmmmmmmmm...."

  "Wha? 'S all you can say is 'ummm'?" She teasingly poked him in the
shoulder and let her hand fall in his as he reached to catch it. So
delicate, when not clenched in a fist.... Ranma's mental processors
still hadn't quite recovered, but....

  He leaned over slowly...slowly...ever so slowly...in a pace which
would madden most people reading this fic...confused, Akane didn't move
away, but just blinked as he came closer...and touched his lips to hers.
With only a moment of hesitation, Akane responded to his kiss.

  Was this of free will? Depends on your definition.

  A few seconds after lip contact, the goo in Ranma's head resolidified
and realized what was going on. Ranma's head jerked back suddenly as the
now-awake part of his mind screamed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He dropped
her hand and stood up, backing away in shock. Akane, similarly, was a
bit surprised, but not as much as Ranma. She looked up at the retreating
form of her fiancee.

  "That was nice." She +smile+d yet again. Then she passed out.

  Ranma paused for a second, torn between running away and first
checking to see if she was okay, _then_ running away. The matter seemed
to be decided for him once he heard her soft snores and the gentle rise
and fall of her chest (ahem, don't be staring at _that_ now, boyo). He
quickly darted out of the room, down the stairs, out the door, and onto
the rooftop. He needed to do some thinking, and the top of the Doujou
was the best place for that.

  Back inside, Akane slumbered peacefully, as the alcohol slowly worked
her internal systems over in that wonderful way that alcohol does things
to a sleeping human. Also, if one listened carefully, a bit of weeping
could be heard. Nabiki had tailed them back, after seeing them leave...
and found her camera empty of film. Oh, the horror....

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>From Andrew Huang, Taiwanese-American-German-Scot Harvard Student :P
Brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Ryouga and Ukyou! Ukyou and Ryouga!"
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
Kurimoto Shiro's manager, DBTFH; Harvard Anime Society, Secretary