>From the Scriviner:
        Continuing...

	"Oh my, well... Akane does seem a little miffed..." Kasumi 
said thoughtfully. "I might be able to help, if you like."
	Ranma was momentarily confused... did Kasumi mean the rain 
or with Akane? "I guess--" he started to reply. Well... he did 
need all the help he could get, either way.
	Kasumi closed her eyes and seemed to say something softly.
	"Um... what are you doing, now?" Ranma could see she was 
perfectly calm, but he noticed that the mark on her forehead was 
glowing very softly. There was a brief burst of light which 
momentarily dazzled him... when his eyes were clear, he realized 
that his engine was now dead... and wherever he was, it wasn't 
raining, he could barely hear the muted sound of rainfall and 
thunder. He rolled down his window and looked out. He was in some 
sort of underground parking garage... 
	Kasumi opened her eyes and smiled at him again.
	"What did you just do?" Ranma asked, baffled.
	"I told you I would help you and being stuck in traffic was 
hardly what needed to be done." She opened her door and tried to 
exit the van but found herself unable to leave her seat, she 
calmly gave a concerned sigh, "Oh my... I'm stuck. You didn't put 
a spirit ward on your van did you?"
	"Er... wait, here... let me help you..." Ranma realized 
that she'd managed to get herself fouled up in her seat belt. She 
definitely was not kidding when she told him she was new to 
Earth. He stepped out of the van and went over to her side of the 
vehicle. "Here... you just push that button to release the buckl-
!"
	Kasumi pushed the button as she'd been told to do and was 
so surprised at the sudden release from the tight bonds of the 
seatbelt that she tumbled into Ranma's arms.
	"Oh my!" she cried in surprise.
	"Easy, there, Kasumi... are you okay?" He was surprised to 
find that Kasumi was very light in his arms... somewhat how he 
imagined Akane would be like. He took a moment to look around and 
make sure no one saw. He already had far too many rumors 
springing up about him, he hardly needed any more.
	"I'm fine, thank you, Ranma. Perhaps just a little weak... 
I might have used too much power..." She looked up into Ranma's 
face as he supported her, "You seem to be blushing again... Am I 
embarrassing you?"
	"Uh... no you aren't." He replied blushing just a bit more, 
"Can you walk?"
	"Yes... I believe I can." She replied taking a few 
tentative steps with his support, "Thank you again, Ranma."
	"No problem... um, so why are we here?" he took another 
look around, "And where is here?"
	"Well, you said you needed some help." Kasumi paused for a 
moment as if lost in thought. "We're just around the corner from 
the restaurant where Akane has her... job? Yes, I think that's 
what she said... at a place called..."
	"Ucchan's?" Ranma asked, still keeping an arm around 
Kasumi's waist to help hold her up. He wasn't even really 
thinking about any possible implications to it... there was 
something about Kasumi that was so... innocent. 
	"Yes," Kasumi replied, delightedly, "That's it exactly. Up 
there..."
	He helped her up a flight of stairs (after making sure that 
the van was securely locked) and they found themselves on a 
fairly familiar portion of covered sidewalk. Ranma could already 
recognize the neighborhood. Kasumi had taken them to the one 
access to Ucchan's which didn't involve getting doused by the 
rain. Something bothered Ranma as he helped Kasumi walk and at 
the same time, kept her from being jostled by the other 
pedestrians... something about the building around the corner 
from Ucchan's... he realized after a moment that there was a 
rather large number of couples passing the two of them by. He 
discarded the thought as he and Kasumi rounded the corner. It's 
probably nothing, he added silently. Must be getting jumpy.
	Ranma entered Ucchan's still supporting Kasumi slightly. 
The dinner crowd had the place more or less packed. In one corner 
a loud and obviously drunken party was taking place. One of 
Ukyou's newer waiters, looked very harassed as he talked to an 
attractive woman who seemed to be the only quiet one at the party 
table. Ukyou in her usual polo and tie, also looked mildly 
harassed. She was at her usual place behind the grill frying up a 
fresh batch of okonomiyaki. 
	Akane was moving through the crowd, efficiently delivering 
food to several tables. Every so often she'd trade a familiar 
greeting with a regular. Ranma couldn't help but notice a large 
number of the men in the room were staring at her while her back 
was turned. Most of them had goofy expressions on their faces.
	Ukyou looked up to greet the new arrivals, but immediately 
noticed Kasumi... and the placement of Ranma's hand at Kasumi's 
back. She raised an eyebrow and gave them a level stare as they 
approached. The noise made it difficult to hear, so Ukyou had to 
raise her voice, "Is this why Akane's been moping around all day, 
Ranchan?" She addressed Ranma, but had a spatula, (Sharpened, 
Ranma noted) pointed at Kasumi, "I swear if you've been two 
timing Akane, I'm going to shove this spatula somewhere really 
unpleasant."
	"Huh?" Ranma asked stupidly, only then realizing where his 
hand was. He quickly raised both hands defensively, "That's not 
it! This is Akane's sister, Kasumi!"
	"With her sister no less?!" Ukyou asked, her voice nearly a 
growl, "I've been hearing really bad rumors, Ranchan... you'd 
better explain things fast..."
	"Akane's two sisters dropped in at the temple and they 
might be staying a while," Ranma replied quickly, "Kasumi felt a 
little faint, so I had to help her! That's it, I swear!"
	"Oh." Ukyou turned to Kasumi, "Sorry about that. Didn't 
mean to accuse you of anything."
	"No trouble at all." Kasumi smiled sweetly, "It's nice to 
see that Akane has such a loyal friend."
	"Thanks." Ukyou smiled, "I'm Ukyou Kuonji, by the way. 
Welcome to Ucchan's."
	Kasumi bowed, "Kasumi Tendo, pleased to meet you, Miss 
Kuonji."
	Ukyou raised an eyebrow and smiled, returning the bow. Few 
people could tell that she was a woman when she was in her 
outfit. Her estimation of Akane's sister went up a notch. "Nice 
to meet you too, Kasumi. Better call me Ukyou, though, sugar." 
She poured a little batter onto the grill and smiled at Kasumi, 
"Would you like an okonomiyaki? First one for the sister of my 
best employee is free."
	"I wouldn't want to impose..."
	"Not a problem."
	Ranma fidgeted nervously trying to get Akane's attention, 
but she continued to ignore him. He was pretty sure that she had 
seen him. Several times.
	"Argh." Ranma muttered quietly, "Fine. Be that way." He sat 
down at the counter and sulked next to Kasumi.
	"You seem to be very busy, Ukyou..." Kasumi started to say.
	"Yeah. It's Friday night." The chef shrugged as she passed 
Kasumi a plate of okonomiyaki, she noticed Ranma's agitation and 
wondered what was going on, "Here you go, sugar. Fresh off the 
grill."
	"Thank you." Kasumi replied, pulling out a pair of 
chopsticks from the dispenser. Kasumi was about to lift the 
okonomiyaki, when Akane's voice cut through the noise of the 
crowd, accompanied by a peal of thunder.
	"No! I do not want to join you! I do not want to go out 
with you! And I most certainly do not want to kiss you!"
	Ranma sprang to his feet immediately and pushed his way 
rudely through the crowd of people. He reached Akane's side to 
find her preparing to slam her tray against the head of a 
somewhat tipsy, but well dressed man with slicked back hair whom 
Ranma did not recognize. Before Akane had a chance to swing, 
Ranma had managed to reach them, grab the man by his tie and lift 
him out of his seat.
	"Is this guy bothering you Akane-chan?" Ranma asked, giving 
the man the evil eye.
	Akane sniffed and lowered her tray, "Not at all, Mr. 
Saotome. He was being only mildly obnoxious. You don't need to do 
anything."
	Ranma frowned as the man smiled... or at least tried to, 
considering the difficulty involved in doing it while being 
dangled by your neck.
	The man squeaked, "You heard the lady, my good man. Who are 
you, anyway?"
	Ranma moved his face close to the other man's until they 
were practically nose to nose. It would've been utterly 
unnecessary at that point to shout, considering that the rest of 
Ucchan's had quieted down (even the party) "My name is Ranma 
Saotome. Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial 
Arts. I'm Akane's fiance. Do you have a problem with that you 
slimy little jerk?!"
	The man's eyes widened in fear... realizing only now that 
multiple shots of liquid courage (sake to everyone else) only 
went so far, "Ranma Saotome... the guy who's won the Martial Arts 
Invitational for the past four years running..."
	Ranma nodded then continued in a softer tone, "Yeah. And if 
you ever hit on Akane again... If you so much as look at her, 
I'll tear off your head then shove it down your neck." He 
released his hold, depositing the man unceremoniously on to the 
floor. The slick fellow, not as stupid as he looked, quickly 
covered his eyes and crawled out of the restaurant.
	Ranma turned to find Akane staring furiously at him.
	"What did you do that for?! I could've handled him!"
	"But--!"
	"Precisely! Butting in when you aren't wanted!"
	"Me?! ME?! I'm the one butting in?! I'm not the one who 
suddenly popped into the occupied hot tub one day!"
	Akane blushed furiously.
	There was a mild collective gasp from the rest of the room 
on hearing this. No one really had a firm idea on how Ranma and 
Akane had met, but this was obviously going to turn juicy. 
Ranma's schoolmates brought out notebooks and recorders just to 
make sure they missed nothing.
	It was only at that point that Ranma and Akane realized 
that they were in the middle of a sea of curious onlookers. 
	Ukyou called out to them, "Do you two want to take this 
somewhere private? People are trying to have dinner here."
	The general tone of the crowd ran to cries of, "NO way!" 
"Work it out right there, we don't wanna miss a thing!" "What was 
that about the bathtub again?" "Heh-heh-heh... she said 'butt'." 
"This is better than TV. I love this restaurant."
	Ukyou's voice cut through the babble, "Akane take a break." 
She jerked a thumb at the door to the storage area. Ranma's old 
room. The two started to weave through the crowd.

	Ranma closed the door behind him, "Sorry... I didn't mean 
to shout that."
	Akane sniffed angrily at him, "There's no need for you to 
continue to pretend to be nice, Ranma. I know perfectly well that 
the only reason you always stayed with me before was because if 
you didn't have me, you could've been permanently stuck as a 
woman. That and you didn't have a choice. Well, you've got one 
now."
	"What are you babbling about?! Where the heck did that come 
from?"
	"Don't pretend you don't know!" Akane said jabbing a finger 
at his chest for emphasis. "With enforcement down, you can touch 
Ranko all you want and not have to worry about turning into a 
girl. You can have the one you obviously prefer..."
	"Waitaminute!! What do you mean enforcement's down?! What 
does that have to do with anything..?" Ranma's mind skittered to 
a halt as he finally remembered what Nabiki had told him the 
night before... "You think I'd run off with Ranko?"
	Akane crossed her arms, "Well, duh! She's better looking 
than I am... and she'd kiss you and probably do even more at the 
first opportunity..." Akane blushed, seemingly unable to 
continue.
	Ranma slapped his forehead, "How can you be a goddess and 
still be so stupid?"
	"What did you call me?!" Akane asked furiously 
embarrassment gone.
	"Get this through your thick skull Akane, I do not want 
Ranko!"
	"Well, you certainly looked like you liked it when you two 
were kissing..."
	"Didn't you pay attention to who started it and who pulled 
away first?!"
	Akane had to stop at that one...
	Ranma took a deep breath and put a hand on Akane's 
shoulder, "I don't want Ranko, Akane. I wouldn't want anyone 
else. I don't want anybody else."
	Akane looked up into Ranma's eyes... 
	Ranma's thoughts ran quietly through his head, "All of this 
weird stuff keeps happening to me and all I do is just sit there 
and let it happen to me. Not this time, I'm going to do 
something... on my own... nobody pushing me around... This is 
entirely my decision."
	Akane's eyes widened even more, "What do you--?"
	Ranma leaned down, a hand cupping her cheek... his heart 
pounding as he brought his face closer to the stunned Akane. He 
was within a few inched of her when his nerve broke. He turned 
her head slightly and planted a chaste kiss on her cheek.
	He straightened up and backed away quickly, both of them 
blushing slightly, "Um... I think Ucchan's going to need you in 
the restaurant... shouldn't... um... you get back... or 
something?"
	"Uh... yeah... I... um... guess." Akane felt very odd. 
Almost light headed... they'd come closer to kissing than they 
ever had the whole time they'd been together... she was feeling a 
slight regret over it. But she certainly had no intention of 
becoming a... a... a wanton like Ranko. Never. Well... maybe not 
never.
	Outside... the rain finally stopped.

	It wasn't until a few hours later that Ranma and Akane 
finally left for home. When they left the storeroom, Kasumi had 
already gone ahead home... although the way Ukyou described it, 
she'd disappeared in the bathroom. The other waiter had also had 
to leave... something about bringing his landlady home and away 
from the bunch of drunks she was with. Ranma volunteered to help 
out as a waiter for the night, just to keep Akane company. 
Although Ranma had an unfortunate tendency to growl quietly at 
any man who's eyes happened to linger too long on Akane, and 
Akane would stare daggers at any woman but Ukyou who tried to 
flirt with Ranma. All in all, it was an evening well spent for 
the both of them...
	Ranma and Akane rounded the corner, arm in arm, both 
smiling and singing together, if slightly off key. 
	"Ranma, where are you parked, anyway?" Akane asked after a 
giggling fit when both of their voices broke on a high note at 
the same time.
	"Well, Kasumi teleported the van into the parking lot of 
that building right there..." Ranma pointed... only to realize 
that it was the 'Young Lovers' Hideaway, Love Motel'. He realized 
finally what had been bothering him earlier. All of those 
couples... no wonder.
	Akane's eyes also widened in shock, "In... in there?" she 
turned to Ranma and said in a heavy mock sarcastic tone, "From a 
kiss on the cheek straight into a love motel? Who do you think I 
am, Ranko?"
	"It's not like that at all!" he protested, which called a 
bit of attention to the two of them from the other nearby 
couples.
	Akane sighed, "Well... Kasumi is a bit unworldly. I don't 
think she noticed where she had taken you to. All I want to know 
is how we're going to get the van out of there without looking 
like we're planning to... um... you know..."
	Ranma snorted, "Fine... let em think what they like. If I 
get spotted near here anyway, all sorts of rumors are going to 
crop up. We may as well give them a rumor that's as close as 
possible to the truth."
	"What do you mean--?" Akane began to ask as Ranma suddenly 
grabbed her by the arm and brazenly walked into the parking 
garage to retrieve the van. Let us merely say that the act did 
not go unnoticed and rumors did not go unspread.


To be continued...