One Day More
--------------------

by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)

A Fanfiction based on the Anime Ranma 1/2 created and copyrighted by Rumiko
Takahashi
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Chapter 1



Akane thought she was still asleep when she caught a glance of Ranma sitting
silently out on the porch holding a book and actually looked like reading
it. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times but her fiancée only
shifted his weight while turning a page from what he was reading.



"Weird, eh?" Nabiki remarked as she too was in the room also staring at
Ranma. Akane walked towards her sister and only raised an eyebrow as if
doubting everything she was seeing at the moment. "Don't ask me? I came down
here and already saw him engrossed in that novel." Nabiki left the room
while muttering something about where she would read now.



Ranma again turned a leaf and quickly raised the glass of juice towards his
anticipating lips. "Morning Ranma!" Akane crept surprisingly behind Ranma
and chose that particular moment to greet him. Unfortunately for Ranma the
abrupt greeting shocked him and caused the fluttering of the juice out of
his mouth. "What the hell did you do that for? Kawaiikune!" Ranma angrily
shouted as he tried to use his clothes to dry the book that was severely
dampened by the accident.



"BAKA!" Akane's instantaneous wrath pounded on the unsuspecting, though not
totally innocent fiancée, and flung him clear across the porch. Ranma
landed on the pond in the yard and he transformed immediately, but his
female form didn't rise from the cold water as it was expected. He was
unconscious when Akane hurriedly pulled him out of the pond. "Ranma?" Akane
checked her fiancée's vitals frantically but soon calmed down when she
verified a pulse and his breathing.



"What happened Akane?" Kasumi came out of the kitchen to check on the ruckus
that had happened. The two sisters then carried Ranma to a spare room and
quickly called the doctor.



Dr. Tofu gave a thorough checkup on his patient that was still out cold.
"How is he?" Akane didn't leave his side, even after Dr. Tofu asked her
after checking Ranma. There was nothing wrong with Ranma, as reported by the
kind doctor to the rest of the family. "Only a bump on the head, that's all.
He'll come around soon. Tell me when he wakes up?" Dr. Tofu's words
comforted everyone but Akane still couldn't get over what had happened. It
was her fault, she always reminded herself as she stood watch over her
fiancée over the night.



Morning sunlight broke through the window and promptly woke Akane from her
slumber. She felt the cold wind brushing up on her face and she quickly
thought that she must have forgotten to close the windows before she slept.
Squinting in the dim room she sat up and tried to crawl out of bed but
something stopped her. Looking down she gasped as Ranma was also in the same
bed with her. Before anger filled her head a recollection of the accident
calmed her down. Ranma shifted around and threw an arm out to where Akane
was sleeping a while ago. She smiled as if relieved that she was already up
from bed, but deep inside of her, something thought otherwise. The breeze
again touched her face and chilled her body. Akane warded off the blanket
and started to slide out through the foot of the bed. She was surprised at
what was revealed to her. She was naked. She clasped the blanket and quickly
wrapped herself in it. That action of course uncovered her partner on the
bed. Her eyes bulged as she saw the bare back of her fiancée that was still
sleeping. Glimpses of memories suddenly flashed in front of Akane. "Did we?"
She then broke in tears due to the unrecollection and fear that gripped her
thoughts.



Nabiki knew something was up when she caught her sister coming out of the
guestroom dragging blankets wrapped around her. After she heard the door to
Akane's room close she walked up to the room she knew Ranma was supposed to
be recovering in. "Oh, my!" She wiped the early morning clouts from her eyes
and stared again through the crack on the door. "He's...he's..." Nervously
she closed the door and rushed back to her own room. Nabiki wrote something
to her notebook and quickly sat down to think. "Now they'll have to get
married." Nabiki gleefully grinned as she thought about what could have
happened last night in that room.



Akane was quiet during breakfast and Nabiki noticed this all too well. Ranma
was also eating and also looked serene. "How are you two feeling today?"
Nabiki struck the match and hoped it'll ignite the issue she wanted to
present to everyone this morning. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking Nabiki."
Ranma even smiled as he checked the bump on his head. "And what about you,
Akane?" Two to three raises of her eyebrows accompanied Nabiki smile. Akane
froze as she realized that her sister knew about what had happened to her
and Ranma. "I...I'm..." Akane couldn't hold back as she cried in front of
her family. Soun, her father, tried to comfort her as Ranma was already
desperately trying but would only get Akane swinging her arms at him. "What
happened, Akane?" Kasumi's calm tone brought some stop to Akane's pounding
on her fiancée. But Akane only broke again in tears and all Kasumi could do
was comfort her little sister. "It looks like we're going to have a wedding,
Daddy." Nabiki gave a downcast look at Ranma who was again trying to calm
Akane but was not gaining any success. "Who's wedding?" Nabiki smiled and
looked again at Ranma and her sister again.



"Akane, what's wrong?" Ranma pleaded while warding the punches his fiancée
was swinging at him. "What do you mean you don't know?! Of course you know!
You...HENTAI!" That final remarked made sense to Ranma and he gave a cheery
smile to Akane. "Oh, that. Well, don't tell me you..." SLAP, his head jerked
back as Akane connected on one of her punches. Ranma glared at Akane and
quickly caught her arms and pulled her up. "Listen Akane...If what we did
last night made you uncomfortable...I'm sorry." Ranma slowly released his
grip and brought his hands up to her face. "I..." Everybody blinked as Ranma
kissed Akane passionately and in front of everyone. "Eh, Nabiki. What
exactly did they do last night?" Soun whispered the question while trying
not to keep his eyes off the two. "Oh, nothing Daddy. I think it's not
important anymore." Nabiki checked her watch and looked at the couple who is
still kissing and now has their arms around each other.



Nabiki stood up and was about to leave when she caught glimpse of a book
that was lying on the ground. She recalled that this was what Ranma was
reading and quickly picked it up. "No wonder he..." Nabiki looked back and
saw how her sister was still in Ranma's embrace. She smiled and quickly went
up to her room with book. She only opened the door to throw the book on her
bed. "That's what you get for reading Shakespeare." Nabiki mused herself
thinking Ranma would have ever considered that tragedy of a story would ever
happened to Akane and him. "Its not like she'd fake her own death, and Ranma
would kill himself because of it." Nabiki walked out the porch and briefly
saw the two, still in each other's arms. "Well, Ranma is sure is no Romeo."
She laughed and quickly sat down and opened her book that she intended to
read that morning.

End of Chapter 1
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Chapter 2


The school bell rang signaling the end of classes this afternoon. The
hallways quickly filled with students dragging their bags and friends out
through the gates of Furikan High. Ranma packed up his things but left out a
book, which he promptly handed to his teacher.



"How did you like it?" Miss. Hinako looked sternly at Ranma and half
expectedly waited for a pathetic excuse from one of her troublesome
students. "It was inspiring...and helped me in more ways than I ever
expected." Ranma bowed in front of her and smiled before leaving the room.
Hinako only trailed her sights to Ranma as the door closed behind him. "Huh?
This inspired him." She finally inspected the book and immediately noticed
that this was a brand new copy and not the old book she gave him last week.
Inside the front cover she discovered a small note indicating Ranma's
apology for losing the original and was hoping that she'll forgive him.



"How are you feeling?" Ranma deftly reached out to clasp his fiancée's free
hand as they came down the stairs. Akane knew all too well the invigorating
sensation that occurs whenever they hold hands and it always stuns her.
"I...I'm fine, how about you?" Akane saw the glassy look Ranma gave to her.
"Don't worry, I'll live." Laughing a bit Ranma grabbed Akane's bag and
insisted on carrying her things. Akane's suspicion and confusion mixed in
her head as they trotted out of the campus with almost everyone else's stare
focused at them.



Nabiki's curious eyes constantly observed Ranma and Akane from behind and
noted how the two have kept holding each other even after her attempts to
break the hand hold was easily evaded by Ranma. As the three was about to
cross a busy intersection Nabiki again noticed how Ranma changed position
with Akane and as if protecting her sister from the oncoming traffic. Midway
across Ranma again changed position and moved to Nabiki's side this time.
Nabiki and Akane only exchanged confused look and a hesitant suspicion about
the man that was with them.



"What do you think?" Akane closed the door behind her as Nabiki threw her
things on her desk. Nabiki only gave out a laugh while she reached into her
closet for some change of clothes. "Nabiki, I'm serious!" Akane crossed her
arms and glared at her sister as she was undressing. "I don't know what
you're so worried Akane. I thought you liked him this way." Nabiki closed
her closet door and sat down to write something on her desk. Akane sadly sat
on her sister's bed and sported a pouted look. Nabiki sat next to her and
placed a comforting arm on Akane. "I'm sure he's fine. Give him a few days."
Nabiki went back to her desk and returned to what she was writing. "Oh, you
could always cook something for him to get him back on track." Nabiki jested
as Akane was leaving the room. "Very funny." The door closed leaving Nabiki
with her thoughts.



Akane came down the stairs looking for Ranma. She looked at the yard as she
was expecting him to be exercising or doing some training with Mr. Saotome.
Ranma's father though was alone inside the training hall and Akane could
only give an unsure answer when she was asked where Ranma was at the moment.
"Where could he be?" Akane thought out loud as she walked into the living
room hoping to find here Ranma resting. "Who?" Kasumi was casually browsing
through a magazine before hearing the question from Akane. "Huh? Oh,
onee-chan. Its Ranma..." heaving out a brief sigh "I'm worried about him,
that's all." Akane sat beside her sister and reluctantly grabbed a magazine
from the pile. "Oh, Akane. Ranma is in the kitchen, if you're looking for
him." Kasumi returned to her reading. Akane frowned a bit, realizing that
the one place she would have imagined where her fiancée was at, is also the
last place she would also be in the same situation. Nevertheless she quickly
rose up and nonchalantly threw the magazine back to the pile on the table
and walked towards the kitchen.



Akane peeked through the door curtains and saw her fiancée busily at work
inside the kitchen. She thought of calling out to him, but recalling the
accident made her think otherwise. Ranma paused for a second and looked left
and right with his peripheral vision. Thinking he heard rapping taps on
wood, he quickly turned his torso about and saw Akane standing by the
doorframe and smiling at him. "What is it, Akane?" Ranma placed the carrots
he was peeling down on the kitchen counter and quickly wiped his hands on
the apron he was wearing before he walked up to his fiancée. Deftly kissing
Akane on the forehead, he asked Akane again but only a dazed stare was all
re could read from her. "Are you...all right?"



Closing her eyes, Akane mentally tried to comprehend what had just happened.
Thinking it wasn't really odd of Ranma to kiss her she slowly opened her
sights again. "Oh, I'm fine. What are you doing here, anyway?" Ranma
excitedly grabbed Akane's hand again and lead her towards where he was
preparing ingredients. "I'm cooking dinner tonight." Ranma chided in a proud
yet humble manner. "Really?" Akane inspected the numerous vegetables and
other frozen stuffs being thawed on the counter and then looked back at her
fiancée who was now handing her an apron. "Want to help?" Blinking twice
Akane let out a slight chuckle. "No, you go ahead. I still have...things to
do." Akane was about to leave when Ranma held on to her arm to stop her.
"Really, Akane. I'm asking you to help me. I'm not joking, and I promise..."
Ranma motioned a cross across his chest with his free hand, "I won't make
fun of your cooking." Akane again closed her eyes in disbelief. "No, really.
Ranma, I've still got to do that...reading assignment Miss Hinako gave us."
She backed a bit nervously as if she's estranged by the person in front of
her right now. "Ok." Ranma returned to the counter, but not before
surprising Akane again with another stolen kiss.



"He's what?" Nabiki almost broke her pencil, which she was writing with,
when Akane told her what had just transpired in the kitchen. "I think we
should...call Dr. Tofu. What do you think?" Akane felt disturbed at what she
was thinking for the past couple of minutes. Nabiki closed her portfolio and
dragged Akane out of her room. "Kasumi, we'll be out for a while." Nabiki
announced through the doorway to her sister that was enjoying some free
time. The two promptly proceeded towards the clinic of the same doctor that
examined Ranma after the accident.



"Interesting." Dr. Tofu leaned back on his chair upon hearing the case from
her new visitors. "That's it. Interesting?" Akane winced at the thought. Dr.
Tofu calmly looked back at the folder that was labeled with Ranma's name.
"He has a history of beatings...but it never changed him this way." Nabiki
grinned at her sister knowing full well who's responsible for all those
cases. "I'm sure he's fine, Akane. Give him some time to...recover." Nabiki
jabbed her elbow into Akane in jest but her sister only let out a deep sigh.
"Thank you, Dr. Tofu. We'll call you if things...turn out for the worst."



Evening came and Akane found herself sitting on the porch, looking out
towards the yard, and in front of her was the pond where she pulled Ranma
out of after her violent reaction. "I'm sorry..." A tear fell from her eyes
just before they closed. "Sorry...for what Akane?" Ranma nimbly wiped the
tear off Akane's cheek and slowly sat beside her. Akane gazed at Ranma who
was only looking out at the evening sky. "Isn't it beautiful?" Ranma looked
at his fiancée while neatly reaching for her hand. "I..." Akane looked at
the dark skies and thought about what Ranma has said. The moon was full
tonight, a gentle warm breeze blew around them and the stars, hundreds of
them were out this evening, and Akane saw all of these. Her heart pounded as
a warm sensation radiated from her hands up to her chest. "Yes, it
is...Ranma, it truly is beautiful." She leaned on Ranma's shoulders and
tightened her grip and shut off her eyes.



"Oh, by the way. How come you don't get angry at me anymore?" Ranma's
question instantly wakened Akane and they both give a quizzical look to each
other. "You haven't been yourself lately, Akane. Since the accident." Ranma
cowered his head to look away. "I'm not myself? It's you who's been acting
strangely." Akane's brows narrowed. Ranma leaned away a bit and extended an
arm to protect himself. "Wait, I didn't mean it that way." Akane crossed her
arms and leaned forward on Ranma. "What did you mean, actually?" Ranma
smiled, and this took Akane off guard. "Nothing." He again looked towards
the sky but muttered something to himself. "Ranma...you're not telling me
something!" Akane was a bit irritated at this guessing game they where
playing. "Just checking...if you still..." Ranma kissed Akane on the
forehead before rising up. Akane blinked, closed her eyes to think, then
smiled before following Ranma.



In the morning the whole dojo was again filled with the cries of fighting.
"BAKA!" Akane tossed a pillow at Ranma, who also tossed the same at her.
"Kawaiikune! What the hell did you do that for?!" Akane pulled the bed
sheets up to her and quickly rose from her bed. "What the hell are you doing
in my room! Get out!" Ranma jumped off the futon, stretched out a bit before
leaving. Akane rose up and stretched out a bit too, pulled out some fresh
clothes and soon was hoping out of her room. "Nabiki, what was that?" Kasumi
asked her sister who was also awakened by the early morning screams. Smiling
a bit, Nabiki turned to return to her room. "Looks like a little...love
quarrel, Kasumi." Upon entering her room she pulled out her notebook and
wrote on it the words "Everything Back to Normal". She threw the small note
on her desk and slowly slid back to sleep. On one side was a half-opened
book with several bookmarks jutting out on its top.



-END-


Thanks to ...

Anand Rao
William Jones - Hope your WEBTV gets this right.
David Johnston - "what happened" is irrelevant to this story anyway.
Emily Siazon
Christopher Angel
AloshaSitaJasmine
Azatlan - This is for your WWW site
James Palmer - Super Hentai : )
and
Rumiko Takahashi - of course : )

Missing in Action

Andrew Petalik
David Lerman - off to Romania
Philip Masters - Punishing Ryouga for destorying the world, I guess ^_^