This chapter is lime.  The next release for this story (which I'll either
call chapter 8.5 or chapter 9, depending on how long it is) will be a
lemon, and then the chapter after it will be another lime.  After that, it
shouldn't require any more lime or lemon tags.  You can completely ignore
the lemon section, if you want, and still follow the story.

Anyway, here's the story.  Previous chapters available on my web page or by
e-mail request.  C&C is requested.  Enjoy.


Chapter 8

Ranma woke up the next morning before the alarm clock went off because of
some hair tickling his nose.  He was tempted to swat it away, but decided
instead to open his eyes and see exactly whose hair it was.

Seeing the top of Akane's head brought him back to his senses.  She was she
was writhing around and giggling happily in her sleep.  He kissed the top
of her head, right between the horns, and desperately tried to ignore the
sensation of her naked breasts rubbing against his bare chest.  'Sheesh,'
he thought to himself.  'Resisting her tonight is going to be harder than I
thought.  But she isn't ready yet, so I've GOT to.  I'll just tell her I'm
not ready yet... shouldn't be too hard to believe.  I mean, we've only
kissed a few times, so far.  It shouldn't be TOO unreasonable that I'm not
willing to go much further than making out a little at this point, right?'

The alarm went off, and Akane reached over and slapped it off.  She yawned,
looking up at Ranma.  She smiled sleepily, and moved in to kiss him.

As she deepened her kiss, Ranma sighed and abandoned himself to it.  'Okay,
maybe it will be more difficult than I think.'

*	*	*	*	*

Akane sighed happily as she leaned back against Ranma's chest in the
bathtub.  While she knew intellectually that the water in the furo was much
hotter than his body, his touch somehow warmed her more.

Akane was stunned to realize, as Ranma put his arm around her, that she was
ready.  Despite her protests from the previous night, she... she WANTED
him.  Badly.  For a second she thought that she might try seducing him
right then and there, and to hell with classes.  However, she knew that
would be a bad idea- as skittish as he had been the past few days, such a
move would likely cause him to freeze up.  However, this coming night WAS
the first scheduled 'seduction attempt,' and he seemed pretty comfortable
right now....

Akane smiled in amusement- a small change from the contented smile she had
been wearing.  She'd imagined the greatest obstacle to getting rid of the
Oni's curse was bringing herself to make love to- no, they were making love
right there, just being in the same bath together and feeling so wonderful
being in the other's presence, holding each other like they were.  Making
love was the wrong term.  She'd imagined the greatest obstacle to getting
rid of the Oni's curse would be bringing herself to have sex with Ranma. 
But she was more than willing to do that, now- if she'd felt this way
before, she might have tried it even without having to worry about the Oni.
 No, now she realized the biggest obstacle would be actually bringing RANMA
to the point he'd be just as willing.

She wriggled in a little closer, closing her eyes.

"Ow!" Ranma cried.

Akane sat up in surprise.  "What did I do?" she asked, confused.

Ranma rubbed his chin painfully.  "You nearly speared me with those horns
of yours.  Watch it."

Akane fingered the ornaments attached to her head self-consciously.  "Oops,
sorry.  I'm not used to them...."

Ranma sighed.  "Don't worry about it, Akane.  You shouldn't need to be used
to them.  Come here..." he invited, holding out his arms.

Akane, a little surprised, let herself be guided by his hands to sit on his
lap, straddling his legs.  He slid her back, creating small ripples in the
surface of the water that lapped at her chest when she was settled in.  The
part of him that told her he was physically ready for what she had been
thinking about was trapped between them, but that was something she tried
to ignore.  After all, only seconds before she had wanted to seduce him,
which would probably have resulted in her feeling the same... item.

He helped her lean back into his chest, until Akane felt his chin resting
on the top of her head.  "We've still got nearly fifteen minutes until we
need to get out of the bath.  Let's just relax and enjoy them."  His arms
wrapped themselves around her waist, and he nuzzled her hair, bumping
lightly into the two horns that framed his chin.

Akane giggled a little at the slight tugging sensation that went through
her every time one of the horns was touched.  It was almost like she felt
when stretching a kink out of a sore muscle.

Another being, the true owner of the horns, was a little startled by that
same sensation.  The Oni couldn't get it out of its head that the feeling
of someone placing their head where Ranma had placed his was so... right,
so enjoyable- just like the feeling that morning, when he had kissed the
spot right between them.

The Oni knew of a very simple explanation for the feeling.  It just didn't
want to believe it.

*	*	*	*	*

Ranma couldn't stop himself from touching Akane after the bath.  He was
walking to school with his arm over her shoulder, holding her close.  She
had her own arm around his waist, and was looking up at him almost
adoringly.

Ranma sighed.  'What the hell am I doing?  Akane isn't ready for me, and
there I was, getting all excited and pulling her towards me and hugging her
so much.  Now I'm still holding on to her, IN PUBLIC, as we walk to school.
 If I'm not able to stop myself from touching her now, how am I going to
resist her tonight?'

Ranma was too preoccupied with his problems to be paying much attention to
what was going on around him.  That was why Shampoo was able to get the
drop on him.

"Ranma want take Shampoo on date?" she asked, tearing him away from Akane
and grabbing him in a world-class glomp.

Ranma struggled as much as he usually could bring himself to, but was
unable to break free from her grasp.  He tried to say something to make her
let go, but was being held too tightly to speak.  Desperate, he looked at
Akane in the hopes that she'd get him loose- even if the release WAS from
the usual pounding.

What he saw in her eyes gave him the chills.  The Oni had taken over,
obviously, and looked mad as hell.  'Damn!' he thought.  'Why the hell did
Akane have to let that thing take charge NOW?  And, for that matter, why is
the Oni mad at me anyway?  Akane, I understand.  She's the jealous type,
after all.  But the Oni?'  He broke off his thoughts the second he saw
Akane-Oni moving in.  'This looks dangerous, and I don't know what it's
capable of.  I GOTTA get out of this grip.'

Ranma struggled desperately, but Shampoo only redoubled her efforts.  Ranma
would have sighed if he could.  He had no real choice now- he HAD to break
away or else he would get hurt- and the way the Oni was acting, Shampoo
might get hurt as well.

He strained as hard as he did- any harder and he'd probably injure Shampoo,
considering how powerfully she was holding on.  Just by virtue of his
struggles, Shampoo's grip tightened.  Then, suddenly, he relaxed every
muscle in his body and kicked his legs out from underneath himself.  He
dropped out from Shampoo's arms, and rolled away before she could grab hold
of him again.

"Go away, Shampoo!  I don't have time for your silly games- I need to get
to school!" Ranma shouted.  He knew he sounded harsh, but he was doing his
best to reassure Akane that he wasn't interested in Shampoo.  He briefly
glanced in her direction to make sure she had gotten the message.

Akane-Oni was still growling.  "Shampoo, I don't want to see you touch
Ranma ever again.  He is MINE, got it?"

Shampoo blinked.  The Akane she knew never acted that way before.  'Maybe
Akane actually realized she liked him after the whole Toma island incident.
 Well, whatever the reason, she needs to be taught a lesson now.  NO-ONE
defies the Amazons.'

Shampoo pulled her bonbori out and looked menacingly at Akane.  "What
Violent-Girl talking about?  Airen is Shampoo's!"

Reddish-blue chi started burning in Akane's hands.  "Get it through your
thick Chinese skull.  Ranma is not bound by your laws, he does not love
you, and he will never marry you.  If you do somehow kidnap him and take
him back to your village, he would hate you.  The only reason he hasn't
said anything before this is because he doesn't want anyone hurt." 
Shampoo, taking the words as a challenge, started to move in.  Akane-Oni
continued, "Well, I don't care if anyone's hurt or not.  JIGOKU NO RAIJIN!"
[Thunder of Hell]

A ball of lightning flared out from her hands and crashed into Shampoo,
sending the Chinese girl flying into the wall of a nearby house.  Shampoo
fell to the ground unconscious, and Akane-Oni started to move in for the
kill, chi still flashing around her.

Ranma blinked at the scene, and rushed to stand between the two girls. 
"You idiot!  Let Akane back in control before you kill someone!"

Akane-Oni grinned.  "What makes you think Akane DOESN'T want to kill
someone?"

Ranma paused for a second.  He knew that, in its current condition, the Oni
couldn't just take Akane over without her permission.  Akane very well
might have wanted Shampoo dead... but that didn't fit in with what he knew
of her.  It just didn't make sense.

"Akane is not a killer," Ranma answered.  "I know her.  She might have
briefly thought about killing her, but she wouldn't have really meant it." 
Akane-Oni just smirked.  "Okay, I can see you don't care.  Well, how about
this- attacking Shampoo with that chi blast just gave away your position,
and all of my friends are looking for you.  Killing her would just make
them more dedicated to your destruction- especially Mousse and Cologne- and
their response would be to tear Akane apart, thinking you were inside her. 
You could escape, she couldn't.  I will not allow you to put her in that
position, got it?"

"And what would you do to stop me?"

Ranma stood there for a moment.  "I don't think I have to.  You need me- if
you don't do as I say, you lose my co-operation."

Akane-Oni looked outraged for a moment... and then deflated.  "You are
right.  But, as you said, my attack will lead the others to me- what do you
suggest we do?  They'll be after me, anyway...."

Ranma nodded.  "You should have thought about that before you threw that
chi blast."  He sighed.  "All right- here's a plan.  We can spar....  I
can't really bring myself to hit Akane, but I can tap her in such a way it
looks like a hit, if I have to.  When Shampoo wakes up, I can tap you and
you WILL leave Akane.  Return to the dojo, and wait there.  As much as I
hate the idea, we did agree to help you, so when we get back you can return
to Akane and we'll continue to work on your cure."

"I don't like it, but I guess I have no choice.  Very well.  Let's begin." 
Ranma narrowly avoided a blow as she attacked, and continued to dodge as
the fight raged on.  He flipped off the hat she was wearing, and was a
little interested in how the horns looked larger and more dangerous than
the cute little things he had been having fun with that morning in the
bath.

A few minutes later, Shampoo slowly blinked her eyes open.  What she saw
was something she had been wanting to see for some time- Ranma actually
standing up to Akane's constant pounding and returning some of the blows. 
She sighed when she noted that the probable reason he was fighting involved
those two horns on her head.

Ranma glanced over and saw Shampoo was finally awake.  "All right, Oni! 
Release Akane now or else!" he cried.  His acting was bad, but the Amazon's
Japanese wasn't good enough to tell.  Before she could get up and attack
Akane, Ranma threw his fake punch into her chin.  The impact, while not
usually hard enough to remove the possession, was enough to direct the
Oni's departure out of the top of the head instead of out the back of the
skull, like it usually preferred.  Out and away the beachball-sized
creature flew, running away from the three teenagers.

Akane blinked as she recovered.  Ranma reached out and steadied her.  "Are
you okay, Akane?"

She blinked.  "Uh... yeah, I think so."

Shampoo, still too dazed to rush the couple, noticed the way Ranma was
comforting Akane.  She remembered how they had looked when she had burst in
upon them.  She remembered what the Oni had said.  The resulting conclusion
of all those thoughts led her to only one possible conclusion- but she had
to know for certain.  "Ranma... was demon telling truth?" she asked softly.
 "Is Ranma Violent-girl's?"

Ranma blinked.  "Well... I really don't like being thought of as a piece of
property, but I suppose that's a good way of putting it.  In a sense, my
heart belongs to Akane."

"And Ranma not tell Shampoo before because he no want Shampoo hurt?"

"That's part of it, yes."

Tears started forming in her eyes.  "Then... then Shampoo no want Ranma,
either.  Bie liao."

With that, the Chinese girl leapt away, disappearing so fast neither Ranma
nor Akane could track her.  "Well... that went better than I'd thought,"
Ranma said.

"Huh?" Akane replied, confused.

"Well, I was planning to tell the other girls that I wasn't interested in
them at some point.  I always thought Shampoo would try to kill one of us
for it, though."  He looked at his fiancee and sighed.  "Akane... why did
you let the Oni try to kill her?  When it asked me how I knew you hadn't
wanted her killed, I couldn't come up with any reason other than I don't
think you would ever really want anyone dead."

Akane looked down, embarrassed.  "Well... I got really mad at her for just
tearing you away from me like that.  The Oni said 'Do you want me to take
care of her for you?' and without thinking I said yes.  Iria warned me
afterwards what that meant, but it was too late- the Oni was in charge and
already attacking Shampoo."

Ranma sighed.  "Akane, I love you, and have for a long time, but the one
real complaint I have is that you have too much of a temper.  A little of
it is okay, in moderation- I sometimes liked to get you mad just because
your anger can make you look even more attractive than normal, if you don't
start fuming and stomping around, but sometimes you take it too far.  It
takes away your judgment, for one thing- you wouldn't have agreed to that
if you were thinking clearly, I'm sure."

Akane sighed.  "I know.  I keep worrying that I'll completely lose control
of it one of these days and hurt someone."  She looked up into his eyes. 
"Now, I guess I'd better be extra careful with it while the Oni's inside
me.  That someone could be you, and considering how much power that Oni
just gave me...."

Ranma didn't say anything for a few minutes.  The wait went on several
minutes before a bell rang in the distance.  He blinked.  "Isn't that-"

"The warning bell for classes?  Yes, it is!  We're going to be late!"  With
that, Akane grabbed him by the arm with one hand, picked up her hat and
held it to her head with the other, and started running off, dragging Ranma
behind her.  They made it just seconds before the final bell rang.

*	*	*	*	*

Akane sat through her mythology class, bored.  She didn't really need to
pay attention- she'd MET some of the characters the teacher was talking
about, and knew fairly well who the other characters were- she expected to
meet them as well, given how her life had gone, and so had studied up on
them outside of school.  She didn't need to worry about this course.

Her eyes- and her mind- drifted off to Ranma.  Despite her outburst against
Shampoo earlier that morning, he'd given her hand a gentle squeeze after
getting to school, just to let her know that he wasn't mad at her.

She started thinking about the coming night.  She knew the Oni was waiting
at home for her and Ranma.  It knew that this night was the first scheduled
attempt for them to have sex.  Akane briefly wondered at this unscheduled
bit of freedom she and Ranma had.  She was very aware that Ranma didn't
quite trust her while the Oni was inside- she didn't entirely trust
herself, after that fight with Shampoo.  What she didn't know, and
desperately wanted to, was whether or not he realized she loved him despite
its interference, and not because of it.

Akane suddenly realized that there was a way he could be sure.  But she had
to arrange it before she got home....

*	*	*	*	*

Mousse returned to the Nekohanten from one of his usual delivery runs, and
approached Cologne, concern written all over his face.

"Is she still crying?" he asked.

The Amazon elder nodded.  "Yes- and I still haven't got a single word from
her as to why.  All she does is sit and cry."

Mousse growled, "Saotome's probably to blame for this.  I should go and get
vengeance for her!"

"Perhaps he is," Cologne nodded, absently using her staff to keep Mousse
from leaving the room.  "Perhaps he isn't.  We should wait until we find
out what, exactly, she's crying about.  That is in your interest as well as
mine."

Mousse frowned.  "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, if Ranma isn't the one who caused her to cry, you and he might need
to work together to avenge her.  It would not do to have the two of you
quarreling more than normal because you rashly jumped to conclusions."

Mousse sighed, thinking that he was perfectly capable of avenging Shampoo
on his own.  "And if it IS Ranma who hurt her?"

Cologne shrugged.  "Then you'll go after him a few hours later.  If he did
hurt her, you can do what you want to him, and I won't stop you- he would
stop you, however, since you aren't even a challenge for him one on one." 
Mousse snorted at that, but the old woman continued.  "Besides, if what I
suspect happened actually happened, you may want to thank him and not hurt
him."

"What would I ever want to thank Saotome for?" he asked, sulking.

"Well, if he dumped Shampoo as I think he did, you might want to thank him
for giving you an actual opportunity to win her heart."  She smiled.  "She
mentioned something about how you'd nearly killed yourself saving her while
on Toma's island.  I think she was impressed with you.  If you don't
mishandle this situation, you might actually convince her to marry you one
of these days.  But be warned- I will stop you from trying if you move in
on her before she's given up completely on Ranma."

Cologne went back to serving the customers, leaving a gaping Mousse in
shock behind her.

*	*	*	*	*

Nodoka moved from room to room, cleaning anything she could.  She went
through the various rooms, not really expecting to find anything to clean
but bored enough to do work that didn't need to be done.

She moved on into Ranma and Akane's room, wondering briefly when they would
do something that would force her to change the sheets- not that she
couldn't change the sheets now, anyway.

She was shocked when she saw the flash of color that had the same horns
she'd seen before on Akane speeding towards her.

*	*	*	*	*

It was lunchtime at Furinken, and Akane smiled her best smile at Ranma
before he had a chance to open his bento box.  She was a little nervous
that he wouldn't go along with this, but she had to try.  She had to let
him know how she felt.

"Say, Ranma- do you want to skip classes for the rest of the day?"

He blinked.  "Sure... but didn't you want to go to all your classes this
week?"

Akane nodded.  She hadn't quite expected that question, but it didn't
really surprise her.  "Well, with the Oni gone for the day, I thought we
might go out and do something together, like we occasionally  did before it
showed up."

Ranma blinked.  Akane was asking him out on a date again.  "I'd love to-
you want to go see a movie or something?"

Akane's smile widened.  "Or something.  Do you have any money?"

He shrugged.  "I probably got a little over five thousand yen left over
from that twenty thousand I got from Nabiki."

'Hmm... I have about four thousand myself... that should be plenty for a
couple hours in a decent love hotel.'  Akane nodded happily.  "That should
be plenty for what I have in mind.  Come on, let's go."

Ranma started to leave with her before looking at his hand, still holding
the bento box.  "Um... what about lunch?"

Akane frowned a little.  'Trust him to be thinking with his stomach,' she
thought.  Iria, however, was able to break in on those thoughts with an
interesting suggestion.  Akane's smile returned.

"Bring it with you," she said.  "We'll eat it when we get there."

"There?" he asked, surprised.  "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, Ranma.  You'll see."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
                             desaix@sysnet.net
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872
                           fanfics available at 
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