Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong


Ranma 1/2: Ranma's girls 


Chapter 1

     The dawning sun was just beginning to peak out in the distant horizon,
its light shedding warmth on the world. The sounds of birds could be heard,
its beautiful music blending gracefully with the gentle whispers of the
blowing winds. The trees rustled lightly as cool breezes blew by, some of
its autumn leaves fluttering to the ground. Akane was leaning against the
outer wall, watching silently as those leaves fell. Her breathing was
slightly heavy, she having finished her usual morning jog.
  "Ah, nothing better than a brisk morning jog to get the blood flowing" she
said to herself, brushing aside her bangs, which were matted to her forehead
from the perspiration.
  She sighed aloud, wishing Kasumi was there to greet her like she used to 
many years ago. She remembered how she would always see her older sister out
sweeping the sidewalk, there to greet her after she finished her morning
jog.
  "Good morning, Akane," Kasumi would say, followed by a sweet smile. She 
would be dressed in her usual apron-like outfit, consisting of yellow 
sweatshirt and white frilly dress, the entire outfit covered by a white
apron.
  "Good morning, Kasumi," Akane would respond, smiling in return. From there, 
Kasumi and Akane would engage in simple conversation, chit chat to everybody 
including them. But those days were gone. Kasumi had moved out of the house 
several years ago and married her first true love, Dr. Tofu, a local 
chiropractor. It had been a rocky beginning at first, what with Kasumi never 
realizing just how much he cared for her or how much she cared for him. They 
came to realize their feelings when he finally gotten over his nervousness 
around her. Now, Kasumi and Dr. Tofu are living together, their third child on 
the way.
  Akane sighed inwardly as she stepped through the front gate, closing it
behind her once she was in the front yard. The front yard had stayed the
same over the many years, shrubbery outlining the interior of the
outer wall with trees intermittently peaking up out through the foliage.
  She crossed the yard and entered the house through the front door, which
she kept opened whenever she went out on her daily jog. She didn't have to
worry about theft or anything like that. Nerima was a very safe and peaceful
neighborhood. The interior of the house had remained the same over the many
years, every piece of furniture exactly where it was since that fateful
night. Akane never really liked change, always preferring the old way over
the new. That was just the way she was, old-fashioned.
  "I better get changed," she said to herself as she gracefully glided up the
stairs, taking two steps at a time. Not one creek emerged from the 
floorboards, Akane being very light on her feet.
  It was about time she got changed anyway, her morning martial arts lessons
were going to start in about fifteen minutes. Back then, her father, Soun,
would had taught class instead of her. But that wasn't the case anymore.
  Soun had died many years ago, killed by a drunk driver. He and Akane had
been out strolling late one night when, out of nowhere, a car swerved off
the road and headed straight towards them. Soun had managed to react in
time, pushing Akane out of the way before he was hit by the oncoming car.
  Akane had watched in horror as her father's body was thrown through the
air and struck up against a tree. She gazed through tearing eyes as she
held her father's dying body in her arms, pleading to god that he live as
she waited for help to arrive. But god never answered her prayers. Her
father died that night from massive brain hemorrhaging, and there was
nothing that could have been done. The funeral for him was set just two days
after that tragic night. Everyone had attended, all saying their final
farewells. Although many had wept at that funeral, Akane wept the most.
Nabiki, her older sister, was strong and could take the tragic loss.
Kasumi, the eldest of the three, was devastated, but had Dr. Tofu there to
comfort her. Akane....she had no one to comfort her. She was all alone.
  Following the funeral came the will reading, which left the family
business resting on Akane's shoulders. Nabiki would have been better to
take over the business, what with her being adept in business and all. But
when asked if she take the business, she gracefully declined, telling Akane
she was the only one in the family who knew martial arts. And so, she was
given the responsibilities of taking care of not only the dojo, but of the
home. It didn't help any when Kasumi moved out and into Dr. Tofu's home,
the two of them having married just a few months after the funeral. It
seemed that when Dr. Tofu saw Kasumi crying at the funeral like she did, his
nervousness had vanished, and he was able to comfort her. Not too long after
she moved into his house, Kasumi decided to go to college to major in
pre-med, graduating first in her class when she finally got out. Although
Akane was happy for her, she knew she would no longer hear from Kasumi
again, Kasumi no longer having the time since she's now one of the most
prestigious doctors in the country.
  Not much longer after Kasumi moved out, Nabiki moved out also, her
business career taking off, she leaving for America to further her career.
Nabiki had always told Akane that America was where she was going to hit
it big. It seems Nabiki was correct. She was now living extravagantly, her
life-long goal attained. Akane was very happy for her. But soon, the letters
that Nabiki always sent abruptly stopped. For several long years, Akane
haven't heard anything from Nabiki. And so now, at the age of twenty-eight,
Akane was all alone. The only people in her life were her students. But she
only saw her students for two hours a day per session and that was it.
Actually, teaching her students martial arts had proved to be a real
task-worthy job. And it didn't help matters any because of the fact that
she was the only sensei teaching martial arts. But she loved teaching. That
was the only thing that kept her going. That and the fact that there might
be someone out there that she could spend her life with. She was so lonely,
especially on the cold winter nights. Many nights she wished she was warm
in someone's arms, only to realize that she would never meet a man, what
with her spending her life inside a dojo teaching her students. Sure, she
could go after one of her students, but that wasn't right. She would never
mix business with pleasure. Besides, those students were the only thing
that was keeping the business from going under and she definitely didn't
want to jeopardize her reputation as a respectful sensei with her students.
  Akane opened the door to her room and entered, taking her shirt off as
she closed the door behind herself. She then took off her jogging shorts
and threw them and the shirt and a hamper that was in the corner. Wearing
nothing more than her panties, Akane went into her closet and fetched out her
sensei dogi. The dogi was akin to any other dogi for any other martial
art. She even wore the same black dress-like leggings that represented her
being a sensei.
  Akane took a quick glance at the full-length mirror that hung on the closet
door, making sure her outfit was on correctly. As she looked at herself, she
couldn't help but smile at just how beautiful a woman she had become. She
still sported her short-haired look from when she was young, which made it a 
lot easier for her to teach. Although she was unaware of this, most of the 
males in her class found her very attractive, even if they were two of three 
times older than her. Although there were males in her class, most of her 
students were females, all of them liking the fact that they were being taught 
by a female rather than a male.
  Akane looked at the clock that was on top of her draw. Her eyes widened
when she realized what time it was.
  "Oh no, class's gonna start in one minute!" she said, tugging at her
dogi belt one more time before heading out of her room and down the stairs.

  The moon could be seen in the distance horizon as it started its
ascent, its light causing the building to cast shadows that seemed to
stretch all the way to the ends of the universe. It was late in the evening,
the sun having left the world over an hour ago. The buildings that lined the
streets were void of lights, all of its occupants having gone home to be
with their loved ones. The houses were alive with laughter, laughter of
kids seeing their father or mother after they spent a long day at work. 
  That was what most of the working class came home to, a home filled with
joy upon their arrival. The joys of being with loved ones. The sounds of
welcome as they stepped through the door. But for one person, she came into
a bleak-looking house, alone. The house was dark when she entered it, no one
home to greet her. Fortunately, she had become used to being alone, away
from outside contact.
  Akane languidly flopped onto her bed, her energy spent. She had spent most
of the day teaching martial arts and was dying for a nice, warm bath.
That is, if she could only get out of her bed first. Her back ached, all her 
muscles tense. She didn't want to move, but was longing for a bath, something 
that was soothing.
  She groaned aloud as she tried to push herself up, only to fail when
aching took over. She knew that she couldn't keep this up. Having to go
through this pain everyday for several years was really starting to get on
her nerves.
  "I have to find someone who'll help me teach" she said to herself.
  But how could she? Even if she did live pretty well off, she couldn't just
go out and hire help...or could she?
  "I guess I should put an ad in the newspaper stating that I need someone
to help me teach" she said, yawning out loud, too tired to try and get up
so she can go take that nice warm bath.
  "I'll put that ad in first thing tomorrow," she said, right before falling
to sleep

Chapter 2

     Ranma leaned up against the park bench, watching his two beautiful 
daughters at play in the playground. The morning breeze blew through his black 
hair, his ponytail, which looked more like a pig-tail than anything else, 
gently swaying to and fro. He loved watching his two daughters have fun. 
Just watching brought him great joy, his daughters the most precious things in 
his entire life. He loved both of them with all his heart, just as much as 
they loved their father. His twin daughters giggled sweetly as they continued 
to swing higher and higher on the swings, their momentum making them 
look as if they could reach the heavens if they continued on like that.
  "How am I goin' to tell them?" Ranma said to himself softly, looking down 
toward the ground as his elbows rested up against his thighs. Ranma was in a 
very bad predicament. The company he worked for was a subsidiary of a larger 
foreign company that was expanding and they wanted  him overseas taking care 
of their international business affairs. Ranma was 
chief-executive of a prestigious computer engineering company, a position he  
wasn't all to fond of considering he wasn't enjoying what he was doing. The  
only reason why he had taken the job was to support his twin daughters, Meggie 
and Jessie. 
  Seven years ago, when the twins were born, Ranma was forced to find a better 
job due to the arrival of an unexpected twin. He was forced to quit his job of 
being a sensei so he could look for a better job since being a sensei wasn't 
bringing in enough money. The thought of bringing up two children instead of 
one was too much for his wife, so she left him with the burden of nurturing 
the two very shortly after their birth. She had packed her bags one night, and 
just left, never heard from again, at least not until several years ago. 
Although he had very hard times at first, Ranma managed to handle both having 
a job and two kids to take care of, working in the mornings while a 
baby-sitter took care of them and spending his time with them at night 
when he came home from work. 
  But now, it would change. Ranma was supposed to move east and overseas and 
become president of one of the companies. But he didn't want to. He knew that 
if his two daughters moved with him, they would have to switch schools and go 
to a new one, one where they have no friends.  He couldn't do that to them, he 
loved them too much to make them to go through that again. The first time, 
when he moved to Nerima, his daughters had so much trouble adjusting to the 
new change that it kept him up late at nights from the guilt, guilt that it 
was his fault. But not anymore, he planned on staying right where he was. And 
so he was given an option, to move overseas, or quit. That was it, no other 
choice. So he chose to resign. That one move nearly brought the entire company 
down because when Ranma's fellow co-workers respected him so much that they 
said they would quit if he quit. So when he quit, everyone else quit along 
with him, much to his protest. He didn't want to bring anyone else in this, 
but they insisted. So now Ranma was without a job and two daughters to take 
care of. His mind was plagued with worry, far too much stress for a 
twenty-nine year old to have. He looked like he didn't have a worry in the 
world, his handsome face concealing his emotions well. How was he going to 
tell his daughters that he quit his job? How was he going to support them 
without a job? Sure, Ranma was smart enough to save several million yen over 
the years, but that money was meant for the girls college tuition. If he 
didn't get a job, and fast, he would soon have to start using his savings. And 
what would happen after all that money was gone? Then what?
  "Daddy," came a sweet innocent voice from the playground.
  Ranma lifted his head, his gaze resting on Meggie, the first-born of the
twins, just one minute older than Jessie. As his gaze caught hers, him
looking into her chocolate-brown eyes, all of his worries seemed to
disappear. His visage turned from worrisome to content, happy that he had
made the right choice, to stay in Nerima so his daughters would be with
their friends.
  "What is it, Meggie?" Ranma asked, calling Meggie by her nickname, a
nickname that only she allowed him and her sister to call her. Her real name
was Meghan but she preferred Meggie. 
  He smiled warmly.
  "Can ya give me a push, Daddy?" she said, trying to swing as high as she
could, not even close to as high as Jessie was swinging.
  "Sure. I'd be glad to,"
  Ranma stood up from his bench and proceeded towards the playground. But
before he stepped through the small gate of the fence that surrounded it, a
jogger accidentally bumped into him. He and the jogger both fell to the
ground, the jogger falling down on top of him.
  "Sorry" Ranma apologized, quickly getting to his feet. He reached out a
hand to help the jogger to her feet.
  "It was all my fault," Akane said "I wasn't looking at where I was going"
She took hold of Ranma's hand and pulled herself to her feet, noticing how
delicate Ranma's hand felt in hers. His hand was soft yet strong. She looked
up at Ranma and her heart skipped a beat when she looked into those
beautiful blue eyes of his. She turned her gaze away from him, slightly 
blushing, a warm feeling in her heart. 
  "Are you all right?" he said, concern in his voice.
  "Y-yes, I am," Akane said, not looking directly at him. Even his voice
made her blush. She couldn't quite explain it.
  "Daddy," came a voice, causing Akane to start. Akane turned around and
looked down. There, standing before her, the little girl's head no higher than 
her waist was the most beautiful looking child Akane had ever seen. The child 
had silk-like brown hair that flowed down beyond her shoulder blades, her cute
face showing nothing but pure innocence and carefree joy. She was dressed in a
pretty blue dress that was fluffy around the shoulders.
  "Who's this, Daddy?" the little girl said, looking up at Akane with those
chocolate-brown eyes that could melt the heart of any mother-to-be "Is she
goin' to be our new Mommy?"
  "Meggie," Ranma said, blushing slightly, embarrassment in his voice. He
looked at Akane, and then turned his gaze away, unable to look into those
beautiful eyes of hers. He had many women come up to him over the years and
he had never been drawn to them like he was to this woman right now. Without
looking at Akane, he spoke.
  "I'm sorry," he apologized again, "This is pretty embarrassing"
  Akane smiled, noticing Ranma blushing, a slight red hue in his cheeks. She
seemed to have regained her composure, now that the situation was up against
Ranma.
  "I'm Akane," she said, smiling a smile that seemed to make Ranma's heart
flutter "Akane Tendo"
  "I-I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome" he said, trying to regain his composure, much
to no avail. What Meggie said seemed to have really gotten to him. He never
expected his little Meggie to say that, especially about a stranger "This
is my daughter, Meghan.....I mean Meggie. Over there," he added, pointing
towards an identical looking girl walking towards them "is my other
daughter, Jessie"
  "Who's that, Daddy?" Jessie asked, stopping once she was standing between
Akane and her father. She was looking up towards Akane, her hand now in
one of Ranma's hands, while Meggie slipped her hand in his other.
  "Um.....that's...Akane," Ranma said, a nervousness still in his voice. He 
was indeed deeply embarrassed at the situation his two daughters had put him 
in.
  "Is she your girlfriend?" Jessie asked, leaning her head up against
Ranma's thigh, tugging at his shorts, which was already exposing too much
of his muscularly defined legs as it was.
  Akane smiled she patted Jessie on top of her head, noticing how smooth
her hair felt to the touch, "No, Jessie. We just bumped into each other.
That's all"
  "Oh....I was hoping you were Daddy's girlfriend so we can have a Mommy
when he marries ya," she replied.
  "Jessie," Ranma said, now really embarrassed "You're really embarrassing
me. Can you please stop saying those things?"
  "I'm sorry, Daddy," Jessie said, her feelings hurt. She didn't want to do
anything to hurt her Daddy, especially embarrass him. She looked down
towards the ground "I didn't mean it"
  "Jessie," Ranma said, regaining his composure. No matter what kind of
predicament he was in, it didn't bother him as much as seeing one of his
daughter's feelings hurt "It's not your fault. I know you didn't mean it"
  Akane watched as Ranma embraced the little girl in his arms, reluctant
when it came to letting her go. She then saw him hug his other daughter so
she wouldn't feel left out. Akane's heart melted when he saw how much he
loved his children, something she found very attractive in a man, even if he
was the first real contact she had with a man outside the dojo for a very
long time. Having been so caught up in the moment, Akane was unaware how
late she was in getting back home until she looked at her watch. It was
already pretty late in the morning, and she was going to be late getting
back home. 
  "Oh no, I'm late!" Akane said, turning to Ranma "I have to get going now.
But it's been nice meeting you and your two lovely daughters"
  "Okay. Maybe we'll see you around, Akane. Bye" he said, smiling sweetly.
  Akane smiled back, her heart aflutter from having been so close to Ranma
for that long. It seems like Akane's morning was definitely off to a good
start.

Chapter 3

     "I have five years experience in teaching martial arts, two for
Tae Kwon Do and three for Shotokan Karate" the man said, leaning back on
the couch.
  Akane leaned back against her own couch, which was located across from
the man. She regarded the man for a second, wondering if he was the right
choice. Throughout the whole day, she had interviewed over two dozen people
who had responded to the ad she had placed up in the paper a few days ago.
Only two out of all those people were qualified for the position of sensei.
  Akane's gaze turned from the man, and onto the window. The stars glittered 
high in the sky that night, the moon shining every bit as bright. It was late 
that night, and he was the last person she had to interview for the day.
  "What degree did you attain in both arts?" she asked, putting a check
next to his name, which meant he was experienced in teaching. The question
she just asked him didn't really matter, but she just wanted to know just
how much of the martial arts he knew.
  "For Tae Kwon Do, I'm a third dan and about to take a test for my
fourth dan. For Shotokan Karate, I'm only a second dan" he replied.
  Akane was impressed with the man's experience. Almost all of her
potential hired help only had a first or maybe a second dan, let alone
a fourth and second dan in two different arts. Most of the people she
interviewed were either too young and had just gotten their first dan, or was
not experienced in teaching.
  "You are definitely qualified for the position. I'll let you know if you've
got the job tomorrow" Akane said, extending her hand forward to shake his
hand, noticing he had a firm grip "Thanks for coming"
  "No, thank you for taking the time to interview me," he replied, smiling
sweetly.
  With that said, the man gracefully got up to his feet and left the house,
Akane escorting him to her front gate.
  "Good night," he said, bowing to her right before he left, a gesture none 
of the other people had done, a gesture that seemed to make Akane want to
hire him right there on the spot.
  Akane watched as the man walked down the street, getting smaller and
smaller as he got farther away. 
  She sighed, grateful that he was the last person she needed to interview for 
the day. But dread came over her when she realized that she would most likely 
have more interviews tomorrow. She wasn't cut out for this. She was having 
enough difficulty teaching her daily classes, let alone interview more people.
  Akane leaned up against the outer wall, closing her eyes, thankful for the
day's end. Now that all the interviews were over, she could have some time
to herself, time to take a soothing warm dip in the bathtub. Her muscles
were tense, like always, and she was in definite need of relaxation.
  "Good evening," came a voice, causing Akane to start.
  She opened her eyes and gazed at the figure that stood before her.
  It was Ranma.
  "I know you...you're the guy I bumped into several days ago. You're Ranma.
Ranma Saotome," Akane said, surprise in her voice. She would never forget his 
name. That was for sure. And now, for some reason, the thought of a nice warm 
bath seemed to have disappeared from her mind.
  "That's me, Akane Tendo," he said with a smile, trying to hide his
surprise of seeing the beautiful woman that he had dreamt about for the
past few days. He was hiding it well, his visage showing no signs of
surprise or attraction towards her.
  "What brings you here?" she asked, slightly blushing from Ranma's husky
voice. She felt relief when she realized it was dark out, and that Ranma
couldn't see her doing so.
  "Well...I'm here to schedule an appointment for an interview" Ranma
replied, feeling a little bit embarrassed that he didn't call instead. He
never really liked to talk over phone lines. He preferred talking to the
person face to face. And since he realized he was talking to Akane, he was
glad he liked his approach, even if he didn't know that Akane was the
person who was going to be interviewing him. He would've known it was her
if it weren't for her forgetting to put her name in the ad in the first
place.
  "An interview? You want to be a sensei?" Akane asked, a little surprised.
When she first met Ranma out in the park, she would've never guessed he knew
martial arts. She expected him to be something like a model, what with his
terrific build. She never would've thought that Ranma was the kind of
person who knew martial arts, what with him spending all of his time loving
his two daughters.
  "Yes," Ranma replied, smiling slightly, still a bit embarrassed at having
came at such a late time of day.
  "Why don't you come on in? I'll interview you now," Akane said, smiling
weakly "Besides, I wasn't planning on doin' anything in particular anyway"
  "Are you sure?" Ranma asked "I don't want to impose"
  "It's no problem at all" Akane said. Even though the though of a warm
bath seemed nice, spending some time with Ranma seemed even nicer.

  "I have about seven years experience in teaching, four of them for Kenpo,
and the other three for Aikido" Ranma said, taking a sip of his coffee,
which tasted great. It was very early, somewhere around two in the morning.
  Ranma had first stepped into the house almost three hours ago, and they
still weren't through with the interview yet. Maybe it was because they
would always digress into other subjects like why he was there or how she
inherited the dojo and so on. Even though they spent so much time together
already, the time seemed to have slipped away in a blink of an eye.
  Akane was impressed at Ranma's reply, very impressed. He was so far the
most qualified person for the position.
  "How long've you taken Kenpo and Aikido?" Akane asked, wondering just how
much experience he had in martial arts.
  "I've studied Kenpo since I was around three, meaning I've taken it for
twenty-six years. I started taking Aikido when I was around thirteen, which
means I've been taking it for close to sixteen years" Ranma replied.
  That means he's only twenty-nine, just one year older than me, Akane
thought, adding the numbers in her head up. Ranma definitely didn't look his
age. He looked like he was in his early twenties. What was even more
surprising was that he looked that young while still taking care of two
daughters. But Ranma wasn't the only one who looked young in that room.
Akane looked like she, too, was in her early twenties, which was odd 
considering she had quite a lot of stress from taking care of the house
and the dojo.
  "What degree did you attain in both arts?" she asked, the same question
she asked every other person she interviewed. Even though it was pretty
much an irrelevant question, she wanted to know anyway. 
  "I have a eighth dan in Kenpo and a seventh dan in Aikido" he said
bluntly, not at all proud of his rank yet not at all ashamed of it either.
He said it as if one would say what their address was.
  Oh my god, Akane thought. This guy's better than me. This guy's more
than much better than the person before him.
  "Wow, that's pretty much the highest rank you can attain in both arts,"
Akane said, a bit envious of Ranma's skill. But she wasn't at all bad
herself. She was a seventh dan in Karate and considered a grandmaster in
Anything-goes-martial arts, the highest rank a martial artist could ever
attain. Unfortunately, when one teaches a totally new art to the world,
they are automatically considered a grandmaster.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really care what rank he held. It
meant nothing to him. He was self-confident of his skills and that was what
mattered. He wouldn't even care if he was a white belt. He had two sweet
daughters that made him feel like he could take on the world.
  "I'd like to spar against you," Akane said, smiling slightly, her gaze
challenging Ranma's. Akane was way too good a martial artist to go up
against even a fifth or even a sixth dan martial artist. She needed someone
as good as her, if not better, to spar against her so she could learn more.
  If she always beat her opponents, how could she learn from her mistakes.
Now that there was a worthy opponent for her, she could finally see if she
was any good, any good against a formidable opponent.
  "Why would you want to spar with me?" Ranma asked, a bit confused.
Whenever people found out what rank he was in martial arts, they tended to
avoid confrontations with him. He was surprised that someone, who was
actually aware of his skill, wanted to fight with him.
  "I wanna see just how good you are?" Akane said, "That's all. How about
it?"
  "Um, I'd really like to, but I really have to get going," Ranma said, 
getting up out of his seat, finishing off his cup of coffee with one big gulp 
"It's getting late and I don't want the girls to wake up and ask the 
baby-sitter why I'm not home yet. But I would love to tomorrow" he added with 
a smile.
  "Can you come here around eight?" Akane asked.
  "Yeah, right after I drop the kids off at school," Ranma said "How come?"
  "Because that's when class starts. And I want you to teach it,"

Chapter 4                                                            

     Akane awoke feeling refreshed and invigorated, she having slept well
even if she did go to sleep very late that night. She stretched out her
slender arms, her muscles relaxed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The
morning sunlight was shining through the partially opened window, its warmth 
felt within the room.
  Akane yawned, stretching her arms high into the air, as if she were trying
to grab hold the sun itself. She felt a wave of relief wash over her when
she realized she could sleep in, Ranma coming in to teach the morning class.
But she didn't want to sleep in, she wanted to be wide awake when she met
him. Plus, she also wanted time to practice her techniques so they could
spar.
  She got out of bed, letting the bed sheet fall to the floor and on top of
her feet. She arced her back backwards, feeling the tenseness of her back
fade away as she yawned once again. Stepping out of clear view of the
window, Akane lithely got out of her nightgown and proceeded towards the
closet. She fetched out her jogging outfit, which consisted of shorts and a
regular t-shirt and got into them, checking herself out in the full-length
mirror.
  "I think I should start wearing jogging pants," Akane said to herself. She
realized that the shorts she was wearing exposed quite a lot of thigh.
Although she had beautiful shapely legs that women would die to have, she 
didn't like people staring at her, it made her feel weird. Besides, she was
self-confident about herself and she didn't need to show her legs off just
to prove it.
  "I better go out and buy some new jogging clothes tomorrow," she added,
noticing just how tightly her t-shirt hugged her chest. She knew her outfit
definitely attracted attention to her and didn't want that. Even though
there were few, she didn't like the guys who came up to her and asked her
out. Those guys would be leering at her chest as they said that. She knew
that those guys wanted to go out with her because of her body, or maybe
getting lucky with her. Well, those were to things they would never get.
  Akane had no intention of sleeping with anyone unless he was her husband.
She was worth waiting for. She intended on staying pure until her honeymoon.
  She quickly fixed her bed and threw her nightgown in the hamper before
she left her room and headed down the stairs. She seemed quite happy, far
more content than most mornings. Maybe it was because she knew Ranma was
going to be there in a little more than one hour.

  "Daddy, wake up," said the bundle of energy that just jumped into Ranma's
bed. That bundle of energy was followed by another bundle of energy, every
bit as energetic as the first one.
  "C'mon, Daddy. Wake up," Meggie said, pulling one of Ranma's eyelids open
and smiling sweetly while Jessie pulled the other one up. The twins both
giggled as Ranma tried to make them stop.
  Ranma smiled inwardly, pretending he was still asleep. He gently swatted
both of twin's hands away, acting as if he found it bothersome. The twins
giggled again as they pulled his eyelids open once Ranma's hands were back
by his sides.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, gently shaking Ranma "It's time to wake up"
  "I have a better idea to wake Daddy up," Meggie said, with a grin, a grin
that looked more cute than cynical.
  "What kinda idea?" Jessie asked, letting go of Ranma's eyelid.
  Meggie leaned forward and whispered into her ear.
  Ranma tried to listen but couldn't hear what the two were saying. His head
was too far away. And there was no way he could lift his head closer because 
it would give away his pretend act of still being sleeping. Although not many 
people could tell the difference between the twins, Ranma knew it was Meggie 
who came up with the idea. She was the one who always came up with the idea. 
  Although she and Jessie were twins, they were very different. Meggie was the 
quiet one, the one who was always thinking things up, the one who could make a 
plan up, but couldn't act it out. Jessie was the opposite. She was always 
out-going, never really thinking things through, the one who always listened 
and acted out all of Meggie's plans. They were a perfect combination. They 
were both inseparable, neither of them leaving each other's side. And Ranma 
was so lucky he had them for daughters.
  Ranma waited in anticipation for what the twins planned on doing. He
wanted to look but couldn't, for it would spoil his pretend act. He felt
a hand close over his nose and another over his mouth. The twins wanted to
see how long their Daddy could hold his breath before he needed air.
  "Gotcha!" Ranma said, reaching his arms outward and grabbing hold of his
two precious daughters. He embraced them tightly practically squeezing the
breath out of them. The twins yelped out in surprise, their giggles drowned
out by Ranma's declaration of how much he loved the two of them.
  "You think you could wake me up before you two wake up?" Ranma said,
getting out of bed, swing the two girls in his arms "You'll never get the
best of me"
  Ranma threw both girls in the air as they giggled in delight.
  "C'mon. Since we're all up early, lets go out and get some breakfast,"
Ranma said, throwing them back up into the air again, this time even
higher. Many times this had happened, his daughters waking him up early and
him taking them out to breakfast. Although Ranma was a great cook when it
came to making breakfast, they liked to eat out at times.
  "Okay, Daddy," Meggie and Jessie said in unison, leaping out of Ranma's
arms and scrambling out of his bedroom so they could get out of their
pajamas and into their clothes. Ranma watched as the two disappeared around
the corner of the hallway before he got out of his bed to get dressed
himself. He looked at the clock that hung on his wall as he took off his
shirt and threw it in the hamper.
  "Six forty. That leaves me with a little more than an hour to get the
girls dressed, eat some breakfast, take them to school, and get to my new
job," Ranma said, fetching a shirt out of his dresser drawer and putting it
on. If it was possible, the thought of working with Akane seemed to make his
morning even brighter. Not only did he have breakfast with his two daughters
to look forward to, but he also had work with Akane later. He didn't have
too much sleep last night, his thoughts of Akane plaguing his mind for
most of the night. He remembered how nervous he felt around her last night,
when he was being interviewed by her. He remembered how good he felt just
being around her. Smiling, he placed his clothes on and left for his
daughters room so he could help them get dressed.

  Akane stopped abruptly when she noticed Ranma walking down the street.
She felt a twinge of nervousness fall upon her. Her heartbeat started to
pace faster than it already was. She had been jogging for fifteen minutes
yet her heart wasn't beating as fast as it was now. Whenever she was near
him, she felt a warm feeling wash over her, a feeling she could get quite
used to.
  Ranma was unaware of Akane, his back turned towards her. He was holding
Meggie's hand with his left hand while holding Jessie's hand in his right.
Ranma seemed to have trouble keeping them well behaved for they were
playing tag against each other, pulling Ranma's arm back and forth when they
were trying to keep from being tagged. Ranma seemed happy, for the most
precious things in his life he held in his hands. The people who walked by
seemed to notice him, all envious of how content he was being around his
children, even if they did seem like quite a bit to handle.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, looking up towards Ranma, her head tilted backwards
so she could get eye contact "I want some cookies"
  "Honey, you know you can't have cookies for breakfast," Ranma said
patiently. This had happened before, his children asking for sweets and
candy on their way to the breakfast shop. But he had taught them well that
eating food like that would give them stomach aches "You'll get a tummy ache
in school"
  Jessie's visage saddened. She knew her dad was right. She had learned her
lesson. Once, when Ranma wasn't paying attention, she snuck into the
cookie jar and ate several cookies. She later on got a stomach ache in
school which caused her father to come and pick her up so he could take her
home. She would never forget how worried her father looked when he walked
into the nurse's office and saw her sick.
  "Daddy. I hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, giving Ranma's arm a
gentle tug. Meggie didn't want to worry her father but she really had to
go, and fast.
  "Can you hold it for just a few minutes longer?" Ranma asked. He knew
something like this was going to happen. Almost every time they went out
for breakfast, either Meggie or Jessie wanted to go to the bathroom. This was
one situation he could never really handle. His girls were too young to go to
the bathroom in a store by themselves. It didn't help any considering he was
a man and men couldn't go into the girls bathroom even if they were just
watching over their daughters. He had learned the hard way. About a year
ago, when Meggie needed to go to the bathroom, Ranma figured that no one was
in the girls room so he went in along with her. When he took his first step
in, he remembered reacting just in time to duck underneath a purse that
would've taken his head off if it connected. It didn't help matters any
when the lady started screaming 'Pervert!' and pointing towards him. But
after a lot of explaining, especially to the security guard that happened to
have been there, Ranma was apologized to. That incident taught Ranma quite
a lot.
  "Daddy, I really hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, crossing her
legs as she stood there.
  Ranma was starting to sweat. He needed someone else to escort Meggie to
the bathroom. He looked around in the passing crowd for any females who
seemed willing to help.
  "Hi Ranma," Akane said, finally coming up with enough courage to walk up
and talk to him. She had been standing behind him for several minutes before
she could get that weird feeling out of the pit of her stomach. But when
their eyes met, that feeling came rushing back. Her knees felt a bit shaky,
as if they were about to give out at any second.
  "Akane, thank goodness you're here. Can you please do me a favor?" Ranma
pleaded, noticing that intoxicating scent of slight perspiration from Akane.
But he managed to get a hold of himself in time for there were more
important matters at hand than that feeling he had in the pit of his own
stomach.
  "What is it?" Akane asked curiously. As she gazed at Ranma's visage, she
noticed that he seemed worried about something. She noticed some droplets of
sweat forming above his brow.
  "Can you please take Meggie to the bathroom?" Ranma said, extending his
arm forward so she could take hold of Meggie's hand "I don't want her going
into the girls room alone but I can't go into the bathroom along with her"
  Akane nodded as she took hold of Meggie's hand "Where's the nearest
bathroom?"
  "There's one in this store," Meggie said, pointing towards the store that
they were all standing in front of. She knew it was the breakfast shop they 
always went to. 
  Akane smiled at Meggie, noticing how helpful and cooperative the little girl 
was. Meggie had done this before, been escorted the bathroom by women who were 
willing to help. She was taught to always cooperate in a situation like this, 
when a woman would take her to the bathroom. She never really cared who 
escorted her, but for some reason, she enjoyed holding Akane's hand. It felt 
natural, like holding her father's hand.
  Ranma watched as Akane quickly entered the breakfast shop, her hand held
fast over Meggie's hand. He quickly followed suit, Jessie's hand held fast
in his own. Inside, he watched as Akane gracefully weaved between the people 
and head straight for the bathroom.
  "Who's that, Daddy," Jessie asked, gently tugging at Ranma's arm to get his
attention. Ranma seemed to have been caught up with watching Akane before he
realized Jessie was talking to him till she had to repeat herself a couple
of times.
  "That's Akane. Don't you remember, she was the nice lady you met in the
park a few days ago," Ranma answered, kneeling down in front of Jessie to
give her his full attention. He always paid full attention to his daughters,
always listening whenever they said something. Besides, he loved hearing
them talk.
  "Can we eat?" Jessie asked, rubbing her growling stomach "I'm hungry"
  "I'm hungry also. But can you wait for a few minutes?" Ranma asked "At
least until your sister and Akane come out"
  "Okay, Daddy,"
  After several moments of waiting.
  "There they are now," Ranma said, seeing Meggie and Akane coming back out
of the bathroom. He gently picked Jessie up into his arms so she could see
them from over the people that was already in the store. Slowly, with
Jessie still in his arms, Ranma started making his way through the crowd
and towards where Meggie and Akane was at.
  "Meggie, Jessie, let's get seated so we can eat," Ranma said, putting Jessie
back down on the ground so she and her sister could look for an empty
table. He watched as his daughters quickly found a table and climbed into
the empty seats. 
  "Would you like to join us?" Ranma asked, pivoting a bit so he could see
Akane and his two daughters clearly. He made sure his two daughters never
left his sight. Who knew what kind of people were out there?
  "Nah, I better not," Akane answered, noticing just how much attention Ranma
paid to keeping his daughters safe. Although she herself didn't have kids,
she would've most likely done the same thing Ranma was doing right now,
keeping her children in constant sight.
  "Come on. I insist," Ranma asked with a smile, a smile so warm that some of
the females in the store were quite envious about. They wished they had a
man whom seemed to light up a room with a single smile.
  Akane smiled warmly and answered.
  "Well, if you put it that way. How could I refuse?"

  Akane watched as Ranma waved to his daughters as they waved back one
more time before they both entered their school through the front door. She
smiled inwardly when she noticed just how much he cared for his daughters.
She noticed how reluctant he felt to releasing his embrace of them before
they headed towards the front door.
  "I guess we better head for the dojo," Ranma said with a sweet smile "so I
can start my new job"
  Akane smiled inwardly, knowing that she would be spending the next several
hours with him teaching class. Akane looked at her watch. It read
seven-forty exactly. That meant they had fifteen minutes to get to the dojo
and warm up before class started. Together, Ranma and Akane headed for the
dojo.
 
Chapter 5

     "Ranma," Akane said "Now how about that spar?"
  Ranma was a bit surprised that Akane still remembered that. He was
standing at the head of the class watching the students practice a simple
technique when Akane walked up to him. The students weren't paying too much
attention to them, all of them busy trying to hone their own skills. He
looked into Akane's beautiful eyes and saw the seriousness of what she said.
She did indeed want to spar against him.
  "Are you sure?" Ranma asked, "I, myself, don't wanna spar"
  "Why not?" Akane asked curiously. She figured that if Ranma was as good as
he said he was, he must have fought numerous battles. She figured that he
attained his rank from being very competitive, always striving to be better.
  "The last time I sparred was many many years ago, well before my two little 
girls were born," he replied "Ever since their arrival, I stopped training so 
I could raise them. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'll win"
  But he had other reasons not to spar, some very serious reasons, reasons he 
didn't really like talking about.
  "It seems like raising two girls made you soft," Akane said with joking a
grin. She just wanted to get on Ranma's nerves so he would spar against her.
That was why his reply was unexpecting. Ranma looked down towards the floor,
crestfallen, his feelings hurt. He never expected another martial artist to
offend him like Akane just did. But he immediately regained his composure
for he knew that he'd made the right choice, to give up martial arts for
the sake of his two little girls. But deep down inside, there was another
reason why he preferred not to spar. No one really knew, but he was fragile.
  Ranma felt self-conscious of himself as he stood before her. 
  "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Akane apologized, "I wanted to provoke
you into sparring against me and thought that was a good thing to say"
  "Don't worry about it. If you really wanna spar, then I'll spar against
you," Ranma said, a bit nervous. He knew he wasn't as skilled as he used to 
be, what with him being away from martial arts for seven years. He didn't know 
if he could be a worthy challenge against Akane. He was no longer skilled 
enough to be considered a eighth dan in Kenpo and seven dan in Aikido. He 
wasn't too sure he could consider himself a black belt in both of those arts.
  "Well, I guess we're gonna spar then," Akane said, getting into her
battle stance. Since Ranma was giving her the option to spar against him or
not, she chose to spar.
  "If you insist," Ranma said, getting into his own battle stance.
  By now, all the students had formed a circle around the two combatants,
all watching in eager anticipation for a great battle. Although they only
knew Ranma for one day, they knew he was a very skilled martial artist. They
just wanted to see how skilled he was.
  Slowly, Ranma and Akane inched towards one another.

  "I better get going now," Ranma said, helping Akane off the floor.
  Ranma and Akane were sweaty from the fight, both exhausted and tired. The
two combatants had been sparring for many hours before one finally gained
an advantage over the other. In this case, Ranma had gained the advantage
over Akane. Little did Akane know that Ranma held back while she pressed on
full force. But the victory had its price. Ranma was breathing heavily, his
gasping far heavier than Akane's. He had this ache in his chest, but he
ignored it.
  Akane took hold of Ranma's extended hand, feeling a bit flushed at the
thought that she, a grandmaster in Anything-goes-martial arts, had lost. But
she was grateful that no one was there to see her loss, for her students had
left a few hours ago, them needing to get on with their day. As she got up,
she noticed Ranma hadn't caught his breath yet, which was quite odd 
considering how great a shape he was in. But she disregarded it.
  It was about three, just a few minutes before Ranma had to leave to go
pick up his two daughters. It was also about a half hour away from Akane's
midday class, the most hectic time in her day, most of her students also
getting out of school and wanting to get their training in before the headed
home.
  "Are you coming back?" Akane asked, a bit daunted of having hired help
that would leave her in the middle of the day.
  "Oh, of course I am," Ranma said, smiling warmly "I just have to drop my
two girls off at their grandma's before I come back. It'll only take a short 
while"
  Akane breathed a sigh of relief, her tension ameliorated upon hearing his
words. She expected him to ask for the rest of the day off so he could spend
it with his two daughter, two lovely daughter she might add.
  "Wait a minute," Akane said as Ranma was about to leave to dojo.
  Ranma turned around, his attention on Akane.
  "Why don't you bring your two little daughters here?" she added.
  "Well, I don't know," he contemplated.
  "Come on," she said "It'll be fun. I'd like to get to know them. They seem
like very sweet children"
  Ranma's face lit up upon what Akane just said about his two daughters. He
always loved children, and the thought that she might also be pretty fond
of children brought some light into his life. After his wife left him, he
hadn't gone out much, always home to take care of the children after work.
  And when he did, albeit it was few over those years, the girls he went out
with would leave the moment they found out he had two daughters. Although
Ranma was quite a catch, his children usually drove them away. Because of
that, his children always blamed themselves because of it. They blamed
themselves for women leaving him, feeling they were at fault for him not
meeting that special someone. Even if they were partially related with women
leaving Ranma, it destroyed him whenever he would see his children cry
because they felt it was their fault. He couldn't have that happen again, no
matter how much someone seemed to care about children. All the women he went
out with knew he had, but disregarded it, thinking having him as a husband
would make everything better. So many times women have taken an interest in
his children as a way to get close to him, and so many times, they left him
because they couldn't handle the burdens of child rearing. He was no longer
as naive as he used to be a few years ago. He was no longer going to fall
for a woman that would eventually leave him like all the others.
  "Sorry. I can't," Ranma said, setting up his defenses, "T-their grandmother
is......expecting them"
  Ranma wasn't afraid of getting hurt. He just didn't want his children to
get hurt again, them thinking she left because of them.
  "Oh," Akane said "then I guess I could meet them some other day. Well you
better get going now"
  Ranma seemed a bit crestfallen as he left the dojo, knowing that that was
how most girls came on to him, through his children. No more. He wasn't going
to have that happen again. If he must live his life alone, without someone
to be at his side, then so be it. He couldn't bare to have his children hurt
again.
  Sighing inwardly, Ranma left for his daughters' school.

  Akane watched as Ranma left, wondering why his visage turned crestfallen
when she mentioned his children. She couldn't come up with any immediate or 
plausible answers other than Ranma being overprotective of his children.
  She sat down on the floor and began stretching, feeling a bit sad that
Ranma didn't want her to get close to his two daughters. She wanted to get
to know them, and Ranma for that matter. But if Ranma didn't want to get to
know her, she wouldn't press it any further. Even if that was so, she
figured she take one more try before giving up on him.
  "G'afternoon, sensei" came a meek voice.
  Akane snapped out of her little reverie, her attention going onto where
the voice came from. Standing in the front of the dojo was one of her 
students, a frail kid who had a thing for her ever since she started
training him.
  Well, if Ranma isn't interested, there's a whole line of people who would
be interested, Akane thought. But the thought exited her mind as quickly as
it entered it, her mind still on Ranma.
  
Chapter 6

     "Mr. Saotome," came a voice, a very female voice, which caused Ranma to
start, "do you have a minute?"
  Ranma was standing outside by the main entrance when he was tapped on the
shoulder. He turned around to face an elderly yet very attractive lady.
  It was the principal of his daughters' school.
  "Oh, sure" he said, "Is there somethin' the matter?"
  "Yes, it concerns your two daughters." she said matter-of-factly.
  Ranma's visage turned solemn. Did something happen to his daughters? Are
they all right? A plethora of thoughts raced through his mind.
  "Your two daughters seem to be having trouble in class," the principal
added before Ranma had a chance to say anything "They're becoming a bit
unruly in the classrooms"
  "Unruly? How're they unruly?" Ranma asked dubiously. He would have never
have suspected his two daughters to be unruly. He always suspected his two
daughters acted like little angels, always kind and well-behaved. But then 
again, they might act differently when they were around their Daddy. That 
might explain it.
  "Mr. Saotome, I don't know how to put this gently, bit I best say this
now before it gets worse," she said, "Your daughters should have a motherly
figure in their lives. I know it's hard for you to find to find someone,
what with you having to take care of them both and all, but you have to take
it into consideration that them not having a motherly figure in their lives
for so many years will be bad for them. They need some female contact more
often in their lives. And once that happens, they will turn out for the
better"
  "Uh, thanks for telling me that," Ranma said cordially "I'll definitely
take that into consideration. I appreciate you having told me now before it
was too late"
  "Daddy!" came a bundle of energy as it lumped onto one of Ranma's legs as
another bundle of energy lumped onto his other leg "We're so glad you're
here"
  Ranma gave the principal a weak smile as he and his two daughters headed
for their grandmother's home, Nodoka's home, which was nearby.

  "Oh drats!" Akane said, regarding the broken bokken "Now I have to go out
and buy a new one"
  Akane had accidentally broken her bokken. She was sparring with one of her
higher-ranking students with bokkens when her bokken had broken. It was a
sad sight, what with the force needed to actually break one of them.
  "Is there a martial arts equipment store nearby?" Akane asked one of
her students, the student she had been sparring against.
  "Yes, sensei. There's one in the mall," the student said.
  "Hmm, I might as well go out and buy a whole new set of bokken," Akane
said as she checked out the integrity of her opponents bokken. It was about
time also. Those bokkens were very old, bought by Soun when he was alive and
in his prime many many years ago, before any of his daughters were born.
Albeit the dojo had plenty of spare bokken, Akane wasn't satisfied with
having old ones. She didn't like the fact that the bokkens were older than
her.
  I'll go buy them tomorrow, she thought to herself. I'll buy them early in
the morning. Maybe I can even ask Ranma to accompany me.
  Akane smiled as she handed her student a bokken and grabbed hold of
another spare bokken off of the shelf.
  "Let's continue," she said, bringing her weapon in front of herself, a smile
on her lips.

  It was nice and cool out that night, the sun having set several hours ago.
The streets were quiet and serene, most of Nerima's residents having gone
home already to spend time with their families. The moon was already
gleaming brightly, its shedding light far brighter than the streetlights
that lined the quiet streets.
  The day was finally over. Albeit it was Ranma's first day, it was indeed a
hard day. When he worked as a sensei many years ago, he never worked as
hard teaching his students. It wasn't that the students needed to be taught,
but they wanted to be taught techniques levels beyond what they were
supposed to be executing. Akane's students were so much more zealous of
learning the art than in the school he worked for, which Ranma found very
appealing about working there. He always loved teaching the arts and was
glad to have students as zealous at learning them as Akane's students.
  "Your students really enjoy learning," Ranma commented as he continued
sweeping the mat with a broom. In traditional dojos, the students were
expected to sweep the mats at the end of every teaching session. But this
wasn't a traditional dojo. Akane made it clear that she didn't want any of
the students to sweep the mats simply because she enjoyed doing so. She
like the sense of responsibility of keeping the dojo in proper order. She
had once let the students sweep for her, but they ended up making more of a
mess than there was to begin with.
  "They're your students also," Akane corrected, a smile on her lips "They
really like having you teach them"
  Ranma smiled, saying nothing. He liked being considered a sensei again.
That was where his heart was, had always been, teaching students the arts.
  Akane was also sweeping the mat clean, but was on the other side of the
dojo. As Ranma continued to clean, Akane couldn't help but take some quick
glances towards his direction. Every here and there, when Akane wasn't
looking, Ranma took glance at her also. But their gaze never met. Ranma was
too protective of his daughters to let his defenses down. He knew that was
what led to him going out with someone, only to have them leave when they
realize he had two daughters. But Akane already knew he had two daughters.
Even if that was so, he still didn't let his defenses down. He didn't care
about himself getting hurt, it was his daughters being hurt that always got
to him. 
  "Ranma," Akane said after a few moments of silence. The silence was
unnerving to her. Also, the thought that she was in the same room with a guy
she found extremely attractive and not doing anything about it helped
unnerve her even more. Akane was used to men coming to her and asking for
her attention, not the other way around. She wanted him to notice her. 
Although he acknowledged her being there, he never pressed anything further 
than that.
  "Yes, Akane," he answer, continuing on with his sweeping, purposely not
trying to pay attention to her. He couldn't fall for her because if he did,
and she left, his daughters would go through the same anguish of believing
it was their fault.
  "Um, I was wondering-" she said.
  "Akane, why is there a bokken in the trash can?" Ranma interrupted. He was
finished with sweeping and was about to empty out the garbage can when he
noticed the broken bokken.
  "Oh, that. It broke earlier today when you were out picking up your two
children" she answered. She felt a bit more relaxed now, now that they were
on the subject of the broken bokken. She wanted to ask Ranma if he wanted
to go to the mall with her to go buy a new set of bokkens, what with the
others being so old and all.
  "Maybe I should go out and buy some," Ranma said, regarding the broken
stick carefully, noticing the antiquity of it "I know this martial arts
equipment store in the mall. I can pick some up for you if you'd like,"
  "How about we both go?" Akane suggested quickly.
  "Uh...sure, if you'd like," Ranma said, a bit nervous. He knew where this
was headed, and he didn't want it. He didn't want to get close to anyone
anymore for the sake of his children. But he then recalled what the
principal told him 'Your daughters should have a motherly figure in their
lives'.
  At that thought, Ranma lowered his defenses.
  "I'd like that," he added, a bit more calm now. He couldn't think of anyone
better to spend the morning with other than Akane. She had been the first
woman he'd actually spent time in a long, long time "When should we leave 
tomorrow morning?"
  "We could leave right after you drop off your two daughters" she said
"That'll be the best time because my first class don't start for about an
hour"
  "Fine, I'll be hear once I drop my kids off" Ranma said, smiling warmly,
which seemed to make Akane's heart beat faster.
  "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow"

Chapter 7

     As Ranma stood in front of Akane's front gate, about to knock, he
looked up towards the sky, noticing how beautiful and clear that morning
was. The sun shone brightly, its warm light felt and soothing. The vast blue
ocean of the sky above was clear of clouds. But in the far off distant
horizon, there were some dark clouds forming.
  "Hm, it looks like it's gonna rain," Ranma said to himself, noticing that
the dark clouds in the distant horizon wouldn't be there for at least
several hours, plenty of time for him and Akane to go to the mall and buy
some equipment. And while he was at it, he wanted to buy some things for
his daughters.
  He looked at his watch and realized that he was a bit late, but that was
perfectly understandable, what with him being kept busy up this morning
trying to get his daughters to school.
  This wasn't like him, being late. He was always prompt and on-time.
  Sighing, Ranma knocked on the gate. He didn't really want to be there. He
wanted to be away from women, but he couldn't. He knew that he should have
it where his daughters were in contact with a motherly figure.
  Ranma's reluctance disappeared once he got a view of Akane as she emerged
from the door. She was dressed in a yellow dress that hugged her body
tightly, accentuating her curves. The dress extended down to her ankles, the
hem gently fluttering in the mild autumn wind. She was wearing a yellow
wide-brimmed hat, topped off with a red ribbon. Ranma had never seen her
dressed in that kind of outfit outside her jogging clothes and her martial
arts dogi.
  She looked beautiful.

  "Can we stop here first?" Ranma said, quickly heading off towards a
clothing store. Akane watched as Ranma sidestepped and dodged the people
walking to and fro in the mall, heading straight for the store. She noticed
his moves were fluid and graceful, as if he were accustomed to do this. The
mall was crowed that day, its walkways and pathways replete with people
walking back and forth. Akane quickly followed suit, taking a little more
time than it did Ranma to reach the store.
  "Why're we here?" Akane asked, noticing that Ranma was inside a clothing
store dedicated to the female gender where panties and stocking outlined the
back of the store with dresses and skirts outlining the front. Lingerie that
no man should see unless in private was hung on shelves at the side of the
store, extending all the way to the back. 
  Akane's cheeks flushed a crimson hue when she noticed exactly how 
transparent and skimpy some of the lingerie were.
  Her gaze went from the outfits, and onto Ranma, who was walking past all the 
lingerie towards the back of the store. She noticed he didn't pay any 
attention to the clothing that surrounding him. She quickly rushed ahead, 
dodging the other women that was staring at the cute guy who entered the 
store.
  "Ranma, why're we in here?" Akane asked against once she caught up to him.
  "I hafta buy some panties," he said, his gaze on the shelves of underwear
that outlined the rear wall of the store. He wasn't paying too much attention
to Akane, his attention on finding the right set of panties to get.
  "Panties, why do you have to buy panties?" Akane asked, a bit shocked at
Ranma's answer. What shocked her even more was Ranma looked like he knew
what he was looking for. When she noticed that, she automatically figured
him for a pervert who enjoys collecting panties.
  Ranma didn't reply, too caught up finding what he wanted. Instead, he
began searching through the shelves, which seemed to embarrass Akane more
than it did him.
  "Is there something I could help you with.....sir?" a saleslady came by
and asked, a bit surprised she was addressing a male rather than a female
that would usually come in. She was a young lady, about the same age as
Ranma, if not a bit older. Akane noticed the saleslady giving Ranma a good
look over, admiring his physique and build.
  "Uh, yes. I'm lookin' for some panties," Ranma said, still shuffling
through packages of panties, one right after another. He wasn't even aware
that the saleslady was regarding him more that she was supposed to. Akane
noticed it though. But she said nothing, biting her lip. She had no right
to get angry at someone who was regarding someone that she wasn't seeing,
even though she wished she were seeing him.
  "I'm looking for panties for my two daughters," he added, much to the
relief of Akane. Why didn't she think of that in the first place? She
actually starting to believe he was a hentai. His daughters were nowhere in
mind at the time.
  "Is there a certain kind you're looking for, sir?" the saleslady asked.
  "Yes, I need them with the days of the week on them," he replied "They're
for two seven-year-olds"
  "Yes, we have what you're looking for," she said, pointing towards a shelf
adjacent to the one Ranma was searching through "They're over here"
  "Thank you," Ranma said, beginning to search through the shelf, producing
several packages of underwear, each having a different day sewn into the
material. He grabbed two packages of panties per day, one for Meggie, the
other for Jessie.
  "Ranma, each package has three pairs of underwear in them," Akane said,
calculating the amount he was actually buying "That's means you're buying
forty-two pairs of underwear"
  "You don't think that's enough?" he asked, about to grab another handful
of underwear.
  "Of course it's enough," she replied "Why do you need so many?"
  "Wednesday panties," he said, carrying a whole armful of panties towards
the front of the store, where the cash register was located.
  "Huh?" Akane followed Ranma to the front.
  "That's why I was late this morning," Ranma said "Jessie likes to wear
panties that was in accordance with the day. But I couldn't find and of
her panties with Wednesday sewn into them"
  "So, what didja do then?" she asked, a bit curious.
  "What else could I do? I told her to wear two pairs of panties," he
replied, reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet "I told her to
wear underwear with a Tuesday and a Thursday sewn into it. That way, it
evened out to Wednesday. I'm buying all of these so I'll never be short of
underwear for any day of the week"
  Akane couldn't help but giggle inwardly. How did he come up with something
like that? It was pure genius. 
  "That's a lot of underwear," the cashier commented, the same lady who
helped out before. She looked at Akane a bit enviously "Are they for you
and your husband's children?"
  Akane realized that the cashier wasn't speaking to Ranma but to herself.
When she heard that, she actually imagined she did have daughters of her
own. She imagined having Ranma as a husband. The thought brought a small
smile to her lips, for she actually believed it for a second.
  "Yes, they are," Ranma said, not paying too much attention. He didn't
exactly hear what the cashier had said. He thought she was talking to him
and his daughters, not him and Akane's daughters.
  The cashier's face frowned, she realizing that he was taken. She was
hoping Ranma wasn't married. 
  Akane couldn't believe what she had heard. She just looked at Ranma, 
wondering if he realized what he had just said. He had indicated that the two 
of them were married and had daughters with three simple words 'Yes, they 
are'.
  "You're one lucky woman," the cashier whispered in low tones to Akane,
which caused her to snap out of her little yet pleasant reverie. Almost
immediately, Akane realized that Ranma was almost halfway out the store,
a bag full of panties in his hand. She was about to quickly follow suit until
the lady continued on.
  "He's quite a catch, right?" she added, once Ranma was out of the store, out 
of earshot.
  Akane didn't say anything as she looked at the lady, noticing the envious
look she was giving her. The lady's eyes looked starry, as if she had seen
someone she knew she was going to fall in love with. But the lady snapped to
when she realized she couldn't have him. Afterall, he was married.
  Akane gave a small smile, deciding to let the charade go a little bit
further "Yes, he is. He is quite a catch"
  With that said, Akane turned around and left the store, leaving behind an
envious lady to wonder about how passionate the nights were between the
couple.

  "Did you know that guy?" Ranma asked, readjusting the crate load of bokkens
that he was carrying. He must have been carrying several dozen bokkens.
  "Yeah, he and I went to the same high school," Akane answered, a bit
crestfallen. She seemed a bit embarrassed. She was talking about owner of
the martial arts equipment store, Tatewaki Kuno. She knew Kuno had become
successful, what with him putting up several chains of stores all over
Japan, but she wasn't expecting to see him working in that particular store
on that particular day.
  "He seems like a nice guy," Ranma commented.
  Akane gave Ranma a weird look, not believing what she had heard. Wasn't he
aware that Kuno was giving him dirty stares when his back was turned. Kuno's
eyes never left Ranma when he and Akane both entered the store.
  "We better head on back now," Ranma said, carrying the heavy crate full of
bokkens as if it was light as a feather. Akane noticed this. She realized
Ranma was a lot stronger than she gave him credit for. She expected him to
lose the martial arts edge, what with him raising two children and all. 
  She watched as Ranma jogged down the walkway toward the mall's exit, weaving 
in and out of the passing people. One thing she did notice was that all the
females stopped to see who the cute guy was who passed them, their boyfriends 
getting angry at the distraction.
  "Akane," Ranma called out, "Come on. What're you waiting for?"
  Ranma was carrying the bokken, carrying his bag full of panties, and was
holding the door for her.
  Akane smiled as she followed suit.

Chapter 8

     Rain gently fell from the sky. The droplets could be heard as it hit
the rooftop of the dojo. The moon was high in sky, already beginning its
descend. The distant horizon of the star-clad night looked splendid. The
mountains could be seen in the far off distance, their peaks reaching up and
beyond the clouds.
  Akane was looking out the second story window of her home, staring off into 
the distance, admiring the beautiful scenery. It was early in the morning,
around two. She was looking out the window of her bedroom, her elbows
propped up against the windowsill. She couldn't sleep, her mind filled with
what she had heard earlier in the day.
  "That's a lot of underwear," Akane recalled the cashier commenting "Are
they for you and your husband's children?"
  "Yes, they are," came Ranma's answer as it echoed in her mind.
  Akane imagined how life would be if she was indeed married to Ranma. She
pictured how life would having him for a husband. She smiled to herself,
knowing that she would be happy. And what about his daughters? She would
like to get to know them, but Ranma seemed a bit overprotective of them.
When she had asked Ranma to bring them to the dojo the other day, he had
declined. He seemed a bit nervous to her when he declined, as if he was
intentionally lying to her.
  Akane's visage turned sullen when she thought of the why Ranma lied to her.
She figured he didn't want himself or his daughter to have anything to do
with her. That was the best reason she could come up with.
  If he doesn't want anything to do with me, she thought, then I'll leave
him and his two daughters alone.
  Akane wiped a forming tear from her eyes. Ranma was the first guy she
actually had some feeling towards, and it was for the wrong guy, a guy who 
wants nothing to do with her. Wiping her eyes one more time, Akane slipped 
under her bed sheets and silently went herself to sleep.

  Ranma silently entered his daughters' bedroom to check up on them. The
room was dimly lit by the moonlight that entered in through the window. It
was a messy room, clothes strewn about everywhere. Ranma smiled, realizing
that he can't even see the color of the carpet on the floor.
  I have to teach them to be neater, he thought to himself.
  His gaze turned from the clothes-scattered floor and onto his sleeping
daughters. The two of them were sleeping peacefully in their own beds.
Jessie's bed was nearest to the window, the moonlight shining on her angelic
face. Jessie, the more outgoing of the two daughters, was sleeping soundly,
dreaming wondrous dreams. Her bedcovers were only partially covering her,
she tending to twist and turn in her sleep.
  Ranma gently readjusted the sheets to cover her all the way up to her
neck. He didn't want his precious daughters to catch a cold. Once he was
satisfied that Jessie tucked in comfortably, he gave her a gentle kiss on
her forehead. Afterwards, Ranma's gaze turned onto Meggie, the older,
quieter of the twins, was neatly under her own covers. She always slept
without twisting or turning. He smiled as he, too, gently kissed Meggie on
her forehead.
  Ranma then sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room, his
thoughts on his daughters. He leaned back in the chair, relaxing as he got
comfortable. Although his bedroom was adjacent to his daughters' bedroom, he
wanted to always be near his daughters. Now that he couldn't sleep, he might
as well watch his daughters sleep.
  Thoughts of Akane was what kept him awake that night. He was contemplating
on whether or not he should get with Akane. He wanted to be with her, but
was scared that she might leave him like all the other women in his life.
He wanted to get to know Akane better, but couldn't out of fear. He was
scared that Akane wouldn't be able to handle his children, scared that she
wasn't cut out to raise twins. But his twins should have a motherly figure
in their lives. What could he do? He was plagued with doubt. He was unsure
that Akane was good with children. He only knew one person who was, aside
from his mother, Nodoka. It was Ukyo Kuonji.
  Ukyo was a childhood friend of his, a very good friend. She was always
there for him, just like he was for her. But that wasn't as far as it went.
They had become more than friends, and that, he felt, jeopardized it.
  Sighing quietly, Ranma leaned back in his chair, waiting for sleep to
bestow him.

  The grass was moist with dew the next morning, the sun glistening against
the moisture. The streets were slightly damp from last night's rain, the
reflected light almost glaring. The air was cool that morning, even a mild
gust of wind able to produce chilling effects.
  Akane looked up towards the sky, finally finished with her morning jog.
Her breathing was heavy, she having jogged more than twice the normal
distance to clear her mind, to clear her mind of Ranma. But no matter how hard
she tried, she couldn't get him out of her mind.
  "G'morning, Akane" came a soft voice, which caused her to start.
Akane thought she was alone. She turned around, knowing who that sensuous
voice belonged to.
  "Morning, Ranma" she replied, smiling weakly. Ranma looked so gorgeous. His 
hair was matted to his forehead, he having jogged also earlier when he was 
bringing his two daughters to school.
  "You're a bit early," Akane added, looking at her watch, noticing that he
was about a hour before class started "Would you like to come in?"
  "Actually," he said, taking a deep breath, "I was wondering if you would
like to go out for some breakfast with me" He topped off his little
statement with a warm smile that Akane couldn't refuse. His smile made Akane
feel special.
  Akane looked at Ranma in bewilderment, wondering where that came from. She
wasn't expecting him to ask her out to breakfast. Actually, she was
expecting him to refuse her proposal. 
  "Uh, sure" she said, noticing the eagerness in her voice. When she did, she 
took a second to take in a deep breath.
  "Um, I guess I could," she added, a little bit more clam "Where would we
go?"
  "How about this nice restaurant down the block, Pour Deux?" he suggested.
  Akane smiled inwardly, realizing the meaning of the words for that
restaurant. It meant 'For two' in French. She looked up at Ranma, wondering
if he really knew the meaning. She looked at him curiously "Ranma, do you
know what 'pour deux' means?"
  "No, I thought it was just a name," he replied 
  "Nevermind," she replied, a little crestfallen. She was hoping he knew what
those words meant. She was hoping he viewed them both as a couple.
  "So how about it, Akane? Are you up to a little breakfast?" he asked
sweetly, not noticing how glum Akane looked. But when his gaze went to her,
she looked happy. She was actually glad to eat out for a change, even if it
wasn't as a couple. She was happy to be spending time with Ranma.
  "Yeah, let's go"
        
  "Ranma, is that really you?" came a voice from behind Akane.
  Akane and Ranma were both eating at their table, Akane sitting across from
Ranma. They were both sitting at one of the tables located near the center
of the busy room. They had been eating for about ten minutes until they were
both interrupted.
  Akane looked at Ranma for a second, noticing his eyes widening, and then
she turned around to face the person who interrupted their little
conversation. Ranma and Akane were both in a conversation about how
beautiful Nerima was.
  Akane's gaze rested on a beautiful woman with long, flowing mane of
chocolate brown hair. She was about the same height as Akane. Her bangs
partially covered over her gorgeous brown eyes. Her mane of hair flowed down
her back, all the way to her slim waist. She was a very beautiful woman.
  "Ukyo?" Ranma asked, practically ignoring Akane. He hadn't seen her for
several years. Ukyo had moved away many years ago. 
  "Ranchan," Ukyo said, stealthily making her way to Ranma's side.
  Ranma got out of his seat and embraced Ukyo tightly, lifting her slightly
off the floor. Akane watched as all of this happen, a growing sensation
in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't liking what she was seeing.
  "Akane, this is Ukyo...Ukyo Kuonji," Ranma introduced her "She's my best
friend since my childhood"
  "We were more than just friends, Ranchan," Ukyo said with a mischievous
grin, which made Ranma blush beet red.
  "Ukyo, I want you to meet Akane Tendo," he said with the same warm smile
he gave Akane earlier "I'm working for her as a sensei"
  "Nice to meetcha," Ukyo said, bowing respectfully. Akane reluctantly did
the same, not even bowing as low as Ukyo bowed.
  "Um, so how do you two know each other?" Akane asked, getting back into
her seat.
  Before Ranma had a chance to speak out, Ukyo interrupted "We were lovers,"
  Ranma cringed at Ukyo's reply, knowing that it was true, but not really
wanting Akane to know "until Ranchan figured it was best that we both went
our separate ways. This was before he was married of course"
  Ukyo had a starry look in her eyes. She remembered the two of them going
separate their ways. But she had always figured they were meant for each
other and that they would eventually cross paths sometime in the future. And
now that she and Ranma met once again, she figured it must have been fate.
She always thought that she and Ranma were right together.
  "I can't believe we're together again. I always figured we would meet
again," Ukyo said, embracing Ranma again, giving him a passionate kiss on his
lips, much to Akane's displeasure and disappointment.
  "Ukyo," Ranma said, gently breaking out of Ukyo's embrace, blushing
horribly. Ukyo must have been the first girl to have kissed him in years.
The taste of Ukyo's lips on his made him a bit disoriented, made him think
back to the times they were together, both passionately in love. But he
quickly snapped back to reality when he realized Akane was watching "Ukyo,
you have to stop, this isn't right"
  Ukyo looked at Ranma curiously. She didn't find anything wrong with
kissing Ranma "What's wrong with what I'm doin'?"
  "Um, because Akane's here," Ranma said, saying the first thing that came
to mind, even if it meant absolutely nothing.
  "Don't stop on my account," Akane said, a little bit angry. She wasn't even
aware of what she was saying. She, too, said the first thing that came into
mind, her pride doing the talking to save face "It's not like the two of us
are seeing each other anyway. He's just working for me"
  Those words struck Ranma horribly, practically shattering his heart. He was 
hoping Akane viewed him as something more than an employee. His morning had 
been ruined by those few words Akane said, her words having more of an effect 
on him than she had realized.
  "Ranchan, you okay?" Ukyo asked, noticing Ranma's crestfallen visage "You
don't look too well"
  "Yeah, I'm okay," Ranma quickly recovered, taking in a deep breath and
sighing out load. Akane never noticed how crestfallen he looked, for Ukyo
was blocking her view of him. If she had seen his visage change when she
said those few words, she would have realized that Ranma actually had some
feelings for her, for if he didn't, those words wouldn't have had such a
profound impact.
  "Is it all right if I stay?" Ukyo asked, turning her attention to Akane.
  Akane shrugged her shoulders, trying the best to hide her discontent, "Sure, 
if you'd like"

  Ranma looked over towards Ukyo, who was tightly glomped onto his arm. Her
head was resting against his shoulder and her arms were wrapped around his
right arm. She looked like she was staring at something a million miles
away, for she was happy to have met Ranma again after so many years. His
gaze went from Ukyo, and onto Akane. Akane was a few steps ahead of them,
her hands clenched into fists. She was obviously angry, but Ranma was
unaware of it. Although figuring Akane was trying to avoid him, he was
thinking she was avoiding him for the wrong reason. He thought she avoided
him because she wanted to leave him and Ukyo alone, not because she was
angry at him.
  "Ranchan, guess what?" Ukyo said, looking up into his eyes.
  "What?" he asked, not too fond of guessing games, and Ukyo knew that.
  "I'm moving here, to Nerima," she stated "I'm thinkin' of opening a 
restaurant here"
  She had waited a moment before she told him the second part, so he had a
chance to take everything in. It took him a few moments before he realized
what she was saying.
  "Why're you moving here?" he asked. Deep in his heart he wanted Ukyo to
move to Nerima, but didn't want her to move there for the wrong reason, him.
  "Because I want to be close to you," she replied, much to Ranma's 
discomfort. That was what he didn't want to hear.
  "Ukyo, look, we can't do this," he said, sadly. He didn't want to hurt her
feelings, but knew that hurting her now was a lot less painful than hurting
her later on "We're no longer seeing each other"
  "I know, but I want to be close to you anyway," she replied, squeezing her
grip over his arm for more emphasis. She knew that she could never have
Ranma, she knew because she wasn't the one who ended up marrying him a few
years later, but she just wanted to be near him anyway.
  Ranma sighed. He couldn't have this happen. He couldn't have Ukyo move to
Nerima all because of him. It would be all on his conscience if she didn't
like being there. But there was nothing he could do, she was a grown woman
and he couldn't just tell her not to move there.
  Sighing again, Ranma spoke, "Ukyo, if it really makes you happy, then I
hope you'll like Nerima"
  Ukyo's face lit up. She was so happy that Ranma was happy for her. She
passionately embraced Ranma with all her might, practically squeezing all
the air put of his lungs. As Ukyo held him, Akane happened to have turned
around to ask Ranma a question, she getting quite an eyeful of what was
transpiring.
  She was about to yell at him for being the way he was but realized she
had no control over him. It wasn't like she was his girlfriend or anything.
Akane sighed, her words dying before they left her lips. She was losing him,
and she never even had him.
  "Ranchan, I have to get goin' now, but maybe you and I can get together
sometime in the future" Ukyo said, smiling mischievously, "Well, how 'bout
it? I have my own apartment"
  "Ukyo, I can't" Ranma said, "I would've said yes several years back, but I
won't anymore. I have two daughters to worry about"
  "Oh, how are Meggie and Jessie doin'?" Ukyo asked "I haven't seen them in
years"
  "They're fine," Ranma said, glad the subject was now off of him, even if it
was diverted to his two daughters. 
  "Well, I best be goin' now. Tell Meggie and Jessie I said 'hi'" she said,
heading off in the opposite direction "Bye Akane. It's been nice meeting
you"
  Akane gave Ukyo a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. She watched as Ukyo
rounded the corner and disappeared. Her gaze then turned onto Ranma, who was
innocently looking in another direction. After a short while, Ranma's gaze
fell on hers, both of their eyes fixed on each other.
  "Akane, I hope you're not mad," Ranma said, his voice soft, almost meek.
  "Why would I be mad?" Akane responded, a bitter chill in her voice.
Obviously, she was unaware that she was more angry than she assumed. It
wasn't Ranma that she was mad at, but herself. She was angry at herself, but
didn't exactly know why. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't have Ranma.
  Ranma could almost feel the coldness from her voice. He cringed as those
words enveloped him. He knew that Akane was mad, and that she was trying to
conceal it. He looked away, not wanting to look into Akane's beautiful eyes.
  He wanted to tell her that Ukyo was only a friend, and that nothing would
ever happen, but he couldn't. He still had feelings for Ukyo, stronger
feelings that that of a friendship. But that was all in the past now.
  Taking a deep breath, Ranma spoke, "She's only a friend, Akane"
  "Heh, she seems much more than a friend," Akane spat, not even aware that
she was speaking with the pain in her heart. She hid herself behind her
cold words, for that was the only thing she knew how to do. By the time she
realized what she had just said, she was regretful for having said it. She
wanted to take those words back when she saw the hurt in Ranma's eyes.
  As she stared into those lonesome eyes of his, Akane wanted to take those
words back so bad that she was about to, but her words failed her. She
wanted to tell him that she didn't mean what she said. She didn't want to
hurt him. Ranma had only been in her life for a few days, and she could
already picture spending the rest of her life with him.
  I can't have him, Akane thought to herself. He has Ukyo. His life is
probably frustrating enough, what with him having to take care of two little
girls. Now Ukyo walks into his life. There's no way he could make room for
me.
  This'll never work, Ranma thought to himself. Akane doesn't want me. I
betcha she thinks I'm some kinda womanizer, what with Ukyo showing up outta
nowhere. Why would she ever want to be with a womanizer?
  Ranma's gaze fell on Akane, just as she turned her gaze from him. He was
unaware that Akane wanted to be with him, just as she was unaware that he
her.
  "We better head on back" Akane said after a few moments, still not
bothering to look Ranma in his eyes. She felt ashamed of what she said about
him and Ukyo being more than friends. She wished she was Ukyo, wished she
was the one who kissed Ranma, wished she was to one who tasted his salty
lips on hers. But she knew that would never happen. Why would he want her
when he had a woman like Ukyo?
  "Hai" he concurred, noticing that Akane's gaze was anywhere but on him.
His shoulders slumped when he assumed that she didn't want anything to do
with him aside from work. He yearned to reach out and grab hold of her, to
bring her close to him, to tell her that he wanted to be with her. But he
couldn't. Akane wouldn't even look at him, let alone spend her life with
him.

Chapter 9

     Ranma watched Akane as she gracefully when through her kata forms, the
flow of her attire moving as smoothly as that of a gentle river. Her
movements were very feminine yet very powerful, and they were perfectly
in synch with the traditionally forms that her late father had taught her,
every step perfect, exact and precise. As Ranma watched her, he felt a warm
feeling in his heart. It was as if Akane was doing the movements for no one
but him, which wasn't the case for the room was filled with students, all of
them watching Akane attentively.
  As he continued to watch her, he noticed Akane taking a glance towards
him. He slightly blushed, grateful that he was too far away for her to
notice. He watched her for several pleasure filled moments before he had to
turn his eyes from her. He knew that if he continued to watch her, he would
have gotten up from his seiza position and grabbed hold of her, kissing
her like there was no tomorrow. Obviously, this wouldn't go well with most
of the male students in the class.
  Ranma's gaze went around the room. He noticed that several of the students
watched her more attentively than some of the other students. Obviously,
these students must have a crush on her. That was perfectly reasonable. A
student having a crush on a sensei in a dojo was the same as a student
having a crush on a teacher in a school. It was the forbidden fruit that
create such attractions. Knowing that you can't have that person only makes
you want them more. That was how Ranma felt. He wanted Akane so bad. He
wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to show her his feelings for her, to be her
lover. He wanted to be all of that and more. But there was a little voice
inside of him that said it wasn't right, saying that he should never get
involved with his boss.
  As she continued through her kata forms, Akane stole a glance towards
Ranma. Upon seeing him, her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw him
looking directly at her. She could see a slight hue of red forming on his
cheeks, as if he were blushing. Aside from his blushing, she noticed his
eyes filled with this passionate fire that she had never seen before, as if
he longed for her. That was how she felt. She too longed for him. She wanted
to be close to him, to cuddle with him, to taste his lips on hers, and maybe
even....
  What was she thinking about? How could she even conceive such thoughts?
  But her thoughts didn't seem so uncivilized when she remembered the fire
in Ranma's eyes a second ago. Maybe she too wasn't the only one thinking of
those thoughts. But when she looked towards Ranma again, he was no longer
regarding her, but was rather looking around the room, his attention on the
students rather than her. That felt like a knife through her heart, like
she wasn't even worthy of his attention. She noticed that Ranma was
regarding most of the male students, as if he cared more for the males
rather than the females.
  Sighing to herself, Akane continued on with her kata forms, her attention
now on the picture of her father hanging on the wall. If Ranma felt she was
worth his attention, then she wasn't going to give him her attention either.
  Ranma lifted his gaze from the students, a small smile on his lips. He
knew exactly why those male students were so attracted to the lovely Akane.
They saw her the same way he saw her, beautiful, strong-willed, graceful, 
caring, and most of all, the real reason why men were fond of her kind, 
unattainable. She was the kind of person wanted to have but couldn't, as if
they were reaching for the stars.
  Ranma's smile vanished when he looked towards Akane again. She was no
longer paying attention to him. He noticed that she was now looking at a
picture on the wall.
  Perhaps this is her father, Ranma thought to himself. Maybe that's the
kind man she wanted. Maybe she wanted a man just like her father. That's
what most daughters looked for in a man, a person that was just like their
father. 
  Ranma felt crestfallen. He was probably nothing like Akane's father. Why 
would Akane want Ranma anyway? He had children at an early age, his wife
left him, he couldn't hold down a job for longer than a few years; that
meaning his job as both a sensei and a chief-executive of a computer
engineering company. And that was even half of it. Maybe it was best that she 
stayed away from him anyway. Obviously, a woman who was like Akane shouldn't 
be around guys like him, a womanizer. At least that was how he viewed himself.
  Ranma looked at the clock that hung on one of the walls of the dojo, the
time was nearing when his daughters' school was letting out. Sighing to
himself, Ranma got up from his seiza position and bowed as he stepped off
the mat. Akane turned her attention towards Ranma, she still going through
her kata forms, each movement as precise as the prior one.
  Ranma mouthed the words that he had to go pick up his daughters, and Akane
gave a brief nod, right before turning her attention back onto her forms.
  He headed for the locker room to change, several females watching him 
intently. It seemed that while all the males were paying attention to Akane,
all the females were paying attention to Ranma, much to his unawareness.
  Upon exiting the locker room, Ranma noticed that the students were all
lined up near the front of the dojo, all of them, including Akane, paying
their respects to one another by bowing. The class was coming to a close,
the training session over.
  Ranma decided it was best that he waited, so he could tell Akane that he
was leaving to pick up his daughters, instead of leaving so abruptly.
  "Thank you very much, sensei" the students said in unison, all of them
bowing towards Akane as she too bowed back in return, that signaling the
end of the training session for the day. One by one, the students headed for
the locker rooms, the females heading for the female locker room, and the
males heading for the locker room Ranma just emerged from, some of the
students bowing to Ranma along the way.
  "Akane," Ranma said.
  "Yes?" Akane asked as she walked up to Ranma, wiping some of the sweat
from her forehead with a towel she grabbed from a nearby cubby. Ranma could
smell the slight scent of perspiration on her, and it was intoxication,
making want to grab hold of her and hold her close to him. But he quickly
banished those thoughts from his mind.
  "I have to go pick my kids up, I'll be back in a short time," he said,
smiling weakly. He had to put up some sort of front against Akane, not
wanting her to know just how much he wanted her.
  Akane's knees felt a bit weak when he smiled towards her "S-sure. No
problem. Take your time. The next class won't start for a while"
  "Would you like to come with me?" Ranma asked, swallowing a large lump in
his throat, as if he were asking a girl out on a date for the very first
time. Actually, it kind of felt like he was asking Akane out on a date, and
since he hadn't dated in a long, long time, it felt like he was doing this
all over again.
  Akane was a bit surprised upon hearing those words. She noticed him take a
deep breath before asking her, as if he was trying to rid his nervousness.
She felt a bit flattered when she realized this, when Ranma was nervous
talking to her at the moment. But then she thought about the offer. She just
couldn't. She recalled the scene at the restaurant, when Ukyo kissed him.
She couldn't help but remember that those two seemed perfect for one
another. Akane wasn't the kind of woman who would steal a man from another
woman. But then again, Ranma wasn't Ukyo's in the first place. Yet, for
some reason, Akane could get past that. The fact that Ukyo and Ranma were
once lovers made everything different. 
  "I-I'm sorry....but I can't," Akane declined, not looking in Ranma's eyes.
She knew that if she looked at those beautiful eyes of his, she wouldn't
be able to lie like she just did. 
  "Oh," Ranma said, a bit crestfallen, feeling a bit depressed. He was hoping
she would say yes. He was hoping she would want to be with him, to spend
some time with him. But it was obvious she didn't. She probably wanted
nothing to do with him.
  "Well.....I guess I should get going now," Ranma said smiling weakly,
desperately trying to hide the hurt that was within him, much to no avail.
The only thing that kept Akane from realizing this was that he turned his
back toward her.
  Sighing inwardly, Ranma said as he left the dojo "Bye,"
  Akane watched as he left the dojo, his words echoing in her mind as if he
would never return. That thought disturbed her considerable. Sooner or later, 
he would fall in love with someone else, leaving her behind, wondering what 
could have been if she tried to get to know him. 
  Akane thought of that for a long time, so long that when she finally
decided she would take her chances and open up to Ranma, he was already
gone. By now, the dojo was empty, and she felt incredibly lonely. It wasn't
the fact that there were no students there, but the fact that there was no
Ranma there was what made her lonely.
  Not wanting it to turn out the way she was suspecting, losing Ranma to
Ukyo, and being lonely forever, Akane sought to win his heart. Determined
not to lose Ranma to Ukyo, Akane headed out of the dojo, headed straight
for Nerima elementary school, Ranma's daughter's school.

  Ranma was pacing back and forth in front of the school when Akane arrived.
She stopped a few yards from him, realizing that he hadn't noticed her. She
waited for a few moments, regarding him as he continued to pace, his steps
elegant and graceful with an air of masculinity. She watched him look
impatiently at his watch, anxious to see his daughters. 
  She stood there gazing at him, her heart aflutter from the dedication he had 
towards his two daughters. The thought of meeting someone so committed to 
their children and perhaps spending the rest of her life with him gave her 
this warm feeling.
  "Ranma," Akane called out, stepping forward, smiling warmly as Ranma
spotted her. She had to maneuver past several mothers, whom were also there
waiting to pick up their children. She noticed that several young mothers
were paying Ranma far more regard than she'd like. But there was nothing
she could do. Afterall, it wasn't as if Ranma was her....boyfriend.
  "Akane," Ranma called out, gracefully avoiding all the mothers, noticing
that there were no fathers among the crowd besides himself. He noticed that
several of the young mothers were regarding him desirably, as if undressing
him with their eyes, much to his discomfort. But he had gotten used to it.
Anyone from the opposite sex would considered him an extremely attractive
man, so that was perfectly understandable. 
  He ignored the glared as he maneuvered through the crowd, and he could have 
sworn having felt a hand brush against his backside as he headed towards Akane 
but he disregarded it.
  He wanted to turn around and tell the mothers that he wasn't some trophy.
He wanted to tell them that he was more than just a desirable man, a piece
of meat, a sex object. But he didn't have the time, for he wanted to be
with Akane, to be near her, to be by her side. And the fact that she was
there further justified that she might want the same thing in return.
  "What're you doin here?" he asked, noticing that Akane was still in her
dogi, realizing that she must have left in a hurry to catch him, not even
bothering to change. Even thought she looked very beautiful in the attire she
was wearing, he liked the thought that she didn't really care about her
appearance all that much, unlike some of the other females. He liked
the fact that Akane was more than superficial, as if she knew she was
beautiful and didn't need to put on make up to flaunt it.
  Akane was a bit self-conscious of herself, aware that she must have
looked like a mess, what with her still in her sensei apparel and still
sweaty from teaching.
  What the heck, Akane thought to herself, it's not like it matters. He
knows I didn't have the time, and that I was the one teaching today. She
only made feeble attempt at fixing her hair, combing it back with her
fingers.
  Ranma watched as Akane did that. He just loved the idea that Akane didn't
bother to fetch a comb to use it to fix her hair. It meant that she wasn't
distraught over her looks, which made her look all the more desirable to
him.
  Ranma gestured for Akane to head with him toward the playground, where
there were less people there to eavesdrop in on their conversation. He sat 
down in one of the swings, Akane noticing that although he was in his
late-twenties, he had this boyish look to him when he sat there. He looked
even younger than he already did now that he sat in that swing.
  "I thought you were busy," Ranma said.
  "I was wrong," Akane lied "I thought I was busy"
  She felt a bit guilty about lying to Ranma. But there was a good reason.
She wanted to be with him.
  Akane sat down next to him, in an adjacent swing, memories of her
childhood flooding into her mind as she continued to swing back and forth,
memories of her and her friends seeing who could swing higher.
  "This sure bring backs memories," Akane said, looking up into the clear,
blue skies, not a cloud to be seen.
  Ranma didn't say anything for a moment. He seemed to be distraught over
what Akane had just said "I'd prefer to think it didn't"
  "Huh?" Akane muttered. She couldn't understand why he didn't like think
back to the days when he was young. Childhood were the days where one could
be carefree, free of responsibilities, no longer in need of worry about
anything except when to be home to eat and when to go to school and sleep. 
  "Why not?" she added.
  "That's something I'd rather not talk about," Ranma replied, not looking
directly at Akane, as if very ashamed. He looked thoroughly depressed with
the feelings that the thoughts of his childhood had evoked, and the most
intense of those feelings, shame.
  Akane regarded Ranma intently, noticing how quickly his emotions had
changed. She felt he was ignoring her, but she remembered reading this book
that stated that men tend to become quiet when they have problems, just like
women tend to talk when they have problems.
  "I had a pretty rough childhood" he said.
  "oh?"   
  "I was abused when I was very young" Ranma said suddenly. He had kept this
inside for a long time now. He had to tell it to someone. Anyone.
  Akane said nothing, unable to comprehend all the thoughts racing through
her head. She felt sympathy at first, but then it turned to anger. How could
a person as gentle and loving as Ranma been abused when he was a child? How
could this happen? Why would it happen?
  "I-I'm sorry to hear that," Akane said, genuinely sympathetic. She couldn't
think of anyone that deserved what Ranma had went through. She wanted to
reach out and hold him, comfort him, tell him everything would be okay, but
she couldn't. She had no right to.
  "It was my father," he said, looking at nothing in particular.
  "Oh my!" Akane said. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She
wondered how much turmoil Ranma must have been in, how much he had bottled
up. Obviously, there was a lot more to him than she knew, cared to know. But
she wanted to know. She wanted to know everything about him.
  She wondered how horrible it would feel if her own father, Soun, had
abused her. She wondered if she could cope with it, the thought that her
father didn't love her, the thought that she would dread being a child,
being too helpless to defend herself.
  "My father used to drink a lot," Ranma continued on "Whenever he was drunk,
he would hit me. But after a while, he would hit me, even when sober"
  "Oh god," Akane said. She hated hearing those words. She could bear it. She
felt so much grief for Ranma. He must have had a terrible childhood, dreaded
coming home from school.
  "My father used to beat me so bad that I bled," Ranma heard himself say. He
couldn't really understand why he was telling all this to Akane. He hadn't
even told Shori, his wife. He lived his life with that bottled inside,
no one having known, except his mother, Nodoka. She had watched helplessly
as his Ranma beat him, beating him so hard that he would bleed from his
wounds, sometimes beaten so badly that his fragile bones would break.
  Nodoka had wished, with all her heart, believed with all her heart, that 
Genma, Ranma's father, would come around, finally realizing what he was doing 
was wrong. This went on for a long long time, until Nodoka couldn't stand it
anymore, finally believed he would never change. Not until Ranma had been
hospitalized with a punctured heart, the blow so hard to his chest that
several ribs had been broken, the bone puncturing his heart, did she call
the police.
  "My mom finally called the police when my heart was punctured," he said in
one breath, taking a deep breath to continue on. It was as if he had to tell
her all this "He broke one of my ribs and the bone dug into my heart,
puncturing it. Eventually, it healed, but it never healed fully"
  Akane gasped in disbelief upon hearing those words. She recalled how hard
he was breathing after the two of them sparred against one another, but she
had disregarded it. She remembered he was breathing a lot heavier than her.
She felt so bad, for she was the one who insisted on sparring, even after
he told her he preferred not to.
  Ranma held his chest, indicating that his heart never healed properly.
Even though the wounds didn't show, they still bled. Akane wanted to cry,
for causing Ranma to spar. She never knew he had heart problems, yet he
continued on to spar. What if he collapsed, his heart failing him? What if
he died.........
  Akane made a fist, her knuckles whitening from the tension. She felt very
angry, angry at herself for causing Ranma any pain. She never expected him
to be......fragile. He looked rugged and strong. The thought that he had
heart problems never crossed her mind, never crossed anyone's mind.
  How could a father do this to his kid, Akane thought, anger enveloping
her. She didn't know the man, and she already hated him, hated him for what
he had done to Ranma, poor Ranma.
  Ranma's father, Genma, had been arrested, and he was found guilty of 
attempted murder. He died in jail, serving his life-long sentence. For that, 
Ranma blamed himself for his death, blamed himself for having to go to the 
hospital from the injuries he could no longer sustain.
  "My father died," Ranma continued, his voice almost not his "in jail"
  Akane said nothing. She felt anger towards this Genma, this man she never
knew. But when she looked Ranma, she noticed that he seem to hold some kind
of contempt towards his father. She had no idea it was contempt toward 
himself.
  Why on earth would someone ever hit Ranma? Why? She asked herself those
questions over and over again, coming up with no plausible answer. She
wanted to ask Ranma what he thought about it, on why he would be hit, but
she knew it would make him think more of the past, bring him more grief.
  "I'm glad he died," Ranma said "I hated him"
  But he never hated him. He always blamed himself for his father's death.
It wasn't his father he hated, but himself. From time to time, Ranma would
awaken in from his sleep, dripping in sweat, awoken from visions of his
father suffering in jail.
  His voice is as cold as ice, Akane thought, almost inhuman and uncaring.
But deep down inside she knew he had a very warm heart. She remembered the
fire she saw in his eyes when he was watching her earlier, as she did her
kata forms.
  "But don't worry about it," Ranma added, putting up a wall around him, a
wall of ice. He no longer looked depressed, but rather neutral. His visage
gave way no indication that he was sad, or happy for that matter. He looked
stoic, almost cold, shutting off his emotions, like a robot. It was his
problem, not Akane's.
  "Look," Ranma said, his voice unreadable "no one knows about this, not
even my daughters. Please don't tell them. It'll destroy them to know that I
had been abused when I was their age"
  "I won't say a word," Akane said "I promise"  
  Ranma opened his mouth, about to say another word, but nothing came out.
It was as if he were trying to find the right words to say but came up with
nothing reasonable. It was as if he wanted to tell her more about himself,
but thought otherwise.
  What else is there to Ranma, Akane thought solemnly. What other burdens
is he carrying? He seemed to be doing okay by himself, but there was so
much more underneath, below the surface. He looked like he lived the most
perfect life. But he hadn't. He had married at an early age, his wife left
him, leaving him to rear his twin daughters, and now, Akane found out that
he had been abused, and he never had a father who cared about him.
  At that instant, the school bell rang, its ringing echoing loudly,
bringing Ranma and Akane's conversation to a halt. Akane regarded Ranma as
he got up off the swing, heading toward the front of the school.
  "Are you coming?" Ranma said, his voice warm. It was as if this
conversation had never taken place, as if he and Akane were just chit
chatting.
  "S-sure," Akane said, getting off the swing. She walked up to Ranma and
regarded him when he wasn't looking. She could now see content in his eyes.
She realized it was his children that made him totally forget how tragic
his past was, made him glad it was all behind him.
  She watched as Ranma's girls came running out of the school, their
silk-like hair fluttering in the wind, their legs carrying them as fast as
they could into Ranma's extended arms.
  Ranma picked both his little girls up in his arms, hugging them fiercely
before letting go. He placed them down, asking them how their day at school
was. He listened intently as they went into meticulous detail about how they
had a fire drill today and what they learned in class. He nodded, paying full
attention as they continued to barrage him with how their day went.
  "G'afternoon, Akane" Meggie greeted, remembering the nice lady who helped
her to the bathroom the other day, and who stayed with them for breakfast
shortly after that. She bowed towards Akane, the bangs of her delicate hair
falling forward, covering over her liquid eyes.
  "Hello, Meggie," Akane said, bowing politely toward the well-mannered young
girl. She never met such a sweet thing in her entire life. She wondered how
nice it would have been to raise such a sweet little girl, two for that
matter.
  Ranma looked at Akane a bit curiously. How could she tell the two apart,
he thought to himself. She only met them a few days ago. Everyone, even
Shori, for that matter, had trouble telling them apart. They were identical.
Yet for some reason, Akane knew the difference between them, like night and
day.
  "G'afternoon" Jessie said in a loud and joyful voice, running forward,
wrapping her tiny arms around one of Akane's legs, her little hands tugging
tightly at her dogi
  "I remember you. You're that nice lady who helped my sister," she added in
and equally cheery voice "And you ate breakfast with us"
  Jessie smiled innocently towards Akane, as if they knew each other for a
long long time. Akane felt as if she already knew her and Meggie, the two
daughters making her feel comfortable. She felt this funny feeling, like she
had missed out on something great. She loved the feeling of little Jessie's
arms holding her so lovingly, as if she trusted her life in Akane's hands,
and that felt very reassuring to her. She never had a single person in her
life that acted remotely dependent toward her. It felt like she was taking
care of someone, and the thought made her feel warm inside. The thought of
caring for someone and someone needing her care made her feel needed,
important. But why did this child evoke those kind of feelings? They barely
knew each other. And yet, it seemed like they have known each other all
their live. She felt an immediate attraction toward Meggie and Jessie, as
if she wanted them in her life forever.
  "I'm sorry," Ranma said when he noticed that Jessie was wrinkling Akane's
dogi. He was trying to talk to Akane will simultaneously trying to listen to
Meggie continue to talk about their day "She's a little bit affectionate"
  She was more than affectionate. She was a handful, a bundle of energy,
because she now had her hand in Akane's, pulling her toward the playground.
  "I wanna play in the playground," Jessie said, tugging on Akane's hand. She
was a very smart girl, and she knew that she wasn't allowed out of Ranma's
sight unless she was with supervision. And since Meggie was busy talking to
Daddy, she would have to have Akane escort her to the playground.
  Akane looked at Ranma, not too sure what to do. She wanted to make the
little child happy, but it wasn't her call. Ranma was the one in charge
over whether or not she was allowed.
  A quick nod assured that it was all right. Akane opening obliged and
escorted Jessie toward the playground, which was already filled with mothers
and their children.
  "I wanna go on da swings," Jessie squeaked, tugging on Akane's hand,
signaling her to hasten herself. She couldn't help but wonder where the
little child got her energy from. Even though she was in great shape, Akane
knew she could never compete with a child in terms of energy. She'd be
asleep from exhaustion where the child would be busy asking her to play some
more. Regardless, Akane vowed that she would try her best to keep up.
  "Okay," Akane said, following after the child as she raced for the gate
leading to the playground. It seemed Akane was too slow for the little angel,
and she decided she was better off going by herself. Besides, she wouldn't
be leaving Akane's sight. The swings were directly in Akane's line of
vision, and she would see her as she made a beeline for them.
  As Akane headed for the playground, which Jessie was already in and
swinging on the swings, when Meggie raced by her.
  "They love the playground," Ranma said, placing a hand on Akane's shoulder.
Akane's heart skipped a beat. She could feel the heat from his fingertips,
radiating from him, through her dogi. But he released his hold within moments. 
The familiarity made him do it, made him put his hands on her shoulder.
  "I'm sorry," Ranma said, a bit embarrassed "I didn't mean to do that. It's
an old habit"
  It was a habit. He used to come here with his mother. He would always put
his hand on her shoulder as she watched her grandchildren at play. He had
to. Nodoka was slowly losing her hearing more and more as she got older. She
could still hear, but not all that great. She had trouble making out the
words if she weren't looking at the person directly. Ranma would place a
hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was talking, so she could turn
toward him to see what he was saying. Because she was losing her hearing,
she learned how to lip-read.
  It was a habit, Akane thought, anger starting to rise. She knew what kind
of habit it was talking about. It was an old habit for him to put his hand
on a girl. It was one of those moves that all those playboys use, to make
lonely girls feel wanted. Sure, she live all alone, and she did feel lonely,
but she wasn't going to let him take advantage of that. 
  "It's because of my mother," Ranma added, before Akane had a chance to snap
at him "You see, my mom's going deaf, and I always placed my hand over her
shoulder to let her know I was talkin'. She and I always came to pick up the
kids. Up until recently. It's not like I'm some playboy or somethin'"
  Indeed, he wasn't some playboy. Although hundreds of women asked him out,
he had stayed celibate since Shori left him. He may be very attractive to
the opposite sex, but he couldn't care less. He didn't care about himself.
He only wanted one thing in his life....a mother for his kids.
  Akane felt very embarrassed. She thought Ranma made a habit of putting his
hand on a girl's shoulder, as if he were a playboy. He looked like a playboy
to her. She wondered how many women he slept with before he finally met her.
  "Oh," Akane muttered, not really know what to say.
  "Daddy," Jessie called out from the playground "can ya gimme a push?"
  "Me too," Meggie followed.
  "I'll be right there," Ranma called out.
  He looked at Akane for a moment, a most serious visage showing "Akane, my
kids have no idea of the hardships I've been through. Please, don't let them
know"
  With that said, Ranma ran towards the playground.
  
  "Good afternoon," Akane greeted the elderly mother, noticing how beautiful 
she looked, despite her age. Aside from some crow's feet around her eyes and a
few wrinkles, Nodoka was very beautiful. She had this maternal air to her,
which made Akane think of her own mother. But those thoughts quickly passed
for there weren't that many memories to remember, her mother having died
when she was a very young girl.
  Akane bowed, noticing this warm and familiar feeling Nodoka was generating. 
She looked elegant, like a queen, yet she was very down-to-earth and polite.
  "Afternoon," Nodoka said, bowing respectfully, her auburn hair fluttering
in the passing wind since it had gotten a bit windy that afternoon.
  "I'm Akane," she said in her most well-mannered voice. She felt a bit
intimidated by Nodoka for some reason she was unable to explain. It was as
if she were dating Ranma, and he was taking her to meet his parent, and of
course, she wanted to make a good impression. But why, she wasn't dating
him, and there was no reason to be intimidated. But somehow, she still was,
no matter how many times she told herself to calm down. She could feel her
heart racing.
  Nodoka was probably the kind of woman Ranma loved and obeyed, and the 
thought of Nodoka telling Ranma not to see her, and him actually obeying 
scared her. So naturally, she wanted to get on Nodoka's good side.
  "I'm Nodoka," she replied warmly, regarding the young girl. She noticed
Akane was dressed in a dogi, which seemed odd. But aside from that, she
seemed like a nice girl.
  She seems a bit overly nervous for some reason, Nodoka thought. Is she
always this nervous? She look like a sweet girl, like Ukyo. I think I like
her as much as Ukyo. She's much nicer than that Shori.
  "I see you've met my son," Nodoka said after a few moments, finished with
her assessment of Akane. She liked her, a lot considering to only other
person she liked was Ukyo, which she hadn't seen for over 8 years, since she
and Ranma broke up.
  "Y-yes," Akane said, taking a deep breath. She felt weird as Nodoka regarded 
her, assessing her. Even thought she had dated a few guys, far fewer than a 
girl of her beauty and age, over the years, and they took her to meet their 
parents, she never really cared more about them liking her than the mother 
standing before her.
  "How do you know my boy, Ranma?" Nodoka asked. She wanted to know her role
in Ranma's life. She wanted him to settle down. Maybe Akane was the one.
  "Mom," Ranma said, butting in. He didn't want to be the topic of 
conversation among his mother and Akane. He knew he was the topic of 
discussion among all the girls his path cross, but this was one conversation 
that he preferred not to be involved in.
  "Akane's my boss," he said, pronouncing each word clearly for Nodoka to
read. Sure, she could hear what Ranma was saying, but she found lip reading
a lot easier than trying to discern the mumbling noises that she heard.
  He was not one bit ashamed that he had a female superior. Other males, the
majority of them would have been ashamed of working under a female, where
their masculinity would be questioned. But here was Ranma, proclaiming it,
unabashed. He was secure enough about his masculinity that working for a
female would, in no way, affect it.
  "I'll be back later tonight," Ranma told Nodoka, giving her a kiss on the
cheek. 
  "Bye, Daddy," Jessie and Meggie said in unison, both over them giving him a
big kiss on the lips, causing Akane to wonder just how good his lips would
feel on hers.
  "Goodbye, my little angels," he said, giving them both a group hug, 
reluctant to let go.
  "Bye, Akane," Jessie said, tugging at one the sleeve of her pants,
indicating for her to bring her head down to the little girl's head level.
  As she did so, Akane was caught off guard when Jessie kissed her on her
cheek. She was a bit shocked at the affection this little girl generated.
Ranma must have been a very caring father to raise his daughters up like
this.
  "Bye, Akane," Meggie said, also kissing Akane, but on the other cheek.
  Akane almost wanted to cry. She felt so loved. She never felt like this
before. no one have ever been this affectionate towards her, not even her 
father, and he had loved her with all his heart. She loved the feeling,
reveled in it. She felt as high as a kite.
  "We better head back," Ranma said, ready to leave.
  "Let's go," Akane replied, reluctantly heading off toward the dojo. She
wanted to stay with those children, never leaving. She began to wonder why
on Earth his wife would leave such darling angels behind, would never want
to play a part in their lives. She couldn't help but giggle when thoughts
of herself taking over his wife's part entering her mind, thoughts of
becoming Meggie and Jessie's mother, thoughts of being Ranma's wife.
  "What's so funny?" Ranma asked, a bit curious. He could never really
recall ever having seen Akane laugh. This was indeed the first time she had
laughed in a long long time. As she laughed, Ranma couldn't help but notice 
how much seeing Akane laugh made him happy. Even though she hadn't laughed 
since her father's death so many years ago, it seemed natural. He liked seeing 
her laugh, and he wanted to continue to make her laugh. Perhaps, if she 
allowed him, he could make her laugh for the rest of her life.
  "It's nothing," Akane said, trying to suppress the giggle, much to no
avail.
  "Meggie and Jessie seem to really like you," Ranma said, changing the
subject. He knew that if she wanted to tell him what was so funny, she would
have. If she didn't, it was none of his business.
  "They're really affectionate" she said.
  "Yeah," Ranma commented, matter-of-factly "But they never ever opened up
like this to anyone. You seem to have a knack for my children"
  She liked hearing those words, words from Ranma saying that she was good
with his children.
  Even though Ukyo showed up, maybe Akane still had a chance.

Chapter 10

     Ranma and Akane watched as the last of the students left the dojo, the
training session finally over. The training would have been over sooner if one
of the students didn't ask to remain can continue to train. He was one of
the more advanced students, and him always asking for extra help was what
got him to where he was when it came to training.
  "G'night" the student said, bowing respectfully before leaving.
  Akane watched as the student left, admiring him. He was one of her most
prized students. He was also young and very well-manner. Aside from Akane and
Ranma, he was the best martial artist around. There were times, before Ranma
showed up, where he sparred against his sensei, and gave her a run for her
money every here and there.
  "He's very disciplined," Ranma commented, leaning up against the entrance
door to the dojo. It was meant as a compliment, a compliment on how great a
teacher Akane was.
  "Yes, he's one of my...." Akane said, taking back her words. They were now
their students, not just hers "our most prized students"
  "He's more your student than mine," Ranma said in a soft voice, his gaze up
on the stars. It was a most beautiful night. The winds were blowing yet very
gently, the sounds of the rustling leaves soothing to one's nerves. Just
listening to the leaves as they fluttered against the blowing winds was very
relaxing.
  "I better get going," Ranma said, a bit reluctant. He wanted to stay
longer, but there was no reason. He didn't want to put Akane on the spot by
asking her if he could stay, she might get the wrong idea. Sure, he wanted
to be with her, but he didn't know what she thought of him. He remembered
how mad she looked when she saw him with Ukyo.
  "Don't stop on my account," Ranma recalled Akane saying in an angry tone.
He remembered how she looked disgusted at him "It's not like the two of us
are seeing each other anyway. He's just working for me" her words echoed in
his mind. Was that all she viewed of him, just an employee. But then again,
they had spent some quality time together, with his children. At least he
thought it was quality time. But then again, how could it be quality time if
Ranma was the only one babbling? And why did he tell her about his
childhood? No one around, except Nodoka, knew that he had been abused. 
  He never even told his wife, Shori. Ranma didn't want to believe that he
told her that because he wanted someone to take some of his burdens. He had
lived through so many hardships, hardships one he had to deal with alone.
Maybe that was one reason why he told her, he didn't want to be alone.
  "It's not like the two of us are seeing each other. He's just working for
me" Akane's words echoed through his head again, this time a lot louder and
clearer. If she didn't care about him, then why did she come with him to
pick up his children? Because she cared about her employees, not him. Maybe
she thinks I still love Ukyo.
  "Goodnight, Akane" Ranma said, bowing respectfully, unable to make eye
contact "I'll see ya tomorrow"
  "Goodnight," she said reluctantly. She didn't want him to leave, but there
was no reason for him to stay, aside from she wanting to be in his arms. She
wanted to reach out and take hold of him, never letting him go. He had so
many hardships over his life, and she wanted to take some of his burdens
off. But then an image of Ukyo entered her mind, images of her kissing him,
and him not pulling away. 
  A bit of heat flooded into her body. He had Ukyo by his side to take the 
burden, she thought, her pride doing the thinking. She couldn't believe she 
was falling for another woman's man. She noticed he didn't even look her in 
the eye, as if ashamed of something, ashamed of himself. He had nothing to be 
ashamed of. She should be the one who was ashamed. She was falling for him, 
and she couldn't have him.
  Ranma left without saying another word, leaving Akane behind, all to her
lonesome, alone in to spend her nights in a quiet and lonely home. It was
like a form of symbolism, him leaving her behind, she living alone. That was
what it felt like. It wasn't him leaving her house, but him leaving her that
bothered the most.
  "Ranma," Akane called out, swallowing the lump in her throat "Why don't
you stay a little longer?"
  The her words would go unheard, Ranma already gone.

  Ranma arrived at Nodoka's house late in the evening. The sun had been down
for a couple of hours already. The sky was clear, the stars twinkling
brightly. There was a full moon that night, its light shining brightly,
emanating a silver glow. It was certainly peaceful that night, the only
noise heard were the blowing winds and rustling leaves.
  Ranma stood in front of Nodoka's home, regarding it for a short time. The
house was very old, at least a century old. The roof was weather worn and
needed new shingles. There were several missing shutters from the windows,
several others broken and hanging limply on rusty hinges. The walls were
dull, the paint chipping off. Indeed, the house was old, and it was in
desperate need of renovations. But that wasn't what Ranma was thinking to
himself about. The home brought back memories, memories he preferred not to
remember, memories of his father beating him. This was the home were he had
lived all his life, until he had finally gotten his first job, the job of
his dreams, being a sensei. But that job hadn't lasted long. Due to the
arrival of his daughters, Ranma was forced to find another job, to support
them. 
  And until recently, he stayed there, no matter how much he disliked it,
working harder than anyone else, working even harder when Shori left him and
was forced to rear his twins on his own. Luckily for him, he managed to get
the most perfect hours, working when his children where in school. Actually, 
it was luck. Ever since Ranma's arrival, the company seemed to do whatever it 
could to accommodate his needs. Ever since his arrival into the company, not 
only did company morale increase considerably, especially among the females, 
but Ranma's creative ideas helped the company take off.
  He looked up toward a window on the second floor, the window leading to
his old room. He sullenly remembered spending quite some time gazing out of
if when he was young, looking up toward the sky, wondering when he could
escape from all those beatings his father gave him. He remembered as if they
were yesterday. He would be on the verge of crying as he looked out the 
window, wondering why his father beat him so terribly. 
  Ranma sighed, grateful that he would never have to go through that for the
rest of his life, that it would never happen again. His father was no longer
alive to beat him.
  Ranma rang the doorbell, waiting several moments before it was answered.
  "They're asleep," Nodoka said, opening the screen door for Ranma.
  Ranma nodded in acknowledgment as he entered the house, the floorboards
creaking and groaning under the weight. Even though the house was old, it
still had this cozy feeling to it. 
  Ranma looked at the grandfather clock that was up back against the wall
of the livingroom he had entered. It was located right next to the piano. It
was pretty late, and his daughters always seemed to go to sleep at a
particular time no matter where they were. It had been like this for a
long, long time.
  "I guess I should let them sleep," Ranma said, sitting down on the sofa
after he had removed his shoes, stretching his legs forward to relax his
tense muscles. He wanted to put his feet on the glass livingroom table, but
he knew he would be scold by his mom for such unruly manners.
  "You're going to spend the night" his mom said. It was a statement, not a 
question. She opened a closet door and brought out a pillow and blanket. She 
already knew what he was going to say. It wasn't like he was going to go home 
while his daughters slept her. And it was obviously he was going to wake them 
up so he could take them home.
  "I guess I've no choice," Ranma said, getting up and taking hold of the
pillow and blanket, carefully placing them on the sofa to his liking. He
watched as his mother headed off into the kitchen.
  "I'm going go up and check on Meggie and Jessie," Ranma said, heading for
the stairs at the other end of the room. It wasn't as if his mother would
hear him, but he said it anyway. He gracefully hopped up the stairs,
leaping up two steps at a time. He turned left at the first door he came
up to, the door to Ranma's old bedroom.
  He