A/N: Yes this is exactly what you think it is - an update. A long, overdue, 2-or-3-years-waited for update. I'll explain more at the end of this chapter, but until then, don't throw slippers at me and just read, please.

Chapter 6

If time were to go any slower, the Earth would probably seem like it had been frozen. Ranma glanced up at the clock again and sighed. Had it really been only ten minutes since he'd been in this class? And to make matters worse, he had endured every moment of it due to the fact that Akane had forbade him to be late while he was in her body. Usually, he would take a leisurely stroll around the school before entering class, surely wasting at least five minutes of class time. He was so stealthy, the teachers almost never caught him sneaking in anyway. Now, those five extra minutes of being in class were weighing him down and stirring anxiety in him.

He looked at the clock again; another minute had ticked by. At that, he groaned and slumped in her chair. Not only had Akane forced him to be on time, she threatened him to stay awake during the entire class period. Considering the fact that he couldn't even muster the energy to stay awake in class when he occupied his own body, he had no idea how or why Akane had expected something different from him now. His ever stubborn consciousness was his downfall when it came to heeding Akane's warnings, so it was inevitable that he would lie her head down on the desk and let his thoughts and her eyes wander. Being in Akane's body did nothing to alter his way of thinking or his values, and he was ever grateful for that one leisure in this whole demented situation.

The lesson wasn't important anyway; the teacher was just teaching some redundant Chinese history and going over a few of symbols and their meanings. He'd catch up eventually, right? Without any effort, Ranma found his… or Akane's… head buried in his arms, her eyes fluttering close and the sound of the teacher's droning voice fading with his consciousness.

Notes. Notes. Notes.

Akane knew she owed nothing to Ranma who was probably, per her request… or threat, struggling his hardest not to plant her face on her desk in History class and clock out, for which she didn't blame him, but she felt kind of wrong not taking notes in English class even if it was working towards Ranma's grades and not hers. From what she knew, Ranma was just barely passing English along with many of his other academic subjects, and he didn't care enough for any of the classes to do any extra credit. The only class he was passing with flying colors, of course, was physical education; he was so good that he should probably be teaching the class himself. Not that she would ever admit that to his face; a boost to his pride would send it off into space. Regardless, she would rather help Ranma out this once while she occupied his body, than sit here and do nothing.

She took a moment to glace at the clock; it had only been 20 minutes since class began. She wondered if Ranma had even made an attempt to do some of her work when he got to class. If she heard even one complaint from one of her teachers, she'd never let him hear the end of it. But hopefully she wouldn't have to worry too much longer. Hopefully, this whole body switching situation would be solved by the end of today and they could just move on and pretend it never happened. In the back of her mind, though, she knew this situation would tie into all the others just like everything else that happened in Nerima. But as much as she was concerned about the outcome, she just wanted to have her own body back, and at this point, she didn't care what complications came with it. Even thinking that was risky, considering everything that could happen, probably would happen after this. But for now, she wouldn't think negatively. She would only focus on getting out of this and –

"Mr. Saotome! Being that you are awake for once, it would do you some good to actually pay attention and take notes, thank you."

Akane blinked, registering that the teacher was addressing the body she currently resided in, and sighed. Yes, this wouldn't last long at all.

Hopefully.

Ranma grumbled his way through the hallway, bumping shoulders with any and every passerby and not caring for their inert glares. The blush on his/Akane's face was furious and he could only pretend to be enraged so that curious and nosy classmates wouldn't ask questions.

"Akane you're usually my best student. You're the only student to never have fallen asleep in my class. But today, you were snoring so loud, you even woke up some of the other sleeping students."

Ranma knew he should have lied when she asked if he/Akane was sick. Before he could even think of it however, he answered her with a 'no' and a faltering smile. The teacher's retort after that is what had his/Akane's face so red at this very moment, even though it had taken place at least 5 minutes ago.

"Well, if you aren't sick, Akane," the teacher began, a mischievous and knowing smile forming on her face, "I'm going to ask that you and your fiancé not engage in any late night activities on Sunday evening. You need to be prepared and alert for class in the morning and you're certainly weren't that today, and I'm willing to bet Ranma isn't in much better shape, huh."

Ranma knew he should have walked away right at that moment, pretending to either be ignoring the teacher or just to show disgust, but shock had him glued to the spot, looking up at the bold teacher with wide eyes. He began, or at least tried to stammer his denials and rejections, but the teacher only leaned in, her smile widening a bit, and winked.

"I'm a married woman, Akane. I know things. It's okay and I understand. Just try not to… handle your business too late at night. Okay, off to class now!"

Ranma only reddened more at the recollection of the conversation. Since when had teachers ever been so bold? Or are they only bold like that with the female students? Or was it only with Akane? And did they always say things like this to Akane? And how did she usually respond?

It was too much to process for Ranma right now and he could only shake his head, hoping to clear some of the embarrassment he was feeling. It didn't work. The only thing that could redirect his attention right now was Gym class, and thankfully, that was next on Akane's schedule. Unfortunately, it was also what was next on his usual schedule that Akane was following today. It would be his first time seeing her today since they arrived at school, and after what just occurred with her History teacher, he wasn't sure he wanted to face Akane so soon.

'Quit acting like such a girl, Ranma. You didn't do anything wrong anyway!' he mentally chided himself. He approached the girls' changing room without hesitation and entered with a new found vigor. He would not allow himself to be bested by Akane, or what her life entailed. His life was still 1,000 times more hectic and embarrassing than hers.

And he'd let her know it too.

Akane knew a blush was creeping up Ranma's neck as she recalled her scenery from her first venture into the boys' changing room. It was bad enough she wasn't even used to Ranma's male body yet, now she was surrounded by guys who she had just seen semi-dressed and some even nude. She almost felt as if she was being cursed for being so judgmental of boys in the past, more specifically, Ranma.

Now as she and the guys jostled outside to the gym class equipment, she found herself scanning the field for Ranma clad in her body which would be clad in the skimpy gym uniform. She tried not to be enthusiastic about seeing him uncomfortable in the uniform. Of course he'd been forced into that exact uniform plenty of times before and he sometimes even wore it to harass Ryoga for some reason, but this felt like it should be a different situation to him, 'should' being the key word.

'Yeah, right. Knowing that pervert, he's living it up right now,' she thought. Still, she hoped she was right about him feeling uncomfortable. It would serve him right for getting them into this situation in the first place.

Akane realized she hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking and got snapped to attention by bumping into the boy in front of her. She muttered a, "Sorry," and shrugged off her embarrassment. The boy turned and looked at her with quirked eyebrow and scoffed; it was Hiroshi.

"Yeah, yeah, Ranma. Keep your apologies for right now. I'm just waiting for you to tell me what's going on," Hiroshi said. A boy behind her nudged her a bit and she turned, trying to avoid Hiroshi's prodding. Unfortunately, the boy behind her, Daisuke, had the same quizzical look in his eyes.

"Yeah, you've been acting off all day, Ranma," Daisuke said, frowning a bit, "You get into a fight with Akane or something?"

Akane only grunted in response, sitting along with the rest of the guys in the class as the first victim approached the uneven bars. She crossed his arms over his broad chest and did not grace Ranma's friends with a response. Apparently, not responding wasn't an option with these two as they only leaned in closer and nudged her harder.

"Well if it's not a fight, then what?" Hiroshi inferred, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Did you guys try to work out your relationship problems again?" Daisuke raised both of his eyebrows. Akane almost choked at the insinuation. What had Ranma been telling them?!

"No, nothing –" she began, but was instantly cut off.

"Did things get physical?"

"Did she hit you?"

"Did she touch you?"

"Did things escalate quickly?"

"Did you guys get intimate? Oh, maybe not. You wouldn't be in such a pissy mood if you did."

At that, Akane slugged them both in the jaw causing them to fall back hard into the grass. The muscles in his jaw clenched and unclenched in sync with his fists. She couldn't tell if she was red from embarrassment or anger, but she did know she was, above all, seething. How dare they? Were these the kind of things Ranma was planting in their heads or was this their way of voicing their own stupidity?

Akane cut his eyes at the two fallen figures beside her, then looked up, jaw still clenched and glare still sharp as ever. Either everyone was used to this kind of scene or people were smart enough to avoid 'Ranma' when he was enraged because no one seemed to notice the falling-out. Something about that comforted her but she couldn't bother to investigate why.

Just as she was about to look away, she caught a glimpse of a scantily clad form approaching the vault that the girls' gym class was using; her own body. The stubborn part of her conscious that told her that Ranma had discussed their personal business with the perverted Hiroshi and Daisuke wanted her to either get up and confront him with a slap or look away in a huff, but she found herself able to do neither. She could only stare in admiration. She didn't want to seem vain, but she thought her body looked pretty good from an objective standpoint. She looked lean and lithe in all the right places and that, to her, made up for her chest… or lack thereof, as Ranma often liked to pint out. She frowned.

She watched attentively as Ranma began his sprint towards the vault in her body. Even in just sprinting his form seemed perfect. He launched her body effortlessly off the vault from a handspring and planted her hands firmly against the table, using the momentum to propel her lithe body high into the air. You would think he spent minutes in the air with the amount of flips and twists he was performing. As he hurdled towards the ground while in a perfect tuck, he unfurled and tightened his form. He stuck the landing as perfectly as he began the process. She couldn't help but be impressed; he certainly did make her look good while he occupied her body. However, Akane couldn't decide whether to be pleased or bothered by this. It was her body – he couldn't possibly make it look better than she did. Could he?

"Ranma! You're up!" the gym teacher called, snapping her out of her stupor. She got up and stalked towards the bars, purposely ignoring the glower of irritation Hiroshi and Daisuke shot her. She quenched the nervousness in his stomach, refusing to feel intimidated by Ranma's success. It wasn't that she wanted to make him look good – she just wanted to perform better than him.

She glanced up at the bars and instantly noticed that they were taller than the bars that the girls used. Thanks to Ranma's height in his male form, she wouldn't need to adjust much in her form – she just needed to adjust to Ranma's body weight to get the right momentum when she was swinging. This would be a piece of cake. Before she reached to leverage herself on the bars she happened to glance up in the direction she had last seen her body and caught Ranma looking at her. She felt a smiled creeping onto her face involuntarily but it instantly faded when Ranma crossed her arms over her chest and opened her mouth to say something.

"Don't make me look bad!" She could read his lips perfectly.

'That jerk!' She was busy wishing that she hadn't looked in his direction at all as she glared daggers into her own retreating back. So busy, that she hadn't taken notice how hard she was gripping the uneven bar. She'd make him look amazing. She'd do a thousand times better than he ever could. And he'd thank her for it, too.

Oh, she'd make him look good, alright.

Ranma sat down under the tree next to his body, sneering as the patches of light that forced their way through the tree leaves and hit his face. Lunch was no special ordeal today – curry bread, rice, and takoyaki – but the way his/Akane's stomach was grumbling, he knew he would easily demolish the meal.

Akane, who sat next to him, donning his body, was beyond cross.

"So, tell me again how you managed to twist my wrist on something as easy as the uneven bars, hm," Ranma said, pulling apart his chopsticks and digging into his lunch.

"I already told you, I lost focus. It's your own fault anyway. If you weren't such a jerk—"

"What do you mean a jerk?" Ranma asked, mouth stuffed with food, crumbs decorating her face, "All I said was don't make me look bad! I mean, I made you look amazing out there and you go and sprain my wrist doing something so easy!"

"You made me look amazing? Please, Ranma, what you did was nothing special. I could do what you did with one hand tied behind my back." He watch as his own face twisted in anger.

"Yeah, as long as it's not the hand you sprained," Ranma scoffed. Akane snarled and snapped his head away. Ranma opened his mouth to comment on how feminine she was making him seem, but decided against it and returned his attention to his lunch.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked, noticing Akane's lack of food.

"No. I figured I'd make you starve a little. Maybe it'll shrink your disgusting appetite."

"It ain't gonna hurt me none. You're the only one who's gonna be hungry. But suit yourself," Ranma said. He couldn't help but smile at the little mumble of defeat she gave as triumph swelled in him.

"I'm not even hungry for your information, Ranma. All I am focused on is getting to that library and figuring out how to get back into my own body before you destroy it."

"You and me, both," he retorted. After carefully picking up and eating the last grain of rice in his bento, Ranma stood and dusted her dress. "Hold this for me, would you?" he said as he began to retreat into the school leaving his Akane-occupied body under the tree.

Unbeknownst to him, Akane smiled at his little gesture, almost grateful. She was going to yell at him for being so inconsiderate but then she looked down into the container. Ranma had left two big pieces of takoyaki in the bento for her to eat. She wanted to eat them begrudgingly but her small smile gave her away instantly. Even if Ranma was just trying to keep his own body healthy by feeding her, sometimes he wasn't that much of a jerk.

As much as Akane hated being unnecessarily rude, she didn't bother to apologize as she pushed through the throng of students that crowded the halls as soon as the final bell rung. She retrieved Ranma's shoes and slipped them on his feet, shouldered his pack and rushed to the library. As she pushed through, she was relieved to not be glared at too much. She figured that the entire student body must be used to Ranma being so brash and she had to admit it came in handy sometimes.

She pulled the doors of the library open harder than she meant to and they slammed back against the walls, the sound reverberating in the library. Every head turned towards her and she lowered his head and muttered a sheepish, "Sorry," finally. Over her initial embarrassment, she stalked past the rows of books, looking for the familiar face – her own. Eventually, she spotted her body, nose deep in a book scrawled in Chinese calligraphy.

He looked up at her, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought before opening her mouth to say, "I can't read this."

With a mock incredulous look, she replied in a hushed but annoyed tone, "Of course you can't read it! That's the reason we're in this situation now!"

Ranma grunted a response then tossed the book to her which she nonchalantly caught with one hand. Ranma snorted at this.

"Aren't my reflexes amazing, Akane?"

"Shut up, Ranma." Akane warned, rolling her eyes as she flipped open the book. Sure enough, it was just as foreign as she expected it to be.

"This isn't what we need," she stated, pushing the book back onto the shelf. She walked down the aisle a bit and nodded as she picked up another book.

"Chinese to Japanese translation. Perfect." She leafed through the book, then looked up at Ranma expectantly. "You have the pill package, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Ranma hastily replied, fumbling though the pockets on her school uniform. Eventually, he found the package and tossed it over to Akane. She looked it over and turned it a few times in his hands, scanning the words and looking back to the pages in the translation book.

"Okay, this might take some time. I need a pen, paper, and somewhere to sit. We are translating every word on this thing, right now."

For the second time that day, Ranma found himself watching the time tick by painstakingly slow. He could even swear that the clock in the library was going even slower than the one in the classroom. This time, though, he figure that his impatience was not because of boredom, but because of anxiety. Akane had been at this translating thing for quite some time trying to get every little detail right so that they wouldn't have to endure this process again. All he wanted was to be back in his body and he knew Akane wanted the same, so he didn't blame her for taking extra precaution to make sure they did everything right.

"Okay," Akane finally spoke in his voice, "I think I got it."

Ranma perked up at this and was peering over Akane's/his shoulder in a flash. There were a lot of scribbles and cross-outs on the page but she rewrote the decipherable words in order at the bottom where both of their gazes were transfixed and, from his perspective, they read it together.

Are you sick of your current lifestyle?
Wish you could switch lives with someone who you think deserves your pain?
Then, this is the remedy for you!
Simply take one pill yourself, give another person the other pill, and fall asleep.
In the morning you'll be better than ever; a new life!
*Fine print: Some side effects may occur*

After reading this, Ranma could feel Akane's glare burning holes into him. He only sighed irritably, then turned to meet her glare and said, "What about the cure? Didn't you read or translate something about a cure?!"

"Calm down, Ranma. I was only translating, I wasn't focused on reading every detail at the moment, sheesh. There's more…" she said, flipping the page over, revealing more inked scribbles and indiscernible words. He flinched. The bold, yet delicate text that was Akane's handwriting at the bottom of the page looked menacing without him even reading it. Despite his initial hesitation, he swallowed the lump in his throat and leaned in closer, giving each word his attention just like Akane looked like she was doing now.

THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO REVERSE THE EFFECT.
BOTH PARTIES MUST LEARN TO TRULY UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THEIR PAST LIFE, AND THE DAILY LIFE OF THE BODY THEY CURRENTLY RESIDE IN. ONLY THEN WILL THEY BE RETURNED TO THEIR RIGHTFUL BODIES.

Until then, have fun!

"T-This can't be right," Ranma heard Akane whisper hoarsely in his voice.

"There… There has to be another way," Ranma looked to Akane, wide-eyed, trying but failing to comfort both of their reeling thoughts. 'There just has to be!'

"I… I cannot believe this. Ranma, YOU IDIOT!"

Whether Akane didn't realize her mix-up, or she didn't care that their bodies were switched anymore, Ranma couldn't tell. But the big red handprint on his/Akane's cheek spoke volumes either way. Still, he didn't blame her. Now that they both knew there was no simple solution to the switch – like a pill to simply switch them back – he only felt numbness. He was shocked from his stupor by the slam of the library door, which he presumed was Akane making an angry exit.

'What the hell are we supposed to do now?'

Click. Click. Click.

Nabiki now had enough pictures of their reactions to garner a truckload of yen. With the expressions on their faces, it would be perfectly easy to edit the pictures of the two distraught teens to make it seem like they were in more… compromising situations. Still, her promise to leave Akane's and Ranma's relationship alone lingered in her brain. Trust and believe Nabiki Tendo though, she would find some way, to work this to her advantage.

If she didn't know any better she would guess from the expressions on their faces that they discovered that there was no cure to their current issue. She could see the crumbled piece of paper on the table where Akane and Ranma had spent almost an entire hour deciphering the words on the package that she assumed held the answers to their problems. All she had to do was wait for Ranma to leave and –

"Akane – I mean Ranma! Wait up!"

Perfect. Poor predictable and unassuming future Brother-in-Law. Nabiki nonchalantly strode over to the table and picked up the paper. 'Younger people are so dramatic, sometimes. It can't be that –' she thought as she turned over the paper to continue reading. The bold print, unmistakably her sister's, was urgent and not at all comforting, to her dismay. She genuinely gasped.

"Uh oh."

A/N: Yes, the big revelation, finally. Ranma and Akane aren't getting out of this so easily, not when I'm having so much fun torturing them!

Anyways, I know a lot of you are wondering what took me so long to update, and I don't have many excuses to be quite honest. Last time I updated was around this time in 2011. It's 2013 now. So that means it was the end of my 10th grade year and now I'm a college freshman being that I just graduated high school. Basically, my life has been hectic as all hell. But I've had plenty of free time in these past couple of years. I'm just LAZY as all hell. I guess I can blame writer's block and make that take some of the fault, but even some is a bit much. I also got deeply involved in Tumblr at that time, but that's another story in itself. *Insert nervous laughter here*

But enough about me, what about you guys? Are the people who were following me before still following me? Have you all given up on me updating this story? Did you enjoy this chapter? Has my writing change/improved? I hope I didn't confuse you all with the his/her thing, but it was easier for me to format it like that so I could remember that Akane is in Ranma's body and vice versa. I'm in the process of doing a chapter replacement and fixing my grammar in the previous chapters so don't bit my head off too much about that either. So far, only chapter 1 has been edited.

Whatever you want me to know, leave it in the reviews please!

P.S: Feel lucky you guys. I had another story I've been typing up (Powerpuff girls this time) and planning to post on here but I figured it wouldn't at ll be fair to the fans of this story. I DO CARE YOU GUYS. DO YOU?!

See ya when I see ya! Hopefully soon! Hopefully not 2 or even 1 year from now! Hopefully and most likely in a matter of weeks considering that fact that I'm on summer vacay with nothing to do! Til then, Tatty-Bye my loves!

R&R