Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! Just a quick response to AliceTheBookGirl, you asked if "damnedest" was a word, and I'd just like to let you know that it is. I suppose it would sound strange if you haven't heard it before, since it's not commonly used.

This one might seem a bit creepy (which is actually emphasized in this one shot), but it's honestly based on myself. In relationships, one of the things I like best is the way that the other person smells, so I thought I'd play on that. After writing this, I realized that I could continue with the other 4 senses, sight, hearing, taste, and touch, but I don't know if I'll actually do that. It's up in the air. This chapter is largely unedited right now, so I may go back and change or add some things. Anyway, enjoy!

Red Horse Collection

2. Just a Whiff

There weren't many times that Akane and Ranma spent in close physical contact with each other. In fact, Akane could probably count them on one hand. Even when they had gotten close to kissing, there was seldom a time where they actually embraced while doing so. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. It wasn't like Akane wanted to be – who was she kidding of course she wanted to be intimate with Ranma. Even if she wasn't in love with the guy (and the only person she was fooling with that lie was herself and Ranma), she still found him attractive. But she could still control herself, except for one little itsy-bitsy thing.

His smell.

There was something about it, something so incredibly amazing about the way that he smelled that she just wanted to grab him and shove her face into his hair and not move for hours so she could just breathe in his scent. She knew it was ridiculous, and maybe a little bit weird, but the musky scent of his hair drove her up the wall.

She had first discovered her addiction right around the time Ryoga showed up. Ranma wasn't even a boy at the time, but he had lifted her up out of harm's way and they had held each other on top of a roof for a few moments before jumping out of each other's grasp. Those few moments were enough for Akane to get a good sample of what Ranma smelled like, even though it was slightly different when he was in his girl body, almost a little fresher, if she had to describe it.

The second time she got a whiff of his scent was during the ice skating competition. Ranma was a boy that time, and he had just saved her from slamming into the wall. She had buried her head into his chest and called him an idiot or something and in those few moments she caught it. She didn't focus on it but somewhere in the back of her mind she thought, He smells nice.

Of course, at that time part of her still didn't want anything to do with him, so she tried to ignore it. The problem was that she knew the smell now. She tuned into it. Every time they passed each other in the hall, she caught it faintly. The times where they got close enough to kiss, she was half tempted to just shove her nose into his body with enough force to give herself a nosebleed. And the times that she hugged him? Those moments were amazing.

As Akane found herself liking Ranma more and more, she also realized that she wanted to just smell him more and more. That scared her. What if he thought she was some sort of pervert? Or a deranged weirdo? She thought it was kind of weird herself, so if Ranma found out, he'd never even want to look at her again, right?

So, when Akane caught him asleep on her bed after he watched her do homework, part of her wanted to go over there and smell him. Part of her also wanted to hit him for falling asleep on her bed but she wasn't quite that cruel.

Slowly, she rose from her desk, hoping that her movement wouldn't wake him. Ranma could either be a very light sleeper or dead to the world, and Akane hoped that tonight, it was the latter.

So far, so good. She tiptoed across the room, praying that for once she wouldn't suffer from a bout of clumsiness at a time like this. She stopped beside the bed and swallowed hard. He looked… well he looked pretty stupid for someone asleep. His mouth was half open and he was starting to drool a little bit. Ranma's limbs were splayed out in every direction and he was on his stomach. Akane leaned over her fiancé's prone body and rested her hand on the bed to offer some support in the awkward position.

Akane, what are you doing? she asked herself, cursing her actions. Could she really not control herself? Was she so desperate to catch his scent that she'd go so far as invading his personal space and acting like a creep?

Yes. Yes to all of those questions.

Akane lowered herself to put her nose right above his hair and breathed in.

Okay. This was worth it. He smelled great.

She hoped that he never started wearing cologne (the perfume for men, not the old woman) because nothing could smell as good to her as he did.

Akane lingered a little too long because after a few moments, Ranma jolted awake, sensing a presence near him. Unfortunately, he moved to sit up and hit the back of his head against Akane's face.

"OW!"

Their combined yells filled the room and Akane clutched her nose, touching her nostrils to see if she was bleeding. She pulled back her fingers to see a slick red liquid covering them.

"Shit, Akane, are you okay? What he hell were you doing?" Ranma asked, clutching the back of his head and handing her a tissue.

Akane, too embarrassed and concerned about her nosebleed, didn't answer.

"Sit down, let me get some ice," said Ranma before hurrying off downstairs.

Akane sat on her bed, pinching her nose to try to stop the bleeding. Okay, maybe it wasn't worth it. He had smelled great, but now all she could smell was her own blood. Ranma ran back into the room, carrying a small back of ice for her and pressing another bag of ice on the back of his head.

"Don't tilt your head back, stupid. The blood could run down your throat," Ranma cautioned, and Akane immediately adjusted herself to lean forward. He kneeled down in front of her and looked up. "Okay, let me see."

Akane moved aside the stained tissue and moved the hand pinching her nose enough so he could see. "Well, it doesn't look broken, but keep pinching that until it stops," instructed her fiancé. He grabbed for the extra bag of ice and handed it to her. "I don't know if this will help but it might take some of the pain away, so put it on when you can."

Ranma rose up so he wasn't on the floor anymore and took a spot on the bed next to her. He looked calm and cool, even while holding a bag of ice to the back of his head.

"So… Uh, what were you doing?" Ranma asked, seemingly less capable when he wasn't taking care of injuries.

Akane turned her head. She would have blushed if the blood in her face wasn't currently escaping through her nostrils. "Nothing." Her voice sounded weird and muffled with her nose being pinched.

Ranma scoffed. "You had your head right above mine and I was asleep. Ya always call me a pervert, but now I'm not so sure…"

"I wasn't doib anythib!" Akane shouted, turning her head to glare at him.

Ranma started laughing right in her face, and shouted back, "WOW, you sure sound stupid!"

"Shub up!"

That made Ranma laugh until he was literally rolling on the bed, clutching his stomach and trying to catch his breath.

Akane glared at the far wall. As soon as he calmed down, he sat up and she asked, "Finishb?"

Ranma chuckled again and wiped his eyes. "Ah… Yeah… Jeez, though, what were you doin'?"

She had hoped that he would have dropped it by now. "I was makinb sure you weren't deab," she lied, not making eye contact.

Her fiancé raised an eyebrow. She knew he could see straight through her lie, but she didn't care. There was no way she was going to admit that she liked the way he smelled. His ego was big enough as it is.

"'Kane, that was the lamest excuse I've ever heard."

She met his gaze, and they stared each other, Ranma looking at her with a deadpan expression and Akane trying to appear innocent while half of her face was covered in blood. After a few moments, Ranma glanced at her nose and then back at her face, before Ranma's face lit up in understanding.

"You were smelling me, weren'tcha?" Ranma accused, getting in close and pointing a threatening finger at her.

"WHAT? No! Neber!" Akane exclaimed, kicking herself back into the wall and waving her hand in front of his face. "Why would I eber do dat?"

"You like how I smell!" Ranma laughed, inching forward with a maniacal grin on his face.

"No! No no no no no nononononono!" Her protests were futile. He knew. He would tease her or hate her or lord it over her head. He would call her names and make fun of her and no!

"Well you know what?" Ranma said, obviously asking rhetorically. He scooted closer and she squeezed her eyes shut, an embarrassed blush forming on her cheeks.

She held her breath and waited for him to say that he thought she was a pervert, or a freak, or a creep, or anything. Akane clenched her eyes together tighter, trying to stop from seeing altogether. Then, she felt his face get near her ear. She could have sworn she heard an almost imperceptible intake of breath from his nose, and he whispered, so shyly and quietly that she almost didn't catch it.

"I like how you smell too."

Akane's eyes snapped open, but he was already gone. The curtains fluttered and her window was open, and she knew that he couldn't be too far away. She smiled after him, releasing her nose from between her fingers and bringing down the tissue to her lap.

Maybe she could sneak a few more whiffs. Just maybe.