Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 15 January.

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit. The song "She Only Gets That Way With Me" belongs to Toby Keith and whoever else and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

Yes, I copied and pasted the stupid disclaimers. Stupid disclaimers, making me have to write them for every story. It's a conspiracy! That's what it is, a conspiracy - disclaimers are out to take over the world and they're using innocent fanfiction writers as pawns to increase their numbers!

"Deliberate Misconceptions"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

"So," one of the other boys sitting on the grass waiting for his turn in gym class poked Ranma in the side with his elbow, "What's it like?"

Ranma looked back at the other boy, Daisuke or something like that, "What's what like?"

"You know," Daisuke tilted his head towards the field where the girls in the gym class were currently playing baseball, "Living with Her - it's gotta be something."

Ranma knit his fingers together and put them behind his head as he laid back in the grass, "I guess."

The other boy with them, Ranma thought his name was Hiroshi, looked at him in shock, "You guess?"

Somehow, despite his position, Ranma managed to shrug, "What can I say?"

"Well, no one else lives with Her, so what's she like outside of school? What's she like at home?" Daisuke pushed, causing the pigtailed boy to shake his head.

"She ain't shy, she's outspoken, boys, she always speaks her mind..." Ranma smirked more to himself than anyone else, "Except those quiet little moments when I am all she needs and I hold her tenderly..."

When he noticed the excited and almost hopeful looks on their faces, he had to burst their bubbles, "Sorry, guys, she only gets that way with me. She don't cry, somehow she seems to keep it all inside... until those magic little moments when I am all she needs and life is good, you see..."

Ranma suddenly say up, crossing his leds and resting his arms on his knees as he looked at first one, then the other of the two boys, "She gets sad sometimes, she'll never show it; you might make her mad, but you'll never know it..."

Hiroshi and Daisuke exchanged a slightly confused look that said 'What is he talking about?' They and everyone else at school knew that when Akane got made everyone in a block radius usually knew it.

Ranma chuckled to himself, "She don't wear her heart out on her sleeve; she only gets that way with me. Nobody knows what I know about Her; her hopes, her dreams, why she is who she is... Everyone else just thinks they know what I do about Her. She ain't weak, my baby's just as strong as she can be - until the nights she comes and tells me that the want-to in my eyes gives her butterflies..."

This had the other two boys stunned, neither of them could believe that things had really gotten that far between the two.

Standing up, Ranma stretched his arms into the air as he finished, "And she only gets that way with me."

"That's what it's like living with Akane?" Hiroshi blinked, "Wow..."

"Akane?" Ranma frowned and scratched his cheek, "I was talkin' about Nabiki, that's Her to me."

"Wha-!" Both Hiroshi and Daisuke facefaulted into the dirt.

Daisuke managed to recover first, "You're cheating on your fiancee with her sister!"

"No, I ain't!" Ranma snarled back at that insulting statement, "I ain't never cheated on Nabiki with nobody, especially not that Uncute Tomboy!"

"But Akane's your fiancee!" Hiroshi countered.

"I don't know why people keep sayin' that," Ranma snorted as he glowered, "But it ain't true - everyone just assumes it's Akane because she calls herself something she ain't. Comparing her to me as a Martial Artist is like comparing Kuno to Torii Mototada, it just don't work that way."

"I heard your father call Akane your fiancee, though," Daisuke brought up triumphantly.

"The panda's a sorry hypocrite," Ranma shook his head firmly, a dark shape seeming to form in the air behind him, "He and his friend tell me to pick my fiancee and then everyone just starts saying it's Akane when I never even got a chance to make a choice. It don't matter what Akane calls herself, Anything Goes-Martial Arts is my life and only one of the Tendos gets it that Anything Goes means anything goes and I chose Her. The rest of the idiots around here don't like it, you can all feel free to fight me over the brick-breaker's 'honor', just don't be surprised to wake up at Tofu-Sensei's clinc, got it?"

Both boys gulped audibly and answered in unison, "We got it!"

Suddenly the tension in the air disappeared and Ranma smirked and clapped his hands down on their shoulders, "Great! Glad we had this talk, guys. Think I'm gonna walk around a bit while I'm waiting my turn."

As soon as they thought Ranma was out of earshot, one of the boys turned to the other, "Hiroshi?"

"Yeah?" the other boy answered.

"Are we still alive?"

"I think so," Hiroshi patted his chest just to be sure, "Daisuke?"

"Yeah?" Daisuke answered.

"I don't think we're ever gonna bring up his engagement situation around Ranma again," Hiroshi suggested.

"I think we're gonna stay as far out of it as we can get," Daisuke agreed, then added, "The way everyone keeps talking, do you even think the Tendos know about Ranma's choice?"

Hiroshi shook his head, "If they don't, I don't want to be anywhere near when they find out."