Ayame was clearly struggling with the kata she'd mastered three month prior. Every time Ranma shouted out a correction she practically jumped out of her skin, almost as if she'd forgotten he was there at all. Other times he would have to call her name several times before she would respond.

"Ouch!" she yelped suddenly, as she stubbed her toe and tripped on the dojo's loose board for the fifth time in the last half hour.

Ranma sighed in defeat. "Ayame," he called her over, sitting on the floor in a meditation stance and indicating for her to do the same.

"Yes Dad- uh Sensei?"

Yet another sign of distraction. His children always referred to him as sensei when practicing, and Ayame had hardly ever slipped up in this. What Ayame lacked in raw talent for martial arts she always made up for in seriousness. She was bent on following the rules to the letter, regardless of how silly they seemed. She never questioned his instruction, and always trusted him completely. But today something was off. Now sitting across from her he could tell that she'd been chewing her lip again, a bad habit she'd developed when she was five years old that always re-manifested when she was particularly nervous.

"Your focus is off today," he said, trying to sound serious, like an instructor, and not a concerned father. "Take some time to quiet your mind and then we will continue."

She bowed her head in shame at what she had perceived as disappointment, and for a moment he thought she might cry. "Y-Yes Sensei," she said biting her lip.

It was the choked voice that finally did him in and all instruction for the day was forgotten. "A-Ayame, if-If… You know, if something's wrong… I uh…" he swallowed hard, feeling out of his element and reached behind his head to tug at his hair. "You know, I uh… I could go get your mom…"

That was of course his best bet. Preteen female problems were far beyond his realm of experience, and he assumed Akane would be much better equipped to address what was going on with their only daughter. Unfortunately he had made some grave unknown error, because the moment he mentioned the word 'mom' Ayame's thin grasp of control vanished and she erupted into a fit of tears.

"No! That's just it! I can't talk to mom about… About this!" she wailed, before throwing her head into her hands and digressing into a rush of unintelligible mutterings.

Ranma's whole body went rigid with fright. Crying females might as well have been his kryptonite, and his twelve year old daughter was just the perfect assailant to administer a lethal dose. He sat stupefied for longer than he felt was acceptable before shaking away his aversions and coming to terms with the fact that he had to do something. Swallowing hard once more, he shifted himself around to his daughter's side and awkwardly placed his arm around her shoulder, patting her hesitantly, while muttering, "there, there."

He continued with this action for a while, hoping that it was the right thing to do. Her crying seemed to be softening, and diminishing to the occasional sob and hiccup, so he assumed he had to be doing something right. The initial source of panic leaving him, parts of his brain began to work again, and he started to acknowledge the obvious truth that something was seriously wrong and upsetting his daughter. However, what it could be was beyond him.

She'd seemed normal enough that morning. She'd received top of the class standings on the recent school exams, something she'd been quite proud of. Her volleyball team at school was winning all of its matches, and a great deal of this was attributed to Ayame. She and her brothers got along tolerably. There were the typical sibling squabbles, but she seemed to hold her own well enough in those, and wasn't one to get all weepy about some prank or teasing on their parts. She seemed to be popular enough, and liked her friends. She and her cousin Minami were always talking on the phone.

So what could possibly have her so upset? Everything seemed to be going well for his daughter, unless there was a problem with boys…

The thought hit him over the head like an anvil, and the blood in his veins instantly froze over. His twelve year old daughter having boy trouble was a most unwelcome thought. He'd figured he'd have at least another two years of bliss before he had to worry about his daughter getting involved with boys. And if someone had hurt her… That at least was a predicament he knew how to handle. If any boy had been less then gentlemanlike with his little girl, he would make him pay.

That thought in mind he spoke up, his voice like ice. "What happened Ayame? Did someone hurt you?"

"No, no Daddy. Nothing like that. It's not me, it's… Well…"

Darn her hesitations. He was really starting to get worried. "Out with it Ayame," he spoke urgently. "You have to tell me what's wrong! Otherwise how am I supposed to fix it?" He'd do anything for his daughter. She had to know that. She had to know he'd move heaven and earth to help her. Seeing her like that was killing him.

"B-But Daddy, I can't. I don't want you and Mom to…" she suddenly stopped and clamped a hand over her mouth.

His brow narrowed, suddenly suspicious. "What about Akane? Did she do something?"

The idea seemed ridiculous. He trusted his wife completely. But the sudden panicked look on Ayame's face seemed to confirm, rather than deny the theory.

"Oh geez. What did that dummy do this time? Break a police box? Scare off more students? If she got kidnapped again clearly it wasn't that big of a deal, seeing as she's already home and cooking dinner. Uh oh. Dinner. I hope she didn't buy some kind of insect poison, mistaking it for seasoning again." His mind continued to weed through all manner of possibilities, but ultimately he wasn't seriously worried, and felt the need to inform his daughter of that fact, seeing as she was clearly worked up over the matter.

"Look, Ayame," he began, a little unsure of how to proceed. "You don't have to worry about your mother and me. We always work out… Whatever the issue is. Whatever's weighing on you I'm sure it will turn out to be nothing. Now, I'm not going to force you to tell me if it will make you uncomfortable, but clearly you're upset, and you've already said you can't tell Akane…"

"I think Mom might be having an affair!" Ayame abruptly blurted.

Ranma's first response was to laugh. That was the last thing he expected to pop out of his daughter's mouth. "Ayame, you must be mistaken. Akane wouldn't do anything like that. As I'm sure you know we have a… Complicated history, and there are a lot of people in this area that know us from when we were younger. Whatever you think you saw, I'm sure it was just Akane and some old friend, maybe one that used to have a crush on her or something…"

"No Dad, it wasn't like that. She was actually talking about going on a date with him!'"

Ranma's brow furrowed. That did sound awfully suspicious, but a date could mean a number of things. "Who is this guy Ayame?"

"I don't know his name. He's the man who owns the grocery store down the street. Mom's always been really friendly with him. But… He's married too, and his wife always gives Mom the dirtiest look when we come in!"

Ranma nodded, starting to feel more and more concerned. Yet it still seemed so unlike Akane to do something like that. Besides, she seemed so happy all the time, with him, and with the kids, and the dojo. Sure they fought. They'd always fought, and always would fight, but they loved each other.

"You're not going to get a divorce, are you Daddy?" Ayame's sudden question knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Don't be ridiculous!" he responded without hesitation. Geez but that was a horrible thought. "Look, I'm sure it's nothing Ayame," he said, not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Did I make a mistake telling you Daddy?" she asked, an edge of worry in her voice.

"No, of course not honey," he said, reaching out and giving her a hug. "Look, your mom and I will handle… Whatever this is. It's not for little girls to worry themselves about, you understand?"

"Yes Daddy," she nodded. She still seemed a bit upset, but was no longer on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Okay, now go work on your homework before dinner. I'll take care of this."

He found his wife right where he'd expected, in the kitchen, fussing over some stew. He breathed a sigh of relief taking note of the ingredients that all seemed appropriate enough. Early on in their marriage he'd insisted that when she cooked she'd leave all the ingredients she'd used out on the counter. It made calling poison control a lot more effective, as he was able to identify what poison they'd ingested a lot easier. He still teased her about it, but for the most part her cooking had improved, and sometimes was quite tasty.

He smiled slightly, overwhelmed for a moment, thinking of how pleasant their life together had been. It was their imperfections, and their quirks that had always made their life together so interesting. The ways they'd learned to work together to overcome their difficulties made them better together than they ever had been apart. It pricked at him, the fear that his daughter had placed within him. If she was right about Akane, it would change everything. "But she can't be right," he insisted. "This is nothing. I'm sure. You just need to talk to her and clear this whole thing up."

"Hey, 'Kane," he said, his voice sounding more small and hesitant than he would have liked.

She turned around and beamed at him. "Hey. Practice done already? That was quick."

"Yeah um, Ayame was a bit… Off today."

"Oh really? Is something wrong?" she asked, a small crease of worry forming between her eyebrows.

"No, not really. Nothing I can't handle…"

"Okay," she said, clearly set at ease by his reassurance. She went back to stirring the stew without any other comment on the matter.

"Say, so what did you do today anyway?" Ranma asked, trying to sound natural.

"Not much. Taught my morning class, went to the store… Oh! You'll never guess who I ran into!"

"Who?" he asked, smiling fondly. He should have known from the start she wasn't going to keep whatever happened a secret from him.

"Mikado Sanzenin."

"Really? He didn't try anything did he?" he asked.

"Ha! As if. No he's much milder these days. Besides, I think even he knows better than to mess with Saotomes."

"No longer a lady killer?"

"I should say not. It's a shame really," she intoned, in unconvincing sympathy. "His vanity seems to have taken quite the hit due to his hair line receding so noticeably."

"No way!" Ranma chuckled. "I guess that serves him right for all that womanizing he did when he was younger."

She looked back at him curiously, taking note of his full head of hair. "Didn't seem to affect you any," she commented casually.

"Ha, ha," he remarked flatly. "Very funny."

She smiled, tasting the stew with a serving spoon before heading to the cupboards in search of the numerous spices she'd never ceased to enjoy experimenting with. "You know, he actually seems to have turned into a pretty decent guy. He's married. Seems very devoted to his wife, and she's such a sweet lady. Also, he's great with the kids. He teaches a skating class at the local ice rink now. That's where Ayame and I saw him. She did so well on her exams, I promised to take her there as a treat. Sounds like she might be interested in taking lessons actually."

"That's nice," Ranma said, looking a bit confused. "So… You didn't see him at the store then?"

"No," she asked, curiously. "Why?"

"No reason," he said, puzzled. He was sure that Ayame had said it was someone at the grocery store that Akane had planned a so called 'date' with, and knowing Mikado, he could have easily said something that Ayame would have misconstrued. It made sense. But if he wasn't the one they'd met in the grocery store…

"Anything else noteworthy happen?" he probed.

She thought for a moment. "Oh yes! How could I forget?" she said with a frown. "I went over to Tofu's clinic to visit Kasumi and see if she needed any help with that new fund raiser she's putting on. And guess who was there?"

Ranma bit back an exasperated sigh, impatient to hear only about the trip to the grocery store. "Who?" he asked, politely resigned to listening nonetheless.

"Akito, your son," she growled. "Apparently he got in a fight again after school."

Ranma's interest perked up then and he allowed himself to be diverted. "Why do you always refer to him as 'my son' when he does something that involves him getting in trouble?"

"Because he most certainly didn't get that behavior from me!"

"Says the girl who routinely beat up half the males in school every morning for several months before I came along and brought peace to the poor Furinkan populace."

"That was self-defense!"

"Yeah, yeah, so what happened to our son? This fight, did he win? What am I saying? Of course he won," he professed proudly.

Akane rolled her eyes at him. "Ranma, this is not something we're encouraging, remember? He's still in grade school!"

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right. He shouldn't be messing with an elementary school kid. I'll talk to him."

"Actually…" Akane started with a frown. "The boys he fought weren't from his school."

"Boys? As in more than one?"

Akane nodded. "Eight to be exact."

"Wow. Not bad. But if they weren't from his school, where were they from?"

"A local high school. Apparently they're in some kind of street gang or… Something. They stole a ball from a kid in Akito's class, and Akito made them give it back. They resisted for a while. Anyway, there isn't much wrong with him, other than a cut on his elbow that he got from a knife," she said, pointedly while brandishing her own kitchen knife before starting to chop up some carrots.

Ranma let out a low whistle. "What about the other boys?"

"They'll be fine I hear. In a week or two."

Ranma grinned proudly. "Well, that's my kid alright."

Again she frowned. "Why is it you always refer to him as 'your son' when he does something you're impressed with?"

"I think that goes without saying. My genes are full of pure awesomeness. Your genes are all clumsy and…" His tirade was cut off as her kitchen knife went sailing across the room, embedding in the wall mere centimeters above his head.

"Careful or your hairline is going to be disappearing faster than Mikado's. Give or take some skin."

He laughed nervously, stepping out from under the knife. "Just joking love," he placated.

Content, she pulled out another knife and began chopping away again. "Anyway, I'd still appreciate you having a word with him. And I'd prefer it if that conversation involved more than you just congratulating him. Please tell him to take it easy? At least until he's in high school?"

"Sure, sure, whatever you say 'Kane. Still aren't you the least bit proud?"

She turned her nose up. "I'm a mother first and a martial artist second. Wife third," she added as an afterthought which caused Ranma to scoff in indignation. "I promised I wouldn't baby them too much as long as you didn't take them away on some ten year training expedition across half the world, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to express when things are getting a bit out of hand. Which they are!"

"Yeah, okay, I understand," Ranma relented.

"That being said… I suppose I am a little proud."

Ranma smiled knowingly but wisely said nothing else. "Yeah, okay. So what happened at the grocery store then?" he asked, back to the original discussion he'd been hoping to have.

Akane stopped slicing carrots for a moment, and frowned, stiffening up slightly as if in a daze. "What?" she asked.

"I asked, what happened at the grocery store?" he repeated, walking over to her, intent on trying to discern if there was any hint of unease in her.

She blinked a few times before shrugging, tossing a look over her shoulder at him. "Nothing really. Just shopping. Why do you ask?"

His eyes narrowed at her in disappointment. He could detect no hint that she was lying to him. She was either telling him the truth, or doing a really good job of lying. He knew perfectly well she wasn't a good liar, but still, something wasn't right. "No reason," he said testily. "What about tomorrow? Any big plans?"

Again she shrugged. "No, not really. Teach my morning class again, help out Kasumi, run to the grocery store…"

"Again?" Now his voice was definitely sounding suspicious. "You just went today! Why do you have to go again?"

She looked at him curiously, noting the questioning tone in his voice. "I spilled a bottle of soy sauce this afternoon. I need another one for tomorrow's dinner. Is something wrong with that?"

"No," he said through gritted teeth. "Nothing at all. Although… You're always working so hard. Why don't you let me go and pick that up for you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Okay, if you want," she said, leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "That's sweet of you."

"Yeah, sweet. That's me alright," he sighed. "Be right back."

"You mean you're going now? But dinner's almost ready."

"Oh no worries, this won't take long," he said before rushing out of the house.

Despite his assurances that it would only take a moment, he found himself dragging his feet. "Why am I even doing this?" he wondered. "This is ridiculous! In all our years of marriage Akane's never given me a reason not to trust her. I don't believe for a second she'd cheat on me. Not to mention, the guy that tries to mess around with my wife would have to be pretty stupid." He sighed. Despite his thoughts, he still felt inexplicably worried. Something was off. Besides, Ayame was a bright girl, and she really seemed to think something was going on. She wasn't one to misinterpret situations so wildly.

By the time he reached the grocery store, he still wasn't quite sure of what he would do, and ended up standing out front, the minutes ticking by uncounted. He realized he was afraid. Afraid he might have lost her. It wasn't a fear he was unfamiliar with, but after being married for so long, it was certainly one that had diminished. Now that they were older, and they had kids together, and a life together, the thought of losing her was a thousand times more intense than when they had been kids themselves.

"It must be a mistake," he said. "It just has to be. I trust Akane. I trust her…" He took a deep breath and was about to enter the store when a tall, gangly man stepped outside and began walking down the street. He paused however, noticing Ranma.

"Ranma?" he asked. "Ranma Saotome?"

Ranma turned to face the strangely familiar fellow. "Yeah?" he asked.

The man's eyes went wide in relief. "Oh thank goodness it's you! I've been hoping I'd bump into you. I would've called, but my wife would never understand why I was calling there. She is so suspicious! I tried to explain it, but she just doesn't believe me and I honestly think she's about ready to kill me…"

"Whoa, whoa, hold it there uh… Buddy," Ranma said, trying to make sense of the jumbled speech the man had professed.

"Y-You don't recognize me?"

"Uh yeah sure you're uh…" He trailed off, snapping his fingers and rubbing the back of his head… "Uh…"

"No idea?"

"Not a clue. Sorry man. It's been kind of a weird night. I can't remember where I know you from."

"Hikaru Gosunkugi? We went to school together? Remember?"

"Oh yeah! Gosunkugi sure. Yeah I remember you. You uh, well you look different I guess."

"Yes well, I have bulked up a bit," he said proudly.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. His hair had lightened and thinned, and he'd grown a bit taller, less hunched over, but his ribs still stuck out beneath his white dress shirt, and his eyes were still sunken and rimmed with dark circles. In retrospect Ranma couldn't figure out how he had failed to recognize the man, but attributed it more to his poor memory with faces than any actual change in Gosunkugi. "Yeah, sure. Filled out. Let's go with that. I'm sure that's the reason. Anyway, what can I help you with Gosunkugi?"

"Yes, of course! Well you see, Akane's always shopping here at my store and I…"

"Wait, this is your store?" Ranma growled, his aura flaring to light. "Gosunkugi, you have exactly thirty seconds to tell me what exactly is going on with you and my wife!?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! This is what I mean! It's all a big misunderstanding!"

"Twenty seconds," Ranma said, his voice threatening.

"Okay, okay. It's those paper dolls from high school. Remember?"

"You still using those things?" Ranma shouted. "Ten seconds!"

"No! Not since then. But that's the problem, the magic's still in effect! She still thinks we're going on a date 'tomorrow.'"

Ranma's aura flickered slightly, a memory picking at the back of his mind. "You're out of time." Gosunkugi swallowed hard, and Ranma sighed, crossing his arms. "But… Continue."

"T-Thank you," Gosunkugi stammered. "It's that last paper doll I used. You remember what I wrote on it, don't you?"

Ranma squinted, but it was just out of his reach. "Uh…"

"I wrote, 'Go out with me tomorrow.' But of course we never actually did, because in her mind, no matter what day it was, our date was always going to take place on the next day. And here we are over a decade later, and she still thinks we're going out. TOMORROW! Every time she comes in it's the same thing! 'Oh hello Gosunkugi, nice to see you. I'm really looking forward to our date tomorrow!' I can't get her to stop! Please, please, you've got to help me! My wife is really the jealous type, and if this keeps up I'm afraid of what she might do! I'm begging you! Keep your wife away from me!"

With an audible pop Ranma's battle aura instantly deflated. And then, he began to laugh.

Back at the Saotome household, Akane was pacing impatiently in the dining room, in front of her three kids who were already seated at the table. "Stupid Ranma," she growled. "I told him dinner was almost ready, but he just rushed out of the house anyway. Now dinner's going to be cold!"

"I hardly think the food getting cold is going to make this taste any worse, Ma," her oldest son, Ichiro drawled, lifting a spoonful of stew and watching suspiciously as he tilted the spoon upside down, and the liquid slopped back in his bowl.

"Don't start with me young man," Akane barked, just as they heard the front door open.

"I'm home!" Ranma called from the entryway.

"About time!" Akane called back. "I hope you have a good excuse for why it took you forty-five minutes to grab a bottle of soy sauce!"

Ranma didn't answer. By then he had made his way to the dining room, and with a jubilant smile he lifted Akane in his arms, spinning her around before placing her back down and kissing her breathless. When he finally pulled back, Akane blinked several times in surprise, trying to clear her confused brain. "Wow, well that was…"

"Gross," said Ichiro and Akito in unison.

"Quiet boys," Ranma and Akane responded turning their heads to give the two a silencing glare.

Ayame meanwhile beamed up at her two parents. "Does this mean everything is going to be okay between you two?" she asked.

Akane looked at her in surprise. "Of course, sweetheart. Why wouldn't they be?"

Ranma laughed. "Yes Ayame, everything is fine. It was all just a misunderstanding."

"What was?" Akane asked, still perfectly confused.

"Nothing to worry about, dear. Here," he said, holding up a bouquet of flowers for her. "These are for you."

"Oh!" she said in surprise, her expression alternating between one of suspicion and glee. "Um, thank you. What's the occasion?"

"Just cause I love you," he grinned.

"Ahhhhh," said Ayame.

"Gross," said Ichiro and Akito.

Akane smiled back, arching up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek. "Well I love you too. Hold on a second while I put these in water," she said, making her way into the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone Ranma sank down at his seat leaning conspiratorially towards his daughter. "All a mistake left over from high school. Man but those were some crazy times. I'll fill you in on the details later."

Ayame nodded emphatically, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Plus she had the promise of hearing one of her dad's old stories, which never failed to amuse.

"But long story short," Ranma continued to Ayame. "We're switching grocery stores."

"We are?" Akane asked, reappearing in the room behind him.

"Uh, yeah," Ranma said. "You know, I just kind of get a bad vibe at that place. I found another one that isn't too much further."

She shrugged, plopping down in the seat next to his. "Fine by me. I know what you mean actually. Gosunkugi's nice and all, but his wife really gives me the strangest looks!"

"Well that's settled then."

"But Ranma?"

"Yes Akane?"

"Where's my soy sauce?"

AN: Honestly couldn't think of a better ending, but the story itself had some cute parts so I felt I might as well post it. I actually wrote this a few years ago, but never felt I hit the punch line quite right and so never posted it. Now I figure it's not so bad. This story, unlike most of my stories, feeds off the anime version of what happened with Gosunkugi's paper dolls. In the anime he puts a doll on her back that says "Go out with me tomorrow." In the manga he gives her one that says "Don't hate me." It occurred to me that it would be funny if years later she was still thinking she had a date with him the next day, and thus this story appeared. I hope you enjoyed it.

I have another story called Eighteen Years which follows the lives of Ranma and Akane's kids, particularly Ichiro and Ayame. They of course meet up with other kids of the original Ranma cast, and it's just kind of fun. I like the story but doubt I'll be working on it again anytime soon. But, every once in a while I want to write a one-shot about Ranma and Akane being married, and when I do I always write something that would fit with the Eighteen Years concept. If you liked this idea check out There Are Some Things a Guy Just Can't Say (which is a one-shot), and of course Eighteen Years!

I haven't been writing much lately, and for those of you following my other stories I apologize. Check out my updated profile for a bit more info. But hey, good news! The next chapter of Mission Impossible is like 98 percent complete! Just messing with one final scene… So hopefully that will but up soon. Until then, ja ne!