Dear Akane
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
by Ryan Erik

"Dear Akane," the black-haired young man recited, reading from a yellowed parchment. He dipped his feather pen into a black inkwell and scratched the back of his head as he thought. "What's up?"

"No, no!" he mumbled in irritation, tearing up yet another unfinished letter to his beloved. "It has to be from the heart!" A deep sigh passed his lips. "Dear Akane," he said, writing what he spoke aloud. "I'm sorry that I've been away so long, but my training has been keeping me from you." Dipping his pen in the inkwell again, he smiled. The right words to describe his love for Akane rarely came to him, if ever.

"As soon as fate allows it, I will return to your side. I have something important to tell you when we next meet."

Biting his lip, he strained not to ruin this parchment. "Your faithful friend, Ryouga," he said, scribing at the bottom. He placed the finished document in an envelope, sealing it.

Standing up, he gazed upon all the shreds of paper strewn about on the floor. It took him many hours to complete it, but the finished product was more than worth the time spent. Hugging the letter to his

chest, he left the small cabin in search of a post office. It may take him a week to find one, but sooner or later he would.

Humming a song he heard his mother sing once, he marched through a grassy plain. Dawn greeted him with the warmth of the morning sun, but its beauty failed to impress him, his heart lost to images of

Akane Tendo, the goddess of his life. The sky clear, the day promised to be a good one, though practically any day free of rain was a good one.

His right boot landing hard on the ground, he winced, realizing he had acquired a rock somewhere along his travels. He didn't want anything to shatter his abnormally good mood, so he sighed heartily

and sat down, removing his right boot.

"Wow, that's one big rock," he remarked, seeing the size of the object he procured from his boot. He casually tossed it away before putting his boot back on and continuing his journey. There was nothing worse than walking around with a rock the size of large marble in your shoes.

Pulling a map from his pack, he studied it, squinting. "From the position of those mountains," he said, looking in between his map and the snow-capped mountains over his right shoulder. "I'd say I'm less than fifty miles from Hokkaido." That would put him fifty miles closer to civilization and fifty miles closer to mailing his letter.

Walking down one street or another, Ryouga looked at his map of Hokkaido, wondering why he hadn't found the post office yet. He had followed the directions the nice floral shop owner had told him, but

instead of being in front of his destination he stood in the middle of a large plaza.

"What, you're still around?"

He spun and found himself face to face with the tall floral shop owner. Putting his hand behind his had, he laughed, embarrassed by his poor ability to follow directions once again. The large man put

his hands on his hips, waiting for his reply.

"Could you tell me again?" Ryouga asked politely.

"Yeah, sure kid," the man answered, shaking his head in disgust.

"Okay," he said, pointing down the road Ryouga had arrived from. "You walk straight down the street you're on now, and follow it until it takes you to the post office. It will be on your left."

"Thanks again, sir." Holding his breath, Ryouga marched towards his destination yet again.

"Baka," the storekeeper muttered, watching the boy with the black-spotted yellow bandanna take a side street instead of following the one he was on. "What part of straight doesn't he understand?"

Concentrating on sweeping the entrance to his store, the man paid little attention to his surroundings. He desperately needed to move out of this martial artist cluttered district and move somewhere more

peaceful, like Juuban. What could possibly be worse than crazed martial artists tearing up every building within a fifty food radius of the fights between themselves? They'd have to have some sort demon creatures that prayed upon innocent victim's energy to match this.

His task finished, he looked up and barely jumped aside as an old man, the size of a large ball, came flying by him.

"What's your problem, ya old geezer?!" he yelled at the departing figure. Shaking his head, yet again, he propped his broom up against the wall of his store and wiped sweat from his brow. A rumbling from

the earth took his attention from the heat. "Huh?" he managed to say right as he was trampled by a mob of girls in various stages of dress, obviously in pursuit of the old man he saw but a few seconds

ago.

He picked himself from the cement and dusted himself off, after making sure nothing was broken. What else could possibly annoy him more today?

Taking a few more turns, Ryouga squinted at his map, trying to make out the lettering on it. "This isn't even written in Japanese!" he exclaimed, getting frustrated. "It's almost night and I haven't found the post office yet!"

"That map's upside down," the comment came from a voice below. His attention taken from his cursed map, he looked down and found himself in the middle of four girls. He looked around finding himself

standing in a park very close to a pond and in the middle of a group of agitated teenage girls, not a very good combination.

"Would you mind getting off our picnic basket?" one of the girls said, more than a little irritation in her voice.

Backing away cautiously, he waved and stuttered in apology. Working up some courage, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to know where the post office is?"

"Yeah, it's right over there," a cute girl with short brown hair told him, smiling.

"T-thanks," he said, trying to get as far away from the pond as possible.

"I think I'll ask directions in here," he said to himself.

Without looking at what store he entered, the jingling of a small bell sounded, marking his entrance. He walked up to the counter and faced the cashier. "Can you tell me the directions to the post office?" The growl emitted by the storekeeper made Ryouga take a large step back.

"OUT!" the man yelled, picking up his broom threatening. Warding off the incoming attack, Ryouga put up his hands up, guarding his face. Dodging a few swings of the broom, knocking over an isle and effectively covering himself with various types of flowers, Ryouga fled the shop. Needless to say, he was more than a little confused.

"What the hell was his problem?"

His head hung low, Ryouga trudged aimlessly down another street. His patience was running thin as he had spent most of the day searching, accomplishing absolutely nothing. A sigh passed through his lips and he muttered, "Why me?"

Holding his letter to Akane tightly to his chest, he walked without watching where he was stepping, dreaming of his next meeting with his beloved, how his mere presence would bring joy to her life. He imagined her arms spread wide as he came running up to her in greeting. He wanted to tell her his love for her and that he never wanted to be separated from her. He wanted to be able to tell her anything, but all he could do was squeal. She would hug him to her breasts, and he would feel loved, a love like none other.

Unfortunately, it was but the love for a pet.

Accidentally walking into someone brought him out of his dream-state. He looked down at the small figure sprawled out before him, a mail carrier. He apologized to the man, helping him to his feet and handing him his bag. Before he could walk away, Ryouga held out the letter still clenched in his fist. It was finally mailed, through a chance of fate.

The next day, Ryouga found himself still lost within the city. Though he had enough money to buy himself food, he truly disliked to do so, preferring to catch his own food to be away from the bustle of

the civilization. It unnerved him to be near so many people at once, but he usually had little choice in the matter. Only when he found himself in Nerima did he enjoy the polluted air of Tokyo.

"Yo, Ryouga," the familiar voice sounded.

Not even needing to look up to see who it was, he responded, "Hello, Ranma," and continued on in his aimless travels. Wait! Ranma was here?! He turned and confirmed it, staring at the pig-tailed boy's back. That only meant one thing; he was in Nerima. He could see Akane this very day if luck was with him!

"Uh, Ranma, wait up!" he yelled, but it was too late. Ranma had already turned a corner and was out of sight. Anger coursing through him, he clenched his teeth at the boy's treatment of him. Though he

did not outright insult him, his presence itself always seemed to make Ryouga mad. The constant teasing on Ranma's part was most likely the reason, in addition to their past rivalries.

Frustrated, Ryouga kicked a rock skidding harmlessly across the empty streets of Nerima. With dusk approaching, Ryouga had little choice but to find somewhere he could eat to appease his growling

stomach. He would have given anything to be able to find Akane's house and eat there, but he knew through all of his pride that he wouldn't make it there, at least not today.

Pushing open the doors of the first restaurant he came across, he walked in and took a seat at the bar, not noticing who he sat across from.

"Ryouga?" a cheerful voice asked.

Ryouga looked up to find himself face to face with Ukyou Kounji, whose apparent happiness was in drastic opposition of his foul mood. She was dressed in her usual clothes, chest bindings and all, making her look rather masculine, but he could knew the truth by finding out first handed when he slashed open her shirt the first time they met. Just thinking about that incident made his nose want to hemorrhage.

"Uh, hi," he said.

"Long time no see, hon," she greeted, smiling. "What can I get 'cha?"

"Anything without meat," he replied, holding his stomach in a vain attempt to ward off his hunger pains. Though he may have preferred to eat in the open, it didn't necessarily mean he liked the food better, just the company. There was hardly any food that matched Ukyou's okinomiyaki, and few that came close. Roots, rabbits and berries were hardly on the same plane of existence.

"One veggy special coming right up!" she cried, enthusiastically. He watched her quick wrist action as she began to prepare his dinner. The fluidity of her motions always made him wonder how she became so good. Never really getting a straight answer from anyone besides

Akane as P-chan, he always received information about current events secondhanded. He vaguely remembered hearing something about Ranma ditching Ukyou when they were children. Almost all of his thoughts always ended up on Ranma or Akane, his two conflicting goals. Most of the choices that he made revolved around them. Whether it was trying to defeat Ranma or court Akane, everything always backfired, making thought of them difficult.

"Here you go, sugar," Ukyou said, handing him his finished dinner. Before leaving, she told him, "After you eat, want me to take you to the Tendo dojo?"

His eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously, his mouth full at the moment. He would make it to there today after all! After finishing off his fourth okinomiyaki, he paid Ukyou for his dinner. The happy chef told him to stay in one place while she finished serving her customers. He did so with little complaint and after ten minutes they were ready to leave.

"Are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Ryouga asked, hoping she wasn't going out of her way just for him. He knew she was a busy person and had very little time to show him to the dojo, which she

seemed to do in the majority of their meetings.

"I wouldn't have offered if it was, sugar," she replied. "I'm bringing Ranchan some dinner anyway."

The one fault that he could see in Ukyou was her crush on his most hated rival. Though they often were allies, working together for their own ends, occasionally they were enemies and all of it was Ranma's fault. Not only did he string along Akane, but he also took this kind okinomiyaki chef along for the ride, not to mention a half a dozen other girls.

They arrived at the gate to the Tendo residence fairly quickly, in Ryouga's point of view. It was not quite dark yet when they entered the yard and walked up to the door where Ukyou knocked.

"I'll get it!" they heard Kasumi yell from within.

"Try not to start a fight with Ranma-honey," Ukyou reminded, but he failed to listen, his thoughts on Akane. He really didn't have any intentions to fight Ranma today, or much of ever anymore for that

matter, but it certainly crossed his mind often.

"Good evening, Ukyou!" Kasumi greeted, her usual smile held firmly in place. "Oh, hello, Ryouga-kun. I didn't know you were in town! Come in, both of you." She ushered the two of them in, closing the door behind them.

Smells of something freshly cooked assaulted their nostrils as they made their way into the dining area. Angry shouts echoed throughout the house, leaving no doubt to who the offenders were. A bit of anger surfaced in Ryouga's thoughts. Ranma had most likely made Akane angry again.

"Stupid tomboy!" the cry was heard.

"Die, Ranma!" a second cry, quite a bit more angry than the first, sounded.

Clenching his fists, Ryouga walked into the dining room in time to watch Ranma go flying straight into the koi pond. Knowing Ranma got what was coming to him, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Hello, Ryouga!" Akane said warmly, her anger forgotten.

The bare mention of his name on her lips caused him to freeze up, not knowing what to do now. A list of things he wanted to say appeared in his mind, but he could only stutter, "H-h-hello, A-Akane!" which was followed by one of his silly laughs.

"What brings you here?" she asked, a smile blessing her beautiful face. "Ryouga?"

'I love you, Akane; want to go on a date?' was what he wanted to tell her, but the words would not - could not - form in his mouth. Why did his nerves fail him every time he had the chance to profess

his undying love for her? It felt as if someone or something held him back from his one and only chance at happiness.

"Let's go on a date, Ryouga!"

His head shifted to look his one and only love straight in her eyes. Did she just ask him out? Could it be that she liked him too?

"Oh, why don't we just get married right now?"

Ryouga's heart leapt from his chest and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Was this really happening or was it just a dream, a beautiful and utterly perfect dream? He went to take Akane's hands in his own but was cut short when she turned her back to him and looked down.

"Ranma..." Akane growled in anger.

"Do you really mean it, Akane?" Ryouga asked, completely oblivious to the beating that Akane was going to inflict upon Ranma. He looked at her, her back turned to him and staring down towards...

Ranma in his girl form.

"How dare you impersonate me!" Akane yelled, causing everyone near her to cower away from her very impressive battle aura. "You pervert!"

"W-wait, Akane!" Ranma stuttered, backing up cautiously. "It was just a joke! Can't you take a joke, stupid tomboy?!"

"ARGH! RANMA NO BAKA!"

Ryouga closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to witness the death of the redhead. The sickening crunch, followed by the loud scream made him wince. He looked up and out a Ranma shaped hole in the

ceiling. "Ouch," he whispered under his breath.

He heard Soun sobbing in the background, muttering about how his families would never be united; Nabiki counting on her fingers how much this new damage was going to cost; and Kasumi simply say, "Oh my!" Ukyou took off after her "Ranchan," and Genma was no where to be seen.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Ryouga?" Akane asked, her battle aura dissipated and smile returned. Ryouga was thanking all that was mighty that he wasn't in Ranma's shoes right now.

"Um - hehe - you know," he frantically searched for words to tell her, but nothing came to him. Whether he was near her or not, he probably couldn't say the three simple words he desperately wanted to tell her. "I-I..." Instead of *those* three words, he said three completely different ones. "...brought you something!" Already in his hands, he held out a small stuffed... pig?! Where in all of hell did he pick that up?!

"Oh, Ryouga!" she exclaimed grabbing the black stuffed pig to her chest, like she did with her pet pig. "It looks just like my little P-chan! Thank you, Ryouga."

"Oh! It was n-nothing!" Though it brought him much joy to see her happy, his own disappointment at his failure to do what he came to do brought his mood down. The stupid stuffed pig that he gave her, which he honestly did not remember purchasing, further pushed the memory of his curse down his throat.

"Do you want some dinner?" Akane asked, offering up Ranma's untouched plate. Untouched might have been a poor adjective, when he thought about it. The plate itself looked like it was being grabbed by the food on it! Most of the disgusting slop on it was a strange orange color and smelled of extremely hot peppers and vinegar. "I made it myself!"

"No thanks, Akane," he responded, thanking the gods that he ate already. "I ate at Ucchan's."

"Okay, guess I'll have to dump it out again." The look of pure sadness that he saw on her face completely melted Ryouga's heart and will.

"I guess there's a little more room in my stomach!" he announced, bringing the cheer back to her face. Unfortunately, he probably just signed his death certificate when he offered to eat it. How he would

get through one bite was question enough, let alone a full plate of that stuff.

Taking the plate from the cheerful girl, he examined it careful, sitting down at the table. Not noticing that everyone was gathering around to see his reaction to the food, he cautiously picked up the chopsticks from the table and gathered some of the melted slop onto them. With one last look at Akane, he knew it would be worth sacrificing his own life to make her happy.

The instant the 'food' touched his tongue, his watering eyes opened wide in the shock of first contact with the matter in on the chopsticks. "HOT!" he yelled, bounding over the table and dunking his head straight into the koi pond, uncaring at the consequences. His first reaction to his body changing shape and getting lost within his clothes was of relief and getting away from the horrible monster that was Akane's latest cooking creation. His second though, was fear. Akane obviously saw him change right in front of her eyes, and seeing P-chan crawling out from Ryouga's clothes would only finalize his death.

In a moment of panic, he fled into the night. Akane stared in shock after Ryouga's hasty departure.

"Guess he wasn't hungry after all," she said with a heavy sigh.

"P-chan!"

Ryouga's eyes opened slowly, wondering where the hell he was now. His eyes blinked, startled at someone's sudden appearance. The deep brown eyes that greeted him, surprised him utterly. Akane was above him, arms on either side and she seemed very happy.

"Bwee!" he cried out, trying to tell her of his love. "Bwee?" He sighed as depression rushed into him, gnawing at the core of his existence. Once more he would be her pet. Though he often admitted to

himself that it was not such a bad thing, he definitely could think of better places to be.

Akane scooped the small black into her arms and pressed him to her breasts, causing the startled piglet to pass out cold. "Are you okay, baby?"

Ryouga regained consciousness in his beloved's lap, her hand firmly stroking his back. He bweed in pleasure, soaking up her attention. She giggled and hand fed him some of Kasumi's wonderful cooking.

"I'm so glad your home, P-chan," Akane told him. "You have to stop running away!" She picked him up and adjusted him in her arms, as if cradling a child.

"Hello, Ryouga," Ranma greeted in a very feminine and flustered voice.

"Bwee!" he called back, glad that he was in Akane's arms, safe from Ranma's threatening presence.

"You leave P-chan alone, Ranma! He just came home and I won't have you scaring him away again!"

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki said, taking their attention off fighting. "Letter for you." She handed her sister a very familiar crumpled envelope.

"To Akane," Akane read out loud. "Oh, it's a letter from Ryouga!"

Taking it out, she immedeately began to read its contents. A smile, so beautiful only his angel could produce, appeared on her face.

"This is post marked two days ago!" Ranma announced. "You actually made it before the letter did this time, Ryouga!"

"Bwee!"

"Where's Ryouga?"

"You're holding him, stupid!"

"You care to repeat that, Ranma?!"

"Bwee!"

As usual, the two 'lovebirds' got into a horrible argument around Ryouga's presence as P-chan and caused excessive amounts of property damage. Unfortunately for Ryouga, he was set down before Akane went on a rampage and found himself lost. Fortunately, he found himself lost in the bathroom.

Not caring who was using the tub at the present time, he jumped in, emerged and left. His clothes, clean and dry, were placed in the changing room, ready for use. Ready to leave, he found his way out -

after an hour of asking directions from Soun, Kasumi and Genma, and paying Nabiki 2,000 yen.

Wiping sweat from his brow, the lost boy looked at the fresh parchment in front of him, wondering how he should begin his new letter. In frustration, he crumpled up the unused paper and tossed it behind him.

"Oh, forgot to write something first," he said dryly.

Putting his feather pen to his lips, he frowned, storming his brain for something intelligent to write. He didn't want it to sound too forward, but at the same time, not too casual. If he wrote the wrong one, all would be for not.

"I got it!" he exclaimed happily, writing the header. "Dear Akane..."