Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications. I make nothing off of this, so please don't sue me.
Author notes: This story is A/U, diverging from the main timeline shortly after Shampoo leaves the first time. That is all I'll tell you for now, you'll have to read if you want to know more.
First I Giveth
by Marik Kurakashi
Chapter 1: Kisses in the Dark
Everything had returned to a semi-normal state following the departure of the Amazon Shampoo. Ranma and his father sparred, with the usual splashdown before breakfast, followed by a bath to switch back, then a wild brawl over their allotted food. But today was different, as Ranma wasn't trying to stop his father from stealing his food. In fact, he barely registered there was food in front of him, and just sat in deep contemplation.
After easily stealing the third piece of chicken from Ranma without a fight, Genma was getting worried. After inhaling the said piece, Genma said, "What is the matter boy? Aren't you going to defend your plate?" He stared at his son, confusion wrought on his features.
Ranma said, "I'm not really hungry this morning." He turned a confused glance around the table as everyone else huddled together and began whispering amongst themselves.
Akane was the first to voice her concern. "This isn't like Ranma, he usually inhales enough food to feed at least three or four people," she said, trying her hardest to conceal her worry.
Soun predictably broke down into tears. "WAAAAAAHHH!! Aliens have kidnapped my daughter's fiancée. Now the schools will never be joined," he wailed, causing anyone close to him to move away to avoid getting soaked by his tears.
Nabiki scoffed and said, "Aliens? Get real, Daddy." She rolled her eyes for emphasis on her opinion of the Tendo patriarch's outburst.
Kasumi frowned and said, "I hope he hasn't come down with something." She went over to Ranma and placed her hand on his forehead to see if he was running a fever.
Ranma fidgeted a bit and said, "I'm fine Kasumi." He got up and continued, "I think I'll head to school early today." With that, he left the dining room, grabbed his satchel and headed out the front door.
Nabiki, realizing that she'd have to hurry to get to school in time to run her usual operations, she shoveled the last of her rice into her mouth, then washed it down with the last of her tea. After wiping her mouth with a napkin, she got up and said, "Good job on breakfast this morning, Oneechan." She hurried out, grabbed her satchel, and rushed to Furinkan.
Akane stared after her sister, her mind whirring at all the implications of this morning. First, Ranma isn't hungry and heads off to school early. Second, Nabiki hurries up and finishes her breakfast and races after him. She growled in annoyance, one thought alone flashed to the forefront:
'That pervert better not be doing anything with my sister!'
Meanwhile, Nabiki had arrived at Furinkan before Ranma, thanks in large part to the old lady with the ladle splashing Ranma for the umpteenth time. She rushed by as Ranma went to Dr. Tofu's to get some hot water and easily made it there before Ranma arrived. She walked past Kuno, giving her usual Kuno-baby greeting to see him grind his teeth and launch into a fifteen minute speech about how much he hates her calling him that, of which she stuck around for the first couple words before she headed to her usual seat on the balcony.
After her usual meeting with her associates, Nabiki watched for the solitary approach of Ranma, who looked like he had a lot more on his mind then usual. The student body was abuzz at the sight of Ranma without Akane, a noise that brought an evil grin to Nabiki's face, as she knew she would do good business today. Her associates simply shook their heads and went back to watching Ranma.
Kuno had just wound down from his tirade against that vile mercenary when he noticed Ranma's approach. He looked about for a sight of his fierce tigress, but he could not see her. He roared in anger, causing Ranma to stop examining the sidewalks and look at him.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at Kuno. "Just what the hell is your problem today," he snapped, in no mood for Kuno's antics.
"Thou dare taketh that tone with me, o vile one? What hath thou done to the beautiful Akane, you scoundrel," Kuno roared in response, leveling his bokken towards Ranma.
Ranma's face scrunched up in confusion. "What have I done? I aint done nothin' to Akane, I just left for school earlier than she did," he said, wondering why Kuno hadn't been comitted to a mental hospital yet.
"Am I, the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, supposed to believe the words of one as vile and repulsive as thee? Enough of your incessant prattle, I shall smite thee," Kuno barked, rushing forward to strike Ranma down.
Ranma casually caught the bokken in one hand, throwing Kuno off balance. With a simple flick of his wrist, he wrenched the bokken from Kuno's slackened grip and rammed the end back into its owner's voice box. In a rare display of wild anger, Ranma snapped the wooden sword in two and hurled the pieces away.
Kuno grasped his injured throat and squeaked out, "How dare thee defile my sacred blade!" He rubbed his throat and glowered at Ranma.
Ranma scoffed and turned a baleful glare on Kuno. "Now you listen to me, you arrogant bastard. I have been coming to Furinkan for little over a month now and all you've done is attack me, and hurled accusations at me. You think I wanted to be engaged to Akane in the first place? If you got a problem with this whole thing, take it up with Nabiki and Kasumi, who decided I would marry Akane and our fathers agreed with them," he growled at the poetry-spewing madman, before he walked by him and went into the school.
The rest of the student body sat in shock of what they had just seen. Now, it may not be that much of a shock that Ranma defeated Kuno, but the fact that he bit Kuno's head off afterwards was just not like him. The hushed whisper turned into loud groans, as they began to count their yen, knowing that Nabiki would have the information they would require as usual.
Nabiki silently thanked Ranma for this mood swing, as she would make a lot of yen today. She seemed to glow as she walked into school, resisting the urge to hum a merry tune. She headed to homeroom, contemplating how to thank Ranma for unwittingly increasing her profits.
Akane arrived just in time to see Kuno rising from his crouch. He turned to her, then simply turned about and went into school. She stood there in shock, unable to comprehend that Kuno would resist the chance to hit on her with Ranma nowhere in sight. She blinked and decided to head to homeroom as well, one thought flashing through her mind:
'What the hell did Ranma do?'
Later that day, Ranma struggled to stay awake in class, so bored he couldn't even remember the subject being taught at the present time. As he dosed off, he contemplated his actions of the morning. He realized he had shaken things up more then he had in the past, but he felt he was justified in his ire this morning. As he inspected his eyelids for leaks, he thought back to what he said to Kuno. 'Did I really mean all that,' he pondered, not hearing the teacher yelling at him, 'or was I just saying that in anger?'
His musings were shattered when the teacher walked over to his desk and yelled at the top of his lungs into his ear, "SAOTOME RANMA! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW AND GO STAND IN THE HALL, YOU WORTHLESS SLACKER!"
Ranma jumped at the shout and looked about the room before his eyes focused on his teacher, who was pointing at the two buckets of water. He bowed his head and said, "Hai, sensei." He walked over and picked up the buckets and shuffled off into the hall, careful not to get any of the water on him.
Once in the hall, Ranma sighed and began to let his thoughts wander to other subjects that were important. The most important thought on his mind was the strange dreams he had been having for the past week. He sighed, his mind filling up with the image of this shadow girl. She would come to a prostrate Ranma and run her hands over his face before she would kiss him passionately, holding it there before breaking off to stare into his eyes. He would then wake up in a cold sweat. It felt so real, real enough he could taste her long after the dream was over.
He sighed again, trying to figure out the meaning of the dreams and their implications. He somehow knew it wasn't Akane, but he wasn't sure how he knew it. His thoughts drifted to a few nights ago, when he hadn't fallen into that deep a sleep and woke up to the sensation of being kissed, though it was too dark to see who was doing it. He decided not to sleep as deep as he usually did and would hope to have enough light to see who it was, but it had been unsuccessful so far.
He heard the last bell for the day and took back in his buckets of water and grabbed his satchel and went outside to wait for both Akane and Nabiki to get done with their after school stuff and walk home with them. Akane gabbed with her friends for a while, while Nabiki finished her last transactions for the day. They both said their farewells and were shocked to find Ranma patiently waiting for them.
"So, Saotome, I see you waited for us, you're full of surprises today," Nabiki quipped cheerfully, ignoring the stares she was getting from her walking companions.
"Er, yeah, so, uh, how was your day," came his response, sounding uncomfortable around a happy Nabiki.
"Just fine," she said, her cheery tone not diminishing in the least.
"What has gotten into you oneechan," Akane asked, confused that Nabiki isn't acting like her usual frosty self.
Nabiki grinned and fished into her satchel and produced a wad of yen. "Today has been one of the most profitable days I have ever had. Can you believe that there is nearly 200,000 yen in this bundle, imouto-chan," she said, before putting the yen back.
Akane narrowed her eyes and asked coldly, "How many pictures did you have to sell?" She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her toe in annoyance at her older sister.
Nabiki laughed and said, "None."
Akane and Ranma both blinked, looked at each other. "None? What do you mean by none?" the younger Tendo asked, not believing for a second that her sister didn't sell a single picture of her to anyone.
Nabiki's grin deepened and she place a hand one her sister's shoulder and said, "What I mean, imouto-chan, is I sold no pictures of you because of the strange behavior of your fiancé. The masses of Furinkan were so obsessed with finding out what was going on that the guys didn't ask for a single picture. Not even Kuno asked for a picture of you and you know how hung up he is on you."
Akane's jaw cratered and her eyes shrunk to tiny dots. She stood stone still, ignoring both her companions as she stared blankly ahead. Was it true? Had that baka Kuno finally given up on her? While it seemed too good to be true, she would grasp at what little hope she had for living a Kuno-free life.
Ranma waved a hand in front of his fiancee's face, then said, "She's seems shocked about somethin'." He rubbed his chin and poked her cheek a few times before a hand grabbed his, at which he looked at the owner of the hand questioningly.
Nabiki shook her head and said, "Leave her, she'll come to in a little bit. She won't take it too well if we show too much concern for her and she'll accuse us of calling her weak and she won't say a thing to either of us for the rest of the day." With that said, she went onward towards home, Ranma reluctantly following her.
Ranma, not knowing what to talk to Nabiki about, said, "Sounds like you speak from personal experience on that subject." He managed to conceal his discomfort at Nabiki's more open personality.
Nabiki smirked and said nonchalantly, "I guess I do."
Ranma asked, "What happened?" He tried to conceal his curiosity, but failed miserably.
Nabiki laughed and said, "Since you're so eager to know, I might as well tell you. It was about six years ago, when Akane was still training under Daddy. She was running around the block, but didn't see a stick in the middle of the sidewalk and tripped on it and fell on her face. Kasumi and I ran out to check on her and she got upset and went crying to Daddy, saying that we were making fun of her and calling her weak for being concerned for her health."
Ranma chuckled and said, "And, if your dad was anything then like he is now, once she told him what had happened, he must've burst into tears and started to ask if she was alright."
Nabiki laughed again and said, "You got it. Needless to say, she flipped out and locked herself in her room for the rest of the day," she paused and smiled at Ranma before she continued, "I'm amazed Ranma-kun, I wouldn't have thought you would have been able to figure that out."
Ranma nervously fidgeted at that smile, though friendly in nature, and he laughed nervously before he stammered out, "E-er- um.. well, t-thanks." He fidgeted a bit more, wondering how long it would be until they reached home, as well as when it get so damn hot.
Meanwhile, a couple blocks back, Akane had finally snapped out of her daze. She whipped her head from side to side, wondering where the other two had gone. She thought for a second and realized that she must blanked out and they went on without her. She rushed on, determined to catch them before they arrived home. She spotted them about 4 meters away and yelled, "Wait for me!" They heard her and stopped so she could catch up to them.
Akane arrived and noticed that Ranma was acting nervous around Nabiki, not an unusual sight to be sure, but she wasn't saying a word and he was red as a beet. She looked closer and noticed neither one was paying any attention to her, Nabiki simply smiling at Ranma and him simply staring dumbly at her. She humphed and forced her way between them and took the lead home, with neither one saying a word to her. They silently followed her home, Nabiki staring at Ranma out of corner of her eye, and him simply trying not to look at her, his desire not to be sent flying to the other side of Nerima manifesting at the moment.
Once they had arrived, Nabiki sought out her father and showed off her earnings for the day, Ranma and Akane each headed for the dojo. After her talk with her father, Nabiki went upstairs to do some homework and balance the books. Once in her room, she locked the door behind her and lay on her bed, an unusual feeling of giddiness sweeping through her body. She had actually spent several minutes alone with Ranma, smiled affectionately at him, and all he did was fidget and blush, not ask her what her angle was this time, or what she wanted from him.
She rolled over and sighed, mentally chastising herself for acting like all the other lovesick girls at Furinkan. She also knew that she would have to pine for Ranma from afar, just like the rest of them. She sighed again and decided to take a nap before dinner, even if her dreams would be infused with nothing but Ranma.
Meanwhile, in the dojo, Ranma and Akane sparred, which consisted of Akane swinging a bunch of times before Ranma poked her after she tired herself out. Huffing and puffing, Akane asked, "So what were you and Nabiki talking about earlier?" Her tone was sweet, too sweet.
Ranma turned his back to her and nonchalantly said, "Nothin'." He placed his hands into his pockets and headed back to the house, when a growl from behind him caused him to stop and turn around.
Akane was now standing upright with an angry sneer on her face. "What do you mean by nothin', Ranma," she asked, not even attempting to hide her anger.
Ranma snorted and said sarcastically, "What, don't ya know what the word nothin' means, ya stupid tomboy?"
Akane snapped, "I asked you a simple question, you stupid jerk. Kami, why must everything you say to me be an insult in some kind of way?"
Ranma scoffed and said nothing, just simply turning about and heading into the house, his head shaking all the while. He ignored Akane's enraged shriek and was headed to his room when he stopped by his father. "I'm in no mood for ya right now Pop, so say what ya want then get outta my way," he said, not even bothering to look at him.
Genma adjusted his glasses and said, "Akane brings up a good point, boy, why are you always insulting your fiancé?" His tone was calm yet forceful in an attempt to bully his son.
Ranma rolled his eyes and said, "The same reason she calls me a pervert for her walking in on me in the bath. Is that all, ya windbag, or can I go?"
Genma narrowed his eyes at his son and said, "I will only say this once, boy, don't take your fiancé for granted."
Ranma rolled his eyes again and said, "Who is taking who for granted? I remember when Shampoo arrived about a week ago, because that was the day we had that stupid skate wrestling match, and do ya know what I told that asshole Sanzenin? I told him I would kill him if he kissed Akane. I was willing to go against one of my core principles and use the Art as a weapon instead of self-defense and what did she say to that? Not a damned thing that's what. I told a stadium full of people that I was willing to kill for her and she simply stands there like a statue and doesn't say a word. Then we got hurled at that wall by that "Good-bye whirl" thing of theirs and you want to know what I did? I threw myself into the wall to spare her any injury and what does she say to that? She calls me a fool, no thank you, no nothin'. Hell, I only agreed to fight against them because the damn pig was important to her and made her happy. You remember when we arrived at home right? Shampoo attacked her and I protected her, not caring if she gave me another kiss of death. And what thanks did I get for it? None, all I got was a mace ball bounced off my skull." He stopped his tirade there and glowered at his father, daring him to dispute what he said.
Genma stared wide-eyed at him, before he said, "If you had been man enough to kiss her in the dojo before the match-"
"Don't give me any of that crap, Pop," Ranma interrupted, "I didn't kiss her because it held no more meaning to me after what Sanzenin did. I was hoping to get up the courage and kiss Akane so we could share our mutual first kiss, but that bastard took that from me. And what did she say to that? She teased me about it, no comfort, no reassurance, just coldness," he paused, snorting derisively, before he continued, "I was torn up to no end when Shampoo erased me from her memory, and she'll never know how much it had hurt to see her confuse me with other things that sounded like my name. My wounds are too fresh to overlook, Pop, and she ain't helpin' by ripping the scabs away and rubbing salt into them. If she ain't going to forgive me my faults, then I'll never forgive her hers, and she'll never be anything more than that annoying, stupid, kawaiikune, sexless tomboy to me. Now get the hell outta my way before I remove you from it."
Now, in any other clash between Genma's pride and his cowardice, his cowardice would almost always win out. But in this case, as it was his pupil/son challenging him, he remained stalwart and motioned for his son to try and remove him. Ranma obliged him and, after he had gotten a good look at the enraged look in his son's eyes, realized that he should have stepped aside. He was lambasted by several haymakers before he was piledriven into the floor by his gi.
This whole exchange had been watched by two silent spectators, and the one who could still move voiced her opinion. "Oh, my, Uncle Saotome, are you alright, " Kasumi asked, rushing to the elder Saotome's side.
After being propped up by Kasumi, Genma swayed back and forth, his head swimming as a side effect of ramming it at a high rate of speed into something solid. "I'll be fine... ooh... lookit at all the pretty pandas dancing about, " he said, before fainting again.
Kasumi, not quite sure what she should do, layed Genma back down and said, "Hold on, I'll go get Daddy to help me carry you to your room, Uncle." She strode off to get her father, not noticing the other silent witness, whom was in dire need of some comfort right about now.
Akane hugged her knees to her chest, torn between screaming in rage and wailing in anguish. She wasn't sure why she was so deeply hurt by Ranma's words. 'It couldn't be that I.... No, there is no way I could ever love a jerk like Ranma, ' she mentally raged, tears slowly creeping down her face. She buried her face in her knees and softly cried, one thought racing to the fore front of her mind:
'Why does it hurt so much?'
An hour later, dinner was a silent affair, as neither of the fathers were there, Genma was at Tofu's recieving medical attention and Soun was there to help his friend home. Kasumi had decided not to tell Ranma of her father's promise to give the boy a good chewing out, figuring that something had majorly ticked Ranma off to go that ballistic on his father. Akane wasn't there, professing that she had a stomach ache didn't want to eat anything out of fear of hurling it back up. As such, there was only Kasumi, Ranma and Nabiki at the table enjoying the meal. Occasionaly conversation would sprout up amongst the trio, though nothing significant was said.
After dinner, they all went off to do something. Nabiki decided to watch some television before she did her homework. Ranma decided to get to work on his now, and Kasumi waited for her father to return with Uncle Genma to convince him not to yell at Ranma and drive him away. She would explain to him that cooler heads should prevail and that he was simply too old and mature to be yelling like a child. If none of that worked, then he would have to eat Akane's cooking if he did not back down on the first two points.
Meanwhile, the Tendo patriarch was dragging the Saotome patriarch home from Dr. Tofu's, who had been ready to close up the clinic when he had seen them approach and helped Genma into said clinic. Soun knew that Genma was going to wake up with one hell of a headache, but he wasn't going to take Tofu's orders too well. "He should not spar with Ranma for the next couple of days to a week, maybe even two. Tendo-san, can you also tell him that I'll have to crank his hours up as my new nurse has disappeared and I am short on help right now," Tofu said, the last part sounded a bit guilty for cranking up the hours on a man who had just sustained major head trauma.
Soun rolled his eyes as Genma babbled something under his breath. The past few blocks were annoying as Genma had went from dirty jokes to one-liners to cute sayings and was now babbling like an idiot, even drooling a bit. Soun sighed, silently wishing he could have made Ranma drag his father to the clinic, but he went with his eldest daughter's assessment that if he wanted Genma to make it there, he should take his friend himself. He sighed again as he arrived home.
Kasumi rose from her seat and walked over to her father, giving him a look that brooked no arguments over what she was going to say. "Father, we need to talk, " she said, leading him to the couch to deposit Genma.
Soun followed her, and after laying Genma on the couch, looked sternly at Kasumi and said, "Can it wait Kasumi? I really need to talk to Ranma right now." He moved to go past her, but found his way blocked by his eldest daughter.
Kasumi simply said, "That's what I wanted to talk you about." She motioned to two chairs near each other and Soun went over and sat in one, while Kasumi occupied the other one.
Soun sat pensively, wanting to be done with this and teach the boy the error of his ways. "Ranma has to be made aware of his mistake, Kasumi, and with Genma indisposed, that responsibility falls to me," was all he said in explanation of his reasons for wanting to verbally tear into Ranma's hide.
Kasumi frowned and asked, "Father, do you think that's wise? I mean, if he is angry enough to strike Uncle Saotome, do you think it's wise to anger him some more? Is teaching him the error of his ways important enough to risk driving him away?"
Soun fidgeted at the logic of his eldest daughter. He knew he could not refute the wisdom in her words, and as such he decided to change his stance. "Ok, Kasumi-chan, how would you approach this situation," he asked.
Kasumi relaxed and gave a slight smile and said, "I would approach Ranma as though he were an adult, not a naughty little kid. Yelling will do more harm than good, so respectfully make your displeasure known to him and be mindful of what he has to say."
Soun nodded and stood up from his seat and said, "If that is all, then I shall speak to Ranma."
Kasumi smiled and said sweetly, "Father, " she paused and the smile vanished and was replaced with a ridiculous look that could only be described as being between Akane's angry glower and Nabiki's frosty glare and continued, "if you drive Ranma away, I think I'll let Akane help make your late dinner." She hated making fun of Akane's cooking, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Soun blanched and stuttered out, "H-ha-hai!" He went off to the guest room to talk to Ranma.
Meanwhile, Ranma was racking his brain on his English homework, wishing that the class wasn't so boring so he could stay awake for the lessons. He yawned and stretched, and resumed trying to read through blurry eyes. So focused on this task, he almost missed the knock on the door. "Come in," he said sleepily, grateful for the distraction.
Soun opened the door and entered into the room, trying his hardest to keep the scowl off his face. He gave Ranma an unreadable expression, taking in the boy's lax posture and undisturbed attitude. He felt his blood begin to boil at the sight, but he reigned his emotions and told himself to be civil.
Ranma, meanwhile, was trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes and give the Tendo patriarch his undivided attention. He stifled a yawn and asked, "So, what's up, Tendo-san?"
Soun bit back an angry retort and said, "Ranma, I saw what you did to your father, and I am upset about it. I would appreciate it if you would ease up on you father for the next few weeks in sparring, as he has a severe concussion and needs to avoid hard blows to his head."
Ranma snapped awake when Soun said he was upset about him attacking his father, but relaxed as the shouting never came. He was nodding along at the tail-end and said, "No problem, Tendo-san, " he paused to rub the back of his head before he sheepishly continued, "I guess my frustrations at the events of the past month boiled over and I just lost it. I'll ease up on him and can you tell Kasumi to give him a bit more so I can avoid hitting him in the head at breakfast?"
Soun nodded and said, "I will, son, " he paused for a second before he continued, "You know, you and I have not had the opportunity to speak man-to-man since your arrival. And since it appears that you will pass out from boredom during your homework, would you care to talk?"
Ranma perked up at this and said, "Really?" Anything to escape the boredom of homework.
Soun nodded and said, "I realize I haven't exactly treated you like a guest or a person since you arrived, so I figured I should start now."
Ranma nodded his assent, setting aside his books and trying to keep an excited look off his face. He pondered why he was so excited, when it struck him that it was the chance to see Soun as a person, not a caricture. He often felt that the Tendos were a bit two dimensional, seeming more like drawings of real people then real people.
Soun smiled a bit at Ranma's enthusiasm and took a seat on the floor. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought that maybe if he treated Ranma like a person, he might be more receptive to the engagement. He smiled a bit at that before he locked stares with Ranma, trying to figure out what the hell they had to talk about.
They spent the next few hours talking about Ranma's schoolwork, plans for the future and such. The engagement never came up in any of this, and the only time voices were raised between the two was when they started arguing about which style had sillier stances. Noting the late hour, the two bid each other good night.
For Soun, it was a sign of hope. If he could make Ranma feel at home, he realized that Ranma might cease his arguments to the marriage. He admitted to himself that he wouldn't want to marry into a family that made him uncomfortable. He would have to talk to Genma at length about their methods of getting their children married.
For Ranma, it was breaking through the first barrier to engagement. He had no desire to have such a mercurial tempered person as an in-law, and with Soun showing a less temperamental side of himself, Ranma felt that maybe the engagement wasn't so bad. He sighed as decided not to think of it for now. He had to steal himself for the mystery girl's appearance this night and couldn't allow himself to be distracted.
Later, a lone figure stood outside the door to Ranma's room. The figure, which cut an undeniably feminine form, slowly opened the door, afraid of waking the boy she was here to see. She slipped inside with an unnatural grace, one that anyone who knew her wouldn't be able to explain. She smiled to herself as she padded across the room towards her target, the object of her affection.
She came to a stop over his sleeping form, her smile deepening as she watched him sleep. She knelt down, going through her ritual of running her hands over his face to gloss over the fact she couldn't see him in the darkness. She gently caressed his face, letting her fingers do her eyes' job for them.
Ranma was in a relaxed state, something he learned to do from ten years on the road. He wanted to ask who she was, to grab her and demand to know why she's doing this, but he held himself in check. He wanted to know, but he didn't want her to know he was aware of her presence. He had to be patient, maybe a flash of light or something would give her away.
The girl giggled lightly to herself as she thought of his reaction if she tried this while he was awake. Stifling the giggle, she ran her fingers over his lips. These lips that she would kiss, just as she had done for several weeks now. She told herself that she would eventually reveal herself to him, that one day she would kiss him out in the open. 'Someday,' she mentally sighed, 'I won't have to steal my kisses from him.' She leaned down and kissed him full on the lips, enjoying their feel once more.
Ranma's eyes bulged open, as this kiss carried tongue with it, where all the others had been somewhat innocent. He fought the urge to embrace her, as well as the overwhelming urge to respond. He lay there, totally blown away by the sensation that was tearing through him.
She pulled back, belatedly realizing she slipped him the tongue, She was relieved that there was no light in the room, lest he see who has been kissing him. Her relief was short lived as a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the room, revealing her to the boy whom she had been kissing for the past couple weeks.
Ranma's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as he uttered the only word that came to his mind as he saw who the mystery girl was:
"NABIKI?"
End chapter 1
Teaser for the next chapter:
"NABIKI," Ranma gasped, obviously not grasping the concept that the Ice Queen Mercenary Girl was the one who was invading his dreams. 'And my privacy too,' he mentally added.
"Er...hi, Ranma-kun," she said nervously. 'Damn, this is embarrassing,' she thought, 'I haven't been this embarrassed since I accidentlly flashed Kuno in the 8th grade.' She would have to see if he still had that picture of that incident, then threaten his life if he didn't give it back.
"What are you doing here," he asked, trying his best not to think of the kiss she had just given to him.
"Um.. sleepwalking," she replied, her embarrassment increasing at being caught.
"Sleepwalking, right," he said, rolling his eyes, though he knew she couldn't see him in the dark.
"Err.... um, you're not mad are you," she asked, afraid that he might not like her nocturnal visits.
Ranma gave a sharp chuckle and asked, "Do you really want an answer?"
"No, no I don't," she said, the darkness hiding her blush as she had a rather lewd thought about Ranma and a more erotic connotation of "punishment".
Author notes: This story is A/U, diverging from the main timeline shortly after Shampoo leaves the first time. That is all I'll tell you for now, you'll have to read if you want to know more.
First I Giveth
by Marik Kurakashi
Chapter 1: Kisses in the Dark
Everything had returned to a semi-normal state following the departure of the Amazon Shampoo. Ranma and his father sparred, with the usual splashdown before breakfast, followed by a bath to switch back, then a wild brawl over their allotted food. But today was different, as Ranma wasn't trying to stop his father from stealing his food. In fact, he barely registered there was food in front of him, and just sat in deep contemplation.
After easily stealing the third piece of chicken from Ranma without a fight, Genma was getting worried. After inhaling the said piece, Genma said, "What is the matter boy? Aren't you going to defend your plate?" He stared at his son, confusion wrought on his features.
Ranma said, "I'm not really hungry this morning." He turned a confused glance around the table as everyone else huddled together and began whispering amongst themselves.
Akane was the first to voice her concern. "This isn't like Ranma, he usually inhales enough food to feed at least three or four people," she said, trying her hardest to conceal her worry.
Soun predictably broke down into tears. "WAAAAAAHHH!! Aliens have kidnapped my daughter's fiancée. Now the schools will never be joined," he wailed, causing anyone close to him to move away to avoid getting soaked by his tears.
Nabiki scoffed and said, "Aliens? Get real, Daddy." She rolled her eyes for emphasis on her opinion of the Tendo patriarch's outburst.
Kasumi frowned and said, "I hope he hasn't come down with something." She went over to Ranma and placed her hand on his forehead to see if he was running a fever.
Ranma fidgeted a bit and said, "I'm fine Kasumi." He got up and continued, "I think I'll head to school early today." With that, he left the dining room, grabbed his satchel and headed out the front door.
Nabiki, realizing that she'd have to hurry to get to school in time to run her usual operations, she shoveled the last of her rice into her mouth, then washed it down with the last of her tea. After wiping her mouth with a napkin, she got up and said, "Good job on breakfast this morning, Oneechan." She hurried out, grabbed her satchel, and rushed to Furinkan.
Akane stared after her sister, her mind whirring at all the implications of this morning. First, Ranma isn't hungry and heads off to school early. Second, Nabiki hurries up and finishes her breakfast and races after him. She growled in annoyance, one thought alone flashed to the forefront:
'That pervert better not be doing anything with my sister!'
Meanwhile, Nabiki had arrived at Furinkan before Ranma, thanks in large part to the old lady with the ladle splashing Ranma for the umpteenth time. She rushed by as Ranma went to Dr. Tofu's to get some hot water and easily made it there before Ranma arrived. She walked past Kuno, giving her usual Kuno-baby greeting to see him grind his teeth and launch into a fifteen minute speech about how much he hates her calling him that, of which she stuck around for the first couple words before she headed to her usual seat on the balcony.
After her usual meeting with her associates, Nabiki watched for the solitary approach of Ranma, who looked like he had a lot more on his mind then usual. The student body was abuzz at the sight of Ranma without Akane, a noise that brought an evil grin to Nabiki's face, as she knew she would do good business today. Her associates simply shook their heads and went back to watching Ranma.
Kuno had just wound down from his tirade against that vile mercenary when he noticed Ranma's approach. He looked about for a sight of his fierce tigress, but he could not see her. He roared in anger, causing Ranma to stop examining the sidewalks and look at him.
Ranma narrowed his eyes at Kuno. "Just what the hell is your problem today," he snapped, in no mood for Kuno's antics.
"Thou dare taketh that tone with me, o vile one? What hath thou done to the beautiful Akane, you scoundrel," Kuno roared in response, leveling his bokken towards Ranma.
Ranma's face scrunched up in confusion. "What have I done? I aint done nothin' to Akane, I just left for school earlier than she did," he said, wondering why Kuno hadn't been comitted to a mental hospital yet.
"Am I, the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, supposed to believe the words of one as vile and repulsive as thee? Enough of your incessant prattle, I shall smite thee," Kuno barked, rushing forward to strike Ranma down.
Ranma casually caught the bokken in one hand, throwing Kuno off balance. With a simple flick of his wrist, he wrenched the bokken from Kuno's slackened grip and rammed the end back into its owner's voice box. In a rare display of wild anger, Ranma snapped the wooden sword in two and hurled the pieces away.
Kuno grasped his injured throat and squeaked out, "How dare thee defile my sacred blade!" He rubbed his throat and glowered at Ranma.
Ranma scoffed and turned a baleful glare on Kuno. "Now you listen to me, you arrogant bastard. I have been coming to Furinkan for little over a month now and all you've done is attack me, and hurled accusations at me. You think I wanted to be engaged to Akane in the first place? If you got a problem with this whole thing, take it up with Nabiki and Kasumi, who decided I would marry Akane and our fathers agreed with them," he growled at the poetry-spewing madman, before he walked by him and went into the school.
The rest of the student body sat in shock of what they had just seen. Now, it may not be that much of a shock that Ranma defeated Kuno, but the fact that he bit Kuno's head off afterwards was just not like him. The hushed whisper turned into loud groans, as they began to count their yen, knowing that Nabiki would have the information they would require as usual.
Nabiki silently thanked Ranma for this mood swing, as she would make a lot of yen today. She seemed to glow as she walked into school, resisting the urge to hum a merry tune. She headed to homeroom, contemplating how to thank Ranma for unwittingly increasing her profits.
Akane arrived just in time to see Kuno rising from his crouch. He turned to her, then simply turned about and went into school. She stood there in shock, unable to comprehend that Kuno would resist the chance to hit on her with Ranma nowhere in sight. She blinked and decided to head to homeroom as well, one thought flashing through her mind:
'What the hell did Ranma do?'
Later that day, Ranma struggled to stay awake in class, so bored he couldn't even remember the subject being taught at the present time. As he dosed off, he contemplated his actions of the morning. He realized he had shaken things up more then he had in the past, but he felt he was justified in his ire this morning. As he inspected his eyelids for leaks, he thought back to what he said to Kuno. 'Did I really mean all that,' he pondered, not hearing the teacher yelling at him, 'or was I just saying that in anger?'
His musings were shattered when the teacher walked over to his desk and yelled at the top of his lungs into his ear, "SAOTOME RANMA! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW AND GO STAND IN THE HALL, YOU WORTHLESS SLACKER!"
Ranma jumped at the shout and looked about the room before his eyes focused on his teacher, who was pointing at the two buckets of water. He bowed his head and said, "Hai, sensei." He walked over and picked up the buckets and shuffled off into the hall, careful not to get any of the water on him.
Once in the hall, Ranma sighed and began to let his thoughts wander to other subjects that were important. The most important thought on his mind was the strange dreams he had been having for the past week. He sighed, his mind filling up with the image of this shadow girl. She would come to a prostrate Ranma and run her hands over his face before she would kiss him passionately, holding it there before breaking off to stare into his eyes. He would then wake up in a cold sweat. It felt so real, real enough he could taste her long after the dream was over.
He sighed again, trying to figure out the meaning of the dreams and their implications. He somehow knew it wasn't Akane, but he wasn't sure how he knew it. His thoughts drifted to a few nights ago, when he hadn't fallen into that deep a sleep and woke up to the sensation of being kissed, though it was too dark to see who was doing it. He decided not to sleep as deep as he usually did and would hope to have enough light to see who it was, but it had been unsuccessful so far.
He heard the last bell for the day and took back in his buckets of water and grabbed his satchel and went outside to wait for both Akane and Nabiki to get done with their after school stuff and walk home with them. Akane gabbed with her friends for a while, while Nabiki finished her last transactions for the day. They both said their farewells and were shocked to find Ranma patiently waiting for them.
"So, Saotome, I see you waited for us, you're full of surprises today," Nabiki quipped cheerfully, ignoring the stares she was getting from her walking companions.
"Er, yeah, so, uh, how was your day," came his response, sounding uncomfortable around a happy Nabiki.
"Just fine," she said, her cheery tone not diminishing in the least.
"What has gotten into you oneechan," Akane asked, confused that Nabiki isn't acting like her usual frosty self.
Nabiki grinned and fished into her satchel and produced a wad of yen. "Today has been one of the most profitable days I have ever had. Can you believe that there is nearly 200,000 yen in this bundle, imouto-chan," she said, before putting the yen back.
Akane narrowed her eyes and asked coldly, "How many pictures did you have to sell?" She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her toe in annoyance at her older sister.
Nabiki laughed and said, "None."
Akane and Ranma both blinked, looked at each other. "None? What do you mean by none?" the younger Tendo asked, not believing for a second that her sister didn't sell a single picture of her to anyone.
Nabiki's grin deepened and she place a hand one her sister's shoulder and said, "What I mean, imouto-chan, is I sold no pictures of you because of the strange behavior of your fiancé. The masses of Furinkan were so obsessed with finding out what was going on that the guys didn't ask for a single picture. Not even Kuno asked for a picture of you and you know how hung up he is on you."
Akane's jaw cratered and her eyes shrunk to tiny dots. She stood stone still, ignoring both her companions as she stared blankly ahead. Was it true? Had that baka Kuno finally given up on her? While it seemed too good to be true, she would grasp at what little hope she had for living a Kuno-free life.
Ranma waved a hand in front of his fiancee's face, then said, "She's seems shocked about somethin'." He rubbed his chin and poked her cheek a few times before a hand grabbed his, at which he looked at the owner of the hand questioningly.
Nabiki shook her head and said, "Leave her, she'll come to in a little bit. She won't take it too well if we show too much concern for her and she'll accuse us of calling her weak and she won't say a thing to either of us for the rest of the day." With that said, she went onward towards home, Ranma reluctantly following her.
Ranma, not knowing what to talk to Nabiki about, said, "Sounds like you speak from personal experience on that subject." He managed to conceal his discomfort at Nabiki's more open personality.
Nabiki smirked and said nonchalantly, "I guess I do."
Ranma asked, "What happened?" He tried to conceal his curiosity, but failed miserably.
Nabiki laughed and said, "Since you're so eager to know, I might as well tell you. It was about six years ago, when Akane was still training under Daddy. She was running around the block, but didn't see a stick in the middle of the sidewalk and tripped on it and fell on her face. Kasumi and I ran out to check on her and she got upset and went crying to Daddy, saying that we were making fun of her and calling her weak for being concerned for her health."
Ranma chuckled and said, "And, if your dad was anything then like he is now, once she told him what had happened, he must've burst into tears and started to ask if she was alright."
Nabiki laughed again and said, "You got it. Needless to say, she flipped out and locked herself in her room for the rest of the day," she paused and smiled at Ranma before she continued, "I'm amazed Ranma-kun, I wouldn't have thought you would have been able to figure that out."
Ranma nervously fidgeted at that smile, though friendly in nature, and he laughed nervously before he stammered out, "E-er- um.. well, t-thanks." He fidgeted a bit more, wondering how long it would be until they reached home, as well as when it get so damn hot.
Meanwhile, a couple blocks back, Akane had finally snapped out of her daze. She whipped her head from side to side, wondering where the other two had gone. She thought for a second and realized that she must blanked out and they went on without her. She rushed on, determined to catch them before they arrived home. She spotted them about 4 meters away and yelled, "Wait for me!" They heard her and stopped so she could catch up to them.
Akane arrived and noticed that Ranma was acting nervous around Nabiki, not an unusual sight to be sure, but she wasn't saying a word and he was red as a beet. She looked closer and noticed neither one was paying any attention to her, Nabiki simply smiling at Ranma and him simply staring dumbly at her. She humphed and forced her way between them and took the lead home, with neither one saying a word to her. They silently followed her home, Nabiki staring at Ranma out of corner of her eye, and him simply trying not to look at her, his desire not to be sent flying to the other side of Nerima manifesting at the moment.
Once they had arrived, Nabiki sought out her father and showed off her earnings for the day, Ranma and Akane each headed for the dojo. After her talk with her father, Nabiki went upstairs to do some homework and balance the books. Once in her room, she locked the door behind her and lay on her bed, an unusual feeling of giddiness sweeping through her body. She had actually spent several minutes alone with Ranma, smiled affectionately at him, and all he did was fidget and blush, not ask her what her angle was this time, or what she wanted from him.
She rolled over and sighed, mentally chastising herself for acting like all the other lovesick girls at Furinkan. She also knew that she would have to pine for Ranma from afar, just like the rest of them. She sighed again and decided to take a nap before dinner, even if her dreams would be infused with nothing but Ranma.
Meanwhile, in the dojo, Ranma and Akane sparred, which consisted of Akane swinging a bunch of times before Ranma poked her after she tired herself out. Huffing and puffing, Akane asked, "So what were you and Nabiki talking about earlier?" Her tone was sweet, too sweet.
Ranma turned his back to her and nonchalantly said, "Nothin'." He placed his hands into his pockets and headed back to the house, when a growl from behind him caused him to stop and turn around.
Akane was now standing upright with an angry sneer on her face. "What do you mean by nothin', Ranma," she asked, not even attempting to hide her anger.
Ranma snorted and said sarcastically, "What, don't ya know what the word nothin' means, ya stupid tomboy?"
Akane snapped, "I asked you a simple question, you stupid jerk. Kami, why must everything you say to me be an insult in some kind of way?"
Ranma scoffed and said nothing, just simply turning about and heading into the house, his head shaking all the while. He ignored Akane's enraged shriek and was headed to his room when he stopped by his father. "I'm in no mood for ya right now Pop, so say what ya want then get outta my way," he said, not even bothering to look at him.
Genma adjusted his glasses and said, "Akane brings up a good point, boy, why are you always insulting your fiancé?" His tone was calm yet forceful in an attempt to bully his son.
Ranma rolled his eyes and said, "The same reason she calls me a pervert for her walking in on me in the bath. Is that all, ya windbag, or can I go?"
Genma narrowed his eyes at his son and said, "I will only say this once, boy, don't take your fiancé for granted."
Ranma rolled his eyes again and said, "Who is taking who for granted? I remember when Shampoo arrived about a week ago, because that was the day we had that stupid skate wrestling match, and do ya know what I told that asshole Sanzenin? I told him I would kill him if he kissed Akane. I was willing to go against one of my core principles and use the Art as a weapon instead of self-defense and what did she say to that? Not a damned thing that's what. I told a stadium full of people that I was willing to kill for her and she simply stands there like a statue and doesn't say a word. Then we got hurled at that wall by that "Good-bye whirl" thing of theirs and you want to know what I did? I threw myself into the wall to spare her any injury and what does she say to that? She calls me a fool, no thank you, no nothin'. Hell, I only agreed to fight against them because the damn pig was important to her and made her happy. You remember when we arrived at home right? Shampoo attacked her and I protected her, not caring if she gave me another kiss of death. And what thanks did I get for it? None, all I got was a mace ball bounced off my skull." He stopped his tirade there and glowered at his father, daring him to dispute what he said.
Genma stared wide-eyed at him, before he said, "If you had been man enough to kiss her in the dojo before the match-"
"Don't give me any of that crap, Pop," Ranma interrupted, "I didn't kiss her because it held no more meaning to me after what Sanzenin did. I was hoping to get up the courage and kiss Akane so we could share our mutual first kiss, but that bastard took that from me. And what did she say to that? She teased me about it, no comfort, no reassurance, just coldness," he paused, snorting derisively, before he continued, "I was torn up to no end when Shampoo erased me from her memory, and she'll never know how much it had hurt to see her confuse me with other things that sounded like my name. My wounds are too fresh to overlook, Pop, and she ain't helpin' by ripping the scabs away and rubbing salt into them. If she ain't going to forgive me my faults, then I'll never forgive her hers, and she'll never be anything more than that annoying, stupid, kawaiikune, sexless tomboy to me. Now get the hell outta my way before I remove you from it."
Now, in any other clash between Genma's pride and his cowardice, his cowardice would almost always win out. But in this case, as it was his pupil/son challenging him, he remained stalwart and motioned for his son to try and remove him. Ranma obliged him and, after he had gotten a good look at the enraged look in his son's eyes, realized that he should have stepped aside. He was lambasted by several haymakers before he was piledriven into the floor by his gi.
This whole exchange had been watched by two silent spectators, and the one who could still move voiced her opinion. "Oh, my, Uncle Saotome, are you alright, " Kasumi asked, rushing to the elder Saotome's side.
After being propped up by Kasumi, Genma swayed back and forth, his head swimming as a side effect of ramming it at a high rate of speed into something solid. "I'll be fine... ooh... lookit at all the pretty pandas dancing about, " he said, before fainting again.
Kasumi, not quite sure what she should do, layed Genma back down and said, "Hold on, I'll go get Daddy to help me carry you to your room, Uncle." She strode off to get her father, not noticing the other silent witness, whom was in dire need of some comfort right about now.
Akane hugged her knees to her chest, torn between screaming in rage and wailing in anguish. She wasn't sure why she was so deeply hurt by Ranma's words. 'It couldn't be that I.... No, there is no way I could ever love a jerk like Ranma, ' she mentally raged, tears slowly creeping down her face. She buried her face in her knees and softly cried, one thought racing to the fore front of her mind:
'Why does it hurt so much?'
An hour later, dinner was a silent affair, as neither of the fathers were there, Genma was at Tofu's recieving medical attention and Soun was there to help his friend home. Kasumi had decided not to tell Ranma of her father's promise to give the boy a good chewing out, figuring that something had majorly ticked Ranma off to go that ballistic on his father. Akane wasn't there, professing that she had a stomach ache didn't want to eat anything out of fear of hurling it back up. As such, there was only Kasumi, Ranma and Nabiki at the table enjoying the meal. Occasionaly conversation would sprout up amongst the trio, though nothing significant was said.
After dinner, they all went off to do something. Nabiki decided to watch some television before she did her homework. Ranma decided to get to work on his now, and Kasumi waited for her father to return with Uncle Genma to convince him not to yell at Ranma and drive him away. She would explain to him that cooler heads should prevail and that he was simply too old and mature to be yelling like a child. If none of that worked, then he would have to eat Akane's cooking if he did not back down on the first two points.
Meanwhile, the Tendo patriarch was dragging the Saotome patriarch home from Dr. Tofu's, who had been ready to close up the clinic when he had seen them approach and helped Genma into said clinic. Soun knew that Genma was going to wake up with one hell of a headache, but he wasn't going to take Tofu's orders too well. "He should not spar with Ranma for the next couple of days to a week, maybe even two. Tendo-san, can you also tell him that I'll have to crank his hours up as my new nurse has disappeared and I am short on help right now," Tofu said, the last part sounded a bit guilty for cranking up the hours on a man who had just sustained major head trauma.
Soun rolled his eyes as Genma babbled something under his breath. The past few blocks were annoying as Genma had went from dirty jokes to one-liners to cute sayings and was now babbling like an idiot, even drooling a bit. Soun sighed, silently wishing he could have made Ranma drag his father to the clinic, but he went with his eldest daughter's assessment that if he wanted Genma to make it there, he should take his friend himself. He sighed again as he arrived home.
Kasumi rose from her seat and walked over to her father, giving him a look that brooked no arguments over what she was going to say. "Father, we need to talk, " she said, leading him to the couch to deposit Genma.
Soun followed her, and after laying Genma on the couch, looked sternly at Kasumi and said, "Can it wait Kasumi? I really need to talk to Ranma right now." He moved to go past her, but found his way blocked by his eldest daughter.
Kasumi simply said, "That's what I wanted to talk you about." She motioned to two chairs near each other and Soun went over and sat in one, while Kasumi occupied the other one.
Soun sat pensively, wanting to be done with this and teach the boy the error of his ways. "Ranma has to be made aware of his mistake, Kasumi, and with Genma indisposed, that responsibility falls to me," was all he said in explanation of his reasons for wanting to verbally tear into Ranma's hide.
Kasumi frowned and asked, "Father, do you think that's wise? I mean, if he is angry enough to strike Uncle Saotome, do you think it's wise to anger him some more? Is teaching him the error of his ways important enough to risk driving him away?"
Soun fidgeted at the logic of his eldest daughter. He knew he could not refute the wisdom in her words, and as such he decided to change his stance. "Ok, Kasumi-chan, how would you approach this situation," he asked.
Kasumi relaxed and gave a slight smile and said, "I would approach Ranma as though he were an adult, not a naughty little kid. Yelling will do more harm than good, so respectfully make your displeasure known to him and be mindful of what he has to say."
Soun nodded and stood up from his seat and said, "If that is all, then I shall speak to Ranma."
Kasumi smiled and said sweetly, "Father, " she paused and the smile vanished and was replaced with a ridiculous look that could only be described as being between Akane's angry glower and Nabiki's frosty glare and continued, "if you drive Ranma away, I think I'll let Akane help make your late dinner." She hated making fun of Akane's cooking, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Soun blanched and stuttered out, "H-ha-hai!" He went off to the guest room to talk to Ranma.
Meanwhile, Ranma was racking his brain on his English homework, wishing that the class wasn't so boring so he could stay awake for the lessons. He yawned and stretched, and resumed trying to read through blurry eyes. So focused on this task, he almost missed the knock on the door. "Come in," he said sleepily, grateful for the distraction.
Soun opened the door and entered into the room, trying his hardest to keep the scowl off his face. He gave Ranma an unreadable expression, taking in the boy's lax posture and undisturbed attitude. He felt his blood begin to boil at the sight, but he reigned his emotions and told himself to be civil.
Ranma, meanwhile, was trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes and give the Tendo patriarch his undivided attention. He stifled a yawn and asked, "So, what's up, Tendo-san?"
Soun bit back an angry retort and said, "Ranma, I saw what you did to your father, and I am upset about it. I would appreciate it if you would ease up on you father for the next few weeks in sparring, as he has a severe concussion and needs to avoid hard blows to his head."
Ranma snapped awake when Soun said he was upset about him attacking his father, but relaxed as the shouting never came. He was nodding along at the tail-end and said, "No problem, Tendo-san, " he paused to rub the back of his head before he sheepishly continued, "I guess my frustrations at the events of the past month boiled over and I just lost it. I'll ease up on him and can you tell Kasumi to give him a bit more so I can avoid hitting him in the head at breakfast?"
Soun nodded and said, "I will, son, " he paused for a second before he continued, "You know, you and I have not had the opportunity to speak man-to-man since your arrival. And since it appears that you will pass out from boredom during your homework, would you care to talk?"
Ranma perked up at this and said, "Really?" Anything to escape the boredom of homework.
Soun nodded and said, "I realize I haven't exactly treated you like a guest or a person since you arrived, so I figured I should start now."
Ranma nodded his assent, setting aside his books and trying to keep an excited look off his face. He pondered why he was so excited, when it struck him that it was the chance to see Soun as a person, not a caricture. He often felt that the Tendos were a bit two dimensional, seeming more like drawings of real people then real people.
Soun smiled a bit at Ranma's enthusiasm and took a seat on the floor. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought that maybe if he treated Ranma like a person, he might be more receptive to the engagement. He smiled a bit at that before he locked stares with Ranma, trying to figure out what the hell they had to talk about.
They spent the next few hours talking about Ranma's schoolwork, plans for the future and such. The engagement never came up in any of this, and the only time voices were raised between the two was when they started arguing about which style had sillier stances. Noting the late hour, the two bid each other good night.
For Soun, it was a sign of hope. If he could make Ranma feel at home, he realized that Ranma might cease his arguments to the marriage. He admitted to himself that he wouldn't want to marry into a family that made him uncomfortable. He would have to talk to Genma at length about their methods of getting their children married.
For Ranma, it was breaking through the first barrier to engagement. He had no desire to have such a mercurial tempered person as an in-law, and with Soun showing a less temperamental side of himself, Ranma felt that maybe the engagement wasn't so bad. He sighed as decided not to think of it for now. He had to steal himself for the mystery girl's appearance this night and couldn't allow himself to be distracted.
Later, a lone figure stood outside the door to Ranma's room. The figure, which cut an undeniably feminine form, slowly opened the door, afraid of waking the boy she was here to see. She slipped inside with an unnatural grace, one that anyone who knew her wouldn't be able to explain. She smiled to herself as she padded across the room towards her target, the object of her affection.
She came to a stop over his sleeping form, her smile deepening as she watched him sleep. She knelt down, going through her ritual of running her hands over his face to gloss over the fact she couldn't see him in the darkness. She gently caressed his face, letting her fingers do her eyes' job for them.
Ranma was in a relaxed state, something he learned to do from ten years on the road. He wanted to ask who she was, to grab her and demand to know why she's doing this, but he held himself in check. He wanted to know, but he didn't want her to know he was aware of her presence. He had to be patient, maybe a flash of light or something would give her away.
The girl giggled lightly to herself as she thought of his reaction if she tried this while he was awake. Stifling the giggle, she ran her fingers over his lips. These lips that she would kiss, just as she had done for several weeks now. She told herself that she would eventually reveal herself to him, that one day she would kiss him out in the open. 'Someday,' she mentally sighed, 'I won't have to steal my kisses from him.' She leaned down and kissed him full on the lips, enjoying their feel once more.
Ranma's eyes bulged open, as this kiss carried tongue with it, where all the others had been somewhat innocent. He fought the urge to embrace her, as well as the overwhelming urge to respond. He lay there, totally blown away by the sensation that was tearing through him.
She pulled back, belatedly realizing she slipped him the tongue, She was relieved that there was no light in the room, lest he see who has been kissing him. Her relief was short lived as a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the room, revealing her to the boy whom she had been kissing for the past couple weeks.
Ranma's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as he uttered the only word that came to his mind as he saw who the mystery girl was:
"NABIKI?"
End chapter 1
Teaser for the next chapter:
"NABIKI," Ranma gasped, obviously not grasping the concept that the Ice Queen Mercenary Girl was the one who was invading his dreams. 'And my privacy too,' he mentally added.
"Er...hi, Ranma-kun," she said nervously. 'Damn, this is embarrassing,' she thought, 'I haven't been this embarrassed since I accidentlly flashed Kuno in the 8th grade.' She would have to see if he still had that picture of that incident, then threaten his life if he didn't give it back.
"What are you doing here," he asked, trying his best not to think of the kiss she had just given to him.
"Um.. sleepwalking," she replied, her embarrassment increasing at being caught.
"Sleepwalking, right," he said, rolling his eyes, though he knew she couldn't see him in the dark.
"Err.... um, you're not mad are you," she asked, afraid that he might not like her nocturnal visits.
Ranma gave a sharp chuckle and asked, "Do you really want an answer?"
"No, no I don't," she said, the darkness hiding her blush as she had a rather lewd thought about Ranma and a more erotic connotation of "punishment".