Disclaimer: Ranma and co sadly do not belong to me :( they belong the great Rumiko Takahashi!
Author's Note: Okay, I really liked writing chapter 5, too. I'm not sure what I want for chapter 6, so it might be a little longer before it's done. Also, if anyone wants to draw fanart of the "mud scene" (lol, you'll see what I'm talking about once you read chapter 5) I will LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise, I may be forced to draw it myself. Btw, I did a picture of the pillow scene from chapter 4... it's on my deviantart account if you guys wanna see. http: irishgirl982 .deviantart .com (without the spaces)
Okay, on with the story!
Fool Me Twice
Chapter 5- The Scheme
By: Lori Finnegan
Ranma pulled Akane along the path, waiting for the moment when Mr. Hitoratu would be so enthralled with his explanations that he turned away just long enough for them to make a run for it. "Ready?" he whispered to Akane when Mr. Hitoratu bent down to pick up a fascinating rock. "Go!"
Quickly and quietly, they stepped away.
"Oh! Would you look at this!" Mr. Hitoratu exclaimed as he stared at the rock. "I haven't seen one of these in five years! It's actually a fossil from many, many years ago. If you look closely, you can see the little parts of the creature!"
Ranma and Akane began to run, knowing that he would soon turn around and notice that they were missing. They were just far enough away, when Ranma realized he was still holding Akane's hand. Quickly, he dropped it.
"Hurry up, Akane! That guy didn't look too slow!"
"I'm running as fast as I can!" she insisted, but just as she spoke the last few words, Ranma caught a glimpse of her falling out of the corner of his eye. She fell on her side and groaned. "Ow, Ranma, wait!"
Ranma halted and spun around. He knelt down beside her. "Come on, Akane, do you want him to catch up?"
She glared at him. "Aren't you going to ask me if I'm okay?"
Ranma glared back. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay!" she cried. "Can't you see that I tripped?"
"Well, yeah, but if you don't want to get caught, you'll get up and run! Otherwise, I'm leaving you here!" He straightened up and looked down at her.
She pushed herself up to a sitting position and brushed the dirt from her t-shirt. But when she tried to stand, her ankle gave out. She would have fallen back to the ground... that is, if Ranma hadn't caught her. They suddenly found their faces a few inches apart as they knelt in the dirt.
"You klutz!" Ranma exclaimed. "Can't you even stand right?"
Akane drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the face. "I twisted my ankle, Ranma, and you're still making fun of me!"
Ranma rubbed his cheek as he watched her wipe a few tears from her eyes. He blinked at her for a moment before realizing that they were still a little too close for comfort, and he moved away. "Did you really twist your ankle?" he sighed. "How are we supposed to run away if you can't even walk?"
She only glared at him.
Ranma stood up. "Try standing on it again. Here." He held his hand out to her.
She took his hand and pulled herself up, balancing on her good foot. Carefully, she put her other foot on the ground and tried to shift her weight over. A few tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she looked up at Ranma. "It's no good," she told him. "It really hurts! I hope I didn't break it or anything."
"Ugh! This WOULD happen to me," Ranma complained.
"To YOU!?" Akane yelled at him. "I'm the one who hurt my ankle!"
"How do you think we're supposed to get out of here, Akane!?" he yelled back at her. "I can't just leave you here!" He looked down at her big eyes, and noticed that she still clutched his shirt to keep her balance. Without another thought, he scooped her up in his arms and continued to walk out into the woods.
Akane end tightly to Ranma's shoulders as made his way through the woods. For a moment there, when he had looked down at her with that flash in his eyes, she thought that maybe he really would just leave her there. But he hadn't.
"Man, Akane... did you really have to eat so much last night? You're a lot heavier than you look!"
Akane's fingers wrapped tighter around his shirt. "Ranma..."
"I mean, seriously, you did shovel quite a lot in," he went on. "If you expect guys to carry you around, then you should probably slow it down a little. My arms are KILLING me!"
"You are such a JERK!" she yelled.
"Shh!" he hushed, leaning his face closer to hers. "Do you want them to find us and drag us back to that stupid room?"
"I'll do anything to get away from you!"
"Then shut the hell up!"
But the second he spoke, his shoe slipped on some watery mud from last night's rain, and they both fell into a fairly large mud puddle. Akane held him tightly as his back end hit the ground.
"Agh!" she cried as her foot hit the ground and a sharp pain shot through her ankle. More tears of pain sprang to her eyes as Ranma tried to peel a clump of mud from the sleeve of her shirt.
"Don't worry about me," he said. "I'm the one who hit the ground, but I'm fine."
She spun her head around to glare at him. "I'm hurt, Ranma! Have you no sympathy?"
He glared right back. "If you were really hurt, you wouldn't be yelling at me."
Akane reached down and grabbed handful of sticky mud. She pushed it right into his face and smashed it around until she was sure that some of it had gone up his nose.
Ranma sputtered for a moment as he pushed the mud from his eyes. "You uncute, unsexy, ungrateful, macho TOMBOY!" he raged. "Is this the thanks I get for carrying you to safety? A face full of MUD!?"
She wiped her hands off on his shirt, watching as he fumed at her. "If you think you're some sort of hero, Ranma, then your head is bigger than I thought."
Ranma pushed her off his lap and plopped her into the mud. He scooped up a handful of mud and stared at her for a moment.
"Don't even think about it, Ranma!" she warned him as she held up her hands in defense. "I'll never forgive you if you do it!"
"Ooo, big loss!" Ranma rolled his eyes. "She'll never forgive me!! Oh, I'm just so heartbroken! I'll just die!"
Akane's wide eyes narrowed. "Stop making fun of me!" she insisted, reaching for his wrist. He tried to stop her by grabbing her arm with his other hand, but it was too late. They both held onto each other, glaring. Akane grabbed his muddy hand and squeezed it until the mud ran from his fingers.
"Have I told you how uncute you are?"
"Not in the last thirty seconds."
Ranma released her arm and picked up another clump of mud. Without hesitating, he plopped it down on top of her head. "There," he said, unflinching. "We're even."
She combed the mud from her hair with her fingers. "Even!? You're the only boy I know who throws mud at girls!"
Ranma folded his arms across his muddy chest. "And since when are you a normal girl?"
"Aughhh!" Akane cried, charging at him and pushing him back into the mud. His head hit the ground hard. Akane meant to keep her balance, but remembered her sore ankle at the last second and fell flat on Ranma's chest. Mud splashed up from the puddle and before they knew it, they were almost completely covered in mud.
"Ugh," he groaned, rubbing his head where it had hit. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
Akane wiped the mud from his face to reveal his scowl. "Sorry. I only meant to knock you over. I fell by mistake."
"Gee, thanks." He tried to sit up, but she wouldn't move away. "Um, Akane... if you don't mind, I'd like to get up."
"You're gonna make me sit in the mud again, aren't you!?" she demanded. "You would do that, Ranma!"
"You're already covered in mud! What does it matter?!" For a moment, he glared at her. "How am I supposed to get up?!"
"Fine!" she exclaimed. "Just hold on. My ankle is killing me." She tried to move off of him, but was apparently taking too long, because he put his arm around her waist and scooped her up. Soon, they were once again sitting in the mud.
Akane loosened her fingers from his shirt and looked up at him. For some reason her heart had started beating faster than normal. Maybe Ranma wasn't such a jerk after all... Maybe he was just as frustrated with the situation as she was.
The second their eyes met, Ranma looked away. "We better get going," he muttered. "Let's find a phone so we can call home and get a ride or something."
Akane looked down at his shirt.
"THERE you are! I've been looking everywhere for you two!"
They both turned to look at the same time, and Akane's forehead crashed into Ranma's jaw. "Egh!" they both cried, rubbing their bruises.
Mr. Hakutori looked down at them. "Wow, how did you guys get covered in mud?"
Defeat hit them hard. Not only were they covered in mud, but their chance of escape was completely gone. Ranma rubbed his jaw and sighed.
"You don't want to know," he muttered.
Ranma hadn't said a word to Akane since he picked her up and carried her back to the bed and breakfast. He had set her down in the lobby and left the old woman to wrap her ankle while he went back to his room to take a shower. After he had washed the mud away and put on some clean clothes, he felt a lot better. He was just filling the sink with water for his muddy clothes when the front door to the room flew open. When he popped his head out of the doorway of the bathroom, he saw the same muddy Akane limping into the room on crutches. Her left ankle was wrapped tightly in a tan bandage.
"It's not broken, if that's what you're wondering," she said without even looking up at him. "Turns out the old hag used to be a nurse. She said it should feel better in a day or so. I only twisted it."
Ranma didn't say anything. He just stared at her. For some reason, when Akane was covered in mud, she looked—
Their eyes met.
"Hey, Ranma, I'm gonna take a bath. Can you run some hot water for me?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Hold on." He went back into the bathroom and turned on faucet in the tub before finishing with his clothes in the sink. By the time he was done, Akane was hobbling into the bathroom.
"Thanks, Ranma," she told him. "But... um, do you think I could have a little privacy?"
"Oh!" he jumped, shoving his clothes to the bottom of the sink and splashing water onto the floor. "Sorry, I'll get that." He grabbed a towel from the rack and mopped up the floor as quickly as he could. If she were to trip on those crutches, he would never hear the end of it.
Quickly, he left the room and closed the door behind him. Feeling his cheeks heat up, he sat down at the edge of the bed and looked down at his bare feet. He wiggled his toes.
"Um, Akane?" he called.
"What?"
For a moment, he just blinked at the floor. "Never mind."
He had been going to ask her if she needed help, but that would have been about the dumbest question ever. What was he thinking?
He was thinking about the mud. Well, not the mud itself, but the mud on Akane. He remembered being pressed between her and ground, and how she hadn't moved.
He shook his head, holding his hands to his temples. What the hell was wrong with him?! They day he wanted Akane to press her body against his was the day he should probably consider checking himself into a mental institution. Who would want to be close to a macho chick like her anyway?
Ranma gulped. He needed something to occupy himself with while Akane was in the bathroom. He spotted his deck of cards on the floor, and bent over to pick them up. Once acquired, he shuffled the deck a few times and then began laying the cards out onto the bed.
Comments to Readers:
LunaML says:
"STOP THEM! pleese come up with a reason to stop them and continue the story." hah! you obviously don't know me very well. I LOOOOOVE long stories, and trust me, this will be a long one. To give you an idea, Ranma and Akane will be at the bed and breakfast for 7 days... they're currently on day 2. lol. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Andreiush- Wow, thank you for your awesome compliments!! I try my best to keep them in character!! If I end up liking this one enough, I might end up doing the manga for it like I've done with my other story, Lost Time.