Author's Note: A big thanks for the beta reader Illjwamh. Becuase of this kind hearted person (kissing up always helps!) who revamped chatper 1 for me! thanks! DISCLAIMER: You know the gig that goes here by now!
"You know you can't keep it up." Ukyo smugly taunted Ranma as she plopped down next to him in the schoolyard, with lunch in her lap.
"Huh?" was the ever-so-intelligent response that came from the pigtailed boy.
"You and Akane being married. I know you're lying; why else would you NOT sleep in the same bed?" Ukyo prodded. A smirk of satisfaction creeping up her face as her fiancé turned as red as the shirt he wore.
"I-uh, that is-uh,"
"If you were really married," the brunette persisted, "You two would have no problem sharing a bed..."
Ranma dodged the pillow, and then the lamp, and grabbed the bokken as it was about to make contact with his skull. The person on the other end of the wooden sword looked at him with fire in her eyes and a sneer on her lips. It was ten o'clock, he had just told her that he wanted to sleep with her, and this was the result.
One broken lamp, one set of ripped curtains and several books scattered all over the room surrounded an angry Akane and a rapidly bruising Ranma.
"There's no WAY I'm letting a pervert like you sleep with me!" Her face was blood red from anger or embarrassment; Ranma didn't want to decide.
"Ah, geez, Akane, not like that!" Ranma protested in a loud whisper, knowing very well that if he spoke any louder all the residents - who were gathered outside Akane's door - would hear them. It had been two days, and everyone still waited to see if they would consummate a marriage that didn't even happen! After the conversation with Ukyo early in the day, the marital artist figured this was the only way to get his best friend off his back and back into her shop.
"Go on," she nearly growled, not letting up the pressure on the bokken lest he wavered in holding it be knocked out cold. If he were unconscious, Ranma would stop his insane talk. That would be a relief to the dark blue-haired girl.
"Ukyo must spy on us or somethin'; she knows we don't sleep in the same bed," Ranma started, his hand not wavering from keeping the stick from smacking him in the forehead. The pressure let up a bit as the girl's face soured at the mention of the source of their current woes.
"But we sleep in the same room!" Akane spat, "How does she know, anyway? We have the curtains drawn!"
The young man shrugged. "Probably Nabiki."
Akane growled. "True."
"So all I'm sayin' is that I have to sleep in the same bed with ya, just for a while. Just to get Ukyo off my back," Ranma explained. Akane seemed to chew over the information in her mind, and with a sigh, she drew the bokken away from Ranma and dropped on the side of her bed.
"Fine. If it'll get her out of here." Akane looked away as she said this, but seemed to think of something more, glared over to Ranma and continued, "But you're sleeping under a different blanket, FULLY clothed."
The boy sighed. "Like I'd ever try to do anything with an uncute, tombo---OH!" He found it hard to talk with the end of a wooden sword rammed in his gut.
Two hours had passed. Everyone had left Akane's door for the night - unless the small tape recorder with a label of 'Nabiki Tendo' counted as a person - for their nice warm beds. Most were peacefully asleep. Others were snoring away the night. Only three people were awake: two in one room, and another in a room by herself with a sharp smirk on her sleepy face.
Ukyo felt confident she'd get her Ranma-honey before long, simply because they weren't married. Ranma and Akane would buckle and then the boy would be hers. As soon as Tendo was out of the way, there would be no more annoying, angry, heckuva lousy cook to get in the way of their happiness.
With these thoughts, Ukyo flipped over on her side and closed her eyes to dream of her future with Ranma…or so she hoped.
Meanwhile, across the house in a tiny room and getting smaller, were two people in a small bed that also felt like it was shrinking. Neither of them was asleep, and both were sore from holding the same position for almost an hour or more.
Akane lay underneath the sheet and comforter as Ranma lay on top of it but under his own blanket on the edge of the bed. The only thing that either did was breath. One was afraid to move lest he get pounded, and the other afraid to move lest she be called a pervert.
"This is stupid," Ranma whispered, mostly to himself.
"It was your idea. If you don't like it, get on the floor," Akane replied sharply, her shoulders aching from being so tense for so long. She was dead tired, but her eyes were painfully open, afraid if she feel asleep she'd get too close to him...NO! He would get to close to her! That would be the problem.
"*Yawn* I'm not going to get any sleep tonight," Ranma grumbled unhappily. "And all because I'm sharing a bed with the unsexy tomboy..."
*WAMP!*
Ranma's eyes were soon closed, as the lump on his head began to swell. Akane threw her mini mallet across the room, humphed and rolled over. Knowing the jerk was knocked out cold would put her mind at ease about going to sleep, at least tonight.