A Tangled Web, by Arianna Vesle

Akane Tendo was drying her short hair with a towel. She was also humming. As usual, Kasumi knew just the way to soothe her frazzled nerves.

It was Ranma's fault, of course. He'd been egging her on again. No one could blame her for getting angry, not when he called her uncute, flat-chested and thick-legged. Akane didn't let herself remember the insults; she didn't want to feel sad again. What really hurt was that, in spite of it all and for some reason she couldn't begin to understand, Akane desperately wanted Ranma to like her.

Akane let the towel rest on her shoulders as she opened her door and went into her bedroom. Closing the door behind her, Akane went to her mirror and looked in it. The face that looked back at her was plain, a little pale and the eyes red from crying. That was horribly embarrassing, to have cried in front of Ranma like that. Just like a baby. Akane forced a smile at her mirror-face. The smile she got in return was hardly convincing. Akane sighed. She gave her hair one more good scrub with the towel, then picked up her brush and began combing out the tangles.

All of a sudden, Akane heard a soft noise from behind her. She turned. There, on her bed, sat a very tiny, very black, rather chubby little animal. Around its neck was tied a banana-colored bandanna. Akane set the brush down, exclaiming,

"P-chan!"

At the sound of his name, the little piglet squealed happily. Akane held out her arms. P-chan hopped down from the bed and trotted over to jump into them. Akane cuddled him for a moment, then patted his head with a hand partly hidden in the sleeve of her oversized pajamas. "I haven't seen you for a long time; I was starting to get worried," she told him. P-chan bweed in reply. Akane sighed.

Setting P-chan next to the mirror, Akane began brushing her hair again. She paused, raising a hand to finger her dark hair, that fell in a blunt cut about her ears. "Do you think I should let my hair grow long again, P-chan?" she asked aloud. When he didn't squeal in response, Akane looked down at him. He seemed almost a little pale, if such a thing were possible for a little black piglet. Akane sighed. "Oh, what would a piggy know about hair, anyway. Probably less than men." Akane went back to her hair, not noticing P-chan paling even farther.

There was a soft knock on the door. At Akane's 'come in', the door opened and Kasumi looked inside. "Hello, Akane. Feeling better now?"

"Yes, Kasumi. Thanks."

Kasumi Tendo smiled her characteristic gentle smile. "I'm glad, Akane." She walked a little farther into the room. "I brought you a cup of tea." Her smile brightened. "It's rose tea. I thought you might like it." She walked over and set the steaming cup on Akane's desk. P-chan shied away from it.

"I guess piggies don't like tea," Akane said teasingly. Then she smiled up at Kasumi. "Thanks for the tea. I'm really much better now, Kasumi."

"That's good." Kasumi scuffed out of the room, her feet silent in soft house slippers. "Don't stay up too late, Akane, you have school tomorrow . . ." her voice trailed behind her. The door shut with a soft click as Akane turned back to the mirror. She ran the brush through her hair a few more times before setting it down. She plopped her chin into one palm, elbow resting on the desk. Then she looked at P-chan and sighed.

"Why do boys have to be so annoying, P-chan?" she asked, touching his snout. P-chan squeaked nervously. Akane laughed shortly. "Well, they are. Especially Ranma." P-chan's look brightened, and he nodded. Akane sighed, stroking his nose. "I don't understand him at all. He's such a jerk sometimes, but . . ." P-chan blinked. Akane still stroked his nose but now she didn't seem to remember he was there. "Sometimes, he can be so nice to me . . . I just wish I knew how to make him out. I've never known anybody so stubborn and . . . a-and . . . sweet . . . ."

P-chan's eyes were huge. Crocodile tears streamed down his cheeks. Akane blinked, awakening from her reverie. She smiled at him. "Well, who cares about Ranma, anyway," she said. "Let him figure himself out!" At P-chan's agreement, Akane stood up, stretched, then picked up P-chan and transferred him to her bed. Then she stood for a moment. "Well, anyway, it's getting late, and I'm going to get a good night's sleep."

Akane turned and picked up her teacup. She inhaled the rich steam. "Mmm. It does smell good." She looked over her shoulder. "Want to try some, P-chan?" He shook his head. Akane giggled. "Fine, I'll drink it all myself." Akane took a sip of the hot tea. She blew on the cup then, to cool it. Then she sighed once more. "Stupid Ranma," she said, again. She stared into her teacup for few seconds, before her face took on a look of fierce determination. "Well, after tonight, things are gonna be different around here," she decided, passionately. She spun around, eyes blazing. "From now on-"

That was when it happened. When Akane turned, her foot caught on her desk chair and she tripped. Akane fell heavily on the bed, dropping the tea cup, landing on top of P-chan who squealed.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly, dreadfully wrong. Akane slowly opened her eyes . . .

and gaped directly into the terrified stare . . .

of Ryoga Hibiki.

~~~

Akane felt her mouth fall open. It was mere seconds before her reflexes took over and she flung herself away from Ryoga, knocking the chair over, backing up against the desk. Ryoga sat up a little, looking as if he'd first seen a ghost, then been eaten by it. Akane felt like she was having an awful dream.

It would have been natural for Ryoga to burst into a wild exclamation of excuses, or apologies, or something. But he didn't say anything. Completely in shock, he only looked at Akane in stark terror.

A million thoughts pounded through Akane's head, each worse than the last. She dare not try to decipher them all, so she took hold of the loudest to retain her sanity.

"Ryoga!" she said, her voice a hoarse, hollow whisper. "You're P-chan?" It sounded ridiculous even to her own ears, but the proof was before her. Ryoga, the teacup, the spilled tea trickling down his face. There could be no denying it, and the realization was so horrible that Akane suddenly retreated, to dwell in the safety of an old comrade-in-arms.

Sheer anger.

Akane marched back to Ryoga, still frozen where she had left him, torn between an intense conflict about whether to try and make a desperate escape out the window, or to instead simply lay down and die.

Ryoga started violently, both from fright and from the fact that Akane had grabbed him by the shirt and shaken him roughly. She slammed him back down to the bed, looming over him, her eyes flaming.

"Ryoga! I ought to murder you! I ought to break every bone in your body!" Akane started shaking him again.

Now, at least, Ryoga's tongue finally thawed. "A-A-Akane," he gurgled. "I can e-explain e-every-t-thing!"

"Oh, yeah!? Well, you'd better start, you rotten little swine, cause you've got about thirty seconds to live!" Akane held Ryoga down by the throat with one hand, while she snatched a pillow from her bed with the other. Her eyes looked half-crazed. "I'll smother him with a pillow," she fumed, to no one in particular. Ryoga turned a sickly shade of lilac.

"Don't! Wait! Stop!"

In what was probably a fortunate situation for Ryoga, there was suddenly a knock on the door. Akane froze.

"Who is it?" she demanded, shrilly.

"It's me," said an impatient voice from the other side. "I need ta talk to you."

The door started to open. Akane stared at it, her mind racing, until-

Ranma started to open the door. But the door wouldn't open. He pushed harder, but the door pushed back, snapping shut and nearly catching his nose in the bargain. Ranma frowned. "Akane?"

"You can't come in!" came Akane's voice from the other side, sounding very high-pitched and loud. Ranma's frown deepened.

"Hey, come on, Akane, cut it out. It's important. Lemme in."

"Go AWAY!" On the other side of the door, Akane stood with her back pressed to the door, arms splayed across the frame. "I do NOT want to talk to you, so just get lost and leave me alone, Ranma! I'm warning you, I am NOT in the mood for you right now!"

Ranma was taken aback, and a little hurt. "Fine!" he shouted at the door. "See if I ever try to apologize to you again!" He spun on his heel and stomped off.

Akane listened to Ranma's fading footsteps with relief. Then she fixed Ryoga with a glare again. He gulped, having hoped she'd forgotten about him. Akane dashed over and shook him again. "Ryoga Hibiki, do you have any idea what almost happened just now?!" she demanded harshly. Ryoga gulped.

"Uh . . .n-no?"

"Ranma almost came in here and found you in my room right at bedtime," Akane said, her voice elevating to a shriek.

Ryoga cleared his throat, nervously. "Well, actually -"

Akane suddenly gasped, and the blood drained from her face. Ryoga froze too, wondering suddenly if she was remembering she was going to smother him with a pillow. But instead of grabbing for any deadly instruments, Akane clutched her face in her hands. "Oh, no!" Her eyes grew wide and looked strange. "What if - what if Ranma finds out?" Her voice grew blank as her face. "What if he finds out that you were P-chan all along? What if he thinks I knew about this? What if he thinks . . . ."

Ryoga loosened his collar. "W-well, actually, A-Akane -"

Ryoga almost screamed as Akane grabbed him once again. Her face was ashen. "Ryoga! You have to promise me that you won't tell Ranma about this! Any of it! Promise me! Promise me!"

Feeling more than a little bewildered, Ryoga nodded his agreement. A little color returned to Akane's cheeks. She released him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Good," she sighed. Then she fixed him with an angry look. "I should knock all your teeth down your throat, Ryoga Hibiki. But I'm too angry to decide what to do first, so just get out of my bedroom." Akane walked to the window, opened it, and stood by it, waiting. Ryoga slunk past her. He climbed out the window, slipping when Akane slammed it shut behind him. He dropped to the grass and snuck off, whimpering slightly.

Inside her room, Akane swept back the tea-stained coverlet, buried her face in the pillow she hadn't smothered anybody with, and cried and cried.

~~~

Genma-panda sat shoveling his breakfast. Ranma sat next to him, looking rather bearish himself. His face was set in a scowl, and he hunched over his food like a grouchy animal. Ranma knew he was in a poor temper, and excused himself by blaming it on anything he could think of; Genma, a poor night's sleep, the weather. But the truth was, he was still hurt about last night. He'd only wanted to tell Akane he was sorry. Did she think it was easy for him? But she wouldn't even talk to him and Ranma was hurt and angry.

By the time he heard Akane's footfalls on the stairs, Ranma was ready to bite heads off. As she came near to sit down, Ranma turned towards her, ready to let loose with a roar of fury at the first thing she did that was anything less than perfect.

But he didn't.

Instead, his mouth closed and he stared. Then his mouth opened again and before he could think, he said, "Geez, Akane, you look awful."

And it was true. Akane's eyes were red, with light purple bruises from lack of sleep cutting shallow depressions in her face. She was pale, and when Ranma spoke to her, she jumped, dropping her chopsticks. Ranma was surprised. So was Akane, but she merely shrugged. "I didn't sleep very well," she said.

Ranma was too confused that she hadn't gotten angry at him for that remark to notice her hands trembling as she picked up her chopsticks. He stared down at his own food. "Eh. Busy night, huh," he groused softly. Ranma was thinking that Akane must have spent all night thinking up ways to get back at him. But of course, Akane didn't know that. When Ranma made his offhanded remark, Akane gasped, and her hands shook so much she had to set the chopsticks down. She stared blankly ahead. Did Ranma know about Ryoga? Had he seen Ryoga leaving her bedroom late at night? Surely he couldn't believe she'd been . . . been cheating on him?

"Are you gonna eat that?" Ranma asked. Akane blinked.

"No." But the question had been for Genma-panda. He growled dangerously, but Ranma darted in and took the morsel he wanted anyway. His father took a swipe at his head. Ranma ducked and came back up. Now his attention did turn to Akane's plate.

"Hey, you gonna eat that sausage, Akane?" he asked hopefully, batting Genma's paw aside.

"No. Take it," Akane answered, shoving her plate towards him. Ranma raised one eyebrow, but didn't argue. He stuffed the food in his mouth and said, "Wow, you sure ain't hungry this morning. You been sneaking stuff at night or something?"

Akane turned absolutely white. She gave Ranma an afflicted look and ran from the table. Everyone else stared after her.

"Oh, dear. I wonder what's the matter with Akane," Kasumi said worriedly. "I hope she's not sick."

"Why would she get sick? I do it all the time." Everyone stared at Ranma. He shrank a little. "What? I like leftovers. What can I say?"

~~~

Akane retreated to her bedroom and shut the door. But being alone didn't help. It hurt to breathe, and being back in this room wasn't helping. She turned against the door, burying her face in her hands.

How much did Ranma know? There could be no doubting that he knew something was amiss. Why else would he make such cynical comments all of a sudden? Was that why he'd demanded she let him in last night? Akane turned away from the door, staring at the ceiling. But if Ranma had already known that Ryoga was P-chan before that night, how long had he known?

It suddenly clicked into place. Akane gave a cry. She thought of all the times Ranma had complained about P-chan, all the times he'd called Ryoga a pig or something akin to it. He must have known for a long time. Which meant . . . .

"Oh, god . . . please . . . don't let him hate me . . . please . . . ." tears started trickling down Akane's cheeks. Ranma would think she'd known all along. Would think she'd ignored his complaints on purpose, to spite him. Would he think she'd been cheating on him? Waiting until he caught them together? Akane thought of all the times Ranma had seen her cuddling P-chan, fawning over him, and all the time Ranma thought she knew. No wonder he hated her.

Akane curled into a ball and leaned against the door, crying. "What am I going to do?"

~~~

Akane reappeared in time to walk to school with Ranma. He looked down at her from his vantage point on the fence, frowning. If he hadn't known any better, Ranma could have sworn she'd been crying or something. He couldn't figure it out. Akane was acting positively strange, and something was really wrong. She wouldn't look at him, either. Ranma knew she wouldn't because he tried to attract her attention by coughing, clearing his throat, even waving at her, but she simply would not look at him. Yesterday's bad blood forgotten, Ranma was starting to get worried. He didn't like to see his usually fiery fiancee in such a miserable, wilted state. Something was upsetting her terribly and Ranma racked his brain, trying to think of what it could be.

"Hey, uh . . . Akane, what's wrong with you?" Ranma rolled his eyes as soon as the words had left his mouth. Only stupidity could be blamed for a ridiculous question like that. He waited for Akane to push him into the drainage ditch. But she didn't, and when Ranma looked at her again, she was walking just as she'd been before. 'She's ignoring me,' Ranma thought and frowned. 'Gosh. Whatever happened must be pretty bad if she won't even get mad at me.' "Hey, Akane, you aren't still mad about yesterday, are ya?" No answer. 'Man, I didn't tick her off that bad, did I?' Ranma frowned again, scratching the back of his head and trying to figure out why Akane wasn't speaking to him.

In truth, Akane hadn't heard either of Ranma's questions. She was too busy worrying about her own problems. 'Can't let Ranma find out. He'll hate me. But what if he really DOES already know? Then will he think I'm trying to keep it a secret from him? But if I tell him, he'll get mad at me for not telling him sooner and he'll think I knew anyway. I can't let Ranma find out. But what if he already knows?"

"Akane!"

Akane gasped and jumped, her heart skipping painfully as Ranma's face suddenly appeared inches in front of her. Feeling bold, Ranma had decided to address the problem head-on, as it were, and had jumped down and hurried over to Akane. She looked very startled. "What?" she cried, her voice trembling.

Ranma stood aside to let her keep walking and moved alongside her. "Are . . . you mad at me or something?"

Akane's tortured, sleep-deprived mind started churning this. 'He must know! He must think I'm seeing Ryoga out of spite, just to make him angry! He must think I'm so mad at him I want to hurt him somehow!'

Out loud, Akane said, "No," somewhat woodenly, staring straight ahead.

"Really?" Ranma asked, a little doubtfully.

Akane's eyelids fluttered a little, then she looked at him. "I'm not mad at you," she repeated.

Ranma walked silently beside her as she fell back into her trance-like state. What could upset Akane? If it wasn't something he did, what on earth could make her so flustered? Could she have failed a test at school? No, that was unlikely. Ranma would have known. Failed a recipe and caused a fire again? Ranma dismissed that as well, he would definitely have noticed that. So, what else was there? Ranma thought hard. "What's the matter, Akane?" he finally asked. "Did P-chan run away from home?"

Akane stopped short, turning absolutely dead white. She looked as though she'd been slapped and stared at him, stricken. Ranma felt himself panicking. 'Oh, no, oh, no! NOW what did I say?' he thought frantically. "W-what is it, Akane? Why are you looking at me like that? Did he really run away or something?"

Akane was practically in tears. How could Ranma be so mean? Why was he making fun of her this way; couldn't he see how much he was hurting her? But, then, he was probably hurt too, hurt and angry, thinking what he must about her. What a witch he must see her as.

Ranma was practically overcome with terror as Akane's pretty eyes filled with tears. "Come on, Akane, don't cry! He'll come back, he always does!"

"Stop it, Ranma," Akane choked out. "Stop it! Please!"

"Stop what?! I - -" Ranma stopped, feeling helpless as his fiancee started to cry. All this over a few mean names? Ranma hadn't meant to call her names, of course, but she'd never stayed angry this long before. And P-chan had disappeared lots of times, dozens, scores of times. Ranma didn't know what to do. "Akane, don't cry, cut it out. I don't get it." Akane just turned away from him, sobbing. "What's the matter with you?" Ranma demanded. He was a little frightened, and tried to hide it by getting angry. If he was angry, maybe she'd get angry back. Then she'd stop crying. "What are you crying for? Geez, Akane, what's your problem? Stupid ol' P-chan will be just fine-"

"I DON'T CARE where P-chan is!" Akane spat out, through her sobs. Ranma was taken aback for a moment. He put his hands on his hips.

"Then . . . is this about yesterday or something? I mean, come on, Akane, I tried to apologize to you but you wouldn't let me! I'm sure you were MUCH too busy to talk to me!"

Akane spun around to face him. "Ranma - it wasn't - it's not -"

"Oh, sure." Ranma turned his face away, stubbornly. "Make excuses. Go ahead."

"But, Ranma - I never . . . I mean, I didn't . . . I couldn't . . . ."

"Oh, cut it out, Akane. We both know what's going on here." Very angry now, Ranma's confusion and fear got the better of him and turned the suspicious, slightly jealous part of his imagination loose. Of course, it all made sense now. Why else would Akane start crying for no reason? He took a step forward and glared at his trembling fiancee. "You're doing all this just to make me feel guilty or something, right? Well, I don't. So there." Akane gasped. He knew all about Ryoga! He'd known for a long time and thought she was seeing Ryoga behind his back! Akane wished she could die. Ranma, oblivious, went on. "You really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble," he said bitterly. "You could have just said you were mad at me or beat me up or something but, no, you had to go and be all sneaky and try to trick me, is that it? Well, it didn't work, so now I guess you'll just have to yell at me or something." Ranma stood, panting, waiting to see Akane's reaction.

He was surprised.

Instead of pummeling him with blows from her mallet, Akane sank to her knees with a wordless moan and buried her face in her hands. Then she started sobbing as though her heart would break. Ranma felt cold. Akane sat weeping, crumpled onto the ground before him, and it was his fault. He'd hurt her again, somehow.

Ranma didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted desperately to make Akane stop crying, make her smile again. The other part wanted to run away screaming and hide for a while. But . . . .

Now Ranma really DID feel guilty.

He crouched by Akane. His throat felt dry and he cleared it a couple times. "A . . . A-Akane," he started, hoarsely. "Hey . . . d-don't cry, Akane, ok? I . . . I didn't mean to yell at you, so stop crying, ok?"

Whatever Ranma expected Akane to do, he certainly didn't expect to be knocked to the ground by his fiancee. She flung herself towards him and buried her face in his shirt, bawling.

"Oh, Ranma . . . I'm - . . . I'm so- . . . sorry!"

Ranma blinked, pitifully confused. He patted her back awkwardly, sitting on the cold sidewalk. "Ah . . . it's ok. Just stop crying, k?"

Akane shook her head into his shoulder. "Ranma, I- . . . I didn't- . . . I didn't know! I- . . . I swear I didn't- . . . know! Please, don't- . . . hate me!"

Any hope of ever understanding what was wrong with Akane seemed to flutter away on little wings. Ranma cautiously touched Akane's shoulder. When she didn't hit him, he gently pulled her back enough to look at her face. Her small body was still racked with sobs, but she turned wet, reddened eyes up to look into his. Ranma's face softened.

"Why would I hate you?" he asked carefully.

"Because you- . . . think I knew all the time, but- . . . I never did. Not till- . . . last night, I never knew! You've got to believe me! I didn't know!" Ranma frowned slightly.

"Didn't know what?"

Akane wasn't listening. She pressed her face against his shoulder. "Oh, Ranma, I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me!"

"Didn't know what?"

"If I'd known I never would have acted that way, but I didn't know-"

"Didn't know what?!"

"And I wouldn't have been so stubborn. I wasn't trying to keep it a secret, but I didn't know-"

"Didn't know WHAT?!"

"And you've got to believe me, Ranma, I swear I didn't know about P-chan!"

"DIDN'T KNOW- what about him?" Ranma amended, sitting bolt upright in alarm.

There was a long moment of utter silence, then Akane slowly lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes like saucers. The tears had stopped. "You . . . you . . . don't know?" she asked, numbly.

Ranma stared back. " . . . You DO?" he responded finally, confused.

"Then you DO know?"

" . . . YOU do?"

"Ranma-"

"Hold it. Hold it." Ranma rubbed his forehead. "I'm confused here. Akane, are you saying that you know that P-chan is . . . is . . . ."

" . . . Is Ryoga."

Ranma didn't know whether to be relieved or not. He looked at his fiancee. "Then you do know."

"You didn't know that?"

"I know about Ryoga. But I didn't know you knew."

"You didn't?"

"No."

Ranma watched as Akane slowly shrank back, disbelief, then a swirl of troubled emotions flashing in her eyes. She looked like she might cry again, or maybe even be sick. "Hey, you ok?" he asked.

"I . . . I thought you did," Akane said in a tiny voice. "I thought that YOU thought that . . . that I'd known all the time. I thought you'd think I was . . . was . . . cheating on you."

"Cheating on me?" Ranma repeated, blankly. Akane lowered her eyes.

"Uh-huh."

Ranma blinked. "With Ryoga?" he said, stupidly.

"Well . . . yeah."

" . . . And THAT'S what this was all about?" Ranma said, astonishment written across his face. Akane nodded. Ranma leaned back on his arms and let out a long breath. "Y-i-ikes," he whispered finally. "I'd always wondered what would happen when you found out."

Akane's face darkened a little. "Always? What do you mean, 'always'?"

Ranma froze. "Uh . . .y-you know . . . since you found P-chan and . . . I mean, since you made him your pet and all, um . . . is something wrong?"

"Ranma, are you saying you knew about P-chan all the time?!" Akane demanded. Ranma gulped nervously.

"Well . . . ."

"You knew all along and you never told me?! You let him sleep in my bed and you never tried to tell me?!" Akane shrieked. Ranma protected his face with his hands.

"Hey, come on, Akane, don't get mad! I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know until you already found him and named him P-chan and everything! I didn't think you'd believe me!"

"So you just let him get away with it?!"

"IF you remember, I tried several times to get him out of your bedroom to protect your privacy," Ranma said stiffly. Akane opened her mouth to retort but couldn't, and her anger wilted visibly.

"I . . . guess you did." She looked down into her lap. "I'm . . . sorry, Ranma."

He sighed. "Yeah, me too. Hey, listen, Akane . . . ."

"Hmm?"

"Don't . . . be too mad at Ryoga, huh?"

"What?" Akane looked incredulous. "You're defending him?!"

"Well . . . he's not really a pervert, Akane, just . . . really stupid, that's all. 'Sides, having a dumb curse is kinda hard to live with sometimes, and . . . well . . . you liked P-chan and . . . ." Akane crossed her arms. Ranma sighed. "He likes you, Akane."

Akane turned a little pink. "Why should he like me? He's got Akari!"

"I know, but . . . like I said, you were always nice to P-chan and . . . well, you can be really . . . you know . . . ."

"No, I don't."

Ranma sighed more deeply. "You're kinda . . . different when you're nice."

"Different?"

"Well, you know . . . special," Ranma said, blushing.

Akane blushed too, and looked away. Then her eyes slowly came back to meet his. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ranma replied, not believing his own ears as the words came more or less easily out of his mouth. Akane fingered a strand of her hair.

"Well . . . maybe I'll forgive him someday."

"Yeah. I just can't believe you finally found out. I was beginning to think you never would."

"And here I thought you suspected me of always knowing."

"Ahh, Akane," Ranma shook his head. "I couldn't ever think you'd do something like that. You gotta know that, right?" When Akane, confused, nodded her head, Ranma smiled shyly. "I know you wouldn't do anything like that, because you're not that kind of girl. And I know you way better than that. Besides, you're my fiancee, right?"

Akane looked at him for a moment, her mouth twisting into a trembling smile. Ranma smiled back, blushing a little.

Then Akane threw herself forward again and hugged him, hard. Ranma caught her instinctively, blinking in surprise. Then the surprise wore off, and he almost began to enjoy himself. Akane in his arms was a good thing, he realized. He hugged Akane and it felt so good, Ranma found himself wondering why he hadn't tried it sooner. This wonderfully comforting hug lasted only a minute or two, then Akane slowly loosened her grip and pulled away. Ranma let her go somewhat reluctantly. She smiled, shyly, blushing again when Ranma brushed a few stray tears from her cheek.

"We should go to school. We're late."

"Ok." Ranma got to his feet and they started walking again. "You're not going to hurt Ryoga the next time you see him?"

"Not badly. Maybe I'll forgive him someday, but this deserves at least one good pounding."

"Well . . . ."

Holding hands felt natural. That was good.

"So, Ranma, are there any other little secrets you've been keeping from me?"

"Um . . . ."

"Ranma!"

"I'm just kidding! Except, well . . . ."

"Well?"

"Well, you remember all those pastries Kasumi baked for the sewing club's bake sale?"

"Yes. You mean it was you who ate them all?"

"No . . . pop did."

"Ranma!"

They walked to school. Life went on; it has a funny way about that.

~~~

A lone figure struggled up a rocky hill. Battered and disheveled, tired and hungry. His eyes were red and his face was gaunt.

"Must . . . find . . . Akari . . . she's the only one . . . who can intercede . . . on my behalf!" He trudged upward. "Oh, sweet Akane . . . how I've dreaded the day I must give you up . . . but . . . now I see . . . that it must be for the best. . . ."

He collapsed in the dust.

He lay there for a moment, then, rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky, and whined, "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm miserable, and . . . ." He closed his eyes and bellowed into the emptiness. "THIS IS ALL RANMA'S FAULT!!

~The End~

Author's Notes: Gosh, that took a while, didn't it? It's been ages since I've written anything. But anyway, here's another one for the die-hard Ranma/Akane fans that are still out there (I know you are. I can hear you breathing). Anyway, this was kinda of of those plots that floats around in your head for a few months (or years) before you do anythng about it. But I'd been wanting to write a fic where Akane finds out about Ryoga, and I was having trouble getting around the fact that she'd be really mad at Ranma, so . . . here you are. Thanks for reading!

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