Story: Quadranma

So let's move ahead a little bit to an awkward, awkward morning. Akane glanced up at the boy speedwalking atop the fence. Yep. Speedwalking. On top of a fence with about as much thickness as maybe ten sheets of paper put together. She was quite a fit girl, and she was having a bit of trouble keeping up the pace. Not helped by the fact that he seemed intent on increasing his speed to try and get ahead of her while still trying to seem nonchalant. Fat chance! That ship sailed, buster!

So, here was the situation. Akihito had politely declined the offer to go to school in favour of finding work since he now had a family to support, or would do soon enough if the rate those two went at it was any kind of indication. Hmph. Arrogant jerk even went so far as to say that he could <i>hardly</i> improve himself by attending school, as he was perfectly fine the way he was, and the rest of them should enjoy their time at school together.

Then out of nowhere Isamu pipes up, seeing some insult in Akihito's words, reading some implication Akane couldn't catch. Something about saying he was better than the rest of them (which Akihito didn't disagree with)? Short version of that story, Isamu was also declining school in favour of finding work.

Which left Ranma and Ranko, and it was made clear to both of them that no excuse would apply to either. Not that Ranko was complaining, even if Ranma certainly was.

"Hey!" Akane yelled. "Wait up a minute! I just wanted to apologise for throwing you like that when you -"

Whoa, put the brakes on! Akane very nearly bowled right into him when he hopped off the fence and got right into her face. Not quite the same way he got into her face yesterday. Not yet, at least. The thought did cross Akane's mind that Akihito might have decided to indulge in a little bit of perverted activity with his loving wife, which could mean that Ranma was about to -

"About yesterday," Ranma said quietly. "I'd rather forget that ever happened. Got it? That... That ki-ki-kiss doesn't count for anything. Alright?"

Right. So, in order to understand things we kind of need to step into Akane's thoughts for a moment. Now, people tend to think a lot of different things all at once and only really put any order to it after the fact, so what we're seeing in the following paragraph is basically the order Akane decided on after thinking all of this.

He's not that upset about being thrown like that? Weird, but then again he is a martial artist. He's probably used to it, or maybe he kind of understood my position enough to not hold it against me? Hold on, wait a minute. The way he stammered when he said "kiss" just there. What was that about? Broke off eye contact while he was saying it - Is he saying he'd rather forget all about the kiss? Is he telling me he disliked the kiss? My first kiss? While I'm trying to apologise for reacting the way I did for something he couldn't even help? Oh! That insensitive -

"Fine!" she declared, storming right by him and leaving Ranma completely confused. "Be that way. See if I help you the next time your brother decides to do... That kind of thing."

"Help?" Ranma asked. "Oh, yeah! Like I'd ask you for help with an attitude like that!"

"Attitude like what?" Akane demanded, and all of a sudden an apology was the last thing on either of their minds.

<hr>
"Let's head out early," Ranko whispered to Nabiki, nodding towards Akane and Ranma before saying, "I think those two got the hots for each other. Let's leave 'em alone for a bit, let them walk to school together."

Nabiki looked over her shoulder, and saw her little sister giving Ranma sideways glances instead of turning her nose up at him. Well, well. She was probably only seeing it because Ranko put the idea in her head in the first place, but either something would happen there or it would mess with the two of them, and Nabiki could honestly live with either.

"Good idea," Nabiki whispered back. "Better than you realise. I'll explain on the way."

So they slipped off, with Nabiki offering to show Ranko the way to school while everyone else was distracted by the antics of the rest of them. Up ahead of her, Ranko hopped and skipped up to the top of the fence and began to casually stride along it as easily as a model down a catwalk. Just about as stylish and pretty, too.

"You know, it's not such a great idea walking up there in that school uniform," Nabiki noted, for indeed Ranko was wearing a spare Furinkan girl's uniform until she got her own. "A passing guy might take a peep up your skirt."

Wasn't it amazing what you could say with just a turn of the head a quirked eyebrow and a crooked smile? Ranko certainly said enough for an essay on the subject. It made Nabiki almost feel sorry for any boy that did wind up trying to pull that. Pft! What was she thinking? Not only did they deserve what came to them, but it would be outright hilarious! She could probably record it and sell it for so very much hard cash.

In all honesty there were so many opportunities to make some money off of Ranko. On an honest appraisal? Girl was hot. Not that Nabiki was into girls, but if she were then Ranko would definitely be first on her list of chicks to bang. Cute face, figure was curvy in all the right ways. Including some she'd never really thought of as the right ways before encountering her. Got a naughty streak to rival Nabiki's own -

"So who are the hottest boys at this place?" Ranko asked in an almost nonchalant manner. "Preferably the athletic ones. I want a boyfriend with stamina."

"Ah," Nabiki said. "That reminds me. What I said just before we left? There's a little something you should probably know about."

So she launched into the explanation while Ranko listened. All ears. Grin threatening to split that cute face clean in half. Nabiki told her about that idiot Tatewaki Kuno. She told of Kuno's crush on Akane. Told of his proclamation that only those who defeat her in combat may date her. Told her about how every athletic student in school lined up for the chance to take her on and win. Then got their butts solidly whooped. By the time she was done telling the story you could all but hear the cackle echoing through the early morning air.

<hr>
You know, he didn't get girls. He was barely ever around them as he grew up. Stuck to boys' schools mostly. The only women or girls he really interacted with were either food vendors, martial artists or someone he was helping out with a random thing. Didn't really hang out with girls of his own age group at almost any point of his life.

Which might be why Ranko kind of weirded him out a little bit and he didn't even begin to know how to handle her. Never mind having to handle this chick Akane, who everyone seemed determined to force him with as if they were going to get married or something like Akihito and Shampoo, which just wasn't happening because this girl wasn't even kind of his style.

"You know, I bet they all represent the worst parts of you," Akane said. "Arrogant, confrontational, and a tease. Yep! Sounds about right to me!"

"Yeah, good thing you didn't fall in the spring!" Ranma replied, a very small part of him wondering how the conversation had escalated to this point. "One would be uncute, another would be violent and the other would be completely irrational!"

Because, of course, what Akane failed to realise was that Ranma's reaction had not been due to disliking the kiss. Come to it, he was hardly in the mindset to rate it in a clear, unbiased manner. If anything he was just ashamed of himself for reacting in that manner, curse or no. Then again, try getting someone like Ranma Saotome to express such a simple concept, and then try getting him to do so to someone as obstinate as Akane Tendo. Under those conditions a shouting match seems almost inevitable. Not that either of them was cognizant enough of their personal flaws, or the flaws of the other, to recognise this volatile mixture. They'd only really just met.

Though a funny thing happened while the conversation devolved into madness and random insults. Ranma felt himself starting to fixate upon her lips. It was like, they were there. They were there, and his awareness of them sort of... Kept on increasing. Rising. He wasn't exactly horny or anything like that. It was more like, he was remembering it more vividly. What it was like to give in. Kiss her. Hold her close against him. Feel her body's warmth and the taste of her lips for that fleeting moment when -

"It's happening again, isn't it?" Akane asked, and Ranma forced himself to turn away from her, step away as well to play it safe. "Ugh... Those two! I can't even imagine what it must be like - Hold on a moment, just this one time."

He was about to ask what he meant by that when all of a sudden he was spun around and felt his brain start to melt from the unexpectedly familiar contact on his lips. It took his brain a moment to realise what was really happening here. Akane was kissing him. Right on the lips. Tongue and everything.

Huh. You know, this was kind of pleasant. He was kind of afraid to move because he had no idea what the hell was even going on in his life anymore, but he could definitely do with a couple more moments like this. He wasn't entirely sure how long they had stayed like that, but by the time she stepped away she was pulling his hands apart from where they'd rested on her back. She rubbed her lips and looked up at him... Triumphantly?

"There," she said with a haughty sniff. "Think you can control yourself better now?"

"Y-Yeah," Ranma said, having to deliberately stop himself from smiling.

"Good," Akane said, leaning down as if preparing to charge full pelt. "I was just helping you avoid a bad first impression. Next time, you're on your own." With that said, she started fulfilling that whole charging full pelt thing, prompting Ranma to dash off after her to keep up. No trouble for him, of course. "We're almost at the school. You hang back while I... Beat up... Some idiots?"

It was kind of weird the way she trailed off while approaching the school gates. She'd been building up momentum like a speeding juggernaut, only to screech to a halt like someone had replaced the pavement with treacle. He almost collided into her from behind actually, which gave him the chance to observe how damn nice she smelled, but anyway that wasn't important so much as the entrance to the school grounds, with two main points of interest within it. Well, really it was three.

1: Nabiki staring in slack-jawed wonder at the other two things.
2: A whole mess of boys - most of them in some form of athletic gear and the rest still seemed pretty fit - lying on the ground as if someone had dropped a wrecking ball on their heads.
3: Ranko dipping some guy with a kendo stick at his feet and trying to suck the life out of him.

"Ahem!" Ranma yelled right next to the pair. "Ranko. Ranko!" He tweaked her ear, prompting her to drop the poor guy to the ground right away. "Gonna be late for class," he said, a little eye twitch pretty obvious to anyone that was paying attention.

"Oh god, there are two of them," he heard a voice say from above. Probably best to ignore that for now. What was Akane saying about first impressions again? Wonderful.

"I guess you're right, bro!" Ranko said. "Bye bye, Mister Kuno! Meet me at lunchtime on the roof, I'll have a super special treat ready for you."

"Okay!" the boy apparently called Kuno said with a cracked voice and a satisfied smile on his face. "Sounds a delight, I'll see you then!"

"Um... Ranma?" Akane whispered as they entered the school grounds. "Just now, that wasn't Akihito, was it? Don't tell me you were actually feeling Ranko and Kuno -"

"Really don't want to think about it," Ranma groused. "Right now, I just gotta figure out a way to keep her away from all the guys at school!"

1. Isamu runs into someone.
2. Ranko seduces Kuno at lunchtime.
3. Akihito looks for work.
4. Something else