There are some who look at Ranma's behaviour towards Akane, and compare him to the little boy who like a little girl, but doesn't know how to express it and so he tugs on her pigtails to get her attention. This is true, to an extent. Ranma is pretty emotionally immature. Feelings of physical attraction or emotional vulnerability are pretty new to him, so he reverts to tried and true methods of expressing them.
Those methods being 'you are so uncute' and other such insults.
So it's fair to say that this analysis of his behaviour is pretty accurate, though there are subtle features held within that add to it. But what's interesting is the other side of the coin. What can we say about Akane's behaviour? Well, it's easy to simplify it. Say that she's had a traumatic experience with boys which makes her highly suspicious of their motivations, or naturally a violent person.
But really... A lot of the same psychological quirks are kind of in play here as well. Akane was the girl that liked a particular boy, but got all shy about it when confronted with her feelings and so she lashed out with tried and true methods of expressing those feelings.
Those methods being 'dummy! Pervert!' and other such insults.
... It'll be a healthy relationship once they get past these hangups. It'll just take a while.
Anyway! The fact that Akane liked Ranma didn't change just because of something like a hypnotically induced personality rewrite. No, no. Not at all good sir. Which meant that we had a rather rare sight on our hands.
"So, like I said. One thousand yen and I stop hitting on you."
Akane Tendo, with Nabiki's personality, all but humping Ranma's leg.
Deer. Meet headlights. Ranma had the kind of thousand yard stare that would make you think she had been through a war rather than experiencing the girl she liked getting all up in her personal space
"I would think that would be worth the asking price," Akane went on. Her hand somehow found a way to sneak under the metal bunnygirl suit she was wearing and began to wantonly grope Ranma's chest. "To make such an uncute girl as me leave you alone, one thousand yen is a small price. Unless... you don't think I'm uncute at all? Could it be that you're enjoying this?"
"Enjoying this?!" Ranma squeaked. Quite like a timid bunny. Appropriate given her manner of dress. "Tomboy, you're crazier than I thought if you think I'm into this!"
This had snapped her out of it just barely enough that Ranma was able to slap her hand away. "Listen, tomboy! I know this bunnysuit makes people act weird when they see it, but you gotta control yourself!"
"Two thousand yen," Akane demanded. She gave a little flick to a nipple to punctuate it. "I'll control myself for two thousand yen."
"It was a thousand a minute ago!"
"Supply and demand," Akane said as if that made any sense.
"Gah!" Ranma squirmed. Alas, Akane was doing her very best octopus impersonation at the same time as she was impersonating her sister. "Do you see anywhere for a wallet on me right now?!"
"No, but I do see a moneymaker. You can work it off by <i>working it off</i> in front of a camera."
That struck Ranma as a fundamentally terrible idea. Not least because posing for a camera with Akane taking the shots was doing weird things to her digestive tract. But also because it meant others might be exposed to the maddening power of her hot bod in this stupid magic outfit! Or what Ranma <I>thought</i> was a stupid magic outfit but was actually just a really difficult to get out of bunnysuit.
Isn't the confusion of cause and correlation fun?
"I think we've established by now that you're secretly into this," Akane continued. "Tell you what. I'll give you full permission to fool around with Ukyo, Shampoo and even Kodachi - in exchange for a mere three thousand yen. You won't find a better asking price than that."
"Y-You must be crazy!" Ranma yelled. "Akane, snap out of it! This isn't like you -"
Snap. Ranma looked over. Nabiki was standing a little inside the house, using one hand to hold up the phone and another to hold out a camera.
"Oh, so you'll give it away to my sister for free?" Akane sniffed, detaching herself from Ranma and putting the back of her hand up against her head, poorly feigning dejection and despair. "Oh, and I was just about to throw in a whole host of other bonuses! Ten percent of my lunch! I would rub your back in the bath. Why, I would even show you the secret method for taking off the bunnysuit!"
"Yeah, I don't want anything to do with those bonuses! I just want you to - What was that last one again?"
Akane looked over her shoulder, giving him a sly look. "I see. You're interested in me scrubbing your back in the bath." She rolled her shoulders seductively. "My, my. I knew you were a man of discerning tastes."
"No, not that!" Ranma protested. "The thing about this bunnysuit?"
"Oh? You want me to take it off?" Akane asked, cooly inspecting her fingernails. "Well, it'll cost you."
There wasn't a single thing about this that Ranma was enjoying. The combined obnoxious traits of both Akane and Nabiki within the same package? Yeah, that was like a nightmare come true. A monstrous hybrid that would make his life a living misery at every turn.
"How much?" Ranma asked, a little fearful of the answer.
"Well it is a package deal," Akane rocked on her feet. "So, three thousand yen. For the whole lot."
Of course. Ranma threw up her hands and stomped off to her room with Akane walking after her, hands on top of her head and taking big, long casual steps behind her. Kind of like a certain middle sister, not that Ranma was especially paying much mind to the normal gait of a certain tomboyish fiancee....
"Here, three thousand!" Ranma said, thrusting it into Akane's waiting hand. "It's all I got, so you'd better be good on your deal! Okay?"
"Okay!" Akane said, sarcastically saluting. "Pleasure doing business with you."
And then she turned to leave. Ranma twitched just a little. Then quickly ducked around the tomboy to get in front of her. "Wait a minute here, where do you think you're going?"
"I thought you wanted me to stop flirting with you," Akane said. "And the best way for me to do that... is to leave you alone entirely."
"That's not all you promised!"
"It's not?" Akane asked. "I promised something else?"
"Yeah! About this bunnysuit! Remember?"
"Sorry, but you'll have to say it..."
"I want you to take this stupid bunnysuit off me!"
Huh... Where did that microphone come from? Had Akane always been holding it? And that tape recorder too, for that matter? This was about the point where Ranma turned completely pale. Still as a statue. It was the sudden realisation of what Akane had recorded that had done it. Nothing quite got to Ranma Saotome than people getting the (accurate) impression that he was doing things and stuff with Akane Tendo!
"There's a switch in your poofy tail," Akane said. She stepped in close to Ranma. Stupidly close. Not that Ranma was in any mind to notice. She slid her hands around Ranma's slender waist, over her barely covered butt and gripped onto the tail firmly, oh so firmly. "It's an emergency release. I saw it when I was... checking you out earlier on."
One firm tug and the suit fell apart. Leaving Ranma standing there naked. With Akane embracing her. Yep, that's gonna add another five to ten minutes into this whole paralysed into inaction dealie.
"Oh, Ranma!" Akane sighed. "This is no fun. No fun at all! What's the point in bullying you if you don't give a cute reaction?" She ran a finger along the tops of her chest. “I mean, I suppose seeing you like this is a victory on its own… But still. Snap out of it soon so I can bully you some more.”
- Ranma is free of the bunny suit! But Akane's still acting weird.
- Nabiki gets in on the act now. The sisters have never felt closer.
- On the contrary: Now Akane and Nabiki are competition for one another.
- Another bell rings. Who does Akane become next?
- Something else
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