Afterwards Akane Tendo walked to school, the snow crunching beneath her boots as she looked over at her companion, Ranma Saotome. While his exterior remained the same, the boy's personality had changed in the months since he had been dating Kasumi. He was noticably more thoughtful, kind and had even begun to seriously consider his future. ‘A future without me,' Akane thought with a mix of emotions. On one hand she was happy, not wanting to have been engaged to him in the first place but on the other she felt oddly jealous, as well as rejected. "Oh great," Ranma scowled as they neared the school, the black haired boy tensing, "it's the fiance revenge squad." Since finding out about his willing engagement to Kasumi Tendo, the various fiances of Ranma had been a bit upset, to say the least. Ukyo had been heartbroken, while Shampoo was simply furious at him. Add in the slightly crazy Kodachi Kuno and you had a trio that was VERY dangerous. Wisely, Ranma made it clear that any attack on Kasumi would be taken as a assault on him, and after Mousse's one attempt no one else was trying. Surprisingly Kasumi had successfully dodged Mousse's attack, then she scolded the Chinese boy till he fled the house. Not satisfied with that Ranma tracked him down, used cold water to turn him to duck form and then proceeded to pluck each and every feather from the struggling duck. Astonishingly this left him sphere bald in human form, too, causing him to remain in seclusion for weeks. "Let's go, then," Akane strode over to their side and turned to face Ranma. "Come on," Ranma rolled his eyes, "we do this every morning!" "Shut up," Kodachi cried as the black haired woman said, "we will defeat you, then you will be forced to date one of us instead of the devil woman, Kasumi!" "Don't call her that," Ranma said coldly. "Uh oh," Alane made sure to leave some room around Kodachi. "I will call that harlot anything I want to," Kodachi sniffed. "That's it," Ranma leaped. POW! BAM! BIFF! HYAA! WHUMP! "Arien mad," Shampoo blinked in awe, looking down at the crumpled form of a badly pummeled Kodachi. "Next?" Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Go," Ukyo said grimly, the woman's long black hair swinging as she unbuckled her battle spatula. "We don't have to do this," Ranma said as they circled each other warily. "Then honor the promise your father made to mine," Ukyo said grimly. "Sorry," Ranma said with real regret in his voice, "can't do that." "Then pay," Ukyo raced forward, swinging expertly. Sadly, Ranma had fought her enough to be ready, stepping forward to grasp the handle rather than be struck by the blade. They struggled with the weapon for long moments before Ranma managed to flip her, sending Ukyo crashing to the ground. Swiftly he followed up, Ranma's next blow striking her unconscious. "Ranma," Akane reflexedly called a warning as Shampoo leapt into the fray. The purple haired girl hissed like a cat as Shampoo struck, slashing at Ranma in a move very like the cat fist. That was enough to throw Ranma off a moment but the other fighter soon recovered, driving Shampoo backwards. Using her skills Shampoo tried to hold Ranma off, but in moments she was disarmed and helpless. "Thanks," Ranma said to Akane reluctantly. "Don't thank me," Akane put her school bag down, meeting Ranma's eyes, "I was just trying to keep things fair." "You're still angry at me for switching the betrothal over to Kasumi?" Ranma asked as Akane approached with a dangerous smile. "Actually, I think I'm pretty much over that," Akane said as she took up a battle stance. "So why are you doing this?" Ranma demanded. Akane smiled slightly, "Because fighting with you is better than any practice sparring I've found yet." "Great," Ranma sighed as she charged. By lunch hour most of their aches and pains had faded as the women met at their usual table. "Looks like my chances of beating Ranma-honey are going down by the day," Ukyo conceded, "I may have to just bow out." "Shampoo cannot return to amazon tribe without husband," Shampoo said grimly. "Then stay here," Akane calmly offered, "run the café." A faint smile, "Maybe even date Ryouga or Mousse." "But..." Shampoo started. Akane pointed at her with her chopsticks as she forcefully said, "I've heard you complain enough over these past few months of lunches to know that the Amazon tribe was a pretty mixed bag for you." "Akane," Ukyo shushed her, putting a hand on Akane's shoulder. She looked at Shampoo, "I know that your pride is a issue, but you could always just tell your people that you stayed here with your husband." "True," Shampoo sighed. Ukyo looked at Akane, "Are you planning to continue the vendetta?" Akane chuckled softly. "He's dating my sister," she said, "it's pretty hard to hate either of them, under the circumstances." "All right," Shampoo sighed, "we give up on Ranma, then." She looked off in the distance, "What we do about Kodachi?" "Ambush her tomorrow," Ukyo shrugged, "make it clear if she hurts one hair on Kasumi's head she answers to us." "Might work," Akane admitted. "Must go sell boxed lunches," Shampoo excused herself, "see later." After Shampoo left Akane looked over at Ukyo and much more quietly asked, "Are you going to be all right?" "I guess so," Ukyo admitted. She looked down at her food with a sigh, "I planned my future around marrying Ranma... I'm a bit at loose ends without that." Akane looked at her curiously, "Pardon if this seems rude... but what were you going to do about curing Ranma's female form?" "Why do I need to do anything to cure her?" Ukyo blinked, "I didn't spend years passing as a boy for nothing." "You mean you're...?" Akane trailed off reluctantly. "Open minded?" Ukyo drawled. She smiled a bit more gently, "Akane, you weren't seriously going to insist Ranma stay a boy for always, were you?" "Well, no, but..." Akane blushed charmingly. Ukyo chuckled softly. "Considering all the stories I heard about you," she noted, "I figured you would keep Ranma in girl form always." Akane blushed as she hissed, "I am not a lesbian." "Could have fooled me," Ukyo raised a eyebrow. "Excuse me," Akane said flatly as she got up and abandoning what was left of her lunch, "I think I should be going now." It wasn't until school was over that Ukyo had a chance to catch up with Akane, gracefully bounding off a rooftop to reach where she and Ranma were walking home. "Ranma," Ukyo nodded to the young man. "Not again," Ranma took up a fighting stance. Ukyo waved him off, "Mind if I talk to Akane?" "Well, I guess so," Ranma looked questioningly at Akane. "All right, go on," Akane forced a smile, "I'm sure Kasumi is waiting for you." "Thanks," Ranma grinned and raced off. "The boy just does not get politeness," Ukyo noted as she fell into step with Akane. While not dressed in her boy disguise she looked quite manly, with her bandoleer of mini blades and grey shirt and leggings. "No," Akane agreed, "though you could argue that's also one of his good points." "I'm sorry about lunch," Ukyo said after a moment, "I didn't mean to offend you." Akane sighed as she reluctantly said, "It's not your fault you said aloud stuff I've been wrestling with for awhile now." "Which means?" Ukyo asked, the two passing beneath a snow laden tree. "I don't KNOW what it means," Akane threw her hands in the air, "I never expected Ranma and Kasumi to get together, or Kino and Nabiki to become friends or Tofu moving or that I think you're cute..." "Thank you," Ukyo said as she trailed off. They walked along silently, "I wopuldn't mind helping you figure things out, Akane." "I'm not," Akane stammered, "I don't think I'm ready for that." She smiled tentatively, "But I could use a friend right now." "Glad to help," Ukyo said as she gently took Akane's hand. End. Notes: This was originally going to be a Christmas fic, but tying in into the season was too tough. So, just snow etc. in the scenes. Sorry for just sound effects rather than a graphic fight scene, but I suck at that kind of stuff.
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