Chapter Three: It Ain’t The Same Thing At All, Is It?

    Ranma turned, slowly, dreading what he was going to see. To only a small measure of surprise, it was Akane – still in boy form - who had entered, naked and obviously intent on bathing as well.

    Ranma couldn’t help it. His eyes flickered over the other boy’s body. And some little part in the back of his brain commented that the picture wasn’t too shabby – but he furiously ignored that part.

    “What are you doing here?” he asked indignantly.

    “Taking a bath, what does it look like?” Akane replied, smirking a bit.

    “But… um…” Ranma couldn’t quite find the words to express the absolute disaster that would result if Akane touched the hot water. And unfortunately for him, that slight pause was enough.

    “Ahhhh!” the shout rose in pitch rather abruptly, right in the middle, along with Ranma’s blood pressure. Oh shit… I’m dead…

    It didn’t take but seconds for there to be a knock at the door. “Akane, are you okay?” It was Kasumi, of course.

    Akane didn’t answer, instead ignoring her sister and choosing to stare, wide-eyed, into nothing.

    Ranma shook her shoulder. “Akane?” he whispered.

    She blinked. Looked down. And drew a deep breath, as if to scream again…

    Ranma scrambled for the furo. No need to be caught that close to a naked *female* Akane when Kasumi decided not to wait any more and entered…

    “Wow!”

    Ranma froze, and turned around slowly.

    “Wish I’d known about this…” said Akane, staring at her body as if she’d never seen it before – and as far as she could remember, she never had. She was also… touching herself… but Ranma firmly blocked that out of his memory as he spun back around, red-faced. It didn’t matter what the situation was, if he looked at her naked he was a dead man! Actually, a married one, but same thing!

    “Akane?”

    She finally noticed Kasumi’s voice this time. “I’m fine, onee-chan!” she called back.

    “Alright, Akane… if you need anything just ask, ok?”

    “I will!”

    There was the sound of retreating footsteps on the other side of the door.

    “So…”

    Still not looking at her, he shot back, “This ain’t a mixed bath, Akane. Get outta here!”

    “Okay.” There was the brief sound of water running from the showerhead. “This better?” the voice was deeper, male now.

    “No!”

    “Why?” The voice turned teasing. “You didn’t seem to mind before…”

    “Of course I did!”

    “Liar, liar…”

    Silence.

    “Oh, I’m sorry, am I doing this wrong?”

    “Doing what wrong?”

    “Seducing you…

    Ranma was too frozen to move when he was spun around and a firm kiss was planted on his lips. It was brief, but intense – he had to force himself not to pass out, from the shock and almost unwelcome pleasure of it.

    He pulled away. “Wha- what the hell was *that*?!”

    Akane pouted a little over-dramatically. “You didn’t like it?”

    Ranma just stared at him incredulously, sputtering.

    Akane smiled slyly. “I know you like this body… do you think I missed you checking me out before? I must admit, I’m flattered…” He had been moving closer the entire time until now he was pressed up against the full length of Ranma’s body. Ranma’s face was a solid, beet red by this time, mostly from shock. Then Akane-kun kissed him again, and this time he didn’t leave it chaste; he probed with his tongue, forcing Ranma’s lips open, delving into his mouth…

    With a muffled cry Ranma finally managed to collect himself and squirm free. He darted out of the room so fast that a gust of wind followed him.

    Akane-kun frowned slightly at the departure. What does that boy want? he wondered irritably, then switched gears and smiled slightly. Well, at least I know he liked that… the smile became a smirk.

***

    Ranma sweatdropped as looked at the dinner table, and for the first time in his life the thought crossed his mind that perhaps dinner just wasn’t worth it this evening. Akane patted the open spot next to him and smiled innocently enough up at his fiancé. Ranma got a little dizzy at the thought. He’d managed to hide his preferences so well… too well, actually, considering all the girls he had after him… yet that one had managed to figure it out within seconds. Besides, it didn’t help that he was so cute… the only other person who had ever made this wobbly feeling come to his legs before was Ryouga, and that had been years ago. But Ranma steeled himself. Despite the opportunity, if he didn’t act as stubborn as normal he’d be disowned… not to mention quite likely killed. He shivered uncontrollably at the sudden image of his mother, wielding her katana with granite eyes.

    He shook his mind clear of the frightening image and sat down, careful to keep an empty space on either side of him. He schooled his face into an irritated but carefully unremarkable expression and started to eat.

    Akane acted innocently as well. He didn’t act to overtly in front of the family; that just wouldn’t be polite now would it? No, Ranma was far too delicate to be worked on in such an overt manner…

    Ranma’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and he choked on a mouthful of rice. He coughed, distractedly waving off questions, answering a couple without really paying attention to them.

    The hand on his knee simply crept higher up, onto his thigh.

    Ranma was quite the interesting shade of red by this point. Akane smiled innocently at the rest of the table, ignoring Ranma’s obvious discomfort.

    Ranma was about to pass out, trying to act normally and slow the rush of blood to his face. Luckily for him the hand stopped about halfway up his thigh. Unluckily for him, it was now making little circling motions, caressing him there.

    Finally there was an opening, a small distraction, and he managed to discreetly shove the hand away, glaring death at Akane as he did so. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so angry… irritated… flustered… he forced the list of descriptions to stop before it reached dangerous territory. Calming himself forcibly, he quickly finished eating and left the table, not bothering to say anything.

***

    Akane found him later in the dojo. Ranma glanced at him as he entered, then turned back to his practicing. One, two, three… it was easy to concentrate. Training was falling back into familiar habits, such a comfortable activity that it could consume his entire consciousness. Movements that flowed through him as smoothly as blood through his veins, though requiring concentration and effort to flow smoothly, especially when he moved on to the higher forms, like he was now…

    Yes, Ranma Saotome could immerse himself into martial arts easily.

    Too easily. It didn’t require enough of his attention, and as soon as the door opened and then shut smoothly behind the intruder his mind started to wander off, leaving the physical motions to reflex.

    “Ranma…” he hadn’t yet actually shown a sign of paying the slightest bit of attention to Akane, however.

    “What do you want?” he didn’t stop moving. Jump, kick, one-two three…

    “I…” to Akane’s surprise he didn’t really know what to say. All the sly, flirting bravado seeped away, leaving behind… what was it? He shied away from the uncertainty. That’s not how I’m supposed to act… He switched tracks. “They all think I’m a girl, don’t they?”

    Ranma slowed down, somewhat, but didn’t stop. “You are! Something weird happened that screwed with your memory. Don’ worry, we’ll fix it soon…”

    “Fix me… what, am I a computer?” it was said half-jokingly, but the emphasis was on the half.

    “No… but…” Ranma stopped. he grabbed a towel and started to wipe the sweat off his face with it. “You’re not exactly okay, Akane. Y’know… Akane… ever think that that’s a girl’s name?”

    Akane shook his head. “So what? You know that’s not what I wanted to talk about, Ranma…”

    Ranma whirled angrily to face him. “So what did you want to talk to me about? About how you’re gonna try to seduce me? Trying to get another kiss?!”

    Akane barely saw him move, and then Ranma’s lips were pressed to his. He didn’t leave out any stops, either – there was tongue involved – but it was angry, and Akane pulled away, red-faced but not pleasantly so.

    “Is that what you wanted?” Ranma was really angry, Akane could tell now.

    “I…” Akane was floored. Of everything he’d expected, nothing had included that…

    “Okay, yeah, I’m attracted to you. What of it? Doesn’t mean nothin’. With the way you were throwin’ yourself at me, what did you expect? I mean… I was surprised… and you’re the first guy who’s ever… seriously… I mean… there’s all the girls, but that’s not the same… I’ve tried but…”

    He was interrupted by another kiss.

    It was considerably gentler than the angry thing that he had initiated. Akane didn’t push, kept it a simple meshing of lips, keeping him in place by the gentlest of holds on his chin… he tried to get angry, to convince himself that this was another trick, but…

    But there was sincerity in Akane’s eyes, this time. Real, apologetic emotion that he couldn’t counter…

    To his surprise Akane broke it this time.

    “Wha…”

    “Look, I didn’t mean to insult you or anything,” Akane apologized, turning away. “I guess I’ll stop. It’s not like it means anything, I’ll be gone in a while anyway, won’t I?” He laughed bitterly. “Everyone’s so hell-bent on getting me to go away. They were all feeling so uncomfortable around me at dinner that they didn’t even notice you acting so weird. They all hate me, and you do too. I wish I could leave…”

    Ranma frowned. “Now that’s a cheap tactic if I’ve ever heard one,” he commented.

    Akane looked up, a smile skittering around the edges of an otherwise depressed expression, trying desperately to hide itself. “Really? Am I that bad of an actor?” he gave up and smiled, but it wasn’t an entirely happy expression. “Yeah, I was fishing for sympathy there… but it’s not all a lie. Everyone does want me to leave, and it doesn’t exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling to know my family wants me dead, essentially. But you seem to be warming…?” he ended the sentence on a hopeful note.

    Ranma rolled his eyes. “Gee, and I was going to kiss you and everything… it would’ve been such a sappy romantic moment, too…”

    “Really? Can ya do it anyway?” Akane’s eyes practically sparkled with hopefulness. All it earned him was a smack on the head. “Hey… is a kiss to much to ask for?”

    Ranma sat down next to the fallen position Akane now occupied on the floor. “I dunno,” he said as Akane sat up, “It feels a bit weird, with you…”

    “Oh c’mon, you can pretend I’m a girl if you want…”

    “That won’t help!” Ranma protested, reddening at the thought.

    “Okay, okay…” Akane backed off. “Then… I don’t know… pretend I’m someone else you’ve got a crush on. Let’s see… Ryouga maybe?”

    Ranma’s face had been beginning to fade back into a normal color, but at that statement it was beet once more. “No!” he protested again. “I do not have a crush on Ryouga…”

    Akane smirked, rolling his eyes. “Then what’s the blush for?”

    “It’s ‘cause… mumble mumble…”

    “What was that? I couldn’t hear you!” Akane practically sang the words.

    “I used to…” the words were barely audible but Akane did manage to catch them that time.

    He laughed. “Ah, the truth finally comes out!”

    “Jus’ don’t tell him…” Ranma said, turning red again.

    Akane snickered again. “But why not? I’m sure it’ll be funny watching you trying to stop him from finding out just like you try to stop me from…”

    “From what?” Ranma inquired, suddenly realizing what he was implying.

    “Er…” Akane sweatdropped.

    “You know!” Ranma crowed. “How long have you known? Wow… and you let him – or rather, ‘P-chan’ - sleep in your bed, too!” He fell onto one side, laughing.

    “You tell anyone and I’ll tell them about *you*!”

    Ranma stopped and looked up. “That’s not fair,” he said.

    Akane shrugged. “Hey, I figured as long as we’re playing the blackmail game… and it seems that I’ve got more on you than you do on me.”

    Ranma glared at him. “This isn’t the best way to seduce someone, y’know?”

    “What, blackmailing ‘em into it?” Akane scooted closer to Ranma, his eyes glittering. “And why is that?”

    Ranma was unremitting in his glaring, but didn’t have an immediate answer.

    “Eh? I’m waiting…” said Akane, moving closer.

    He was expecting to be kissed, but then he was expecting to be the one initiating it. Akane had certainly not predicted that Ranma would take advantage of their proximity to press their lips together again, this time with considerably more enthusiasm. To Akane’s further surprise, Ranma was also the one to deepen the kiss, but then there wasn’t room for further astonishment as their tongues battled sensually, both trying to take control. His eyes slid shut.

    And opened again a minute later when they separated, not for lack of enthusiasm but rather lack of oxygen and to recover from the dizziness that developed along with it.

    After his mind finally settled back into a coherent state, Akane could only say, “What was that for?”

    Ranma, lagging a bit in his recovery time, took a little while answering, but after a pause he said, “I’m… not really sure. You beat me… I figure that if I’m gonna do this, it might as well be on my own terms…”

    “Do you not want to? I really was joking about the blackmail…”

    “Nah… I guess… it was gonna happen eventually… I mean… whether you were a boy or a girl… everyone knew… I knew…” He trailed off for a moment. “I guess I’m just glad that I had this opportunity,” he finished softly.

    “Opportunity?” Akane was stumped now. An errant wisp of uncertainty fluttered through his thoughts. There’s something deeper here than I thought…

    “Yeah…”

    There was a long pause, broken only by the soft sound of their breathing and the even less intrusive, distant noises of the house going through its nightly routine.

    “Ranma?” Akane almost stopped himself from going on, hesitant to open a can of worms, but steeled himself and continued. “Ranma… what opportunity?”

    The pig-tailed boy looked up, looking a little abashed despite himself. “For showing me that I really am…”

    “Really are what? Gay?”

    Ranma nodded hurriedly, almost as if avoiding the word. “…yeah. I mean… I never really had the chance to really prove anything like that. No one to test it out on, y’see? I was really scared that I didn’t like either, that I’d couldn’t love anyone.”

    “Woah. But… you’re sure now, right?”

    Ranma laughed softly. “A little surer than I wanted to be, Akane.”

    Akane smirked. “Heh.”

    “Hrmph. Don’t even try it.”

    “Try what?”

    “Breaking this romantically introspective moment by doing something silly and physical.”

    “Why not?”

    And Ranma was promptly tackled. After a brief tussle with enough bodily contact to make both boys turn involuntarily red even though they were both grinning, Ranma came out on top.

    Literally.

    Akane grinned up at Ranma from his position pinned underneath the other boy’s body. “You got me.” If smirking were a vocal tone as well as a facial expression, he would have smirked the comment.

    Ranma looked startled for a moment, then settled on a slightly embarrassed expression. “Yeah, I do don’t I?”

    “So what’cha gonna do?”

    “Er…”

    “Wanna test the boundaries of your newly-proved homosexuality?” He snickered at Ranma’s blush. The poor boy’s face had turned red so often in the past half-hour that he wouldn’t be surprised if it stuck that way.

    But he was surprised when Ranma began to laugh at the question also. “Why not?”

    Akane was surprised in a highly pleased manner at the kiss that followed. Mmmm… we’ve kissed a lot… what, this makes it six times… It also helped that the kissing was accompanied by a good deal of hand-wandering, which he was also happy to reciprocate.
***

~Mordain

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