Chapter 4                                                            

     Akane awoke feeling refreshed and invigorated, she having slept well
even if she did go to sleep very late that night. She stretched out her
slender arms, her muscles relaxed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The
morning sunlight was shining through the partially opened window, its warmth 
felt within the room.
  Akane yawned, stretching her arms high into the air, as if she were trying
to grab hold the sun itself. She felt a wave of relief wash over her when
she realized she could sleep in, Ranma coming in to teach the morning class.
But she didn't want to sleep in, she wanted to be wide awake when she met
him. Plus, she also wanted time to practice her techniques so they could
spar.
  She got out of bed, letting the bedsheet fall to the floor and on top of
her feet. She arced her back backwards, feeling the tenseness of her back
fade away as she yawned once again. Stepping out of clear view of the
window, Akane lithely got out of her nightgown and proceeded towards the
closet. She fetched out her jogging outfit, which consisted of shorts and a
regular t-shirt and got into them, checking herself out in the full-length
mirror.
  "I think I should start wearing jogging pants," Akane said to herself. She
realized that the shorts she was wearing exposed quite a lot of thigh.
Although she had beautiful shapely legs that women would die to have, she 
didn't like people staring at her, it made her feel weird. Besides, she was
self-confident about herself and she didn't need to show her legs off just
to prove it.
  "I better go out and buy some new jogging clothes tomorrow," she added,
noticing just how tightly her t-shirt hugged her chest. She knew her outfit
definitely attracted attention to her and didn't want that. Even though
there were few, she didn't like the guys who came up to her and asked her
out. Those guys would be leering at her chest as they said that. She knew
that those guys wanted to go out with her because of her body, or maybe
getting lucky with her. Well, those were to things they would never get.
  Akane had no intention of sleeping with anyone unless he was her husband.
She was worth waiting for. She intended on staying pure until her honeymoon.
  She quickly fixed her bed and threw her nightgown in the hamper before
she left her room and headed down the stairs. She seemed quite happy, far
more content than most mornings. Maybe it was because she knew Ranma was
going to be there in a little more than one hour.

  "Daddy, wake up," said the bundle of energy that just jumped into Ranma's
bed. That bundle of energy was followed by another bundle of energy, every
bit as energetic as the first one.
  "C'mon, Daddy. Wake up," Meggie said, pulling one of Ranma's eyelids open
and smiling sweetly while Jessie pulled the other one up. The twins both
giggled as Ranma tried to make them stop.
  Ranma smiled inwardly, pretending he was still asleep. He gently swatted
both of twin's hands away, acting as if he found it bothersome. The twins
giggled again as they pulled his eyelids open once Ranma's hands were back
by his sides.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, gently shaking Ranma "It's time to wake up"
  "I have a better idea to wake Daddy up," Meggie said, with a grin, a grin
that looked more cute than cynical.
  "What kinda idea?" Jessie asked, letting go of Ranma's eyelid.
  Meggie leaned forward and whispered into her ear.
  Ranma tried to listen but couldn't hear what the two were saying. His head
was too far away. And there was no way he could lift his head closer because 
it would give away his pretend act of still being sleeping. Although not many 
people could tell the difference between the twins, Ranma knew it was Meggie 
who came up with the idea. She was the one who always came up with the idea. 
  Although she and Jessie were twins, they were very different. Meggie was the 
quiet one, the one who was always thinking things up, the one who could make a 
plan up, but couldn't act it out. Jessie was the opposite. She was always 
out-going, never really thinking things through, the one who always listened 
and acted out all of Meggie's plans. They were a perfect combination. They 
were both inseparable, neither of them leaving each other's side. And Ranma 
was so lucky he had them for daughters.
  Ranma waited in anticipation for what the twins planned on doing. He
wanted to look but couldn't, for it would spoil his pretend act. He felt
a hand close over his nose and another over his mouth. The twins wanted to
see how long their Daddy could hold his breath before he needed air.
  "Gotcha!" Ranma said, reaching his arms outward and grabbing hold of his
two precious daughters. He embraced them tightly practically squeezing the
breath out of them. The twins yelped out in surprise, their giggles drowned
out by Ranma's declaration of how much he loved the two of them.
  "You think you could wake me up before you two wake up?" Ranma said,
getting out of bed, swing the two girls in his arms "You'll never get the
best of me"
  Ranma threw both girls in the air as they giggled in delight.
  "C'mon. Since we're all up early, lets go out and get some breakfast,"
Ranma said, throwing them back up into the air again, this time even
higher. Many times this had happened, his daughters waking him up early and
him taking them out to breakfast. Although Ranma was a great cook when it
came to making breakfast, they liked to eat out at times.
  "Okay, Daddy," Meggie and Jessie said in unison, leaping out of Ranma's
arms and scrambling out of his bedroom so they could get out of their
pajamas and into their clothes. Ranma watched as the two disappeared around
the corner of the hallway before he got out of his bed to get dressed
himself. He looked at the clock that hung on his wall as he took off his
shirt and threw it in the hamper.
  "Six forty. That leaves me with a little more than an hour to get the
girls dressed, eat some breakfast, take them to school, and get to my new
job," Ranma said, fetching a shirt out of his dresser drawer and putting it
on. If it was possible, the thought of working with Akane seemed to make his
morning even brighter. Not only did he have breakfast with his two daughters
to look forward to, but he also had work with Akane later. He didn't have
too much sleep last night, his thoughts of Akane plaguing his mind for
most of the night. He remembered how nervous he felt around her last night,
when he was being interviewed by her. He remembered how good he felt just
being around her. Smiling, he placed his clothes on and left for his
daughters room so he could help them get dressed.

  Akane stopped abruptly when she noticed Ranma walking down the street.
She felt a twinge of nervousness fall upon her. Her heartbeat started to
pace faster than it already was. She had been jogging for fifteen minutes
yet her heart wasn't beating as fast as it was now. Whenever she was near
him, she felt a warm feeling wash over her, a feeling she could get quite
used to.
  Ranma was unaware of Akane, his back turned towards her. He was holding
Meggie's hand with his left hand while holding Jessie's hand in his right.
Ranma seemed to have trouble keeping them well behaved for they were
playing tag against each other, pulling Ranma's arm back and forth when they
were trying to keep from being tagged. Ranma seemed happy, for the most
precious things in his life he held in his hands. The people who walked by
seemed to notice him, all envious of how content he was being around his
children, even if they did seem like quite a bit to handle.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, looking up towards Ranma, her head tilted backwards
so she could get eye contact "I want some cookies"
  "Honey, you know you can't have cookies for breakfast," Ranma said
patiently. This had happened before, his children asking for sweets and
candy on their way to the breakfast shop. But he had taught them well that
eating food like that would give them stomach aches "You'll get a tummy ache
in school"
  Jessie's visage saddened. She knew her dad was right. She had learned her
lesson. Once, when Ranma wasn't paying attention, she snuk into the
cookie jar and ate several cookies. She later on got a stomach ache in
school which caused her father to come and pick her up so he could take her
home. She would never forget how worried her father looked when he walked
into the nurse's office and saw her sick.
  "Daddy. I hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, giving Ranma's arm a
gentle tug. Meggie didn't want to worry her father but she really had to
go, and fast.
  "Can you hold it for just a few minutes longer?" Ranma asked. He knew
something like this was going to happen. Almost every time they went out
for breakfast, either Meggie or Jessie wanted to go to the bathroom. This was
one situation he could never really handle. His girls were too young to go to
the bathroom in a store by themselves. It didn't help any considering he was
a man and men couldn't go into the girls bathroom even if they were just
watching over their daughters. He had learned the hard way. About a year
ago, when Meggie needed to go to the bathroom, Ranma figured that no one was
in the girls room so he went in along with her. When he took his first step
in, he remembered reacting just in time to duck underneath a purse that
would've taken his head off if it connected. It didn't help matters any
when the lady started screaming 'Pervert!' and pointing towards him. But
after a lot of explaining, especially to the security guard that happened to
have been there, Ranma was apologized to. That incident taught Ranma quite
a lot.
  "Daddy, I really hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, crossing her
legs as she stood there.
  Ranma was starting to sweat. He needed someone else to escort Meggie to
the bathroom. He looked around in the passing crowd for any females who
seemed willing to help.
  "Hi Ranma," Akane said, finally coming up with enough courage to walk up
and talk to him. She had been standing behind him for several minutes before
she could get that weird feeling out of the pit of her stomach. But when
their eyes met, that feeling came rushing back. Her knees felt a bit shaky,
as if they were about to give out at any second.
  "Akane, thank goodness you're here. Can you please do me a favor?" Ranma
pleaded, noticing that intoxicating scent of slight perspiration from Akane.
But he managed to get a hold of himself in time for there were more
important matters at hand than that feeling he had in the pit of his own
stomach.
  "What is it?" Akane asked curiously. As she gazed at Ranma's visage, she
noticed that he seemed worried about something. She noticed some droplets of
sweat forming above his brow.
  "Can you please take Meggie to the bathroom?" Ranma said, extending his
arm forward so she could take hold of Meggie's hand "I don't want her going
into the girlsroom alone but I can't go into the bathroom along with her"
  Akane nodded as she took hold of Meggie's hand "Where's the nearest
bathroom?"
  "There's one in this store," Meggie said, pointing towards the store that
they were all standing in front of. She knew it was the breakfast shop they 
always went to. 
  Akane smiled at Meggie, noticing how helpful and cooperative the little girl 
was. Meggie had done this before, been escorted the bathroom by women who were 
willing to help. She was taught to always cooperate in a situation like this, 
when a woman would take her to the bathroom. She never really cared who 
escorted her, but for some reason, she enjoyed holding Akane's hand. It felt 
natural, like holding her father's hand.
  Ranma watched as Akane quickly entered the breakfast shop, her hand held
fast over Meggie's hand. He quickly followed suit, Jessie's hand held fast
in his own. Inside, he watched as Akane gracefully weaved between the people 
and head straight for the bathroom.
  "Who's that, Daddy," Jessie asked, gently tugging at Ranma's arm to get his
attention. Ranma seemed to have been caught up with watching Akane before he
realized Jessie was talking to him till she had to repeat herself a couple
of times.
  "That's Akane. Don't you remember, she was the nice lady you met in the
park a few days ago," Ranma answered, kneeling down in front of Jessie to
give her his full attention. He always paid full attention to his daughters,
always listening whenever they said something. Besides, he loved hearing
them talk.
  "Can we eat?" Jessie asked, rubbing her growling stomach "I'm hungry"
  "I'm hungry also. But can you wait for a few minutes?" Ranma asked "At
least until your sister and Akane come out"
  "Okay, Daddy,"
  After several moments of waiting.
  "There they are now," Ranma said, seeing Meggie and Akane coming back out
of the bathroom. He gently picked Jessie up into his arms so she could see
them from over the people that was already in the store. Slowly, with
Jessie still in his arms, Ranma started making his way through the crowd
and towards where Meggie and Akane was at.
  "Meggie, Jessie, let's get seated so we can eat," Ranma said, putting Jessie
back down on the ground so she and her sister could look for an empty
table. He watched as his daughters quickly found a table and climbed into
the empty seats. 
  "Would you like to join us?" Ranma asked, pivoting a bit so he could see
Akane and his two daughters clearly. He made sure his two daughters never
left his sight. Who knew what kind of people were out there?
  "Nah, I better not," Akane answered, noticing just how much attention Ranma
paid to keeping his daughters safe. Although she herself didn't have kids,
she would've most likely done the same thing Ranma was doing right now,
keeping her children in constant sight.
  "Come on. I insist," Ranma asked with a smile, a smile so warm that some of
the females in the store were quite envious about. They wished they had a
man whom seemed to light up a room with a single smile.
  Akane smiled warmly and answered.
  "Well, if you put it that way. How could I refuse?"

  Akane watched as Ranma waved to his daughters as they waved back one
more time before they both entered their school through the front door. She
smiled inwardly when she noticed just how much he cared for his daughters.
She noticed how reluctant he felt to releasing his embrace of them before
they headed towards the front door.
  "I guess we better head for the dojo," Ranma said with a sweet smile "so I
can start my new job"
  Akane smiled inwardly, knowing that she would be spending the next several
hours with him teaching class. Akane looked at her watch. It read
seven-forty exactly. That meant they had fifteen minutes to get to the dojo
and warm up before class started. Together, Ranma and Akane headed for the
dojo.



Chapter 5

     "Ranma," Akane said "Now how about that spar?"
  Ranma was a bit surprised that Akane still remembered that. He was
standing at the head of the class watching the students practice a simple
technique when Akane walked up to him. The students weren't paying too much
attention to them, all of them busy trying to hone their own skills. He
looked into Akane's beautiful eyes and saw the seriousness of what she said.
She did indeed want to spar against him.
  "Are you sure?" Ranma asked, "I, myself, don't wanna spar"
  "Why not?" Akane asked curiously. She figured that if Ranma was as good as
he said he was, he must have fought numerous battles. She figured that he
attained his rank from being very competitive, always striving to be better.
  "The last time I sparred was many many years ago, well before my two little 
girls were born," he replied "Ever since their arrival, I stopped training so 
I could raise them. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'll win"
  But he had other reasons not to spar, some very serious reasons, reasons he 
didn't really like talking about.
  "It seems like raising two girls made you soft," Akane said with joking a
grin. She just wanted to get on Ranma's nerves so he would spar against her.
That was why his reply was unexpecting. Ranma looked down towards the floor,
crestfallen, his feelings hurt. He never expected another martial artist to
offend him like Akane just did. But he immediately regained his composure
for he knew that he'd made the right choice, to give up martial arts for
the sake of his two little girls. But deep down inside, there was another
reason why he preferred not to spar. No one really knew, but he was fragile.
  Ranma felt self-conscious of himself as he stood before her. 
  "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Akane apologized, "I wanted to provoke
you into sparring against me and thought that was a good thing to say"
  "Don't worry about it. If you really wanna spar, then I'll spar against
you," Ranma said, a bit nervous. He knew he wasn't as skilled as he used to 
be, what with him being away from martial arts for seven years. He didn't know 
if he could be a worthy challenge against Akane. He was no longer skilled 
enough to be considered a eighth dan in Kenpo and seven dan in Aikido. He 
wasn't too sure he could consider himself a black belt in both of those arts.
  "Well, I guess we're gonna spar then," Akane said, getting into her
battle stance. Since Ranma was giving her the option to spar against him or
not, she chose to spar.
  "If you insist," Ranma said, getting into his own battle stance.
  By now, all the students had formed a circle around the two combatants,
all watching in eager anticipation for a great battle. Although they only
knew Ranma for one day, they knew he was a very skilled martial artist. They
just wanted to see how skilled he was.
  Slowly, Ranma and Akane inched towards one another.

  "I better get going now," Ranma said, helping Akane off the floor.
  Ranma and Akane were sweaty from the fight, both exhausted and tired. The
two combatants had been sparring for many hours before one finally gained
an advantage over the other. In this case, Ranma had gained the advantage
over Akane. Little did Akane know that Ranma held back while she pressed on
full force. But the victory had its price. Ranma was breathing heavily, his
gasping far heavier than Akane's. He had this ache in his chest, but he
ignored it.
  Akane took hold of Ranma's extended hand, feeling a bit flushed at the
thought that she, a grandmaster in Anything-goes-martial arts, had lost. But
she was grateful that no one was there to see her loss, for her students had
left a few hours ago, them needing to get on with their day. As she got up,
she noticed Ranma hadn't caught his breath yet, which was quite odd 
considering how great a shape he was in. But she disregarded it.
  It was about three, just a few minutes before Ranma had to leave to go
pick up his two daughters. It was also about a half hour away from Akane's
midday class, the most hectic time in her day, most of her students also
getting out of school and wanting to get their training in before the headed
home.
  "Are you coming back?" Akane asked, a bit daunted of having hired help
that would leave her in the middle of the day.
  "Oh, of course I am," Ranma said, smiling warmly "I just have to drop my
two girls off at their grandma's before I come back. It'll only take a short 
while"
  Akane breathed a sigh of relief, her tension ameliorated upon hearing his
words. She expected him to ask for the rest of the day off so he could spend
it with his two daughter, two lovely daughter she might add.
  "Wait a minute," Akane said as Ranma was about to leave to dojo.
  Ranma turned around, his attention on Akane.
  "Why don't you bring your two little daughters here?" she added.
  "Well, I don't know," he contemplated.
  "Come on," she said "It'll be fun. I'd like to get to know them. They seem
like very sweet children"
  Ranma's face lit up upon what Akane just said about his two daughters. He
always loved children, and the thought that she might also be pretty fond
of children brought some light into his life. After his wife left him, he
hadn't gone out much, always home to take care of the children after work.
  And when he did, albeit it was few over those years, the girls he went out
with would leave the moment they found out he had two daughters. Although
Ranma was quite a catch, his children usually drove them away. Because of
that, his children always blamed themselves because of it. They blamed
themselves for women leaving him, feeling they were at fault for him not
meeting that special someone. Even if they were partially related with women
leaving Ranma, it destroyed him whenever he would see his children cry
because they felt it was their fault. He couldn't have that happen again, no
matter how much someone seemed to care about children. All the women he went
out with knew he had, but disregarded it, thinking having him as a husband
would make everything better. So many times women have taken an interest in
his children as a way to get close to him, and so many times, they left him
because they couldn't handle the burdens of child rearing. He was no longer
as naive as he used to be a few years ago. He was no longer going to fall
for a woman that would eventually leave him like all the others.
  "Sorry. I can't," Ranma said, setting up his defenses, "T-their grandmother
is......expecting them"
  Ranma wasn't afraid of getting hurt. He just didn't want his children to
get hurt again, them thinking she left because of them.
  "Oh," Akane said "then I guess I could meet them some other day. Well you
better get going now"
  Ranma seemed a bit crestfallen as he left the dojo, knowing that that was
how most girls came on to him, through his children. No more. He wasn't going
to have that happen again. If he must live his life alone, without someone
to be at his side, then so be it. He couldn't bare to have his children hurt
again.
  Sighing inwardly, Ranma left for his daughters' school.

  Akane watched as Ranma left, wondering why his visage turned crestfallen
when she mentioned his children. She couldn't come up with any immediate or 
plausible answers other than Ranma being overprotective of his children.
  She sat down on the floor and began stretching, feeling a bit sad that
Ranma didn't want her to get close to his two daughters. She wanted to get
to know them, and Ranma for that matter. But if Ranma didn't want to get to
know her, she wouldn't press it any further. Even if that was so, she
figured she take one more try before giving up on him.
  "G'afternoon, sensei" came a meek voice.
  Akane snapped out of her little reverie, her attention going onto where
the voice came from. Standing in the front of the dojo was one of her 
students, a frail kid who had a thing for her ever since she started
training him.
  Well, if Ranma isn't interested, there's a whole line of people who would
be interested, Akane thought. But the thought exited her mind as quickly as
it entered it, her mind still on Ranma.



Chapter 6

     "Mr. Saotome," came a voice, a very female voice, which caused Ranma to
start, "do you have a minute?"
  Ranma was standing outside by the main entrance when he was tapped on the
shoulder. He turned around to face an elderly yet very attractive lady.
  It was the principal of his daughters' school.
  "Oh, sure" he said, "Is there somethin' the matter?"
  "Yes, it concerns your two daughters." she said matter-of-factly.
  Ranma's visage turned solemn. Did something happen to his daughters? Are
they all right? A plethora of thoughts raced through his mind.
  "Your two daughters seem to be having trouble in class," the principal
added before Ranma had a chance to say anything "They're becoming a bit
unruly in the classrooms"
  "Unruly? How're they unruly?" Ranma asked dubiously. He would have never
have suspected his two daughters to be unruly. He always suspected his two
daughters acted like little angels, always kind and well-behaved. But then 
again, they might act differently when they were around their Daddy. That 
might explain it.
  "Mr. Saotome, I don't know how to put this gently, bit I best say this
now before it gets worse," she said, "Your daughters should have a motherly
figure in their lives. I know it's hard for you to find to find someone,
what with you having to take care of them both and all, but you have to take
it into consideration that them not having a motherly figure in their lives
for so many years will be bad for them. They need some female contact more
often in their lives. And once that happens, they will turn out for the
better"
  "Uh, thanks for telling me that," Ranma said cordially "I'll definitely
take that into consideration. I appreciate you having told me now before it
was too late"
  "Daddy!" came a bundle of energy as it lumped onto one of Ranma's legs as
another bundle of energy lumped onto his other leg "We're so glad you're
here"
  Ranma gave the principal a weak smile as he and his two daughters headed
for their grandmother's home, Nodoka's home, which was nearby.

  "Oh drats!" Akane said, regarding the broken bokken "Now I have to go out
and buy a new one"
  Akane had accidentally broken her bokken. She was sparring with one of her
higher-ranking students with bokkens when her bokken had broken. It was a
sad sight, what with the force needed to actually break one of them.
  "Is there a martial arts equipment store nearby?" Akane asked one of
her students, the student she had been sparring against.
  "Yes, sensei. There's one in the mall," the student said.
  "Hmm, I might as well go out and buy a whole new set of bokken," Akane
said as she checked out the integrity of her opponents bokken. It was about
time also. Those bokkens were very old, bought by Soun when he was alive and
in his prime many many years ago, before any of his daughters were born.
Albeit the dojo had plenty of spare bokken, Akane wasn't satisfied with
having old ones. She didn't like the fact that the bokkens were older than
her.
  I'll go buy them tomorrow, she thought to herself. I'll buy them early in
the morning. Maybe I can even ask Ranma to accompany me.
  Akane smiled as she handed her student a bokken and grabbed hold of
another spare bokken off of the shelf.
  "Let's continue," she said, bringing her weapon in front of herself, a smile
on her lips.

  It was nice and cool out that night, the sun having set several hours ago.
The streets were quiet and serene, most of Nerima's residents having gone
home already to spend time with their families. The moon was already
gleaming brightly, its shedding light far brighter than the streetlights
that lined the quiet streets.
  The day was finally over. Albeit it was Ranma's first day, it was indeed a
hard day. When he worked as a sensei many years ago, he never worked as
hard teaching his students. It wasn't that the students needed to be taught,
but they wanted to be taught techniques levels beyond what they were
supposed to be executing. Akane's students were so much more zealous of
learning the art than in the school he worked for, which Ranma found very
appealing about working there. He always loved teaching the arts and was
glad to have students as zealous at learning them as Akane's students.
  "Your students really enjoy learning," Ranma commented as he continued
sweeping the mat with a broom. In traditional dojos, the students were
expected to sweep the mats at the end of every teaching session. But this
wasn't a traditional dojo. Akane made it clear that she didn't want any of
the students to sweep the mats simply because she enjoyed doing so. She
like the sense of responsibility of keeping the dojo in proper order. She
had once let the students sweep for her, but they ended up making more of a
mess than there was to begin with.
  "They're your students also," Akane corrected, a smile on her lips "They
really like having you teach them"
  Ranma smiled, saying nothing. He liked being considered a sensei again.
That was where his heart was, had always been, teaching students the arts.
  Akane was also sweeping the mat clean, but was on the other side of the
dojo. As Ranma continued to clean, Akane couldn't help but take some quick
glances towards his direction. Every here and there, when Akane wasn't
looking, Ranma took glance at her also. But their gaze never met. Ranma was
too protective of his daughters to let his defenses down. He knew that was
what led to him going out with someone, only to have them leave when they
realize he had two daughters. But Akane already knew he had two daughters.
Even if that was so, he still didn't let his defenses down. He didn't care
about himself getting hurt, it was his daughters being hurt that always got
to him. 
  "Ranma," Akane said after a few moments of silence. The silence was
unnerving to her. Also, the thought that she was in the same room with a guy
she found extremely attractive and not doing anything about it helped
unnerve her even more. Akane was used to men coming to her and asking for
her attention, not the other way around. She wanted him to notice her. 
Although he acknowledged her being there, he never pressed anything further 
than that.
  "Yes, Akane," he answer, continuing on with his sweeping, purposely not
trying to pay attention to her. He couldn't fall for her because if he did,
and she left, his daughters would go through the same anguish of believing
it was their fault.
  "Um, I was wondering-" she said.
  "Akane, why is there a bokken in the trash can?" Ranma interrupted. He was
finished with sweeping and was about to empty out the garbage can when he
noticed the broken bokken.
  "Oh, that. It broke earlier today when you were out picking up your two
children" she answered. She felt a bit more relaxed now, now that they were
on the subject of the broken bokken. She wanted to ask Ranma if he wanted
to go to the mall with her to go buy a new set of bokkens, what with the
others being so old and all.
  "Maybe I should go out and buy some," Ranma said, regarding the broken
stick carefully, noticing the antiquity of it "I know this martial arts
equipment store in the mall. I can pick some up for you if you'd like,"
  "How about we both go?" Akane suggested quickly.
  "Uh...sure, if you'd like," Ranma said, a bit nervous. He knew where this
was headed, and he didn't want it. He didn't want to get close to anyone
anymore for the sake of his children. But he then recalled what the
principal told him 'Your daughters should have a motherly figure in their
lives'.
  At that thought, Ranma lowered his defenses.
  "I'd like that," he added, a bit more calm now. He couldn't think of anyone
better to spend the morning with other than Akane. She had been the first
woman he'd actually spent time in a long, long time "When should we leave 
tomorrow morning?"
  "We could leave right after you drop off your two daughters" she said
"That'll be the best time because my first class don't start for about an
hour"
  "Fine, I'll be hear once I drop my kids off" Ranma said, smiling warmly,
which seemed to make Akane's heart beat faster.
  "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."