Part IX: Quiet Moments & Invitations ^_^*

 

            “Akane, wait up.”

            She ignored Ranma and kept walking.  She was such an idiot!!!  She’d let herself be fooled like that… And all this time, everyone had known.  Her father, Kasumi, Nabiki… and no one had ever told her because they all didn’t want her hurt.  They let her beat up on Ranma all this time… Just because they didn’t want her hurt.  She was such a moron!!!  Baka!  Ahou!  Fool!  Dork!!  Just plain stupid!!

            Akane didn’t even notice the tears sliding down her cheeks as she arrived at the park and then headed straight for the single swings.  But Ranma did.  He saw her tears and just couldn’t take it.  He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.

            “Dammit, Ranma, just leave me—”

            Ranma pulled her into his arms and just held her.  He tightened his hold on her so she couldn’t escape and buried his face in her hair.  “Don’t cry, Akane.  Oh, lord, please don’t cry.  I didn’t want to…  I’m… sorry…”

            Akane closed her eyes tightly and shook her head against his shoulder.  “You MORON!!  Why are YOU sorry?!  I should be the one apologizing to you.  All this time… All this time I was a fool, thinking Ryoga and P-chan were two completely different people.  And every time Ryoga did something perverted and you hit him to protect me, I hit YOU!  All this time and I blamed YOU!”

“Akane, it’s okay.  I can take a beating.  All that mattered was that you were happy!  Okay, so I admit, Ryoga pissed me off a lot and I felt hurt every time you defended him and hit me for something he was doing, but I knew it was only because you didn’t know.  It’s all right!  I don’t care.  Damn, Akane, I didn’t want to hurt you like this…”

“Ranma no baka!  How can you blame yourself?!”  She pulled back and looked up at him, her heart twisting.  “How can you forgive me?!  I’m such an idiot… Inu-Yasha was right.  How stupid am I that would actually believe that you would lie to me like that?  I had no faith, no belief in you.  I just beat you and blamed you… I… I’m so stupid…”

Ranma smiled down at her and Akane’s heart clenched.  “Come on, Akane.  Stop crying.  It’s not like you.  If you’re pissed at me, hit me, clobber me, but don’t cry, please.  God, I never wanted to do this to you.  I should have just kept my mouth shut… I didn’t think telling Inu-Yasha about Ryoga would be a problem… I didn’t think Kagome would run into P-chan while he was around, though I should have guessed.  And I didn’t think that he’d be able to tell it WAS Ryoga by his scent.  Damn, I didn’t think at all.  It’s my fault, okay, Akane.  Stop blaming yourself.”

Akane pounded her fist against his chest and pushed him away.  She plopped down onto the swing and shook her head.  “Don’t you get it, Ranma?!  I can’t just say it was your fault just like that anymore!!  Not after what happened last night… Not now…when I know the person who was at fault was me!  Whenever something wrong happened, I always blamed you.  Whether it was Happousai, or Shampoo, Ukyo or Mr. Saotome, I always blamed you.  And now I’m hurting, I’m angry, and I feel… like the only fool is me!  Because ever since the beginning, I’ve been blaming you for everything, when most of the time it was never you.  You were just a convenient scapegoat that I always used.  How could you even like me for doing something like that to you?!  How could you?!”

Akane felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up into Ranma’s eyes.  She sniffled up at him.  He took his hand and wiped away her tears gently, giving her a tender smile.  He sat on his haunches and ran his hand through her hair, cradling her head softly so he was looking at him.

“Akane… You’re not crying because of what Ryoga did to you, or because I didn’t tell you about it, or because I told Inu-Yasha… You’re crying because you always blamed me for stuff I never did, and because you think that I’m a fool for liking you.  How could I like you, you ask.”  He cupped her cheek in his hand, his face turning slightly pink and rubbed his thumb over her lips.  “How could I not?”

Akane broke down.  “RANMA!!”  She threw herself into his arms and bawled on him.  Ranma only held her tightly.

 

When Kagome and Inu-Yasha found Ranma and Akane, they were at the park.  Akane was sitting on a swing, Ranma leaning against the pole beside her.  Akane looked like she had a crying fit, but had calmed down afterwards.  Yet neither she nor Ranma were speaking.  Kagome turned to Inu-Yasha and gave him a nod.  They walked up to the two.

Ranma looked up at them and gave them a light smile.  Kagome gave him a wave and then turned to her best friend.  Akane seemed to be in a daze for a moment and then she turned to Kagome and smiled.  Kagome smiled back and then turned to Inu-Yasha with a look.  He gulped and turned to Akane.

“Look, Akane… I…”

“It’s okay, Inu-Yasha,” Akane said with a smile.  “You don’t have to apologize.  I was the fool.  You were right.  Kagome believes in you, but I didn’t believe in Ranma.  I never knew how stupid I really was until I saw P-chan transform into Ryoga.  I’m not mad at you or Kagome or Ranma.  I’m not even mad at Ryoga… Well, maybe just a little.”  She stood up and gave Kagome a hug.  “I’m okay, Kagome.  A little tired from crying my eyes out, but I’m okay.  I’m not going to kill anyone.”

“I’m still going for that bacon shishkabob.”

Kagome jabbed Inu-Yasha in the ribs for that comment and hugged her friend back.  “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Akane.  And you’re not an idiot.  I thought P-chan was a normal piglet too.”

“Only because I didn’t know better.”

Ranma coughed.  “Maybe we should drop the topic.  I don’t know about you guys, but I’m exhausted.  Today has been a little bit too stressful, emotionally anyway.”  He stretched and headed to a nearby tree, plopping down next to it.  He crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back.  “I don’t know about you guys, but I could you use a nap, right about now.”

Akane nodded.  “I’m a bit exhausted myself…”

“Of course you are!  You cried your eyes out!  Come on.  It took Inu-Yasha and I a while before we found you, and if Ryoga is going to be coming to pick a fight soon, maybe we should all be in top shape, ne, Inu-Yasha?”

He blinked at Kagome and then shrugged.  “Whatever Kagome.  If you guys all want to take a nap out here, that’s fine by me.  Humans get tired easily anyway.”

“Osuwari.”

B-TONNG.

“Chikushou, Kagome!”

She only humphed at him and walked over to the tree with Akane.  “Serves you right, for being a jerk.”

Akane sat down next to Ranma and snuggled into him.  Within seconds, she was asleep.  Kagome smiled at Ranma and whispered, “I guess she really was tired, huh?”

Ranma nodded and wrapped his arm around pulling her closer.  “It’s a nice day for taking a nap outside anyway…” He closed his eyes and leaned his head against Akane.

Kagome smiled and sat on the other side of Akane.  She blinked when she felt a movement next to her.  She turned and saw Inu-Yasha sitting beside her, looking stiff with his arms crossed over his chest.  She gave him a narrowed look.

“I thought you weren’t tired, Inu-Yasha,” she whispered.  “Why are you here?  Why don’t you go pick a fight with something?”

“There’s nothing here strong enough, except maybe him,” Inu-Yasha whispered back, pointing at Ranma.  “And if he’s sleeping there’s nothing much I can do, huh?  Besides, I have to be around to protect you if you’re going to sleep.”

Kagome’s irritation faded away.  She smiled at him and took a deep breath.  “You’re hopeless, Inu-Yasha.”

“Eh?”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder.  She snuggled into him and lightly smiled.  Inu-Yasha just blinked at her in stunned surprise for a moment before relaxing his stiff body and leaning against the tree.  He wrapped his arm protectively around Kagome and lay his head on hers.  He breathed in the scent of her hair and closed his eyes.

“Kagome…” he murmured as he held her close and fell asleep beside her.

 

“Oh… This is priceless.”

SNAP.  SNAP.  SNAP.  SNAP.

Nabiki smirked as she pulled back, holding the camera aloft and shook her head at the sight before her.

Akane and Ranma, snuggled to each other in sleep, her head on his shoulder, her face practically against his neck, his head leaning on hers.  One arm was wrapped around her shoulders and the other was on her thigh.  One of Akane’s legs hung over one of Ranma’s (that being the leg with Ranma’s hand on it) and the other leg was snuggled next to his.  One of her hands was resting on his chest and the other was wrapped around him.  Absolutely priceless.

She grinned and looked next to her sister and her fiancée to see Kagome and Inu-Yasha in a similar position.  Kagome's head was pillowed against Inu-Yasha's chest, her hair flowing over his chest and shoulders.  He had one of his arms around her, his hand holding her shoulder.  Kagome's hands lay against his chest and her legs were snuggled into his side and legs.  Inu-Yasha’s head was leaning against the tree, but it was tilting slightly forward, his face almost in her hair.  His other hand was on her waist, holding her close to him, very protectively.

SNAP.  SNAP.  SNAP.  SNAP.

 “These pictures will probably bring me a fortune in blackmail.  Not only that, but who knows how many people will actually pay me to have these pictures?  And I’m sure they’ll want a copy themselves… I wonder how much I should sell them for…?”

She took a few more pictures at different angles, making sure to get every illicit detail.  When Inu-Yasha moved a bit and his hand slid to Kagome’s butt, Nabiki didn’t miss an opportunity to catch that on film.  Oh, the money she could make with these…

A few minutes later she figured she had enough pictures.  She placed the camera back in her left jacket pocket, making sure it wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone, including the hanyou with his keen eyes.  She then did what she was supposed to do from the beginning.

She went over to Ranma and kicked him awake.

“WHAT THE HELL—?”

Ranma startled Akane, Kagome and Inu-Yasha from sleep with his bellow of surprise and Nabiki only snickered.  The couples quickly realized their positions and strove to correct themselves before anyone noticed.

Too late, Nabiki thought.  She smiled at Ranma’s scowling face.  “Now that you’re all awake…”

“Dammit, Nabiki!” Ranma shouted at her.

Akane blinked up at her sister and then narrowed her eyes.  “Nabiki… What are you doing here?”

Nabiki gasped dramatically and put a hand over her heart.  “Why, I’m offended, Akane!  What is with the suspicion?  I only came to find you all to give you a little present from Kuno-baby.  How was I supposed to know that you were all in going to be in dreamland when I came to find you?”  She smiled sweetly at them.

Kagome rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and Inu-Yasha grumbled for being caught unawares that way.  Ranma was still scowling at Nabiki, so it was Akane who responded.

“What do you mean, ‘a present from Kuno’?  Why would he give something to all of us?”

Nabiki grinned.  “Actually,” she pulled out three invitations.  “It actually is to all of you… indirectly.  He extends invitations to the ‘Pigtailed-girl, Akane Tendo and Kagome Higurashi’ to come to a party that he’s going to be throwing.  He also adds, ‘the dog demon can come as well if he desires’. “  Nabiki snickered.  “Of course, he gave these to me with all the wackos around so everyone knows what he’s planning.  So, although he only invited you three with a small reference to dog-boy over there, everyone is going to show.  The party is going to be a couple of days from now.”

Ranma, Akane and Kagome blinked in surprise.  “Why on earth is he throwing a party?” Kagome asked.

Nabiki shrugged.  “Who knows what the idiot is thinking?  But he’s got plenty of money so he can afford for everyone to come along and destroy his place.  The only scary part about the whole situation is the fact that you know Principal Kuno is going to show up as well.  God, I still can’t believe that he’s Kuno and Kodachi’s father.”  She shook her head and tossed the invitations.

Akane blinked at the invitation in her hand.  “Well, what are we supposed to do with these?  Do we even have the courage to accept?”

Nabiki leaned forward and wrapped her arm around her little sister.  “Come on, Akane!  Where’s your sense of adventure and fun?!  This is a party!  Sure, Kuno’s throwing it, and you know there’s going to be chaos, but that’s the fun of it.  Remember the last time we accepted an invitation from Kuno-baby?”

Ranma grumbled.  “Yeah, we ended up stranded on a deserted island and then having to deal with a stupid kid that was a bit too attached to Akane and stealing every girl from the nearby islands.”

Kagome clapped her hands together.  “Oh, I remember that!  Akane told me about that in one of her letters!”

Akane sighed.  “Oh well.  I guess we might as well go.  After all, there isn’t much to do here, and I guess a party should be normal… I hope…”

Nabiki grinned.  “That’s my little sister!”  She straightened and was about to walk away when she stopped and turned back to them.  “Oh!  I almost forgot.  It’s in the invitations but I might as well tell you.  Kuno wants everyone to dress ‘formally’, western style.  No Chinese outfits or Samurai ones; no school uniforms or typical go to the movies outfits.  He wants tuxedoes and dresses.  Western formal wear.”

Kagome paled.  “I didn’t bring any clothes like that!  And I’m sure Ranma doesn’t have anything remotely similar to that even for himself, let alone lending it to Inu-Yasha!”

Nabiki smiled.  “Then I suggest all of you get to the mall.”

Akane grinned and clasped Kagome’s hands.  “Yeah!  Let’s go, Kagome!  I’ve been meaning to get myself something nice and formal to wear and that way we can get something for you and for Ranma and Inu-Yasha!”

“O-oi!  What the hell is this ‘tuxedo’ thing?  And why the hell do I have to wear it?!  What are you two giggling about?!”

Ranma sighed.  “Oh, great, just what we needed…” Kagome and Akane were giggling excitedly as Nabiki walked off whistling, patting her left jacket pocket.  “A shopping spree.”

“I heard they have a great sale at Burdines!”

“Oh, they have great designer brands!”

“What are you two yapping about?!  Kagome!  What the hell is a ‘bird-dines’?!”