By Ninnik Nishukan

Oh, yes, the many faces of love...sigh!
There's short relationships, long relationships, people who never get each other, people who do, but then find out that they're not in love after all-- and there's the people who deny their love to the utmost.

In the quaint district of Nerima, in Tokyo, Japan, we find two young persons who are a perfect example of the latter.

Silence. The morning birds have yet to begin their singing. The first, meek rays of Japanese sunlight shines down on the Tendo Dojo. The entire family and its guests are asleep. All but one.

"RAAAANNMMAA!!!"

The air is sliced by a mighty roar, and the earliest morning bird chokes on its own song. It decides to move over to the neighbour's backyard tree.
One of the inhabitants of the house, a young woman, turns around in bed and mumbles irritably; "Oh my God...and it's only a few seconds since the frickin' sun came up, too..."

The person which the roarer adressed is now lying on his futon on the floor, snoring slightly while a big drop of drool is dangling threatiningly from the corner of his mouth.
As usual, he's sleeping heavily. He barely rolled over in his sleep when he heard the alarming outbreak of anger.
Someone stomps into his room and yanks him violently out of his dreams.

"What's the meaning of this, Ranma?!" The rude awakener demands to know. Although he's still more than half asleep, Ranma recognizes the voice in a second. It's Akane. Oy...

He blinks and rubs his eyes, and during half a nanosecond, Akane's features, twisted in anger, softens. He's so cute when he's all sleepy...just waking up...
But she quickly shakes her head and curses herself for even thinking anything like that.

"Huh?" He mumbles sleepily, disoriented, yawns; a gesture which makes her face go a further crimson red with anger.
"Whaddaya mean by 'huh'?!" She exclaims, "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Uh...no?" He says tryingly, squinting at her to see if she's got her mallet ready. He really just feels like going back to sleep, but now he's too curious as to what it is she's accusing him with this time.
Either way, he has no choice, cause he knows she's not going to let him sleep before he's given her some answers.

She huffs angrily, "I woke up in the middle of the koi pond, and when I returned to my room, my bed was filled with glue!"

He rubs his eyes once more, and registrates that yes, she is wet. One thing he also notices is the way her dripping wet pyjamas is clinging to her body...
If I was Ryoga right now, I'd get a nose bleed... he muses, then frowns, what the hell is wrong with me?! He scolds himself, but he doesn't get much time to follow the Ranma Saotome Thought System (tm), because when she sees how he's eyeing her, she slaps his face, leaving a stinging, red Akane's Hand Print (tm) on his cheek.

"SLAP!"

"OW!"

Not unusual sound effects in this house. He gets up from the futon, finally awake and in the mood to argue.

"You pervert!" She shrieks and hastily crosses her arms over her chest to cover up the close to transparent pyjamas top.
Why did I have to wear white cotton?

"Did it ever occur to you that you might've been sleepwalking?" He asks dryly, trying not to stare at her. And ignoring the angry accusations of him being a pervert.

"That doesn't explain the glue!" She retorts, upset, "And I've never walked in my sleep before, so why would I start doing it now all of a sudden?!" Maybe he's right? But she dumps that thought as soon as it enters her mind.

"Well, you know there's a first of everything," he grins.

"But gods-- glue? A stupid joke like that all but screams 'Ranma, Ranma!'," she stands there, arms folded, legs firmly planted, and glares menacingly at him.

" 'Ranma, Ranma!'?" He repeats, looking at her slyly, "Are you sure that wasn't you in your sleep?" He provokes her.

"Whaaaa--?" Her jaw drops.

"Oh, please, why would I bother to do such a thing?" With that interruption, he's saving her face himself, and he's confused as to why he's letting her off easy.

"To pester me, like you always do," she snorts, regaining her composure.

He gives her a funny look. "Oh, so now I bother you all the time? You're exaggerating!"

"Oh yeah? So how do you explain this?"

"Hey, don't ask me! Weird things happen in Nerima," he shrugs, slight sheepish grin on his mouth.

Akane nods, "On that point I'll agree with you," she points a finger at him, "but they usually happen when you're around!"

"Hey, that's not my fault! I'm just a very popular guy!" He smiles that crooked, excusing smile of his.

"And you're bigheaded, too," says she.

"Oh, I dunno which of us have the biggest parts here," he says with a teasing smile while he nods towards her rear end.
Her face goes red again.

"What?! Not only have you woke me up with your stupid pranks and tricks, but you insult me as well?!"

"Geez, I've told you it wasn't me," he rolls his eyes and sighs, but internally, he's thinking; Actually, she's got a very nice butt...
He's surprised at himself, and he wrinkles his brow.
"Why do you wake me up at this unearthly hour?" He says hastily, before his head starts to fill up with more weird thoughts.

"I came to sleep here, since my bed is filled with sticky glue, and to yell at you, of course," she says, like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Do you think I wanna sleep with you?!" He presses out, just as all sorts of ideas performs a bush attack on his brain before he even notices them there.

"Alone, of course!" She yells, and adds quickly, "What did you think, you pervert?"

He looks at her. "Ever heard of the phrase 'It takes one to know one?' " He asks snydely. Does she find it absolutely necessary to call me a pervert all the time?

She simmers. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not completely housetrained yourself," he smiles contendedly as he sees her expression. "Plus, why would I volunteer to give up my own bed? Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"I'm sleeping here now, and where you're gonna sleep is your problem," she states decisively.

"Oh yeah?" He balls his fists and readies himself to defend his futon.

They stare challengingly at each other, both in battle positions on each side of the futon. Suddenly they perform a quick leap to grab the futon, and they both land on it at exactly the same time. Soon the futon's a live bundle of arms and legs as they start to wrestle. They fight hard, and they both try to roll the other person off of the futon and onto the chilly floor.
This is more than a wild game. This is a fight of status and territory, a fight that's been going on ever since Ranma came to Nerima with his dad. A battle loaded with and engined by suppressed emotions.
Eventually, Ramna lugs a screaming Akane off of his futon. He's won.

"Hah!" He exclaims triumphantly, while breathing heavily.

"Augh, Ramna!" Hisses Akane, "I hate you!" Why is he the only one who can get me this upset?

Ramna blinks a couple of times before he regains himself. Her hateful declaration-- though heard an unmentionable amount of times before-- made him a little weary. Must be too early in the morning, I'm still not myself...
"Uh, I didn't think you'd take your defeat that badly," he mumbles. Is she just having a bad case of morning grumpiness? Ranma thinks, half wondering, half hoping.

"I wish you and your idiotic father had never come to Nerima in the first place!" She blurts out, and she's about to storm out of the room when a voice makes her halt.

"Ahem," Someone's clearing their throat.

Akane turns very slowly. Now that can't be Ranma's voice, can it?

Ranma and Akane both stare at the window frame, where a very, very small figure sits, shooting them an indulgent look.
He's wearing only a small loincloth, he's got pink hair, tiny wings and a crossbow and quiver.
Ranma and Akane wonder if this is really who they think it is.

"Yes," he nods, with a sprinkle of irony, after a long silence, "Amour to your honorable disposition,"

"What?" They ask, flabbergasted.

"You heard me the first time," he replies snippily.

"What...are you doing here?" Akane wonders.

"Well," he draws his breath, indicating he's definitely got something on his mind, "I, or let's say we, are all so damn tired of your constant bickering!"

They stare at him.

"What?" He asks, "So now I'm not allowed to swear? Just cause I've got wings doesn't mean I'm an angel, ya know,"

Their eyes go, if that's possible, even wider.
The little cherubae leaps down from the window frame and flies over to Akane.

"You, for example," he says, planting a small, chubby finger into her stomach, "you're an overreactive and violent girl who interprets everything he says as an insult, never letting him finish his explanations,"

Akane's jaw drops open. Ranma starts chuckling, but Amour is at his side in the blink of an eye, bringing his accusing little finger with him.

"Oh, don't think you're so much better, now!" He scolds, "It's really no wonder that she thinks you're putting her down all the time, because you let her think so! You've got no backbone! You should tell those other girls that you don't love them in that way! Plus, often you tease her on purpose, like when you say she's uncute, or when you critisize her cooking," the cherubae thinks about the vile treatment of food he just called 'cooking' and wonders if Ranma at least has one good point, but stops himself in time. "Ahem."

Ranma clears his throat guiltily and glances carefully at Akane. She stares back at him, but only briefly.

"But...uh, what's all this got to do with your, heh, occupation?" Asks Ranma, finally.

Amour smacks his forehead. "Do you really think you'd fight so fiercely over an old matress if there hadn't been some serious emotions behind it all?"

"Huh?" They look like they've just fallen from the moon.

He shoots them his indulgent look again. Are they seriously this dense or are they just pretending? Amour gives a sugary smile and goes back over to sit on the window frame.

"The whole thing is very simple," he pauses, evidently more for dramatic effect than anything else.

"Yeah?" Ranma and Akane chorus.

He cracks a timeless little smile.
"You're using this fighting as an excuse so you can be near each other and even touch each other without having to admit that you're really in love," he sums up nicely, wondering if he should've made it sound more romantic. But no, all these two need is a quick bap on the heads with reality. Clear, simple sentences. And there's no mistaking what he said just now. He surely hopes. With these Nerima loonies, you never know.

Now they look like they've fallen from Pluto. At least. Perhaps even from some undiscovered planet. Bingo, thinks Amour, but then again, I knew that.

Before they have time to react, the bewinged little love god talks on, "Everybody knows about it, and even if certain persons may deny it, deep down they too know it. It's only you two who don't realize. And everybody else-- including myself, for the record-- are beginning to get very, very deeply annoyed indeed."

Then there's a sudden softening of his voice. "Can't you just see how much you mean to one another? Don't fool yourself! You're a good match, and I think you both know that. Please, do something about it! No more bickering..." He sounds tired, "Just think about the few, but vulnerable moments you've shared in the past..." He pleeds them.

And they do just that. Until they're blushing right up to the roots of their hair. They remember all of the rare, yet wonderful times. And they silently notice that none of them has found his or hers voice to speak up and protest yet.

"I..." Akane begins.

"Uh..." Ranma stutters.

They look at each other until she can bear it no longer.

"Ramna no baka," she whispers half-heartedly and leaves the room. Ranma is close to relieved. He doesn't like to be bared like this. He has to think. "Um, Amour-sempai, I--" Ranma begins, but already as he's turning, he senses that he'll only find an empty spot behind him. For an instant, he wonders if he's just imagined it all, but the room speaks for itself.
He sighs, sitting down on his mangled futon, pulling the partly ripped blanket back over it. He picks up a tiny, pink feather from the floor and examens it, his mind foggy. Two hours pass, the shadows slowly shift their places on the floor as the sunlight travels across the room. Ranma Saotome gets up and puts the feather in his pocket.

After a few hours of thoughtfully wandering about, Akane runs into Shampoo. Oh no...

"What?" Shampoo exclaims, clearly confused, "You no stuck bed?"

"The glue? It was you?"

"Aiaah," mumbles Shampoo and treads off on her bicycle to think up something else, but still takes the time to shout over her shoulder; "You keep away from Airen!"

Akane stares after her in a resigned manner. "This has got to be her silliest plan yet," she says to herself, "When is she going to understand that Ranma's not her 'Airen'?" She sighs. Suddenly she finds herself  thinking something else: And when is she going to realize that she's never going to get me away from him?
She isn't as surprised at this line of thought as she would have been this morning. So it wasn't you who pulled the glue prank, she shakes her head at herself, I think I should maybe act a little less hysterical...
She turns her nose for home to see if Amour was really telling the truth.

And at home Ranma is deep in thought, and still in his pyjamas, performing futile attempts at removing the glue from Akane's bed with a fork...