Akane opened the door to the thundering sound of applause. Under her breath, she cursed her math teacher for holding her late after class and making her miss the first part of the evening. She hadn’t even had time to go home and change clothes, so she was still in her school uniform, but she’d promised Ranko that she’d be there, and she didn’t want her new girlfriend to think that she’d been stood up. It was still crazy for her to consider that she had a girlfriend – those were words she thought would never cross her mind. She hadn’t planned it that way, but she couldn’t deny that she liked how it felt – like she was doing something rebellious even as she was being the good girl and doing exactly what her father had asked of her.
Ranko stepped down from the stage. She was wearing a pink ankle-length dress with short sleeves and a little red belt, and her hair was up in a loose ponytail with a matching pink ribbon. Her ever-present silver dragon bracelet reflected the stage lighting as she descended. Akane chuckled. Apparently, calling her cute had gone to her head, as her outfit was more effeminate than anything Akane owned despite her having been a girl her whole life.
Akane made her way to the bar, where Yui gave her a welcoming wave and started pouring her a soda. “Hey there, Akane. Seems you’re becoming something of a regular here.” She glanced up at the stage. “Can’t imagine why.”
Akane blushed deeply, hiding behind her soda glass. “It’s not like that.”
Yui gave a sarcastic “Uh-huh.” and turned to a different spot at the bar to take another order.
Akane groaned. “Hey! It’s not!”
Izumi sped by, dropping a few glasses in the dishwasher and smirking at Akane. While maintaining eye contact with her, she spoke, but not to her. “Yui, did you see Ranko today? I couldn’t believe it. How many times have I tried to drag her shopping, and today she just had to go out by herself and get a new dress for tonight. Any idea what the occasion is?”
Mei pushed through the saloon doors, handing off a large mushroom pizza to Izumi for table six. She also grinned at Akane. “I mean, she’s working tonight, so she couldn’t possibly have a date…”
Akane’s face was warm enough to light a campfire. How did they all know? Did Ranko tell them? “You guys, ummm…”
Yui smiled. “For whatever it’s worth, you have our blessing, not that you needed it.”
Mei nodded. “Just don’t hurt her. She’s been through too much already.”
On that point, Akane could not argue. She stammered, looking to the three girls for some sort of clue as to how they all knew what she and Ranko had agreed to keep secret. Seeming to sense the question in her mind, Izumi walked up behind her and put her arm over Akane’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. She didn’t spill the beans. Not directly, anyway.” She glanced over at her fellow waitress, who was taking an order at a far table. “But she’s been walking on clouds since the last time you were here. It didn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure it out.”
Akane blushed deeper still - somehow - but smiled happily. Yes, their secret was out, at least in Ranko’s world. Everybody knew that they were together – that she was with another girl – and they were all okay with it. If anything, they were more accepting than most guys she knew had been when they’d found out she was engaged to Ranma. But, more importantly, she hoped Izumi was right, and that the idea of being with her was at least part of what was making Ranko so happy.
As she spoke with the trio, Akane heard a familiar voice over her shoulder. “Hey, Mei, can I get a basket of chicken wings for table eigh… Akane! You made it!” Akane spun around with a smile. “Hey, you! Sorry I was late! I got held up at school.”
The waitress shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re here! Yui, mind if I…”
The bartender rolled her eyes with mock indignation, but smiled. “Yes, go take a break. We got this.”
Ranko pushed through the saloon doors into the back room, Akane in tow, and they headed up the stairs to her little apartment. She closed the door behind them, and as soon as she turned her back to it, Akane’s arms were around her. Akane could feel the smaller girl relax her muscles and melt into the embrace, as if she had been holding her breath waiting for it for far too long.
“Look at you!” Akane smiled. “You look like a freaking princess!”
Ranko blushed a shade as red as her belt. “Do you like it?” Akane had said she wanted her to be cute. She was determined not to disappoint. She had disappointed Akane far too much already, even if most of it was in another life entirely.
Akane nodded and ran the backs of her fingers gently over Ranko’s cheek. “I do! Was all this for me?”
Ranko nodded, panic washing over her face. “Is it too much? It is, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I don’t know how to…”
Akane leaned over her, silencing her with a quick peck on her lips. “It’s not too much. It’s perfect. Don’t be so nervous.”
Ranko nodded. “I’m trying. I just…”
Akane sat on the end of the bed. “You just what? Talk to me.”
The redhead walked closer to the bed, standing in front of Akane. “I don’t know how to be anybody’s girlfriend. I know what guys like, but you’re not a guy. And I just… I feel like I’m getting a second chance with you that I didn’t especially deserve, and I don’t want to mess it up. You’re taking a chance on me, and I don’t ever want to make you regret it.”
Akane chuckled with a grin. “Is that what this is about?” A sheepish nod came in reply. “You don’t have to impress me. All I expect you to be is yourself. I hope you know that.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Ranko blushed. “Speaking of being myself…” She flitted over to the dresser excitedly, opening her purse and producing her ID card. “Look! It’s official!”
Akane looked it over, taking a moment to absorb what she was seeing. The true finality of the Ranma she once knew being gone forever hadn’t fully hit home with her, and a part of her felt like she was looking at his death certificate. Still, she knew how happy this made Ranko, and so she did her best to swallow her feelings and focus on the positive. “Look at that! Of course you get a cute ID photo. Nobody gets those.”
She looked over the card some more. “So… Miss Tendo, huh?” Ranko smiled and nodded. Akane grinned warmly. “But I haven’t even proposed.”
Ranko’s face turned an even brighter shade of crimson. While she knew there was no legal way they could get married, the idea that Akane would be the one to propose - implying that Ranko would be the “bride” in the relationship - was a little overwhelming. She thought back to Izumi warning her about one day shopping for wedding dresses. It terrified her, but if Akane ever asked her to, she wanted to believe she’d find a way to do it anyway.
“I’m happy for you, Ran-chan… Ranko.” She had gone to a lot of trouble to earn that new name for herself, and Akane felt that she owed her the respect of saying it out loud.
Ranko looked over at the clock on her nightstand. “I should get back down there. Remember, the other girls don’t know about… us.”
Akane smirked. “Uh, I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Frowning, Ranko replied, “I didn’t tell them, I swear. How would they…” Akane reached out, fluffing the skirt of her girlfriend’s pink dress for emphasis. “It’s a good thing you’re a better singer than you are an actress.”
Ranko looked down. “I’m sorry, Akane.”
Her chin was lifted up by two of Akane’s fingers. “Don’t you dare apologize to me for being happy we’re together.” She smiled. “I’m glad you’re as proud to be my girlfriend as I am to be yours.” The pair embraced again, and headed downstairs.
The remainder of the night’s service, and show, went by quickly. Akane set herself up at a table in the corner closest to the stage, and Ranko made a point to visit her every chance she could between songs and running food and beverages to her other tables. Hana graciously offered to give Akane anything she wanted for free, which Ranko greatly appreciated. Asking her girlfriend for money would have been awkward for her. Akane did notice that the song selections tonight were pretty heavily skewed in favor of love ballads, and she amusedly wondered if that was intended for her or merely coincidence. Ranko chose not to mention the exam she had taken that morning; she was still quite embarrassed that it was even necessary, and she had no idea how well or poorly she had done.
When the last customer had departed, Ranko swung by Akane’s table. “Hey, I just need to help them with cleanup for a bit and then we can go hang out. I promise, I’ll hurry.”
Izumi waved her off. “We can handle it, Ran-chan. You go ahead. Good night, Akane. Have fun.” She giggled, flitting away to refill another soy sauce container.
Ranko blushed. It was one thing that her sisters knew she and Akane were together, but they made it sound like they thought the couple were doing… well, things they weren’t. She wondered if that was something they would ever get to, and realized she had no idea how two girls would even do that. Maybe she’d ask Yui for advice if it ever came to that.
Akane took Ranko’s hand. “C’mon, you.”
Ranko smiled, and the pair pushed through the saloon doors and up the stairs to Ranko’s apartment. They flopped down on the bed next to each other, giggling together. Akane turned to her side, playing with Ranko’s ponytail. “I can’t believe how freaking cute you are.”
The redhead blushed. “You aren’t so bad yourself, you know.”
Akane mock-scoffed. “Not bad, huh?”
Ranko turned onto her side, flashing her arm toward Akane and finding purchase on her ribs, tickling her. Akane squirmed, laughing. “Hey! Stop that!”
Ranko shook her head. “No way. You want me to stop, you’re gonna have to stop me.” She moved her hands to yet another spot, and another.
Akane flailed to block her hands. “Okay, mercy! Mercy!”
Ranko shook her head. “Nope. You can’t stop me. You’re not fast enough.”
Akane laughed. “Oh? You don’t think so?”
Ranko smiled. Her girlfriend’s competitive spirit was exactly what she was counting on. Akane flung her arms this way and that, blocking about half of Ranko’s attempts to reach her torso with her pinching fingernails, but it seemed that the faster she blocked, the faster Ranko’s hands moved.
Akane gasped for air, out of breath from laughter. Ranko pinched at her bare feet, and she retracted them away from her girlfriend. “I thought you were gonna stop me. You aren’t giving up, are ya, Akane?” She had a devilish simper about her. Come on, Akane, take the bait, she thought to herself. She needed this to work.
Akane’s face became one of determination. “Never!”
Ranko’s arms darted this way and that, and Akane desperately flailed her hands to keep up. If she wanted to breathe, she had to block. Whatever had gotten into Ranko, she wasn’t letting up. Faster and faster Ranko moved, and faster and faster she fought to counter. She reached a point where her hands seemed to decouple from her conscious mind; they moved almost instinctively, sparing the delay between thought and action. She blocked one pinch, then another, then another, then ten in a row, then twenty. She only focused on her intent; her body did the rest on its own.
Ranko finally fell on her back on the bed, breathing heavily. Akane rose to her knees, looking down over her beaming with accomplishment. “Ha! I told you I could do it!”
Ranko grinned ecstatically. “You sure did. You got me.” Her gambit had paid off.
Akane reached forward quickly, taking each of Ranko’s wrists in her hands and gently pinning them to the mattress on either side of her body with locked elbows. “No, now I’ve got you.” She bent down with a mockingly sinister laugh, planting a soft kiss on the lips of the entrapped redhead as she felt her body tense beneath her own.
When Ranko didn’t respond in the kiss, Akane pulled back, releasing her wrists, and surveyed her face. There was a terror in her unblinking eyes that Akane couldn’t explain. “Ranko? What’s wrong?” She reached down, rubbing Ranko’s arm reassuringly. “Hey. What’s the matter?”
A few agonizing moments passed before the redhead finally blinked, looking around the room. “A.. Akane?” She bolted upright in the bed, wrapping her arms tight around Akane. She was shaking like a leaf.
“What’s wrong?” The only times she’d ever seen her behave this way were back at home. There were two instances she saw, both after Ranma had woken screaming from nightmares. Akane blinked in realization. Both nightmares had been about Mikado restraining her and kissing her. She gasped, holding her tighter than ever. “Oh, gods, Ranko, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… shh. I’ve got you. You’re safe with me, I promise.”