“I am so damned proud of you!” Akane wrapped her arms around Ranko, kicking the door to her apartment closed behind them. “You were incredible!” She lifted the redhead in her school uniform up off the floor, squeezing her tightly.

Ranko giggled as she was deposited back onto her feet. “I couldn’t have done it without you all.”

“Oh, come on. You’re the one up there singing. And dancing, holy crap! All we did was sit there and clap.”

The songstress blushed, sitting on her bed. “Hey, those onion rings didn’t eat themselves.”

“Oh? Get over here, you!” Akane flashed her arms forward to Ranko’s sides. “I’m gonna get you for that!” She laughed, running her fingers softly across her ribs. While she had been learning the Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire technique, unknowingly, she’d discovered that the Full Body Cat’s Tongue made Ranko far too ticklish for normal play, but a gentle touch was enough to do the job without being too overwhelming.

She was surprised, however, to see that Ranko did not laugh. Rather, she closed her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. Her whole body shivered, and she had to catch herself to keep from falling backward.

“R… Ranko? What was that?”

The redheaded teen bit her lip, trying to give her girlfriend a coy smile that fit her feminine persona like a shirt that was two sizes too big. “I… think you know.” She put one foot up on the bed, reclining in Akane’s school pinafore.

“No I don’t unders… oh.” Akane’s eyes went wide. “Was that…”

Ranko nodded, looking up at her with a playfully pouty expression on her face, playing with one of her pigtails.

“I think that’s the shot Yui gave you talking,” Akane said somewhat sternly.

Ranko giggled, shaking her head. “Nah. Just tonight. Everything was perfect, and you’re here, and…” She rolled her eyes. “Just get over here and give me my dress back, you.”

Akane took a step back, a look of discomfort bordering on fear taking residence on her face. “I… I don’t think we should, you know, whatever this is.”

With a sigh, Ranko sat up on the bed. The playful smile on her face was gone. “Akane, I don’t understand. Why does this freak you out so much?”

Akane sighed dejectedly, pulling up one of the dinette chairs. “It’s not that, Ranko. It’s not you, I mean. I mean…” She groaned, taking a second to regain her thoughts. “I’m trying. But you’ve gotta remember, I don’t really like girls. I’ve never been attracted to a girl before. I like you, but it’s hard for me to… I don’t know, see myself doing that sort of stuff. I want to, but it still feels weird to me. I know being a girl is still fairly new to you, but you’ve liked girls your whole life. So, maybe it’s just easier for you?”

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Ranko stood and walked closer to her girlfriend’s chair, sighing sadly. “I get it. I do. And I’m sure it doesn’t help that the slightest touch sends me over the moon. I just… I wanna be close to you, ya know?”

Akane nodded, wrapping her arms around Ranko’s waist. “I know. And please don’t think I don’t want to be close to you, too. I promise I do. I just need a little more time to get used to the idea of what that means between two girls.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ranko rested her chin on the top of Akane’s head, leaning into her arms. “Sometimes I still feel kind of gross about the idea of being, ya know, excited, as a girl at all. Like, it feels like something I’m not supposed to want. Until I came here, just the idea of having… those parts at all made me feel dirty. I didn’t even want to look at myself in the bath sometimes.”

She kissed the top of Akane’s head. “But this is who and what I am now, and if that’s the only way I have to be with you, then I want it.”

Akane sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’m trying to get there, I swear.”

Ranko bit her lip, looking over Akane’s shoulder into the kitchen, and then at the clock. It was two in the morning; all the girls would be gone by now. No one would hear her scream.

She walked to the kitchen, filling her little kettle with water and setting it on the stove, flicking on the pilot light.

“It’s awfully late for tea, isn’t it, Ran-chan?”

Akane received no reply. Ranko made no effort to get out any tea, or any other ingredients to cook with. So why would she want to boil water?

With a gasp, Akane rocketed out of her chair just as the kettle began to whistle. Ranko placed her hand on the handle, but before she could lift it from the burner, Akane’s hand slammed on top of hers. “Don’t you dare!”

Ranko looked up. “But it’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Akane’s eyes were wild. “Are you crazy?! Of course not! That would really hurt you!”

The redhead shrugged a little sadly. “You’re worth it.”

With her free hand, Akane reached over and turned off the burner. She picked up the kettle, dumping it into the sink. She turned back to Ranko, placing her hands on the redhead’s hips and holding her firmly in place. “You listen to me, Ranko Tendo, and you listen good.”

Ranko’s eyes widened. “O…okay?”

Akane stared into her eyes, a serious countenance crossing her face. “You are enough for me exactly like you are. I need to do some thinking to get comfortable with a few things, but it’s me that needs to change here, not you. I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to make yourself something you’re not for me. Especially not that.”

She pulled Ranko into a tight embrace. “I was never this close with Ranma. I never really even wanted to be. It’s you that I want, Ranko. This you, just like you are. When I’m ready to be physical, I don’t want it to be with the boy I whacked with the furniture every other day. I want it to be with the woman I fell in love with.”

Ranko gasped. “Akane, did you just say what I think you said?”

Akane let go of her girlfriend just enough so that she could see the smaller girl’s face as she smiled. “Yeah, I guess I did. I love you, Ranko.”

Ranko dove forward, burrowing herself into Akane’s torso and hugging her as tight as she could. “I love you, too, Akane.”