Ranma 1/2 - Rules of the games: Level 1 Beginner

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended.

'Rules of the Games' is based upon a story idea by Tom Wrensch (because my ideas are all crap compared to his).
Last Updated: 14/1/02

Ranma-chan rolled her shoulder back as she entered the change room. It might be an accepted part of life that morning sparring included a dunking in the pond, but the rocks along the sides were all too hard if you didn't land cleanly into the water.

Yanking her singlet over her head, she stepped up to the mirror and used it to examine the bruise growing on the back of her shoulder. She blinked twice as the reflection reminded her of some television commercial where a pretty girl looked back over her bare shoulder.

Shaking herself out of it, she reached over to the sink faucet she turned on the hot water and splashed himself, then again returned to examining the bruise. He hated looking like a girl like that. Grumbling at the bruise as if it were a way to lessen the pain, he yanked open the door to the furo while undoing the drawstring on his pants and shoving them down.

His hands stopped when his brain did, at the site of Akane drying herself with a white fluffy towel. By some kind of luck she had been holding the towel to preserve her modesty as she dried off, but it was still a sight his eyes didn't seem capable of looking away from.

Seeing Akane's face turning purple with anger, he managed a glance to the floor beside the door to see that, yes, her slippers were out marking that she was within.

"Ah, ah, oops? Sorry Akane."

"You pervert!"

-Slam-

-Crash-

-Bang-

Ranma leapt to the fence railing as he walked with his fiancee to school. By the absolute silence from her since before breakfast, he guessed that she was still seemed peeved at him for that 'honest to Kami' accident of him walking in on her in the bath... again.

'It wasn't like he wanted to look at the tomboy...' he thought as he had many times before, but again it sounded hollow to him. Was he becoming as perverted as she always accused him?

Over a year of this kind of stuff had taught him that she would calm down eventually, though apologising did seem to make her angrier again by reminding her of the incident. Finally he decided to try and distract her with conversation. Tragically, he could only think of one thing, and it was far from a safe subject.

"Hey Akane, I think I heard Mom and Kasumi talking about trying to teach you ta cook again tonight?"

Akane's brown eyes looked up on him, boring into his face. "Just what are you trying to say, Ranma? They're just teaching me a new recipe, I would have thought you would want more than just my curry?"

Ranma's brain was trying in vain to stop it but the mouth had opened and the tongue was working. "It's not like I..."

Ranma's mouth was cut off from an analogy of a certain fiancee's cooking to 'chemical weaponry', by the sudden appearance of a strong, well proportioned, and above all very friendly, purple haired Amazon. Shampoo was instantly moulded around Ranma, cutting off his air supply with a crushing hug.

"Good morning, Airen!" was shouted into his ear as Ranma finally caught back up with the situation with what he had come to consider as the 'Amazon Stealth Attack'.

In the wake of the failed wedding, Ranma had tried acting very coolly to both Shampoo and Ukyo. It was one thing to interrupt the proceedings, but he was far from happy about the bombs. Initially he refused to talk to her and would dodge her any time he heard the stupid bell on her bike. This had lasted all of two days till she caught on and didn't ring the bell, nor give any other hints of her presence till she was latched onto him.

"Shampoo, get offa me dammit." He cried before he and Shampoo were struck with Shampoo's own bike. Ranma looked up from the ground, to see Akane looking angrily at him. There was a black tyre mark on her dress near her hip, and he could guess it was from the bike's first impact into this situation. "Ah, Akane, I..."

"Ranma, if you want to play around with your mistresses, go play. But I'm not going to be late to class because of it!"

Turning, she started stomping away towards school.

Ranma was on his feet in a second, thankfully free of the Amazonian love grip, and running after her. "She ain't my mistress, I don't got no mistresses. And your one to talk with all the guys you've been string'n along since I got here."

Ranma almost missed it, but Akane's eyes seemed to be steaming at his denials, until he insulted her back, then they brightened up dramatically. Any consideration of this was quickly thwarted as she swung her book bag at him, in a surprisingly strait forward and slow move.

"You're one to talk, jerk!"

Before Ranma could reply, Akane's hand covered his mouth, her eyes looking back at Shampoo, a smug smile appearing on her face. He managed to tear his eyes from her smile to glance back at the Amazon, seeing the purple haired girl riding the opposite way from them. 'Course she is, she never hangs around while we fight.' He thought. 'Wait a minute, did Akane just fake that fight to get rid of Shampoo?'

"Come on idiot, I don't want to be late." Akane's voice said lightly, a small fond smile on her lips.

Ranma looked back at Akane as she grabbed his arm and yanked him onwards to school. He was still trying to work out what had happened with Shampoo and more disturbingly, why when she called him idiot in that soft, near affectionate tone, he just couldn't insult her back.

"Hiroshi!" cried the tiny Miss Hinako. "Just what do you find so funny?"

Hiroshi's postured slammed upright and he shut the folder on his desk far too hard, his attention redirected to the childlike teacher of the class. "Nothing, Ms Hinako." he cried hoping she would leave him alone.

The little girls face grinned darkly and she began to approach his desk intent on whatever it was he had been giggling at. With the way he'd been giggling she knew it just had to be comics!

Her head swung suddenly up as she sensed a battle aura.

Her eyes landed on Ranma Saotome, who sat neatly in his desk beside Hiroshi's, attempting to suppress the grin on his face. His pigtail was coming to rest on his back as if moved by an unseen and unfelt wind. He was so quiet it was obvious he was containing his battle aura now, and she correctly guessed that he had obviously given off the spark of battle aura a moment before. But why?

Turning her attention back to Hiroshi, she reached onto his desk and grabbed the folder.

Hiroshi knew he was a dead man in twenty seconds, not from Ms Hinako, but from the girls in the class, lead by Akane Tendo, when they found what was in his folder. He winced as she opened the folder... and then looked bug eyed at the empty interior.

Ms Hinako might have been in child form but she was an experienced teacher who knew with one glance at Hiroshi's surprised face that he was just as amazed at its lack of content. She eyed the smug Ranma for a moment, knowing he was behind this. He'd slip up soon, and she'd be right there to drain him when he did. "Hiroshi, pay attention in class."

"Yes Ms Hinako!" He said quickly as he took back his folder. He glanced to Ranma just long enough to catch his wink and the smile blooming on the martial artists face.

Ranma was still pretty hyped on how fast his 'Chestnut Fist' technique could let him go now. Snatching the contents of the folder in full view of everyone, but too fast to be seen. Well, almost everyone missed it, he could tell Hinako had sensed him, and maybe Akane too by that not quiet glare she was looking at him with. Still... damn, he was good.

As the class settled back down to Hinako's droning on about English pronunciation, he idly opened his own folder to look at what exactly was on the bundle of loose pages he had saved from Ms Hinako. He shook his head and let the various pages flick through his fingers quickly, not really wanting to look at the various manga style drawings and even colour photo's of girls in less than full attire, interspersed with various pages of written jokes and stories. It wasn't that he didn't like girls like that, oh no, he was more of a red blooded man than anyone else in this class, hell, this whole school. It was just if he looked at images like this for too long they would quickly become uncute tomboys with short black hair and pink pouting lips and... And he had no idea how to deal with that issue in his life.

His mind swirled on the subject of Akane Tendo, and the complex...'thing' between them that he could only, reluctantly, call a relationship. There was no use trying to deny he did want... something more there, but he wasn't sure what. He certainly didn't want to have a wife, that was just scary, but he didn't want her out of his life either. If only they could get along better.

It wasn't like it was all his fault that had stopped anything like that so far, but he was to blame for much of it. Sure, any time he tried to get along with her, someone would burst in and interrupt, but if they didn't he'd blow it somehow. It wasn't like they gave an instruction or rule booklet on how to deal with girls, or in this case, tomboys.

His fingers stopped and held the pages as his eyes caught the title of one page that held his attention. His fingers slipped that page out to looked at it.

THE RULES.

'Rules for what?' Ranma mused.

1. The FEMALE always makes THE RULES, THE RULES are subject to change without prior notice.

'Huh? What's that mean?' For some reason, his mind flicked through memories of odd behaviour of Akane towards him, and that of his Mother to his Father.

2. NO MALE can possibly know all THE RULES.

His mind flashed with a memory of his father saying, 'No man can possibly fully understand a woman'. He couldn't even place when the old man had said it, but it rang true here.

3. If the FEMALE suspects the MALE is getting to know THE RULES, she must immediately change some or all of THE RULES.

'This don't make sense? Why would the female want to change the rules?... unless they gotta? Could this be why I don't get along with Akane? Nah, this is just a joke? Right?'

4. The FEMALE is never ever wrong.

Ranma smirked at that, visualising a nodding Akane.

5. If the FEMALE is wrong, it is due to a misunderstanding, which is a direct result of something the MALE said or did wrong. The MALE must apologise immediately for causing such misunderstanding.

Ranma's smirk fell a little as he read that, it was a little to close to the mark of his memories.

6. The MALE must never change his mind without the express written consent of the FEMALE.

'Huh?'

7. The FEMALE has every right to be upset and or angry at any time.

Sudden flashes of Akane angry flashed through his mind. He wasn't sure what was more unnerving, that there was so many memories, or that the line had it so right for her.

8. The MALE must remain calm at all times, unless the FEMALE wants him to be angry and or upset. The FEMALE must, under no circumstances, let the MALE know whether or not she wants him to be angry and or upset.

'How the hell am I supposed to know if she can't tell me then?'

9. The MALE is expected to mind-read at all times

'Oh.'

10. The MALE who does not abide by THE RULES can't take the heat, lacks backbone and is a wimp.

'I ain't no wimp!'

11. Any attempt by a male to document THE RULES is likely to suffer serious bodily harm.

'How many rules are there?'

12. A MALE must be ready to perform at all times, a FEMALE is ready when she is ready.

Ranma's mind flicked through memories of the Romeo and Juliet fiasco from over a year ago. 'I gotta act again? For her?'

13. If a FEMALE has PMS all THE RULES have a narrower tolerance and are subject to triple demerit points.

'PMS? What's that? And why do I get punished for it?'

Seeing there were no more rules here, Ranma placed the piece of paper back in the pile and closed his book around it, but the words from the page reverberated in his mind for the rest of the day.

"Hey Akane?"

"Hmmm?" she replied as she turned in the school corridor. Moving through the crowd of students leaving with the end of day, Akane made out Sayuri and Yuka approaching.

"A few of the girls are meeting at a tea house up near my place to chat, wanna come with?" Yuka said giving a hopeful smile.

Akane managed to hold her smile despite knowing the last time she had agreed to one of these get togethers she had been blasted from all sides with questions about Ranma and how things were between them... in private. She had managed to dodge these invitations twice since then but her friends were getting more persistent. "Oh, who else will be there?"

"We will!" chorused three girls' voices from behind Akane, surprising her and moving in to close the semicircle trap around her, herding her against the wall. Looking away from the five friends' faces boring into her she saw Ranma and one of his friends, Diasuki, looking curiously at her predicament.

"Oh dear, I'd love to but..."

"But?" said Yuka.

"Yeah, I gotta get home and..."

"And?" said Sayuri

Her eyes flicked over them again at Ranma, "I..."

Yuka looked over her shoulder and saw Ranma standing there. "Hey Ranma, does Akane have to rush home to do anything tonight?"

Ranma's mind first tried to figure out if indeed there was, but it was slow going with it being distracted by the fact that with the five girls looking at him, Akane gave an odd glare at him, like she wanted a specific answer from him, but he really didn't know what. Regardless of her intent, it was washed away as he paled, recalling that she was supposed to be learning how to cook again tonight, which meant he was going to bed with a stomach ache... unless she didn't cook...

"Nope, no reason at all, nothing, nadah. Go on Akane, I'll tell Mom and Kasumi you'll be late. Have fun!"

Akane was just as confused by Ranma turning pale then green then rambling on like an idiot that she had no reason not to go, before his words and actions reminded her of those he used when he was trying to fake the fathers into believing he didn't actually like her cooking. She suppressed a smile and then yelled back at him, barging through the girls to grab his arm, twisting it back painfully and locking him into standing beside her.

"You jerk! I haven't even gotten home to start cooking yet and you're insulting it!" Calming herself, she turned back to the girls, "Sorry, I forgot, I promised to be home early to learn a new receipt from Aunty. Maybe next time?"

Before they could reply, she began dragging Ranma out, scolding him till he began to insult her back.

The girls and Daisuki looked after the retreating pair with disappointed looks. "I don't know how they got that act down so well, but if they keep covering for each other like that, even Kuno is going to pick up on it, let alone Ukyo or Shampoo." Yuka said to the nodding agreement at all.

Turning out of sight of the school, Akane released Ranma's arm, which stopped Ranma mid insult. His insult stayed in his mouth as she gave him a frown.

"You took your sweet time helping me back there. Or did you just take all that time to figure out a decent excuse?"

"Huh?" came the intelligible reply as Ranma flexed his arm to get the blood flow back. They had just been arguing again, hadn't they?

Akane eyed him suspiciously to see if he was smugly mocking her again. "You are unbelievable, you know that? You think I'm going to believe you didn't see I was in trouble?"

Ranma looked around to see what Akane was in danger from, before realising she was talking about the girls back at school. "Ya mean the girls?"

"Of course I mean the girls, idiot! Why do you think I was signalling you?" Akane through her arms into the air and 'humphted'. Turning, she began walking up the road towards home again.

Ranma was about to ask what signal, but was cut off by the appearance of Tatewaki Kuno, Furinkan High's resident idiot, charging forward towards Akane with a paper ward of some kind in each hand. "Yes, my fierce tigress, fight the foul sorcerer's magic hold over you! Harden your might, and with these wards over your heart you will be finally able to break free, so that you may date with me, as we both know you truly wish!"

Akane managed to follow Kuno's words the whole way through as she set herself to hit him hard, right in the chest. Ranma though, had gotten lost earlier in his speech, right after Kuno had declared where he was going to put one of those wards with his hands...

Ranma shot forward to be even with Akane and lashed out a simple kick. The unarmed Kendoist did nothing to stop the blow, too intent on Akane to really consider it. The kick lifted him a few inches off the ground and stopped all his forward momentum.

Akane grimaced, stepping in to try and salvage her punch, which was set for a target much closer to her. As it was it slammed his chest with less force than she hoped for, and he only just cleared a fence before they lost sight of him.

"Hey, why did you have to interfere? I would have got him easy." Akane cried angrily at Ranma who looked dumbfounded.

"Huh? You might 'ave been able to clock him, but not until after he had felt ya up!" He accused. "Or is that what you wanted?"

"You JERK! I would have blocked him easy, you of all people should know I'd never want him touching me!" Akane glared at Ranma, turned, and stomping up the road towards home.

Ranma's anger cooled quickly as Akane turned from him, and he began walking behind her. He didn't like making her angry like that but it seemed he did it all too often.

Finally after several minutes, he sped up and leapt to the fence, quickly coming to an even pace with the still fuming girl. Maybe if he got her talking, it would get her to calm down. He recalled something from that dumb joke sheet he'd read earlier...

"Hey Akane? Do you know what PMS is?"

Ranma froze. Akane often glared at him, but this may have been the most vicious glare since the aftermath of the bathroom incident on the day they had met. He really wished he knew what he just did wrong. The glare faded slightly under the weight of pure fury at his insinuation and the mallet appeared and tracked him.

"I'll give you PMS, you JERK!"

Ranma dodged the first blow, which shattered concrete within five feet of where he had been standing.

"I don't want it!" he cried, backing away from the furious fiancee.

The two angry eyes boring at him from Akane's furiously red face told him that he was in real trouble. Without any other choice, he obeyed his training when faced with an opponent he couldn't take on just at that moment. The Saotome Secret Technique, i.e.: run away till you think of a better plan.

Akane watched as Ranma bolted down the street away from her. 'No way in hell was he getting away that easy after that comment!' she thought as she gave chase to the fleeing boy.

Nodoka Saotome smiled gently as she gave her future daughter in law another tip on cooking this dish, distracting her and giving Kasumi enough time to scoop out the excess tablespoon worth of herbs that had been dumped in the stewing pot.

Nodoka's smile was genuine, though it had been forced earlier, when Akane had stormed furiously into the house looking for her fiance. She had terrorised her father and Nodoka's husband, who had been very nearly ready to beg for forgiveness for not knowing where the boy was.

When she asked Akane if anything was wrong she calmed down a lot, snapping out that her son 'has no idea when to shut his big mouth'.

When they joined Kasumi in the kitchen and had started cooking she had had little hope for improvement on previous attempts, as a plate of hideous looking stir-fry took shape, including at least a dash of blue that she had failed to stop Akane from adding from the disinfectant fluid under the sink.

She wasn't sure why but Akane had smiled when she garnished the material on the plastic plate, but then had relented that it wasn't her best work and tried again. She began again with a contented smile, but refused to let them throw out the offensive concoction.

As Akane placed the pot into the oven, she excused herself and let Kasumi to watch over Akane as she went in search of her son. She suspected he had been hiding from his fiance, an act she didn't consider very manly, but she blamed such bad habits on her husband as a bad role model for him

Stepping into the Dojo, she saw he was in here practicing. Shadow fighting apparently, leaping, dodging, and weaving against an unseen opponent. She just watched him for several moments, a sense of pride in knowing that her son was indeed nearly a man, and that her sacrifice had allowed Genma to do as he said he would, make him a great martial artist.

Her smile widened, as Ranma's routine became excessive and obviously showy, having spotted that he had an audience. Genma might have made him great, but he had left many flaws in doing so... but that was something the she and Akane would deal with.

Ranma stopped his work out and bowed to the shrine at the end of the Dojo as he had no true opponent to honour such. Stepping over to the wall near the door he picked up a towel and padded some sweat off his face. "Hey Mom, what's up?"

"Hello my Son," Nodoka started fairly formally, still unsure how to be more familiar with her own flesh and blood, their reunion relatively recent.

Ranma stiffened slightly, not because of her more formal words, but because he had a feeling that he was about to get a lecture. "How's Akane's cooking going? She gonna make something edible tonight?" he tried to head her off with.

"Akane is just finishing up cooking now, and she has worked very hard on it." She said with a look that told him he was going to eat it and at least say he liked it. Her tone changed up a little as she eyed him. "Do you have any idea as to why Akane was so upset when she got home from school today? She seemed to imply it was something someone close to her might have said..."

Ranma straightened himself up, "Yeah, I do. But I ain't taking the blame for this one, she overreacted when I asked her a simple question. I don't know what she was so angry over but it ain't my fault."

Nodoka raised one eyebrow at her son's words, not expecting him to be so firm over this. "Firstly, it 'isn't or wasn't your fault'. But that aside, may I ask what this question was?"

Ranma calmed a little, in part from being corrected by his Mother, and in part surprised that he was being listened to over a fight between himself and his fiancee. "Sure Mom, I was reading this thing at school and it said somethin' about women having 'PMS' or somethi...?"

Nodoka's scowl cut him off, though part of his mind wondered at what the hell these three letters were that could make women upset so easily. "Ranma, PMS is a myth made up by lesser men, nothing more. A true man among men would never bring it up again."

Ranma froze as his mother brought out the big gun, that she still had control of the promise his father had made them make, that if he was not returned to her as a man among men, they would commit sepuku. "Ah, okay Mom... Ah, if dinners nearly done, I better go clean up first." He said and quickly left.

Akane smiled as she brought out her bowl of Saotome Six Spice Special Casserole, placing it on the table. She managed to keep her smile at the fearful looks of the fathers towards her masterpiece. Ranma was looking like he was psyching himself up for a major fight, his gaze on the pot like it was his most dangerous adversary since Saffron.

Akane smiled as Kasumi and Nodoka began serving the fathers without hesitation, though the fathers looked far from keen. Ducking back into the kitchen, she was back quickly with the original stir-fry attempt on it's plastic plate.

Ranma accepted a plate of casserole from his mother, ready to wolf it down and hope his intestines could handle it, but when he brought it back to put it in front of his place at the table, there was another plate... and he couldn't help get the feeling the blue and green concoction was looking back at him with equal suspicion.

"There you go Ranma, that ones specially for you." Akane said with a cheery smile.

Nodoka's eyes widened with fear at the appearance of the horrid plate Akane had made earlier, sitting in front of her son. Her fear deepened as Ranma steeled himself and began trying to wolf it on down.

Ranma felt the pain in his chest and stomach blooming and had just enough time to look up and see Akane's fearful face before he fell backwards from the table.

Ranma was near unconscious with pain when the door to the guest room opened and Akane slipped inside. Kneeling beside his futon, she gently wiped some stray hairs from his forehead and looked at his greenish complexion.

"Well I hope you found it funny," she whispered in a fond, if exasperated, tone. "I didn't think it was very funny when you ate from the danger plate last time either. Why didn't you try to get rid of it? If you keep being an idiot like this, Daddy and your parents are going to work out you like my proper co..."

Akane was cut off as the guest room door slid open and Nodoka began to enter carrying a damp cloth. "Oh, Akane dear, I didn't know you were in here?"

Akane managed to suppress a blush at being caught like this, standing quickly. "Oh, I was just leaving after telling Ranma that no one thinks his acting is funny. I think I better go have my bath." She quickly stepped out of the room.

Nodoka watched her go before closing the door and knelling beside her son where Akane had been. Gently laying the damp cloth over his brow, she whispered to him. "I'm sorry my son, I swear I'll teach your fiancee how to cook soon. She is getting better already."

Ranma simply groaned and slipped fully into unconsciousness.

Ranma stumbled into the change room, intent on having a nice relaxing soak before school.

Fortunately his father wasn't quite sadistic enough to have him spar or train on any morning after he had eaten his fiancee's cooking, though that may have been because he force fed the older man left overs from the first few times that happened.

He removed his shirt and pants, dumping them on the floor as he went. Yanking the door open he stumbled within.

Once again, his mind locked up at the sight of a lot of Akane, sitting on a wash stool wearing what amounted to a soap sudd bikini. What little he couldn't see, his mind helpfully filled in the details from memory.

His instinct told him that the longer things stayed like this the more pain he would be in and he began to back out of the bathroom. His foot slid on the wet tiles as he stepped back, Ranma landing on his back side with an 'oof', his eyes still locked on his fiancee, even as his body continued to back up out of the door.

Akane still hadn't moved from the stool, blushing brightly, her expression embarrassed, her eyes on the floor. Just as he lost sight of her through the door he saw a tiny smile that had appeared after he had fallen over.

Ranma yanked the door closed to make sure there hadn't been any sign and checked the floor for Akane's slippers. This wasn't his fault, she should 'ave had the sign out! He was about to yell that out when the door was yanked open this time by a still red faced Akane, now wearing a robe, one bar of her readied nunchaku held under her left arm pulled taunt by her left hand.

Looking up towards the ceiling she cried out loud, "Ranma you PERVERT! Peeping on me again!"

Ranma was still stuck on what to do when Akane kicked his hip, the blow propelling him to the door out of the change room.

"Come back here you jerk!" she cried again, charging with the nunchaku lashing out.

Ranma's mind may not have known what in the hell was going on here, but his body knew the rules of this game.

He ran.

Ranma glanced down suspiciously at Akane and Yuka as they walked ahead on the footpath towards school. Akane was smiling and laughing with her friend, making today's almost surreal morning even scarier.

He'd walked in on his fiancee in the bath. Again.

He had that part of the memory down in vivid detail. Then she had attacked him angrily. Her technique was overall better than usual, starting off with the nunchaku awkwardly but quickly getting better as they did laps of the house with her screaming at him being a pervert.

Finally Kasumi called for breakfast and Akane simply gave him the cold shoulder all through that. He didn't know who looked sadder, himself, or the fathers at the apparent anger from Akane. On the bright side his mother seemed happy. Probably figured he had peeped on Akane on purpose.

Akane still hadn't spoken a word till they walked a bit down the road from the house. Then she immediately brightened up as if nothing happened... she even had asked him about their homework? She had done this before he recalled, but this seemed so much more unusual than those times before with what he figured where just his fiancee's mood swings.

But the single thing that really got to him, was just before they ran into Yuka on the way to school.

"How was I with the nunchaku?" He could clearly hear her voice again in his head. She had only just given up her anger at him during which she had tried to kill him with those nunchakus and she wanted to know if she was using them right?

'For that matter why the hell had she had nunchakus in the furo?', he thought. 'They'd rust wouldn't they?'

Passing through the high school gates, Ranma looked up at a figure leaping from the trees at Akane, a war cry on his lips. In one hand the figure held several paper wards and in the other a bouquet of red roses.

Ranma shook his head at the sight of the flying Kuno, taking a step to intercept him. He stopped after a single step recalling Akane's anger at him yesterday, claiming she was able to handle Kuno. He glanced at Akane to see if she was setting herself to hit him and realised she was still talking to Yuka. Could she have not noticed him?

Like watching in slow motion, he saw Kuno falling closer and closer to his fiancee who still hadn't reacted. He felt panic rising up when her eyes flicked to him, a similar fear in her eyes shooting into him.

"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

He hadn't realised he had called it till after the ball of emotionally charged chi soared inches over Akane and Yuka's heads, collecting the flying Kuno and carrying him away.

Akane swung around looking surprised. "You jerk! Keep your fights away from people who don't want to be involved!"

Akane swung around and began storming into the school, dragging Yuka by the arm.

Ranma's head fell at being berated by his fiancee. He hated times like this where he wasn't sure what she wanted or what to do about it.

He glanced up just in time to see Akane and Yuka entering the building. He was about to look down again when he saw her look back...

'Did she just wink at me?' he thought.

Damn she was confusing.

One thing good about school on Saturday, was it was only a half-day, the school closing at lunch. The ringing of the bell had the students more than eager to get out of school and enjoy the rest of the sunny Saturday.

"Ranma Honey?"

Turning, Ranma and Akane saw Ukyo Kuonji approaching.

"Hey Ucchan, what's up?"

"You want to come by the restaurant? I'll make you a special or two."

Ranma smiled widely then turned to Akane to see if she wanted to come, but she was still walking ignoring them. "Hey Akane, want to come to Ucchan's?"

Akane turned to look at Ranma and his oldest friend, a dark smile coming to her lips seeing Ukyo obviously wasn't happy her invite was getting extended.

"Tempting... but I feel like relaxing rather than being blown up!" With that she turned around and stomped off.

Ranma turned back sheepishly to his friend, partially embarrassed by Akane's words.

Ukyo stepped beside him and placed a hand on his arm. "I wonder if she's ever going to get over that?"

Ranma stepped back from her touch. "Ucchan? You threw bombs at her? Do you expect her to just get over it?"

Ukyo frowned angrily. "She was trying to marry you? What would you have me do?"

"But... you..." Ranma's mind locked up. He hated fighting with Ukyo, but it had been happening more and more of late. Why couldn't it be like the old days when their friendship meant something. She was wrong to throw bombs but she always made it out to be his fault.

"Look Ukyo, I'm sorry. I gotta go."

Ukyo's anger spiked a lot more, but Ranma had already turned away and was jogging off.

He tried looking for Akane but she had already left.

Ranma saw Akane's shoes among the others at the front door and let out a sigh, expecting another grilling from one of his parents about his treatment of her. He entered intent on making his way to the Dojo but stopped under the gaze of Akane from the top of the stairs. She had obviously been home long enough to change from her school uniform to her yellowed training gi.

"That must have been a fast quickie you had at the Ucchan, Ranma."

Ranma bristled under the comment, but before he could comment she interrupted. "Kasumi and Aunty aren't back from shopping yet so lunch will be a while off yet. Unless you've made a date with one of your other floozies, would you like to do some sparring?"

Ranma wasn't going to let her interrupt him again after that. "They ain't my..."

Unfortunately, their father's storming out of the main room interrupted him.

"Which floozies would these be, son? I thought you were going to actually do something about them after the last wedding?" Soun wailed into his face.

Genma turned him around to face him. "Boy, just look at yourself. You're nearly a man and you must keep playing these childish games with these girls. Take some responsibility for yourself?"

Ranma just let the anger go. "What the hell would you know about responsibility, you old fart? It ain't my fault Shampoo and Kodatchi won't take no." Part way though his rant he saw Akane had descended the stairs and was walking away towards the dojo, shaking her head.

He swung around on Soun again. "Mr Tendo, if you really want to know the main reason there are these other girls, here's the answer."

He hoisted his father in front of Soun with one hand. "Ask this old fraud why I have been engaged to other girls if I'm supposed to be marrying your daughter!"

Genma began to fumble out an answer as Soun's anger was redirect to the older man, which gave Ranma more than enough time to escape up the hall.

Ranma glanced back at the pair as he entered the dojo, quickly closing the doors behind him.

Turning, he saw Akane doing stretches in the middle of the large hall, facing away from him. As she bent over, her body folding so her torso lay against her leg before switching to the other side, his mind flashed up an image from the furo that morning and several other occasions. He pinched his nose at the thoughts.

She looked at him from between her legs, her small smile somehow more unsettling upside down. She stood up and turned, rolling her head around her neck to loosen up. "If you're done with all the interruptions, are you ready to spar?"

"Anything to be away from them," he replied taking a ready stance, happier to see she seemed over her earlier anger.

Ranma had taking sparing between them slightly more serious that he had before the incident at phoenix mountain. He still wasn't going all out, which he knew angered her still, but he had actually started to show her some weaknesses and help her better her technique. He didn't want to acknowledge why but he hated the idea of her being kidnapped or hurt again.

They had been sparing for nearly ten minutes when he actually started on one of the bigger flaws in her style. "Akane, you gotta control," block, "your body a bit more."

"What are you," reverse kick, "talking about?"

"Don't put," duck, "absolutely all your power," jump, "behind your attacks."

"But if I don't", punch, "what's the point in attacking?"

"Put enough to be effective," duck, roll, "but you're going overboard." Jump, block, "You'll tire yourself out quicker," flip, "and telegraph your moves. When you go all out, it's like I can read your mind."

-9. The MALE is expected to mind-read at all times-

The rule flashed up in his mind, a moment of clarity to his life. 'Was he supposed to be looking for things like this all the time?... But the rules are just a joke, right?'

The moment was spoiled as Akane's kick caught him in the hip, spinning him around and dropping him to the dojo floor.

Cursing his distraction he was just able to roll over as Akane dived on him. She had been going for his arm, to lock it in behind him but found herself at a distinct disadvantage. All too soon she was rolled onto her back under him, and pinned by his greater strength.

"You give?" he asked, grinning.

Akane struggled a bit more, blushing lightly from having Ranma so close to her.

"Lunch everyone."

Akane grinned at Kasumi's voice ringing out. "I guess this is a draw."

Ranma was still pinning her. "No chance. You lose. You can't get out of this."

Akane looked him straight in the eye, "Then the fight goes on, and your father will eat your lunch."

Ranma's face fell and he looked from Akane to the door and back again. "Aww, come on."

Ranma grumpily sat in his spot at the table, Akane grinning as she sat beside him. Soun, Genma-panda, and Nabiki were already seated at the table when the school heirs had entered.

Kasumi and Nodoka walked in happily carrying western pizzas they had brought back from their shopping trip, Kasumi served to her father then Nabiki and Akane as Nodoka did the same for her husband and son.

As they dug in Akane leaned over to Ranma. "Compliment your mother's new dress," she hissed to him between bites.

Ranma quickly looked over at the sundress his mother was wearing. It did look kinda new and he didn't remember seeing it before. "Ah, Mom. That dress, ah, looks nice."

Nodoka beamed at her son, "Why thank you Ranma. I just got it when we were out today." She also winked to Akane knowing full well her involvement.

Genma-panda 'growfd' as he held up a sign. It looks beautiful on you my wife.

"Thank you husband," she replied politely, with a fraction of her enthusiasm she had for her son.

"Free lesson there, Ranma," Nabiki put in, "It's not the words that matter, it's the thought. And being first helps."

Soon the rapid eating slowed to a gentler pace.

Kasumi wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Oh Akane, I got you a present." She said rummaging in a plastic bag. She brought out a little blue dogs bowl, on the front it had 'P-chan' in yellow kanji.

Akane smiled brightly, taking it from her. "How cute."

"Isn't it? I just had to get it for you."

"Thanks a lot, I love it." Akane replied still looking the bowl over.

Nodoka finished another slice of pizza. "Do you have a pet dog, Akane?"

"Not a dog Aunty, a cute little black piglet. That's why he's called P-chan, P for pig and -chan for cute." She said with a bright smile. "But I haven't seen him around for a while."

"Did he run off dear?"

"Nah, he just gets lost real easy." Ranma put in before biting into another slice. Akane's elbow had him coughing on it for a moment.

"Ranma never liked P-chan, and he chases him off."

Nodoka straightened in her seat, sending Genma slinking back hoping this wouldn't in any way come back at him. "Ranma, is this true?"

Ranma swallowed quickly. "No it ain't true. The pig attacks me and wanders off by himself."

Nodoka watched her son carefully, but was distracted by a smile flicker across Akane's features.

Akane turned towards Ranma. "If that's true, then you'll come with me and look for him this afternoon."

Ranma looked at Akane. "But we haven't seen Pig-boy in ages, he could be in China by now."

Akane raised one eyebrow.

"Fine."

Ranma looked around as he stretched.

As far as parks go, this was pretty nice, and he should know. They'd been walking for hours, he felt like they'd walked through every park and market in Nerima. As it was they were a fair distance from the Furinkan area, though Akane had stopped actually calling for P-chan shortly after leaving their house.

"Ranma, look there."

Ranma looked at Akane to see where she was leading them now. Ahead was a poster for a carnival, and the moment he saw it he knew he'd be going there. Akane seemed to love these dumb festivals.

Akane was smiling as she began to unpin the poster, rolling it up.

Ranma took a deep breath, "Ah, you want to go to..."

"HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, and just what is going on here." The two turned to see Kodatchi landing right in front of Ranma. She wore her St Hebereke school uniform and her lustrous black hair tied back in a ponytail. She appraised the situation with a glance.

"My my my, such tortures you are forced to endure, Ranma sweet'ums. Forced by your honour to your family to stay with this horrid little tramp." She closed the distance to Ranma and lay her hand on his chest.

Ranma was baking away, in part because of Kodatchi's hand on his chest and the other because he knew Hurricane Akane was about to blow through.

Akane was glaring angrily at Kodatchi. "Ranma is in no way forced to be here, hussy." Her gaze turned on Ranma. "If you want to go run off with this harpy, don't let me stop you!" Turning she began to storm off.

Ranma's mouth moved but Kodatchi was right in his face again. "Come dear, let us be off to the Kuno mansion and tally no more on this forced date with this brute."

Akane swung back. "Like I'd date him! We happen to be looking for my pet!"

Kodatchi glanced quickly between the two of them in surprise but she quickly covered for it. "HOHOHOHO, of course, my Ranma would never date a creature as loathsome as you." Kodatchi smiled and swept her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, I must be off. Ranma, you know my bedroom window is always left open for you. Hohohohoho..."

Akane watched angrily as Kodatchi leapt to the roof of a nearby house and away, "I am so fed up with her. Every time I see her I wonder if I really do dislike Shampoo more."

"Well it's not like I wan..." Ranma's voice failed as Akane glared at him.

She shook her head as if to clear it, noticeably calming. Turning to look in the direction Kodatchi had left. "I wonder what she was doing out here. It's pretty far from her school."

Ranma shrugged, "It's been a year since that time I fought her in rhythmic gymnastics, maybe she's still bumping off the competition."

Akane nodded thoughtfully. "What a bitch. How could anyone be like that?"

"Bweee!"

Both teenagers swung around in surprise at the sound, Akane's face coming to life as she saw her piglet again. Akane swept the pig up into her arms hugging the black piglet tightly. "P-chan. I'm so happy to see you my little baby. I never ever thought I'd see you again, you've been gone soooo long."

Ranma grumbled a bit as Akane lavished affections on the piglet, his mind already thinking of some way to get the piglet away from Akane before bedtime. He had considered they had no chance they find the little oinker, so of course they'd found him. 'Doesn't matter. Ryoga has Akari now, he ain't stayin' with Akane tonight.' But even as he thought it, he new Akane would be unforgiving of he tried to get rid of the pig, she was absolutely ecstatic to see the little beast.

'...I never ever thought I'd see you again...'

Ranma was a few paces behind the girl and her pig as they began the walk home, but that sentence began to bug him. 'If she never figured she'd see P-chan again, why did we just waste a whole afternoon looking for the walking pork snack?'

His mind kept churning the thought for several moments, recalling many other walks like this, most of which ended up going a fair distance from their neighbourhood, the vast majority of which they didn't find P-chan on. They must have taken long walks through every park in Nerima by now.

'... followed by a long romantic walk through the park...'

He paled, remembered the line from some dumb romance anime.

'...tally no more on this forced date with this brute.'

Kodatchi's voice from earlier. She obviously thought they were on a date.

His mind reviewed the afternoon. They hadn't fought at all, Akane had been walking closer to him than normal, she had never expect to find P-chan, Kodatchi had thought they were on a date...

"Hey Ranma, you okay?"

Ranma looked up at Akane's smiling face as she looked back at him from further up the path. "Yeah, just thinking about some stuff."

He quickly crossed the distance to be beside her as she began walking again. "Come on, let's head home."

"You in a rush?"

Ranma looked around at Akane who blushed and glanced down. 'She does think this is a date or somethin'.'

-1. The FEMALE always makes THE RULES, THE RULES are subject to change without prior notice.-

Ranma's face fell as he stepped in beside Akane, the pair slowly continuing on their way. He suddenly understood that this was a date, looking for P-chan was just an excuse. Akane had known it from the beginning, she'd set it up!

The clarity in his mind began to spread, Akane starting fights in front of the other girls... she'd let him hit Kuno today... maybe even the bathroom incident... It was some kind of game!

'But if she wanted me to come on this date, and to drive off the other girls, and to see her... then she must... like me?'

Ranma glanced at Akane beside him, who looked away quickly from him. With a silent prayer, he raised his arm and put it over her shoulder. "Ah, just till the end of the park."

Akane's eyes were wide as she looked up at his face, but he was staring straight forward.

Ranma could feel the blush on his cheeks as he waited for a reaction from Akane. He didn't see her nod but he felt her step closer to him, her side touching his and her head leaning against his shoulder.

P-chan looked up warily at Ranma and Akane, both blushing and sharing a small smile. 'When the hell did they get so close?'

To be continued...

This came from Tom Wrenches fic idea of 'Akane playing games' which was a perfect inspiration I came across when wondering were to take a fic idea of Ranma finding 'The Rules'.

Thanks for reading,

Trent O'Donoghue