Part 2

Akane never realized that love could be so painful. The romance novels always talked about wonderful tingling type feelings and a comforting warmth. Instead Akane had fires burning with thoughts of homicide all directed at one Okonomiyaki chef to appease the jealousy running through her by the end of the school day.

Breakfast this morning had her wire tense. All Ranma did was sit next to her like usual and her heart sped up. She was so afraid to do or say anything in case she gave herself away that no morning fights broke out.

Luckily, the family took it as a blessing of the day instead of noting the strangely quiet behavior of the youngest Tendo. And between the Kuno's declaration of love and morning class, the day started to head towards normalcy, with Ranma being totally and completely oblivious as per norm. At least from what Akane could tell with her sneaked glances at Ranma.

Until lunch.

Akane had picked a nice spot under a shaded tree, away from her friends. Friends who would ask her a million questions about Ranma as usual. And tell her how good looking he is but it was too bad he was such a jerk. Akane didn't think she'd be up to her normal "I hate being engaged to him" mode to convince Yuka and Sayuri. Especially with her new found feelings fresh in her mind. Plus she hated the thought of having to lie to them.

Instead of her friends though, Akane found herself trying out her acting skills on her fiancée as Ranma dropped down next to her. "Hey, Akane."

At the initial shock, Akane inhaled a few rice grains from her lunch. Ranma, trying to be the gentleman, pounded on her back as she coughed and gagged in a very unfeminine- like manner. She could feel her eyes water and her face grow red with the efforts (from both herself and Ranma) to free the invading food.

"Geez, Akane, they say I eat food too fast but at least I don't actually inhale it. You OK?" Ranma had bent down eye level with Akane, his warm hand still on her back and she could see the concern in his eyes. She also noted his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, with a tinge of violet flecks in them. Funny, she never really noticed before, but he really did have beautiful eyes.

"Akane?" Akane saw Ranma's eyes change slightly from concern to a confused concern.

'Oh, yes, he's probably wondering why I'm staring at him like an idiot.' Akane cleared her throat one last time so she could thank Ranma, madly trying to remind herself not to act strange, even though his eyes were quite nice to stare into and Akane wanted to spend the rest of the day to do so but that was absurd and would accomplish nothing as he had another woman in his life that he truly cared for, and it wasn't her so she needed to hurry up and say something before he noticed something was wrong...

"Ranma!"

Initial feelings of gratefulness for the interruption quickly melted into irritation as Ukyou approached both her and Ranma. With an angry mental shove, Akane buried what may have been pangs of jealousy under a full mallet of atonement. Yes, it was a good thing Ukyou was here. Akane just wish the chef didn't have to seem so cute and perky.

"Oh, hey, Akane. I didn't see you there. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Ukyou said, though there was an uneasiness to her tone and a sad look as she gazed at Ranma.

Akane knew Ranma didn't know how to handle feelings very well except to do one of two extremes; run away or turn into a pole-ax. At the moment, Ranma was close to number two as he hadn't moved an inch since hearing Ukyou's voice. For a brief moment, Akane thought a good elbow to the ribs might help but another thought hit her. Ranma was up tight about feelings to begin with but he also probably feared for his life. The normal Akane would have bashed him to the ground if he showed any type of love interest in another fiancée. He probably expects a mallet to the head if he started acting a little different around Ukyou. And frankly, she might follow through with her normal behavior if she stayed here much longer.

Akane slammed the best smile she could muster to her lips as she greeted the Okonomiyaki chef, "Hello, Ukyou. You're not interrupting anything. I'm just..going to eat lunch...with my friends..over there." Akane pointed vaguely in a direction. "And leave Ranma to you, uh, I mean, you can sit and keep Ranma company."

The offer was almost a growl through clenched teeth and had both Ranma and Ukyou staring at Akane with a touch of apprehension. Akane quickly stood and walked stiffly to a picnic table far from the tree where a few other students sat.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Ukyou to Ranma. Ranma stared at Akane a few moments more before shrugging, then leaning back up against the tree.

Akane stayed at her spot at the end of the picnic table, half listening to the heated conversation on the latest hit movie, and half an eye to the two students under the tree. She had to catch herself from resulting to violence several times when a stray hand of Ukyou's rested lightly on Ranma's arm. Thoughts of throttling Ranma for being an idiot were starting to become quite pleasant as well.

But the anger would always cycle back down into depression and guilt, stopping any action from Akane. It was a roller coaster of emotions during that lunch period and Akane wanted off before she got sick.

Luckily the rest of the school day ended quickly and without further disturbances. However, Akane found herself a new level of torture by walking home alone with the object of her affections.

Ranma immediately jumped up to the fence as per norm. Akane watched and admired his ease and grace from the corner of her eyes. Ranma walked across the fence top like it was a part of the side walk. No arms stretched for extra balance, no focused concentration on the next few steps. Just one foot in front of the other.

Akane's gaze was lingering longer and longer, taking in more details. Her eyes would wander over a flat muscled chest or a well toned arm. A blush became burning as she realized her friends were right about Ranma. He was very appealing to look at. Akane quickly reprimanded herself at her thoughts. All this time she had been calling Ranma a pervert, but here she was checking him out after class. But even as she told herself this, Akane found her eyes straying back to her fiancee's form.

Until he caught her staring.

Akane quickly averted her gaze to the pavement and tried to act normal. But she knew her flaming red face was writing guilty across her forehead.

Ranma paused momentarily on the fence before jumping down to continue walking beside Akane. He didn't tease her like she expected, but just walked with her for several minutes. As Akane finally got her blush under control, she thought maybe Ranma hadn't noticed her stares.

"Anything wrong, Akane?"

Then again maybe not, "Huh?"

Ranma blushed a little, "Um, just wondering if anything's wrong?"

Akane felt her head spin in thought, 'Of course there's something wrong. You're standing too close and it's making my heart pound with your concern and cute embarrassment, how much I wish you could care about me so my heart wouldn't hurt so much whenever you're so close.too close.'

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Akane replied flustered, "N-no. Nothing's wrong. Why?"

Ranma shrugged, "I don't know. You've been lookin' at me kinda funny. And you've been quiet and..different. Guess I'm not use it."

"Oh?" was the best reply Akane could give before upper cutting him into the canal. There was a level of satisfaction in landing the punch but she told herself it was really more to keep up appearances and not to appease her growing jealousy and anger. As Ranma popped up from the water, she asked, "Is that better?"

With a quick turn, Akane picked up the pace to make it back to the Tendo's in record time, not noticing if Ranma caught up or not. She ran up the stairs to her room after saying a quick hello to Kasumi. Shutting the door quickly, Akane leaned against it, tilting her head back, and slowly slid to the floor with a groan.

'Was everyday to be this miserable?' Akane thought. Must she be continuously taunted with him so close and not react to it. Well, she did react today but luckily it was subdued compared to the violence she felt at lunch.

Akane angrily shoved self-pity back into whatever hole it had climbed out of. She needed to get to work, to get Ranma and Ukyou together without massive tears or bloodshed from the Nerima population so maybe she could begin to heal. To let go. Maybe.

"Fine," Akane muttered to herself, not wanting to wallow in her misery any longer. "Let's get going. So what's the plan, Miss Matchmaker?"

'Well,' thought Akane, 'Ranma is really shy and doesn't understand girls at all. I can't just throw them into a room together and hope for a miracle to happen. Plus he'd probably screw things up by saying something stupid. He seems to be really good at that.'

Akane threw herself on the bed with a sigh, 'Ranma needs to loosen up a little. Become more considerate of a girl's feelings, let alone learn the society norm for etiquette. How in the world am I going to get THAT to happen?'

Akane immediately threw out her first thought of using magic. Magic, she had learned the hard way, always had some side effect no one told you about until after it was too late. Such as whiskers from super soba. Plus the only readily known sources of magic, Cologne and Happosai, were not very reliable to begin with.

And then it hit her..training.

Akane sat up with the idea as it took shape and grew, 'Just based on what I've seen Ranma do and the amount of time it takes him to learn, he should pick up etiquette in no time. His mannerisms could be worked on a little bit too, though I'm not sure how much.'

'Nah, that'll never work,' Akane flopped back down onto the bed. 'I've been hitting him for at least a year and he hasn't really changed. Well, not too much. It must not be the motivation he needs. Or maybe I'm not the motivation he needs.'

Her eyes closed as a sharp pain lanced through her chest. Akane turned to her side and curled up into a ball to hold back the hurt. 'Come on, Akane, focus! Ranma has to have a good reason to want to learn, something to push him on or challenge him.

'Challenge him? That's right! Ranma always learned fast if he was challenged by someone! But how? Or even better, WHAT in the world do you challenge?'

And as the flood gates of a plan opened up to Akane, an evil smile on her face grew. One Nabiki would be proud of.

----------------------------------------------

Ryoga sat impatient and slightly irritated as he waited for Ranma. He began to have doubts about this crazy plan working but then remembered how he got talked into doing this in the first place.

It was Akane's eyes.

Ryoga had been on the run for barely a week when he found a nice little camping spot to rest himself and figure out what to do next to gain Akane's forgiveness. An hour after starting a small camp fire to cook up some dinner, Akane appeared from around a bush. She quickly informed him that he needed to put out the fire before the cops were called for him trespassing in her neighbor's garden. The double embarrassment had him desperately searching his head for explanations and apologies that he'd been working on during his week of travel and found his mind wiped clean now that the moment had come. Ryoga glanced at Akane's eyes to gauge how much pain he was going to be in. His feelings of fear and distress were killed by the overwhelming concern at the hurt in her eyes.

Akane had stared at him for a long moment then offered a talk before she gave judgment and execute justice to his actions as P-chan. Ryoga had never been more grateful in his life and he poured out every detail he could remember, editing his reasoning for his dishonesty as a need to have a caring friend, not the love he actually felt. Even then his cowardly behavior won out against his love. In the end, Akane said she forgave him for his deception but was far from forgetting. She offered him a chance to make it up to her and Ryoga was more than willing to jump on the chance.

Akane then related a simplified and detached version of what she had witnessed at the Ucchan's between Ranma and Ukyou. Ryoga could see tears trying to form but with a pause and a few blinks Akane would shove them back. It was breaking his heart to see the sweet young girl who had made him so happy be so miserable.

"I'll break him in two if it'd make you feel better, Akane," Ryoga had offered. He couldn't protect Akane from what was hurting her, but he could certainly deal out a dose of ass whooping revenge.

Akane gave a slightly sad chuckle, "I wish it was that easy, Ryoga."

Unfortunately for Ryoga, his favor method for making Ranma pay was taken away from him as Akane made him promise not to fight with Ranma any more. That what had been in the past between the two of them was not solely the fault of the pigtailed martial artist. Though Ryoga still had doubts about Ranma's role in the ruination of his life, Ryoga reluctantly gave his promise to Akane, knowing this was one way to earn her trust back. And if he had her trust back, then maybe he could win her love. Especially since Ranma had chosen another.

Akane gave him small smile of approval before detailing her plans for Ranma. Ryoga couldn't believe the level of effort Akane was willing to go through. And for Ranma, the man who had rejected her. Her compassionate nature made him care all the more for her and he willing agreed to all that she requested of him.

And so, Ryoga continued to sit at the dining room table, waiting for Ranma and his chance to strike. Ryoga's part for the first phase seemed fairly simple, he just had to keep himself in one spot so as not to get lost and egg on Ranma but not kill him. Though every time he saw some measure of pain in Akane's eyes, he had doubts about keeping his promise. A bruised and subdued Ranma was pretty tempting.

Ryoga's patience was thin by the time Ranma passed the dining room and did a double take. It wasn't every day that the depressed martial artist came to the Tendo's for a quiet rest. He was more known for cries of "Die, Ranma!" as a greeting to the Tendo household.

"Hey, Ranma," greeted Ryoga, which caused Ranma to blink harder, then Ranma gave a small shrug and entered the dining room.

"Hey, Ryoga, whatcha doin' here?"

Ryoga was able to detect a hint of threat underlying Ranma's question. The meaning was more, 'What are you doing here instead of sleeping in Akane's room as P-chan?' This would make his job much easier if Ranma was already a bit on the edge.

"Just dropping by for a visit. To see Akane, of course." Ryoga watched Ranma bristle a bit at that. Akane had assured Ryoga that Ranma was in love with Ukyou but the pigtailed martial artist still seemed to be affected by his random visits to see Akane.

"Yeah, well, whatever." Ranma mumbled and seemed to try to blow off the veiled challenge. "Hey, Ryoga, can I ask you something?"

Ranma looked so unsure of himself that Ryoga could only nod his head as Ranma continued, "I was wondering if.I know Akane acts a little differently with P-chan and all. I thought maybe she'd talk to you about stuff. And maybe she's told you something lately."

Ryoga raised his eyebrows at that, "Told me something?"

"I don't know." Ranma ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "Something big. Something a bit odd. She's been acting so weird lately."

'Perfect', thought Ryoga as he fold his arms in front of himself. "Right, Ranma. Even if I told you anything you wouldn't know what to do about it anyways."

That struck a cord of irritation in Ranma, "What the heck does that mean?"

Ryoga's smirk deepened, "Like you understand anything about women."

"Oh, and you do, Mr. P?"

Ryoga forced down a growl to counter, "Better than you think, Ranma. And most definitely better than you. I've seen you dangle all these women around and not do anything about them. I think you don't know what to do with them. That you can't even do something as simple as ask one of them on a date."

"If I wanted to die, P-chan, I would date one of them," Ranma said dryly.

Ryoga gave a short laugh, "Ha. I think it's more of a lack of knowledge of what to do, not an unwillingness to do so."

"What the heck are you saying?"

Ryoga leaned forward, "I'm saying I don't think you know how to please a woman. How to make sure she has a good time."

Ranma almost leaped away from the table in revulsion of the conversation topic, "WHAT?!?"

Ryoga caught onto Ranma's line of thought and with a red face, tried to quickly clarify himself, "You know, a good date."

"Oh," Ranma's come back was not quite as strong as before. His normal confidence slightly wilted. "I know how to date a woman. That is, if I wanted to."

"Yeah, right. I don't seem to remember you talking about any good dates you've had lately. Considering the number of women you lead around, Ranma, people would have to wonder about your manliness." Ryoga could almost feel the battle ki flare to life, he had definitely hit several of Ranma's sore spots.

"Oh, and you've had so many yourself, P-chan," snapped back Ranma. "Watching women undress as you act like a cute little pet is not considered a date."

Ryoga felt his hands clench the table top as he shot daggers from his eyes at Ranma. The combination of the insults and a heart sick Akane were pushing Ryoga towards the edge of his tolerance. "And looking at a naked woman in the mirror is?"

Ranma flushed red with anger but Ryoga interrupted any scathing comment Ranma may have had, "Feh, sticks and stones, Ranma. You're too afraid to put your money where your mouth is."

"Wanna bet, bacon breath?"

Silence rang in the room as the two combatants glared each other until a slightly disheveled Akane suddenly appeared in the doorway. "A bet? About what?"

Akane had heard both boy's voices being raised before the deathly silence. Visions of strangulations and other horrific deaths crossed her mind, causing her to run into the room to see Ranma and Ryoga having a staring contest.

Ryoga was grateful for the interruption. It gave his mind a break at his anger at Ranma and reminded him why he was here in the first place. To completely free Akane from Ranma's grasp. Ranma had lost already, Akane was trying to get him to leave. That thought cleared Ryoga's normally anger cluttered mind and left confidence and a taste of victory. He could easily pull Ranma into the trap now.

"Akane, I'm glad you're here. I would like to ask you something. Please, have a seat."

Ranma looked warily at Ryoga as his whole mannerism changed from angry to smooth and pleasant. Akane took a place beside Ryoga causing Ranma's jaw clench a little tighter at the action but he said nothing. "Ranma and I were just having a little talk about who's the better man. Ranma believes he's a good date. I think he's full of it."

"Well, there's one way to solve this. The school dance is in two months. Why don't each of you take a date and I'll judge who had the better time," Akane suggested, pleased that her plan was going so well.

"No, Akane. We can't have you sitting on the side lines. You can be my date and have a front seat at the event. Ranma can take Ukyou or Shampoo. His choice."

Akane turned wide-eyed at Ryoga. This was not what she had in mind. In her plan, she was to be a spectator. Away and detached from the date where she could be less hurt. Ryoga was putting her into the middle of it. What the hell was Ryoga thinking?

"No way in hell, pork butt," Ranma growled fiercely though not explaining what specifically he had a problem with. He was almost shaking with effort to hold back from punching Ryoga. Akane merely sat opened mouth like a fish.

"Oh, I'm sure Ukyou or Shampoo won't mind a double date. Or are you not man enough to take up the challenge?" Ryoga taunted as Ranma's fierce eyes snapped to a quiet and unmoving Akane. She could feel his anger then. It was burning hot enough to make her feel like melting into her seat, though it wasn't directed at her. However, Ranma WAS trying to delve into her thoughts through their eyes. She could tell he was wondering why the hell she wasn't protesting to the forced dating game when she loudly protested a forced marriage. But with her plans being abruptly changed and still wanting to continue with what remained of the plan, she couldn't seem to muster up any form of protest.

Ryoga decided he would get away while he could (Ranma's threatening eyes were starting to get the best of him) and the bet seemed to still be on. Therefore, both his and Akane's missions were accomplished. "I'll be here to pick up my date as planned in two months. And Ranma, unlike some people, I don't run away from a challenge."

Silence ruled the Tendo dining room for several long moments. Akane could only stare after who she thought was Ryoga. But whoever it was that just left was nothing like the sweet lost boy she remembered.

Ranma turned back to Akane, seeing her eyes stare off at the departed Ryoga. He sunk a little in his spot as the fleeing anger deflated him to a bit of depression resting on raw nerves. "Why the hell didn't you say anything, Akane?"

Ranma's irritation was fueling her own at Ryoga's sudden change of plans. "Oh, I don't know. Why didn't YOU say anything? And why did you take up the challenge?"

"I'm not going to let bacon breath walk all over my name and not prove how wrong he is."

Akane sighed in slight disgust, "You and your ego."

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?"

"Do you even know what to do?"

"What to do?"

Akane rolled her eyes, "For a date, do you even know what to do?"

Ranma shrugged, "Sure, how hard can it be. People do it all the time."

"True, but you seem to lack education in the finer arts of society."

"Huh?"

"Do you know what's required of you on a date?"

"Uh, don't make her cry?"

Akane rolled her eyes, "How about holding doors, pulling out chairs, dressing up, telling her she looks pretty, polite talk, dancing.you know, romantic stuff."

Ranma grew paler as the list continued but one thing stood out the most of all the dating requirements, "Dancing?"

"Yes, you do know how to dance, don't you? It is a 'school dance' and there will be dancing."

Ranma bit his lip.

"Do you want Ryoga to win?"

That perked Ranma up, "Hell no. And he ain't taking you."

Akane couldn't understand why Ranma was having such a big problem with Ryoga taking her to the dance. She wasn't all that excited about being dragged to the potentially most romantic nights of Ranma's life, but Ryoga had chosen that path and she'd stick to it for now. Ignoring Ranma's last comment, Akane decided to focus on her goal instead, "Well, if you don't want Ryoga to win, why don't I train you on the fine art of dating?"

"What?" a confused Ranma replied before he shot back at Akane, "What would you know about dating?"

Akane felt herself flare up at the reproach, "Well, you could ask one of the other girls."

As visions of multiple painful deaths danced in the form of multiple pairs of jealous green eyes, Ranma shuttered. Let alone surviving the "lucky" girl's enthusiastic happiness at being chosen.

Akane gave a half smile as Ranma's face grew gray at the possibilities and decided to put the icing on the cake, "Or are you afraid you can't handle a girl like me?"

Ranma's eyes snapped to a hard burning focus. Challenge acknowledged. He already missed his chance to fight Ryoga, at least this time around. But he sure as hell wasn't about to let another challenge go by.

"Fine then. You, me, tomorrow night."

Challenge accepted.

Akane felt the victory fall into her hands. Her plan was working though she didn't know how well the extra twist with Ryoga was going to work but it seemed close to what she had planned. How bad could it be?