There came a knock on the door.

"Come in," Tendo Akane called out. She was surprised that Saotome Ranma, her arranged fiancé, came in, looking slightly uncomfortable. Usually, Ranma just burst in the door. She looked around. P-chan wasn't here.

Ranma closed the door behind him and faced her seriously. "Um...Akane...I just thought that...it's the time to tell you..."

Akane frowned and pulled up the blankets, clenching her hand on them. "What?" she asked warily.

Ranma walked towards her and stopped by her bedside. "Akane...I just thought that ...you...you looked cute today," he burst out.

Akane looked surprised, then blushed. "Um...Ranma! I..." she began to stammer.

Ranma took her hand and held it to his. "It's just that-I thought that maybe today you'll-see that I-" He stopped and looked away.

Akane hesitated, still dazed. "Ranma, you know you-" She stopped and shook her head. "I mean...it's a little sudden."

"Then you don't mind?" Ranma leaned forward and suddenly kissed her on the lips. When he pulled back, Akane was sitting, frozen on her bed.

"Ranma--"

"You're the only girl in my heart. Forget Kodachi and Shampoo and Ukyou. It's only you, Akane. I've never had the courage to tell you this before. But when I first saw you, even when I was a girl, I felt something different." He touched his chest. "Right here."

"I--I don't know what to say," Akane stuttered.

"I tried to hide it...tried to stop it." Ranma sighed. "But-but I always felt it. Even when we argued, it was always this I felt. I don't know why...but I love you, Akane."

Akane gasped. "I--I never thought I'd--hear those from you," she confessed when Ranma looked at her, puzzled. He smiled.

"I summoned up my courage only tonight," Ranma told her, eyes downcast. "I have to admit, every time I see you, I thought you were cute. But it's always so...I didn't think you'd like to hear it. But now...I just went up here to...tell you."

Akane looked away. "Well, Ranma, I..."

"Don't worry, Akane," Ranma said, his eyes shining, "when we get married, I'll get a job that'll hold our family. Not only teaching in the dojo, I mean. But something else. Like...like a job teaching or something like that. You just have to stay in the house but you'll be taking care of our kids, right?"

"Ranma-"

Suddenly, Ranma pressed forward and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened when Ranma pushed her into bed and began kissing her urgently. "Ranma," she murmured, her eyes beginning to close.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked against her lips. "Your cheeks are so red. And you're the only girl for me. Only you."

"Mm?"

Ranma pulled back. Akane's eyes opened, surprised. "What-?" she protested.

Ranma was grinning. "Do you realize what day this is?" he asked her pointedly.

"What?" Akane asked, curious.

"April one." Ranma's grin widened.

Akane froze, then struggled to get up against Ranma's tight arms. "You mean-all you told me-all were LIES?" she cried, enraged.

"Why, you believed them?" Ranma asked, his smile wide. His arms tightened around her. "You shouldn't believe all you hear, you know, Akane. Akane?" He noticed the changing color of her complexion. "Uh-oh..."

Akane's face was becoming red. "Why you...RANMA NO BAKA!" she screamed, drawing back her arm and slapping his face as hard as she could.

~ * ~

Ranma landed in the pond. It was one of the many times he'd landed there. As usual, she ignored the stinging pain on her cheek and the coldness of the water. She gasped as she surfaced. "Tomboy!" she shouted at Akane, who was looking at her from the window.

Akane huffed and glared at her. "If you don't want that to happen to you, you'll better forget about April one from now one!" she shouted back. She looked away. "It was a lie!" she cried. "A stupid lie! ALL LIES!"

She slammed down the window pane with a bang.

Ranma floated on the pond, her cheeks flushed. "But Akane," she whispered, "it was a little bit true."

The crickets were her only answer.