Two
"Akane!"
No movement.
"Aaakaaaneeeee!"
Still nothing.
"If you don’t wake up soon I swear I’ll make use of some of your own techniques
to kick you out of bed – including the bucket full of ice water."
Ranma could see something moving underneath the big pile of blankets.
'Gosh, how can she sleep in this mess', he thought and decided to give it one
more try.
"Rise and shine sleepyhead! This is your last call…..I’m warning you…."
He frowned mentally.
"Akane, I know you can hear me so get your sweet behind OUT OF THERE!"
Suddenly a ruffled shock of blue hair appeared.
"What did you just say?"
"Haha, I knew this would work, I can’t believe I’d actually see the day when
Akane Tendo oversleeps."
Akane slowly crawled back under her sheets. "I didn’t oversleep, Ranma",he heard
her grumble from underneath, "I was just about getting ready...". He didn’t
catch the last part of what she was mumbling, because the big Akane-pillow pile
suddenly started to move awkwardly into all kinds of direction, as if she
couldn’t find her way out of the bed-cave.
With a heavy sigh Ranma turned around and started to tap impatiently on the
floor with his left foot, stopping instantly when he heard a sudden thump
suspiciously close to him.
He looked back at her and rolled his eyes.
"Akane! That’s The Wall!"
"Ranma! What the heck are you still doing in my room??"
She finally made it through the thick layers of sheets and was constantly
rubbing her forehead now.
"Ouch.", she made a face.
Ranma frowned once again and took a step closer towards Akane to inspect any
possible damage.
"Are you hurt?", he asked, his voice just a hint softer now.
"No", she winced, "back off."
He shot a gloomy glance at her and moved slightly backwards, as if suddenly he
was the one who had to endure her pain.
That changed the second he took his eyes off of her flushed face and started to
gaze lower and lower and ... 'Oh, for heaven’s sake', as Akane thought....lower.
"Wow", she saw him smirking, "sexy PJ’s, tomboy!"
Akane felt her face go blank, as she remembered that she only wore her very
antique nightgown, which she found at the back of her wardrobe last night and
had little Sailor Moon figures all over it.
'Oh, for cryin’ out loud', she thought and it took her a while to recover her
voice since her tongue was stuck somewhere between her teeth and her throat.
"Ranma, you IDIOT!", she yelled, "you’re well aware that Kasumi has tons of
clothes to wash to get rid of the mould, Happosai spread everywhere. And I
REALLY DON’T want to know what you’re wearing at night at the moment! NOW GET
YOUR BUTT OUTTA HERE!"
But Ranma had already left the room.
Akane was fuming, not to say blind with rage and she felt the urgent need to
smash something hard. NOW.
For a second, she thought about going after that snotty brat but recollected
quickly and took a deep breath, when she realized that he would only tease and
laugh at her even more, when he saw her running wild in her silly shortie
nightie. And she really didn’t want to catch him or that old leech
staring at her legs again. 'Perverts! Why in the world did all men have to be
freakin’ PERVERTS?!'
To vent her anger only a bit, she threw a pillow at the long closed door.
"Just you wait, Ranma!"
* * *
Dead beat but happy, Akane got back to the Tendo house half an hour later. She
did not regret her morning exercise, even though it was her usual day off. But
after that turmoil this morning she desperately needed to feel the adrenaline
pushing through her veins and the eventual calming effect, which should kick in
any minute now.
When she entered her home through the backyard, she immediately took in the
smell of freshly brewed tea coming from the kitchen and almost changed her
direction. 'No!', she quarrelled, she had to have a shower first before she
could give in to her stomach, which longed for food.
As she walked up the stairs, she saw Ranma coming out of the bathroom. He must
have heard her footsteps, because he was turning around now to face her. She
noticed the cheeky grin on his face before he could get the words out.
"Akane! There you are! Woah, you smell bad! Better take off your clothes! Quick!"
"Haha, jerk! Is that the best you can come up with?", she returned sarcastically.
Akane watched his eyes rolling around in his head.
"No! I mean it! I left the shower on for you, so you’re better not wasting any
more precious hot water! Go!"
Slightly irritated, she blinked at him.
'Somehow that sounds familiar, very familiar even...too familiar' ... had
she missed anything?
"Ok. I’m gonna make it real simple for you, Akane, since you’re being a bit slow
this morning. One knob in the shower came loose, which means that you can
either burn your fingers or shower super-cold when you turn it on yourself. I
figured you’d be totally wasted after your workout, so I left the shower on,
just in case. Perfect timing, by the way."
And suddenly it hit her.
'FREEZE!!', she thought, 'Was this a déjà vu??'
"Ranma...."
"...What Did You Just Say???"
