“Akane, you’re the last one!”

Akane sat quietly at her desk just about to scrawl the date in her Hello Kitty notebook when her group of friends bustled into the classroom with bright, triumphant smiles on their faces. “You’re the last one, Akane. I did it!” Suzu announced dominantly over Akane’s desk, pointing to her face. She puffed out her chest and looked at Akane with a smile, looking absolutely thrilled about herself. The other girls stood around Suzu, each one smirking or ribbing the girl next to her.

“Wha--? The last one... for what?” Akane’s brow wrinkled. “What did you do?”

The girls gave a shrill squeal and huddled into a group, excluding Akane and ignoring her questions. Akane frowned as she stood up, and began pushing her way into the elite little circle. She thrust herself between Massha, the big-boned girl of the clique, and Suzu.

“What’s going on, guys?” Akane asked innocently, forcing a tight smile. The other girls grinned evilly at her, each knowing that they were now, somehow, superior to Akane.

“This is an all-woman’s club now, Akane,” Suzu began jokingly. “So, if you’re not a woman...” They all began to giggle again. “Isn’t this so exciting, Akane?” Suzu rested a hand on Akane’s shoulder and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I beat you. I just can’t. Ohmigod!”

“Hey, wait a sec--” Akane suddenly responded defensively, shrugging off Suzu’s hand. “I can beat anybody at anything, anything at all. Why don’t we race each other at lunch to see who beats whom? I’m always up for some friendly competition.” Akane tried with a smile, attempting to understand what exactly Suzu thought she could beat Akane at. *Unless it’s cooking...* She imagined.

“Huh?” All the girls looked up to Suzu for her reaction. Her brows furrowed in contemplation until she realized what Akane’s bold and forward response implied. Suzu snorted, “Akane, do you think I’m talking about running?”

The girls’ piercing laughter put a deafening end to any other conversation being held in the classroom. By this time, other kids in the room began leaning closer to the circle to hear what all the fuss was about.

Akane became aware of the flushing of blood creeping past her neckline, feeling subsequently embarrassed that she had tried so hard to look cool for her friends, and failed so miserably. Instead of responding, Akane averted her eyes to the floor, fearful that she might declare another foolish remark in front of all those people.

“I’m talking about our sex lives, and the fact that you’re the last girl in the group to get one, you twit.” Suzu abruptly responded, a little too loud to make sure that everyone could hear. All talk in the room paused for about a second, and then a wave of whispers engulfed the class. Akane could now feel Ranma’s stare on the back of her neck.

“Oh.”  She finished stupidly, suddenly becoming very sensitive to the whispering going on behind her. She heard the words, Ranma, and never fucked said at least twice, and a jumble of other jargon that would have hurt her all the same no matter what was really being whispered.

With her defenses down, Akane had no idea how to respond. Formerly, she would have attested her hatred for the opposite sex, and her strong views on female rights and independence from her male counterpart. Otherwise, she would have argued that these kinds of experiences would come when the time was right. But under these circumstances, with all these people dying to hear what sort of witty comeback she could produce, this response seemed juvenile and avoidant. Akane considered suggestively alluding to the idea that she was at a more advanced sexual stage than she really was, but that would only make her seem more pathetic and everyone would know that this was not true. The laughing and whispering was beginning to die down and Akane was seconds away from losing her social status, as too much of a wait would establish her as a prude. Her time was up.

“I guess I’ll just have to work on that.” Akane finally mustered, reeking with insecurity.

The teacher walked into the classroom and began instructing her students to find their seats and get out the homework from the previous day. Akane smiled at her friends and sat back down in her seat with the class breaking back up into its own little cliques again, discussing the recent event extra quietly so that Akane couldn’t hear them anymore. The girls clustered their chairs around Suzu, while she informed them of the who-when-and-how as soon as the teacher paused her lecture to write notes on the board. Akane sat rigidly, laughing or smiling at the appropriate parts in Suzu’s story, feigning interest in what he said after the deed was done, how he kissed her goodbye in the morning, how he said he’d call her later today...

Though she attempted to look amused, inside, Akane was furious with her friends for making her feel this uncomfortable around them and the rest of the class. And even more so, that Ranma was in the room, but said nothing to defend her. She wondered what Ranma’s thoughts were as he sat there, listening to her humiliation. *What a jerk, * was the only answer Akane could rely on as she tried to justify his negligence.

Late afternoon, school was out and people were making their way home on the cold November day with warm scarves and winter jackets. Most of them had forgotten the morning’s events but it still lingered fiercely in Akane’s mind. She wanted to confront Ranma. Why had he not come to her rescue? But Ranma was nowhere to be seen. He left as soon as the bell rang, and ran home quickly to avoid Akane, even leaving his slip-on casual shoes behind in his locker. This kind of avoidance from Ranma boiled Akane’s blood, and she was frantic with rage on the long walk home. The biting cold didn’t help, since her array of winter clothes remained in the closet at home; the weatherman predicting earlier that the day would get warmer in the afternoon.

By the time Akane got home, it was pitch black outside and a hot dumpling stew was already being prepared on the stove. She stood sniffling in the front foyer, taking note of Ranma’s dress shoes on the step. They were shiny from lack of use; Akane wiped her muddy boot on the toe of his shoe, ruining the polished finish. Watching the mud drip around the sides of the leather shoe gave her some small glimmer of satisfaction. In the other room, she could hear the sound of the television blasting away, and someone constantly flipping back and forth through channels.

Akane quickly glanced in the front hall mirror. She suddenly stopped in her tracks to get a closer look. Her face was ruddy and blotchy from the cold, and her nose looked bulbous, eyes puffy, ears a bright ugly pink. It was no help that her hair gave no protection from the wintry outside elements. She had an unanticipated urge to freshen up before she could confront Ranma.

Akane quietly made her way upstairs to the bedroom, being careful not to let anyone know of her presence. She pressed a cool towel to her face and ears to limit the swelling. She smoothed out her wind blown hair and blew her nose furiously until everything was cleared. Next, she picked up her long-forgotten makeup kit from the closet and began applying foundation, pink lipstick, smoky eye shadow, and mascara to her face, and a fruity-scented perfume to her wrists. She changed into her tightest fitting turtleneck, the one that made her breasts seem bigger than they really were, and put on a water bra and sparkly thong for fun. Finally, she found her cutest jean mini, the one that everyone said looked amazing on her at the last party to complete the image.

Akane gave herself the once-over in the mirror; she looked like she was about to go out on a hot date, which was exactly what she wanted.

*Those bitches* Akane said to herself in the mirror, *I could get anyone dressed like this, * Her lips curled into a grin. *Even Ranma* She thought with complete confidence in her statement.

Making her way down the stairs, Akane met her father on the bottom steps, who looked at her questioningly, then ignored her and continued upstairs as though she had never been there. Seeing her father’s face while she was dressed so lewdly made Akane feel just as stupid as she had earlier in the classroom: She felt juvenile and silly. Akane scolded herself for letting those other girls persuade her so easily into considering having sex with Ranma, when that would have been so brainless of her.

*This isn’t me, * Akane decided. *What am I even trying to prove? * Just as she was about to go back upstairs to change into her normal clothes, she caught a glimpse of Ranma walking from the kitchen back into the TV room holding a bag of chips, his mouth full of food. He had changed into his grubby, white tank top, and black pull-string pants, he wore no socks.

Akane took a few steps into the hallway, and peered at herself in the mirror again. This time, she saw someone sexy and attractive staring back at her. Her sexual insecurities began to surface once more. *Maybe just this once. Ranma has never seen me look this good before. * Akane thought, pouting at her reflection. *Besides, I will have just wasted my good makeup for nothing if I wash it off now. *  She reasoned.

Akane made her way with trepidation to the TV room, hoping Ranma’s reaction would be one of shock and desire. She had planned that he would stare at her from across the room, with a look of silent admiration in his eyes. She would sit down next to him and let him get a scent of her intoxicating perfume. He would glance at her sideways from the television, catching his breath and hoping she would say something first. Before he would have a chance to speak, she would leave the room, and he would follow her. She would walk up the stairs giving Ranma a sly, come-hither motion. They would then enter his room, one at a time, and Akane would turn off the lights and let the night begin.

Unfortunately, when Akane finally entered the TV room, she was met by the other members of the household and not just Ranma, as she had planned. Nabiki and Genma were also present, and Kasumi stuck her head into the room every few minutes to watch parts of the show. With the TV blaring so loudly, no one had even noticed Akane walking in. Soon enough though, Nabiki caught the scent of Akane’s perfume and turned around to see her standing starkly at the open doorway.

“Ooh, hey, Sis! You going out tonight?” Nabiki said enthusiastically over the noise. “You’re looking hot!”

Genma gave a disinterested glance over at Akane for a second, and then focused his attention back to the TV. Akane waited a moment for Ranma to turn around, anticipating his reaction, but he never looked back. “Ohm, I thought I was, but-- plans got cancelled so I’m staying in.” She lied.

“Oh.” Nabiki responded indifferently, as she turned her focus back onto the television. Akane stood still at the doorway for a good three minutes, but Ranma didn’t seem at all curious about his fiancŽe’s appearance. His eyes were glued to the TV, as if Agatha’s Mystery Theatre was his new favourite show. Akane’s plan to sit beside Ranma felt too forced now, so she took a seat behind him and sulked. *Here I am getting all hot and bothered over myself, and Ranma could care less. *

The show was beginning to wrap up and Kasumi politely expressed her requirement for a quiet family dinner, which would be ready in ten minutes. With the TV switched off, Genma and Nabiki left the room to wash up and do other small activities before supper was prepared.

Akane sat and waited for Ranma to get up, he would have to see her before he could leave the room. The funny thing was, Ranma did not move from his spot, and he sat frozen with his eyes still fixated on the blank television screen. He was obviously waiting for Akane to get up first. Akane didn’t budge, and her anger grew increasingly as the seconds passed. *What is he so afraid of? That he might actually like what he sees?!* She thought furiously. Staring at the back of Ranma’s head, watching him breathe, tapping his finger nervously on his knee: all these things caused explosions in Akane’s mind. Until finally,

“Did you really mean it?” Ranma shot out, his voice cracking in between his question.

Akane jerked her head back at the sudden sound. “Huh? What?” She responded quickly, hoping that Ranma wouldn’t just shrug it off and say, ÔNever mind, forget it’.

“You know how... You know how you said you’d work on it? Right?” Ranma’s position had never changed; he was still staring at the television screen with his legs crossed and his back perfectly postured.

“Work... on what...?” Akane asked suspiciously, noting suddenly that the blank screen was highly reflective and that she could see Ranma and he could see her through the reflection.

Ranma swallowed, “You said you’d work on yourÑ” He paused. “Sex Life.” He said very timidly. “Did you mean it?”

Akane’s face scrunched, she couldn’t believe he asked her that. What was she supposed to answer with? No? Yes? The whole discussion embarrassed her and he wouldn’t even look at her in the face.

“Why didn’t you stand up for me back there? You jerk!” She threw back at him. They both paused, awaiting some sort of response from the other.

“God,” Ranma finally said. “Why are you dressed like that? You never dress like that at home.”

Akane’s face flushed, “I was... going to go out.” She said even though she knew Ranma wouldn’t buy it. *Doesn’t he like it?*

Ranma looked to the floor in disgust, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around you when you do this.” Akane drew in a deep breath, processing what he’d just said. She unexpectedly felt sick to her stomach. What did he think of her?

“I mean was that you talking back there? Or were you just trying to impress your ditz friends?” He attempted to clarify himself. “Because if not, I think that’s a gross thing for a girl like you to say.”

“What?” Akane began panting. “A girl like me?”

 

“H-hello? Is there anyone home?” A man walked through the door of the Tendo home, removing his shoes and noticing two other pairs side by side. *One of them must be Akane’s.*  He smiled. “Hello?” The young man repeated.

“Oh, Ryouga. How nice it is to see you. Would you join us for dinner?” Kasumi sang, walking to the hall from the kitchen, and offering to take his coat.

“Ah, dinner? Is Akane here?”

“Why, yes, she is. She’s in the TV room with Ranma.”  Ryouga stood dumbly in the hall waiting as Kasumi hung up his coat on the hanger. She began to make her way back to the kitchen when she noticed Ryouga still waiting at the entrance. Her brows furrowed. “Dinner will be ready soon, why don’t you join them.”

Ryouga stood still looking down to the floor. “Could you-Could you bring me there?”

“Oh my. Of course, how could I forget?” She murmured.

“It’s okay.”  He responded with a tight smile.

Kasumi led them down a long hall and zipped left and right instinctively before entering the TV room. All the while Ryouga observed intently, trying to remember all the turns, which doors to go through, and any landmarks he could remember. By the time they arrived, Ryouga had forgotten everything. He caught a quick glimpse of the couple sitting alone before they realized there were others in the room. The situation was extremely tense, and it looked like a fight was brewing. Neither of the two even looked at the other’s face. Ranma was staring intently at the TV screen and Akane at his head. Kasumi had left Ryouga abruptly at the entrance, without introducing his presence.

 

“What are you trying to say? ...That I’m too ’uncute’... too much of a tomboy to be sexy or, or, have sex?” Akane said shakily. “Or something like that?”

Ryouga went bright red; this kind of conversation was not something he felt he should hear. But he knew that if he left quietly, he would never find his way back to see Akane later, and he wanted to give her a gift.

“No, you shouldn’t be-”

“Hi, Akane!” Ryouga interrupted boisterously.

“Christ!” Ranma exclaimed in surprise

“Oh, hi, Ryouga.” Akane recovered very quickly, turning around to face Ryouga with a brilliant smile as she stood to greet him.

“Wow,” Ryouga faulted. “I mean, ’Hi!’” He smacked himself mentally. Akane looked absolutely stunning. He had never once seen Akane wear that much makeup, or something that tight. Ranma shot him an angry look, but soon his attentions fell on Akane’s lovely curves, and then to the floor in shame. Ryouga was curious as to what he’d just witnessed. Ranma seemed so odd and distracted. “Uh, you look good, uh, nice.” He stuttered. “Are you going out?”

Akane smiled deviously at him, a smile unlike any she’d ever given him before. Her eyes narrowed on him, and her hair fell sexily into her eyes. “Maybe I will go out after all.” She said, which caused Ranma’s face to crinkle. He got up and left for the kitchen.

During dinner, Ryouga sat between Akane and Ranma, which he realized was a mistake as soon as Akane began chitchatting away. Ranma kept jamming his elbow into Ryouga’s side while he ate. However, Akane had never paid Ryouga so much attention before now, and he seemed to be able to ignore Ranma’s stabs in his euphoric state.

“So, do you like strawberries?” Akane asked.

“Oh, yeah, they’re sweet.” Ryouga answered.

“I love strawberries. They’re so amazing.” Whatever Akane was alluding to, Ryouga could not follow. The two had been discussing chocolate, whipped cream, Champaign, melons, and oysters for the past fifteen minutes, and frankly, coming up with answers to her weird food questions was becoming tiresome.

“How do you feel about cherries?” She asked, smiling lazily, tousling her hair.

“Um, those are nice, too.” He said exasperatedly, noticing she hadn’t touched her food at all.

“I just love how they pop in your mouth.”

“Yeah, and then the seed comes out.” He tried to keep the conversation moving, rather stupidly. Ranma began coughing; choking on his rice so severely that Ryouga thought he might need to attempt the Heimlich.

“Exactly!” Akane exclaimed, excited by what he’d said and ignoring Ranma.

Ryouga’s brow crimped. *What the hell are we going on about?*  He wondered silently. “So, about that gift I wanted to give you,” He changed the subject once Ranma had regained his composure.

“Oh, you can give it to me upstairs.”

“Okay.” He said. There was a long silence between the two. Suddenly every thing Ryouga planned to say got caught his throat. *Upstairs?* Akane had almost never invited him upstairs, except for that one time when she was tutoring him to take the entrance exams at her school. Other than that, he’d always been P-chan when he’d seen her upstairs. He looked over at Akane, who unexpectedly became increasingly interested in staring at her food. She picked at the morsels of pork and beef on her plate, yet still didn’t eat any of it.

“I’m going.” Ranma interrupted getting up from the table. He had finished his food although didn’t offer to help clean up, which Ryouga thought was a bit rude, as he watched Ranma run up the stairs.

“I’m finished, too.” Said Akane, but she had barely touched her plate. She grabbed Ryouga’s hand. “You can give me your gift now.”

 

As Akane led Ryouga through the hallway and to the staircase, she avoided her gaze in the mirror. She couldn’t look at herself with such dirty thoughts in her head. She began to doubt Ryouga. Why was he was so open and comfortable talking about different aphrodisiacs and all things alluding to sex right in front of Ranma and her family? Perhaps Ryouga had a lot of experience and just looked innocent. *No, this is a good thing. I wanted my first time to be with someone who understands a woman.* Ranma would never know what a woman wanted, he’d never had sex before, and Akane couldn’t imagine him fondling his girl half.

They were right outside Ranma’s door; Akane knew he’d be in there sulking. She looked back at Ryouga, his face was all wet and red, and Akane was now aware of how sweaty his hand was. “I-Is this your room?” He said smiling oddly.

*God, he knows. He knows what I want to do and he’s getting excited right in front of Ranma’s room.* Akane was half glad Ranma would hear them entering her bedroom together, the other half of her was nervous and she hoped he would jump out of his room and make Ryouga leave. Ranma never came out of his room, and that meant that Akane had to go through with it. *Is this really what I want?*

Without warning, Ryouga began opening the door to Ranma’s room. “Ryouga, no! This is Ranma’s room!” Akane scolded herself for waiting so long to respond. She only vaguely remembered Ryouga asking her a question, and was so caught up in her own feelings that she’d forgotten to answer him.

“What are you two doing? Get out!” Ranma screamed at Akane. This was the first time their eyes met all night. Ranma had his shirt off and Akane could see he had been writing something in a notebook. “You look--”  He paused mid sentence. Akane’s eyes danced over his body and back to his face. His eyes remained on hers.

*I really want you, Ranma* She thought, hoping that if she thought hard enough he could hear her, see it in her eyes. *Save me. I want only you!*

“You look like a slut. Ugly!” Ranma called with fierceness. “Get out.”

“How dare you say that to Akane, Ranma! I should punish you for--”

“Ryouga!” Akane pulled back on his hand. “I don’t need Ranma’s approval. Let’s go to the bedroom.” She said tactfully.

She was hurt, how could Ranma say such terrible things? * That idiot.* Akane ran to her room and slammed the door with Ryouga in tow. Without thinking, she began to remove her shirt and bra. *Fine, if he thinks I’m such a slut, I will be. Ryouga is obviously more than willing. Ranma could have gotten laid. I’ll never have sex with him! EVER!*

Akane stood before Ryouga in only her panties. He looked on incredulously; eyes and mouth wide open with fear. Akane suddenly realized that her movements were controlled by rage, and standing almost naked in front of a fully clothed Ryouga made her feel completely mortified.

“I--I uh...” Ryouga tried. Without warning, Ryouga’s hands struck his face; blood came spurting out his nose. “God, I’m sorry. It’s the dry weather.” He said in a muffled voice through his fingers. “I need tissue.” Akane grabbed a Kleenex box and hurriedly ripped out what seemed like hundreds of tissues from the dispenser. She helped Ryouga apply pressure to his face. “I’m sorry.” Ryouga looked up at Akane, their hands pressed against each other on his face. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Oh, God. I’m sorry, I thought we were going to...” She took her hands off of his and covered her breasts. Their faces were beet red. “you know, uh...Have... sex.” She said timidly, growing hotter. She turned around so as to face the wall. “But... you could never want me like that...”

“I--I--I--I--I--I I do!!” Akane whipped around to see Ryouga, now standing, with glossy, dilated pupils. “I-- I want you like that.” He affirmed.

“You do?” Akane fumbled, she wasn’t sure what to do next. In the movies, the guy was confident and knew all the right steps, but Ryouga just stood there. She felt like he was waiting for her to do something first. “Um, do you... have protection?” She offered.

“No!” He responded a little too quickly. “Oh, do you?” He looked down.

“No!” She spoke, surprised. Why would she have a condom?

“Well, um... well, it’s your first time... right? Or... uh.”

“Yeah! Yes. This is my first time.”

“Okay, well, I think the first time... you can’t get pregnant.”

Akane wracked her brain, why didn’t she listen more carefully in sex education? She tried to remember anything from the class. It was a one time thing in grade seven, until The Parent Advisory Board banned the class because they were terrified that it encouraged children to have unmarried sex. She remembered laughing a lot, and making fun of some girl that asked a question.... Hmm, there was something about a girl’s first time, a hymen? Yes, that was it. Yes, you couldn’t get pregnant the first time because of your hymen. Ryouga was right. How could she have doubted him? He was experienced, after all.

“Right, the hymen stops sperm.” She proclaimed. Ryouga’s face contorted, he seemed to have no knowledge of the hymen, but Akane ignored it. She knew what it meant, and that was all that mattered.

“Right.” Ryouga said as he stepped forward. “So...” He removed the bloodstained tissues from his nose. “What do we do?”

Akane furrowed her brows. *He’s asking me?! How would I know what to do?* “Why don’t we... kiss or something first.” Akane looked down at his groin, he was visibly excited, but that just made Akane feel nervous. Other than at a few parties when she was younger, she’d never really been intimate with a man, even kissing. She was completely inexperienced. *I can do it, just like the movies. Tilt your head and then close your eyes and let it happen.* Akane did as she instructed herself to do. Ryouga touched her shoulders. His hands were cool and clammy, and he trembled slightly. The two stood like this for a few minutes, but Akane never opened her eyes, too afraid to look at Ryouga.

Finally, his tight lips met hers. He was attempting to open her lips with his but their noses kept touching, the whole thing felt so awkward. *He forgot to tilt his head to the other side!* She thought in disbelief as their noses smashed against each other uncomfortably. She opened one of her eyes to look at Ryouga. He appeared extremely nervous, his whole body was shuddering, face sweaty and red, eyes clamped shut, hair weighed down and greasy. He was a mess. She knew she had to help him calm down.

She took one of his hands and placed it on her breast and began to make a kneading motion with her hand over his. Suddenly, his mouth stopped working, as though he physically wasn’t able to do two things at once. Akane let go of his hand, he slithered it to her back, leaving a trail of clammy sweat. She was a little worried about how experienced Ryouga really was, and wished she’d asked if this was also his first time. Akane was about to stop him, when his mouth went into full motion again.

He tasted like Kasumi’s food, not a very nice flavor for a kiss. His tongue moved all over the place, sometimes slipping out of her mouth accidentally, making it difficult for Akane to help him control. At other points, he put his tongue in too deep and Akane almost gagged. The sloppy kiss went on for what seemed like an hour, and Ryouga never tried anything beyond that.

Akane began to wonder just how long this would take and thought that the sex better happen soon or someone might get suspicious and walk in on them. She pulled away from Ryouga.

“We should probably... go on the bed... And I think you should...” She pointed downward, alluding to the fact that he was still dressed.

Suddenly, a very panicked Ryouga ran toward the light switch to turn it off. “I don’t want you to see my... Uh, body.” He finished, embarrassed.

With the lights off and the bed waiting, Akane started feeling slightly stimulated. She imagined the look on her friends’ faces when she alerted them of her newly defined sexual status. The girls would all scream and congratulate her, asking how he was, did he say ’I love you’ during the act, did she orgasm, is she a squealer or is she quiet, did they get kinky... It would be so great to be on the same footing again. After the first girl, Sakurako, lost her virginity, she had suddenly become the most popular of the group, where Akane had previously been. Suddenly, the girls were into boys instead of sports, and Sakurako was now the expert. Secretly, Akane asked herself if she didn’t have Ranma, would any of the girls care about her at all? She knew the true answer was “no”. 

Akane lay on the bed facing up. Ryouga positioned himself on top of her as she closed her eyes. She heard him unzip his pants and felt him pull at her panties. Her eyes shot open; this was it? She looked down at Ryouga’s member and could make out what and where everything was by the moonlight coming through the window. It was a bit short, but very thick and hairy at the tip. She couldn’t help but make a face. She looked up at him and tried to make eye contact, but he seemed more intent on staring at his own anatomy than her eyes. She turned her attention back down. He pushed one finger into her and pulled it out just as quickly to look at it. Akane was slightly repulsed as he rubbed his index and thumb together.

“That’s good, right?” Ryouga asked. Akane nodded, confused. She had not one clue as to what he was thinking. This wasn’t at all like in the movies. This was awkward and gross. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Akane wasn’t sure what she’d agreed to, but found out soon enough when he pushed himself into her very slowly.

“Does it hurt?” Ryouga said gently.

“No. It feels good.” She lied. It didn’t hurt exactly, but it also didn’t feel good either. It just felt uncomfortable, like getting teeth cleaned.

“It feels good? Oh, good!” Quicker pumping followed Ryouga’s unintelligent response. He began making quick, heavy breathing noises from his mouth. Soon it reminded Akane of a woman doing breathing exercises in LaMas class, which wasn’t exactly a turn on. Ryouga’s face contorted into all kinds of weird faces until he finally made one really twisted face with his eyes held shut and his mouth wincing. Then he stopped pumping. “That was.... amazing...” He collapsed on top of her, gasping for air, body sweating through his shirt and soaking Akane. All she wanted was to get him out and off of her.

“Do you want to take a shower?” She offered.

“With you?” He looked up and smiled at her. She was slightly disgusted with his response. He nuzzled into her breasts with his face. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this.” He said pulling his arms around her. “I’ve dreamed about telling you how I feel, but never in a million years did I think this would happen! Are you happy? Because I’m happy. I’m so, so happy. There’s nothing in the whole world that could bring me down right now. Not even Ranma.”

*Ranma.* The thought stung her. *Will he be angry?* Guilt started to set in as she imagined her own feelings if the tables were turned and Ranma had slept with Ukyo out of anger and frustration. If he had made love to Ukyo, she would never forgive him. She would never want to see him again.*But this is different; I have no feelings for Ryouga.*

“I love you. I love you and I never want us to separate. I want to do this every night to you. “ Ryouga proclaimed, kissing her face with more confidence.

“Oh, please GOD no! I don’t want to have to do this with you ever again!” She said without thinking. “I mean--”

*Oops, I really fucked up.* Ryouga pulled out of her body, he was getting limp. He grabbed the Kleenex box and yanked a bunch of tissues and wiped himself down. Akane followed suit, she felt like an idiot. She put on her bra and clothes and Ryouga switched the light on. He’d already zipped up and was facing the door waiting for her to become decent. *He knows I just used him. I feel awful.* Akane tried to muster up an apology but Ryouga spoke first.

“Was I... That bad? Or... I mean what was it that I did wrong? You love me still, right?” Ryouga kept pounding his fists against the door, which made Akane tense. He looked like he was about to vomit. Akane looked around them, the bedroom was a complete mess with tissues thrown around, all were covered with some sort of bodily fluid, and most noticeable was blood. The bed was also dank-looking from Ryouga’s sweat. The temperature of the room, which was usually slightly cool, was hot and humid. The windows had fogged up and everything just felt dirty. “You do love me!? Because if you don’t anymore... If I was so bad that you don’t love me--! Give me another chance to prove myself. That was my first time!”

“Ryouga!! Stop hitting the door. Someone might hear you!”  Akane pleaded quietly, wincing at his statement.

“Who cares who hears? We finally made love and you thought I was crap! You want me to worry about what someone else thinks?”

“What’s going on in there?!”

*Oh God!* Akane’s eyes started to tear up, *It’s Ranma!!*

“Please! Don’t tell Ranma what happened.” She whispered.

“Why? We’re in love! Let’s tell him how we feel so that he won’t bother us. We can sort out our problems better if he’s not in the picture. I love you, Akane! “

“Akane, open up!”

“Ooh!” She stomped in frustration. “Ryouga, I don’t love you! I never have and I never will!” Akane gasped and clasped her mouth.

Ryouga stepped away from the door and looked down. He said nothing as Ranma pushed the door open. “Ugh, it stinks like B.O in here!” Ranma announced. “What the hell happened? Why’s there tissue all over the place? Did a widdle piggy have nose bweed?” Ranma cracked a smile at Ryouga and defended himself, waiting for an attack.  Ryouga didn’t move, with his heart broken he shuffled slowly out of the room. “Hey, going on a ’long journey’? Should I get some cold water for you?” Ranma joked.

“Ranma, stop it.” Akane spoke under her breath. What kind of a monster did she become? She was so influenced by what others thought of her, she didn’t care who she hurt, not even Ryouga. Now he would leave and she wouldn’t be able to explain herself ever again. She’d have to live with this guilt for the rest of her life. *If Ranma slept with me and then said he would never love me... I’d feel...* She looked up at Ryouga. *I guess I’d feel like that.*  She stepped forward and touched Ryouga on the shoulder. “Ryouga...I wanted to say...”

“Please don’t touch me ever again, Akane.” He said calmly as he shrugged her off. “I hope you’re happy with Ranma. He really loves you.” Akane watched in horror as he turned around to look Ranma in the eye. “Well, at least, he loves the person he thinks you are.”

A ball formed in Akane’s throat, she was shaking with guilt and fear. *Does Ranma know? Did he figure it out?* Ranma looked on, confused.*No.*

“Hey, Ryouga... What’s wrong?” Akane stopped Ranma.

“Don’t follow him.” Her voice was quivering as she shut the door behind Ryouga. That was the last time she figured she’d ever talk to Ryouga again until a long period had passed. Akane drew out a long breath and put her back up against the door. Her secret was safe, she wasn’t a virgin, but Ranma wasn’t going to find out from Ryouga. 

“What was that all about?” Ranma asked cautiously.

“Nothing... Uh, so... you’re in a good mood.” She changed the subject.

“Yeah. I am. I had a good, long talk with my dad about you...” Ranma smiled. “We talked about... you... as a... a woman.”

Akane was surprised. “You talked about me with Mr. Saotome?” The mood was so light with Ranma now. She enjoyed his company and she cleaned her room as she listened to him. She took all the sheets off the bed and opened the windows, threw out all the tissues and urged Ranma not to help. *I’ll pretend nothing ever happened. Ranma seems more interested in himself than in what Ryouga said anyway. I bet he’ll never bring it up.*

“Yeah. I was real mad at first and I thought you were acting all strange until I realized something...”

“Yeah?” Akane pulled on the new sheets, smiling at Ranma.

“I was the one who was being weird. And -- and...  Jeeze could you stop moving?!” Akane put down the new sheets. The room was starting to cool down and the outside air felt so fresh smelling. Akane could sense there would be a rainstorm.

“I just want to tell you something. But you can’t laugh or joke around about it because this is real serious, okay?” They sat on the bed together and Ranma looked into her eyes very intently. “I was acting all weird because I was so jealous about... that thing you said in class. I was thinking you were going to ’work on it’ with some other guy. And...” Akane looked down and blushed, she was a slut, and Ranma didn’t even know. “Hey, you’re making me go all red!” He laughed as he averted his gaze also. “I wanna say this quickly! I want to say that you don’t have to feel unsexy... because you’re not. I think-- I think you are very sexy. I don’t want you to think you have to impress anyone else because... I’m still a virgin, too. So... I’m actually really happy that you aren’t experienced. Okay?”

His words made her feel attractive, excited, and aroused, and also extremely remorseful. She regretted her actions. Tears started to well up in her eyes. *If only I could take back the last two hours.*

“Hey, don’t cry now. You’ll make me feel all mushy inside. Heh heh. Come on!” His smile widened and he tentatively put his arms around her shoulders. Ranma’s wonderful embrace made her think of Ryouga, sweating and panting, pushing inside her, making her sore.

“You smell so great.” She sobbed into Ranma’s shirt.

He chortled, “That’s just ’cause you got stinky Ryouga outta the room. In comparison, I’m a flower!” Akane gasped for air. Why did Ranma have to wait so long to say this to her? Why couldn’t he have had this father-son talk before Akane got home? Why didn’t he grab her when she and Ryouga walked past his room? When she was eyeing him, pleading with her eyes. Why did it turn out this way?

“Not right now, but tomorrow, I want to show you something, okay?” He pulled away from the embrace.

“Okay.” She whispered back.

“It’s getting late. We should go to sleep.” Now that Akane wasn’t a virgin, Ranma seemed so pure to her. He’d never known what it was like to sleep with someone he wasn’t in love with. He’d never had a bad experience with a girl or hurt anyone he’d slept with.  She wanted that naivety back.

*If I ever want to forget about Ryouga,* She thought bitterly, *I have to sleep with Ranma as soon as possible...*

 

 

End of part one