Total Eclipse of the Heart

To say that Akane was in the midst of one of her biggest storms of fury yet would be a vast understatement. As a matter of fact, the undulating waves of sheer malevolence that were twisting inside Akane's soul at that moment would probably make Satan himself turn and run shrieking like a girl.

Tears of anger began to stream down her face as she choked back a sob. How.. HOW... DARE HE!!! THAT PERVERT!!!

The day had started out well enough. They usually did, or so Akane thought. Ranma had been dumped in the pond twice already that morning, once by his father and a second time when Akane had used the table like a baseball bat to send him flying through the back door and into its depths. She had spent a couple of hours cooking with Kasumi, beaten Ranma once more for mocking her cuisine and then marched to her room to spend an hour or two cooling off and reading for her English class -- poetry that seemed to sing with life. She was just beginning to find the rhythm and beginning to understand what "Goblin Market" meant when a tentative knock came on her bedroom door.

"Come in!" Akane called quietly. Nabiki slipped through, shutting the door carefully behind her. A worried expression was plastered on her face, one that Akane hadn't seen in many years -- not since before the death of their mother, in fact. It sent shivers down her spine and frightened her in more ways than one.

"What's the matter, oneesan?"

Nabiki bit her lip, not daring to look Akane straight in the face, looking instead down at the toe of her shoe as if it was of great importance. "Akane..." Her voice was tentative, quiet as if in reflection. She spoke up, tilting her chin back and looking into Akane's startled eyes. "Akane, I've been keeping something important from you. Something that you should know. I should have told you a week ago, but..."

Wordlessly, Nabiki handed Akane the VHS cassette that she had cradled at the small of her back. With a deep breath she sighed and turned to leave, turning back only once to say, "Don't kill him, ok? I'd hate to see you in prison...or worse."[1] With that, she stepped from the room, leaving Akane alone to drag out the miniature TV and the small VCR that Nabiki had sold her some months ago when she began upgrading her own equipment.

It was then that Akane saw exactly what a pervert her iinazuke really was.

Somewhere deep inside of Akane's soul, there lies a rational being. A being who, in moments of intense stress, destroys the rancorous hostility and replaces it with a sense of...calm. With a single click, it seemed that she became a different person, one who had to seriously consider every angle of what she now saw as 'the problem'.

Quite simply, Ryouga was the problem.

Of course, they'd been friends, but after this sort of betrayal... the seduction of Ranma...Akane didn't feel that she could forgive him. Certainly Ranma would never willingly behave in such a manner unless he was extremely confused. True, there were some gender identification problems there and Akane should have tried to help him with them before now instead of making them worse, but the sheer notion that Ranma would knowingly commit the act that she had now watched *twice* just to be sure was... well... Impossible.

Akane scowled, crossing her arms across her chest. Really, it wasn't like she loved Ranma or anything. "As if," she fooled herself. "He isn't that lucky!" She had to admit, though, that Ryouga was a worse threat than the other girls. After all, he'd managed to get into Ranma's panties, so to speak, and that was something that Shampoo hadn't even been able to do on her best day.

Sitting down at her desk and pulling out a sheet of paper and a ball point pen, Akane began to make the list for what she would need to get Ranma back for what he had done with Ryouga -- at ANY cost.

Ranma frowned as he paced back and forth inside the dojo. He could practically smell some kind of plot brewing against him, and he had no idea where it was going to come from. He knew this peace couldn't last. It was a wonder he'd had any time to think at all.

With a resigned sigh, he dropped down in the center of the dojo in a lotus position and put his elbow on his knee so that he could prop up his chin with his hand. This decision was turning out to be more difficult to make than he had thought that it would be. He truly believed, now, that he loved Ryouga. That had been one of the most difficult and disturbing thing that he had ever admitted in his entire life, even to himself. "Still, I can't just get up an' leave Akane. I mean.. I.. I think I love her, too," he thought dismally.[2]

He could hear the music of her voice outside as she wished the family a good evening. It was Akane's turn to cook, again, and he was being left behind as her resident guinea pig. He sighed deeply and rubbed his aching forehead with the palm of his right hand. Dammit, things just had to get easier. He knew the answer that he was going to give Ryouga when he finally returned to the Dojo -- there was only one answer that he could give him, truthfully. Now if he could just figure out what to do about Akane...

"Ranma!" Akane called from the back of the house, "dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes!"

Ranma eyed his stomach dispassionately. Might as well go ahead and start eating the antacid tablets now, he supposed. With a sigh, Ranma rose and pounced up on the roof and into his room.

Akane put the finishing touches on everything, right down to the drops of solution that would send Ranma into a deep sleep long enough for her to get him right where she wanted him. {Fire with fire,} she thought dryly, a high flush spreading across her cheeks with her nervousness as she replaced the little bottle in her bookbag and set it down near the back door. No point in taking any chance of someone finding it and guessing what was going on, now was there?[3]

She carefully set all of the food out on the table and eyed it dispassionately. Well, it wasn't Kasumi's, that was for certain, but it certainly wasn't her usual fare, either. That cold little voice in the back of her head had assured her that if she slowed down and just paid attention she would be able to cook something that was reasonably close to edible, if not entirely enjoyable. Since her family was always utterly terrified of her cooking and had left, she'd have a good four hours alone with Ranma to cement her plan firmly.

THIS was a good thing.

With a light tread, she slipped out to the dojo, pushing one of the doors open silently and peeking in. "Ranma, dinner's all done. Are you coming?"

"Hey, Akane," came the voice from the back door of the house, "this stuff actually looks edible!" Then came a suspicious, "What'd you do to actually get it t'look NORMAL?!?"

"Are you saying that my food DOESN'T ordinarily look NORMAL, Ranma?!" she demanded irately, one eyebrow rising. Pleasure rosein her as she saw him backpedal rapidly, his hands going up in defense as he half stumbled in the back door in an attempt to get out of the immediate line of fire, babbling almost mindlessly. She had never really paid much attention to Ranma's attempts to placate her before but she sort of liked the idea of it. A quick picture of Ranma begging her on his knees flitted through her mind and she had to cross her arms and give a furious frown to suppress the giggles that wanted to come from her so effortlessly.

Ranma knew it. Just by looking at it, at the sheer malevolent NORMALCY of it, he knew that he was probably going to be praying for his stomach to come unwrenched from the knots this stuff would put in it within the next two hours. While the thought of it was a little more than upsetting, the look on Akane's face told him that it just wasn't worth the malletting that he was going to receive if he *didn't* eat it. With a gulp, he seated himself at the table and tentatively picked up a pair of chopsticks. He poked it lightly, one eye squenched shut in fear, the other burning as a drop of sweat slid into the corner. With trepidation, he lifted a mouthful of the stuff and slowly began to chew... Wait! Wait!!!! NO way could Akane have cooked this... why.. why.. it even TASTED edible.

"A..Akane..." he whispered, coughing slightly, "this is GOOD."

Akane smiled at him demurely. "I've been working on it," was her only comment as she lifted a bite of rice to her own mouth, watching him carefully as he began to shovel down food in Saotome-esque manner. It wasn't long before his eyelids began to droop and he began to yawn, his food tumbling to the floor in a spill.

Akane smirked to herself as Ranma's head hit the table. Ha. SHE'd show that idiot what kind of woman she was, and if he *EVER* betrayed her again, she'd pound him so hard that he'd never know what hit him.

It was dark when Ranma woke and he could feel something covering the upper half of his face. As he tried to open his eyes, he could feel his lashes brush against something soft, something keeping him from seeing. He tried to reach a hand down and pull whatever it was away from his face, but neither would move. Almost experimentally, he tugged at an ankle as well, lips pressing together firmly as he realized that he was quite well bound and that he wasn't likely to get loose any time soon. An intense feeling of.. something like *fear* seemed to spread through him as he rapidly tried to alert himself to his surroundings. Ranma still felt a little groggy, but he could hear movement nearby and he knew that he wasn't alone.

"Who's there?" He cringed as his voice cracked slightly on the notes, his hands trembling violently as he balled them into helpless fists.

"Who do you think, Saotome?" came a gruff whisper, the voice unlike anyone's that he knew. Fury welled up inside of him as he began to struggle uselessly before feeling the soft curves of a female body settle onto the bed beside him. His heartbeat accelerated quickly, going wild inside of his chest. The grammar gave enough of a clue to know that it wasn't Shampoo. Ucchan would never, ever do something like this and Akane would die before she touched him... so it could only be Kodachi by process of elimination.

"What've you done with Akane, you .. you..." he growled ferally, pulling at the bonds frantically even as the girl's soft hands roamed over his pectorals and down the front of his satin shirt.

"What makes you think that I've done anything with your precious Akane?" came the taunting whisper as the girl trailed her fingers down across his hip to press against his cock with firm fingers, purring softly at the throbbing response even as his body tried to shy away from her.

Akane stood back and looked down at Ranma dispassionately. He really was beautiful like this, body stretched wide, hands above his head.. So helpless, the dark locks of his bangs brushing his forehead and thewhite silk of the scarf that she had used to blindfold him. Admittedly, frightening him like this WAS a bit much, but he was so irresistibly sexy when he was frightened just this tiny bit!

With careful tread, she stood and walked to her dresser, opening the top drawer and smiling. She pulled on the pair of surgical gloves that she had borrowed from Dr. Tofu earlier yesterday with deft hands and withdrew a shoebox that rattled and clanked with the various items held within. Turning, she shook the box as she walked back to the bed, smiling at the way Ranma winced each time she did so.

Ranma shook with fury and fear. THIS was NOT funny. He couldn't even tell if he was somewhere that people might hear and find him in this humiliating position! This was something out of a nightmare, a nightmare that he'd left behind a year ago when they came to the Tendo's house and settled into a civilized way of life. He began to cry in anger, tears soaking through the blindfold as he shuddered violently, hands still tugging valiantly but only tightening his bonds. His vociferation came growling to cover the choking breaths, "You bitch!! LET ME GO!!!!!"[4]

Akane shook, taken aback by the violence in his voice as she reached out a latex covered finger to gently trail across his jaw-bone, leaning forward to kiss his forehead tenderly. As her chin brushed the blindfold, she could feel the wetness there.

Akane jerked back in surprise. Ranma.. CRYING!? Her hands pressed against his face gently, holding him still as her lips gently pressed against the soft wet material. Her heart began to ache inside of her and, no matter how badly she wanted to revenge herself upon his body for daring to betray her with another man, she couldn't help it when she reached behind his head and tugged, pulling the knot loose with quick motions of her fingers.

Ranma shuddered, turning his face aside quickly to hide the tears that were now free to tremble and stream down his face, his wrists aching before he felt the ties being loosened just enough so that his circulation wouldn't be cut off. Shaking his head slightly and forcing back tears of mortification and anger, he turned his face to look into that of his captor and found...

AKANE!?

Her fingers traced gently along the curve of his ear and down his throat as she leaned forward to capture his mouth with her own, a soft 'shhh' whispered just before her lips brushed his own and then opened, teasing him as her tongue darted inside, kissing him roughly. Ranma could feel his mouth bruising underneath the force of hers and he moaned helplessly as he opened beneath her. Ranma had never imagined Akane doing something like this to him -- sex had never really crossed his mind when it came to his fiancees -- it would have caused too much trouble. Instead, the fact of the emotions that he felt for Akane had always seemed to overwhelm him and make him shake with the intensity of it. This intensity was a different kind, a kind that made his entire body feel as if he were going to explode at any moment and he wasn't sure whether that explosion was fear or pleasure or something more cataclysmic that he couldn't even name.

Akane fumbled, fingers shoving off the top of the shoebox as she withdrew the knife and brought it to gently touch against Ranma's cheek, whispering that soft 'shhhh' again as his eyes went incredibly wide, sparkling sapphire fear coming to life in them as she settled back and straddled his hips, pressing against him in her white cotton panties. She lightly trailed the blade along, barely touching his skin and then she began to cut the buttons from his shirt, one and then another and then another until she could brush it open, the satin soft against her fingers. She traced a tiny, scratched pattern against the hard muscles of Ranma's belly and heard him moan, half in fright and half in some sort of inexplicable ecstasy. She flung the knife into a corner and pulled off her cotton t-shirt, leaning down to kiss him again, hard, her breasts pressed tightly against the warmth of his chest, teasing, titillating, feeling her nipples and his own brush against one another, the hard little kernels on his chest exciting her immeasurably.

Ranma shuddered, this unexpected assault on his body making him arch wildly, pressing up against the heat of her. He could feel her wetness through the soft material of his pants and he yearned to be pressed deep into that warmth, listening to her moan his name. Her hands were working on him, kneading the muscles of his chest and arms as he closed his eyes to groan helplessly, enjoying every motion and movement that she made against him.

Akane slid the leather strap from the box soundlessly, one hand still caressing across his chest as she sat up and wrapped the end with the buckle into her palm.

The first touch of the strap as it flickered across a nipple brought him to rough awareness, his eyes shooting open with fear and then some kind of pleasure, the shock waves of it reverberating through him again and again, making him moan wildly and toss his head to the side against the pillows. Akane watched him thoughtfully as she carefully brought down the strap, again, again, again, until there was a fine crosswork of red lines working its way across his chest and arms and his breath was heaving and his erection began to flag slightly.

He felt her tongue tracing each delineated stroke of heat and he groaned low in his chest, feeling himself becoming even harder than he had been previously, hands balling into fists once again with the desire to wrap in the short strands of her beautiful dark hair, his breathing quick and sharp as she moved up to straddle his stomach, tugging at the ties of his pants behind her and jerking them down past his hips along with his boxers, causing him to wince as his cock tangled in the waistband just so.

Akane moved down, settling between his thighs and leaning forward to timidly lash out her tongue, the tip of it teasingly stroking across the tiny stretch of skin that 'attached' the head of his penis to the shaft, taking it between her teeth and lightly nibbling. Her fingers trembled as she opened a small jar of lubricant and coated her latex covered fingers with them, stroking his shaft gently with the wetness of them as she opened her mouth and popped the head of his cock into her mouth to suckle tightly, listening to his moans of pleasure.

Ranma felt as if his veins were on fire, body writhing against the cotton sheets of her bed as he trembled, half-naked, against her. He could feel her fingers stroking his cock and then down to lightly caress the nest of his testes and then farther, parting him and stroking to find his anus, fingers tormenting him with the promise of more and then they were inside of him, two fingers the equivalent of one of Ryouga's opening him wide, making him give a strangled moan as his body jerked and he threatened to come in her mouth, trembling violently in the cool air.

Akane backed away, eyeing Ranma's face dispassionately, her fist closing about his shaft in lightning swift strokes as her fingers thrust deep, brushing against some spot inside of him that seemed to be driving him wild. She could feel all of his muscles tensing beneath her as he strove valiantly to prevent the inevitable, the stress of the situation all pouring into his struggle as he gave a strangled little moan and came, wild and shuddering as his eyes closed and he sobbed once, twice as semen spurted over Akane's tugging hand and all over his belly.

"Well," Akane mumbled to herself, "that was interesting." Beneath her, she could feel Ranma's shudders as he slowly regained control of himself. Still, she thought, this wasn't really enough. Her own body was yammering, a constant low heat in her belly filling her world as she eyed him, laying there in his cut open and half on clothing. His cock shimmered with the remnants of semen and she reached down to lightly touch the head, smiling at his soft hiss of protest. Her new playtoy seemed to be extremely sensitive and so she began to gently stroke with the palm of her hand, listening to his soft sobs of protest as he began to regain the rigidity that she so prized. With a quick motion, she stood and stripped away the remnants of her clothing, growling softly as she straddled his chest and leaned forward. With sure hands, she tugged his head up to her breast, a mute order.

Ranma's entire body felt abused, his unwilling response draining him as he moaned, opening his mouth to gently capture the berry colored nubbin of her nipple and nurse, his tongue and teeth ever so gentle as he began to nip, teeth sharp, tongue stroking lightly in apology. Her excited whimpers and the dampness that he felt against his diaphragm were proof of how well his technique was working and he gave an audible groan as he began to roam across the tender skin, moving his head to pay attention to both of them.

Akane quivered with excitement, teeth gritted tightly to keep from shouting out her joy at the feeling. THIS was a thousand times better than touching herself, this feeling of being pleasured. Reaching back, she could feel Ranma hard against her palm and, as much as she wanted more of the exquisite touch of his tongue and teeth, she knew that she wouldn't last much longer and neither would he.

She tugged gently, fingers wrapped around his braid as she pushed him away from her. His little sound of protest was perfectly adorable and she felt more than just sexual warmth fill her as she slowly laid down on top of him, kissing him with delicate precision, tongue dipping against his own even as her hands aimed him towards the core of her being. The first time, she missed and as he slipped from her grasp, the velvet skin of him brushed against the core of her pleasure. That single motion sent frissons of rapture down her spine and she gave a sharp cry, arching her back and pressing her hand to Ranma's stomach. Her fingers trembled wildly as she reached between her body and his own to take him between her fingers and aim him carefully against her entrance.

Ranma shuddered as he heard Akane cry out, tremors shaking him as her soft hands took him into her grasp and guided him to the doorway of her passage. He was straining against his bonds for all he was worth but it was as if they were made of steel; thus, he did the best that he could and pressed his hips upward.

Akane felt the trembling push and sat up to begin shoving downwards in accordance, moaning audibly with each centimeter. It wasn't long before she gasped in pain and looked astonished, rising again and whimpering.

Ranma opened his eyes in confusion, biting his lip and groaning low in his throat, "Akane?" as he continued to attempt to probe her, moaning as she pulled even farther away.

A determined look crossed Akane's face as she leaned down and kissed him, hard and quick, searching. His response was a thing of beauty, openness, pleasure, an intense combination of things that sent shivers down her spine and made her cry out softly. Bracing her hands on each of his shoulders, she rose and, trembling, opened wide and pushed her hips downward with a single hard stroke.

Ranma gasped, a sound of pain as he felt the head of his cock press *tightly* against something just inside of Akane and then moaned in accompaniment to her keening wail of anguish as he burst through it, breaking her maidenhead with vigor. He 'oofed' as her elbows came down hard on his chest, her body writhing atop him as she shook her head back and forth, tears dripping. The feeling was exquisite for him, so tight and soft and wet and beyond compare. He turned his head to the side and moaned against his arm, lashes brushing his cheeks as he arched again, placing himself deeper inside of her.

Akane's mind was a whirl of confusion. Somehow, this felt so good and yet it hurt so much and she wanted to stop but she didn't ever want it to end! Nabiki hadn't explained about this pain when she had given Akane the lecture about the "birds & the bees" all those years ago. In an absent minded sort of way, she wondered if Nabiki even know about it.She could feel a wet trickle between her thighs and wasn't entirely sure what it was. All she knew was that it helped to make that burning pain a little easier to bear and she didn't mind that at all. With careful movements she began to undulate her hips, gasping as she rose above Ranma and then plunged downwards, nails cutting little half moons into the skin of his hips.

With the strength of ten, Ranma gave a savage growl and pulled hard against his bonds. The bedposts snapped where the scarves had been tied and his hands flew forwards, fingers meshing in the short strands of hair as he pulled her down to kiss her, arching his hips upwards. His fingers roamed her body wildly, gently pinching her nipples and finally moving between them to the juncture of her thighs to explore that place that had caused her to cry out so loudly and arch back wantonly. His fingers found her clit, unhooded in the excitement that flowed through her, and he began to rub expectantly.

Akane moaned, a keening sound of pleasure as he stroked her just right, shaking violently with every touch against the sensitive little organ. She moved atop him with abandon, hips rising and falling as she sought something just out of reach, something that his touch brought that much closer as her hands roamed his arms and chest with hunger. She rocked forward, shaking her head violently, and with the sudden brush of his thumb in just the right place, Akane exploded into slivers of light and sound and color and ethereallity, muscles clamping down tightly around Ranma's shaft.

Akane's orgasm was timed almost perfectly. Ranma moaned sharply and grasped her hips tightly to continue thrusting deep inside of her quivering orifice for a few seconds before he thrust hard and to the hilt inside of her one final time, flooding her with his seed, his back arching up off of the mattress.

Akane crumpled down against Ranma's chest with a low moan, reverberations of pleasure still rippling across her skin as she laid her head against his shoulder sleepily and yawned. Silence fell in the dusk-filled room; the only sound that could be heard was the light brush of skin against skin and mouth against mouth.

Ryouga watched silently just outside of Akane's window. Tears dripped in steady trails down his pallid face and his heart ached in his chest with an intensity that he had never known before. A greenish-yellow tinge outlined him slightly as he raised a hand to absentmindedly brush away the crystalline shards of sorrow, head bowing low. He had lost him; no, not just him, because Ryouga was never entirely sure that he *had* Ranma to begin with. He had allowed hope to rise in his heart for the first time in years only to find that it had been crushed ruthlessly beneath the heel of someone else's passion. He had lost them both, and there was no room for a Lost Boy such as himself in their hearts.

With a dejected sigh, Ryouga jumped down from the rooftop and stood silently beside the pond for a moment as if bidding his good-byes. With that, he trudged despondently away, more alone in the world now than he had been only hours before.

"Akane?" Ranma whispered softly against her ear as he held her tightly, arms wrapped around her waist as he nuzzled gently at her neck.

Akane yawned and gave a soft, "Hmm?" in response, enjoying the light nuzzling feeling.

"Akane, we gotta talk," Ranma said firmly, pushing her gently to the side and sitting up to untie his ankles. As soon as that was done, he turned back to her and took her gently into his arms.

Akane blinked at being put to the side and then curled up against the heat of him as he laid back down. "What's so important that we have to talk about it *now*, Ranma?" she asked with a slight frown.

Ranma looked sheepish and hurt and confused all at the same time and whispered softly, "Ryouga."

Akane started from her pleasant half-drowse, eyes narrowing at the name. "What about him? You love *me*, don't you?" She batted her eyelashes and smiled especially cutely, hiding the venom that she had once expressed so freely.

"Akane," Ranma whispered in a strained voice, "I can't just LEAVE him. He's my friend! We've been... very.. ahh.. very close, until now, until you, until this damned curse! And now I don't know what I want except that... that...," he rolled away from her and into a miserable ball to murmur softly, "except that I want you both." A tremor worked its way through him as he closed his eyes and turned his face into her pillow. Her scent lingered there and it was so tempting to say that he loved her and her alone and yet, somehow, he couldn't because he didn't want to cheapen her with that sort of lie. The truth was simply that he loved Ryouga as well, and he wouldn't lie to her about that.

Akane could feel herself stiffening with each word, each gesture. As he pulled away from her, she closed her eyes tightly to stop the burning only to realize that they were full of tears and she couldn't stop them from spilling over as her fury drained away and left her empty and aching. "Everyone has to make choices, Ranma. No one can avoid them forever -- you least of all," she said, her voice husky. She stood from the bed and began to draw on her clothing, eyes focusing on the floor. As she buttoned the last button and slipped on her socks, she walked slowly to the door and pulled it open to walk out when she heard it -- that soft catch of breath, the tremble of his fingers as he clutched her pillow, the tremors that shook his shoulders. There are many things in this small world that a woman may resist, from chocolates to roses to walks in the park, but there is one thing that will make her heart tremble and her eyes fill with tears every time -- the sound of a lonely voice sobbing in the dark, little boy lost.

Akane stood in the door for what seemed an eternity but could have been no more than two minutes before she moved back into the room and shut the door quietly. Her hands gently smoothed back his bangs from his hot forehead as he moved to bury his head in her lap and sob ever so quietly. "It's all right," she whispered softly. "All right. I'm here, now... shhhh..."

With those words, she gently lulled him to sleep.

[1] Even Nabiki has some kind of a conscience -- surely she wouldn't charge Akane for something so important?

[2] Typical. Can't make up his mind about ANYTHING, can he?

[3] Just a note -- THIS IS A BAD IDEA!!! Drugging anybody is stupid, dangerous and illegal in most states. *grumbles* *but then, what ISN'T illegal here.. ^_^*

[4] See "Father Figure" and "Blood & Fire".