Killing Me Softly

Author:

A/N: Again, thanks so much to the reviewers! It’s good to know that you take the time to say so much about my story! Thank you!

Disclaimer: Don’t y’all think once is enough? No sue... please... Ranma and characters not mine...

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Chapter 3: Melting the Ice

They laughed together for a long time, finally letting their frustrations out. They don’t know exactly why they couldn’t stop. Maybe because it was a good release from all the stress of the past three months or maybe, they just didn’t want to cease doing something together.

Ranma finally moved from his position to sit beside his wife against the wall. It was Akane who finally managed to stop guffawing first. She watched her young husband clutch his stomach in laughter for a few moments before he finally noticed that she had been keeping silent and slowed the enthusiastic beating of his heart into a mere breakage in his breath.

When he looked at her, the remains of mirth still in his face, she was wearing the most wonderful smile he had ever seen on a person’s face. For a moment, he forgot that he was in a disheveled house with broken glass, utensils and food everywhere. For a moment, he forgot the chaos that rang in his ears only a few minutes ago. For a moment, his head tilted dreamily to gaze upon the soft blush on her cheeks, her slightly tangled hair, how her eyes glossed a bit from laughing and crying and the rosy lips he had kissed pink.

The tranquility that was her face didn’t break when a curious eyebrow rose at him in question. He shook his head in an embarrassed manner and forced himself to look away from her.

“What were you staring at?” he said in a faked annoyed tone.

“Nothing. What were you staring at?” she countered. Neither would admit the reason for the little trance session and a silent truce formed between them. This agreement would have followed through if Ranma had not had as big a mouth as he did.

His thoughts ran through his mind uncontrollably. ‘Oh nothing... I was just thinking about...’

“How much prettier you look when you smile.” His hand flew to his mouth in a defensive move. ‘Did I just say that out loud?’

Akane blushed considerably and she was ironically thankful that her make-up had long since faded away for if she did have more rouge on her face, she thought she would have looked like a sickened tomato.

“T-thanks...” she managed to mutter.

“Y-yeah...”

She made a move to stand and he did the same. Suddenly, her legs gave way; they had cramped when she had been in one strained position for too long. She felt a searing pain rush up to her hips and she collapsed into his waiting arms. She did not have enough time to feel embarrassed so she let him carry her to the couch in the living room a bit further away from the kitchen and dining room.

He laid her down onto the sofa as gently as he could, trying not to move her legs for fear of causing more pain. She pulled herself up with her arms into a sitting position, her legs gracing the length of the settee. Ranma moved farther from her torso to sit beside her legs and, grabbing her ankles, slowly lifted them as painlessly as he could do it for her. She cried out of course, the feeling of pins attacking the length of her lower body.

“That hurt, you idiot!”

“Hey, I’m the one trying to help you out here! If you didn’t move so much it wouldn’t hurt that much either!”

Akane kept silent, deciding that she was in too much pain to further waste her energy on another argument. Ranma started massaging her legs and she winced but remained quiet.

His hands ran up and down the perfect length, applying pressure at certain points, and he couldn’t help but notice how soft her creamy skin felt against his trembling hands. He prayed with all his heart that her muscles were still too numb for her to feel his shaking. He cursed the skirt that was far too short to escape his notice. The tiny cloth revealed so much of her skin that he gulped quietly and tried to keep his hands off places that he thought too perfect or alluring. The attempts were futile though, because every part of that leg was perfect. The feeling of attraction was devouring his iron resolve every second. At that moment, he had just wanted to kiss her forever; he remembered how wonderful she tasted against his lips. She was always so perfect although he said otherwise. Calling her names was his way of refusing to admit his... more than fond feelings for her.

When finally, the numbness had gone from her legs, she bent her knees several times before resting her back on the arm of the sofa. She sighed deeply, most of her energy gone from her previous outburst.

Ranma froze, staring at her. Her eyes were half-closed and she was breathing deeply, ignorant to his rigid gaze. When finally, she opened her eyes, her eyebrows met and she blinked at him.

“What?” she said annoyed that he was giving her too much unwanted attention. “It’s rude to stare.”

The young man smiled, ignoring her remark, and said, “Let’s watch some TV.”

“I can’t...” she sighed exasperatedly, “I have to clean up the mess.”

A feeling of guilt tickled Ranma’s mind but he pushed it away. “You’re tired.”

“Yes, but I still have to do it.” She made a move to stand but his hands caught her waist and gently pulled her back onto the cushion.

“Let’s watch some TV,” he repeated.

“Ranma...” she started.

“Akane... I’ll clean it up later if you want. Let’s watch some TV,” he replied, a surprisingly urgent tone to his voice. Akane’s brows furrowed and she finally reached for the remote control in front of them and handed it to her husband. Much to her astonishment, he pushed her hand back and offered her the object. She looked at him for a moment, puzzled, and then turned the television on.

It did not really matter what channel she switched it to. All that mattered to the both of them was that they were neither yelling nor pulling out mallets, and the like, at each other.

He sat closer to her and she smiled inwardly. A few minutes later, his arm crept silently, cautiously, behind her head to rest on her shoulder. She noticed how he trembled at first and, to make things easier for him, she snuggled closer to the warmth of his body. He stiffened at first, and then felt himself relax against his wife. He was surprised at how small she felt underneath him. She had always seemed so tall and proud to him that he sometimes forgot how girlishly petite she was. A ticklish feeling made him shiver a bit and he realized that it was her hair. He dipped his head warily, not wanting to spoil the moment, to sniff the smell of her shampoo. He always did that secretly, even before they were married, and he wished he could do it this close to her.

“A-Akane?” he asked hesitantly.

She looked up at him, curiosity evident in her eyes. “What?”

He sighed before whispering, “S-sorry I ruined d-dinner...”

Akane’s eyes softened but he could see within their depths the misery she still felt. “I-it’s all right,” she said pausing. “I... I cooked everything you know...”

“Y-you did?” Ranma said, his voice rising a bit more than he expected. Now he was slightly thankful that he had not been able to eat.

Akane glared at him before indignantly saying, “It wasn’t poisonous! In fact, I think I did well... Kasumi’s been teaching me and I can cook a little bit now without giving anyone a concussion.” Her voice was filled with apology and a little bit of what Ranma guessed to be shame.

Akane’s eyes fell to the table and she slightly moved away from him. “I... I’ve been trying really hard...” Her voice threatened to break and she gulped, trying to fight the tears that again sprung to her eyes. “S-sorry...”

He immediately regretted everything stupid he had said that night, disappointed that she was trying to avoid his gaze. He didn’t understand why she was apologizing so, being the blunt person that he is, asked, “Sorry for what?”

“Stop playing dumb!” she yelled, the tears finally streaming down her face. Not wanting him to see her so weak again, she looked away from him.

“I’m not! Why are you apologizing?” His last words were a bit softer and he bit his lip.

“I know I’m not exactly the perfect wife... Don’t make me say it again.” Her voice was a mere whisper and his eyebrows furrowed in understanding. Feelings of regret and shame for whatever he had done to make her feel so sad washed over him. He didn’t know that all the names he had called her and all the pretending had affected her so much.

“You shouldn’t have picked me,” she whispered bitterly.

“W-what?” he said angrily.

“You shouldn’t have picked me. You know you only made it hard for both of us.”

His temper flared and his voice rose to a panicked volume. “What do you mean? Are you saying that I should have married Shampoo or Kodachi?”

Akane turned her head sharply. “You should have married Ukyou! You like her, don’t you? Then why didn’t you marry her? Why me? You despise me! Why did you have to do this? Why did you have to make it more complicated? You knew we weren’t getting along! You knew I wouldn’t be an ideal wife! I tried, Ranma! I tried! I tried to please you! If my best isn’t good enough then I’m sorry you made the wrong decision!”

His eyes widened in panic. He didn’t know what to do. She was crying so hardly. He knew she was trying to control her tears; it was never like her to cry so bluntly. What surprised him was that she couldn’t stop sobbing. The girl was always so sensible and in control. She always restrained herself if she willed. Now, she was shaking and he didn’t know what to do.

“Answer me Ranma! Why did you marry me?” she yelled, her voice raspy.

He answered the question with a rough kiss. He didn’t know what came over him when he did. He just acted on impulse and his hands flew to her face to deepen the kiss. She was still shaking and he felt her fingers dig into his red Chinese shirt in surprise.

When he moved his lips away from hers, her eyes were wide with question.

“That’s why.”

They were both silent for a few seconds, the sounds of the long-forgotten television barely ringing in their ears. Ranma felt relieved now that he had shown her how he felt but somehow, he felt he had not done enough.

“I love you, ‘Kane.” The words were barely above a whisper but she heard every sincere word.

“Why?”

“Because... T-that’s just the way it is! Don’t ask stupid questions!” he cried defensively. He thought that he would feel even more stupid if he decided to recite the million reasons he loved her for.

He expected her to yell back at him but she didn’t. Her silence was driving him crazy. Why wouldn’t she say anything? Did she feel the same way about him? He feared what her answer might be. What if she didn’t?

“I just poured my heart out to you and you don’t react. What’s wrong with you?” he said angrily.

“Nothing is wrong with me!”

“Then why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Because I don’t know what to say!”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to say? You are such an idiot!”

“Don’t call me idiot, idiot! I’m not stupid!”

“Then answer my question! H-how do you... W-what... do you... D-do you feel a-anything... for... m-me?” His voice became softer and she could see the hope he didn’t even try to hide in his eyes.

“You’re so stupid!”

Ranma started to yell back but her next words stopped him.

“Why do you think I fought with the other girls even though I knew I’d never win? Do you think I liked to fight? Why do you think I’d always try to help you even though I just ended up making things worse?”

He waited for her to continue.

“I love you... You should know that by now.”

He was so happy he kissed her again.

“This is the second time you’ve kissed me tonight.”

“Actually, third, but who’s counting?” he grinned.

In a brief moment, Akane’s lips were pressing onto his and he ‘mm-ed’ in surprise. “Now that’s the first time I’ve kissed you,” she said when she broke off from him.

Ranma could tell that there was more of that to be done that very night and his eyebrow rose mischievously. His wife smirked back at him.

He pushed her shoulders gently, but urgently, onto the cushions and placed his hands on either side of her head. Now she was trapped and there was no way he was going to let her get away from him... not that she would try. He pressed his lips to hers hard and her arms flailed around his neck. He lowered his body to lie on top of hers and she inhaled deeply. It was a bit harder for her to breathe but she didn’t care. Their heads tilted to allow each other more access. Akane moaned in surprise when he made the bold move of pushing his tongue inside her mouth. She didn’t know what to do at first; it was the first time he did that. In a few seconds, she was sucking his tongue and Ranma was moaning against her mouth, the vibrations making things strangely exotic.

His hand felt for the remote control on the table beside them and when he managed to grab it, he turned the noisy television off. Akane chuckled but kept her eyes closed. He moved his hand back and underneath her shirt. His rough fingers grazed her well-built abdomen and then found their way to her soft waist. She really did have very nice curves.

One hand was entangled in her short hair and the other moved down to her barely covered leg. He groaned when he felt her fingers unbutton his shirt. Her skillful hands rested themselves on the hard plains of his chest and he wondered how, with that simple motion, she was able to make him feel so wonderful. And then, she moved those hands to his shoulders and onto his neck, pulling him deeper into her mouth. A hesitant hand left her hair to pull on the cloth that covered her neck. He grunted impatiently at the thought of her wearing the obstructing turtleneck and his lips left hers to trail down her chin. He stopped at the side of her bared neck and he opened his mouth to suck upon the sacred skin. He bit firmly, but gently, and he took pleasure at making her moan again.

His left hand moved from her leg and up to the edge of her shirt. He hoped she wouldn’t be offended when he lifted the fabric, trying to take it off. She lifted her arms to help him ease the shirt over her head. The piece of clothing fell to the carpeted floor without a sound.

He bit his lip at his triumph and his eyes fell to her perfect bosom. Akane blushed. He had always told her she didn’t have very nice... breasts. The anxiety left her when she looked at his face and saw the pleasure that lit up his handsome face. Somehow, he found the black bra extremely sexy. He dipped his head hastily to trail moistness down her neck and onto the top of her breasts. His hand moved to her shoulder and down her arm, taking the bra strap with it.

A feeling of extreme pleasure washed over him and he felt his manhood throb. The sensation was very new to him; he had gotten hard-ons before like any man but this was the first time he had felt as intense, what with the beautiful Akane beneath him. He heard her gasp when she felt the hardness against her inner thighs. He wasn’t embarrassed about showing his feelings but he saw her blush beneath his glazed eyes.

“Why ‘Kane? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve given a man a hard-on,” he said nonchalantly. It was true. Of all the maniacal men running after her, it wasn’t hard to think that their imaginations would project his Akane.

She shook her head, the blush leaving her cheeks. “I just... didn’t think I’d be able to make you react this way...”

Again, the familiar feeling of remorse threatened to overwhelm him. He resumed kissing her to block out the feeling. He didn’t want to end what they were doing. Akane didn’t protest.

He removed his already unbuttoned shirt and it rested quietly with her turtleneck. Her bold hand moved from his shoulder, trailing down his torso, and onto the tie that held his pants up. She loosened the belt and pushed him away gently. Puzzled, he glared at her and in one swift motion, she pulled him down and shifted her body so that she was on top of him. Ranma lay limply for a moment, their new position registering in his mind.

She kissed him deeply, her tongue dancing with his. He could do nothing to stop his hands from digging into her hair and pulling her head down hard. A soft hand moved down his abdomen and he groaned loudly when it slipped under his loosened pants to grasp his aroused manhood. She started applying pressure to his cock and he groaned even more loudly, throwing his head back in pleasure.

She was in the process of taking his pants and underwear off when the doorbell rang.

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A/N: Yeah... I know... Annoying isn’t it? I realized how long this chapter was getting so I though a little cliffhanger wouldn’t hurt... Heheh... Please don’t kill me.