Akane's New Task: Decisions, decisions... [Episode 124531]

Akane worked out in the dojo, bricks shattering as fists lashed out on automatic, her mind striving to come to grips with what she had set in motion. Accepting Tan's demand, accepting the duty the god had laid upon her... in a way that had been easy. She wanted to be with Ranma and while she knew he had feelings for her, she could never quite overcome the belief that Ranma would, in the end, choose one of the girls that Akane believed were sexier, more skilled and generally better than her. Following Tan's demands had seemed almost like an easy way out, it made her and Ranma a divine match, it meant that she and Ranma were meant for one another. The bit about the other girls... well... in her heart Akane had to admit that she intended to do all she could to satisfy Ranma on her own, and if Ranma was satisfied, she could delay inviting others into the bed she shared with her husband for a long time.

The bath with Kasumi had shaken Akane, however, not only had Akane actually triggered events that were already in motion (Kasumi had spoken to Auntie Nodoka, and the Saotome matriarch was currently out looking at match-making services) with the goal of binding her to Ranma - a fact that was causing Akane far more in the way of nervous worry than it should have - but the sensations evoked when Kasumi had held her brought hidden thoughts to the surface and challenged the way Akane thought about herself. The final suggestion, that she pre-empt the omiai by seducing Ranma or Onna-Ranma... that had caused intense dreams over the past 2 days, details were forgotten when she woke, but the dreams had left her bed soaked with her own sweat and other fluids.

Taking deep breaths to both calm herself and to counter the fatigue that had crept up on her, Akane dragged her thoughts back to the dojo and cleaned away the wreckage she had created before moving into a set of kata's where her mind started to wander once again. One fundamental thing that had changed since Kasumi had held her in the bath was that Akane now couldn't help but think of her sister as sexy and desirable, she had tried to remind herself that Kasumi was her sister and compared her to Nabiki to suppress sexuality and to bring out sisterly feelings. That hadn't worked quite as Akane had intended, it had come as a shock to the youngest Tendo to realise that both her sisters were sexy and that she'd like to be naked - and naughty- with either or both of them. The only way she'd found to stop herself thinking like that about her sisters, was to turn her attention to Ranma. It had been surprisingly relaxing to discover that she still thought Ranma was sexier than her sisters, and after the way she had thought about Nabiki and Kasumi, being turned on by thinking about Ranma was easy to bear, even if Onna-Ranma took up as much of her thought as Otoko-Ranma.

Pausing in her routine, a flushed Akane repeated her breathing exercises and forced herself to calm down once more. She was not going to start touching herself in the middle of practice, the consequences of being caught... did not bear thinking about, besides, she had her own room and a comfortable bed. She could wait. Definately. She was not going to be a slave to her own lusts. She'd fulfill them in her own time.

In control of herself, more or less, Akane resumed her kata at a much slower pace. She focussed her thoughts on the omiai that Auntie Nodoka was arranging and how Ranma would react once he found out. She didn't like where her speculations led her - Akane knew that Ranma hated being forced, if he thought for an instant that he was being forced into this (which he was) then he was likely to live up to his name of 'wild horse' and bolt. That was unacceptable. Not only would it probably ruin her chance to fulfill the duty Tan had placed on her, it was likely to end her association with Ranma permanently. So she had to make it so Ranma wouldn't bolt. Akane could think of two ways to do that... one certain, one probable. If she told Ranma beforehand that she loved him, Ranma would probably accept the omiai and the marriage that followed, however Akane couldn't rid herself of the nagging thought... probably. The certain method was Kasumi's suggestion, if she seduced Ranma beforehand - either boy or girl - then Ranma would let his honor tie him to her, at the very least he'd take Akane with him if he decided to bolt.

Akane sighed and slumped, this was the 7th or 8th time she had thought this through. She didn't see any way around it. While part of her hated the idea of seducing Ranma to tie him to her, she found that she couldn't face the risk that the man she loved would bolt when the omiai was forced on him. Accepting that Kasumi was right and that she needed to seduce Ranma... that left Akane with 3 things she needed to resolve. Where was she going to seduce Ranma? When was she going to seduce Ranma? And how was she going to seduce Ranma?

Frustration knawed at Akane's guts, where was a problem in that it needed to be private and as safe as could be from interfering iinazuke, when was a problem in that she felt she had to act before the omiai was announced - which gave her a week at most, and how was a huge stumbling block. Thinking over Kasumi's suggestion, Akane had found that she had no problem imagining many delightful and romantic seductions - but they all involved Ranma putting the moves on her. In trying to think of how to approach Ranma, Akane found she knew exactly what it would take for Ranma to have his (or her) way with her, but had no idea of how to do things in reverse, save that she was pretty certain that Ranma would refuse if she tried the thngs that would work on her.

The time limit was thing that really did in Akane, the young girl didn't believe that she could overcome her limitations in time to seduce Ranma. Not without help. She had a few thoughts on when and where but until she resolved how, the other two points didn't matter that much. She either needed some practice to refine her technique and give her inspiration for Ranma, or she needed help. The time limit made getting help more attractive, but the only person Akane could think of to ask for help was Kasumi... well... asking Nabiki had occured to her, but even with her new thoughts on Nabiki, Akane didn't think she could afford the middle Tendo's help. In terms of practice, Akane couldn't bring herself to even think of approaching another boy, on the other hand the idea of seducing other girls so she had a good technique for Ranma was far more appealing than Akane had expected.