[Episode 133845] [Episode 133845]This left Ryouga frozen in the center of the room, afraid he'd break it by accident. Of course, he couldn't have accidentally broken it; it would have required something like the Bakusai Tenketsu. But he wasn't leaving Akane's bedroom that evening.
The rest of the inmates of Nerima were regular in their habits, making it child’s-play to busy them all so that none of them would visit a different ward of Tokyo; something they would be unlikely to do in any case.
Ranma and Nabiki used separate excuses to be in different places, but at the prearranged time, they both left Nerima, and met up in another district.
The movie they chose was an action/romantic combination, intended to be exciting enough to keep Ranma from being bored, but to get both of them in a romantic frame of mind. By the end of the movie, Nabiki had curled up in the crook of Ranma's arm, as he hugged her one-handed, and stroked her arm affectionately.
While Nabiki hadn't refused any of Ranma's advances, Ranma hadn't known what else to have done with Nabiki. Kissing her would have made it impossible to watch the movie, and he wasn't about to have wandering hands when they hadn't even kissed.
Nabiki, on the other hand, was surprised that Ranma was being so open and affectionate. All of her past observations said he'd rather be pounded flat than caught kissing. Granted, they haven't kissed yet, but it was still amazing. Nabiki had resigned herself to a fifty-fifty chance whether or not she'd get a goodnight kiss, and she thought they'd maybe hold hands. Instead she was being held, lovingly, throughout the movie, and now they were holding hands on the way to the restaurant.
Dinner, on the other hand, was less romantic. There was no way for them to touch, and Saotome dining has never been a watchword for elegance. It did provide an opportunity to talk.
Nabiki was almost desperate to ask Ranma why he was acting the way he was. However, even a normal schoolgirl might have been hesitant to ask a question like that, and end the semi-public displays of affection. Nabiki never would have just asked a question like that without leading into it. "Thank you for holding me during the movie."
"I enjoyed holding ya." Ranma blushed, not because he held her, but because he was admitting his feelings on the matter.
"I was surprised that you did that. It goes against everything I've seen of you in Nerima."
"It's because we're not in Nerima."
"I don't understand."
"Everything I do in Nerima with a female is analyzed by half a dozen people to decide if I need to be pounded, or married on the spot. A hug there means a beating at least, with the possibility of lifelong marriage, and clan warfare at worst. There was only one point where I showed affection without worrying what would happen; when I was in the neko-ken, and look how that turned out!"
"So that was how you'd behave if you didn't have the engagements?"
"That's how I behave when I'm with a girl I care for, when I'm not worried she'll take it the wrong way, or take it to mean everlasting love."
"You do care for me?"
"Of course I do! Don't ya remember how I described ya when I asked ya to arrange this date?"
"When you told me, I thought you were talking about someone else; and after I realized you meant me, it didn't seem real."
"If I had any brains I wouldn't spend time with a girl while my life's so messed up. It's not fair to any of you. I'm being selfish."
"I'm glad you're here with me, and the other girls won't find out about tonight, so no one's hurt, and we're happy."
"I guess I feel guilt that I can't do this with them when they want me to. But I am glad, that I can do this with you, because I want to."
"Do you want to go on dates with them?"
"I wish I had the choice to spend time with them like this; maybe become closer friends. With them I can't get closer to them, and I can't get away from them. With you, I can be myself, and see what happens."
After dinner they go for a walk in a park. The park is full of other couples. Eventually they find a park bench to sit down on.
They resume their half-hug seating arrangement from the movie theater, but without the armrest in the way. A quiet sense of contentment enveloped them as they found themselves without anything they wanted to discuss, but without an apparent need to fill the gap with chatter.
Ranma's free hand idly stroked Nabiki's forearm, until Nabiki turned to look Ranma in the eyes. "Ranma?"
Ranma reached up to push a lock of hair from falling into Nabiki's eyes, and lightly stroked her cheek.
Nabiki was dealing with confusion over Ranma. The question nagging her was why was he willing to fight her for the right to date her. Why didn't he take her anger as a refusal? If he were head over heels in love with her, he might have taken the risk, but they had agreed against protests of undying love.
When he had gone on and on how wonderful his intended date was, she had assumed the girl had given Ranma some encouragement, but she knew she had done what she could to discourage him. So what could have possessed him to take such a great risk? One which he should have believed was due to failure! And what's more, to be secure enough to keep pushing towards his goal even when she argued with him.
Ranma had managed to convince her that he was sincere in his desire to date her. But this only raised more questions for Nabiki. Nabiki had a wider view of human nature than Ranma did; while she accepted his reasons for wanting a date, and his reasons for picking her, she believed there was more reasons lying hidden from her.
But she couldn't just ask him, and she couldn't come up with a way to finagle the information out of him indirectly. So instead of asking him anything, she started to stroke Ranma's neck and cheek. And the two of them maintained a comfortable silence.
After a while, they realized they were both moving their heads together, until with unvoiced consent, the two of them kissed.
It only lasted a second before they became self-conscious, and looked around to see if anybody caught them. Visions of furious female martial artists momentarily filled both of their thoughts. When they realized they weren't going to be attacked, they drifted into a hug, where they buried their faces into the necks of the other.
Suddenly Nabiki's eyes widened to the size of saucers as her body stiffened. Ranma assumed the worst, and leaped around, landing in a defensive stance, ready for the attack of a rival or fiancee.
But there was no one there. Without turning around, Ranma asked, "What's wrong?"
"That couple, over there, they're not just making out, they're actually fucking!"
"But anyone can see them!"
"This must be one of those parks for lovers. I've never been in one after hours. If we were in Nerima I'd have known which park was which."
"You mean, they allow that kind of thing here?"
"Yes, it's considered the viewers fault if they see something that shocks them. Exhibitionists come to these parks, and the police discourage voyeurs."
Ranma sat back, next to Nabiki. "If they allow THAT, then I'm not gonna worry about anyone seeing us." Bending over to her, he kissed her lightly on the lips, and backed off, looking into her eyes.
Nabiki smiled, and got off of the park bench. She guided Ranma to sit down again, and instead of sitting back down next to him, she sat in his lap with one arm around his neck for balance.
Ranma had one arm around her waist, supporting her back. This time, when they drifted together, it was for a simultaneous hug and kiss, which continued until they needed air.
As they kissed, Ranma took the initiative, and stroked Nabiki's back, caressing and massaging as he went. He'd decided to slowly escalate what he was doing to Nabiki as per the dating instructions she gave him while under the tea's influence.
According to what Nabiki implied, it was her responsibility to tell him if he went too far. Unlike with his other female friends, he didn't have to second-guess what was acceptable and what was perverted. All he had to do was to slowly increase the intimacy until one of them signaled that it was going too far.
Nabiki didn't remember discussing this with Ranma, and Ranma hadn't fully considered the ramifications of this method. So they were both pleasantly surprised when, during an intense kiss, Ranma's hands had begun to massage Nabiki's buttocks.
However, after they had spent a half a dozen minutes engaged in this manner, Ranma took advantage of their next break for air to say, "I have a confession to make. I'm willing to go a bit further with you, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do next."
Nabiki removed his outside arm, pulling one of his hands from her bottom, and guided his hand to her breast. "Play with this for a while." Then she went back to kissing Ranma.
Ranma could feel her erect nipple through her blouse and bra, as he cupped her breast, and slowly massaged it, and played with the nipple. Nabiki moaned in appreciation, and played with his neck and ear, which Ranma found surprisingly pleasant.
As the time progressed, they decided that it was time they got back home, before they either risked discovery of their involvement, or risked proceeding too far on their first date. Ranma walked her back to the train station.
Nabiki, being a normal human, used the trains to travel to and from the district. In order to avoid discovery, Ranma relied on his speed and stamina to travel under his own power. That way, neither of them would be seen together by anyone within the district of Nerima.
"Do you think we could do this again some other day?"
"I'll make sure of it, Ranma."
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(Posted Tue, 01 Mar 2005 18:09)
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