[Episode 152471] [Episode 152471]"Ranma?" she murmured softly. "I'm... sorry."
"For what?" he asked, turning his head slightly to look at her in confusion.
"'For' not knowing who you were when you came."
"Yeah, well, that's understandable, considerin' the way that I looked. I was a girl after all, and it's not like ya would be expectin' a husband ta have... ya know. And ya didn't know that I'd gotten that curse."
"But couldn't ya have let me know? I... I waited for word, and then...."
A pained look came across his features. "Think 'bout it. How could I tell ya? Just write it? It'd sound wierd. 'Course, I coulda sent pictures, but then it'd just be a picture of me and one of my girl side, which could two different people. And forget 'bout tapin' the change. Just gettin' the camera would be a pain in the ass."
"There wasn't a way to let me know. Some way?"
"Don't ya think that I tried ta think of one? 'Xcept none of 'em seemed ta be right, and I knew that in the end, ya'd be shocked. Why wouldn't ya be, when I was surprised by it myself? I wanted ta come ta ya as a guy, so that this way I could start off with ya believin' me, 'cause I was sure that ya would freak if I came as a girl. And I was right 'bout that, wasn't I?"
"It was just a reaction to a strange girl," she told him, reaching out to him and feeling an ache in her chest when he stiffened slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know. And I don't blame ya for that."
"But Ranma...."
"Forget it. It's just somethin' that I'll have ta live with 'til I can find a cure. This the furo?"
Looking over at the door in front of them, his wife nodded. "That's the changing room, and on the other side is the bathing area."
"Gotcha. Don't worry. It might be feelin' good ta enjoy a real long soak, but I won't be in there too long."
"That's fine. Take all the time that you want."
"Kind of ya ta say that," he replied, and opened the door. "I'll see ya after my bath."
"Okay...." she murmured, and watched him close the door, which seemed like more than just a physical barrier between them. Sure, he understood the reason for her actions, but bringing it up had made him a bit distant. By what she knew of him, he'd loosen up, and treat her basically the same over time, but that small hurt would be buried deep down within him. It would always be there, and she couldn't help wanting to do something about that.
Looking at the door, there was only one option that she could think of. Getting her nerve up to do it took a bit of time, and the deep breath that she'd taken in preparation to do it just slid out of her when she opened the door and saw that he was already on the other side. In fact, she could hear him finishing his washing, and walking over to the furo.
Turning her attention to the basket that held his clothing, there was only one thing that she could do.
Sitting in the Tendo family room, Genma swirled the sake in his cup, and frowned as he tried to figure out why his daughter in law and her sisters would think that he was so against their gender. It was true that he'd used certain terms with his son over the years, but considering that the boy was a boy, that only fit. After all, boys were not supposed to have the same sort of reactions as girls, and there were certain behaviors that were most certainly not manly. If he wanted to keep his head, the boy had to be a 'manly man', which he did have to admit that his son was, having managed to get a girl to marry him as he had.
But still, the Saotome patriarch was certain that he wasn't some chauvinist. It was just that girls had different strengths than boys did, as one couldn't expect a girl to grow to be over six feet tall, and have a waist as thick as a tree trunk. There was all that mess with being 'pretty', which he did have to admit could be a hassle for them, but was good for a man when he met a woman. His own wife had to be one of the strongest willed people that he knew, but she still got all... soft when it came to certain things.
Not that it was a problem at certain times, but that wasn't here, nor there.
The fact of the matter was that he couldn't remember going out and listing some sort of dogma for 'feminity', so he couldn't understand why they would think that he had.
But then, there were a lot of things that he didn't understand about woman, and seriously doubted that any man would ever be able to do so.
If heaven really existed, Ranma was certain that it had at least one furo in it. Being able to sit in one, and let the heat soak into one's body so far that it made that person feel almost bonelessly relaxed was wonderful. It made all one's concerns float away until he couldn't tell that he'd ever had them. And as he sat there with his back to the side of the tub, and his arms stretched out to either side of him, he was reasonably certain that nothing would stress him while he was in there.
Then the door slid open and his lazy gaze became a panicked stare as he saw who was closing the door.
"Akane?!" he yelped, unable to not notice that his wife was totally naked.
Her eyes went wide as she heard a male voice in the bathroom, and she looked like she was about to yell, but then she slapped a hand over her mouth. That stifled any sort of cry from her, and she took a moment to visibly calm herself, even as she seemed to unconsciously be trying to cover herself. "Sorry. I'm not used to having a guy in here at all...."
"If ya hadn't noticed, there is one in here now."
"I know. So?"
"'So'?! Ya came inta here naked!"
"Since when is that a problem?"
"Ever since it started bein' bad for girls ta just show up ta take a bath with a guy!"
"But I didn't 'just show up'. I'm your wife, which means that we're supposed to... well.... Seeing each other naked isn't wrong, since we're married," Akane informed him primly, though it did sound like she was also saying it to confirm it for herself.
"We... are?"
"What did you think? I mean, I'm... we are... You know that we're supposed to... you know...."
Ranma, thoroughly confused at the moment, scratched his head. "Not really. Ya haven't said what ya were tryin' ta say."
"I'm supposed to bear your children, and how can I do that if we never see each other naked?!"
"Ah...."
"Oh...."
The couple each blushed deeply and looked off towards the ceiling, and Ranma was the first to speak. "I wasn't thinkin' 'bout stuff like that, but what's that gotta do with this? Why did ya come here?"
"Well, I thought that I might be able to come and wash my husband's back for him, but it took me a bit to work up the courage. I mean, I've never done anything like that, and I wasn't too certain on how to come forward with it. But you'd already washed, so I thought that I'd simply join you."
"Just like that?"
"What?" Am I not pretty enough for you now that you've married me?"
"No, no!" he choked out, waving his hands in a panic. "It's not that. You're plenty pretty. But... I ain't sure how'd ya think that something like this would work out...."
"It'll be fine. Now, I need to bathe. Can't get into the furo dirty."
"Oh, right."
Sighing heavily, Akane sat on the wash stool, and filled up a bucket before pouring it over herself. "You know, we've got to get used to this sort of thing."
"We do?"
"What do you think? We're married now, and that means that we are supposed to do things together. And we can do plenty of stuff, some of which we've missed so far."
"Like what?"
"Like... a honeymoon. We didn't get to have one, and.... We should have been able to spend some time from our wedding night until maybe... I don't know, but that time would have let us.... actually be husband and wife, with all that comes with it. We still have.... You have been thinking about me like that, haven't you?"
As he had been fascinated by the way that the suds slid over her lithe body, and how she moved and stretched as she washed herself, he was intensely distracted right then. "Yes.... No, of course... I mean, yeah.... Umm... sure.... Nah.... Uhh.... How am I supposed ta answer?"
"You don't know?"
"I say 'yes', and it sounds real perverted. I say 'no', and it seems like I don't like ya."
"I'm your wife. You're supposed to want me like that."
"I am?"
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath as she rinsed off and got up to walk over to the furo. "Don't you know anything?"
"I know lots.... Okay, so it ain't like.... I ain't exactly been goin' 'round with a lot of girls."
"Good. Because you're only supposed to be with this one."
"Yeah. It's just...." he began, swallowing hard as he stared at her supple, and very nude, form. "Are ya supposed ta just come over ta me like this?"
"Why not?"
"'Cause...."
"Yes?"
"Isn't it perverted?"
Looking at how he was fairly plastered to the side of the furo opposite the one that she was climbing over to get in, she rolled her eyes. "We're married, Ranma. You chose me, and I chose you. We had to know that this was coming."
"'This' exactly?"
"No, not this! But something like it!"
"Oh."
"And stop acting like this is so horrible! What could hurt you in this?!"
"Your dad, for one. He doesn't like me at all."
"I know, but I'm sure that he'll come around."
"Ya are?"
"Yes, but that doesn't even matter right now," Akane told him.
"It doesn't?"
"No, it doesn't. He's not here, and he can't run how things go for us. And right now, we're going to share the furo."
"We are?"
"We are," she said firmly, and slid over to lean against his side, with her head resting against his stiff shoulder. Glancing up showed that he had a happy, panicked, and terrified smile on his face. Another sigh worked its way up from her chest, but she wasn't about to let him bolt, so she snuggled against him, laying one arm over his chest, and her left leg over his.
Right then, Ranma found that even if his wife's breasts weren't the big and bouncy ones of his girl side, they felt perfect against him, and he knew that he really liked being there with her like this. However, he had to wonder about two things. On the one hand, it seemed like she was a bit... energetic, if not perverted, in her approach to their marital relations. But, on the other hand, if her father found out what was going on, he was a very dead martial artist. Since he couldn't get out from under her firm hold at the moment and a part of him was loathe to even try, he could only stay there and hope for the best.
At least, if he did get found out, then he'd die having been a very happy young martial artist.
And so, the couple 'cuddled' there in the warm waters, while:
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(Posted Sun, 27 Nov 2005 05:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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