[soundtrack for this one: No Limit, by Mizuki Nana (水樹奈々)]

Nabiki was waiting for Ranma outside his classroom. He was still packing up his things. She could see him through the open doorway. She was flanked by Yui on her left, and Riko on her right. All three of them were leaning on the wall with the windows, across from the doorway. They were ignoring the stream of students that were passing between them and the classroom, and their cacophony of sounds.
Riko was holding her hand tightly and leaning up against her. Riko wasn't as warm as Ranma, but she still appreciated Riko's body heat pressed against her side and in her hand. Her friends had insisted on walking with her to meet Ranma after class had ended. While they waited, Riko and Yui were happily arguing about their usual silly nonsense. She chimed in every now and then, but for the most part she just watched Ranma and smiled. She was excited to finally start their date, and was trying hard not to show it. She felt a burning eagerness in her chest though. The truth was she could barely stand still, she was so excited.
Akane was still in the classroom with Ranma. Her younger sister was standing off to the side with her own friends, by the windows in the classroom. She could tell Akane was watching him too, but her little sister was doing her best to hide what she was doing by mostly keeping her eyes on her own friends. Every now and then Akane would slide her eyes casually over to him though. Akane's eyes also darted over to herself every now and then as well. 
She didn't acknowledge Akane's gaze, since her little sister was clearly trying to be subtle. And she also wasn't sure what to do about Akane ... at all, and she didn't want to think about it right now. As soon as Ranma was done packing up, they would officially be on their way to their date. That was all she wanted to think about at the moment.
Ranma straighted up a moment later as he slung his bag over one shoulder and clapped his friends on the shoulder, and started walking for the doorway. He looked back and waved at Akane. Her little sister returned the wave enthusiastically, and smiled at him. Then he walked straight out the door to her. He smiled broadly at her as he approached. Riko and Yui went quiet to either side of her, and watched respectfully. They knew how important this was to her.
He stopped in front of her, close enough that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted, but not so close that it was awkward. He reached his hand out to her and smiled again. "You ready to go on our date?" He asked softly. She nodded happily as she stepped forward away from the wall, let go of Riko's hand, and reached for his hand. Ranma nodded in return and they set off.
She looked back at her friends with a mixture of feelings. She wanted to giggle and swoon and show them that she was happy and proud to be going out with him, and she also wanted to be very serious and show how adult she was, and how ready she was to be in a serious relationship. She settled for smiling broadly and waving to them happily. Riko and Yui squealed in delight and hugged each other, then reached out with their arms and flapped a waving goodbye to her in a silly motion like they were imitating waves of the sea. It made her happy to see them being so silly.
They made it outside the school and on to the street without incident. As they had agreed beforehand, they were going to stop by the house so they could change clothes and get properly ready for their date. She knew all he was going to do was change clothes and maybe take a quick shower. She had her hair and makeup to do as well. She was going to have to conscript Kasumi to help her get ready fast enough, to prevent him waiting too long. She had watched for signs of Akane making any urgent motions to follow them home, but hadn't seen her. She hoped that she and Ranma would be gone on their date before Akane got back. She really didn't want to deal with Akane right now.
Both she and Ranma were sneaking looks at each other as they walked home. She was deliriously happy that he was still doing that. It was a very good sign that he would be willing to go the distance with her, if he was still looking at her with interest after living with her as long as he had been, and after having spent so much time in close contact with her the last few days. She didn't have that much more of herself to share with him, that he didn't already know about. All she had left was her body and her secrets. Some of her secrets she had resolved to tell him about on their date. The rest ... he would only find out about if he committed to her. And the rest he's gonna have to ask me marry him to earn. She thought happily to herself.
As soon as they reached the house, she squeezed his hand and darted off to find Kasumi. She belatedly realized that she should probably have included Kasumi in her plans. She hoped her older sister was home. It wouldn't be a tragedy if she had to get ready alone, though. Ranma would just have to wait a bit longer in that case. She heard him racing up the stairs to take the first shower as she popped into the kitchen.
She found Kasumi standing at the counter and sipping a cup of tea while she read a magazine. She smiled to see her older sister relaxing for once. She wondered if Kasumi was happier having Doctor Tofu in the house all the time.
Kasumi looked up at her and returned her smile. "Hello Nabiki, back from school already?" She nodded happily in response. She couldn't help herself, she knew she was grinning. "Anything I can do for you? You're home a bit earlier than usual, I'm afraid I won't be starting dinner for a little while yet, but there are snacks in the—"
"I have my date with Ranma today." She whispered excitedly.
"Oh my, well that's wonderful Nabiki." Kasumi said with a twinkle in her eye.
"I was wondering ..." She said hesitantly.
"Yes?" Kasumi said as she set her tea down and gave her full attention to her.
"I was wondering ... if you could help me get ready? I want to do something with my hair, and put on makeup ... nicely. You know, all the stuff I almost never do." She said lamely. She knew she sounded silly.
Kasumi clasped her hands under her chin and smiled happily at her and nodded. "Of course I'll help you, Nabiki. Let's go. You go pick out your clothes and your accessories while I get my makeup and hair stuff. Ranma should be out of the bathroom by the time we have everything." Kasumi said briskly as she herded her out of the kitchen.
She nodded and let Kasumi maneuver her into the hallway and up the stairs. Kasumi switched from pushing her to walking in front of her and holding her hand and pulling on her to hurry. She smiled at her older sister's enthusiasm. And I thought I was the one eager for this date. She thought.
She reached the top of the stairs and split off from Kasumi to dart into her room. She opened her closet and removed the special garment bag that contained her most prized article of clothing. There had been no question in her mind that it would be what she would wear on their date, after she and Ranma had decided when and where they would be going out. She grabbed the shoes, and everything else that went with it, from the little pile on her dresser, then did her best to walk calmly back into the hall. Kasumi was already standing there waiting for her. Ranma was still in the bathroom though.
She was just about to open her mouth and make a joke about Ranma taking too long in the bathroom because he was part girl, or something like that, she hadn't fully formed the joke in her mind. But before she could, the door slid open and Ranma walked into the hall wearing a towel around his waist, and rubbing a towel into his hair. He paused and blinked at her and Kasumi then smiled at her.
"What you got there, Nabiki?" He asked as he craned his neck to look at the things in her arms. She blushed and turned away from him. She didn't want him to know how carried away with everything she was getting.
"Never you mind, Ranma. Move along." Kasumi said as she nudged him to the side and pulled her into the bathroom before either of them could do or say anything. Kasumi shut the door on him as he opened his mouth to say something. She continued to blush as she set her stuff down on the counter. The bathroom was still a bit warm and steamy from Ranma's shower.
Kasumi busied herself setting things up by the mirror and gently shoved her into the bathing area. She nodded and hanged her dress up on the wall before she quickly showered and toweled herself off. She returned to stand back in front of the dress as she was finishing drying off, and eyed it both with apprehension and eagerness. It was her special dress.
She had bought the dress over a year ago with Riko during a victory shopping trip after a particularly good string of deals and business victories. It had been expensive, and luxurious, and lovely and ... special. She had vowed to keep it safe and unused until the perfect occasion came up to use it for. She couldn't think of a more appropriate special event to wear the dress for, than her first official date with Ranma.
She donned her underwear quickly then gently, reverently, picked the dress up and took it off the hanger. She lifted it up and examined it in the light. It was still gorgeous and in the same new condition it had been in when she'd gotten it. She sighed and pulled the dress close against her skin and hugged it to herself. She enjoyed the cool heavy silk on her skin for a moment, then smiled and stepped into the dress. She slid it up herself slowly. She wanted to enjoy putting it on for the first time since she had tried it on in the store.
It still fit her perfectly. She knew she hadn't grown, or put on or lost any significant weight since she'd gotten it. But, she had been nervous about the fit anyway. It was a floor-length formal evening dress with long sleeves, a heart-shaped cutout at the neck, and an open back. It didn't have a lot of wiggle-room for changes to her body shape. She turned back and forth in the dress and tested the fit, and decided she wouldn't have to use her backup dress.
She smiled and slid open the door to the main bathroom and stepped through it. Kasumi turned from her preparations at the counter by the mirror and gasped. "Nabiki! You look beautiful!" Her elder sister exclaimed happily.
She smiled at Kasumi and tried not to blush. "Thank you." She said quietly as she turned around and presented her back to Kasumi. "Can you zip me up?" She asked in a small voice. She was embarrassed how into this she was. Even sharing it with Kasumi, who would have seen her leave anyway, was hard for her to do.
She felt Kasumi finish zipping her up and turned quickly to look in the mirror at herself. The dress fit like she remembered. It was stunning, and it was a very adult look. She kind of felt like a kid playing dress-up in adult clothes. She ignored that feeling though, she knew it was just her doubts rising up to drag her down.
She looked at herself hard in the mirror and decided she looked too stressed out, and too tired. She was going to have to get Kasumi to help her use the makeup to hide that. I am going to look great on this date. I am going to blow him out of the water. This is the one chance I get, and I'm not going to blow it. I am just as beautiful as Akane is, and I have just as much to offer him as she does, maybe more. She thought sternly to herself. She leaned on the counter and put her face very close to the mirror and looked deeply into her own eyes — eyes that had already seen too much. I hope... she added silently to herself. Then she forced a smile on her face and turned back to face Kasumi. "Okay, time for hair and makeup." She said in a shaky voice. She was trying to hide how nervous she was. She could tell by the expression on Kasumi's face, that she wasn't fooling her older sister.
"We'll be done before you know it." Kasumi said with a confident smile as she held up a brush in one hand, and eyeliner in the other.

***

She emerged from the bathroom less than fifteen minutes later more done-up and made-up than she had ever been in her life. The only concession she had made to practicality had been her shoes. Instead of heels, she was wearing flats. Nobody could tell anyway, as her dress hid her feet.
She looked back nervously at Kasumi who beamed at her from the bathroom doorway, then nodded and made shooing motions with her hands. She nodded and set out on unsteady legs to head down the stairs.
Ranma was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up at her and smiled, then he actually looked back again and gaped in a double-take as his mouth fell open. She flushed with pleasure and embarrassment at his reaction. She could feel a warm pit of happiness filling up in the center of her chest. She smiled somewhat shyly at him as she put a little bit more of a sway into her hips as she descended the stairs. It was one thing when he was sneaking looks at her while they walked together. It was another thing entirely for her to have made an effort to look nice, and to get the kind of reaction she was getting from him. It made her feel good that he was responding so strongly to her efforts.
Her special dress looked even better in natural light than it did under the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. It was a red and white silk dress that was almost skin-tight up top, and draped loosely in elegant folds from her waist down. It was a deep red at the top, and faded to a pink at her waist, and it faded even further to a brilliant white past her waist. Her hair was styled into a complicated style that only Kasumi knew how to do. It had a wave and flow to it that was both elegant and very subtle. She was also wearing a light flowery perfume with a hint of citrus to it, and her makeup was flawless in the way that only Kasumi's practiced hand could make it. She had allowed Kasumi to do all of it: lips, cheeks, eyes, eyelashes, everything. Normally, if she wore it at all, she only put on lipstick and maybe some eyeliner. But this wasn't a normal occasion, this was a special occasion.
He had made an effort as well. He was wearing his nice blue silk Chinese shirt that he almost never wore, and he was wearing western style black dress slacks and western style black polished dress shoes. His hair wasn't styled, but he had trimmed it a bit so it was more out of his eyes, and his flowery-cedar smell blended nicely with his freshly showered smell. He was still gazing at her with very wide eyes. She smiled at him as she reached the ground floor.
"You look ... great ... Nabiki ... I mean ... wow!" Ranma said quietly.
She smiled at him and reached out for his hand. "You look very nice too. Are you ready to go?" She asked as she slid the strap for her clutch-purse over her left wrist while she kept her right hand in his. He nodded at her enthusiastically. "Well, let's go then." She whispered to him.
He nodded and set out quickly towards the door. She looked back on instinct to the top of the stairs and found Kasumi smiling at her proudly. She smiled back and then lost sight of her as Ranma led her out the door. They were on the street and walking towards the train station moments later.
As soon as they were out of sight of the house, she relaxed and unclenched from the worry she had been holding on to. She really hadn't wanted to run into Daddy or Akane on their way out. Her luck was finally improving. She walked with him in a happy silence for a block. It was cool outside, but not cold. There was a little bit of a breeze, but it wasn't anything she hadn't endured when wearing her thinner school uniform dress. She turned to look at Ranma and tried to come up with a good topic of conversation, he surprised her by beating her to it.
"So ... what did you guys do to Kodachi that has Kuno so bent outta shape?" He asked with some amusement in his voice. He had tried to ask about it after Kuno had left, but Riko had filibustered him until he gave up. It wasn't a big secret, but she had enjoyed watching him getting increasingly irritated with Riko and having to argue with her. He didn't know it, but Riko was training him to deal with frustration and anger by using words instead of fists. That was good for him, and it was also extremely entertaining to watch. So, she hadn't stepped in and just told him what they'd done. But that was then, and she didn't see any reason not to tell him now.
She looked over at him and smiled innocently. "I made a few calls, and convinced the Board of Governors that oversees the Tayorinai private school district, which includes Saint Hebereke's school For Girls, that Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics is just too dangerous a sport for the young ladies of Saint Hebereke, which was the only school in the district practicing it. They have suspended the program and banned it while a safety study is conducted."
"Wow ... that's ... pretty brutal. Kodachi must be goin' out of her mind." Ranma said in an impressed voice.
She laughed. "The best part is, the agent doing the safety study from the Government's Student Welfare agency, owes me a huge favor, and he'll come to whatever conclusion I tell him to come to."
"I wonder what Kodachi is gonna do with her time if she can't do Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics anymore?" Ranma asked.
She shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Maybe she can work on not being so insane?" She said with a hard edge to her voice.
"So ... that was your revenge for her attackin' you?" He asked in a quiet voice.
"No. That I was more or less willing to let go. Kodachi is just touched enough in the head that I really don't think she fully understands the difference between attacking someone like Akane, who's trained, and someone like me who hasn't trained seriously in about a decade." She said in a neutral tone.
"Then why—"
"Because she came after you, Ranma." She said quietly.
He stopped walking and looked at her quizzically. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "You remember that girl who accused you of groping her yesterday?" She asked.
He nodded with confusion on his face. She smiled a him patiently. "Kodachi paid her to do it. I'm positive of that."
He blinked at her. "But you stopped that." He said hesitantly.
She nodded at him and smiled as she nudged him to start walking again. "I did, and now I have informed Kodachi of the price she will have to pay if she comes after you again." She said calmly.
He walked next to her in silence for a while. She was starting to worry that he was mad at her for doing it, right when he laughed. She looked over at him with wide eyes.
"That's ... pretty cool. You won the fight without havin' ta fight. Very nice." He said with a smile on his face. She relaxed and leaned against him briefly as they walked. "Are you gonna let her have it back?" He asked after a moment.
She looked at him and smiled her small, dangerous smile. She had already made her decision, but wanted to know what he thought. "What do you think I should do?" She asked him softly.
He looked into the distance and didn't say anything for a few moments. She waited patiently and just enjoyed walking with him. He spoke again a few moments later. "I guess, if it was me, now that she's had her warnin' ... I'd give her another chance." He said quietly, then looked over to her with a cringe like he expected her to mock him.
She smiled at him instead. "Why?" Was all she asked in reply.
"Um ... well ... now that she knows what she can lose by doin' that, if you give it back to her, then she may think it's better ta focus on that stuff she likes, and ta just stay away from you, an' stuff..." He trailed off shyly as he looked at her.
"Ranma ..." she said with a smile, and waited until he looked over at her so he could see the smile reach her eyes as well. "Ranma ... that's exactly what I was going to do, and exactly the reason I was going to do it." She said with happy approval. He looked back at her with eyes wide with disbelief as a slow smile spread over his face.
"See, you're better at solving problems without fighting than you thought you were." She encouraged him.
"Maybe ... now ... we just need ta get you better at solvin' problems with fightin', so ya don't get no more bruises." He said with a small smile.
She smiled back at him then swung her hip into his. "Well, I'm teaching you the non-fighting stuff. When are you going to make me a black belt?" She asked flippantly.
"Well, we hafta train ya first ... an' your dad or mine would have ta promote ya, I can't do it." He said quietly.
She smiled at him and laughed softly. "I was kidding Ranma, I'll probably never get that good." She said seriously.
He looked sharply over at her and frowned. "Yes you will, don't say stuff like that. You have ta believe you can do it, if ya wanna win." He said earnestly.
"What do you mean?" She asked him curiously.
"It's ... it's like this ... Martial Arts won't work ... if ya don't think it'll work."
"If ya don't trust your trainin', if ya don't think the techniques you know'll work, then you're defeated before ya even try ta defend yourself."
"Well, so make me a black belt and then I'll work on getting better while everyone hides from me." She joked.
He shook his head. "That would be the worst thing ta do for your trainin'. Even at white belt, every lesson should be taken seriously. Every lesson, your teacher should be trainin' ya like you're gonna be attacked later that day, and you'll need what they're teachin' ya, to survive. If your teacher just passes you, or just says, 'well I know you don't have that technique down yet, but let's move on,' then they ain't helpin' ya." He said with a surprising amount of passion in his voice.
She smiled at that and tried a joke to deflect him from his seriousness. "Well sure, but it's going to be a long time before I can do the fancy stuff you can do. In the meantime, I can at least pretend to be a badass."
He smiled at her and shook his head. "You're better than you think you are. The fact that you held your own against Kodachi for awhile proves that."
"So?"
"So, all of the fancy stuff is just a way to control a fight ta get it back to one of the simple things anyway."
She looked at him blankly, so he smiled and elaborated.
"The basics you already know are what we call the foundational or base techniques. The basic blocks, kicks, chops, punches, elbows and footwork. Once a student masters those, they are a master of the basics and they can wear a black belt. After that, you train in what Pops calls the what if phase. That's where we start tryin' ta come up with answers for all the ways a fight can fall apart. Like, if you know how to defend against a right punch, but they throw a left, or you start to defend against a kick then they throw an unexpected punch. You train to react to that and change the technique you're usin' as needed. Once the reaction's done, yer right back in the base technique.
The last phase Pops calls the spontaneous phase and all that's just basically free sparrin'. You do whatever feels right, and they do whatever feels right, and you work on your flow. And that is answered by the what if phase trainin', which again drops right back ta the basics. Everything comes back to the simple techniques you learn at white belt. The what if part provides an answer that flows from one base technique to another base technique. The spontaneous part of that is simply being able to do that, and being relaxed enough to do it. That is how you fill the gap between base techniques to spontaneous.
And then ya learn about stuff like obscure angles, and taking your opponent's stance, and bringing them in to your stance so you never give up anything, and staying in your position of strength, and on and on. But, it all comes down to the basics. The fancy stuff is nice, and absolutely needed against other masters, but the base techniques are really what win or lose a fight. Good blocks, kicks, strikes, and putting them together in the right way, that's what it's all about."
"I'll do what I can." She said with a nod and a smile. She wanted to talk to him more about what he thought about recent events, and about martial arts training, but they were about to arrive at the Nerima train station. It wasn't crowded yet, so they were able to walk right into the main station. They each bought their own tickets for the Yurakucho Line heading towards Shin-Kiba, going as far as Shintomicho station, near the Imperial Palace. The trip would take them about thirty five minutes, not counting the walking they were doing. They didn't have to wait long for the next train. The trains were running every twenty minutes at this time of day, and they had arrived with only a few minutes until the next one arrived. That had been part of the reason she had nudged him to keep walking.
Once they had nothing to do but wait for the train, she relaxed again as she stood next to Ranma and held his hand. She had not wanted to be stuck waiting for the next train for a third of an hour. That was a lot of time to stand still with homicidal Amazons supposedly hunting her.
She looked around while they waited. The train station was a typical one. It smelled slightly of train engine oil and grease. It was very clean with signs up everywhere to direct both foreigners and locals with signs in multiple languages and pictographic instructions for the most important things. She was pulled out of her observations by a distant train whistle coming from up the tracks on her left. She smiled and squeezed Ranma's hand. They were about to be on their way to their date for real!
The train arrived and they were able to board it with no problem. The crowds were light at the moment. Most people didn't leave the office early in the middle of the week. It was still Tokyo, though, so it wasn't like the train was empty. Ranma walked with her over to a lone seat in a corner that was next to a space for a wheelchair. She sat down while he remained standing next to her.
They rode the train together in a companionable silence. Almost nobody spoke on the trains in Tokyo, it just ... wasn't done. She sat on her lone seat, and he stood right in front of her. He was trying to act nonchalant, but she knew he was shielding her from the crowd. He was facing her, with his back to the rest to the crowd. Unlike the rest of the passengers standing, Ranma didn't use any of the overhead straps or bars to hold on to. He simply stood rooted to the spot and looked down at her and smiled.
Is this really happening? Is it real? Am I really on a date with Ranma? She thought to herself in disbelief as she watched him. It felt surreal to her that it was finally happening.
Occasionally he would look up at the crowd or out the windows as he scanned for danger. But mostly he looked at her. He had been the subject of her attention off and on since he had arrived at their house being carried by a panda. However, she had only been the focus of his attention for about half a week now. The difference between having him occasionally barely paying attention to her, and having him focused entirely on her, was like the difference between having a candle in a dark room, and having the sun flood that same room with light after throwing open the window.
It was ... intense.
Surprisingly, she had been finding that since she had decided to go for it with him, that she had really liked his attention. She had always thought of herself as mostly a singular person. She liked solitary activities like reading, and music, and watching TV. She really only interacted with people for business reasons, or when she was out with her friends — which didn't happen all that often.
But with him ... it was different. She felt like when he was with her, he added something that she couldn't just make on her own. She liked to think that she was giving him something he needed as well. He certainly seemed to want to be around her all the time. She had a hard time believing that all of his devotion to her was just because he was supposed to be protecting her. He had been tasked with protecting Akane in the past, and she hadn't seen him as focused on her little sister like he was on her. She hoped ... she hoped that his focus on her was because he felt a link to her, and it wasn't just duty.
She looked up at him and smiled as she reached a hand out for him. She just wanted to touch him, she had no other reason to reach out for him. He grabbed her hand and held it in his own warm hand. She liked the physical connection between them. She was starting to crave it. She knew she shouldn't be as attached to him as she felt already, but she couldn't help it. He had been living with them for a long time now, and she had been watching him and daydreaming of him being with her instead of Akane. Now that he was with her, at least enough for them to be on a date, she found that it was even better than she had imagined it would be.
As long as he wasn't fighting or having his buttons pressed, he was a very polite and reserved person. He was extremely kind to her, and went out of his way to be nice to her, and to do things for her. He was loyal, and protective, and devoted and persistent. He kept trying, no matter what. He was, in a lot of ways, perfect for her.
Yes, he had some rough edges. He had a lot of gaps in his education, because his awful father had raised him. But just because he hadn't learned some things yet, didn't mean he couldn't learn them. If he was properly motivated, Ranma had proved time and time again that he could learn pretty much anything, and quickly.
He was also clever. She had seen him demonstrate that when he fought opponents he struggled against. She had also seen him demonstrate it just for her when she had asked him too. And he could go toe-to-toe with Riko and walk away from it. She was greatly looking forward to the surprises he had promised for their date. She wondered if they were going to be clever surprises, or sweet ones?
She looked into his eyes and smiled. She could tell that he was trying not to stare at her, but his eyes kept ending up back on her whenever he could manage it. She had done all of the stuff she almost never did, to make herself look fancy for their date. She could tell he appreciated the effort she had made, a lot. His eyes were a lot wider than usual, when she caught him looking at her now. That made her smile.
When the train announced their stop a moment later for Shintomicho station, her heart fluttered. This was it, it was really happening, they were about to be on their date for real. He looked down at her and smiled as he flexed his hand around hers. She smiled back and allowed him to pull her up into his arms even though the train was still moving. He didn't sway with the motion of the train like everyone else did. He was rock-solid.
She slid into his warm arms and luxuriated in the feel of her silk dress sliding against his silk shirt. She couldn't help herself from rubbing side to side a little bit and enjoying the silky feeling of the fabrics against each other. He smiled at her and she winked back at him.
As soon as the train started to slow down for their stop, his arm tightened around her waist and kept her secure against him as everyone else around them shifted forward with the inertia of the train, then rocked backwards again once the train had finished braking.
The doors opened and passengers started streaming in and out of the train. He waited for a moment, then started backing up towards the nearest door, with her still in his arms. She had ridden the train many times before, and she knew how to get on and off without too much trouble. She got jostled sometimes, but who didn't on the trains in Tokyo?
He didn't, apparently. Nobody touched him as he backed up at an easy pace towards the doors. She tried to focus on what he was doing to make people stay out of his way, but as far as she could tell, he wasn't doing anything with his Ki. People just, for whatever reason, didn't want to be in his way. Kind of like how people had been around Mom, she realized. She wondered if it was some aspect of the Art that she just didn't understand yet?
She allowed him to lead her off the train in his arms. She felt kind of silly, but at the same time she was proud to be with someone who commanded such respect from others around them. She knew it was childish, but she didn't care right now.
People were staring at them. The kind of open affection he was showing for her in public was very unusual for Tokyo in general, especially in a crowded train station. Younger people weren't paying much attention to them. Older people were openly frowning at them. She knew he didn't care. She would have cared if she had been with anyone else but him. With him ... she felt the need to take risks and to break the rules. She couldn't explain it, but that was how she felt. It was like a surging electricity in her chest, it made her feel like she could do anything, and that she should.
Up until fairly recently, Ranma had been more shy and reserved around women than anyone else she knew. She realized that their encounter in the hedge maze, and her tentative commitment to him, along with their exchanged promises, had triggered something in him. But, it was still amazing to see him behaving the way he was now. He didn't do it around the rest of the family, just when they were alone together, but it was still remarkable progress.
She idly wondered if he had been like this on his date with Akane. She quickly shut that thought process down, though. She did not want to think of him with Akane. That would just stir up all kinds of unresolved problems.
Instead, she luxuriated in the feeling of their silk clothing rubbing together as he led her off the train. A few moments later they were standing together alone in a sea of people. Most of the people around them were dressed in black, brown or gray business suits, even the women. His bright blue shirt, and her red and white dress stood out in the sea of people like fireworks did against the night sky. She loved that.
"So, where are we going first?" She asked him quietly as she looked up at him in his arms and smiled radiantly with happiness.