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They've been over it a million times already.
"No no, absolutely NOT." Ranma slams his palm down on the kotatsu table, making empty dinner dishes, and their parents jump with the force of it. Akane sits beside him, holding back the vitriol she desperately wants to rain down on Genma and Soun. Ranma is angry enough for both of them right now... She can feel it rolling off him in boiling waves of energy. On one hand, it's extremely gratifying- it usually takes a blue moon for him to get on her same wavelength. On the other hand, she wants to go home and channel that energy elsewhere .
She closes her eyes and squeezes his hand under the table.
He squeezes back.
"I'm so sorry." Nodoka sighs, offering them both a meek smile as they put their shoes on in the entryway. "Your fathers want to see the school succeed so badly. I know you both share the heavy burden of that responsibility. Just think about it... Please?"
Coming from her, the request makes Akane even more nauseous. Nodoka is supposed to be reasonable, but Akane gets it. Her views of female duty are antiquated at best. Ranma says nothing, but when he hugs his mother goodnight, Akane can see his jaw muscles clench. She knows the monumental effort he’s putting towards civility in this moment. "Goodnight, Auntie," She murmurs, following him out the door. They're finally free.
It had started like any other Sunday dinner over at the Saotome home. Delicious food, light conversation- more like light interrogation, to be fair. Ranma and Akane had only started living together in their apartment a few months ago. They grudgingly agreed to the arrangement so that Akane could be close enough to walk to class during the week. Ranma was part-timing at the dojo and elsewhere, and together they eked out a shockingly normal life away from Nerima. Only Katsumi and Nabiki knew that they were truly together now.
Things had been great, even wonderful until their parents threatened to leverage Akane's college tuition against the birth of an heir to the dojo.
Akane had gone white when they made the implication- panicked, angry, already feeling her future shrivel. Sure, she could entertain the idea of having a kid someday ... Just not yet. At least not until after she and Ranma were married. The way their parents talked, it was clear that they wanted Ranma and Akane to skip a few key steps just to satisfy their own egos.
The ultimatum had come from Soun, and like a slap in the face, it stunned her. She’d sat at the kotatsu, staring dumbfounded from her father to Genma, who for once wasn’t retreating to his panda form. They both looked at her expectantly. She wanted to punch them both, scream at them for forcing their expectations on her, and escape back to their tiny apartment, with its leaking faucet, cracked plaster, and cramped bathroom–
Ranma’s rough callused palm covered her knuckles, stilling her racing thoughts. This was so out of character for him, to show any outward sign of affection. It wasn't that he couldn't, just that when it came to physicality, he was so painfully shy that she usually took the lead... Not that she minded. It was fun to have the better of him in some way.
But here he was, surprising her again, all while shouting at their fathers on her behalf.
They burst back into their tiny apartment, Ranma still wrapped up in his anger for her. "I can't believe them. I can't believe your Dad. They promised to support you! That was the agreement, no strings attached . I swear, if they think they can take away your tuition-" He's kicking his shoes off, his jacket, programming the electric kettle with a jabbing accusatory finger. Akane shuts the door and leans against it, watching him lovingly.
He's always been protective, to a fault.
It's different this time. It's not just her that he so clearly wants to save. It's them and this little slice of peace that they've managed to extract from the utter chaos of the life they left behind in Nerima. It's the freedom to live their own lives, for once.
She crosses to the kitchen where he's fetching out two teacups from the overhead cabinet and cauterizes his stream of fury with a searing kiss that makes him drop one teacup. It shatters to the kitchen floor, ignored. Akane's eyes are open... She loves watching him, feeling his body stiffen in surprise, and then the tremor in his sigh when her fingers push the black shock of his bangs back in a soothing motion. She smiles against his mouth at the small sound of appreciation that resonates from his chest, and she retorts with a laugh when he blindly sets the other mug down on the counter so that he can cup the back of her head with both free hands. Her eyes drift shut and Akane lets herself forget the outside world. It’s just them, and the hiss of the kettle in the kitchen’s silence.
When her eyes open, she sees Ranma’s are still closed. He leans into her, their foreheads touching, their breath mingling soft under the rumble of boiling water.
"...Dunno if I'll ever get used to that." He rasps quietly. Akane laughs, leaning into his hand now cupping her cheek.
" I love you ." She whispers.
"Or that."
"You better."
"I love you too, Akane." Ranma manages just before he goes in for another burning kiss that makes her toes curl.
This is one of the great benefits of living together, alone.
And it’s worth fighting for.