The Phoenix Saga Part I: Phoenix Ignited - Reignited Edition (Ranma 1/2)

2.01: The Morning After

Akane groaned, sitting up in the narrow bed with a yawn and a huge stretch. She leaned back, resting her shoulders against the cold white metal of the headboard. She glanced around at her surroundings, finding herself in a largely unfamiliar little studio apartment. Sunlight streamed through the lone window just beyond the small white nightstand to her right. Her eyes fell to the purple down duvet cover her legs were still under, and then to the borrowed lime green nightshirt she was wearing.

Oh. Right. I spent the night at the bar, with...

She turned her eyes down to the floor on her right, the side closest to the kitchenette, spying Ranko's old bedroll laid flat on the floor. A lavender bed sheet lay crumpled on the floor off to one side of it, and one of the pillows from the bed rested atop it in a matching cotton pillowcase.

Akane couldn't help but shake her head and smile. After the pair had sat up talking for the better part of two hours the night before, catching up on Ranko's escapades in the bar business, Ranko had insisted that Akane take the bed, even though it was technically her apartment. We're both girls; it would probably have been fine to share, Akane thought as she stretched her legs a bit under the covers. I wonder if she was just trying to be polite to a guest, or... She blushed, able to think of only one other reason for such a gesture. I mean, it couldn't be something like...

Akane's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a flushing toilet, and she turned to her left to identify the source of the noise. The bathroom door crammed into the corner of the little apartment opened, and Akane's former betrothed came through it into the main room of the apartment in a pale yellow nightdress with ruffles along the edges of the sleeves and hem. It was almost indecently short on the redhead's legs, owing to it having once belonged to the much-shorter Mei.

"Oh, hey, Akane! Morning! Sorry! I didn't wake you, did I?" Ranko blushed, lightly brushing the matted curtain of red hair out of her eyes with her fingers. "Not used to sharing a room with anybody anymore, I guess."

Akane smiled, crinkling her nose and shaking her head. "You're fine. What time is it?"

Ranko grinned in return, smoothing out her nightdress. "About ten thirty. It's pretty easy to sleep in when you live on bar hours." She bent down, picking up her sheet and pillow. As she did, her emerald green hipster panties came into full view under the poorly-fitting nightgown.

Wow, Akane thought, blushing and turning away. Girls' underwear? She really is serious about this, I guess. She hid her face behind her hand, cringing a little at the time. "I should... probably be getting home."

Ranko dropped the pillow on the bed at Akane's feet, balling up the sheet and jamming it down into the yellow plastic laundry hamper. "Sure, if you want, I guess. But it was already pretty late when you called your dad and told him you'd be staying the night, so he's probably not expecting you home super early anyway. If you wanna hang out a while longer, that is." She knelt on the floor, beginning to roll her sleeping mat.

Biting her lip slightly, Akane nodded, trying not to notice her cheeks warming as the room's other occupant bent over the bedroll on her hands and knees. "I probably shouldn't stay too late, if that's okay. I have a lot of homework and stuff to do this weekend."

The redhead nodded in her disappointment as she buckled the last of the straps around her bedroll, rocking up from her knees to her bare feet. She opened the narrow closet door next to the bathroom door, tossing the cushion on the top shelf. "You hungry?"

Akane was surprised to see the number of dresses that hung in the closet. Apparently last night's outfit wasn't a one-time thing, either. Who even are you anymore? She blushed a little more, nodding as Ranko closed the closet door and turned to face her. "What did you have in mind? Anything good around here?"