Ranma 1/2 is the property and invention of Rumiko Takahashi. The following story is not produced for any monetary or personal gain. Its sole purpose is to entertain using the characters and plots developed by Takahashi. ALL rights reserved

The clouds are making their presence felt. The rain begins as a trickle but the wise know it is time to seek shelter. Nature takes no prisoners.

Chapter 10: The coming of dawn

Akane woke up in her bed to find the covers upon her partially nude body. Knowing that she slept with pyjamas during the night, she tried to remember why indeed she was wearing next to nothing that morning. After a couple of moments, the whole night from before came back to her and she blushed heavily. She certainly had need of a bath but one thing popped into her mind as she pulled on a robe and ran to the bathroom- her muscles were no longer sore and in fact, she felt wonderful and full of energy. She would have to remember to thank Kanma for that when she saw him again.

After finishing her bath and dressing, Akane peeked into Ranma’s room in the hope that the cheerful redhead would be in there. She was not. Resignedly, Akane lumbered down the stairs for breakfast and on the spur of the moment she asked Kasumi and question and found out that Ranma had found some relatives and that Kanma would be staying with them for a while. She had not asked for that last bit of information and wondered why her sister had opted to mention it.

Akane grabbed her bag but before she was about to go, a gentle voice called her from the kitchen.

"Akane, I almost forgot, Kanma left a letter for you. He said you would know what it meant when you read it."

Akane took the letter and began to read. At first she looked embarrassed then she turned a crimson red and not from embarrassment, but from anger.

"Akane, is anything the matter."

Akane hid the letter quickly.

"No! Nothing at all Kasumi," replied Akane.

"Well then, I hope you don’t forget to wear your uniform tonight. I had it made to Kanma’s specifications already."

At that, Akane froze and flushed beet red.

"Oh my Akane! It’s getting late. Shouldn’t you be off to school already?"

Akane growled menacingly, not at her sister, but to some unknown foe that she thought was the bane of her trouble that morning. Grabbing her bento, she hurried outside racing to school.

"Hey Akane!" shouted someone.

Akane whizzed her face around to find herself watching a petite redhead flying up from behind her. Actually she wasn't flying, or maybe she was? It was hard to tell.

Anyway, that said redhead easily caught up to Akane before Akane had time to shout a word at her. The redhead also was not breathing as hard as Akane was and easily phrased her next question.

"So how was last night? Did you miss me?"

The questions resulted in Akane slowing down from her rather quick pace in order to catch her breath.

"Nothing happened!" shouted Akane indignantly at some hidden insinuation. Of course, the partially angered attempt by Akane to force Ranma to stop questioning her was probably not the best thing the girl could have done seeing that Ranma was Kanma and Kanma was now really interested in what Akane was thinking. Ranma also wanted to know what Akane thought of the pranks he would be pulling on her during the night until he got his normal curse back. Or was that until he got the cure? He didn't really know. What do you call a cure to a curse that was added to a first curse that had nothing to do with the second curse but everything to do with the first curse? Was it a cure or was it another curse or… enough thinking about that!

Blinking his eyes, Ranma-onna spoke.

"So Akane," asked Ranma slyly, "What did happen?"

"I told you nothing happened," replied Akane hotly.

"Yeah right, and I'm a cute little bunny rabbit that you want to cuddle and play with."

Akane froze. With that pouting expression and those eyes…hmm…she did look like a bunny rabbit and Akane knew she didn't mind when she had Ranma sleep with her in her bed. She missed those nights with her sisters. Plus, you could call all that fighting they did a form of play.

"Of course you are Ranma, and right now, I want to play with you."

 Ranma froze in mid-step and almost fell down causing Akane to burst into laughter.

"I was just joking," replied Akane through her giggles.

"It would take you to think up something like that."

"I’m just original. There’s no one like me and there never will be," defended Akane.

"Yes Miss Originality, now will you explain what happened last night or do I have to tickle it out of you?"

Akane blanched a bit. She had tried a tickle torture on Ranma already and that had not been one the brightest ideas she had ever had. How was she to know that Ranma also thought that tickling was part and parcel of training and she was just and good as dishing out as with evading tickles!

"Nothing happened!"

"Yeah okay, then I wonder why your legs are a bit shiny today. Have we been given massages recently, with some type of oil?" inquired Ranma wryly.

The fire that flew to Akane’s face was unparalleled to any before in her life.

"That stupid …ugghhh!!"

"Then something did happen?"

"Well I kinda just challenged Kanma to a fight and I kinda lost to him…"

"and now you have to do something for him," finished Ranma. "Well since you’re so intent on fighting with Kanma, he’ll be your sensei while I’m gone on the afternoons."

"What! That boy!"

"He’s very good, you’ll enjoy training under him," continued Ranma in the same tone.

"I’m not training with that BOY!"

"I’d never think that you would be afraid of training with a boy."

"I’m not afraid!" shouted Akane.

"To think my student is afraid of a boy," lamented Ranma to the sky. Hmm…maybe pops had a thing when he practised the crouching tiger.

"I’ll show you! I’m going to train with him even harder than with you!"

"Good for you Akane," clapped Ranma on her back, "But if you don’t start running we’ll be late for school."

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

**********

Ranma Saotome was facing what he thought had to be the hardest training in his life. It wasn’t that the food was sent flying to opposite parts of the room or the fact that the male customers tended to leer at him or the fact that he had two girls intently watching his every move. No, it was the fact that he had to watch the face of the old crone and that alone sent shivers up his spine.

The food was sent spiralling to the end of the room and Ranma found himself hard pressed to catch it without spilling a drop. He had been there about two hours already and he had to admit that the old woman was as much of a slave driver at times as his pops was. Ranma actually found the training relaxing. It had been a long time since he had had to stretch himself and the old woman certainly made him stretch. He knew he was becoming faster as the day had progressed.

Akane had come to see him but then he told her he would be there all night and she had better go home just in case her sensei came. Akane of course walked out with a bit of temper on her head. Ranma smiled at that. He was glad that she had left. He just didn’t want Akane to see him under the whims of some old woman.

He actually didn’t mind the training since he was applauded whenever the dried up old prune made him do something near impossible. What also didn’t hurt was that since he had started, the restaurant had filled and had stayed filled. He knew the restaurant was making a killing on his performances since the patrons knew that the only way they would get a show was if the orders kept on coming.

Some more hours passed and then while he was taking a short break, he washed his hands in some warm water and the change occurred. Only this time as the day before, he did not change back. The old ghoul decided that meant training was over for the day in the kitchen. That did not mean that his training was over. After a delayed closing of the restaurant, Ranma met Kho Lon, Xian and Dai in the wide alley behind the Nekohanten.

More training was what they intended and like before, he had to catch and dodge various items thrown at him by all three. He succeeded too, almost. He knew the old hag was playing with him. That was until she started splitting into many forms and threw from different positions. He had been slightly stunned and had asked her about it. She had promised to teach him, only if he started calling her Elder. He had agreed after much inner debate. Unfortunately, after that, training was over and he followed Dai into the park she led him.

"Okay Ranma it’s time I think that I started training you."

"What!"

"Well, I’m better than magic than you are so I will train you in magic while you train me in the martial arts."

Ranma stared at her for a second wondering if he should make the deal, then he remembered that she did have a lot more experience than he at casting spells. She also had a knack of thinking of the right spells at the right time, something he did not do.

When she started weaving, it was fun to begin with, but then she started insisting that she show him close up how to do weave the patterns. He was uncomfortable with every girl with the exceptions of Akane and Kasumi being as close to him as she was a when she wanted to teach him but it was the only way. After another hour of tiring concentration at the hands of Dai, Ranma wearily made his way back to the Tendo Dojo.

Luckily for his sake, Dai had done most of his homework so that upon entering the house, he made a beeline for his room. Finding his room he flopped onto the mat, intent on a good night’s sleep. He was almost to the point of dozing off when the partition slid open to reveal a girl with short cut hair in a uniform that she was not accustomed to wearing. One that was a lot shorter than the specifications given since the eldest daughter decided that she was going to directly intervene in her little sister’s personal life.

Thus, Akane stepped into the room in a French maid outfit that Ranma had seen in one of those movies that Akane herself had forced him to watch one night. The tray Akane carried tinkered as she walked into the room. She was both unaccustomed to her new mode of dress and embarrassed at exactly just how much leg she was actually showing at the moment. Even through his sleep, Ranma’s mind was pierced by her vision and he struggled to keep himself awake.

"Kasumi heard you come in so she sent me with your food," announced Akane as she sat at the side of the mat placing the tray before him.

Ranma was quite pleasantly surprised at the size of the meal before him but stopped when he realised that there were two empty plates on the tray and that Akane was eyeing the food hungrily.

"Why are there two plates?" he asked.

"Kasumi said that if I am going to be your servant, I can only eat after I serve you."

"Nonsense!" he replied then the sensei part of him reared his head again. "You can eat, but you have to be fast enough to eat without me taking the food away from you with my chopsticks." Ranma grinned, now fully awake and waiting for the fun to begin.

Akane prepared herself, armed with her chopsticks in hand while Ranma waited- his neatly folded in front of his plate. Then it began…

Akane was not prepared for the sheer viciousness of Ranma’s attacks. As soon as her chopsticks had a solitary piece of meat or vegetable, it was stolen and disappeared down the gullet of the boy siting opposite her. Of course, this only made her angry and enticed her to try harder. Strangely enough, the longer they battled and as more food disappeared from the plates the more she was able to keep to herself. She was left wondering after a while why she was winning when she yawned. Ranma yawned too. At that moment, Kasumi entered with two glasses.

"Oh Akane, let me take these dishes from you and why don’t you drink some of this juice I made. It's a new recipe. Please tell me how it tastes. After that, maybe Kanma can train you some more."

"That sounds like a good idea Kasumi," replied Ranma between yawns then he emptied the glass he had been given. Akane followed suit. Ranma shook his head and yawned again.

"I’m sorry Akane, I’m too tired to train you."

Akane nodded and tried to get up. She almost did until at the end, her legs gave way and she fell forward. Luckily for her sake Ranma was there to catch her. Unluckily, within seconds of catching her Ranma was seeing the world spinning around him and joined that spinning world soon after. Akane struggled meekly also for only a short time before she too saw the stars.

Kasumi waited for two minutes outside the room before she entered. She arranged her sister and Kanma so that Akane’s head rested against Kanma’s chest. Satisfied, she crept out of the room with the blood pounding through her veins. She had not known that this would be so exhilarating. It was naughty true, but how else was she supposed to get her headstrong sister to trap Kanma. Kasumi knew he was a nice boy. He had proven that already. All she had to do was to get her sister to show a bit more interest after all: boys were better caught with honey than with vinegar. Kasumi was also glad that she had borrowed those books from Dr. Tofu. Who knew that certain common household ingredients made a potent sleeping potion? Her work was done for the night. All she needed was for her little sister to do the rest.

Her eyes were heavy, that much she could tell. Very heavy. In spite of that though, the little crack of light that was illuminating the room was enough to make her stay awake. She coughed lightly and squirmed a bit. Something felt solid under her cheek. That’s funny. She usually slept with a pillow. Not on the hard mat like Ranma and Kanma preferred. She eyes wandered and she gasped at what and on who she had been sleeping on. Lazily her hand traced the contours of his chest as she stared at him. She had actually slept the whole night with a man and not with any man either…she had slept with Kanma. The same boy she had dreamt about for the last few weeks. She couldn't help but stare at him as he slept soundly. He looked so cute as he slept. She pressed her hands against his chest and revelled at how firm it felt and how his muscles stood well defined against his shirt.

She remembered the times she had seen the other boys at school trying to show off their muscles and their chest. Ranma had not tried that with her while they practised instead, he usually wore a long sleeved shirt that masked most of his musculature. The night's rest had left his shirt crumpled and Akane saw just how developed he really was. More so than most of the boys at school.

A naughty thought popped into her head. A very naughty though indeed. She should not think like that. That kind of thing was wrong. But she was there. He was right there. There really wasn’t anything wrong with what she wanted to do. He was just a boy and it wasn’t as if…

You just don’t have the guts she challenged herself. Yes that was it. If she did that, then that proved that she had guts and that she was brave. She could not beat Kanma in a fight but there were others ways of beating him. Bending down, she stared at his face and slowly, she closed the gap and let her lips touch his. Almost immediately she reared her head and touched her lips with her fingers then, like the schoolgirl she was, she giggled. The sun was just about to break the horizon and Akane realised that she might get caught in Ranma’s room with Kanma. Cautiously, she crept to the partition and hearing nothing she opened the door and stealthily made her way back to her room while unconsciously licking her lips every few seconds.

Ranma awoke to that ‘I knew I was tricked’ feeling. Still woozy, he reached around knowing that Akane had fallen asleep in the room with him. Not finding her, he assumed that luckily Kasumi had found Akane in the room with him and had awoken her sister. Relieved, Ranma set about the task of trying to figure out who had duped the food. It could not have been either Kasumi since she was too sweet or Nabiki since she usually left her sister out of her more devious schemes. Therefore, the only other option was Dai.

The more he thought about it. The more convinced he was that Dai had done that. At least it had not been a blatant attempt! He knew what she was capable of and this was the least of it. Well, she had told him that she preferred other options to Xian and now it was more that obvious who one of the other options was. Of course, he could not let Dai know that he knew. She would keep it simple now but if she knew that he knew what she was doing, she might skip the covert attempts and go directly to the source; the very thing that he did not want her to do.

Ranma also realised that the sun had risen and that he was presently in his girl form. He could fake it and tell Kasumi that he missed breakfast at his aunt’s house…yes, that was a good explanation. That would definitely work!

Ranma changed and then jumped out of the window. Luckily, no one was outside so no one saw him. Inside, he met Kasumi and started one of his usual morning talks with her while telling her that he had just awoken earlier that day to allay further questions.

He waited there for the others to get up and ate with Kasumi as they cooked. A shuffling of feet told him that someone was at the door and when he turned around, he saw Akane in her school clothes. That was strange, she was up early!

"Morning Akane!"

"Morning Ranma! How come you’re here so early?"

"Well I left early so I could walk to school with you. Any news?"

Akane blushed slightly, too little for Ranma to notice.

"No. No news. So are you going to teach me anything today? We still have some time and your cousin was too tired yesterday to teach or spar with me."

"Okay, let’s just do something light so that you don’t mess your clothes up too much."

"That’s okay. I’ve started wearing those clothes you pointed out to me the other day."

"Yeah. Those things breathe a lot more than those other clothes you wear. Keeps you drier and feeling a lot fresher." 'Wait, I can believe I said that,' thought Ranma. It sounded like one of those ads on TV.

Akane nodded her agreement and followed Ranma to the Dojo where they had a comfortable spar before heading out to school.

That was how it continued for two more weeks with the addition of another of those training dreams as Ranma liked to think of them. For two more weeks, he continued his training at the Nekohanten and was increasing his speed rather admirably. The old crone was also teaching him some other stuff about ki that was interesting. He knew that it might help him out someday so he did pay some attention although sometimes he stubbornly refused to listen. He had no intention of letting the old woman know that he was getting to like having her teach him. He was probably just able to match her for speed, but he could in no way defeat her cunning.

The training he got during his training was also good too. He had learned how to dodge and watch for surprise attacks from the girls. It had made him angry at first but he soon got to enjoy it. Xian would do it from a purely martial arts perspective while Dai would do it using magic. When he let his magical senses out, he could still sense her but when she was in the same room with him she was hard to pinpoint. It was there that that part of the training began.

There was also the point that he felt bad at letting the girls down so he was forced to make his escapes more crafty everyday. Casual flips no longer worked at keeping Xian away from his lips. He had to be sly about his little slips and make her miss his lips. That meant that she had kissed almost every other part of his face. He could tell that she was having a blast enjoying the thrill of the chase. He knew that she thought it would be just a matter of time. He would let her think that. He had no intention of marrying her.

Dai’s tricks were a lot different and she was a lot better than Xian at executing them. Besides casting glamourie spells she used many complicated ones to entrap him. She knew some of his weaknesses and once she used the images of three girls coming onto him to trap him in a spell she had woven. That girl was the hardest to predict. She could disguise herself as an old woman or as a piece of furniture. She was good; he had to admit that. She also used her occasional wins to her advantage. He could still feel the taste of her lips against his. He knew what was going on too. Every time she was able to nail him she would do it in front of Xian. Kho Lon never said anything. She just watched as her great granddaughter fumed in silence. He knew that Dai did it just to annoy her, why she had this vendetta against Xian he did not know.

There was one good thing about it though. Dai taught him after the restaurant closed. Everything she tried on him she eventually taught him since she knew from experience that the same trick usually did not work on him twice. He had learned a lot about disguising himself and conjuring up images. She even taught him a few of her aggressive spells. A lot of those spells dealt with fire and water.

As usual, when he changed that night he would challenge the old woman. These last few times though, she had not beaten him with speed. She had beaten him with trickery and with other techniques that he did not know of. She did teach him some of them. Presently he was learning this soul of ice thing. It was cool! He could actually freeze the air around him with that. She had shown him it could be done. He needed practice though. After all, she had only shown him two nights ago and only after he had done her washing. Yeesh! That was a horrible experience he did not ever want to endure again.

The home front had also been a different type of battleground. Dai had been really sneaky. He had on times been able to avoid the sleeping potions. He had only been duped four times after that night, three in the first week. Akane had got better in the Art and continued to wear that ridiculous outfit he had seen on TV. He had told her after the first week that her end of the challenge was completed but Kasumi said that she had to wear the outfit since he was a guest and it would be dishonourable for Akane not to honour the agreement during his whole stay. No one wanted to disagree with Kasumi so in the end Akane greeted him every night in her outfit and ate dinner with him alone in his room since for some reason there was always something on the table and no other room was deemed appropriate.

He figured that those potions only affected him since every time he fell asleep he always woke up alone. He had asked Akane about it once but she said that when he looked tired she just left him alone in the room to sleep. It was strange that she also blushed when he asked that question. What was stranger was the absence of Nabiki and her taunts. He thought she would be furious to find out she would be supporting another guest but she neither ate with him in the morning nor did he see her at night since she was either out late doing her projects according to Kasumi or sleeping early. What a strange girl!

Tonight was the night he was definitely going to get that vial from Kho Lon. He had had enough of her tricks and he knew he was good enough to defeat her. All he had to do was just that. She was a crafty old witch and knew how to use everything to her advantage.

When the hot water hit his skin and the transformation came, Kho Lon began closing the restaurant. When Xian closed the door she walked very close to him and suddenly she made a beeline towards him. He ducked just in time to receive the kiss to his forehead. He briefly saw the fluttering of a white piece of cloth in a window. He thought later that it probably was a white plastic bag.

Ranma knew how intense the fight coming would be so he prepared himself. All that waitressing had kept him conditioned for the fight he knew would come later in the night. He cracked his knuckles as the last of the dishes were cleaned and prepared for the old woman. She used any and everything in her attacks. That reminded him a lot about how pop attacked. They were almost the same except he knew that the old crone would not run away when faced with overwhelming odds.

The contenders faced each other and the spectators, Dai and Xian sat and watched amusedly. Kho Lon put the vial in a pouch on a thin chord that hung from around her neck. Ranma waited on her then attacked using the chopsticks he had up his sleeve while simultaneously jumping in the air towards the old woman. He had on occasion thought about casting spells at her, but he wanted to keep this purely martial arts. She deflected the chopsticks easily and moved out of the way of his kick. She dodged and blocked his other attacks as they came one after the other with her stick and once with her hand.

Ranma knew this was just a warm up and sure enough when she had the chance, she launched her counter attack. Ranma knew she was better than him and in a real fight he had no chance, but with her toying with him as she had done over the last few weeks he did have a chance and a chance was all he needed.

Chestnut fist met with chestnut fist and the two stood there in deadlock until for some strange reason a mass of black objects sprayed through the room towards him. Ranma jumped back relieved that the ghoul did not press forward after him and caught an object that had a slight chance of hitting him.

"Ranma Saotome you have enslaved the heart of my beloved Shampoo, prepare to die!"

Ranma stood astonished as the boy with the white robe and thick glasses addressed him. He almost did not react in time when a plethora of objects came hurtling towards him from the boy’s clothes. He dodged most of them and grabbed one as it was about to hit him. An egg? Boom! Ranma staggered back surprised! He was even more surprised when a purple blur passed before his eyes.

"Mu Tzu why you interfere!" shouted Xian as she dashed from where she was sitting.

"Oh Xian Pu my…"

Splat!

Again Ranma was amazed as he watched the human puddle try to reform, this time with a huge lump on his head.

"That teach Mu Tzu to interfere with Xian Pu’s husband," huffed Xian.

Ranma realised that Kho Lon had momentarily shifted her concentration and he attacked with the chestnut fist while simultaneously making a grab for the vial. His hand met with resistance.

"Clever son-in-law, but not clever enough," taunted the old crone as she blocked his hand with her staff and sent him flying in one fluid motion. Ranma ricochet off the wall using his feet and attacked the old woman once again through the air. He however had to dodge as a barrage of unidentified flying objects came his way. He heard the pling of metal striking metal and a gurgling behind him. He caught something in his hand…a pair of glasses? Momentarily the old woman was off balanced and Ranma used her disposition to his advantage. Using the glasses as a boomerang he sent it careening towards the old woman who was blinded by the surge of water and surely enough, she blocked it. She actually blocked it and she couldn’t see! What she couldn’t block was the vial slipping out of the pouch she had it in. It plinked on the ground and started rolling.

He looked at her and she looked at him. Then they dived. He might have actually reached first if something had not grabbed his foot at the last minute and then wrapped around his waist. At least Kho Lon had not been able to reach it either. He stared after it intensely as it was washed away by waves of water. Getting pissed, Ranma used the little space he had to move in the chain to snake his hand out to the head of the chain holding him. He pulled. It had the desired effect. The person holding it jerked forward giving him enough slack to snake out of the metal cocoon.

One quick glance told him that the old ghoul did not have the vial.

"Oh airen…" whispered Xian seductively.

Ranma turned around and stood shocked as Xian held the vial in her hand.

"Xian give you vial only if you give kiss." It was not a question; it was an ultimatum and Ranma knew there would be no negotiation. He knew what Xian wanted and he knew she was not going to give up on him. She had enjoyed the chase and the hunt but, as with every other hunter, she wanted the kill.

"Um…ahh…"

Ranma inched forward towards her. His mind was buzzing with activity. To kiss her would mean certain and instantaneous control of his life. From the bits and pieces he was able to gather from Dai, he would be married to Xian but she would be in charge of him. It was almost as if she owned him. That would not do. He would not have his life controlled by some woman he did not want to marry.

He was inches away from her face now. Inches away. Her lips were puckered her eyes closed, waiting. She was waiting and he was hesitant. He did not want to do this. Fighting was one thing but marriage was something totally different.

Creaking thankfully captured his attention. Creaking? Crack! Splinter!

Ranma looked up and saw some of the heavy flooring coming loose and falling down on him and Shampoo. Instinctively, Ranma tackled Shampoo to the ground. When the dust cleared, he made sure she was okay and as he checked her, her outstretched hand was evidence enough that she had lost the vial.

Disappointed, Ranma left the Nekohanten without Kho Lon, Xian or a trussed up Mu Tzu for his next destination: the park and training with Dai.

The park was dimly lit in the area Dai had chosen. That was useful for two purposes: no one ventured into that part of the park and if someone did venture in, identification of the combatants would be difficult.

Dai was at the appointed place juggling two fireballs. She did not wait for him to get ready as she immediately sent them towards him. This sparring session was of a totally magical base. All martial arts attacks were banned. Ranma wove a shield in front of him with only a slight wriggling of his fingers. With Dai’s tutelage, he had almost mastered spell casting without fingers.

The shield held against the blasts and Ranma retaliated with several of his own. Dai had shown him many of the fire blasts that she specialised in. He knew that when she was younger she had to have been a bit of a pyromaniac but he did not pursue that line of question. That was particularly dangerous against someone as magically competent as Dai.

Blast met blast, shattering the darkness around. Branches flew and waterspouts directed liquid missiles towards the combatants. Mythical animals tested the shields of both combatants. Looking at the two it was easy to see who had the upper hand. Dai was concentrating on the task at hand, but her face did not look taxed with exertion. Ranma on the other hand was sweating profusely and exuded stubbornness. That trait was one that Dai admired and it was one that caused the matches to last longer every time. They had been at it for two hours now.

Dai pressed Ranma with flame and lightning bolts alternating with shards of rock and the whip-like branches of a magical vine that looked something out of a Dr. Who story. Finally Dai was able to penetrate Ranma’s shield with a combination of five strong successive sonic blasts coupled with a raging inferno. The charred body of Ranma ended up imbedded into one of the pillars around a bridge.

Seconds later, the semiconscious Ranma separated himself from the surrounding rock.

That was something that Dai could never figure out. No matter what she did to that boy, he was able to bounce back every time and though sometimes he had been angry, he never held his anger for long. In contrast to her, when he fought with anger, he seemed to fight a lot better than normal. He seemed to become more concentrated and focused on his target. His attacks were better planned and his execution became flawless. Dai was lucky she had her bag of tricks and she was no where close to running out of them, as yet. She knew what combinations of spells had the ability to break down a shield. Ranma’s shield had been weak at the beginning but his shield was a lot stronger now and she had to come up with more complex combinations to wear him down. She also had a surprise for him…

"Oh Ranma, I’ve got something for you," she told him in a sultry voice.

"Hm...what is it?" he asked, having got accustomed to Dai’s mischievousness. She always tried to taunt him into some kind of romantic atmosphere and continually reminded him that he owed her a date. She did not ask to collect as yet and he wandered what she had planned. The kisses she had been able to steal in the Nekohanten had all been on the lips and thankfully they had only been ‘on’ and not ‘in’.

"Well during your unfortunate fight with the elder. Something caught my eye and I thought you might like it."

She removed something from a pouch at her side and held it for Ranma to examine. His face beamed with excitement and he rushed towards her, grabbed it from her hand, emptied the contents on his head and then dove into the river nearby. When he surfaced, he looked down and saw a glorified chest staring back at him.

He jumped out of the water and twirled Dai round and round after which he gave her a huge kiss on the lips.

"Thank you Dai! Thank you!" he shouted and ran away from her to a known destination.

Dai sat down and touched her lips. He had kissed her. For the first time since she knew him he had kissed her willingly and she had not had to trick him or do anything. Maybe there was a thing to the kindness Master Sung had been talking about. She touched her lips again and hummed. Ranma might still be repressing what he felt but it was nice to know she was appreciated.

A rejuvenated Ranma Saotome took to the rooftops. He was pondering his state of bliss at the moment. He was happy that he could now turn back into a girl during the night! It seemed to be a contradiction to what he really wanted: to be rid of both curses. But he was feeling happy. He had evaded the old woman’s trap and he was now free of the amazons at least temporarily. He still had to be wary of Xian. There was no telling what that girl considered as part of the hunt.

He leapt over the stone wall around the Tendo Compound and hugged Kasumi as soon as he saw her, then he saw Akane coming down the stairs in her silly costume and swept her up in his hands.

"Hey Akane, I’m back!"

"What do you mean you’re back?" asked Akane.

"Um…ah…I coming back here to stay," he stammered while putting her down.

"That’s good. You can help me when I spar with Kanma."

"Heh, heh, Kanma’s going home too. He told me to tell you." Good save, Ranma congratulated himself.

"You mean he didn’t have the decency to tell me he wasn’t coming himself!" fumed Akane. She had actually planned something for that boy tonight and he was going home.

Ranma wondered why she was getting so upset over his male side not telling her that he was leaving. Maybe it was something that only girls could understand.

"He said he’d pass later," consoled Ranma. Akane cooled down a little.

"You want to spar a little before he comes," asked Akane.

"Nah, I just gonna tidy up somethin’ in my room. Bye."

Akane watched as Ranma scampered up the stairs. She marshalled her courage and her stubbornness and sat watching the door. She would have to change her plans a little but the outcome would be the same. She was done with hiding.

Ranma was in a mix between being happy and wondering what had happened to Akane. He knew the girl was strong and a bit violent but to be angry that he had not told her goodbye? Well she probably wanted to thank him for helping her in her martial arts. She had improved and he had been harder on her as a guy than as a girl.

He went to the bathroom, cupped handful of water and started to heat it in his hands. Soon enough Ranma-chan became Ranma-kun who used the nearest window as his exit. He ran around the house and pressed the little bell that they had installed on the door.

The door opened and Akane greeted him. Actually he was grabbed by Akane and hauled to the Dojo. She was still in that outfit that Kasumi had sown for her. Ranma thought she would have at least changed when he told her that 'Kanma' was going home. Ranma started some light stretches that he did not need while Akane did some heavy stretching as he waited.

Again the little sparring session did nothing really to help Ranma in his martial technique and he was hardly sweating. Akane however had had a good workout and was sweating profusely. They bowed to each other and Akane sat on the floor.

"So Kanma when were you going to tell me that you were leaving?" asked Akane in an accusatory tone.

"I…I’m not really leaving. I’ll just be going away for a while."

"And why did you choose to tell me this on the day you were going to leave?"

"I only knew I was going today," he defended.

"Oh!"

Akane had moved from her position on the floor to face him.

"I had something planned for you tonight. You should have told me earlier."

"You did?" asked Ranma rather surprised. He liked surprises, once they did not come from his pop. Those kinds of surprises he could do without.

"Come closer," she commanded. "I want to tell you something."

Ranma leaned forward to hear what she had to say. He was surprised when her hand came up to the side of his face. She touched him gently and felt every motion her fingers made as her hand glided up the contours of his face. It was as if she wanted to touch him but did not want to touch him. Her fingers stroked his ear and slid slowly down his face reaching his lips.

"Shh…"she told him.

Strangely enough her touch was comforting. Even her soft whisper was calming. It was strange that she had that effect on him, even when he was in his girl form. Her hands slid behind his neck and unconsciously he bent down. Her face moved towards his and he did not think. As with everything in martial arts, he reacted. He reacted and his face met hers and he was stuck there. He could not move nor could he think, he could only react. All he did was react.

They reacted with each other for a long time taking occasional breaths as they went along. Ranma felt Akane stop and so he stopped too. Akane stared into his eyes. He could see those big beautiful eyes as they stared back at him.

"Next time you’re in the area be sure to come and see me otherwise, I’ll hunt you down," she warned. She reached up and pecked him of the cheek while passing her hand over the other. "Next time, let’s go see a movie first." She wanted to tell him something else but nothing came to her mind so she slowly disengaged herself and walked inside conscious of every step she made.

Ranma stood there dazed. He didn’t know how long he had been trapped in his thoughts and in fact he thought that he had just been standing in the Dojo for the whole time. He slipped and found himself in the koi pond. How had he got there?

He shook his head and blinked.

"Hey Ranma? Going for a midnight swim?" taunted Akane from inside.

Had she seen him change? No she hadn’t, otherwise she would have been really angry.

He gave her a smile and wandered inside. His mind was abuzz.

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