[Ranma][FanFic] The Taming of the Horse (part 2/6)

[Vincent Seifert]

[This part 2 of 6 contains Chapters 3-5]

The Taming of the Horse

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Vince Seifert (seif...@csus.edu)

TotH webpage: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/toth/index.htm

Ranma 1/2 characters and situations are copyright 1987, 1998
by Takahashi Rumiko. Publishing rights (Japan) by Shogakukan
Inc. Publishing rights (North America) by Viz Inc. This work
is not intended to infringe those rights.

~~~~~ Chapter 3: Exercise ~~~~~

Many would-be equestrians fail to realize that it is
not enough to see that the horse receives regular exercise.
The physical conditioning of the rider is also important,
and must not be neglected... disturbances in the rider's
mental and emotional state often affect the attitude of the
mount, sometimes in surprising ways.

-- "The Taming of the Horse: An Equestrian's Guide"

Akane was walking home from school by herself for the first
time in weeks. Ranma had been detained by some silly plot
Principal Kuno and Miss Hinako had cooked up, and Akane had
gotten impatient and started for home without him. She watched
the fence pass the setting sun and tried not to think about the
boy who wasn't there.

"Tendo Akane."

Akane turned around and there was Shampoo. The Chinese girl
set her box on the ground and stepped forward. "Nobody around.
Feel like little challenge?"

Akane didn't, but she couldn't make herself decline it. It
didn't occur to her how many times she'd berated Ranma for the
same reflex as she tossed her bag clear, set her feet, and cocked
her fists. "Any time you're ready."

Shampoo smiled briefly and darted in. Akane saw the strike
of Shampoo's open hand, blocked it, and countered, but Shampoo
was already airborne and her heels were rising out of Akane's
reach. She spun and ducked the strikes she knew were coming from
above, but her arm was seized and twisted and then the world was
revolving sideways.

Akane slid to a stop and rolled to her feet, spitting dust.
Shampoo was standing well out of reach, looking amused. "You out
of practice." She examined the fingernails on one hand. "Ranma
need stronger wife. Why you not just give up now, before you
hurt?"

"Why don't you give up?" Akane spat before she could stop
herself. "Why do you want Ranma so much, anyway?"

Shampoo's gaze turned serious. "You know Joketsuzoku law,
so you asking other question, eh?" She paused and started
circling Akane. Akane turned to keep facing her. "What not to
want? Ranma fast, strong, brave, smart-- oh yes, you laugh, but
he smart."

She gazed over Akane's head. "Ranma beautiful. Ranma most
beautiful boy I ever see. See him, want him," her eyes swung
down to pin Akane, "take him." She smiled at Akane's
inarticulate response and resumed her slow circling. "Could be
nicer, but if I want nice husband, plenty of nice men at home.
No want them. Want Ranma."

She stopped again and regarded Akane thoughtfully. "Tell
you thing no-charge, thing you should know long time, but I think
you not know. Ranma not so grown-up in head as body look. Not
really like girls yet. Soon. Very soon, he want woman. Shampoo
waiting." She favored Akane with a wicked smile and drew her
hands down her sides. "Ranma not resist this body then, eh?"

Akane was dimly aware of a grinding noise coming from her
teeth. Her aura burst out around her as she charged Shampoo.
"KYAAAA!" Shampoo didn't leap into the air this time. She
swirled around Akane's wild swing and struck. Fists and feet
slammed into Akane's body with astonishing force, and Akane
realized too late that she'd let Shampoo goad her into attacking
into the setting sun, and that Shampoo's taunts had made her too
mad to think, too mad to see, too mad to hit... too mad to win.
She lashed out on instinct, scored a glancing blow against
something, and struggled to get clear long enough to rebuild her
defense. Shampoo wasn't letting her. Fingertips hit her head in
dull flashes of pain. Shampoo was too fast, too strong, too
skilled for her to beat... too pretty, too bold, too sexy. She
could never beat Shampoo. Not in a fight, not for a boy's heart.
Never, never, never....

Just before she blacked out, there was a sudden wave of
intense cold, a pulse of weight, and then she was falling.
*Funny, it wasn't like this the last time I died....*

~~~~~

Akane woke up on her own bed, looking up at Kasumi's worried
face. "Akane? Are you all right?"

Akane thought about it. "I think so. Ow. I feel like I
got run over by a herd of Chinese elephants, though."

Kasumi smiled in relief and adjusted the ice-pack on Akane's
head. "Do you remember what happened?" Akane became aware that
it was one of several ice packs strategically deployed around her
body.

"Um, I think so." *I remember being awfully stupid.
Please, please let that part be Chinese mind-control....* "The
last part is a little fuzzy, though. How did I get home?"

"Oh, the way you'd suppose."

"Ranma," Akane snorted disgustedly. "Eep!"

"Oh, dear, I must have missed that one.... Yes, Ranma-kun
came bouncing over the wall a couple of hours ago, carrying you
in his arms and calling for help." Kasumi sat back and fanned
herself with a booklet. "Goodness, things were quite exciting
for a few minutes, until we saw that you were only bruised and
scraped."

"I was?"

"Oh, yes. No broken bones, no deep cuts, no..." Kasumi
paused to peer doubtfully at her sister, "...apparent concussion.
Shampoo must have been quite careful."

"Careful? Why would she be careful? Ow! She tried to kill
me!"

"Now, now, don't get excited." Kasumi retrieved and
replaced an icepack. "No, I don't think so. If she had, you'd
be hurt worse, and differently. As to why... well, perhaps she
remembers what happened to Saffron."

The thought sent a chill through Akane. *Saffron. Ranma
would die for me. Ranma would kill for me. If he thought I was
dead, he might do anything. Shampoo was there; she has to know
that.* The notion that Shampoo had been going easy on her
because Shampoo feared what Ranma might do made her feel even
worse.

"There! All done." Kasumi closed the first-aid kit, stood
up, and turned to go.

"Kasumi? Where is he?"

Kasumi turned back, smiled, and pointed up. "Where else?
He got tired of being shouted at by Father and Saotome-no-ojisama
about an hour ago and has been up there ever since. I think he's
sulking because I wouldn't let him stay here while I had your
clothes off to dress your scrapes. He even offered to turn into
a girl, but I didn't think you'd like that."

"Just like that pervert," Akane began, but then Shampoo's
"free advice" resurfaced. *'Ranma not really like girls yet.'*
"Would you call him for me, please?"

"Of course." Kasumi went to the window and slid it open.
"Oh, Ranma-kun! You can come in now!" She stepped back to avoid
Ranma's customary swing from the eaves and through the window.
His eyes traced quickly over Akane's sheet-covered form, examined
her face, swung to check Kasumi's unworried expression, and
returned to her face. He blew out a breath and relaxed.

"I'll just leave you two alone, shall I?" Kasumi said,
picking up the first aid kit again.

Ranma waited for the door to close behind Kasumi before
speaking. "Are you all right? You remember me this time?"

"Of course, baka."

Ranma relaxed a little more. "So what the hell happened?"
His voice was challenging.

"Shampoo and I had a little match. I, um, lost."

"Well, of course ya lost! Moron! Shampoo's better'n you!
On your best day--"

"I know that." Her flat voice was clearly not what Ranma
was expecting, because it cut him off in mid-rant. "She told me
that several different ways, and she was obviously right."

Ranma started looking concerned again. "You sure you're all
right?"

"I'll be fine in a couple of days." She turned her face
away from him. "Just go away." She heard him sigh. The window
slid shut. The light went out. The door opened and closed
quietly. As usual, she couldn't hear his footsteps. As usual,
he couldn't hear her tears.

~~~~~

Akane didn't come to school with Ranma the next day.

"Saotome, thou accursed villain! What nefarious means hast
thou employed to sequester the fair Tendo Akane?!"

"Aw, put a sock in it, Kuno."

~~~~~

Ranma hung from the eaves outside Akane's window and peered
in. He could see Akane curled up in bed, but she didn't move
when he tapped on the glass. He frowned and dropped to the
ground, then went inside.

"Hello, Kasumi."

Kasumi turned. "Oh, Ranma-kun! I wasn't expecting you
until this afternoon."

Ranma shuffled his feet. "Well, they give us an hour for
lunch, and it only takes a few minutes ta get here..."

*...if you run like the wind,* Kasumi thought. "I'm sure
Akane will be glad to see you," she said.

"I, um, knocked on the window, but I guess she was asleep or
somethin'." Ranma fidgeted, then blurted, "Are you sure she's
all right? This ain't like her."

Kasumi's smile faded. "Her bruises and scrapes are healing
well," she said. "She's not her usual self, though. She seems
unusually depressed."

Ranma's fist smacked into his palm. "I knew it," he hissed.
"Shampoo did somethin' to her mind again." He looked sharply at
Kasumi. "Didja notice any herbal smells on her head?" Kasumi
shook her head. "Little bruises around the head or neck?"

Kasumi's eyes widened. "Oh! Now that you mention it...."

"Damn." Ranma paced a quick circle and stopped. "I wish
Tofu-sensei was still around."

"So do I," Kasumi said. Their eyes met and dropped.

Ranma thumped himself on the forehead. "Gaah. I didn't
mean...."

"I know," Kasumi said, and sighed. "So, about Akane?"

"I dunno." Ranma looked troubled. "It's not like her to
give up like that, though. Last night she didn't come back at me
like always, either."

"Hmm. She wasn't this bad last night, before she talked to
you...." Kasumi trailed off and looked at Ranma. "Just what did
you say to her, Ranma-kun?"

Ranma paled. *'Well, of course ya lost! Moron! Shampoo's
better'n you!'* "Uh...."

Kasumi read his expression, put her hand over her eyes, and
shook her head. "Oh, Ranma. You didn't."

"I was... I was worried," Ranma muttered. "I didn't mean
ta...."

"Well, Akane's not the most confident girl in the world, you
know, Ranma-kun." Kasumi's gaze held his.

"I guess." Ranma fidgeted. "Ya got any ideas?"

"Well, since you mention it, there is something you might
do. She really cares what you think of her. You could help make
her feel good about herself again. Just be nice to her."

Ranma looked horrified. "Hey, I'm a martial artist, not a
shrink," he said defensively. He cringed at Kasumi's tiny frown.
"Look! Even when I try to do that, she just thinks I'm bein'
weird! I never get that right with her!"

Kasumi relented. "All right, Ranma-kun. I'll give her
sympathy, of course. But you know that it will mean more coming
from you, don't you?"

Ranma nodded rapidly. "I'll go to the Nekohanten after
school and see what I can wring out of Shampoo."

"All right. I'll expect you this evening, then."

Ranma sketched a salute and departed hastily. *Jeez, I hate
it when Kasumi goes all fearsome.*

~~~~~

The first person Ranma saw when he trotted into the
Nekohanten was Mousse. Mousse didn't see him, of course. "Hey,
Mousse!"

"Saotome." Mousse addressed a potted plant with a disgusted
expression. "Aren't the bowls of ramen Shampoo delivers to you
enough to satisfy your appetite? Must you plague me by coming
here for more? Argh! Get off!"

"Cool it, duck-face," Ranma advised from his perch atop
Mousse's head. "I'm here to see Shampoo or Cologne. There ain't
nothin' you can do for me."

"Curse you! Why won't you just marry Akane and get out of
my life?!" Mousse produced a poleaxe from his sleeve and swiped
half-heartedly at Ranma as Ranma hopped off his head.

"You talking silly, Mousse. Airen no marry Akane. Airen
marry Shampoo!" Shampoo came out of the kitchen carrying three
steaming bowls, set them before customers, and turned to smile
dazzlingly at Ranma.

Ranma looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. "What'd
ya do to Akane?"

Shampoo's eyes flashed. "Forget other girl. You in my
place now, you think about me." She skipped to Ranma's side and
twirled. "You like new dress?" *The customers sure do, they're
coming in just to get a good look... when will you?*

Ranma carefully kept his eyes out of Shampoo's spectacular
cleavage and persisted. "I wanna know what ya did to Akane!"

Shampoo sighed and shook her head. "Fine, we talk, but not
here. Come kitchen." She grabbed his arm and led him to the
doorway, sticking close. *Even if he doesn't want my body yet, I
can still enjoy his....*

"Hello, son-in-law," Cologne said from her perch by the
cauldrons. "Hungry?"

In fact, the smell of the Nekohanten had been making Ranma
salivate since before he'd walked in, but the question made him
mad. "No! I don't want your ramen, and I don't want your great-
grand-daughter!"

Shampoo promptly hit him over the head with a ladle. Clong!
"You walk in, you want thing, you insult, you stupid!" Clong!

"Gah!" Ranma felt the lumps and glared at Shampoo. "Cut it
out!"

"So, if it's not food or Shampoo, it must be Amazon lore.
Those are the only things you kids ever come in here for,"
Cologne cackled. "'Tell me the ancient secret, Cologne!' 'Teach
me the fighting art, Cologne!' 'Give me the antidote, Cologne!'
Hahahah!" She grinned and deftly scooped noodles into bowls.
Her hands blurred and toppings fell into place. "Mousse! Order
up!" she called over the counter. "Make yourself useful, boy,
and be quick about it."

Cologne turned back to Ranma. "What was it you wanted?"

Ranma gritted his teeth. "Shampoo attacked Akane."

"So?" Cologne shrugged and looked at Shampoo.

"I bored," Shampoo explained. "No fight, get soft. I see
Akane, I challenge. No kiss-of-death, just little match."

"Which you won, of course," Cologne completed. She looked
at Ranma. "I fail to see the problem."

"She shouldn't do that! Akane might get hurt!"

Shampoo frowned. "You, Ranma, stop thinking woman break
like china." She shattered a plate over his head to illustrate
her point, ignored his yelp, and continued. "Akane all time say
she martial artist, so I treat like martial artist. Is respect.
She strong girl. See?" Shampoo hiked her dress up and displayed
a fine bruise on a finer thigh.

Ranma was too angry to be distracted by the view. "Ya did
something to her head! She's all depressed now, and I just know
ya did some kinda Chinese tsubo thing to make her that way!"

Shampoo smoothed her dress back into place and huffed. "I
not put anything in Akane mind that not there before. She fine.
Just know place now."

Ranma turned to Cologne. "Is there a tsubo technique that
makes people depressed, Granny?"

Cologne put on her best inscrutable look. "Could be." Her
eyes twinkled suddenly. "What's the answer worth to you, son-in-
law?"

"Old bat," Ranma growled, and left.

Cologne glanced at Shampoo. "I told you he'd figure it
out." Shampoo looked worried.

~~~~~

Ranma's first thought when he entered the Tendo main room
was that Akane had been replaced by Gosunkugi pretending to be
Akane. "Jeez, Akane, ya look like ya got trampled," he said,
sitting just around the corner of the table from her. "Thanks,
Kasumi." He took a cracker from the bowl Kasumi offered.

Akane's eyes dropped. "Thanks so much." She paused. "I
hear you went to the Nekohanten."

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Ranma said casually.

"You should have just stayed there. The food's better, and
I'm sure the company's better." Akane's voice wasn't angry at
all.

"Now, now, Akane, if Ranma-kun wanted to be at the
Nekohanten, I'm sure he would be," Kasumi said soothingly. "But
he's here, instead. Doesn't that say something?"

"I guess," Akane said, looking at her lap.

Ranma couldn't stand it any more. "Dammit, Akane, snap out
of it!" he said forcefully. "This isn't you! Shampoo used a
tsubo technique to beat you in your own head!"

Akane's head lifted slowly. "She said that?"

"Not exactly." Ranma fidgeted. "They said she didn't,
sorta, but I know she did."

"Oh." Akane's head lowered again. "Well, it doesn't really
matter. Shampoo's better than I am anyway."

"Dammit, Akane!" Ranma started to reach for her, stopped,
made a helpless gesture, and looked at Kasumi. Kasumi looked
disappointed.

"Say, Kasumi, last time she snapped out of it when I insul--
ah, commented about her. D'ya suppose...."

Kasumi shook her head. "No, I'm quite sure that that
wouldn't be appropriate at all, this time." She considered.
"Would you mind staying for supper, though?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah... I mean no... I mean, sure, I'll stay."

"Oh, good. I'll just go call your mother and tell her,
shall I?" Kasumi got up and left the room.

Ranma eyed Akane, gulped, and reached for her hand. Akane
looked down at his hand. Her gaze followed Ranma's arm up to his
eyes. He shifted his grip to her forearm and slapped himself
across the cheek with her hand.

Akane tore her arm out of his hand and stared at him. "Why
did you do that?"

"Hell, I'd rather ya hit me than sit around mopin'," Ranma
said. "You can hit me some more if ya like...."

Akane shook her head, but she seemed a bit less down.

Ranma frowned impatiently. "Listen, Akane, just because
Shampoo got ya once doesn't mean you should just quit. You're
not a quitter. You can beat Shampoo if ya train hard enough.
Besides," he continued, "she cheated. That mind-control stuff is
just nasty."

"But you cheat to win all the time, Ranma," Akane pointed
out.

"I don't cheat! I just fight so's ta make the other guy's
strengths useless and hit his weak spots! That ain't cheatin',
that's just good sense!"

Akane shook her head. "Well, I guess Shampoo found my weak
spot." She touched her temple.

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, you're weak in the head, all right."
For a moment, Akane seemed about to hit him, but she didn't-- so
he seized her arm again and slapped himself with it.

Akane stared at him, and a giggle escaped her. Ranma smiled
in relief. Akane started laughing-- and then suddenly she fell
against him and grabbed handfuls of his shirt and was crying.
Ranma froze. Kasumi came back in and stopped. Ranma looked at
her desperately, but Kasumi just smiled and nodded at him, then
left silently. *Dammit. What the hell am I supposed to do now?*

Soun and Genma came up the steps to the veranda and stopped.
Soun's demon-head apparition burst forth. "Ranma-kun!" it
hissed. "What have you done now to make my little girl cry?!"

Ranma jerked, but Akane was still firmly attached to him.
"Nothin'! It ain't my fault!" His eyes rolled, seeking escape.
Kasumi came back in, took in the situation, then produced
something from her apron pocket and poked Soun's demon-head with
it. POP! Soun looked stunned.

Kasumi put the thing back in her pocket. "Now, Father, be
nice," she admonished. "Just this once, it's not Ranma-kun's
fault. I'll call you when supper's ready." She slid the screens
to the veranda shut, cutting off the astonished fathers, and sat
across from Ranma and Akane. "Honestly, sometimes those two
just...." She saw Ranma and Akane staring at her. "'Oh, my.'
There, is that better?" She smiled.

Akane and Ranma decided independently and simultaneously not
to press the issue. Then Ranma noticed that Akane had stopped
crying. "Hey, ya feelin' better?" he asked cautiously.

Akane noticed that she was clamped onto Ranma's shirt,
blushed, and hastily popped back to her side of the table corner.
"I guess I am, a little," she admitted, surprised. "Not much,
though."

Ranma nodded, disappointed. "Well, I'm sure whatever tsubo
technique Shampoo used, the price for the cure is gonna be
steeper than we wanna pay," he said. "I got that real clear at
the Nekohanten. They want ya like this." His fist clenched.
"Well, you're just gonna have to fight it."

Akane nodded. "I'll try."

Ranma reached out hesitantly and patted her on the shoulder.
"That's my Akane." Both Akane and Kasumi looked at him in
astonishment and he backpedaled instinctively: "Not that I'm
implyin'--" He stopped just in time. "Oh, hell." He looked
away. "Thing is, I don't know what ta do about your problem. I
always know that if somethin' beats me, I can train a little
harder, or get a little more serious, or come up with a new
strategy, and come back and beat it. Not that I ever get beat,"
he added hastily.

"Of course not," Akane and Kasumi agreed in unison.

"Yeah... anyway." He gazed into Akane's eyes. "Just
remember when ya feel beat, it ain't you, it's an enemy in your
head. Believe me even if ya don't believe yourself."

Akane nodded and smiled a little. "Okay. Thanks, Ranma."

"And Nabiki and I may be able to come up with something that
will help, too, since tomorrow is Sunday," Kasumi said, rising.
She opened the screens, revealing Genma and Soun crouched
outside. "Now you just leave them be," she told the two men in
tones that anyone who didn't know Kasumi would have thought were
sweet and gentle. "I'll just go get supper ready."

~~~~~

Ranma ran up to the Tendos' front gate, dressed in his best.
He could still hear his mother's voice: "Kasumi called and said
to make sure you're clean, neat, male, and well-dressed, and to
send you to their house at noon. She said this is part of
Akane's confidence cure, whatever that means. You will
cooperate, won't you, Ranma?"

Ranma swallowed nervously. *Damn right I'll cooperate.
Between Kasumi and Momma....* He went in the gate and up to the
front door. It opened as he approached, making him even more
nervous. Kasumi was there. She inspected him carefully, then
nodded.

"You'll do fine," Kasumi told Ranma as she led him up the
stairs. She stopped him outside Akane's room. "Remember, Ranma-
kun, this is very important. You must be nice to Akane." She
waited for his nod, then indicated the door and retreated down
the hall.

Ranma gulped and knocked on the door. It was unlatched and
swung open at his knock. Akane was standing there. She was
wearing a new dress, a very attractive one of soft blue and green
fabric that hugged her torso but fell in folds from her hips to
just past her knees. Her hair had been done with great care.
Her makeup was invisible; Ranma only knew it was there because
she looked even more like Akane than she usually did. Even...
*perfume? She smells just like she did before... before the
wedding.* She looked up at him hopefully and smiled. His brain
froze, his jaw dropped slightly, and his cheeks reddened.

Akane read his reaction. She straightened slightly, her
chin came up, and her eyes brightened. "How do I look?" she
asked softly.

Ranma started. "Uh, you look, uh, pretty." He tried to
pull his eyes away and couldn't.

Akane noticed that too, and blushed. She lowered her eyes.
"Prettier than Shampoo?"

Ranma became aware that Kasumi had returned and was standing
behind him. He didn't dare turn. "Uh, sure, yeah." The faint
sense of impending doom eased.

Akane looked up again with a different smile. "Good.
Because we're going to the Nekohanten for lunch."

Ranma's jaw dropped for real. "WHAT?! Are you nuts?!"

"Think about it, Ranma-kun," Kasumi's voice came from behind
him.

Akane stepped in. "You said to treat this like a battle.
Well, I'm changing the rules. We're fighting on my terms now.
We're going, and if you're nice to me I win, and if you're nice
to her... she wins. Understand? Kasumi and Nabiki are coming
along to make sure the battle stays on my terms."

Ranma was petrified by Akane's determination. *Her fire's
burning again... gods, she's past pretty. She's... magnificent.
I wish I could tell her.*

Akane reached out and closed his mouth. Her hand lingered
on his chin, then dropped. "Well? I can't force you to come,
but... don't you want me to win?"

Ranma sagged. "Yeah." *I think you won already. I wish I
could tell ya that too, but I don't think you'd believe me.*

~~~~~

Mousse was near the door when Ranma and Akane walked into
the Nekohanten, followed closely by Nabiki and Kasumi. He slid
his glasses down from his forehead and looked Akane up and down.
Akane blushed. Mousse smiled slightly. "Table for four, yes?"
he said. He looked at Ranma and lowered his voice. "You're a
lucky man, Saotome. Be an honorable one and do the right thing
for a change."

Ranma glared at Mousse, but Akane's tug at his elbow
compelled him to move. She was still holding his arm when the
crash sounded from the direction of the kitchen. He looked that
way and saw Shampoo, standing over a mess of broken bowls and
wasted noodles, locking gazes with Akane. *Jeez, I can almost
see the lightning bolts....*

*Perfect.* Akane smiled grimly at her rival. *Look,
Shampoo. He's mine. Choke on it.* Then the line-of-sight was
broken as Mousse seated them at their table.

Mousse produced filled water glasses from his sleeve and set
them on the table. "Are you ready to order?"

They'd chatted about the menu on the walk over. "Four
specials, please," Nabiki told him. Mousse nodded and left.
Ranma carefully moved his glass of water away a little, and the
Tendo sisters exchanged amused smiles.

Shampoo arrived with the ramen, setting four steaming bowls
down with her usual grace, except for Akane's, which spilled a
little. Shampoo ignored Akane and rubbed her side against
Ranma's shoulder. "Why you with ugly girl, airen? Come on date
with Shampoo instead."

"You got it all wrong!" Ranma protested. "This ain't a
date, not with Kasumi and Nabiki along!"

"Good!" Shampoo purred. "You come with me, then. I show
you much better time." She tugged on his arm.

Ranma took in Kasumi's expectant look, Nabiki's disgusted
look, and Akane's breathless look, and remembered: *'...if you're
nice to me I win, and if you're nice to her, she wins... don't
you want me to win?'* It was enough.

"Quit it, Shampoo. I came with Akane, and I'm leavin' with
Akane."

Akane gasped in delight. Shampoo's eyes narrowed. Her hand
flicked out to Ranma's water glass. Splash!

"What the hell ya do that for!" Ranma screeched.

"Ha, now you no enjoy not-date so much, eh?" Shampoo turned
to flounce back to the kitchen. Splash!

"Miyaarl!" Shampoo crawled out of her dress and shook water
off her paws.

Akane put her empty water glass down with a satisfied
expression, then blinked. Ranma was balancing atop the back of
her chair, terrified. "Ca-cat!" she stuttered. Shampoo was
waving her soggy tail and preparing to leap for the seat of
Ranma's chair.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ranma! I forgot!" Akane jumped up and
carefully punted Shampoo into the kitchen. Some of the other
patrons applauded. Akane waved to them, then sat down. Ranma
dropped into her own chair, still looking frazzled. Her good
clothes were now wet and baggy.

"Hell," Ranma remarked, then brightened. Her ramen had
survived the encounter unscathed. She started slurping her
lunch.

Akane called Mousse over. "Could we get some hot water,
please?"

Mousse glanced warily in the direction of the kitchen. "I
regret that I am unable to provide hot water at the moment," he
said, sounding like he meant the regret part.

Akane nodded. *Of course he's not going to oppose Shampoo
directly.* "That's all right, Mousse. I understand."

Mousse leaned down, whispered in Akane's ear, and moved on.
Akane blushed. "What?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," Akane said, smiling. "I'll tell you later."

Kasumi and Nabiki started eating. "Good," Nabiki
pronounced. "Free, too." The others stared at her. "Well, if
they think we're going to pay for this after that performance,
they can think again!"

~~~~~

"Sorry about the disaster," Ranma said to Akane on the way
home. Ranma was still wet and female. Kasumi and Nabiki had
dropped well back.

"That's all right," Akane said. "I got what I went for."

Ranma eyed her sidelong. Akane looked happy. "You figure
you won, then?"

"Oh, yes. Between dropping the bowls, resorting to dirty
tricks, and being kicked into the kitchen, she was way behind on
points. But you telling her off clinched it. Thank you, Ranma.
I could still have lost if you'd gone with her."

"Aw, I couldn't of done that," Ranma said uncomfortably.

Akane studied her. "Yes, you could have. And I was a
little afraid you would. But you didn't, and I'm glad." *I just
hope I'm right about why.*

"So, what'd Mousse tell ya?" Ranma asked, hoping to change
the subject.

Akane laughed. "He said 'Good hunting.'"

~~~~~

"Stupid Akane," Shampoo griped, upstairs at the Nekohanten
and dressing after her hot-water treatment.

Cologne cackled. "I warned you that your plan might
backfire. The Tendo girl's got her hooks into Son-in-law now,
and he's not wiggling much. She's tougher than you thought.
Maybe I'll adopt her."

Shampoo stopped. "Great-grandmother! You wouldn't!"

Cologne turned an ancient gaze on her. "Child, you know
very well that I'm not here to guarantee your success." She
puffed on her pipe. "If I were, this would have been over long
ago."

"He's mine," Shampoo said stubbornly. "I'll win him yet."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. It's good training either way,"
Cologne said comfortably. "Don't do anything stupid, though.
And try to enjoy life in the meantime. As I do."

~~~~~ end of Exercise ~~~~~

The Taming of the Horse

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Vince Seifert (seif...@csus.edu)

TotH webpage: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/toth/index.htm

Ranma 1/2 characters and situations are copyright 1987, 1998
by Takahashi Rumiko. Publishing rights (Japan) by Shogakukan
Inc. Publishing rights (North America) by Viz Inc. This work
is not intended to infringe those rights.

~~~~~ Chapter 4: Training ~~~~~

The key concept of training is reinforcement. The
equestrian must make every effort to consistently reward a
desired behavior and to punish inappropriate behavior.
Inconsistency leads to confusion and eventually obstinacy...
If the rider does not have a clear idea of which behaviors
are desired and which are not, the results will be
unpredictable at best...

-- "The Taming of the Horse: An Equestrian's Guide"

"Kasumi?"

"Oh, hello, Akane. Another chat?"

Akane nodded and closed the door. "I was thinking about
Shampoo," she began, sitting by her sister. "We beat the
depression-tsubo... well, partly; I'm still feeling low. But she
beat me in the fight, too. She really is much better than I am,
and I don't like that." She sighed. "I remember back when I was
the best around, before Ranma came and brought all his friends
and enemies."

"Well, you can't be the best all the time," Kasumi pointed
out. "Even Ranma meets opponents who are better than he is in
some way from time to time."

"Sure. And like he said, he trains, or he 'gets serious',
or he tricks them, and he wins." Akane brooded. "He's good, and
he's lucky, and he's... crafty. I'm not lucky, and I'm not
crafty, so that just leaves training." She looked up. "Do you
suppose Father could...?"

Kasumi looked dubious. "You could ask, but I'm afraid that
he'll try even if he can't, and he'll end up worse than he is.
I'd prefer that you don't."

"I sure don't want to train under Saotome-no-ojisan... or
Happosai," Akane said, shuddering. "Cologne's a great sensei,
but she has no reason to teach me and lots not to. Ryoga's been
gone for weeks. Do we know anyone else?"

"Akane, why are you avoiding the obvious?" Kasumi asked
gently.

"What, obvious?" Akane said, but her voice betrayed her.

"Why, Ranma, of course. No, listen for a moment," Kasumi
said. "If-- no. When you two marry, he'll be teaching here.
Shouldn't you be his first student? You can help him learn how
to teach. You can learn, oh, so very much from him. You'll have
the perfect excuse to spend a lot of time together. The
formality of the teacher-student relationship might be good for
both of you. You just have to admit to him that he's good enough
to teach you. You admitted it to me. Would it be so hard?"

Akane nodded glumly. "I can't possibly ask him to teach me,
Kasumi."

"Can't you?"

~~~~~

"Ranma?"

Ranma stopped abusing the punching-dummy and turned to see
Akane standing in the doorway to the dojo, one hand on each
shoji. "Hey, Akane."

"May I speak to you for a moment, Ranma-kun?"

*Uh-oh.* Ranma's tactical analyser went to Red Alert. *She
don't look mad... I ain't done nothin'... that I know of... but
that never stopped her before... and she's talkin' formal ...
which has gotta mean I'm in really, really big trouble.* At this
point the TA tried to wedge Akane into the "threat" category,
failed spectacularly due to opposition from other parts of Ranma,
and quit in a huff. "Uh, sure," he said immediately. In a
transparent attempt to appear casual, he continued, "What's on
your mind?"

Akane stepped through the doors, turned to face them, and
slid them shut. *Gulp.* Still moving with as much grace and
precision as she could manage, she turned again, crossed the
floor, and stopped squarely in front of him. *Double gulp.*
Ranma caught a glimpse of her expression, controlled and serious,
before she lowered her head. "Ranma... sensei... I... I ask you
to do me the favor of accepting me as a student." *ACK!*

Akane was keeping a tight lid on a boiling kettle. *If he
humiliates me, I'll... I'll make him wish he'd never been born.*
She watched through her eyelashes as Ranma cringed away from her
with a horrified expression on his face and his first and fourth
fingers extended, concentrated on suppressing the urge to send
him through the floor, and waited.

Ranma recovered in time for his eyes to meet hers as she
raised her head. He expected the fury of restrained pride, and
saw it, and started to open his mouth for a wisecrack, but two
things stopped him. The first was the sheer range of possible
wisecracks to choose from. The second was the hint of desperate
desire in her eyes, which turned him into putty the way the girls
always did. "Me? Uh, I guess I could... if you really-- oof!
Hey, leggo!"

Akane unwound her arms from around Ranma and stepped back.
"Oh, Ranma! You won't regret this, I promise you!" She cavorted
once around the dojo and out the doors, leaving one askew in its
track.

Ranma stood, stunned. *What the hell was that?* An
unaccustomed smile crept across his face. *I dunno, but I hope
it comes back....*

A sudden rumble approached the dojo, the remaining shoji
burst from its track, and Soun and Genma thundered in, shouting
something about the joining of the schools. For the second time
in five minutes, Ranma cringed in horror, but it was too late.
Akane was jumping up and down in the doorway with her hands
clasped in front of her throat. Ranma essayed a sickly smile and
waved at her as his father and hers vented their elation on him.
Then Kasumi and Nabiki appeared in the doorway, and it was just
too much. Ranma sprang straight up and clung to the ceiling.

Genma and Soun picked themselves up and looked up at Ranma.
"Get down here, you ungrateful boy," Genma commanded. "We're not
through celebrating yet."

Ranma, upside-down, shook his head. "Nuh-uh," he
emphasized.

Soun took a turn. "Now, Ranma-kun, a true martial artist
faces joyous occasions with the same fortitude as he does the
direst combat."

Ranma restated his position: "I like it up here and I'm
stayin' up here."

Soun and Genma traded exasperated looks. Genma addressed
the ceiling once more. "Well, if you're going to be that way
about it, we'll just celebrate right here and wait for your grip
to give out."

Put that way, his was not a good tactical position. Ranma
thought rapidly. *If I could scare them off... but what are Pops
and Tendo-san afraid of?* An idea occurred. "Mrrrow? Ffft?" he
hazarded.

Genma and Soun glanced at each other and shook their heads.
"Give it up, boy," Genma advised. "There are no cats in here,
and if you'd managed to access the Neko-ken without one, I'd know
about it."

Ranma tried again. "Sweeto?" He grimaced as his audience
broke up laughing. *That was dumb.... Hey! An opening!* Ranma
dropped from the ceiling, springboarded off the top of his
father's head, bounced over the convulsing Tendo sisters, and was
out the door before anyone could stop him.

~~~~~

Ranma sat on a rock by the pond, looking at the fish nosing
around in it without really seeing them. Genma and Soun had gone
off to celebrate somewhere else, and Kasumi and Nabiki had gone
off to do whatever it was they did when he wasn't looking. He
sensed someone approaching.

"Koi circle slowly
Under floating autumn leaves
Hoping to be fed."

Ranma didn't turn. "Hey, Akane."

"So... about training...."

"Yeah. I was thinkin' about that." He turned to look at
her. She was standing a couple of yards away, wearing her gi,
watching him. "Why?"

"Why what? You're not trying to wiggle out of it, are you?
You promised!" Akane took a step toward Ranma, clenching her
fists.

Ranma held up a hand in a gesture so unlike his usual one of
warding or placation that Akane was stopped in her tracks. "Nah,
ya got me fair and square this time. An' I know why ya picked me--
after all, I'm the best." He paused, smirking, to see if she'd
pound him for that. She didn't, but looked like she was thinking
about it. "I'm askin' why YOU want me ta train ya."

Akane gritted her teeth. "Shampoo."

Ranma studied her sidelong. "Yeah, I thought so. If I was
you, I'd be trainin' to get even, all right."

"And Do-chan," Akane added suddenly.

Ranma looked baffled. "Hanh?"

"Well, when I wore the enchanted do-gi, I felt so fast and
skilled. It was like being a whole other person." *And I liked
her better than me.* "If what that old monk said is true, I
could be that good naturally if I trained hard enough."

"Ya wanna be better'n me, is that it?"

Akane's temper got loose. "Why is that such a problem for
you? Do-chan, the strength soba, the moxibustion of weakness--
every time I was better than you, you just couldn't stand it!
You just wouldn't rest until you were better than me again!"

"That's WHY I'm the best." Ranma's eyes and voice were, for
once, completely serious. Once again, her anger was derailed as
the implications of what he'd said struck her.

"Ranma...."

He turned back to the pond. "I was thinkin' about how to
train ya. I dunno from trainin' someone else, but I'm sure I'll
figure it out." He snorted. "Damn sure I'm not gonna try mosta
the stuff my crazy ol' man put me through."

"Glad to hear it." Akane's voice was quite dry.

"Yeah, we can forget about the pit of ca--, ca--, uh,
felines, you've already been to Jusenkyo, and I ain't about to
strap a ball an' chain to your ankle." He turned back to face
her. "Lessee. You're already as strong as an ox an' almost as
cute...." He stopped again to see if she would hit him, but she
just frowned impatiently, so he continued. "You hit like a
piledriver when you connect, so ya don't need to work on strength
much. But you're too slow, too clumsy, ya spend too much time on
the ground, your defense is fulla holes, and ya could be
tougher."

Akane slumped and stared at her feet, devastated. *He's
right. Every word he said was true. I'll never be any good.*

She didn't notice Ranma flinch violently and punch himself
in the head. She didn't notice him hop off the rock and hesitate
for a moment. She didn't notice his hand flick out.

She did notice it when he slapped her.

It wasn't much of a slap; it barely stung, and didn't redden
her cheek. But it turned her world upside down. She looked up,
and read regret and shame on his face. "Ranma," she whispered.
"You... hit me. You... NEVER hit me."

"I'm sorry, Akane," Ranma started. "I had ta see if I could--"
He finally noticed her brilliant smile and stopped, taken aback.
*She's happy?!*

"Oh, Ranma! I thought you'd never take me seriously! You
wouldn't spar with me, and you wouldn't hit girls, and--"

"Hey! Whoa!"

"--now when Shampoo grabs you you'll smack her flat, and--"

"AKANE!!"

She stopped. "Yes?"

Ranma dithered a bit, then forged ahead. "Look, I didn't
wanna hit ya, I didn't like hittin' ya, an' I don't really wanna
hit ya again." He watched as her happy expression crumpled and
sagged. *Shit. This is just too weird.* "All right, all right,
I'll hit you!" He waited for her face to reach perplexed, sighed
heavily, and sat on the rock again.

"But... why, Ranma? You can't train me without hitting me!"

"I know. That's what I was thinkin' about." He looked
frustrated. "Pops was real clear about me not hittin' girls for
as long as I can remember."

"I thought you hit Ukyo when you were children."

"I thought she was a guy!"

"You hit Shampoo at least twice."

"I, uh, I was a bit crazy from Jusenkyo. Yeah, that's it.
And look how much trouble it got me into!"

"You hit Kodachi--"

"--with a pig! That don't count! I won the match by
hittin' the post!"

"You hit Rouge--"

"THAT WAS A MASSAGE!!"

"Kiima?"

"ARGH!" Ranma looked like he was about to pull his hair
out.

"So, it's just ME you won't hit. How do you think that
makes me feel?!" By this time Akane had her fists clenched by
her sides.

"I CAN'T STAND SEEIN' YOU GET HURT! I'D RATHER GET HIT
MYSELF THAN LET ANYTHIN' HIT YOU!" Ranma's shout echoed in the
garden. He looked astonished at what he'd just admitted.

Akane controlled both the warmth and the urge to accuse
Ranma of hurting her feelings hundreds of times, and spoke while
he was still off-balance. "You said your father told you not to
hit girls." She waited for his nod. "You said your father had
some crazy ideas about training." She ignored his snort. "Did
you ever suppose that maybe not hitting girls is one of his
crazier ideas?" She watched this notion hit Ranma like a ton of
bricks.

"Uh...." He rallied. "Well, my momma says hittin' girls is
unmanly!"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I like your mother,
but you can't tell me she doesn't get crazy ideas too."

Ranma crossed his arms and looked stubborn. "It just ain't
right. Even when I do it, I don't feel good about it."

Akane glared at him. "I'll spell it out for you, Ranma."
Her voice became a sing-song: "You don't hit girls because it
makes you look bad. If a guy fights a girl and wins, he looks
bad. If a guy fights a girl and loses, he looks worse."
Suddenly her glare changed to a hard smile. "We know the answer
to that, don't we?" Her hand darted out to shove him hard in the
chest. He fell backward off the rock.

Splash!

Ranma surfaced, spluttering, and wiped the wet hair out of
her eyes. "What kinda answer is that?!"

Akane folded her arms. "Now you look like a girl. You
won't look bad if you hit a girl. Everyone who knows you're a
boy will know you're training me."

Ranma climbed out of the pond and sat atop the rock,
dripping. She muttered something Akane couldn't hear.

"What?"

Akane was shocked by the haunted look in Ranma's eyes when
they finally met hers. "What if I make a mistake and really hurt
you? Or even...." Ranma stopped, unable to continue.

"Ranma, I keep telling you I'm a martial artist, too. That
means I take the risks because I think it's worth it. Just like
you do."

Ranma sighed and dropped her eyes. "Tendo-san would just
kill me."

"I won't let him."

Ranma sighed again, then nodded once decisively. "All
right. I'll hit you."

"Thanks, Ranma. This really means a lot to me."

Ranma shook her head. *Too weird. I hope nobody normal
heard any of that.* She hopped off the rock and headed for the
dojo. Akane followed her.

"Um... I guess we start with katas. You know this one."
Ranma tested the finish on the smooth wood floor with a foot and
assumed the initial stance of Crane at Sunrise. Akane hastily
matched her. They began. Akane started out watching Ranma, but
the other girl drifted around so that Akane could only see her
during turns, and she had to concentrate on what she was doing.
She could hear the faint squeaks of her bare feet and Ranma's on
the floor, and became aware that they were almost exactly in
unison. She tried to keep them in unison, and almost lost her
balance. Ranma's feet stopped, and she stopped, fuming.

"Don't force it," Ranma's voice said behind her. "That's
what makes you clumsy. Just do what you do, not what I do."

She heard Ranma's feet again, and knew that she'd assumed
the initial position again, and was waiting for her to begin.
She sighed and started over. This time it felt better. She
finished and stopped.

"Well, I guess ya can do simple stuff, after all," Ranma
said, walking around in front of her. Akane glared at her.
Ranma smiled on one side of her mouth and struck like lightning.
Akane's reflexes took over and blocked and countered for her; she
took a solid hit in the forearm, but landed one on Ranma's
shoulder. Ranma flipped away and stopped, smiling on both sides
now and rubbing her shoulder.

Akane looked at her hand. *That felt good. He didn't block
or evade, though.* She felt her forearm. *That feels good too.
It'll bruise. But he pulled it.* She looked at Ranma.

Ranma nodded. "Of course I pulled it. You're not Ryoga."
Ignoring Akane's impatient frown, she came halfway back and
assumed Crane at Sunrise again, this time in front of Akane,
facing her, and left-handed.

Akane mirrored her. They began. Akane tried to watch
Ranma's whole body and almost lost control of her own. She
focused on Ranma's eyes and tried to just let the kata happen.
*This is almost like dancing....* Ranma rolled her eyes
theatrically and Akane steered her mind away from that avenue.
They finished.

Ranma assumed Flying Hedgehog. Akane stared at her in
surprise, then took the corresponding stance. *If he does this
right, this is going to hurt....* Ranma started with a high spin
kick; Akane ducked and deflected it over her. Flying Hedgehog
was an advanced defense drill, a sequence of sixty attacks to be
evaded or blocked in a specific sequence of defensive moves.
Akane missed a third of them, and Ranma wasn't pulling her
strikes enough to make the hits painless. When it was over, she
was panting. *Ow. Ow. Ow. Wonderful!*

Ranma did not look happy. She looked at her hands with
revulsion, then turned away and raked them through her hair
violently. "I hate this," Akane heard her say.

"Well, if it bothers you that much, let me hit you some."

Ranma spun back with a very strange expression on her face.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Flying Hedgehog again?"

Akane let her teeth show. "Tree on the Mountain." Ranma
groaned and planted herself in front of Akane. Akane had
selected a static defense exercise that negated Ranma's
phenomenal agility. She had to stand there and take it, blocking
but not evading... and she did, giving ground when she had to,
until Akane's last kick sent her flying into the wall.

Ranma got to her feet, sporting a full set of lumps, and was
almost knocked down again when Akane embraced her. "Oh, Ranma,"
Akane said over Ranma's shoulder, "thank you! I've wanted this
for so long!"

Ranma hesitantly raised her arms and patted the taller
girl's shoulders. "Sure. No problem." *Much too weird.*

Akane let go and stepped back. "Feel better now?"

"Heh. Better some ways. Ya weren't pullin' those much,
tomboy."

"You don't have to pull yours so much, either. I'm tougher
than you think."

Ranma looked away, then back. "You better be." Akane knew
the pain in Ranma's eyes was caused by the bruises the pigtailed
girl had inflicted, not the ones she'd received. "This is gonna
take some gettin' used to."

"Hai, Sensei."

Ranma looked at her sharply, but she seemed to mean it.
*Huh. That, I could get used to pretty easy.*

~~~~~

Ranma was waiting outside the dojo when Akane came out the
next morning. His eyes scanned her; satisfied that the bruising
was minimal, he nodded to himself. "How ya feelin'?"

"Fine. Just a bit sore, but the furo took care of that, and
my morning run took care of the stiffness."

"'Morning run'? Hell, ya oughta be runnin' all the time,
not just in the mornin'."

"I don't want to go to school all sweaty. Unlike some
people."

Ranma shrugged. "You're too formal. Trainin's all the
time, not just in the dojo an' wearin' a gi." He started to pick
up the pace. "There just ain't enough time to train if ya do it
by appointment, so ya do it whenever ya get a chance." By now
they were trotting. "'Sides, once you're in condition you can
run like this without gettin' sweaty."

Ranma leapt to the top of the fence. He stopped when Akane
stayed on the street. "Get up here," he said mildly.

Akane put her fists on her hips. "I'm not doing that!
People will see up my skirt!"

Ranma looked disgusted. "Like anyone cares." A wolf-
whistle from their audience promptly proved him wrong. He glared
at the offending youth and stalked along the top of the fence
with his hands jammed in his pockets. Akane smirked and followed
on the ground.

"I'll wear gym shorts or something underneath tomorrow," she
said when she caught up to him.

Ranma grunted. "Whatever. Ya can't do Musabetsu Kakuto if
yer worried about yer skirt."

"I've been doing Musabetsu Kakuto all my life, and I've
never had to worry about my skirt," Akane pointed out.

"Tendo-ryu, maybe. If you're gonna do Saotome-ryu, you're
gonna worry about your skirt, I just know it. Why d'ya think I
wear this alla time?" Ranma indicated his loose shirt,
drawstring pants, and slippers. "'Cause I can fight in it, and I
gotta fight alla time."

"Nihao!"

"...alla time...."

Akane dodged Shampoo's bicycle as the amazon executed a
flying dismount with Ranma as the landing pad. She glared at
Ranma as Shampoo rubbed up against him affectionately-- *no,
that's a lot more than affectionately. Damn her.*

Shampoo looked cutely disappointed when Ranma made the usual
complaints and feeble attempts to pry her off, rather than
breaking out into a nosebleed or any of the other signs of
enthusiasm. She turned her head to Akane without letting go of
Ranma and winked. "Just checking. Still not ready yet. How
about you? You ready for rematch? No?"

Shampoo turned back to Ranma. "Got delivery, sorry. See
soon!" She dropped Ranma, straightened her clothing, retrieved
her bicycle, and was off.

"Ranma, you baka, why didn't you hit her?! If you hit her
as hard as you hit me, she'd... be...." Akane trailed off and
looked around at their fellow students, who were listening
intently with their jaws hanging. She flushed.

Ranma was on his feet by this time. "Are you nuts?! That's
how I got inta this mess with her in the first place! And it's
not like I'm wearin' a sign sayin' 'Please Grope' in Chinese!
It's not my fault! She just does that! Ow!" The crowd lost
interest when Akane clouted Ranma over the head with her bookbag
and he didn't deck her, and wandered off. Akane stomped away,
fuming.

"Say, Akane, what'd Shampoo mean, 'not ready yet'? Ow! Cut
it out, you overmuscled twit! Ow! Dammit, that was a
compliment!"

~~~~~

"Kasumi, I need to ask you about something."

Kasumi put her book down and gestured for Akane to close the
door. "What is it, Akane?"

Akane came over and sat down next to her. "This one's not
in my book, but it might be in one of yours." She looked down at
her hands. "Ranma... well, sometimes it almost seems he likes it
when I hit him."

"Oh, dear," Kasumi said. "I hope he's not a masochist.
That can result in some... how shall I put it delicately...
behavioral problems."

Akane's imagination ran away with her for a moment:

Ranma lay face-down on her ordinary bed, stripped to
the waist and tied at wrists and ankles to her bedframe.
The light of the torches on the walls of her typical
teenaged girl's room glistened off his sweaty skin as he
moaned her name. Akane stepped forward. Her black high-
heeled boots creaked ominously. Whatever she was wearing
seemed to be awfully drafty. She raised the riding crop....

"No, no, no, no way," she muttered, shaking her head
violently to purge the image from her mind. *He's the pervert.
I'm not a pervert. Really, I'm not. I'm not! Oh, no....*

Kasumi looked at her with concern. "'No' what, Akane?"

"Um, nothing, never mind... if not a masochist, then what?"

"Well... you said sometimes he likes being hit; when,
exactly?"

"I'm not sure. I noticed it after the first time he really
hit me when we were sparring. He seemed to be really upset about
it until I hit him twice as much, and then he seemed to feel
better. But when I think about it, it occurs to me that when I'm
mad at him and hit him, he complains a lot, but the look in his
eyes...." She ran down.

"Oh. Well, that seems straightforward enough." Kasumi
reached unerringly to her left, took a book from the shelf, and
paged through it. She breathed a relieved sigh. "Oh, yes, it's
all here. Guilt."

"What?"

"Guilt," Kasumi repeated. "If it's what I think it is, he
feels guilty when he hits you, until you punish him by hitting
him. It's the same when he does something to make you mad; once
you hit him, he doesn't feel as guilty."

Akane digested this. "Eeew," she said finally. "That fits,
though."

"Well, you'll have to be careful. After all, you don't want
him to think of you as a mother figure. That would be... a whole
other set of problems."

Akane glanced into Kasumi's carefully straight face. "Yes.
Right. Of course it would be. Thanks, Kasumi." She got up and
left her sister's room, wobbling only a little.

~~~~~

Ranma lounged on the grass at Furinkan chatting with Ukyo
after finishing the lunch Akane had brought for him and two
okonomiyaki. Akane finished her bento and wiped her chopsticks.
Ranma sat up suddenly. "Hey, Akane, let's play a game."

Akane looked at him. Her brow creased. "Game?"

"Sure." Ranma scooted over until he was sitting facing
Akane a couple of yards away. He held up his chopsticks, one
vertical in each hand. Akane hesitantly held up her chopsticks
the same way. Ranma put his sticks down and held his open hands
up again. "Throw the right one." Akane shrugged and flipped her
stick to him; he caught it deftly. He threw it back; it turned
over twice and slapped right into her hand. "Now the left one."
Akane threw again; he caught it, paused, and threw it back.
Again, it slapped into her hand, but she dropped it. Ranma
sighed. Ukyo snickered. Akane growled under her breath and
picked the stick up.

Ranma held his right hand up expectantly; Akane threw, he
caught, returned. Left, throw, catch, return. This time Akane
caught it. Right, throw, catch, return, 3 flips. Left, throw,
return, 3 flips. Then Ranma held up both hands. Akane threw
both sticks. They collided in midair, but Ranma caught them
anyway, paused, and threw both. His throws didn't collide.
Akane caught one and dropped the other.

"Jeez, Akane, this is a kid's game," Ranma said
reproachfully. Akane threw both sticks at his face, but he
caught them with a sweep of his left hand and threw them back.
Akane raised her hands automatically and a stick slapped
precisely into each palm.

She stared down at them. *Wow. I wish I could do that.*
She looked at Ranma. Ranma raised his hands, grinned, and
wiggled his fingers. Akane threw. Left, return, right, return,
both, return-- *Got 'em!*, left, return high, right, return low,
both.... Ranma caught the sticks and stopped.

"Right. Now I lead and you follow," Ranma said. Akane
gulped and nodded. He slapped his thighs twice and threw, left
to right. Akane caught. Slap, slap, right, return, slap, slap,
left, return, slap, slap, both, return, slap, slap, high-low,
return.... Akane started slapping her thighs too, and the sticks
flew back and forth, on the beat.

Other students stopped their conversations and turned to
watch. Ukyo sat with her eyes wide and her jaw hanging a little.
Akane ignored them. Her whole world was the chopsticks twirling
in the air and slapping into her fingers. Ranma's throws were
becoming more and more complex, but it was getting easier for her
to anticipate the way he would throw with each pass. Suddenly
she realized: *He's telegraphing his throws! And I'm reading
them!*

Akane caught the sticks and stopped, and looked at Ranma in
wonder. He grinned and held up his hands, and only then did she
realize that he held chopsticks too, and that they'd been playing
with FOUR for the last few passes. She dropped her sticks.

"Clumsy tomboy," Ranma said, but his eyes held a hint of
pride. "Don't think about it, just do it."

Ukyo cleared her throat. "Say, Ran-chan, can I play too?"

"Sure," Ranma said cheerfully. "Not with spatulas, though!"
Ukyo laughed, removed her bandolier, and sat down, forming a
triangle with Ranma and Akane.

Akane frowned. *I was having fun with Ranma. Why does she
have to butt in?* She glared at Ranma, but he caught her eye and
shook his head slightly. She subsided.

"Ready?" Ranma held his sticks up, slapped his thighs
twice, and threw his left stick to Ukyo. She caught it and
returned it. Slap, slap, left to Akane, return. Slap, slap,
right to Ukyo, return. Slap, slap, right to Akane, return. Both
to Ukyo, both to Akane... and Akane took lead and threw left to
Ukyo, return, right to Ukyo, return, both.... The sticks wove
patterns across the triangle. Ranma slipped a third stick into
the game, then a fourth. Then both girls threw both sticks at
him on the same beat; he caught them and stopped.

Akane blinked and looked at her hands. Ukyo tossed her head
back and whooped. Their audience burst into applause. Ranma
smiled sheepishly and scratched his head with the chopsticks,
then realized what he was doing and hastily put them down. Akane
and Ukyo looked at each other. They looked at Ranma. *More,*
their eyes said in unison. Ranma cringed, picked up the sticks
obediently, slapped his thighs, and threw.

~~~~~

On the way home, Akane finally had a chance to ask what
she'd been wondering since lunchtime. "Ranma... that throwing
game...."

"I learned it from an old monk name of Cherry when I was a
kid. Pops never liked to play it, though. Said it was too
wimpy."

"It's not, though," Akane said. "Throwing, catching,
reflexes, control... and it teaches you to read your opponent,
doesn't it? And... to read your allies, too."

Ranma frowned. "It's fun. You're thinkin' too much again."
He broke into a run.

Akane grimaced. "Honestly...." She ran after him.

~~~~~

Ranma jumped from the ground to the dojo roof, waved at
Akane, and jumped down. "Just like that. Now do it."

Akane eyed the jump. It was at least twelve feet, well over
twice her height. She shook her head. "I can't do that."

"Don't give me that," Ranma snorted. He jumped to the roof
and down again for emphasis. "I can do it. Ryoga and Mousse and
Shampoo can do it. Cologne does it on a stick! Ukyo can do it!
Hell, even Kodachi does it all the time! You gotta be able to do
it!"

Akane gritted her teeth and jumped. She didn't come close.
Ranma shook his head. "Well, how high CAN you jump?" he asked.
He jumped to the top of the rock by the fishpond and down again.
"Like that?"

"Don't be silly," Akane said. She ran over to the wall
around the compound and jumped to the top, skidding a little on
the tiles. Ranma applauded sarcastically. She glared at him and
jumped down.

Ranma jumped to the dojo roof again. "Get up here." She
sighed, jumped again, and again she fell short.

Ranma peered down over the edge. "Oho. I see what your
problem is."

"What?" Akane asked excitedly.

"You need to lose about ten pounds. No, make that twenty--"

"RANMA!!!" The shout was still echoing when Akane landed on
the roof beside Ranma and struck. Ranma dodged.

"Hold it, Akane," he said cheerfully, and pointed down.

Akane froze. "I'm on the roof. How did I get on the roof?"

Ranma looked disgusted. "Well, how do you think you got on
the roof, baka?" He jumped down. "Get down here."

Akane swallowed hard and jumped. Ranma caught her. "You
were gonna hurt your ankles," he told her, putting her down.
"Gotta work on landings. I forgot, up's always easier than
down." He looked embarrassed by his oversight rather than the
body contact.

Akane looked up at the roof again. "How did...?"

Ranma sighed. "Look, if ya just gotta think, think about
how it FELT to jump to the roof. You got mad, you felt the
power, you jumped, you made it, right?" Akane nodded. "You just
gotta get the power without gettin' mad all the time. You wanna
try it again, or shall I taunt ya some more?"

Akane favored him with a grim stare, looked up, tried to
feel the ki, and jumped. She landed on the roof. Ranma landed
next to her. "See?" he said. "No problem. Ya ready for down?"

Akane looked down. "Once more up, I think," she told Ranma.
*Besides, this way I get you to hold me....*

Ranma scooped her up and jumped off the roof. Akane enjoyed
the trip, but it was over too soon. Ranma put her down. She
jumped again, and made it again. "Gettin' easier, ain't it?"
Ranma said as he arrived beside her.

Akane jumped down. "Oof!" She felt her ankles, but they
seemed to be undamaged. She watched Ranma's light landing
carefully.

Ranma shrugged. "Just keep jumpin' up and down until ya get
tired," he told her. "Then we'll try somethin' a bit more
interesting." He sniffed. "While you're doin' that, I'm gonna
go see Kasumi. I think she just pulled cookies out of the oven.
Hey, get back here! Ya need ta watch your weight, remember?!"

~~~~~

Ranma looked at the bowl of nuts on the table and cried
"Special training!" His hands darted for the bowl. Peanuts
bounced off Akane's nose and chin before she realized what was
happening, but she ate the third one, then caught the fourth and
flicked it into Ranma's waiting mouth. Ranma grinned noisily and
picked up the pace. Akane was starting to get the rhythm of it,
until Ranma made a face at her while chewing. She laughed at the
wrong time, choked on a half-chewed peanut, and turned red.

Ranma waited for her to stop making odd noises, then
surveyed the nuts scattered across the floor behind Akane and
shook his head. "All that wasted food," he said mournfully.
Akane started laughing again and slugged him.

~~~~~

"Oh, Ranma-kun! You have visitors!"

Ranma backed away from Akane, hoping she'd try a parting
shot anyway... *Nope. Damn.* He turned toward the dojo doors
and Kasumi's voice, and his jaw dropped. Shampoo was wearing her
combat garb and a secretive smile. Ukyo was wearing her usual
okonomiyaki-chef suit and her cutest grin. Both had their hands
clasped formally in front of them. Kasumi was wearing an
immaculate new gi, and had one hand on each girl's shoulder. "We
hear you're accepting students," Kasumi said mischievously.

"Wha... where'd ya hear that?" All three pointed left, to
where Nabiki was counting a sheaf of bills. Akane stomped over
to her sister, arms stiff at her sides. "Nabiki!"

A voice drifted through the dojo doors. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!
Ranma-sama, I'm here for my lesson!"

Ranma looked around the dojo desperately. His eyes, the
eyes of a trapped animal, fastened onto the bucket of water.

Splash! "Aiya!" "Oh, dear." "Rats!"

~~~~~ end of Training ~~~~~

The Taming of the Horse

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Vince Seifert (seif...@csus.edu)

TotH webpage: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/toth/index.htm

Ranma 1/2 characters and situations are copyright 1987, 1998
by Takahashi Rumiko. Publishing rights (Japan) by Shogakukan
Inc. Publishing rights (North America) by Viz Inc. This work
is not intended to infringe those rights.

~~~~~ Chapter 5: Breaking ~~~~~

The time of breaking is critical to the development of
an even-tempered, tractable horse. Mistakes during this
phase can result in an animal which is skittish,
intransigent, or even dangerous... The rider will be
required to be patient and firm, and keep control of the
process at all times... if this is done properly, the result
is a bond between horse and rider which enriches both their
lives.

-- "The Taming of the Horse: An Equestrian's Guide"

"'A date'?" Ranma was the picture of a pigtailed martial
artist who couldn't believe his ears. He'd thought he was in
Akane's room after supper to get help with his homework.

"You heard me," Akane said firmly. "I want you to ask me
out. I want you to set a date and time that you'll come pick me
up to go do something normal. Like dinner and a movie, or
something."

Ranma looked dubious. "Why would I want ta make a big
production out of it? Ya wanna go hang out somewhere, fine, but--"

"It's what couples do, you jerk! We are a couple, aren't
we?" Her glare dared him to say otherwise.

He took the dare. "Whaddaya mean, couple?"

Akane took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out. It
didn't help. "A couple. I am your fiancee. You--" *God help
me,* her scathing glance implied-- "are my fiance. A Couple."

"Okay. You can ask me out on a date," he said smugly.

"Oooh! You... you...."

Ranma looked down into Akane's eyes. She was breathing hard
and had her fists clenched, and he couldn't imagine why she
hadn't hit him yet. His heart pounded once... twice... three,
four, five and then her arms slid up around his neck and her
fingers grabbed his hair and pulled his head down. Her lips were
suddenly hot on his and not gentle, not gentle at all, but he
didn't mind. His arms enclosed her like they knew what they were
doing, which was a good thing, because he wasn't paying attention
to them.

Akane broke the kiss and leaned back, looking up into
Ranma's eyes. His lips settled into a goofy smile. "Wow. So
that's what Shampoo an' Kodachi were tryin' for...."

Akane broke out of his embrace and stepped back, suddenly
furious. "You're supposed to be thinking about me, not them!"
she snarled.

Ranma's face flashed through several expressions before
settling on the superior smirk Akane hated so much. "Heh. Why
don'tcha make me?" She couldn't let that pass, could she? Akane
let fly with her best right jab, targeted three inches past where
his navel would be when he dodged, but it hit air behind his back
because he'd flowed inside it and picked her up and was kissing
her, kissing her the way he fought, with joy and abandon and...
oh boy... with technique that started out clumsy but improved by
the second. She heard a little moan and realized it was her own
voice but didn't care, because she'd wanted this for so long and
all she wanted to do now was to drag him down on the floor and...
and... and what?

WHAM!

Ranma bounced off the wall yelling "What?! What?!" and
stopped.

Akane was leaning against the opposite wall from the
panicked shove that had separated them, hand at her chest, still
breathing hard. "No! Not until we're married!" she gasped.

Ranma blinked, dumbfounded. "What, no kissing?"

"No, no...." She stopped and looked again. There was no
way Ranma could be faking that stupid look. And that meant....
"Argh! I can't believe it! There's no way ANYONE could be that
dense!"

"What?! If not kissing, then what?!"

"My god. You're not kidding. You weren't thinking...."
*And I was.* Akane blushed deeply and hid her face in her hands.
*Oh, boy, was I ever.*

Ranma stared at her flaming ears and suddenly Got It. "Oh.
That. Uh...."

Akane peeked out. Ranma was blushing as badly as she was.
*Maybe he won't make fun of me....* "Well, I, um.... How could
you not... you know?"

Ranma put his hand to the back of his head and examined the
ceiling. "Uh... I dunno. Don't tell my momma, but I guess it
was always jus' something that happened ta other people, far--"
He was interrupted by a thump from the next room and shut up
quickly. In the sudden silence both Ranma and Akane could hear
muffled noises, noises that sounded like... laughing? They
stared at each other. *Microphone?* Sweatdrops appeared on both
heads.

"NABIKI!!!" they screamed in unison, and darted for the
door. Ranma was slightly ahead as they rounded the curve,
averting a nasty pileup in the doorway.

Nabiki just had time to untangle herself from her headphone
cable and pop the tape out before Ranma and Akane burst into her
room. Her hand dove into her waistband and came out empty. "Ah-
ah-ah!" she chided them. "Don't even think about it."

Ranma was thinking about it. He eyed the outline of the
cassette in Nabiki's pants. His hand twitched. Akane caught his
eye and mouthed "Go for it." Nabiki caught his eye and glared
coolly at him. About that time he started thinking about what
else was inside Nabiki's pants....

Ranma stepped back and shrugged helplessly at Akane.
"Sorry, no can do. If ya wanna make dragon stew for dinner, I'll
go kill the ingredients for ya, but not this."

"Coward," Akane muttered. She steeled herself and turned to
Nabiki. "How much?"

"Priceless." They gaped at her. "No, really, you can't
afford this and no one else can either. I'm keeping this one to
cheer me through the dark years to come." Akane and Ranma
exchanged desperate looks. "Besides, by the sound of it, pretty
soon you'll have much better things to be embarrassed about."
Ranma and Akane both flushed scarlet. "Think of it as a lesson
in not getting caught."

Akane found her voice again. "Nabiki... if you ever, ever,
ever let anyone listen to that tape, I'll... I'll hold it against
you as long as I live." She slumped, deflated by the negligible
weight of the best credible threat she could come up with.

"What, not even Kasumi? How about Father? Hey, I bet
Happosai'd really get a kick out of it...."

"NABIKI!!!"

"Whoa, in stereo yet." Nabiki smiled triumphantly and
flapped a hand at them. "Just kidding. Really. I promise no
one else will hear it, cross my abacus and hope to go broke."

Akane considered her for a moment. "Well, all right. But
for god's sake, keep it in a safe place."

"But..." Ranma started.

"Come ON, Ranma!" Akane grabbed his pigtail and started
dragging him out.

Nabiki couldn't resist a parting shot. "Hey, hey, What-No-
Kissing-san," she whispered to Ranma as he stumbled past. Ranma
just had time for a dirty look before the door slammed. Nabiki
grinned, winced suddenly, and carefully fished the tape out. She
turned it over in her fingers, then smiled, loaded it back into
the recorder and pressed "Rewind".

Out in the hall, Akane let go of Ranma's pigtail. "We need
to talk," she told him.

"We do? Uh, yeah, sure we do. Quit lookin' at me like
that."

"Not here, though. Someplace without microphones."

"And fiancees. 'Cept you, of course. Heh heh."

"Heh." *Baka.* "The roof?"

"Nah, I think Nabiki can bug us there too. Mebbe the dojo
roof... uh, no."

"The park?"

"Let's go." Ranma cracked his knuckles and smiled
viciously. "If we're really, really lucky, we'll run inta some
muggers. Ya need the practice." Bop!

~~~~~

The small park near the dojo had a few trees, some concrete
benches, and a lovely view of the canal. This time of night, the
city lights were kind of pretty if one squinted, too. Akane
badly wanted Ranma to put his arm around her on the walk there,
but couldn't quite bring herself to put her arm around him.

"Here," Ranma said, walking up to a backless bench near the
embankment. "You sit that way, I'll sit this way, an' we're
lookin' over each other's shoulders and nobody can sneak up on
us."

Akane sighed and sat as indicated. "You're paranoid."

"Nah. That's only if no one IS out to get ya." Ranma
grinned rakishly. He sat facing her. He lost the grin. The
breeze made a lonely sound in the trees.

*We could kiss so easily, sitting like this,* Akane
realized. *Did he... could he have planned it that way?* She
waited hopefully. The breeze whispered again. *Come ON, baka!*

Finally she got tired of waiting. "You could kiss me again,
you know," she told him shyly. "If you wanted to."

Ranma started. "Uh, yeah, I guess I could...." He leaned
over a little and forward a little. Their lips met. Akane
closed her eyes. Their lips moved around a bit. Their lips
parted.

*...That's all? What happened to....* Akane opened her
eyes.

Ranma had a slight frown. He looked like he was mulling
something over. "Jeez, Akane, that was pathetic," he said
finally. "Even a cold gal like you oughta be able to kiss better
than that."

It was his sensei voice at its most irritating, and Akane's
reaction was automatic. *Grr! I'll show him!* She lunged
forward. She didn't notice Ranma's expression change from
disappointment to anticipation, but she did notice when his arms
closed around her, her aura burst out in a soundless explosion
and she could see it, she could see their auras spark and sizzle
against each other with her eyes shut.... *He has to love me as
much as I love him, there's no other way something as wonderful
as this could be happening....*

Then it was over and her closed eyes were leaking tears.
She took advantage of the way their arms were interlocked to hug
him hard. He hugged her back, but not nearly as hard, as though
she were something precious that might break if he weren't
careful.

Akane pushed back to look up at Ranma. For the first time
she could remember, he looked happy. Not triumphant-happy or
relieved-happy or trying-to-look-cute happy, but ordinary, glad-
to-be-alive happy. It didn't last, though. He started looking
apprehensive. Akane figured she'd better say something before he
did.

"What... what was all that about?"

He shrugged. "I dunno." His expression said that he did
know.

Akane gave him an impatient look. "You have the worst poker
face in history, remember? Try again."

He sighed. "I don't wanna say."

"You're not trying to get me mad so you can kiss me again,
are you?"

He twitched. "Uh...."

She let her hands wander over his back a bit. *Such a fine
back... such a pity it has a shirt on it... whoa, girl.* "Well,
let's see here. We kiss, and it's... nice. We kiss when I'm
mad, and... fireworks." She tilted an eyebrow at him. "It WAS
fireworks for you too, wasn't it?"

"Mm." He blushed.

"So--"

"Hold it, Akane. I don't wanna talk about this too much."

She stared at him, surprised. "Well, whyever not?"

"I... uh... it might be like the Art is, sometimes. You
think about it too much and it sorta... goes away." He gestured
helplessly. His voice fell almost to a mumble. "I... I don't...
I don't want it to go away."

Akane stared at him. "Ranma...." *Now!* "Ranma? Remember
just before the wedding?" He twitched. He did. She laid a
finger across his lips just in case. "I know you love me, Ranma.
I've known since Jusendo. Maybe you didn't tell me then, and
maybe you sort of didn't before the wedding, and maybe you can't
tell me now." She took a breath. "But that's all right, as long
you don't deny it now, because... because I love you, Ranma."

His eyes widened. She took the finger off his lips. He was
trembling. *Fear?* She was. *Fear... oh, god, what if I've
ruined it, what if he doesn't love me back, what if I lose him
because I said I love him?* She called on what control she'd
mastered. *Now I have to be the strong one....*

She hugged him again, clumsily, and tried to soothe him. It
wasn't working. *Oh, no! He wasn't ready yet!*

"Akane?" His voice was ragged. "What about the curse?"

Hope surged within her. She tried to make her voice matter-
of-fact. "I can live with it if you can."

He pulled back enough to look her in the eyes, and didn't
say anything. His doubt was clear.

She sighed. "Go jump in the canal. Come back female, and
I'll tell you again." She gave him a half-hearted glare. "But
no perverted stuff."

His mouth twitched. It was a pretty ghastly excuse for a
smile, but it was a smile. Then he was gone.

Splash!

Ranma vaulted back over the railing. She stripped off her
shirt, wrung it out, and put it back on, not looking at Akane.
Akane got up, moved over beside her, and turned the shorter girl
to face her.

"I love you, Ranma." Akane gazed into Ranma's eyes, willing
her to believe it. Tears welled up and overflowed, and suddenly
Ranma was crying, in great, wrenching sobs that sounded like they
were being torn out of her one at a time. Akane put her arms
around her, waited for the storm to subside, and tried to think
happy thoughts.

Eventually Ranma sniffled and pulled away. Akane wordlessly
offered her a handkerchief. "Thanks." Snort!

"You still blow your nose like a boy," Akane observed.

Ranma laughed a bit and wiped her nose. "I don't think ya
want this back just yet," she said, inspecting the handkerchief.
"Damnedest thing, though, this body handles the mushy stuff
better than mine." She glanced at Akane. "That hurt a lot.
Like... like a half-healed wound."

Akane shrugged. "Maybe it was one," she said lightly.

"Hmm...." Suddenly Ranma's gaze flicked past Akane.
"Shit," she hissed. "Shampoo. On a bicycle. Let's go for the
trees."

"Wait, Ranma," Akane said. She touched Ranma's shoulder.
"Why should we run?"

Ranma straightened slowly from her crouch, looking confused.
She opened her mouth and closed it. "Hell, you're right," she
said wonderingly. "I ain't done nothin'...." She caught Akane's
eye and Akane could read her thought: *but Shampoo won't see it
that way... oh shit.*

Akane looked grim. "Just remember who's who and what's
what," she told Ranma.

Ranma looked shellshocked. "I don't think I got that all
sorted out yet," she blurted.

"WHAT?!"

"Nihao, Ranma!"

Ranma ignored the approaching bicycle. A look of joy
suddenly spread over her face. She bounded away from Akane.
"Hah, what's it to ya? Yer too slow ta catch me anyway! Bii-
da!"

Akane stared in disbelief-- and suddenly got it. "Come back
here and take your punishment like a man, you coward!" *Now!*
She charged at Ranma, who sprang away-- right at Shampoo.

"Airen! Shampoo so--" Crunch! "Aiya!"

"Sorry, Shampoo!" Ranma called over her shoulder without
slowing down. "I've got a tomboy after me! Bye!"

Akane carefully ran over Shampoo's bicycle. "Oops! I'm so
clumsy!" She sprinted after Ranma.

Shampoo stared after them. *There was something strange
about that....* Then she noticed her bicycle, its wheels bent
and twisted. She started cursing in Chinese.

Well away from the park, Ranma dropped out of the night and
raced along beside Akane. "Whee! That was fun!"

Akane glanced over and grinned. "We make a good team, don't
we? Look out!"

Ranma barely avoided an inconveniently-placed light pole.
"Don't DO that!" she yelled.

"Do what?" Akane asked innocently, slowing to a walk.

"Smile at me when there's posts and things in the way!"

Akane giggled and clapped Ranma on the shoulder. "It's not
my fault you weren't looking where you were going."

Ranma suddenly looked up and past her and sniffed the air
warily. Akane groaned. "Now what?"

"Rain comin'. Home's too far... ah. C'mon." Ranma ran
down the street. Akane followed. They made it to shelter under
the canal bridge just before rain started falling in roaring
sheets. It slackened after the initial downpour, but kept
falling.

"Well, if Shampoo's still lookin' for us, she's doin' it on
four legs," Ranma said, staring out into the rain.

Akane dusted off a section of concrete abutment with her
hand, wiped her hand on her skirt, and sat down. "Over here."
Ranma turned to look at her, and she patted the concrete beside
her. Ranma sagged a bit, but she came over and sat beside Akane,
close enough that each could feel the other's body heat, but not
quite touching. They listened to the rain for a while.

"Ranma? What are you thinking about?" Akane's voice was
gentle.

"Dunno. I guess... hopin' things won't change too much."
She felt Akane move sideways to close the small gap between them,
so that they were touching from shoulder to knee, and sighed
faintly. *I didn't dare do that, but I'm glad she did.* She
felt a fist hit her in the ribs, not hard, but knew it was a hint
to say the right thing. "I mean... things have been pretty good
with us lately, but what just happened could change
everythin'...." She shrugged desperately.

Akane took pity on her. "You don't want to lose the good
things between us."

"Yeah... somethin' like that."

"Ranma... what DO you want? Really?"

"Ya mean, besides to be a guy full-time an' enough to eat?"
She sensed Akane's nod in the dark, and thought about it for a
while. She laughed a little. "I don't get asked that much. I
guess I don't think about it much." She paused. "Good friends.
And... good enemies."

"What?"

"Well, hell, you like havin' friends, don'tcha? That part
oughta make sense," Ranma said. "I only ever had but two before
I came here. Ukyo and Ryoga." Akane said nothing. "I miss
Ryoga. He's not exactly my friend, but he's my best enemy. Ya
can't have good fights without good enemies, and we had some
great fights."

"Is that why you were always picking on him?"

Ranma shook her head disgustedly. "Look, Akane, it's a guy
thing. Hell, it's a martial-artist-guy thing. You're a martial-
artist-tomboy, ya oughta be able to understand at least part of
it-- ow!" Ranma rubbed her ribs. Akane had punched her, but
hadn't pulled away.

"Which one am I?" Akane asked softly.

"I think you're more tomboy than martial artist, but-- ow!"

"No, you baka. Friend or enemy?"

"Uh, if you're gonna hit me, hit me someplace else, 'cause
that spot is gettin' sore. Uh... both." She felt Akane lose
interest in punching her again just before letting fly.

"Both? Ranma, you know you're going to have to explain
that."

"Explain what? I enjoyed all the fights we had, okay? Even
if I took all the hits!" Ranma's voice paused, then continued at
a lower volume. "And you never hit me when I was down, and you
busted your butt to cover me when my momma coulda had me slit my
belly... and... and... you hardly ever let me be lonely."

"Ranma...." Akane put her arm around the smaller girl.

"Hey, I thought you said no perverted stuff," Ranma
protested weakly.

"This isn't perverted," Akane told her. "Real girls do this
all the time. Besides, no one's watching."

Ranma didn't answer, but her arm crept around Akane's waist.

Akane summoned her courage. "What about the engagement?"

Ranma sighed. "I guess I got used to it. Uh... if our
friends hadn't wrecked the wedding, I think I woulda gone through
with it. You were so pretty...." Akane blushed in the dark and
tightened her one-armed hug. "Um... but... I dunno if I'm ready
to be a hu-- husband. Right now, what I really want is a buddy."
She paused. "If... if it helps any, if I had to get married, I'd
want it to be to you."

"Oh...." Akane's voice was thick with emotion. "Oh, yes,
it helps. Oh, Ranma...."

"I guess... another thing I want is for you to be happy.
What do YOU want, Akane?"

"I... I want to be your... partner." The words spilled out
in a rush. "That's the other reason why I wanted you to train
me. So I could be good enough that you wouldn't have to protect
me all the time, so that I could protect you if you needed it, so
that together we could beat anyone we couldn't beat apart."

"But... but it's a man's duty..." Ranma's feminine voice
began.

Akane sprang to her feet and turned to face Ranma. "NO!
That's for other people! You keep calling me a tomboy. Fine,
I'm a tomboy. Well, you're a boy who's a girl sometimes. That's
fine with me too. But those silly man-woman rules don't work for
us. They can't!"

"But--"

Akane overrode her. "Someday you're going back to China
looking for a cure, or someone's going to need a hero and you'll
volunteer, or... or the weirdness of our lives will just get out
of control again some way I can't even imagine, and you'll go do
something dangerous again. Well, next time you're not going
alone."

"Akane--"

"I know, I know, you want me to be safe. But what's safe?
I stayed 'safe at home' last time, and those bastards came and
took me anyway!

"I couldn't STAND it when I had to wait, wondering if you
were dead or alive. I want to go with you wherever you go. I
want to fight by your side. If I d-die, I want to die in your
arms. Don't you DARE take that away from me because you want me
to be safe!" Her voice failed, and she covered her face with her
hands, knowing that Ranma was seeing the same time and place that
she was:

Ranma sat on a ledge of tortured stone by enchanted
waters in a smashed cavern, holding a young woman clad only
in his shirt. She lay limp and unbreathing in his arms, and
he was sure that she was dead, and he knew that he had been
able to save her, and had failed utterly. His tears fell on
her face, and he screamed her name: "AKANE!!"

...and her hand touched his face.

Akane got control of herself and saw Ranma. She was huddled
with her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms around her legs,
shivering. *Uh oh.* Akane sat beside her and shook her.
"Ranma?"

"I was so sure you were..." Ranma said indistinctly.

"Don't think about that. Think about afterwards, when I
lived, and you held me, and everything was perfect." *Right up
until you started worrying about whether you'd told me you loved
me,* she added to herself.

Ranma uncoiled a little. "Yeah...." Akane heard her gulp.
"Still. I don't ever want anything like that to happen again."

"I don't either, but I'd rather risk... what almost
happened... than wait at home to find out you were gone... and
wonder whether you might still be alive if I'd been there."

Ranma was thinking about that. She could almost hear the
gears grinding away at the idea that he might be the one to die
and she might be the one who could have saved him. "I guess we
better train harder," Ranma said finally. It was as close to
conceding defeat as Ranma could come.

Akane managed to hold her tongue and patted Ranma on the
shoulder. "Partners?"

Ranma sighed. "Yeah. Partners."

"Then you've given me what I want. I'll go on being a good
friend-- and a good enemy-- to you, Ranma. I'll try to keep
Father off your neck about the wedding. Only...."

"Only what?" Ranma said warily.

"Well... I know you don't want to get married yet, but it
would be nice if we could be... fiancees for real. You know, two
people who are thinking about getting married someday. To each
other, I mean."

"No problem. I, uh, I was sorta thinkin' that anyhow. I
just didn't think you were."

"Oh. Well, I was." Akane paused. "What about Shampoo and
Ukyo and Kodachi?"

Ranma sighed again. "I don't want to marry any of them.
Shampoo's all right, but I can't forget her chasing me across
China for two weeks. She's the first person who ever really
tried ta kill me. Her curse don't help. And boy, she just don't
give up. I'm tired of her grabbin' me all the time, an' I damn
sure don't wanna be a Joketsuzoku husband.

"Ukyo's nice and all, but I still sorta think of her as a
guy. I'm not confused enough to want to marry a guy. But I feel
real bad about what my pop did to her. I gotta make that up
somehow, or I'm just as worthless as he is.

"I'm not responsible for Kodachi. She don't listen any
more'n Kuno does. If they listened, they'd know I don't want
either of 'em."

"Well, why don't you just tell them that, then?" Akane said.
*I will NOT bring up all the times the 'pig-tailed girl' led Kuno-
sempai on. Not now, anyway.*

"I can't!" Ranma brooded. "Every time I try, I get it
wrong or they get it wrong or something. I look at 'em lookin'
at me all hopeful like and my brain just goes to jelly and the
words come out wrong. I can't. I just can't, any more'n I can
pet a ca-cat without flippin' out." She looked at Akane. "If ya
wanna be jealous, I guess that's fair, but I tell ya you got no
real reason to be. Go on hittin' me if ya hafta."

Akane smiled ruefully. "I don't want to hit you. I'd
rather kiss you."

"Uh. If ya do that, THEY'LL hit me. Oh, well, I can take
it." She ducked her head. "It's worth it...."

"Oh, Ranma, you say the sweetest things." Akane grinned and
punched her lightly on the shoulder.

"Gaah." Ranma looked up. "The rain's stopped."

"So it has." *Hot water....* Akane got up and waited.
Ranma stood, rubbed her face, and followed Akane out from under
the bridge.

~~~~~

Kasumi turned as Akane and Ranma came into the kitchen.
"Oh, hello, Ranma-kun. Did you have a nice walk, Akane?"

"Sure, nice," Akane said casually. "Can you spare some hot
water, Kasumi?"

"Of course." Kasumi handed Ranma the kettle. She slipped
out to the veranda. He returned a moment later and gave the
kettle back to Kasumi with a word of thanks, then followed Akane
out.

Akane led Ranma back outside and stopped inside the dojo
gate. "I'd like to be with you longer, Ranma, but it's getting
late and we have school tomorrow... so...."

"Yeah, I know. Well... g'night." He turned to leave, then
turned back. "Uh...." Akane was still standing there, nearly
invisible in the shadow of the gate roof. Waiting. Watching
him. Smiling. Ranma looked around for observers, then moved
closer to her. She turned her face up, and got her kiss; no
fireworks, but a silent promise of many more to follow. Ranma
released her and turned for the gate.

"Oh, Ranma?" Akane's voice held a note of mischief.

He stopped and turned. "Yeah?"

"So when's our date?"

Ranma fell over.

~~~~~ end of Breaking ~~~~~

[end of part 2 of 6]