Purr

by DB Sommer

Incomplete. An older work of mine that has Akane having problems sleeping due to annoying pests

[Writer's note: Yes, this is unfinished, but I had it sitting around for ten years, and figured that, in combination with a nasty case of writer's block, I ought to post it.]

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Morning mist hung in the air, shielding the surrounding land in a light gray haze that diffused, but did not block, the view of the small valley before her. The moisture seemed to cling to her, cooling her off, though she wasn't hot to begin with. Everything was shaded in varying hues of green. Flora flourished everywhere, untouched by the hand of man. Thick trees, rich with foliage, formed a canopy over the valley with only a lake to that formed a hole in the forest.

Directly below her was the lake, turbulent from the heavy flow of water from the tributaries that fed it. Twin streams fell from the cliff she stood upon. They streams were closer to tiny rivers thanks to the excessive amount of heavy rains from the last four days. While the rains had finally stopped, the streams refused to acknowledge it as they flowed over the edge and into the dark waters below.

She stood at the edge of the precipice, staring downward into the lake a hundred feet below. Black as midnight, the surface reflected nothing, not even the diffuse glow of the sun that hung somewhere high overhead. Gazing into the distant waters, she came to realize that what appeared to be a lake was an elaborate illusion, which only now she was able to pierce. It was no simple body of water, but an eternal abyss with only a surface made of liquid to hide its true nature. There was no end to it, no place for anything to live in its dark recesses. But there was something there, for the depths sang in silent notes to her, craving her, urging her to enter its embrace and allow it to take all the cares and worries from her so that she could be free once again.

A shift in her foot caused a shower of tiny pebbles to slip from their precarious hold on the edge and tumble downward, drifting out of sight long before they hit the surface of the water. Her eyes were teary, whether from emotion or injury she was uncertain. Still she could see everything clearly, in spite of the water and mist. She sobbed as the abyss sought her out once more, begging her to allow it to caress her, to draw her in its loving hold. And as it whispered to her soul, the words came at last. "I'm sorry."

Words were returned, but from behind rather than from below.

"No forgiveness!"

Hands shoved hard into the small of her back and then she was falling. The wind blew her hair back as she plummeted ever downward. Above the sound of the tumultuous waters, the abyss cried out in rapture that she was at last coming to the place that she so richly deserved. She could see the surface drawing nearer, and knew that once she hit the water, she would never return to light, and that she didn't want to go yet. She did not want to yield all that she was to the darkness. There was too much to do. Too much she still had to say. She wanted to live…

So Akane Tendou sat up from her bed and screamed into the night.

Purr

All C+C craved for. You can contact me at:

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the Ranma ½ characters.

More notes at the end.

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Every wooden step creaked as Akane made her way downstairs to breakfast. It was odd how only in her half-exhausted state of mind she noticed little things like that. There had also been other things, like her door being stiff and needing oiled, as well as the plaster starting to crack and peel along the bottom of the wall near the stairs. It was probably mostly just a response to whatever stimuli was happening around her, since she was so tired she could actually form little in the way of cognizant thoughts. What she needed was sleep, but she would not be getting it anytime soon.

The sounds of Ranma and his father sparring had motivated her enough to get out of bed and at least make in effort to face the upcoming school day. It was not as though she had been asleep, but she had been too exhausted to do anything other than lie on her back in bed and look at the ceiling. After the nightmare, there was no way she was going back to sleep that night, or maybe even the next.

It had taken a while before finding the resolve to actually force herself into motion, but once she got up she moved quickly. The sounds of battle had stopped by the time she finished cleaning herself up and dressing. That meant breakfast would be served now. As she made her She hoped no one asked why she was the last one at the breakfast table. With the way she felt, she was uncertain if she could even manage a coherent answer, and there was no sense in troubling any of the others about her nightmares.

Ranma looked up the instant she entered the dining room. "You're a little late." His voce was muffled by the food stuffed in it. He had managed to get down another fired egg when he finally took a close look at Akane. "Hey, you don't look too good. Something wrong?"

She noted that this time he had waited until his mouth was empty before speaking. "Just a little tired. I had some problems getting to sleep, but I'm okay now."

"Oh." His stare lingered on her for a moment before he went back to eating. As Akane helped herself to some of the remaining food, she thought she caught him staring at her a couple of times through his bites, but she couldn't be certain. If they were glances, they were lightning fast.

"Your leg looks better. You can hardly notice the limp," Nabiki said as she helped herself to another bowl of rice.

"You gotta be more careful when you work out. Next time wait until I'm back from my trip before trying anything hard." Ranma's warning sounded gruff, but there was an underlying hint of concern, or at least that was what Akane thought she might have heard. With Ranma one could never be certain.

Akane was interrupted in her thoughts when Nabiki spoke again, this time to Ranma. "Well, Saotome. Starting to miss your other fiancee yet?"

"She ain't my fiancee," Ranma protested, though with very little force.

"But you did seem concerned about her," Nabiki said before sipping some soup. Her eyes remained above the rim to keep a close eye on Ranma's reaction.

To Akane, it appeared Nabiki's estimation of Ranma's concern was on the mark. He scowled in thought. "Well, if what Mousse said is right, she's been gone about four days now and no one's seen her."

"You mean you actually managed to have a civil conversation with him after the way he attacked you?" Nabiki asked. When Mousse came over last night and loudly announced he was going to kill Ranma for kidnapping Shampoo, Nabiki had decided to spend as much time as she could at a friend's house rather then risk an errant chain hurled her way. By the time she had gotten back, it was over and everyone was asleep, meaning she had to wait until now to find out what had happened.

"Mousse was here last night?" Akane asked in surprise.

"It was before you got back from the library." Kasumi replenished the supply of rice on the table. "He was very excited when he first came over, shouting all sorts of things about Shampoo and Ranma, but he calmed down after a while."

"Once I let him search the entire house so that he knew I wasn't 'holding Shampoo against her will'," Ranma added. "After that he just got kind of depressed started talking. I finally got the whole story from him. Assuming he told it right."

"So what happened?" Nabiki asked, her attention riveted upon Ranma.

"He says about four days ago Shampoo disappeared from the Nekohantan," Ranma began. "He said it was the day they had off. The old ghoul was out of town for the day and Mousse had to go out to buy some groceries. When he got back, Shampoo was gone. After he put the stuff away, she still hadn't come back so he went looking for her. He didn't find her, and she didn't come back that night. He went out to look for her again and still couldn't find her. She still hadn't come back the next day, so when the old ghoul returned they looked through her stuff and saw that nothing was gone. Since I didn't get back from that little training trip with Pop until yesterday, this was the first time he had a chance to bug me about it."

"Any chance she went back home?" Nabiki asked.

"He said she'd just gone back the week before. Besides, she would have taken clothes and stuff and told them she was going like she did the last time."

"She went home? Why?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. Mousse said she didn't tell him either. He just figured it was to see family or something. She's done it before. Anyway, after he got over the idea I didn't kidnap her or something, he asked me to keep an eye out for her and to let him know if I see her."

"Whoa," Nabiki murmured. "It's probably not some crazy plan to net you then, not if Mousse is asking you for help."

"Yeah," Ranma said quietly and looked to the floor. He remained that way for only a few seconds before his head shot back up and he looked at Akane. "Not that I actually want her around. It's kind of nice without her breaking through walls and stuff."

It took Akane a moment to realize the comments were directed to her. "Oh. Yes. It is." She returned to picking at her food for a moment before loudly announcing. "I'm going to school now."

"We've still got fifteen minutes before we gotta go," Ranma pointed out.

"I want to get there early. You go whenever you're ready." Akane got up and left the table without another word. As she headed out of the room, she heard Ranma say, just loud enough for her to hear, "I wonder what's gotten into her."

She simply continued onward.

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"Hey, Akane! Wait up!"

Akane turned to see Ukyou break out of the crowd leaving school and head directly towards her. She was uncertain if she felt up to talking with her sometimes friend, sometimes rival, but since she couldn't come up with an acceptable excuse to get away, she allowed Ukyou to draw closer until they were only a few feet apart. "What is it?"

Ukyou paused to catch her breath. "You've been a hard girl to talk to today, sugar."

Akane found it hard to bite back the 'That's because you're too self-absorbed to see I don't want to talk to you,' that reflexively came to her thoughts. She mentally chided herself just as quickly. It wasn't Ukyou's fault the day had gone so miserably. For the first time in recent memory Akane's attention had drifted off in class so badly that she had ended up having to hold some water pails outside of class. Moments later, Ranma was doing the same. It was a nice gesture on his part, but even that failed to make her head stop swimming from her lack of sleep.

If Ukyou saw the mix of expressions that crossed Akane's features, she gave no indication of it. "I tried talking to you at lunch, but I couldn't find you."

"I was on the roof. I wanted some fresh air." Akane hoped Ukyou would say what was on her mind. Her head was killing her and it had been getting progressively harder to concentrate all day. Even going to the roof to be alone had only helped a little bit.

"Odd place to hang out."

"Would you get to the point?" Akane at last snapped.

Ukyou backed up a few feet and held up her hands in a warding gesture. "Hey, relax. I just wanted to see what you thought about Shampoo's disappearing act."

Akane's features tightened. "How'd you find out about it."

Again it was impossible to say if Ukyou realized the subtle shift or not. "Ranchan told me." She was going to say more, but then a crane, bearing yet another large granite statue dedicated to the principal, made its way over to the location that they were standing. The workmen urged the pair out of the way and Akane tried to take advantage of the opportunity to give Ukyou the slip. It was to no avail as Ukyou stayed at her side. Akane stopped rather than have the chef tag along like some kind of puppy.

Beaming happily at Akane, Ukyou continued as though they had not been interrupted. "I think it would be great if we never heard from that bimbo again."

Because it would be one less rival. Akane found herself wondering if Ukyou would be just as delighted if she disappeared. After the wedding incident, she found it very easy to picture.

Ukyou continued on. "You wonder what might have happened to that bimbo?"

"No."

"What if some other guy beat her and she did one of those 'Wo ai ni's on them? I could see Pantyhose doing it. Having to be married to him would serve the little hussy right."

Through gnashing teeth, Akane got out a, "Whatever."

"Maybe she got trapped as a cat and is in a kennel somewhere."

"Maybe." Why wouldn't Ukyou just shut up and leave her alone?

Ukyou nudged Akane' shoulder. "C'mon, you have to have some idea."

"HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?" Akane's hands tightened into fists at her side, and she had to do all but physically restrain herself from grabbing Ukyou's ridiculous spatula and slamming it into the chef's head.

That seemed to get through to Ukyou. This time she backed off slightly. "I was just asking. What's your problem?"

The trembling rage still affected Akane. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She succeeded, slightly. "I've been having trouble sleeping. I'm just tired and cranky. I'm sorry I yelled."

"No problem." Ukyou gave a cheery smile. One Akane recognized as the same automatic kind she used on customers at her restaurant, especially to the ones that did nothing but complain to her. The 'sincerity' of the smile did nothing to lighten Akane's mood.

It was obvious Ukyou was going to say since more, when she suddenly stopped and pointed over Akane's shoulder. "Look."

She looked to see where Ukyou was pointing. It was Ranma, a good one hundred yards away from where the two of them stood. What was surprising was that he appeared to be in deep conversation with, of all people, Mousse. Unlike most of their encounters, neither one appeared to be agitated, exchanging neither challenges nor insults. The two talked for less than a half minute before they hurried off together, leaving the school grounds and into the street beyond. Akane lost sight of them the instant they passed through the gates.

"I wonder what those two are up to?" Ukyou did not wait for a reply. Instead, she headed off immediately in the direction the pair had gone. She had not made it more than twenty feet before she realized she was walking alone. "Aren't you the least bit curious to see what that was all about?"

Akane's eyes darted away from where they had followed Ranma and Mousse's departure. "No."

Ukyou considered that for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever."

Akane watched Ukyou half turn away, then stop abruptly and point above Akane's head. "Look out!"

Martial arts instincts took over as Akane's body tensed for battle, and she looked overhead. For the briefest of moments, it seemed that a blur ran across one of the cables that held the statue —that had still been in the process of being centered properly for its placement— and snapped, causing the giant two ton block of granite to shift abruptly. A sharp twang filled the air as the suddenly shifting of weight caused a second, and then third cable to snap. With most of what had held it up now gone, the statue danced in the air for a single moment before it began the inevitable downward plunge towards the ground, and the person beneath it: Akane.

Death: It was not the first time it loomed before her, wanting to shatter her bones into powder and send her brains spilling out her ears. From Saffron to the Orochi, it had hounded her constantly, trying to claim her for its own.

The Slayer: Nothing so elaborate as a spell, magic weapon, or force of nature, not this time. It was nothing more than unfeeling rock that bore malice to no one and nothing, yet could kill all the same.

The Savior: Ranma? Not this time. He had departed with Mousse. There would be no last minute rescue by the Shining Knight to save her from The Slayer this time.

Salvation: All at the touch of a finger as the lines of force that helped bind the world revealed themselves to the trained eye.

"BAKUSAII TENKETSU!"

The Slayer detonated in a tremendous explosion, sending shards of sharpened rock in all directions. Akane weathered the blast, unaffected by the tiny missiles. Others lacking her pseudo-invulnerability dove for cover rather than be risk being injured by the flying debris.

Once the danger was past, instincts gave way to clearer thoughts. Akane stood in the middle of the rubble that had nearly claimed her life. Her heart was actually increasing its beat rather than slowing down. It had happened so quickly that all she could do was react, not panic. And even though the danger was now gone, she found fear finally trying to claim a hold upon her. She took several deep breaths and calmed herself, letting her heartbeat slowdown and the fear to flow out of her.

Ukyou picked herself off the ground and stared at Akane. "So, when did you learn the Bakusaii Tenketsu?"

"It's none of your business." Akane turned to leave without another word.

It was ten minutes later that Akane felt confident that Ukyou was not following her. No doubt the chef had gone to track down Ranma and find out why he was spending time with Mousse. That suited Akane just fine. Being around people was the last thing that she wanted. Solitude. A chance to think. Something that was perpetually denied her was the only thing she needed now. The route she chose was a long one that would take her to the outer boarders of Nerima and, with any luck, away from any of the martial arts mayhem that had become a regular part of her life. She felt she had made her choice well, for though this part of the neighborhood was rougher than she was used to, the streets were half-deserted, with no more than a handful of pedestrians around that paid no attention to her. And even if they had tried to accost her, they would quickly find out they had bitten off more than they could handle.

She reviewed what had happened with the statue now that some time had passed between since the near-death experience. How ironic that in all of the times that she had nearly died, or at least had come close to suffering grievous bodily harm, that she had almost been undone by a simple accident. And regardless of how it might have appeared to others, it had been close. Very close. If that had happened even a couple of weeks earlier, the outcome would have been drastically different. Of course, actually everything might have been different too. And that would have been for the best.

The events were continuing to play in her mind when she caught a movement from out of the corner of her eye. It had been fleeting, nothing more than the most furtive of glances. It had looked as though someone had ducked into an alley across the street.

Someone with purple hair.

Akane stared at the mouth of the alleyway. She was only able to see several feet in due to the angle she was at. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, waiting for something to happen.

When no figure appeared, Akane shook off her stupor and forced her feet to move forward, crossing the street and then approaching the alleyway. Her pace was slow at first, but increasing in speed as step-by-step she neared the mouth of the alleyway. Akane found herself hoping that whoever it had been would step out first, saving her the problem of laying to rest what had she had seen. But as she drew ever closer, no one came from the alley, and eventually she found herself at the edge of it.

For a moment, she wavered and almost turned away. She was getting worked up over nothing more than a fleeting glimpse she had caught out of the corner of her eye, which might not have even been there to begin with. It was just so… silly. Ranma would laugh at her for getting so agitated over the whole thing. If he had been there, he would have delivered some sarcastic comment that would have triggered her temper and made her forget the whole thing. But he was not there to deflect her interest, and her mind refused to ignore what she had thought she had seen.

"This is ridiculous," she said aloud and entered the alleyway.

Once she crossed the threshold from street to alley, the stench of rotten garbage assailed her nostrils. The alleyway was filthy, with piles of cardboard and refuse littering the entire length and width of the passage. There was a cleared path through the middle of it though, showing that the alleyway made a turn to the left and that it continued out of sight. Judging by the amount of filth, Akane wondered if the local garbage collectors were even aware that the alley existed.

The alley was devoid of life, human or otherwise. There were several beat up garbage cans, overflowing with garbage, that were spread out here and there amongst the refuse, but none of them were large enough to hide a child, let alone a teenager. A few side doors lined the alleyway, and like the center strip, were cleared of garbage, but for some reason Akane felt certain that no one had entered them recently. No. Going around the corner and seeing what else was there felt like it was the right thing to do.

Despite the cleared off center, she still had to pick her way around the occasional rotting clump of vegetables, chewed up cardboard, or otherwise unrecognizable litter that lined the length of the street. She pinched her nose closed as shut out the awful stench. As powerful as the smell was, it was probably going to somehow be absorbed into her clothing and she would have to wash, or burn, them later. However, it was too late to turn back now. And she just had to know what it was she had seen. Picking her way carefully through the garbage, she came to the end of the alleyway and made the turn, fully expecting to have the mystery of what she had seen solved at last. There was only one problem in the scenario.

No one was there.

She looked around, examining the alley more carefully. It was nothing like she had thought it would be. The alley stopped in a dead end, high red brick, graffiti-covered walls lining all three sides. There were even greater piles of garbage strewn along the asphalt along this stretch of the alley, with only the narrowest of paths down the middle. Again, several overstuffed garbage cans lined the passage, appearing to be in even worse shape than the ones that she had just passed.

But the thing that had caught, no, commanded her attention was the far wall, the one making the alley into a dead end. Unlike the more random graffiti-laden walls, the one on the end was different. Dominating the bottom of it was a large spray-painted mouth. Red lips and blanched-white teeth bordered a jet black middle that constituted a gaping maw. The artwork was flawless, hinting at talent beyond anything else decorating the walls. The size of the painted opening was as large as Akane, and if it had been a real mouth, she had little doubt she would be able to walk into it without having to crouch.

Above the painted mouth, high enough that someone had to have been standing on a ladder in order to paint them up there, were two lines written in a bright red paint that was identical to that of the lips. The letters were large, with the first line saying said:

"Do you know where you are?"

The second one beneath it said:

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Weird," Akane mumbled to herself. It took her several moments to look away from the bizarre artwork and examine the rest of the alleyway more closely. The buildings that made up the three sides of the dead end were five stories tall, too high for even Ranma to jump. What few windows there were appeared boarded up. And there was only one door in the entire stretch, one which happened to be near the dead end of the street, though a good distance away from the painted mouth.

She approached the door, being even more careful about avoiding any of the filthy garbage that was in her path. As she got to the door, she saw that it was padlocked. That was that. The person she had seen was long gone. Perhaps she had gone through one of the earlier doors, or even the one that was before her, but there was no chance for Akane to find her now. If there had even been anyone to begin with.

In retrospect, it had all been so stupid. What an idiot she had been chasing after shadows of things she did not even really see. What she needed now was sleep; a nice long nap to make up for what she had lost the night before. Maybe after she had gained some rest, she and Ranma could study together or spar or something. Anything to try to restore some normalcy in her life. She gave off a tired sigh and turned…

…only to see a cat sitting on top of one of the trash cans and staring at her.

For an instant, she had thought the cat was pink with purple points, but that illusion was dispelled once she got a good look at it. It was far larger than Shampoo's cursed form, almost twice her height and at least half-again as round. It was mostly dull orange in color, except for a patch of white fur that stretched across the front of its face. The patch of white was largest around the eyes and cheeks, then reached around to cover the sides of its head, almost like a mask. It had white points on its paws, and one of its ears had a huge chunk torn out of it, undoubtedly in some fight with another cat. Its fur was an unkempt mess.

The sight of the mangy creature caused a chill to inexplicably run down Akane's spine. "Just an alley cat," she murmured to herself. She was surprised to discover that simply hearing the sound of her own voice served to comfort her. Until she had spoken, she had not realized how quiet it had been since she had entered the alley. Even the sounds of cars traveling up and down the nearby street failed to reach into the alley, despite only being a hundred feet or so away. The total lack of noise was jarring to Akane. There was something horribly unnatural about it. The sooner she got out of the putrid alley and back out into the real world, the better.

For a moment, as she began to walk back the way she had come, she was struck by the idea that the cat, who had remained so motionless that one might have mistaken it for an incredibly detailed porcelain statue, would remain exactly the way it was and continue staring at where she had been. The idea was dispelled instantly as she took her first two steps and the head twisted slightly, the cat's eyes following her course.

She had only taken two more steps when she realized that the cat was doing more than just watching her. There was something about the gaze that disturbed her. Something that was a little off about it. It was more than simply watching, like any normal animal would do when confronted by a stranger, it was doing… something else. The words to describe it eluded her, and she was uncertain as to exactly what made its gaze different from a normal cat's, but for some odd reason it reminded her a little bit of how Shampoo, in her cursed form, would look at her. This alley cat wasn't exhibiting the open disdain that Shampoo could broadcast, even when cursed. It was more like a glare of… accusation? Was that the right word for it? No. That was silly. Cats, like any other animal, could not shoot accusing glares at anybody. Akane was just tired, and attributing human emotions to stupid animals was a testament to just how mentally exhausted she was.

That knowledge should have served to relax her, but instead Akane continued to find the whole situation disturbing. For some reason she found herself reluctant to pass by the cat, even though it was several feet away from where she would cross by it in order to leave the alley.

"Go away! Shoo!" Akane waved her arms frantically at the tabby.

It continued to stare at her, unmoving.

Akane scowled at the fearless (and dumb) creature. She looked around and saw a small, flat piece of masonry that lay on top of a nearby pile of refuse. Unmindful of what sort of filth might have been upon it, she picked it up and aimed for a spot just over the cat's head. She did not want to actually hit it; all she wanted to do was scare it off. With a short wind up she threw the rock towards the feline. Her aim was a little off as the projectile sailed no more than a couple of inches above the creature's head and bounced off the wall some distance behind it.

Again, it did nothing, not even batting an ear. It remained exactly as it was, staring at Akane the whole time.

The roar of Akane's heartbeat pounded in her ears, and for the second time today she felt fear try to gain a hold of her. This time she found it harder to fend off, despite the fact the cat could in no way pose an actual threat to her the way statue had. "GO AWAY!" she screamed. Even if the cat didn't move, surely someone would shout out at her to be quiet and scare the cat off.

Again, the cat did nothing but stare.

That was enough for Akane. She waited no longer as she hurried past it, stopping short of outright running. Never once did her eyes leave those of the cat's. Her gaze was locked so intently on it that she almost stumbled over some garbage as she veered slightly off the clear lane through the middle of the alley, but even then she never took her eyes off the motionless feline who followed her every step of the way with its impossibly accusing eyes. She continued backing up, finally getting around the corner and began walking backwards towards the street. She nearly stumbled again before she lost sight of the cat as she made it around the corner of the turn. Still, Akane kept walking backward, expecting the little creature to leave its perch and pursue her. But there was nothing, not even the sound of the garbage can being knocked over. All remained as silent as a church.

It seemed to take forever for her to back out of the alley. Despite moving at least twice as fast as she had when she first entered, it seemed to take twice, and then three times as long to get out. She resisted the temptation to break her gaze from the bend alley, even to steal a quick glance over her shoulder to see how much distance she had left. She would run for hours if she had to, but she would not look away from the place where the cat had been. No way.

Those thoughts were still running through her mind when the sounds of a car honking close to her made her turn. She saw that in running backwards, she had not only emerged from the alley, but had almost entered the street as a car was barreling down it at top speed. She rushed back onto the sidewalk, only to have a pedestrian swear at her as she nearly bowled him over in her haste to get out of the street.

Once she had successfully reoriented herself, she looked back at where she had come. The spell the alley had woven seemed broken now that she had made it out and back into the far more normal world. Now it was just an alley, nothing more than that, at least that was what she told herself. But still she looked upon it with unease.

Akane did not waste another second as she took off in the nearest direction to her house, no longer desiring to be alone. She had to look where she was going, but she kept affording glances over her shoulder to be certain that the mangy-looking tabby did not follow. It was not until the alley was out of sight that true relief came to her at last.

As the sun began to set and the temperature dropped to about fifty, Akane only now began to understand how far she had wandered off in search of a little privacy. A smile came to her face as she wondered if she might stumble into Ryouga as he searched for a way to get back to who knew where. Poor Ryouga was so sweet, but so hopeless when it came to directions.

The smile served to lighten her mood as she made her way home. Looking back on it, her overactive imagination was more to blame for her fear than anything else. It was hard to believe that after all she had been through since Ranma had come to live with her, that she could become unnerved by a dirty alley and a mangy cat. It had to be the lack of sleep. All she needed was a little rest, and then everything would be back to normal, or at least as close to normal with what had happened to her.

The smile disappeared. The past was over. It was time to move on, or so she told herself repeatedly. An old phrase concerning those that were too preoccupied with the past failing to live in the present. Well she was not going to be like that. The present and future were all that mattered. With that idea firmly established in her mind, she continued on, shivering as though it were ten degrees colder than it actually was. She needed to get home.

It was nearly an hour later by the time she actually made it to her house. Somehow, she had allowed her thoughts to drift and pulled a Ryouga by taking a wrong street somewhere along the line. The worst part was, no matter how hard she tried, she failed to remember exactly where it was she had taken the wrong turn, not that it really mattered. It only meant that she had to wander around a little longer than she had originally intended before arriving at the dojo.

Akane was too tired to bother announcing herself as she removed her shoes and entered her home. She was thirsty, and was making her way to the kitchen when she overheard two voices coming from it. They were easy to identify: Ranma and Nabiki.

"Aw, c'mon, Nabiki. Give me a break," Ranma said, not quite pleading, but not sounding as confident as he usually did. Nabiki did tend to have that effect on people, though.

"I'll give you a break if you give me five thousand yen. It sounds like a fair trade."

"I don't got five thousand yen."

"Then how about an exchange of services? You wouldn't want Akane to find out what you've been up to, would you?"

Before she could think, Akane found herself storming into the room. "What? What have you been up to, Ranma?"

Ranma cringed back a bit from the unexpected interruption. Nabiki leveled a flat stare at her sister, disappointed at the loss of potential profit.

"It ain't nothin'." Ranma tried to back away, but found his retreat cut off as Akane grabbed him forcefully by the collar and brought her face directly next to his.

"What's going on?"

Ranma found himself taken aback by Akane's intensity, and the fact that it seemed to be something more than just anger that was being directed at him. There was almost a feeling of desperation there too, not that that made any sense either. Rather than try to make another excuse —and not being able to come up with one anyway— he chose to come right out and say what had happened.

"I went out searching with Mousse to see if we could figure out what happened to Shampoo." He knew what was going to come next. Akane would get jealous at him trying to find the Amazon and hit him with something hard.

Much to his surprise, Akane just released her grip on his shirt and backed off. She said, "Oh." He wasn't sure if he was more relieved or concerned as Akane said nothing else and left the kitchen without even looking back at him.

"Odd," Nabiki said as Ranma stood still, looking at where Akane had been just a moment before.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A bright yellow glow bathed the room as Akane flipped on the lightswitch to her bedroom. She looked up at the glowing light bulb for a moment before assuring herself that it was not going to remain on for very long. It had taken far too much time to get back home from her little jaunt. After she had taken her bath, she found she didn't have the energy to do anything more than collapse in her bed and get some sleep. Luckily, there were no tests coming up and what minimal homework she had been given was finished. The only thing that remained was to allow her mind to continue shutting down until she fell into the deep embrace of sleep at last.

As she made her way to her bed, she noticed a small lump under her covers that was towards the foot of her bed, move slightly. There was only one thing in the world that size that would dare to sneak into the bed of Akane Tendou.

Akane made little cooing sounds as she pulled back the covers. "And how's my poow widdle P-Chan doing?"

There was only a moment for Akane to catch sight of the pair of vertical slits that belonged to yellow eyes. A white lump shot out with a hiss from under the covers and lunged at her face. Her hand came up reflexively, just in time to shield her as she felt something furry bounce off her arm. The swiftness of the unexpected attacked had knocked her off-balance, and the impact from the creature knocked her backwards and sent her sprawling to the floor. Just like earlier in the day, Akane's instincts took over. She rolled backward with the fall, a move which ordinarily would have gained her some additional distance, and subsequently time, to deal with the threat towards her. She used the momentum of the roll to get into a crouched position with which to defend herself. However, no further attacks came. Her eyes darted around the room. The only thing Akane managed to see in time was a blur of something that was white, run out the door to her room and somewhere into the hall beyond.

She regained her footing and ran out into the hall. The whatever it was, cat, maybe, was nowhere in sight. Her mind raced with possibilities as she tried to figure out where the cat might have run off to. Downstairs was the obvious choice and would provide the quickest route of escape. She raced downstairs and began looking for the creature that she was pretty sure was a cat. Seeing nothing in the hallway, she burst into the living room where Ranma, Nabiki, and Kasumi were sitting around the table watching the television.

"Have you seen a cat run through here?"

"Cat?" Ranma flipped over the table and made a makeshift barrier out of it. "What cat? Where cat? Is it in the house? Where is it now?"

Nabiki looked in irritation towards Ranma. "Geez, Saotome. Enough's enough. Don't you think you should be over this whole cat thing by now?"

"It's not that easy," Ranma gave a sour look towards Nabiki. He was only just starting to relax a little once it became apparent there was no cat around.

Still somewhat irritated and smelling blood, Nabiki decided to keep at it. "You're supposed to be a big strong martial artist, why haven't you cured yourself of this little cat phobia? Too weak?"

"I ain't weak!" Ranma snapped back as he set the table right side up again. "If I put my mind to it, I could get over it."

"Yeah, right." Nabiki smirked and looked back at the television set.

"I don't think anyone saw a cat, Akane," Kasumi said as she directed the conversation back to the original topic.

"Where did you see this cat anyway?" Nabiki asked.

"It was lying under the covers of my bed. I thought it was P-Chan, but when I pulled them back, it jumped out and attacked me."

"Sounds like something Shampoo would do," Nabiki said.

That perked Ranma up. "Was it Shampoo?"

Akane thought about it for a moment. "I only caught a fleeting glimpse of it. I can't even really be sure it was a cat except it hissed at me, but it was white, not light purple. There was no way it could have been her."

"Oh." Ranma appeared crestfallen.

"It was probably a stray that just wandered in while the door to the porch was open and decided your bed was nice a place to sleep. When you pulled back the covers, you scared the hell out of it as bad as it did you." Nabiki seemed satisfied with the explanation and went back to watching the television.

Akane relaxed slightly. The conversation had delayed her long enough that she had allowed the cat, if that was what it had been, to escape. As she realized that whatever it was was probably long gone, a wave of weariness washed over her. She bid the others good night once again and headed directly upstairs. When she entered her room this time, she made certain there were no cats, or any other animals (including Happosai), hidden anywhere. Once satisfied she was alone, she prepared for bed again.

After several minutes of lying in bed with her eyes closed, she opened them to stare at her darkened ceiling. In spite of her extreme exhaustion which had seemed to take up permanent residence in her bones, the incident with the cat had served to excite her too much to get to sleep. As she continued to lay there and look at the ceiling for close to half an hour, she began to think to herself that it was much more than just lack of sleep that was bothering her. Her mind wanted to rebel at the idea, but reality was making its presence known and forcing its way into her mind like mole burrowing into the ground. True, she needed sleep, but she also needed to forget. The past had to be left behind and only the future considered. She could not let it get to her. She could not. Perhaps with sleep, the new day would leave behind those painful memories and allow her to move forward with her life once again. Yes. Sleep and memories cast adrift. That was all she needed.

And all she still needed when the sun rose again in the morning, the night having crawled along forever, yet never giving way to sleep for Akane Tendou.

She forced herself out of bed once again to get ready for school. It took twice as much effort as it had the day before. Her body ached more strongly with fatigue, but even that was a hollow comparison to the way her mind felt. It was beginning to feel like a haze was settling over it, making it difficult to think. She briefly considered staying home, but if she could not get any sleep during the night what chance was there that she could get some during the day?

With firmed resolve she got up and took a look into her mirror. Seeing her face made her wish she had not taken it. The dark rings under her eyes, that had recently become a seemingly permanent fixture on her features, had grown darker and larger. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and her hair was a messed up tangle that made one thing crows lived in it. At least the last problem could be easily addressed with a quick brushing. Akane made a mental note to ask Kasumi to trim it for her sometime later in the week.

As she feared, her appearance failed to go unnoticed. Ranma, Kasumi, even Nabiki, commented on how she looked. She waved off their concerns as just another rough night of sleep.

Walking to school was almost like walking through a dream, and Akane was left wondering that if she had stayed home that perhaps she could indeed have gotten some sleep. Still, she had already made her decision, and all a full day at school day would do was tire her out some more, which would all but guarantee that she would be getting some sleep as soon as she returned home.

Classes themselves were no better than the walk to school. Haze clouded all of Akane's thoughts, and she found her head nearly slumping to her desk top more than once. It took a conscious effort to remain upright and awake, and she found herself with a great deal more respect for Ranma's occasional complaints about how it was an effort for him to stay awake for some of the more boring classes.

Lunch arrived just in time. She considered going somewhere quiet to relax, but was deathly afraid that she would fall asleep and fail to wake up for the rest of her classes. Instead, she satisfied herself with eating next to Sayuri and Yuka. The two girls were droning on incessantly about something, but in Akane's current state of mind, she settled for simply accepting their talk as background noise.

"So who are you going to ask to the Sadie Hawkin's dance, Akane?"

Akane snapped out of the state of half-awareness she had been in. "What? What dance?"

Yuka gave a tired sigh. "Geez, Akane. It's not like it's the only thing the school's been talking about since the principal announced it the day before yesterday."

"It's about time he brought over a Hawaiian culture thing that we can all enjoy," Sayuri said happily.

"Actually, I don't think it's exclusive to Hawaii," Yuka corrected.

It took Akane a moment to remember when the dance had been announced, and what that meant. It was the one where girls got to ask the boys out, if she remembered correctly. Now that was something she had absolutely no desire to deal with at the moment.

Yuka cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. Even as tired as Akane was, she could see it had something to do with her. "What?"

"I wanted to ask you a question."

For some reason, that made Akane uneasy. Yuka was usually so forthright it could be annoying. Now she was behaving uncharacteristically hesitant. Of late, anything unusual in Akane's life meant something bad. "What is it?"

Yuka played with her fingers and seemed to be concentrating on them, as though she had forgotten that she had asked a question. She had not, though. "I was wondering if you knew Ryouga's phone number. You see, I kind of met him the other day, and he was just so charming and nice that I thought maybe I'd ask him to the dance, assuming he doesn't have a girlfriend or anything."

That took Akane aback for a moment. Yuka's usual behavior pattern did not have her falling for guys that fast, but there was no mistaking her obvious interest in Ryouga. Curiously, Akane felt a slight pang of jealousy over the interest Yuka was displaying. "Well, I think he does kind of have one. Her name's Akari something or other. She's a pig farmer."

"Oh?" Yuka's nervousness became disappointment.

Akane began to reconsider what she had said, or at least they way she had said it. "But I'm not absolutely sure. He might still be available. Besides, for some odd reason, I don't think he likes pigs very much." There were subtle things that Ryouga did when around Akari the few times Akane had seen them together. He always seemed terribly uncomfortable when the subject of pigs came up. "Look, Ryouga travels a lot and is pretty hard to find, so I really doubt if you'll find him in time for the dance. I'll give you his address and you can stop by his house to see if he's there. And if I see him between now and then, I can give him your number and have him call you."

"Thanks." Yuka brightened up at that. She turned to Sayuri. "And who are you asking to the dance?"

Sayuri shifted uncomfortably. After a moment, she spoke up. "Umm, Hikaru."

Akane and Yuka looked at Sayuri strangely. Yuka spoke first. "You mean short, dark-haired, I am a cheerleader and on the girls' volleyball team Hikaru from the room next door to us?"

"No!" Sayuri said, scandalized at the idea. "I mean Hikaru from our class."

Yuka stared at her. "Who?"

"Gosunkugi. Hikaru Gosunkugi," Sayuri clarified.

"Gosunkugi?" Akane said in surprise. He seemed nice enough sometimes, when he wasn't doing all of the wanna be sorcerer stuff, or acting as an errand boy for Kunou.

"I think he's kind of cute, in that skinny, jaundiced kind of way." Sayuri was still obviously uncomfortable with the admission.

"You are a weirdo," Yuka said under her breath. Louder, she said to Akane. "So it's your turn. Spill your guts. You going to ask Ranma out?"

Old habits began to creep in. If she had to go with someone, yes, she probably would have gone with Ranma. But she had not decided to yet, and just saying something like that made her defensive for reasons she could not fathom. "I don't know." Akane took a sip from her drink.

"She who hesitates is lost."

Red fruit drink sprayed up, striking the white ceiling tiles overhead. The can crumpled like paper under her grip. Her heart and pulse tripled in seconds and she shot Yuka an angry glare. Softly, just barely parting her lips, she said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

It was more of an accusation than a question. In all of the years that Yuka had known Akane, never once had she been more afraid of her than at that moment. The glare Akane had was a look of rage Yuka had never seen before, even when worse than when she had first learned of the challenge rule Kunou had laid down concerning dating her. "I just meant Ukyou might ask him out if you don't. I didn't mean I was going to ask him out or anything, really." Yuka was practically whimpering. She wasn't like Ukyou or Shampoo. Akane could have beaten her up without breaking a sweat. And with the look Yuka was receiving, she would not have been surprised if that was exactly what Akane had in mind.

Seeing the look of fear on Yuka's face, and the look of surprise at the whole thing on Sayuri's, Akane took a deep breath to relax. "I'm sorry. I'm just cranky from this lack of sleep thing." Akane hoped they would accept the excuse. It was the best she could come up with so quickly.

Yuka relaxed slightly at both the apology and the quick loss of anger on Akane's features. "I can see how that might have come out wrong. I didn't mean anything by it."

A breath of relief passed from Akane's lips. Success. "I'm not good company right now. I think I'll head up to the roof for some fresh air." She did not wait for a response as she stood up and dumped her trash in the nearest garbage can. Yuka and Sayuri told her goodbye as they remained where they were and continued talking about the upcoming dance.

There was no one was in the halls as Akane made her way up to the roof. As she reached the top, she saw that it was not as bright as she had thought it would be. She looked up to see that the sun was obscured by clouds, although the day was still very bright. A light wind was blowing, keeping things cool as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the air blowing through her hair. The sound of people playing some kind of sport in one of the athletic fields reached the top of the roof, though she could not see where they were from her position on the roof. Akane felt some of her tension flow out of her and began to relax. Yuka's question had upset her far more than it should have. It was a common saying, after all. It had nothing to do with her personally. Really.

Akane began to berate herself for losing control that badly. It was just pure luck that Yuka had misinterpreted the reason for her anger. That hint that the fury had been triggered by nothing more than an implication that someone was going to ask Ranma out would be bought by everyone, even Nabiki, assuming she found out about the incident at all. And Akane was not going to refute that in any way, even if Ranma himself came up and confronted her about it. There was no reason for anyone to guess the truth.

"I am not lost," she said quietly, yet firmly, under her breath.

The wind carried her words away, but they still burned in her mind. Losing her temper over such an innocuous statement was silly, but the words just had to hit too damn close to home for her. And even then Akane understood that it was an overreaction on her part, but somehow, she could not help herself from responding to those words.

"I am not lost," she repeated once more.

Her feet took her to the edge of the roof. Akane Tendou was many things, but fearful of heights was not one of them. Her sense of balance might not have been as good as Ranma's, but she was far from clumsy, regardless of what her fiancé said from time to time.

Without the slightest bit of fear she moved directly next to the edge of the roof to stare at the sights below. She looked down, over the edge and saw that she was standing directly above the school pool. An errant memory came as she recalled that right below her was where Ranma had jumped out of the window after Kunou on the first day he was in school. He had fallen into the pool below and changed into a girl, setting into motion a chain of events that still plagued him to this day concerning Kunou and his 'pig-tailed girl.' How far things had come since that day. It seemed an eternity ago.

There was a slight coolness in the air that made her relax further. The wind picked up washing over her so that she felt both refreshed and relaxed at the same time. The familiar sensation of half-drowsiness come over her again, and she wished that there was somewhere that she could lay down and fall into a gentle sleep.

A look at her watch told her classes would begin shortly. She took one last look at the pool, then half turned to head back to the school. She was distracted as she mentally prepared herself for class, and wasn't paying attention when something from the ground flew up at her face, gouging her eyes. Blindness and pain struck her at the same time as she shouted out in agony and reeled backward. She couldn't see.

Again.

It was just like before. The Bakusaii Tenketsu could protect one against many things, but not from attacks that targeted the eyes. It was a weakness in the technique which she had learned firsthand. And she suffered from it again as she cried out in pain and flailed through the air at her attacker, wherever he or she was.

"Get away from me!" she shouted, and took another swing in front of her should her opponent be trying to attack her from the front. Blind fighting was not a skill she had learned, and even if she had been trained in such techniques, she was panicking so badly that there was little chance she could employ them with any real effectiveness.

And then she heard it. It was the softest of sounds, but it was detectable. There was a snicker from off to her right. Akane reacted instantly, before the attacker had a chance to move, and lunged for where she had heard the chuckle.

And found herself flying through the air as the roof disappeared beneath her feet.

Years of training took over. Her hands flailed outward as her mind processed the information and figured out what had happened. Her body twisted in mid-air towards where she thought the building was and her left hand caught onto something with a stony texture. Her grip held for a moment, then slipped. But as Akane felt herself beginning to fall again, her fingers latched onto something that had the same texture, but was so much smaller that she could barely hold on. She brought her other hand into play and tried holding on right next to the place where her fingers had dug in. There was enough room to the right of it, and she gained a precarious handhold in what was little more than a crack.

She was afraid to search around with her hands for fear of losing her grip and continuing her interrupted fall. Instead, she hung there, feet scrambling for purchase in an effort to help her hang on and perhaps even pull herself up. But her legs could find nothing to help her grip and she continued to hang, suspended in mid-air.

Within moments the blindness she had been suffering from was partially lifted as light begin to filter back through her eyes. They were still tearing, and everything was very hazy and undefined, but she could make out objects now. Before her face was the wall of the school, and it was indeed a horizontal line in the wall which she was clinging to. It was little more than a deep, one inch crack where two sets of large stones had been placed together. It was a testament to her strength and luck that she had managed to find it and hold on as long as she had.

Everything was still terribly blurry, but Akane could see that she was only a couple of feet from the edge of the roof. The problem was that there was nothing to grab onto between her and the edge, and with her perch as precarious as it was, there was no way she could gain enough leverage to pull herself up. If she could gain a foothold though, she might be able to move around and pull herself up, or find a better handhold. Something, anything to help her try to climb back up to the roof. She looked down below…

…and saw the abyss staring back.

She could see it, despite the tears, despite the inability to focus very well on anything, she could still see it. Her high school pool had somehow turned into the exact same abyss that had been in her dream, save that it was placid where the lake had been turbulent. And again it called to her, singing in its silent notes and craving her with its dark and inhuman hunger. And if she fell in, she would never break the surface again, for it would suck her down and take everything from her, for the abyss craved everything and yielded nothing. Nothing.

"HELP!" Akane shouted at the top of her lungs, praying that Ranma would come and pull her up. Strength was abandoning her by the moment, and her hold was becoming more difficult to maintain. Soon she would not have enough power to hang on and then she would fall like a bird with clipped wings ever downward. There was no hope, for even she if she kicked off from the wall and tried landing elsewhere, she knew in her heart it would fail and she would instead plunge into the dark waters and be sucked down with only the darkness as her eternal companion.

She began to cry, the tears flowing from her eyes more powerfully than before and giving the world around her a watery distortion that made everything seem to dance and shake. It was pulling at her and now, unlike in the dream, she could feel some small part of her whispering in harmony with the abyss's song, chanting out that she should let go and fall into the embrace of the darkness. Everything would be all right then. She could get the sleep she so desperately craved. She could even forget about the past. Forget about anything. Besides, didn't they really belong there? Why, Akane could even be reunited with—

"NOOOO!" Akane wailed, and looked away from the pool. She would not give into the whispers within her. She didn't want to sleep or forget. She wanted to live. She wanted to feel. If she had to, she would remember too. If she had too. But she did not want to drown forever.

And then she saw it, or as well as she could through her watery eyes. A figure had poked its head over the side. She could not see who it was, could not even make out if it was a boy or girl, or what their hair color was. All that Akane knew was that it was a human being. A human being that could pull her up and save her from dying, or something far, far worse than simply that.

"Pull me up, please," Akane pleaded to the distorted figure.

The figure bent over the side, extended its arm, and stopped a few inches from Akane's wrist. It froze, not saying anything for a moment as it paused, unmoving, like a statue.

"Why are you waiting? Pull me up!" Akane shouted again.

And the figure spoke, hissing in quiet, intense tones, "Yield, and be saved."

Akane could feel the blood freeze in her veins. She knew that voice. Knew it as well as her own. It was one that she had heard so often that it seemed it would haunt her dreams from now until the day she died. It was the one person whom it could not be, yet it was.

And those words. She knew those words as well, having been played a hundred times before in her mind. Four words which held either salvation or death, depending on the answer. Four words that made up a microcosm of her existence, or at least they did now.

And her fear left her for the briefest of moments as it all fell into the place. It was just like before. EXACTLY like before. The game board was different, but the players and pieces were the same. Everything was exactly the same. Akane had a choice to make. One she had played over and over again in her mind. One which she knew the answer to.

"No! I'll never yield! Do you hear me? I won't yield again! NEVER!"

The hand remained where it was. Akane's vision cleared ever so slightly, but still the figure was too blurry to accurately make out, even the hair color. She would not yield. She had sworn to herself she would not, and she would not. Not this time.

Then one of her hands slipped from its hold, and she found herself poised just moments away from falling into the abyss below. It cried out more loudly this time, shouting out in joy that she would be joining it at last and becoming one with it. And the whispered parts of Akane that had been shouted down before sang again, calling out in an almost perfect harmony with the abyss. All it would take was her remaining hold to give way. They would be together as one. The way it should be.

Forever.

"NOOOO!" And as she screamed out in denial towards the darkness below, her inner whispers quieted again. And with their silence, her resolve gave out as she screamed upward, "I YIELD! PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!"

The figure said nothing as its hand extended slightly further and grabbed Akane by the wrist. Akane felt herself pulled up just as she wanted, like a child as light as a feather, and was slowly raised. She wasn't going to fall. The abyss would not get her. And as she realized this, the silent urgings below fell silent. She had won. The darkness would not have her today. It would never have her. She afforded one glance over her shoulder, to look down through her watery eyes towards the pool below.

And the hold on her wrist disappeared.

For the briefest of moments she was falling again, but her fall stopped abruptly as her hand fell onto the edge of the roof and held on. Whomever had grabbed onto her had pulled her up far enough that she could get a solid grip on the wide edge of the roof. With that kind of hold, it was easy for her to bring her other hand up to hold on as well. Akane was still tired from having to use so much strength to hang on from before, so it took a moment to summon enough of it to pull herself up the rest of the way.

As Akane hung there, she realized that her vision had cleared up tremendously, almost in accordance with the disappearance of the abyss's cravings. She could see now and was easily able to make out the edge of the roof. Now she would be able to see who her savior was for certain, rather using a half made out voice during a fit of terror for correctly identifying the person. She had been lucky to even make out the words at all. But now she would have a chance to learn the truth.

Akane sucked in her breath and let it out as she pulled herself up. She got as far as getting her head over the edge of the roof when she took a good look around to see her savior. But there was no one there. The rooftop was devoid of life. Or at least human life. There was one other occupant present. It was right next to the edge where Akane was in the process of pulling herself up, almost as though it was waiting for her. And as Akane laid eyes on it, terror filled her heart again, for now her vision was completely clear and she could see what was there.

It was a jet black cat with eyes the color of jade.

The two stared at one another for less than a second, Akane frozen with fear and the cat staring at her, eyes unblinking. The stalemate lasted but a moment longer as the cat gave out a high pitched hiss and bared its fangs. In the blink of an eye it lunged at Akane, and she reflexively raised her arms to block the creature.

And then she was falling again, this time with no chance of gaining a handhold as she found her limbs frozen with terror. The abyss wasn't calling for her, and instinctively she knew it had not returned, but she had all of the bouancy of a rock. And even if she did not hit the water and drown, with the way she was falling she'd almost certainly break something when she hit the concrete below, probably her neck, with the way things had gone for her.

A set of windows passed by her, and for the briefest of instants she was reminded of the joke about the man falling to his death from a tall building, and how at every window he was heard saying 'so far, so good.' Mores the pity she could not say the same words, for the pall that had hung over her the last few days was still there. Even in death she was not going to be able to release the burden she held.

And then she found her downward arrest stopped suddenly as she fell into a pair of arms. The sound of someone 'wuffing,' the air escaping from out of his lungs as he made the catch, reached Akane's ears. For a moment, surprise overwhelmed her to the degree at which she did not know how to react.

She heard someone say, "Pull me in, knaves. I am stretched out far and cannot hold her in this position for long. This is a test for even my superior strength."

Shock at last retreated enough as Akane could finally take in the scene before her. Kunou was stretched out as far as he could from a second story window. Several people, mostly boys, were holding onto his legs and hakima with all of their strength, helping to stabilize Kunou and prevent him from falling out the window once he caught onto the heavy falling object that had been Akane a moment ago. Even with the others holding on, it was obvious that it was an effort for them to keep Kunou from falling out since he was extended so far. But now that Akane's initial velocity had been negated, they gained a better grip on him and brought back Kunou with his catch.

Kunou released Akane and allowed her to stand. It was at last starting to kick in. She had been saved by Kunou, of all people.

"Are you all right, Akane Tendou?" Kunou asked with all of his usual bluster.

That familiarity served to help Akane recover even more quickly. In spite of her usual disdain for Kunou, she felt relief at his being so thankfully familiar to her. "I'm fine."

Much to her surprise, she thought she detected a sigh of relief from the usually unflappable Kunou. "We heard your cries from above and saw your precarious perch. I immediately instructed the others in what they had to do to assist me in saving you from grievous harm. They performed admirably, I'll admit." Kunou gave what he considered an accepting smile of gratitude towards the others. Everyone simply thought it was a gratuitous smirk and thought nothing of it.

"Did the cur Saotome do this to you, shoving you over the roof when he learned that you had at last released yourself from the spell he has woven over you and would come to the arms of your true beloved?" Kunou drew his bokken and raised it to the ceiling.

Akane had finally recovered enough of her wits to speak coherently when several voices floated down from outside the window and from above. "Where's Akane? What happened to her?"

Both Akane and Kunou recognized the voice instantly and stuck their heads out the window. They looked up and saw the speaker, whose head was in the middle of several others who were also peeking over the side, obviously searching the grounds below for Akane.

"I'm all right, Ranma," Akane shouted out.

"I knew it!" Kunou spat. "You did hurl Akane to her desired death! You shall pay for that, Saotome!"

"He didn't push anyone, you idiot! He was with me and the others the entire time!" Ukyou said from her position next to Ranma.

Uncharacteristically, Ranma ignored Kunou's accusations and focused on Akane instead. "Are you okay?"

That was the question indeed. Even Akane was unsure of the answer. Since the immediate danger was over, and that was Ranma would be the most concerned about, that was the way she would respond. "I'm fine. And I'm coming up. Stay there. And make sure you don't let that cat get away." She was in such a hurry to get back up to the roof, she failed to see the confused look cross everyone on the roof's features.

Akane rushed up the stairs, Kunou close behind and swearing he would never let 'the foul Saotome' threaten her again. She realized the whole event must have shaken her far worse than anything that had happened to her before; Kunou's inane babble was still failing to make her angry.

The moment she was through the door to the roof, she saw a look of relief cross Ranma's features. He ran up to her, appearing as though he wanted to embrace, but stopped just short. Instead, he settled for a concerned look. "What the hell happened? We heard you shouting and rushed up here. When we got up here, we heard you screaming and figured you fell."

Akane felt her heart flutter ever so slightly at the open show of concern, and in front of everyone no less. But that feeling was quickly put aside in favor of more urgent issues. "That doesn't matter now. Where's that cat?"

The people that had been on the roof looked at each other in confusion once again. Ranma answered for them. "What cat?"

"There was a black cat on the roof. When I was pulling myself up, it was waiting for me when I got to the top it tried to scratch my face. That's when I lost my hold and fell." She saw the blank looks exchanged among the group again. "Oh, come on. You had to have been right behind me if you heard me screaming as I fell. You had to have seen it."

Now Ranma's look of relieved concern changed to that of worried concern. "Akane. There wasn't any cat up here. Believe me, I would know. I'd have never made it over to where you fell if there had been one."

"Was it Shampoo?" Ukyou asked.

Akane gave Ukyou a flat stare. "If it had been Shampoo, I would have said it was. No. It was some cat I never saw before."

"Maybe you only thought you saw a cat," someone suggested.

"Yeah. It could have been one of those 'life flashing before your eyes' things that happened when you were falling," someone else said.

"I know what I saw!" Akane snapped. However, from the looks she received from everyone (but Kunou), she saw no one believed her. It seemed impossible that the cat could have disappeared, but how could seven sets of eyes have missed it? There had to be some reasonable explanation for it, there always was, but none came to mind.

Her thoughts were still on that when, with all of her current threats now gone, she found that the strength she had gained from the whole ordeal had begun to leave her. Worse, now everyone was acting like she was crazy. She found it hard to accept those stares. She was not crazy. She wasn't!

"You think maybe it was the same cat that you thought bothered you the other night?" Ranma asked.

Akane wasn't sure what was worse, the obvious effort Ranma was trying to make on her behalf, or the fact that in spite of how hard he was trying, he was still having problems believing her. Of all of the people that were giving her warded glances, Ranma's was by far the worst of all. Worse than all of the others combined.

"Maybe you're right," Akane said, trying to sound convincing to the others, even if she didn't believe a word of what she was saying. "Maybe it was just something that flashed before my eyes when I was falling. I guess there wasn't a cat after all."

Akane saw that Ranma seemed relieved, perhaps because the talk had at last shifted away from cats. He said, "You know, you shouldn't have panicked. It's only three stories up. If you kept calm, you could have landed right and kept from hurting yourself in the fall."

"Especially since you've learned the Bakusaii Tenketsu," Ukyou provided. "I bet if you're one tenth as durable as Ryouga, you could have landed on your head and still not have been hurt."

Ranma looked at Ukyou, then at Akane in surprise. "You learned the Bakusaii Tenketsu? When?"

"I learned it while you were on your training journey with your father," Akane said quickly.

Ranma still appeared surprised. "How come? It's not like I've ever seen you training all that hard since I've come to town."

"I just felt like it. It wasn't for any particular reason." Things were going along just as she had feared they would when Ranma learned she knew that move. There was no way she could answer any of his questions about this. Her mind was still a mess from the combination of what had just happened to her and lack of sleep. It was a dangerous time, and she needed to get away from Ranma and everyone else as quickly as she could. "It's been a hard day. I'm going to go home early. Ranma, could you tell the attendance office I'm sick and have to go?"

Ranma appeared concerned. "Why don't I take the day off too? I'll walk you home."

"No!" Akane said with far too much force for her liking. She needed to reassert some control over herself, and quickly. "I mean, there's no reason for you to walk me home. Your grades aren't all that good and I'd feel bad if you had to sacrifice another day from school for my sake."

"Well, if you're sure you don't want me along—"

"I'm sure," Akane said without the faintest hint of doubt in her voice.

Ranma appeared unconvinced, and a little hurt that he was being rejected so vehemently. "Okay." He walked with her down the stairs and to the front doors of the school. He offered to walk her home one more time, but Akane refused even more quickly than before. Obviously hurt by the perceived rebuke, he turned to go to the attendance office and do as Akane had asked of him.

The school rapidly disappeared behind her as she hurried away, her thoughts in turmoil. It was obvious Ranma had been hurt by her seeming disregard for him, but it was for the best. She had to figure out how to solve her problems on her own. There was no one she could turn to. No one.

The knowledge that she was alone, despite the number of friends and family around her, weighed heavily. Akane found she had little desire to go home, especially with what had happened at school. What had happened? How could it have happened? It just wasn't possible. There were so many unanswered questions. Who or what had raked her eyes? Who had helped her up only to let her go? How had they known to say those exact words? Where had that person gone and where had the black cat come from? Where had it gone that the others could not have seen it? Another Jusenkyou cursed victim with the same curse as Shampoo had? If so then who? And what was their agenda? Nothing made sense any more.

Akane wandered around, going nowhere in particular as she tried to think things through. She had little luck in coming up with any but the most bizarre of possibilities, all of which she quickly rejected. The best idea seemed to be the person with Jusenkyou curse, and even that sounded terribly weak to her. Time passed as her mind began going in circles the same way Ryouga would when trying to get somewhere. She was still uncertain of what she was going to do, when she found herself in front of a familiar building. It was one she had not visited in what seemed like an eternity.

Dr. Tofu's clinic. It was almost like a ray of sunshine cutting through the dark cloud she had been traveling under. Now there was a possibility. It had been so long since the last time she had visited him that she couldn't even remember exactly when it was. Months at the least, to be sure. And now here she was, feeling at her lowest, and she had somehow subconsciously found her way to him. Around him she had always felt safe and protected, and that was what she needed the most right now. As she approached the clinic, she found herself hoping he didn't have any patients and had some time for her.

Upon entering she was delighted to see that no one was currently there. The way her luck had been going, Akane had half-expected Kasumi to already have visited and the doctor to be dancing around with Betty-chan again.

"Doctor Tofu? Are you here?" she called out, but received no answer. That was odd. The door had been unlocked. It was still during his business hours, so he should have been there. She did a quick examination of the room, looking for a note that maybe he was out to lunch or some other errand, but there was nothing.

Her head jerked up as she heard a noise come from the back. It sounded rather loud, and caught her attention immediately. "Dr Tofu?" she called out once more, but received nothing in response.

Her body tensed up as she made her way through the door separating the waiting area to the back. She passed by the examination table and headed out to the back, to Dr. Tofu's living area behind his office. She was about to enter his quarters when she caught sight of the door to the alley next to the office. It was open.

It was quite possible that the sounds she had heard had come from out there. Hesitantly, she went through the doorway, hands almost trembling as she peeked out the door and looked into the alley. From the doorway, she could see nothing. There was a dumpster to the left, and to the right, the street. It was out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something small dart around the corner of the street.

Akane felt her throat tighten. After what had happened the last time she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye near an alley, she had no desire to repeat the experience. Still, she wanted to know what had happened to Dr. Tofu. She exited the doorway and turned to go up the street when a hand fell heavily upon her shoulder.

"KIYA!" There was no thought in her mind as she reflexively lashed out with a backfist towards the person that had grabbed her shoulder. Her fist was effortlessly caught right before the point where it would have made contact with the person behind her.

"Now, now. You shouldn't blindly strike out at someone like that. You might hurt them."

Akane found herself looking into the smiling face of Dr. Tofu.

"Oh thank god." Her shoulders slumped as the tension left her body.

Tofu seemed to notice the change and released his grip on her fist. "What's wrong?"

Akane wasn't sure how to respond. Anyone else, and she would have closed up like she had every other time a person had asked her that question. But Dr. Tofu was different. He was the one person growing up that Akane felt she could trust with anything. Except for mentioning the crush she had on him. Seeing him for the first time in months made a part of her want to pour out all of her recent troubles and tribulations upon him, but she knew it was a foolish thought. Even someone as understanding as him… well, there were limits to what even someone as caring as Dr. Tofu would accept.

But still, she needed to talk to him. And to him, she could open up in ways she never could with Ranma, at least now that she was over her crush with him. Just being in his presence made her feel better than she had in days, and there were other things they could talk about. The gods only knew how badly she needed to feel relief from the pressures upon her.

Akane finally spoke "Can we talk? It's been a long time since we've seen one another, and I want to catch up on all the lost time." And keep the feeling of relief that now permeated her body. If only she could capture the feeling, then she would have nothing to worry about and everything would be all right.

"Certainly," he said. "I don't have any more patients today. Let's go inside and I can throw on a pot of tea, then we can talk."

xxxxxxxxx

"Ha ha ha! That is pretty funny." Told by anyone else, and the joke would have felt weak, but coming from Dr. Tofu, it seemed the height of comedy. It was the first time in what felt like forever that she had laughed, and it felt good. The laughter expunged all of the bad thoughts and allowed only the good to remain. Dr. Tofu had always been able to make her laugh. It seemed he always knew the right word or saying that would make Akane feel good about herself. Most of it probably came from his charming nature combined with learning a nice bedside manner, but still Akane found herself reveling in the attention he was paying towards her.

The hours flowed like quicksilver as they caught up on old times, and there was a lot of catching up to do. From Herb to Mount Phoenix to the failed wedding, Akane told him most of the important things that had happened to her and Ranma. In return, Tofu informed her of what he had been doing with himself. From an increase in his business to the return of a long lost brother to a tour of the American Medical system, he had been very busy, which was one of the reasons he never seemed to be around anymore. Much to Akane's surprise, he only asked about Kasumi once, and it was without even a glimmer of the fogging of the glasses that usually accompanied it. Oddly, Akane felt a bit of pride in the idea that he might be over his crush on Kasumi. Shame followed on the heels of that. She did wish that both Dr. Tofu and her sister discovered happiness, and she knew it was nothing more than petty jealousy that it not be with one another.

"Ah, Akane. It's been nice talking with you again. You've matured a lot since the last time I've seen you."

Akane felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "You do?"

"Yes," Tofu assured her. "You've grown into a fine young woman. Ranma's a lucky man to be engaged to you."

Akane blushed even more. "Whenever we get married," she stopped abruptly and quickly added. "I mean if we ever get married, would you come to the wedding?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

That brought an even broader smile to Akane's lips. She wasn't tired anymore. She wanted what she was feeling to never end. But as with all good things…

"Well, it's getting late." Tofu got up from the chair he had been sitting at and took his and Akane's empty cups to the sink.

"It's not that late," Akane insisted.

Tofu laughed. "We've been talking for almost seven hours."

"What?" Akane looked over at the clock. He was correct. She had called home right after they had begun to talk, letting the others know where she was. Still, they would probably be concerned that she had not shown up at home yet. She'd have to head straight there once she left. A somber mood settled over Akane. The good time was ending and now she would have to return to 'the real world.' Once more she wished her time with Tofu would never end, all the while knowing she had to get ready to leave.

Her sour mood doubled. There was one other thing she had to ask. "Umm. I hate to do this to you, but since you are a doctor, you might be able to help me."

Tofu's demeanor turned more serious as he entered his 'doctor's mode. "What is it?"

Akane paused a moment before trying to figure out how to properly phrase the question. "I've been having problems sleeping lately. I wanted to know if there was something you could prescribe for me that would help me sleep."

"That explains why you look so worn out." Tofu considered that. "It depends. Do you have any idea of why you've been having problems sleeping?"

"Not really. It's just the last few nights I've been having problems. I'm sure with a couple good nights of sleep I'll start sleeping regularly again and there won't be any problems."

Tofu's hand went to his chin in thought. "Are you just having difficulty getting to sleep, or is it that you keep waking up?"

"Both," she admitted.

"Nightmares?"

Akane suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Reluctantly she said, "Yes."

Tofu remained in the same position, making small 'hmm' noises as he considered what she had said. Eventually he spoke. "If you're willing, I'd like to try something a bit unusual." He went back to his bedroom, leaving Akane where she was, wondering what he was talking about. After a few moments, he emerged with an odd wooden hoop. It was no more than a eight inches across, with string tied around the edges of the circle, crisscrossing it through the middle and forming what looked like a web with a hole in the middle. Several brightly colored feathers were tied to the circle as well.

He handed the item to her. "I picked this up when I was in America. Doing a tour of New Mexico, to be precise. It's called a dream catcher. Something the Native Americans in that area use that's been in their culture for generations. It's said that the hole in the center allows good dreams to pass through, while the bad dreams get trapped in the web until they disappear with the morning sun."

Akane looked at it incredulously. She had seen some strange things in her life, but it still seemed like an odd thing to use. "How do you know it works?"

"It made my nightmares go away."

"Oh." If it worked for Dr. Tofu, Akane was willing to give it a try. She accepted the offered item and examined it more closely. Touching it produced nothing. There was no magical tingling to it. The wood felt normal, and the leather had no odd texture to it. Even the feathers were unremarkable. The whole thing seemed quite normal, and in truth, a little disappointing given some of the magical artifacts Akane had come into contact with in the last year.

Dr. Tofu saw the doubt written on her face. "If that doesn't work, come back in a couple days and I'll prescribe something for you.."

"Thanks." Akane was more subdued now. Her time with the doctor was over and it was time to get back to the real world once again. She resisted the sudden impulse to embrace Tofu. It would not so much have been an act of affection as much as one borne of desperation. Instead, she turned away from him and headed for the back door. As she opened it, she turned and gave Tofu a sad look. She almost turned away again, but forced herself to remain where she was. Tofu said nothing, waiting for her to speak first.

Eventually, she looked to the ground and said in a quiet voice, "Do you think I'm a bad person?"

Tofu continued giving her the same, caring look. "I think you're one of the best people I've ever know. But even good people can do bad things. Is there something you want to tell me?"

For the briefest of moments, Akane's mouth opened. Just as quickly, she shut it once more. Slowly, she said. "No. Maybe some other time." She left in a hurry then, shouting out, "Thanks for the dream catcher. I'm sure it will help," as she fled into the darkness.

The night air was warmer than she had thought it would be as Akane walked back to her home. She held the dream catcher close to her chest, thinking about the conversation she had had with Tofu. Already the joy she had felt from it had departed, and her tread became heavy as she walked through the streets. Once she got to her neighborhood, she saw several children playing in the street, unmindful of her presence. She paused to look at them for a moment, wondering if she had ever been like that. Probably, although she couldn't remember exactly when she had. Another thought passed as she wondered if she would ever have children of her own that would play out there as well. Much to her surprise, she couldn't picture it for some odd reason.

With a sigh Akane entered the house. As she crossed the doorway, she was overcome by a wave of weariness that seemed to hammer her all at once. Whatever added strength she had received from talking with Dr. Tofu faded all at once, and she was left feeling exhausted once again. It was definitely time to use the dream catcher. She squeezed it and was left with a feeling of reassurance by its wooden texture.

"I'm home," she called out. From somewhere inside, she heard her father respond with a welcome home. Aside from that, no one else answered her. That left her feeling a bit down. She had hoped Ranma would have been around to cheer her up, or at least show some concern over her welfare. She had left school early, after all.

Akane entered the living room and saw Nabiki reading something on the table. Her back was to Akane, so she could not make out what her sister was reading. Akane just shrugged, and was about to go upstairs when Nabiki said,

"Under certain conditions, an Amazon warrior that has not gone through the actual marriage ceremony with her prospective mate, can be challenged to the right to that mate by another warrior, or in some cases, one worthy of warrior status."

Akane felt a hand grab hold of her heart. Barely audible, she managed to choke out, "What?"

Nabiki remained with her back to Akane, but held the book she had been reading up high over her head, making certain Akane could see the title of it. The letters were written in Chinese, saying 'Laws of the Joketsuzoku.'

"Where did you get that?"

Nabiki turned, giving her younger sister a cocky grin. "Oh come on Akane. Its me you're talking about. I can get my hands on just about anything."

There was more force in Akane's voice as she said, "Where?" again.

Pulling herself to her feet, Nabiki approached Akane. She continued to give that grin. "I wanted to borrow some clothes from you. Imagine my surprise when I entered the room and saw this little baby sitting out on your desk."

"It was in my desk drawer," Akane said. "Locked."

"Maybe it was before, but when I was in there, it was sitting on the desk." Nabiki held the book up for Akane to see, this time holding it with two hands level with her chest. "I couldn't help but notice that this particular passage was dog eared. Recently too. When I read it over, I figured it all out."

"You did?"

Nabiki failed to notice Akane's hand ball into a fist. Instead her smirk grew. "Yep. Ranma or Daddy might not have been able to figure it out, but I did. It's obvious. I can't believe you thought you could slip this one past me. I'm so disappointed in you."

The fist began trembling.

Nabiki thumped the book against Akane's chest and continued on, very satisfied with herself. "You learned that Bakusaii Tenketsu because you're thinking of challenging Shampoo for Ranma's hand."

The fist unformed itself and Akane gaped at Nabiki in shock.

"Don't look so surprised," Nabiki's voice had grown dry. "Like I said, it's obvious to anyone with half a brain. And let me give you a piece of advice. Free of charge, because I really don't want to see you that miserable." She reconsidered that. "Also because I don't want to have to deal with the fallout around here as well. I graduate next year, and I really don't want to have to deal with Daddy having a nervous breakdown in the meantime." Nabiki thumped the book against Akane's chest. "Relying on an Amazon technique to defeat an Amazon, is a really, really bad idea. Who better to know the counters to them? And the Bakusaii Tenketsu? Come on. Even when Ryouga learned it, he still couldn't beat Ranma. Trust me on this Akane. Unless Shampoo comes back with only one arm or something, forget this stupid plan. Otherwise I see Ranma getting a whole lot of 'Wo ai ni's', in his near future. Heh." Nabiki gave one last tap on Akane's chest with the book.

"Are you finished?" Akane asked in a quiet voice.

Nabiki was a bit taken aback by the lack of a response from Akane. "Uh, yes."

"Good." Akane grabbed Nabiki by the collar, lifted her up as though she were a rag doll, and slammed her hard into the nearest wall.

A gasp of air shot out of Nabiki as she was drilled a second time into the wall. The look in Akane's face was complete rage as she continued to hold Nabiki off the ground by several inches. "Let me g—"

"Shut up!" Akane slammed Nabiki against the wall again. Once satisfied her sister was not going to say anything else, she brought her face close to Nabiki's. She made certain she was close enough for Nabiki to feel every exhalation Akane made across her cheeks. "If I ever, ever, catch you going into my room for any reason, any reason, I will hurt you! If I ever catch you going through my things ever again, I will really hurt you! And if you breathe a word of this to Ranma, or anyone else, you'll find out just how effective the Bakusaii Tenketsu really is! Do I make myself clear?"

"You're cra—" Nabiki found herself slammed into the wall again.

"Do… I… make… myself… clear?" Akane said again through gritted teeth.

"Yes!" Nabiki gasped out, frightened out of her mind. Akane had been serious. Every single word had been serious, and it had terrified her.

Anything further Akane had to say never came out as Kasumi came into the room and witnessed the scene before her. "What's going on?"

"It's my fault. I went through Akane's things and saw some personal stuff and was really rude about it. I was completely at fault and Akane had every right to be angry with me," Nabiki blurted it out, hoping it would calm Akane down.

Both Kasumi's presence and the fear in Nabiki's voice shook Akane out of the red haze her thoughts had been in. She released Nabiki and asked in a quiet voice if she was all right. Nabiki bolstered her courage and tried to sound normal as she assured Akane that she did and there was nothing to worry about anymore. All was forgiven. Again it came out in rush.

Kasumi looked on the scene with what passed for incredulity with her. She spoke to Nabiki first, "You're too old to be going through people's things. You should know better."

"I do now," Nabiki agreed.

Kasumi turned to Akane. "No matter what Nabiki might have done, you had no right to threaten her like that. We're a family. There are times when we get on each other's nerves, but we have to accept that. There's never any excuse for violence. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Akane said. She turned a sorrowful gaze towards Nabiki. "I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Seeing the sincerity in Akane's eyes, Nabiki slowly nodded. "Sure. And I am sorry. Really."

Again, whatever Akane was going to say was interrupted as a loud bellow roared throughout the house from somewhere near the entryway. Akane recognized the scream, and was the first out of the room and running to the entryway. When she got there, she saw exactly who she had thought she it would be.

"Ranma, what happened?" He looked like he had been through a fight with a pack of wild dogs. His clothing was torn in multiple places and there were sets of shallow scratches across his face. But the look in his eyes was the worst. He looked frightened.

Akane watched him react to the words. Fear became mixed with shame. "Cats!"

Akane felt her pulse quicken. "What about cats?"

For a moment, it appeared he was going to run. Then he seemed to bolster his courage, smashing his fist into the wall next to the doorway, shattering plaster under the impact. "After school me an Mousse went looking for Shampoo again. We figured maybe Shampoo got hurt and was stuck as a cat somewhere, so we started lookin' for her where cats would hang out."

"I can see where this is going," Nabiki said in a tired sigh.

"SHUT UP!" Ranma turned in fury towards her, and for the second time tonight she found herself in the path of an enraged martial artist. "Do you think I like being scared? Don't you think I'm disgusted with myself because I can't even hang around a god damn kitten without my guts twisting up and making me want to run? Even I god damn five year old had more guts than me when it comes to cats! I tried looking for her, I really did. But there were too many god damn cats. I just couldn't take it any more and had to run. And when Mousse saw me high tail it, he didn't even say nothing. He just looked at me in contempt! Him! I HATE BEING AFRAID!"

Ranma stomped past everyone and went deeper into the house. Akane wanted to console him, but she didn't know what to do. She had seen Ranma angry before, but never with the mix of self-loathing that had accompanied him as he shot past her and into the house. She found herself hoping that it would pass before too long. Ranma was never one to hold a grudge, but he was never one to back down from what he perceived as a challenge either. When he decided there was some goal he had to overcome, he'd go to just about any lengths to achieve it. And a desperate Ranma Saotome was a force even Akane feared to get in the path of.

When she went to check on him a little later, she saw that he was meditating in silence in the dojo. Her gentle questions were met with curt replies, not all that different from the way she had treated him at the end of school, and just as he had done for her, she backed off and gave him the distance he desired.

She took a quick bath and went directly to bed. She made certain to hang the dream catcher over her bed, oddly comforted by its presence despite her skepticism about it. At this point, she had little to lose. And at the very least, it put so much at ease that sleep overtook her the moment her head hit the pillow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She was on a train. The soft vibrations of the rails coming through the floor and felt in the bottom of her soles. The sun was going down outside, bathing the interior of the train in a fiery orange glow. She was in the middle of the aisle, standing alone. Everyone else was seated and reading papers or looking away from her, out the windows or further up and down the car. She could make out no one's features; all of their faces were turned completely away from her. It was almost as though they were afraid to look upon her.

It came to her then. She knew this train. She knew this place. She knew who else would be there with her. Unwilling, she began to turn around to look behind her. Akane closed her eyes, knowing what would be there without opening them. The other would be standing there in a pink and blue outfit, leaning against one of the poles in the middle of the aisle, just as Akane was doing. Part of Akane wanted to keep her eyes shut, pretending none of it was real and that she wouldn't have to go through this. But like so many things, what she did not want to do she felt compelled to do anyway, and so she opened her eyes.

Shampoo gave her a cocky smirk in return. "It about time Akane open her eyes and see what coming."

What Akane wanted to say was, [I know what's coming already.] However, words came unbidden to her mouth. "You're going to get what's coming to you, believe me."

A snort of derision met that remark. "Stupid Akane. It not too late to back out now. Give up, and Shampoo forget you ever say anything. Maybe not even make fun of stupid girl for shooting mouth off."

[Yes, yes. We can call it off.] "I'm not quitting anything. We'll see who the better woman is." Akane knew what would happen The Amazon wouldn't back off and then she would say,

"Shampoo already know who better woman is. Now it just a matter of truth being beaten into Akane's head."

And know she would say, "Someone's head is going to be beaten in, all right. And you just might be surprised by who its going to be." And the next thing Shampoo would say would be,

"Did Akane check with Ranma first to make sure it okay? Shampoo not want Ranma to be angry with her later."

Now other words would not come to Akane's mind. It made little difference since it was obvious she wouldn't be able to say them anyway. "Ranma doesn't run my life. I do. This is my decision to make and he doesn't have anything to do with it." And now Shampoo would say,

"And how far does Akane take her responsibility?"

That wasn't right. That wasn't what she was supposed to have said. It took Akane a moment to think of something to say in response to the unexpected change in the speech. And this time the words that came out were the ones that were in her head. "I always take responsibility for my actions."

And Shampoo laughed, not in the voice that Akane was familiar with, but in one that sounded distorted. "No one takes responsibility around here. Not Ranma. Not Mousse, Not you."

"I do!"

"You will."

The words frightened Akane. Now that she looked closer at Shampoo, it appeared that the Amazon's hair and clothing were damp, as though she had just come out of the shower, or… no. That couldn't be. It had not happened yet, so she couldn't be wet. There had to be some other reason she was wet. "What do you mean?"

A finger tapped her on the back of the shoulder. "Tickets, please."

Akane turned to see it was a conductor, head pointed downward as he used a hole punch on a ticket he held in his hand. "I don't have a ticket."

"Do you know where you are?"

Akane backed away from the man, who kept his face pointed downward.

"Do you know where you're going?"

"No," Akane got out.

"We know." The conductor looked up and stared at Akane through yellow eyes with vertical slits for pupils. Akane gave a sob and continued backing away, then realized that everyone on the train had stopped what they were doing and were looking at her. All of them had the exact same eyes the conductor.

"We all know."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"NOOOOO!" Akane Tendou sat bolt upright from her bed, arms flailing through the air as she tried to ward off the images of those people on the train. It took several moments for her to panic to subside long enough for her to realize that she was in her own bed at home, rather than the nightmare train that had been taking her to whatever hell the passengers had in mind.

Her clock read 1:00 AM. "No more sleep tonight", Akane said to herself, and she knew it was true. The nightmare had left her more drained than the lack of sleep did. No rest in the real world. No rest in the dream world. What was she going to do?

The dream catcher. It came to her at once. Wasn't it supposed to have protected her from the nightmare? Admittedly, it was not magical, but still she had hoped it would have acted as a sort of placebo on her unconscious mind and protect her from her dreams. She turned around to look at it.

The strings that had formed the web in the center, the ones that were supposed to have snared the nightmares, were all broken, torn and pulled apart.

Or perhaps severed by something sharper.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Akane cringed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She might not have looked all the different from the day before, at least on the outside, but on the inside she was a wreck. She was so tired she felt like crying. It had been another terrible night, with only the few hours before the nightmare to get any rest. The horrible experience might have left her too frightened to sleep afterwards, but there was a way around it for tonight. She would stop by Dr. Tofu's and get something that would knock her out so strongly that she wouldn't wake up for days. There had to be at least a dozen different kinds of sedatives that would do that to her. All she needed to do was ask.

The knowledge that she would be getting sleep tonight, no matter what, served to bolster Akane's resolve to get through the day without completely losing it. It would not be easy, but she was a true martial artist, and could go without sleep for extended periods of time. True, she was at the absolute limit of that, and the bizarre experiences from the previous days and nights only served to wear her down, but it would all be over soon. Very soon.

She made her way to breakfast, humming a tune to herself and trying to keep a good outlook for the day. The worst was behind her, she kept telling herself. Today would be different. School would go smoothly. She would avoid falling statues and going up to the roof. She would even listen to Sayuri and Yuka's talk about boys at lunch. It was going to be a good day.

Akane was the last to the breakfast table once again. This time no one remarked on her tired appearance. Small surprise since it appeared neither Ranma nor Nabiki had gotten any sleep either. Ranma appeared so tried that he failed to notice his father picking his plate clean. The breakfast table was quiet as Akane began to relax and eat. She was looking over Ranma, tempted to ask him how his night had gone, but thought better of it. No use in having him ask the same.

As Akane finished, she looked at the time and got up to got to school. Nabiki followed Akane's lead, but Ranma remained where he was at the table, lost in thought.

"We'd better get going," Akane said.

"I'm not going to school today," Ranma said under his breath.

That surprised Akane. "Why?"

"I'm going to take my first step in beating my cat phobia. I'll go to school tomorrow."

"Maybe I should help," Akane offered.

"Nah," Ranma's voice carried more strength than it had before. "You already missed half of yesterday. I don't wanna feel bad if you were to miss school on account of me. I'll be fine and see you afterwards."

Had she more energy, Akane would have argued with him and insisted on helping. Instead, she quietly accepted his refusal. Besides, hanging around cats was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. She was beginning to develop an aversion to felines herself. She bid Ranma good-bye and headed for school.

Ten hours later, Akane found herself walking back home again, happy, or at least not unhappy. And of late, that made all of the difference in the world. School had passed without incident, save for another turn of standing out in the hall with buckets when she nearly fell asleep in class once more. Aside from that it went well. And afterwards, she got to spend a few minutes with Dr. Tofu talking with him, and most importantly, getting the sedatives she needed to allow her to get some sleep. The only thing that had bothered her was lying about what had happened to the dream catcher. She had simply told him that it had not worked, and edited out anything concerning its destruction. She had probably done the damage when she had been flailing her arms anyway. It would have been embarrassing to admit to that, and she felt foolish enough as it was.

Everything seemed brighter now. Even the past was dimming slightly, although part of that was due to her exhausted state of mind which just made thinking in general such a burden. Yes, she thought to herself as she entered and announced she was home, things were looking up.

Until she entered the living room and saw the small, purplish-colored kitten sitting in the middle of the dining room table.

Upon seeing the kitten Akane felt her temper explode. How dare one of the stinking creatures invade her home again. And sitting for all of the world as though it belonged there. She was going to take care of it by grabbing it and kicking it over the wall, if she didn't decide to break its neck first.

Akane stalked forward. "Get ready to say good bye you little piece of shit."

As she walked foreword and reached for the kitten, who was remaining calm to the point of just watching Akane approach it with idle eyes, a voice from the far side of the room called out, "Don't hurt her. She's mine."

Akane looked in shock at who had said that. "Ranma, what are you talking about? How can it be your cat?"

Ranma peeked out from the chair he was hiding behind. "W… well, you see. I figured the best way to get over my cat phobia would be to actually own a cat. And that way if it was mine, I might not be so afraid of them. So I had Pop buy me one, and I've been getting used to little Kikiu all day long. I figure I should have this cat thing beat by the end of the week."

Kikiu gave off a meow, causing Ranma to dart behind the chair again. "Maybe by the end of the month."

Akane felt her fists clench and unclench. Why now? Why did he have to go on this "I have to get over this cat phobia" kick now? Couldn't he have waited until after things had settle down in Akane's life? "I don't think this is such a good idea. Maybe you should try to get over your fears later."

"No!" Ranma looked over the edge of the chair again, far less uncertain of the action than he had been a moment before. "I'm tired of being scared."

"Then why don't you figure out something else than owning a cat? Start smaller, like listening to them on tapes or hang out at the pound or something."

"What's your problem?" Ranma asked.

"I don't want any cats living at the house," Akane growled in response. Oh how badly she wanted to throw the little creature out the window. Especially with the way it was just staring at her.

Ranma looked at her in confusion. "Excuse me, but the last time I checked I was the one

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[End note] Sadly, all I had written. I really ought to finish it at some point, but writer's block has had me stymied for quite a while. Nothing to do but soldier on, I guess. Maybe someday.