I do not own Ranma or any of the characters, places, intellectual properties etc therein, they are in the sole ownership of one Rumiko Takahashi.


Before Ranma's instincts could even tell him something was wrong Akane had smacked him across the face with enough force to send him flying a short distance through the air to crash through a currently closed stall and come to an unconscious but still painful stop in the ground. Instead of Akane's personal hammer she had instead opted to use a nearby mallet used in a bell-ring strength test.

Unfortunately for Xian-Pu, Ranma's impromptu flight across the Carnival left her in the position of being dumped onto the floor, straight onto her ankle.

"AIYAH!" She cried out from the pain, nursing the injury with her hands, but refusing to show any tears in front of Akane, who she only held fury for right now. It was hard to talk through the pain but through gritted teeth she managed to get out a scathing remark.

"Why hurt Ranma and Xian-Pu?!" Akane for her part was highly surprised by Xian-Pu's exaggerated performance, and at first she had thought the Chinese girl was faking.

"What are you talking about? I didn't even touch you, only the pervert over there!"

"Aiyah stupid girl really that stupid? Ranma carry Xian-Pu because she have sprained ankle! Anyway why stupid Akane care, you always say you hate Airen so why violent girl jealous?" Akane was taken back by the news and the question.

"Hey I'm not jealous you dumb bimbo! I'm his fiancée so I have that right."

"Violent girl no Ranma's fiancée!" Immediately Xian-Pu covered up her mouth with her hands, realising she said too much. Akane barely seemed to notice so Xian-Pu, more hesitantly, continued. "So why violent girl hurt Ranma?!" She had no good answer for that one, especially for the girl in front of her, so instead she huffed decisively and began to storm off, but not before Xian-Pu was finished.

"Xian-Pu knew violent girl was just sadist." Xian-Pu couldn't see from her position on the ground but when Akane stopped mid-step her eye was twitching furiously from rage. She turned very slowly, staring daggers at the injured Amazon.

"I've had enough of you Xian-Pu, always interfering, scheming and tricking Ranma into situations where nobody benefits. Hell this whole 'date' was probably induced by some kind of magic herb or enchanted item, but right now I don't really care. I just want you to go away!" She screamed the very last word, causing a lot of the carnival patrons to stare at the arguing pair before hurrying far away from the brewing atmosphere. Xian-Pu just continued to stare back, defiant as ever.

"So violent girl challenge Xian-Pu?" Akane was at such a point of blind rage she barely thought before the words came out like an instinctual reaction.

"Yes, one week, the Park, unlike you I'm gracious enough to let you recover from whatever injury you're probably faking." With those last indignant words Akane turned once more and stormed off, parting the crowd that had gathered around with one ice-shattering glance. Xian-Pu had lost interest in the retreating girl; she would get hers soon enough, right now her primary concern was her still-unconscious Airen, whom she could see laying ten or so meters away.

Painfully and slowly she crawled over to his limp body, very much annoyed at how her dress was being smeared with dirt as she did so. Eventually she managed to get into a position where she could shake the sleeping boy, when that didn't work she applied one of the pressure points her Great-grandmother had taught her.

She may have pressed too hard however as Ranma shot straight from the ground to his feet, stunned shock written all over his face. Realising he had been on the ground he moved quickly into a defensive fighting stance, scanning the still rather large crowd that had gathered, scaring quite a few people off. When he realised there was no immediate danger he looked around his more immediate surroundings, where he noticed Xian-Pu, limp on the floor as he had been, having finally succumbed to the immense pain of her fall.

He gently picked her up, uncaring as of now why only a few moments ago he had been in the same state that she was currently in. He let slip a tiny smile as Xian-Pu snuggled unconsciously into the warmth his chest provided before settling in a position. He decided that there was nothing more the two could do tonight and slowly walked back in the direction of the cafe, this time not even bothering to take the rooftops.

The crowd parted once more to allow the two teenagers through, some even offering assistance after seeing the strange girl attack the now conscious boy and threaten the injured girl. However Ranma refused every offer and continued walking, away from the noise and lights and people until it was just the two of them, walking alone in the darkened streets of Nerima.


When they arrived back, both looking like they had taken a swim in a mud bath, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung made an impressive display of fawning over Xian-Pu's unconscious form before Ku-Lon dismissed both of them to make sure Xian-Pu's injury had not gotten worse. When asked what had happened Ranma had nothing to tell her, only that he had been knocked out and had woken to find Xian-Pu like this. They both agreed not to wake the sleeping girl just now and let her body and mind recuperate they would find out from her what happened in the morning.

Ranma carried Xian-Pu upstairs for the second time that night and into her room where he stripped out of his muddy clothes into some clean undershorts. He also took of Xian-Pu's dress, something she might have been more excited about when consciousness, he was just thankful she was wearing underwear tonight. He placed her gently on the bed and crawled in next to her, knowing that Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.


She woke up refreshed and renewed, as if she had been asleep for days. It was made even more wonderful by the blissful face of her Airen lying a few centimetres from her own. She always seemed to find him like this, facing her. His moody seemed to naturally orient itself to the warmth her own body radiated during the night. Whilst she could have certainly done without the morning breath she certainly wasn't complaining.

As per usual in the morning she reluctantly swung herself around on the bed until her feet were dangling over the side. However before she could jump to her feet and move on to the next part of her morning routine, Ranma quickly wrapped around her waist. She was startled and joyful for the display of affection but confused at its abruptness until Ranma wearily explained.

"Don't put pressure on your foot remember." And she did, the previous days event's flooded back to her with the gentle throbbing in her foot she now noticed. She nodded to acknowledge she understood him but when he didn't release his grip from around her waist a blush began to form in her cheeks. It of course disappeared when she looked around seductively only to find Ranma fast asleep again, snoring.

She hopped onto her good foot before throwing a pillow at the sleeping boy who, even deep asleep as he was, managed to instinctually catch it out of the air and hug it to his body as he muttered something unintelligible. Aggravated that her near-perfect morning had been practically spoiled a plan started to blossom in her mind.

She hopped across the landing towards the bathroom even as Ku-Lon bounced by on her staff in the opposite direction, the irony lost on both of them.

"Ah Xian-Pu, when you're finished getting ready would you mind telling me the specifics of what happened yesterday, Ranma wasn't very helpful on a few points." Xian-Pu knew which 'points' she was talking about, the conversation with Akane flashed through her mind causing her to scowl. Ku-Lon let her go about her business and she almost walked by before she remembered her plan and told her Great Grandmother what she wanted her to do.

Once in the bathroom she turned the tap on the furo to get the water running and did the same with the shower. Once she was properly clean she turned off the shower and finished waiting for the bath to fill up before graciously sliding into the warm, welcoming waters. She relaxed a little before initiating her plan.

"AIYAH!" The cry wasn't missed throughout the whole house and Ranma was up in an instant, his ears already locking onto the location of the sound as the bathroom. He charged through the unlocked door immediately searching for the one who cried out. What he saw however was a very mischievous looking Xian-Pu up to her shoulders in steamy water.

"Wow, Ranma come in three seconds, Xian-Pu impressed." Finally catching on what she had done he inwardly groaned before turning against Xian-Pu who was giggling softly. However when he tried the door, which he was sure he had left open, he found it locked. Xian-Pu mentally thanked her Great-Grandmother for her part.

"Oh no, is Ranma stuck in bathroom? Maybe he help wash Xian-Pu's back while he here?" Ranma had raised his fist, ready to punch through the lock of the door when he caught sight of himself in the mirror out of the corner of his eye. He had to admit he looked downright exhausted, there were bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess, only barely held in a pigtail. He looked briefly at the warm, inviting waters of the bath, then at Xian-Pu who, to give her credit, was in fact struggling to wash herself whilst avoiding hurting her foot.

Xian-Pu, for her part, was puzzled by Ranma's pause. When she had concocted the plan it was merely light revenge for him making her look a fool. So when he turned around and actually approached the furo her jaw nearly dropped. Where was the shy, nosebleed-prone boy who could barely look at a naked woman without blushing?

He didn't even try the waters before sliding in, a look of pure ecstasy on his face as the cleansing waters worked there magic and seeped the exhaustion from his very pores. He didn't remove his undershorts much to Xian-Pu's dismay but when he motioned for her to hand him the washcloth, even as she was attempting to clean her back, she squealed in delight. This earned her an odd look but Ranma accepted the washcloth anyway.

Wordlessly he went to work cleaning Xian-Pu's back, making sure not to stray to low or too far around with his hands or eyes and before long the both of them were completely clean and just lounging back against the side of the tub. Xian-Pu closed her eyes and rested her head on Ranma's shoulder who, in his strangely tired yet alert condition, accepted the movement. He enjoyed the tickling sensation as some of her lustrous violet hair splayed across the side of his body, the wet strands clinging to his equally wet skin. She looked at him, occasionally using her finger to play through his damp hair and pigtail.

"Why Ranma no let hair out in bath?" Ranma just winced.

"It's a long story for another time."

"Xian-Pu have time."

She was proved wrong as the two were brought out of their relaxed, unmoving stupor as two very irate Amazons loudly banged on the door for Xian-Pu to hurry up, unaware of her guest. Ranma, feeling caught in some unspeakable act bounced to his feet, spraying Xian-Pu with some water before drying off with a towel at speeds that nearly left carpet burns across his body.

He dived out of the open bathroom window before performing a near-impossible mid-air twist to latch onto the roof and using his momentum to throw himself through Xian-Pu's window. If the action hadn't been so damn impressive Xian-Pu might have been angry at his sudden departure from the nice moment they were sharing. She took in a few more lingering moments in the bath before very carefully standing up; she couldn't afford to fall now as she couldn't be sure Ranma would come this time.

It was to two very irked-looking girls that Xian-Pu opened the bathroom door to but upon seeing the merry grin plastered on her features their irritation turned to intrigue. However before they could inquire she walked, or rather limped past them. She reached her room but was disappointed to find Ranma remarkably absent despite having reached the room only a minute after he had.

She threw on a light robe and hopped down the staircase to find Ranma quietly eating at the table, slurping down the food as if it were the last on earth. She happily joined him and also started wolfing down her food, unaware of just how hungry she was until just then. Ku-Lon also joined them where she politely asked Xian-Pu to begin recounting last night's events. When she was finished Ranma was staring at her with incredulity.

"Seriously? Akane challenged you?" mentioning her name he rubbed the sore patch on his face where he had been taken by the carnival mallet. "I didn't think she'd be that dumb." Xian-Pu briefly took pride in the esteem Ranma held her abilities in, even if was only against Akane. She had to take what her fiancée gave her due to his socially awkward nature. "Well I guess I've heard stranger things, but can I ask you to go a bit easy on her, for me?"

At first appalled by Ranma's request she found herself melting as he looked at her, his gaze enough to quell any anger she might have felt.

"Xian-Pu sorry Ranma, too too much pride to not fight fully in challenge." He just sighed and shrugged.

"I figured as much, bit worth me trying anyway. I'm gonna head out and train now, even if you're off your foot for a few days, wanna come help me train? Give me pointers and stuff?" She was touched and nodded vigorously. "Great, see you out there in a minute." As she watched him leave the tale and start to stretch off his arms as he walked she once again admired his commitment to the one of the things he loved more than anything in the world.


Akane had had a very different night. Once she had left the carnival her feelings settled down and she immediately regretted hitting Ranma like that. She knew that if Xian-Pu's ankle really was sprained then Ranma was just being his usual self and helping an otherwise helpless girl, even if he was doing it at a carnival on what looked suspiciously like a date. But who cared if the pervert was on a date? She didn't care.

However she couldn't lie to herself like that for long and her emotions turned full circle as they landed on guilt once more. She wasn't entirely sure herself why she always hit Ranma, at the times it seemed to make so much sense, he did something wrong, she punished him. What more reason did she need? But in retrospect she found herself comparing what Ranma might find as innocent of just something he wasn't useful with her own interpretations of right and wrong. However hard she tried she couldn't get them to match up.

As if depression was magnetised to find other sources she managed to bump right into the only other person in Nerima, possibly Tokyo, who felt even worse than she did.

"Ryoga?"

"A-A-Akane? What are you doing in the mountain?" She looked at him with a furrowed brow before motioning with her eyes for him to look around. The famously directionless boy did so and immediately groaned in frustration, the nearly visible aura of darkened depression growing even darker.

"What were you planning on doing in the mountains?"

"Training." She sighed at that, having already expected the answer.

"I suppose it was to finally defeat Ranma?"

"Of course, I will never stop until Ranma is on the ground, looking up at me, defeated." She was about to berate him for having a stupid, pointless goal and tell him to just work things out with Ranma but a different idea popped into her mind.

"Ryoga, would you train me?" His eyes shot open in surprise.

"B-but Akane, why would you want me to train you?"

"I challenged Xian-Pu, I know I'm outmatched and you're the only one around here who can go toe to toe with Ranma every other day." He blushed furiously at her compliment and furrowed his brow at the same time as he contemplated her insinuation.

"You make it sound like it's all I do." She tried to hurry on past the subject before he grew annoyed and left.

"But will you do it Ryoga? Train me I mean." She put on an innocent cute face that immediately sent Ryoga into a furious blush and had him rubbing the back of his head vigorously.

"W-Well Akane, you kn-now I can't say no to you."

"That's great!" She hugged him quickly, but let go before he could pass out from blood loss in the ensuing nosebleed. "You can come stay at the dojo while we train, that way we can get more done!" She had the ulterior motive that it would prevent him from wandering off but she failed to mention that to the eternally lost boy.


Author's Note: Apologies for the vast fluff in this chapter, I was just in a fuzzy mood today Remember to Review and have a great day