Chapter 28
When Ranma woke up, he was in a room which looked almost like the Tendo dojo. "I wonder where I am" he said, as he stood up and looked around. Before he could explore anymore however, the door slid open and Kiagi emerged along with Akane who was carrying a large wooden box.
"Oh good you're awake." Kiagi said as he sat down in the centre of the room. "Sit down please." As Ranma sat down his eyes fixated on the box in his fiancée's arms and stared at it deeply.
"Ranma you're in my dojo." Kiagi said as he invited Akane to sit beside him. "And we're going to try a little training exercise. I trust that you are familiar with the Soul of Ice technique. That is what you used in order to perform the heavens blast of the Dragon against me, isn't it?"
Ranma nodded as remembered learning the soul of ice technique and how it helped to calm him in battle. "Yeah, I know how to use that." he said "Why do you ask?"
"You're going to need to use it." Kiagi said "For what I'm about to do, I need you to be as calm as possible."
"What's the box for?" Ranma asked, staring at the box in Akane's arms.
"All will be revealed momentarily." Kiagi said, trying to keep as cloak and dagger as possible. "For now, you need to concentrate on your Soul of Ice."
Concentrating his energy, Ranma focused himself to be as calm as possible until all trace if battle heat was gone from his body. "Ok," he said calmly, as a pale blue aura enveloped him "I'm ready."
"Excellent." Kiagi said as he took the box from Akane and put it on his lap. "Now no matter what happens, I want you to maintain this same level on serenity that you're in, understand?"
As Ranma nodded, Kiagi slowly took the lid off of the box and put it to one side. Inside was a very small black kitten. The same kitten which inadvertently frightened him earlier.
Upon seeing the kitten, Ranma froze. His heart began racing and he turned almost white with fear. "Stay calm Ranma." Kiagi said as he picked up the kitten and started stroking it. "Remember to maintain your soul of ice. Don't let it drop."
Following Kiagi's advice, Ranma tried to remain focused and intensified his aura. The small black kitten looked at the blue glow around Ranma curiously, before it decided to jump out of Kiagi's hand and walk closer to it.
Ranma's breathing became heavier when he saw the kitten come closer to him. But he maintained the soul of ice, refusing to allow his fear to take over him.
The kitten came closer to Ranma to the point where it was almost touching his lap. It stretched out its tiny paw and touched his leg, before jumping onto Ranma's lap and lying down comfortably purring.
It's touching me! Ranma thought to himself as he panicked and watched the kitten sleep on his lap. I can't keep this up any longer. Just then, Ranma felt a very relaxing warmth envelope him as Akane wrapped her arms around him. "It's ok Ranma." she whispered into his ear "It can't hurt you. It doesn't even want to try and hurt you."
Then she said something which almost sent Ranma into frenzy. "Stroke it." she said softly as she moved his hand towards the kitten and placed it down next to it. "Just stroke it gently."
"Are you insane?" Ranma said, shaking "I can't touch it. I can't!" Akane leaned into Ranma's face and kissed his cheek.
"Yes you can." she said "You're Ranma Saotome. Heir to the anything goes school of martial arts and one day you will be my husband. You can do anything!"
Ranma moved his hand slowly towards the top of the kitten's head and place a finger. Then another finger, then another until slowly but surely, his hand was resting softly in a stroking position. "I did it." he said, smiling to himself "I did it!"
Ranma's smile faded as he dropped his head and passed out with fear. "Ranma!" Akane said, shaking him and trying to wake him up.
"Leave him, Akane." Kiagi said, just as a soft purring sound came from the unconscious Ranma. "He's fine; he'll just need to rest for now."
"What's happened to him?" Akane asked, laying Ranma down on his side.
"Well assuming everything went to plan, he should have both conquered his ailurophobia and mastered the cat-fist." Kiagi said "And if it didn't, it's still some degree of progress, because now he isn't afraid of kittens."
When Ranma woke up, he found himself in bed back at the Tendo dojo. "How'd I get here?" he asked himself, just as the door opened and Akane stepped in with a bowl of water and a towel in her hands.
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she walked over the window and opened the blinds. Ranma immediately covered his eyes and hissed as the light blinded him.
"Close the blinds, I can't see!" he said, ducking back under the covers. Akane quickly closed the blinds and ran over to Ranma.
"Are you ok?" she asked, moving the covers away from his face. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Ranma said, as he opened his eyes and spotted a look of shock on Akane's face. "What's wrong?"
"Your eyes," Akane said grabbing a mirror and giving it to him. "They've changed." Ranma looked into the mirror and was shocked by what he had seen.
His eyes had changed. They were the same colour as always, but now they had slits running down them, almost as if they were the eyes of a cat!
"What the hell?" Ranma said, looking at his new eyes. "I need to be able to see them better. Akane, open the blinds again."
Akane hesitated for a moment "I thought it was too bright for you." she said concerned.
"I'll be fine, I just need to get used to It." he said, bracing himself. Akane stood up and walked over to the window.
"You ready?" she asked holding the string. Ranma nodded, before Akane pulled down the string and opened the blinds.
The light was blinding as it shone through the window and illuminated Ranma's bedroom. At first it was too bright for him, but eventually the pain subsided and his brand new eyes adjusted to the daylight.
Looking into the mirror again, Ranma took a good long look at his eyes again. "This is unbelievable." he said as he continued staring.
"Do you think it has something to do with the cat-fist technique?" Akane asked. "Have you finally mastered it?"
"I guess there's only one way to find out." Ranma answered as he got out of bed, got dressed and headed out of the door.
A few minutes later, Ranma and Akane were stood in the garden. "So how do you want to test this then?" Akane asked as she sat down on the porch.
Ranma looked around for a moment before spotting one of the trees in the garden. "Like this." he said as he launched his attack, swiping his hand across the width of the tree in a scratching motion. Nothing happened at first, leaving Ranma very disappointed.
"Well that was pointless." he said, turning away before he noticed a creaking sound. He turned back to see the tree falling in large sections onto the ground. Also, in the wall directly behind where the tree was, Ranma spotted four long scratch marks embedded within the concrete.
Both Ranma and Akane were in shock. "Oh my!" Akane said before Ranma jumped into the air with joy.
"I did it!" he screamed ecstatically "I've mastered the cat-fist."
"I'm so happy for you, Ranma." Akane said as she hugged her soon-to-be husband.
But when Ranma hugged back, a loud crashing sound came from behind them as the concrete wall fell away and crumbled into dust. "Heheh..." Ranma laughed, looking at the destruction he caused and rubbing the back of his head "I guess I over did it a little."
