Valley of the Wind Productions presents...
Power
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Intrasonic

> brackets denote Chinese speech

Part 2

"Akane!"
Akane smiled as she saw her two friends waving to her. Altering her course to intercept them, she was acutely aware of Ranma quietly drifting away towards his own friends. She was still wearing the jewel of power, although it was well concealed under her clothing.
"Saotome, prepare to die!"
Out of the corner of her gaze, she watched Ranma flatten Kunou with one punch. Normally her fiancee would have played with the kendoist for a few minutes before knocking him out, but Ranma was clearly still in a bad mood from the day before.
"The usual," Yuki commented idly.
Akane nodded, raising her voice. "Yes, Ranma sure is a good fighter! I wonder if _anybody_ could ever beat him?"
"Aw, be quiet, ya tomboy!" he growled, indicating that he'd heard it full well.
"Whoa," Sayuri gasped. "Y-you... complimented him!"
"That sounded like a loaded compliment to me," Yuki pointed out. "What gives, Akane?"
"I beat him last night in sparring," she replied casually. "He had to be carried upstairs by his father afterwards!"
They both stared. "You _beat_ him?"
She shrugged. "Well, I finally decided to get serious about it all, so yes, I beat him."
Sayuri giggled. "I guess that's why he's so sore at you."
"He's like that, isn't he?"

"So if we compare the square root to the cube root at point i, we can conclude that the second function shows the potential to exceed the first as long as x does not exceed the fifth root of 48. Now if we use an integral approach, the difficulties immediately become apparent..."
Ranma let the teacher drone with a practiced ease, all the while scribbling furiously on his paper. Various lines and words were chalked down at lightning pace...
"Saotome?"
"It's impossible!!!" he declared.
"Exactly!" the teacher agreed enthusiastically. "The law of odd powers prohibits this comparison from being valid. I'm glad you were paying attention for once-"
"There's no way she won fair and square!" Ranma continued on heedlessly.
The teacher's exuberant face was replaced by a worn look. "I knew it was too good to be true..."
"Just admit it, Ranma!" Akane taunted from across the room. "You lost that sparring mach fair and square! I _pummeled_ you!"
Ranma's pen snapped in his fingers as he glared at her. "That's what you think! Nobody, but _nobody_ beats Ranma Saotome!"
"Well _someone_ did," Akane returned calmly.
The teacher coughed politely. "Saotome. Tendou. In the hall. Now."

"This is your fault."
"My fault? Who started blabbing in the middle of class?"
"Well, you're the whole who started talkin' across the whole classroom!" Ranma shot back.
"You brought it on yourself," Akane replied, surprisingly calm.
"Hmph. Don't think this is the end of things! You may have won the war, but Ranma Saotome will win the battle!"
"You mixed up 'war' and 'battle'."
"Tomboy."
"Stick and stones."
"Sexless macho-chick who can't cook."
"But can kick your butt."
They glared in opposite directions for several long minutes.
It was Ranma who finally broke the silence. "How'd you do that?"
"Do what?" Akane inquired innocently.
"Y'know..."
"No, I don't. You'll have to tell me what I did."
"How'd you win?"
Akane smiled. "Nice to hear you admit it!"
"I ain't admittin' to nothing!"
"Okay. Be that way. I won't tell you."
Ranma grimaced. "Now don't be gettin' like that, 'kane..."
"Well, why should I telling you anything? All you ever do is insult me."
"Oh yeah? Stupid tom-"
Akane smirked as she saw him cut himself off. "_Yes_?"
Ranma screwed his face up. "Akane, how did you... do that?"
"Do what?"
"How'd you win?!?!"
Akane laughed. This was so much fun... "Well, if you really must know, I've been taking it easy on you all this time. I was so sick of being the best fighter around that I thought I'd appeal to that ego of your's and let you pretend to be best for awhile."
"Whatever!"
"Then don't believe me. You're always eating at your fiancee's restaurants, you're never around to see me practising. By the way, you made an agreement to eat my cooking for a week!!!"
Ranma groaned.

"This is unacceptable!"
"Shaddup, old man!!!"
Genma looked at his son sternly. "Your fiancee is killing you in the dojo _and_ in the kitchen!"
Ranma looked up from where he was puking his supper into the toilet. "Well, why don't _you_ try an' stop her!"
"She's your fiancee. You have to learn how to deal with her."
"Oh Ranma?" Akane called out sweetly. "Were you going to miss out on sparring?"
Ranma retched one last time before getting to his feet. "Hah!!! You'll regret that comment, tomboy!!!"
"That's the spirit, m'boy!" Genma cheered. "Do the Saotome name proud!!!"

"You're a disgrace to the Saotome name!"
"Shaddup, old man!!!"
"We're having beef teriyaki tomorrow night, Ranma," Akane informed him cheerfully.
Ranma groaned, being unable to summon the energy to come up with an insult.
"This mustn't happen a third time," Genma decided. "Tomorrow you must give it everything you've got! The honour of the Saotome clan is at stake!"
"Shaddup, old man!!! You ain't got none in the first place!"

One room over, Akane laughed quietly to herself. Ranma really was funny, she had to admit. She wondered how much longer he would persist. He'd held out even longer this time than last night. Her next goal would be to make him stop calling her names, she decided, settling down under her bedcovers.
So where was she headed with this business? She was certain that even Ranma would calm down after a while and accept that she was a martial artist too. Maybe he'd even respect her? That would be nice, she had to admit.
She would wait and see.

"Time to go to school, Ranma," Akane called out.
"Ranma isn't going today," Genma replied.
"Saotome?" Soun asked in surprise.
Genma nodded. "I've signed him out of class today. He's going to train all day. Clearly his skills are lacking. I must thank you Akane, for pointing this out to me."
"Oh, anytime," Akane agreed cheerfully. "Have a nice day, Ranma!"
"Shaddup!!!" grunted Ranma.
"Put your back into it, boy!" Genma yelled. "When I was your age, I could do twice that all day!"
Ranma was presently upside down, balancing on the fingers of his left hand. His feet were flat, carefully balancing a plank of wood with a pile of bricks about six feet high. He was presently trying to do an equivalent of a one-handed pushup.
Akane smiled as she watched Ranma strain to lift the burden. His entire body was literally dripping with sweat. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt possibly added to the effect. Maybe she should get a few pictures and sell them to her friends at school...
"Have a nice day, Akane," Kasumi called out.
"Thanks."
"Just... you... wait," Ranma muttered. "Nobody beats... Ranma Saotome! Nobody!"
"I would have thought so too," Nabiki agreed, a curious look on her face. "Little sister sure seems to have improved. Do you think she's really been holding back all this time?"
A faint smile crossed Ranma face. "Heh... just wait... till tonight!"
"You do that," Nabiki agreed, exiting the house as well.
Genma watched them leave until he was satisfied that they weren't coming back. Alright boy, you know what to do. For the reputation of the Saotome clan!"
Ranma leapt upwards, flipping and catching the board, along with the bricks. Setting them down, he nodded, leaving the house.

It was just another typical day for the waitress of the Nekohanten.
"Thank-you for coming to Nekohanten," Shampoo said ritualistically, smiling as the pair of customers left a generous tip in their wake.
She turned away, sighing. If this job wasn't letting her stay near to Ranma, she'd have quit it long ago, no matter what her Great-grandmother said. But the way things stood...
The door slid open quietly, almost too quietly.
"Welcome to Nekohanten," Shampoo said, pasting a smile on her face instantly.
"Hey, Shampoo," Ranma greeted, looking a little worn.
"Aiya, what Ranma do here? He not in school?"
"Uh, I skipped school today. Training and all that stuff."
"Is good," Shampoo approved. Not that her future husband was lacking of course! "What Shampoo do for Ranma?"
Ranma was looking a little a surprised, but nodded. "Actually, can I talk to the Old Ghoul?"
"Shampoo go get. Ranma okay? He look like something ca-dog drag in."
Ranma thanked the deliberate change in animal names. "Uh... long story. That's why I'm in training."
Shampoo nodded. "You need help, you ask Shampoo?"
"Uh, sure no problem. But I got it under control!"
"Is good. Shampoo get Great-grandmother for Ranma."
Ranma watched her walk away, looking a little confused. Something was wrong... _very_ wrong here...
"Son-in-Law," Cologne greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here at this time of day."
Ranma took a deep breath. "Shut up you stupid wrinkled-up piece of rotten mackeral jerky-"
**WHAM**
Ranma groaned from where his head had been driven through the floor. Nice to know that not everything had changed... "Ugh... thanks, I needed that."
"Did you come for anything else?" Cologne inquired casually.
Ranma extracted himself from the floor, brushing chips of concrete off his face. "Uh, actually yeah. I wanted to talk with you for a few minutes."
"Well, it's a slow time of day, so I suppose I can spare a few moments for you. Come with me."
Shampoo watched them go with a rather strange look. There was nothing unusual about Ranma brushing off an impact like that. But he looked rather embarrassed about something...

"So what's on your mind, Son-in-Law?" Cologne inquired.
"Is this the same world I came from?" Ranma asked. "Shampoo's not glomping on to me the moment she sees me, and Akane..."
"Yes?"
"Akane's... really strong," Ranma said sheepishly.
"I find that hard to believe," Cologne opinioned. "Tendou-girl is a far cry from being considered 'strong', Son-in-Law. Not by someone of your calibre."
"Um... she beat me. Twice."
Cologne's eyes opened wide. "Seriously?"
"Uh... yeah. I dunno how, but I can't even touch her now. I thought it was super soba noodles again, but I gave her the antidote before supper last night and it didn't do nothing!"
"I see," Cologne agreed. "Why don't you give me the details of this?"

Several minutes later, Ranma had explained everything.
Cologne nodded sagely. "I see. This is quite unexpected. I imagine you must be a little confused. I must admit, I am also. So you are no doubt hoping I can teach you something that will let you defeat her."
"Well... if you wouldn't mind..."
"From what you tell me, no mere technique will do the job. Akane is simply far stronger and faster than you are. You are simply going to have to become better as a whole."
"You sure?"
"Quite. I can give some suggestions as to some training exercises, but I suspect your father will have plenty of ideas already."
Ranma nodded. "Well, I guess a few of 'em worked in the past. Maybe you oughta tell Shampoo to stay clear of Akane..."
"I will advise her as such," Cologne agreed. "And if I come across anything, I will advise you immediately."
As soon as the door had shut behind Ranma, a smile crept across Cologne's face. "Most amusing."
"What so funny, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo wanted to know.
"You did well, Shampoo. Son-in-Law noticed that you weren't grabbing at him today."
"Ranma notice?" Shampoo looked surprised.
"Oh yes. And it seems that things are going just as I planned. Now comes the difficult part. Are you sure you're up for this?"
Shampoo swallowed. "If it get Ranma, Shampoo do anything."
"Understand," Cologne emphasized. "This will not 'get' you anything. It will merely give you the chance. Son-in-Law swallowed his pride enough to come asking me for help on a certain matter. You will have to do similar, I warn you."
The younger amazon swallowed. She wished her Great-grandmother was a little more forthcoming on this 'plan' of hers. As it stood, there were a lot of details she wasn't privy to... "Shampoo do it."
"Good. Now about your upcoming fight with Akane Tendou..."
A fight with Akane? "Shampoo beat Violent-girl easy!"
"Of course," Cologne agreed, her expression neutral. "We'll wait a few days to make sure. Just make sure you pick a fight the proper way."

"She didn't have any ideas, but she'll get back to me once she does."
Genma sighed. "We'll have to make do without her for now. You gave Akane the super-soba antidote?"
"It didn't do nothin'. She didn't try that again, for sure."
"Then we'll simply have to train harder. Tendou obviously trained his girl better than I thought. But no one can beat a Saotome in the long run! Let's get training!"
"You can't get lucky forever, Akane!" Ranma muttered.

Akane arrived home in a cheerful mood. It had been a good day. Aside from easily flattening Kunou with one punch, she'd gotten an A on her history test, hit a winning home run for her baseball team and gotten to listen to her friends tease her about Ranma as they always did.
Normally the last thing was a sore point for her, but she didn't mind it today. Ranma wasn't an over-powered jerk anymore. He was just a second-place contender who couldn't even offer up a good fight to her anymore. And who had to eat her cooking!
Yes, life was good.
"Hi 'kane."
She absent mindedly noted the lack of venom in Ranma's tone of voice. Maybe a day home from school had made him see reason... "Hello, Ranma. How was your day?"
"Busy," he said, wiping his forehead with a towel. "Pop's a rough trainer."
Yes, he was definitely being nicer, Akane decided. About time, really. "Well, you're coming to school tomorrow, right? Miss Hinako wanted to know where you were."
"Ah, I'll go tomorrow maybe. Did you get the homework for today?"
"Of course."
"Oh yeah. I guess you weren't busy training. Well, can you show me what it was later on?"
Akane was almost knocked off her feet. He'd actually _asked_ to spend time with her on homework!!! Amazing enough that he wanted to put some effort into homework. But he actually wanted some _help_ with it! Clearly, his defeat had hammered a little sense into him. "Well, I guess so. Me and Yuki were going to see a movie later on, but I suppose I can spare the time..."
"That'd be swell," Ranma agreed with a smile, heading upstairs to clean up.
Akane watched him go with a faint smile. Admittedly, he _did_ have a certainly charm when he wasn't being insulting. It wasn't entirely difficult to understand why so many of her friends were envious of her. Of course Ranma had always been polite to them. But now that he was finally being polite to her...
Well, there was no sense in getting too hasty, Akane decided quickly, sitting down in an armchair. If Ranma really wasn't in earnest, he'd have to do a little better than that. It wasn't as though she was desperate or anything!
"I'm home everybody," Nabiki announced. Her immediately heading upstairs made it rather obvious that she wasn't actually expecting a reply to the statement.
"Hi Nabiki," Akane greeted anyway.
Nabiki smiled. "You look happy, little sister. What's up?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
"If you say so. Planning on sparring with Ranma tonight?"
"Of course."
Nabiki just smiled and continued upstairs. To say that Akane was a changed person would be an understatement. Whatever was behind her sudden improvement in martial arts had gone beyond just her fighting. If Nabiki didn't know better, she'd have sworn Akane had been replaced by someone else.

There was a pair of soft-soled shoes at the entrance to the bathroom, but Nabiki pushed the door open anyway, noiselessly positioning herself on the back side of the dividing panel.
"Been training hard, Saotome?" she inquired.
A brief choke indicated that Ranma hadn't noticed her presence before. "Nabiki? What are-"
For a brief moment, Nabiki considered going to the _other_ side to talk, but decided that she wouldn't get a straight word from him that way.
"Oh come now, Ranma. You must be mistaking me for one of your fiancees." Not that she would have minded getting a good look herself...
"You sure don't take losing well," she continued.
Ranma seemed to have gotten over his initial shock. "A martial artist must rise to each and every challenge!" he declared devoutly.
"Then you've got a lot of rising to do. I don't believe you've even managed to touch my little sister yet, never mind beat her."
"We'll see," was all he said.
"We will," she agreed. "Amazing how my little sister has managed to hide her true talent all this time, isn't it?"
Ranma made a rude noise. "Yeah, whatever."
In other words, he didn't believe Akane's explanation any more than she did. Perhaps he wasn't a _complete_ dolt. "Why, you sound like you don't believe her!"
"We'll see," he repeated.
"Why not? What's to doubt?" Nabiki had a considerable list of reasons why, but she wasn't a martial artist. Had Ranma noticed anything else?
"She's clumsy."
"She beat you up."
"She's just real strong and fast. She's still clumsy."
Nabiki filled that away for future reference. She didn't quite understand what he meant, but he had a hunch that it would make perfect sense to a seasoned martial artist. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"Keep training."
Nabiki laughed quietly as she left the bathroom. This whole business had the makings of something interesting. Amusing, anyway. She would be certain to keep an eye on it from all angles.
Ranma heard her leave, but didn't say anything. Nabiki was something of an enigma. He knew she wasn't entirely heartless like some people thought. But her priorities were few and extremely focussed. He simply didn't feel like having to dodge her if she tried to interfere with him. He certainly did enough of that as it was.
He was almost positive that Akane was lying about her newfound talent. The day she ever developed that kind of talent would be the day he started chasing after Kodachi. Certainly Akane was powerful. But she seemed to have absolutely no skill or precision behind her power. Last night, she hadn't been able to anticipate a single one of his attacks. Only her sheer speed and strength had enabled her to defend herself. She'd gotten her hand on some source of power and it was a massive one. So strong that she could beat him effortlessly even with his massive skill advantage. So where had it come from?
He meant to find out. Tonight he would test his theory...

Fifteen minutes later, Ranma was whistling cheerfully as he entered the kitchen. There was a dismal lack of Kasumi's presence, he noted mournfully. Instead, there was an overwhelming amount of Akane's presence.
He sucked in his breath and prepared to initiate his plan. "Yo 'kane. What's up?"
She turned to greet him, her hands still methodically adding ingredients. "Hi Ranma. Just making supper."
He nodded. "What are you makin'?"
"Egg rolls and rice balls."
Ranma noted a distinct lack of _anything_ solid in the mixing bowl. "T-that's cool," he agreed. "Uh... can I help you with anything?"
Akane's mind briefly warred with how to take that question. Was he implying... or was he just trying to be helpful? How to reply, how to reply...
"Well, I need the vegetables chopped."
"Sure, just leave it to me," he volunteered quickly, grabbing a knife and beginning to slice the vegetables. That was one less thing for Akane to mess up doing. This way he wouldn't have to munch on any wood chips.
Yes, Akane decided. Ranma was just being nice to her for a change. That was all. About time, really.

Even as she noted Ranma engaging Akane in conversation, Nabiki was heading upstairs quietly. Ranma was acting... different. Polite for starters. Tactful, diplomatic, and agreeable were other notable things. Ranma generally wasn't any of them. And he was doing a halfway decent job of it too.
Pushing open the door to Ranma and his father's room, she scanned the room in one efficient sweep. It was her three-favorite things about martial artists, really. The best thing was that the young males tended to be absolutely gorgeous to look at. The second best was that they tended to have predictable mindsets. The third-best was that they lived simply, therefore any changes were easy to pick up on...
Nabiki's trained eye spotted it almost immediately. Completely innocent anywhere else, it stuck out like a sore thumb in _this_ room. A book. A _thick_ book. With no pictures inside, she added rather uncharitably.
The title told her everything she needed to know. "'Reverse Psychology and Deception for Dummies'," she read with a smirk. Not a bad book, really. One had to wonder if there was anything that the American series didn't cover. She'd read it about a year ago herself. She replaced the book, leaving the room again.
This was really getting interesting, she decided. She would have to keep tabs on everything.

"This reminds me of a meal Pop taught me to make when we were still training," Ranma was saying.
Akane raised an eyebrow. "You made this when you were training?"
"Well, not quite the same. We'd use bird's eggs and stuff, 'cuz that was all we really could find. But it was pretty good. It was really nice after a few weeks of nothin' but rice."
"Did you make it yourself?"
"Oh yeah. Pop was always a lazy bum. Soon's I was able, he had me do all the cookin' for both of us."
Kasumi had always done the cooking for the family, Akane idly reflected. Nabiki had always had her head in the books, while Akane had always spent her free time in the dojo... it hadn't done much for her cooking skills, she silently admitted.
"You... were a good cook?" she hesitantly inquired.
"Well... I dunno." He laughed. "Mosta the time, I didn't really care what anything tasted like. I was so hungry that I woulda eaten dirt if I thought it would help!"
Akane had to laugh a little. Ranma's good mood was slightly infectious, maybe. "Is that why you're always in such a rush to eat now?"
"Well, a martial artist's gotta take advantage of every opportunity," Ranma stoutly declared.
She frowned inwardly. Was her food _that_ bad? That he rated it at the same level as dirt? Was he trying to imply that?
"Here's y'go," Ranma offered, pushing the veggy-ladden cutting board towards her.
"Uh, thanks," Akane replied, noting that the vegetables were perfectly lined up, as though he hadn't even touched them while cutting them.
"Anything else I can do?" Ranma asked hesitantly.
"Well... can you pack these rice balls?"
"No prob. Lemme at 'em."
Akane shifted sideways, knocking over a bottle. "Argh!"
Ranma grabbed a cloth and started mopping the dark liquid up. "H-hey, no problem."
"But I _need_ soy sauce for this meal!"
Ranma briefly appeared at a loss as he moved to dispose of the empty bottle. Finally, he nodded. "Well..." he opened up the cupboard. "Um... looks like there's a second bottle here!"
Akane took the bottle happily. "Great! Looks like this meal won't be a disaster after all!"
Ranma laughed weakly as he tossed out the empty bottle, labeled 'Pure Maple Syrup'. "Y-yeah, I guess not!"

By the time dinner was over, tension was in the air.
"That was an... interesting meal, Akane," Soun ventured.
"I think it was pretty good," Ranma said firmly.
Akane felt her heart skip a beat. Ranma had actually _complimented_ her cooking! Would wonders never cease? "You think so?"
"Sure," he agreed, pointing to his completely clean plate. "Hey Pop, aren't you gonna finish your meal?"
"I... believe I'm full," Genma protested weakly. "But a lovely dinner, Akane."
"Thank-you," she replied cheerfully. "I worked really hard to make it. Ranma even helped a little."
"My, my," Nabiki observed sarcastically. "What wonders true love can work on a meal, hmm?"
Akane flushed deep red at that comment, but miraculously, Ranma actually kept his composure.
"Hmph, what're you talking about Nabiki? Just a little team work, you know. Just because you never try it..."
Nabiki merely smiled. "That must be it, Saotome. Well, keep up the _teamwork_, you two."
"Well, good meal. You wanna spar a little, Akane?"
Akane deliberated briefly before nodding. "Okay. Just let me clean things up here first."
"No prob. Meet you in the dojo in fifteen minutes."

Once in his room, Ranma shut the door and dug out his book, entitled 'The Principles of Reverse Psychology and Deception'. Flipping open the book to chapter 4, he quickly looked over the material. "It is important to not act over-friendly to target to the point where they suspect you of insincerity. The occasional overlooking is to be expected on your part..."
So he had decided not to help Akane clean up after dinner. Well, he was following the book as best as he could, Ranma decided, stuffing the book under his pack for safe keeping. It wouldn't do for anyone to get wind that he might have... other reasons for acting friendly. Not that he actually _hated_ Akane or anything, of course. But there was a time for work, a time for play, and a time for martial arts. And he'd always had his priorities straight.

Akane was already warming up in the dojo when Ranma quietly approached. He watched her go through some warm-ups with a critical eye. Basic routines. The type he'd always seen her doing in the past. He'd given up on them at the age of nine in favor of more difficult ones. She was doing them quickly, but she lacked the smoothness that should have been inherent with such 'skill'.
Without disturbing her, he casually entered the dojo, continuing to watch her forms. He couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him. When their positions were reversed, he was always able to tell of her approach before he could even see her. One of the more subtle skills a martial artist learned over time: Your eyes should only be secondary when it came to interpreting your surroundings.
Akane finally noticed him, barely recovering from the middle of her kata as a brief instant of shock registered on her face. She smiled at him. "You sure you want bother with this?"
Ranma gritted his teeth before calming himself. A martial artist had maintain his calm and control at all times. "Hah! You suddenly chickening out?"
Akane didn't even flinch. "Well, if you want it that way. But I'm not going to hold back this time!" She bowed towards him.
"That's the way I like it," he agreed, bowing in return.
Akane got into a combat stance, arms held low, but tensed to react to anything that was leveled against her.
Ranma's stance was considerably more casual in nature, belying the calculating gaze he was giving Akane. Shifting his stance slightly sideways, he lunged sideways, attacking on her left side. Even as she moved to intercept, he stopped short, using all his strength to reverse his direction. His hair blew back as her shorter arm length prevented her fist from connecting with his face. Even as Ranma's fist lashed out in response, Akane had already withdrawn her arm, and was using it to knock aside his punch.
Ranma leapt straight up, dodging her next punch by scant inches. Flipping, he pushed himself off a ceiling support, landing to her right, his foot already sweeping out to trip her up. Akane simply reached down and grabbed his foot before it could connect.
With a hard yank, Ranma felt himself tossed across the room to impact the wall. Rolling, he got to his feet again, smirking. He didn't think he'd win this match. But Akane was mistaken if she thought things were going to stay that way forever...

"You're beyond pathetic, boy."
"Shaddup, old man!!!"
"Thanks for the sparring match, Ranma," Akane said with a smile, heading towards her room.
Ranma just grunted, letting the door close. His entire body was screaming in pain right now, courtesy of the person who had just left the room.
"You're a disgrace to the-"
Ranma clapped a hand over his father's mouth, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Heh. You think so, pop? I found out what I need to know. You just wait. Akane won't be like that for much longer."
Genma raised an eyebrow, also whispering. "Really? You know why she's so strong?"
Ranma shook his head. "I dunno why. But I know that she's lying about being as good as she is. She still fights like she always has. She just has more power. I can still sucker her into doing anything I want. She's just so strong and fast that she can stop me anyway."
"Then you can't give up, boy," Genma hissed. "Anything-Goes, remember that! If you can't beat her normally, then we'll just have to cheat our way to victory!"
"You're pathetic, old man. All I gotta do is stop whatever's makin' her strong, right?"
"That's right, boy! Do your worst!"
Ranma rubbed his bruised shoulder. Akane hadn't held back at all, he guessed. It might take a whole day before he was in fighting shape again. But he healed quickly. And he would be back. As many times as it took.

Akane lay back in her bed. She could almost get used to this, she decided with a smile of contentment. It was so nice to finally fight Ranma on his level. No more of his teasing and taunting. He was even being nice to her now, what with helping her with cooking and not calling her names anymore. It was something that was overdue, and now that it had finally come...
A knock sounded at the door.
Akane sat up on her head. "Come in."
Nabiki quietly entered the room, eying Akane with interest. "Well, well, you'd think Ranma would get tired of that eventually, hmm?"
A shrug. "He's stubborn, that's all. I went all out tonight. Maybe he'll give up now."
"You want him to give up?" Nabiki inquired. "Most girls would kill for a chance to get to 'spar' with him."
Akane flushed slightly. "You know there's absolutely _nothing_ like _that_ going on!"
"True, quite true. So why isn't there?"
Akane flushed even more. "_What_ are you implying?"
"Nothing at all. But even I've noticed that you two seem to be hitting it off lately."
"That's just because he's stopped acting like a jerk."
"I wonder why that is?" Nabiki mused.
"Because he's finally showing a little respect, that's why."
"Respect? Is that all? I think... he seemed unusually helpful at suppertime. Sure, he should have helped you with the dishes too, but he's only male, right?"
Akane looked rather blank. "What are you implying?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Nothing at all. But Ranma's the laziest person in the world in anything except martial arts, right? It sure is nice of him to be so helpful to you."
"_What_ are you implying?"
Nabiki shrugged. "That's for you to decide, I think. You have to admit that he's absolutely gorgeous, right? And I think he's demonstrated that he can be polite when he _wants_ to, right? You've got dibs on him because of the engagement business. Which means that you've got every excuse to try on the shoe with him."
Akane blushed furiously. "It's not like that at all!"
Nabiki chuckled as she left the room. "I know that. So why not?"
Akane watched the door close in bewilderment. She couldn't believe her sister had actually suggested that!
Just the same... the Ranma that had been around the house lately was a considerable improvement over the old one. Why was that? He'd always been chasing Shampoo and Ukyou before. Probably because they'd been better martial artists than her. But now that she was better...
Was it possible that he _was_ attracted to her? She wouldn't lie and claim that she'd never entertained any thoughts about him, but they had always been nullified by how he acted towards her. But this new, polite, helpful Ranma...
She lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Maybe it was worth a try after all. Maybe his interest in her right now was simply on account of her newfound skill. But Ranma could beat his other fiancées. But they were always nice to him, which probably encouraged Ranma. If she was nice to him... coupled with her being better than him...
She let a small smile cross her face. Maybe it could work. The way things had been lately, it seemed worth the effort. She would give it a try tomorrow.
She would have to do a few things first. There was the issue of his fiancées. It wouldn't do to have them interfering. Ukyou probably wouldn't be much of a problem, since it was Ranma who usually went looking for her. Ranma seemed not to like Kodachi quite as much. But Shampoo... the way she always seemed to come looking for Ranma...
Akane's fists briefly clenched. She would have to _explain_ things to Shampoo tomorrow...

end part 2