Without You

I don't own Ranma ½ or the characters, however any OCs in here are mine!

She couldn't believe it, it had been her first day in America and already she had gotten the chance to spar with Michael, even though she had wanted to spar with Christian. Akane couldn't explain it but she was intrigued by Christian, he had this direct honesty that Akane could appreciate, as long as it wasn't about her cooking.

At dinner Aunt Lorain had scolded the boys as they were about to take off to eat in the living room. Aunt Lorain had informed them that the family was going to eat together at the dining table; and this pleased Akane immensely. Since Akane had been the last person to wake up that morning she had to eat alone but since everyone was present for dinner they were all going to eat together.

The boys pleaded with Uncle Shihiro to help get them out of eating at the table, however with one glare from his wife, Shihiro was silenced.

The dinner conversation consisted of the boys and Akane telling Lorain all about their day at the dojo.

"How was your first sparring match, Akane? Was it better or worse than the ones you had with Ranma?" Uncle Shihiro inquired, speaking when Kamui paused in his story of his match with Christian.

Akane paused a moment to think about it. While sparring she hadn't necessarily compared it to how Ranma and she had sparred in the past, but there were several differences between sparring with Michael and sparring with Ranma.

"It was different really, in a good way. I mean Michael was a lot more offensive than what Ranma is, like starting off with knuckle punch," Akane answered.

"Oh yeah, then you blocked it left and tried to kick him in the face," Kamui joined in.

"Which Michael blocked," added Shihiro, for his wife's information.

"And returned with a right elbow strike to the solar plexus," Kamui continued, demonstrating at the table.

"Watch what you're doing!" warned Aunt Lorain.

"But I blocked with my left again and tried to punch him right," Akane jumped in.

Kamui pounded the table, causing all the dishes to rattle. "That's right but he blocked that too as well as the left punch, then Michael narrowly avoided your kick to the head by leaning back. He's just lucky to be so flexible."

Sending her son a warning glare to settle down before turning to Akane with an intrigued smile. "So, did you win?" she asked.

"No," Akane shrugged.

Lorain raised an eyebrow at Akane first then glanced at Shihiro for some sort of explanation as to why Akane wasn't upset about being beaten. Shihiro refused to meet his wife's eye and focused all his attention on his food.

"You're not upset about it?" Lorain questioned.

Akane snapped her head up and shook her head. "Nah, he won fair and square, plus he didn't take me lightly. Michael even told me that that was one of the harder sparring matches he ever had."

"Understandable," Kamui nodded. "Most other people try to do some fancy footwork since most of our students had previously taken Tae Won Do or some other form of martial arts that involve lots of fancy kicks more than effective attacks. You on the other hand use effective attacks to your advantage that release the least amount of energy. So naturally you would be a more difficult opponent."

"You think so?" Akane asked, a bit dubious.

"Yeah, plus you have the experience of years on your side and a dojo teacher as your father," Kamui assured, stabbing at his macaroni and cheese.

Setting his cup of tea on the table, Shihiro included, "This first spar has also given us an idea of some of the areas we need to work with you on and what sort of exercises to give you."

While chewing on her food, Akane nodded her head, staring at her uncle.

"Well, that's great! It sounds as though you're off to a great start in America Akane," commented Lorain, taking a bite of her dinner.

Uncle Shihiro through his wife a knowing grin that made her stop chewing. Her husband was up to something and it was most likely something she wasn't going to agree with.

"Of course Akane, to succeed in furthering your training and skill you will need motivation," Shihiro told her and Akane opened her mouth to protest, however, her uncle held up a hand to silence her. "Now, I know you are motivated right now but you need something more, a goal to work towards that will keep you moving. So, I have a task for you."

Akane swallowed her food then inquired, "What would that be?"

"Search for some sort of tournament that you would like to enter either this year, next year, or the year after, I don't care but it must be something you want to do and will work towards," Shihiro told her.

"Hey, what about…?" Kamui began to suggest before he abruptly cut off to rub his shin.

"What? What about what?" Akane inquired, interested in any suggestion her cousin might have.

"Nothing," groaned Kamui, still rubbing his shin. "Forget about it."

Aunt Lorain turned to Akane with a tightened smile that made Akane suspect that it was her Aunt's foot that made Kamui halt mid-sentence. "You can always begin your search for a legitimate contest tomorrow," she told Akane. "For right now let's just finish dinner and Matsu, your teacher called again. Something about fighting in school, again, and how you're close to getting suspended, again."

Looking up from her plate, Akane saw how her younger cousin sunk a bit in his seat and turn red in the ears.

"Ma, I was only trying to keep Bobby Johan from harassing Becky McDonald," Matsu defended, trying to keep a whine from his voice. He didn't meet anyone's eyes as he stared down at his plate when he mentioned Becky's name, and his face began to grow red.

Kamui threw Akane a teasing grin and opened his mouth to say something to Matsu, but Akane stomped on Kamui's toe, hard enough to cause him to close his mouth and pout.

"That doesn't mean you go and punch the boy, Matsu," Lorain stated, calmly, in a manner that Akane could have compared to Kasumi's motherly mannerism. "If the boy is harassing the girl, as you say-by the way, where did you learn that word?-then you go tell the teacher. Don't take such things into your own hands ever again."

Matsu rolled his eyes and Akane felt her sympathy go out toward her younger cousin, she knew what it was like to be scolded for fighting for what you felt was right; Kasumi had rebuked Akane for fighting at school several times in the past, even saying that Dr. Tofu may not like her anymore if she continued to fight.

"Yes mother, and I learned the word 'harass' in school as we have been learning about sexual harassment and harassment in general," Matsu replied, picking at his food some more.

The rest of dinner conversation had been about Aunt Lorain's job and her general day, as well as about the upcoming day when Akane will get to tour the college campus. It was in a week and Akane was a little nervous as to what she was going to find at the college.

I wonder what everyone at home is doing, she thought.


Ranma woke up earlier than usual and crept down the stairs to the kitchen, with Akane's book in one hand hidden behind his back, where he found Kasumi preparing breakfast. Knowing how lazy his father had grown over the past few years, Ranma didn't need to fear an interruption to spar.

Knocking on the door, Ranma startled Kasumi as he judged by the momentarily hesitation of her stirring. The eldest Tendo daughter turned to her sister's fiancée with her patented smile that was welcoming, forgiving, and comforting for everyone.

"Good morning Ranma, breakfast won't be ready for a while but you can always have a piece of fruit or something until then," she informed him, gesturing to the refrigerator.

"Uh…no thanks, actually I had a question to ask you," he corrected Kasumi, catching her attention.

"Oh? About what?" Kasumi inquired, leaning against the counter for a moment while keeping one eye on the heating pot of water next to her.

"I was wondering if…" Ranma fidgeted with the book in his hand, putting his free hand behind his back so that he could shift the book back and forth between hands. "If you could read English."

Kasumi cocked her head to the side in a manner that made it difficult to tell if she was trying to discover Ranma's motive for asking or if she was trying to figure out how much English she remembered.

The moment that it took for Kasumi to answer was an agonizingly long moment and it made Ranma more anxious as well as feel as though hours, perhaps years, had passed instead of mere seconds that transcended into a moment. It should have been an easy question with an easy answer, yes or no.

"I do remember some from high school but I'm not quite certain it's that great. I have been out of practice for quite some time now," Kasumi answered with an apologetic smile that soon turned quizzical. "Why do you ask? Was there something you needed said or read?"

Ranma shifted his weight from one foot to the other along with the book as he deliberated rather to ask Kasumi to translate the book's title or not. On one hand his curiosity would be satisfied but on the other he might have to explain how he had been in Akane's room in the wee hours of the morning and found the book on her desk.

Glancing up, Ranma saw Kasumi still eyeing him patiently. She wasn't going to push him into answering her question nor was she going to pry further than he wanted her to, that was just how she was. It was a trait Ranma had grown to appreciate about Kasumi, one that the other two Tendo daughters lacked.

"Yeah, I wanted to know what the title of this book was," Ranma shrugged, pulling out the book and sliding it across the counter to Kasumi.

Stopping the book with a hand, Kasumi glanced down at the cover and she didn't have to even read the English letters to know what the book was. The cover with the girl in a lovely gown standing on a balcony reaching for a handsome young man gave away the title. It cause Kasumi to smile a bit, her sister was possibly one of the most romantic-dreamers but she kept that hidden from others.

"This is 'Romeo and Juliet', Ranma," Kasumi told him, holding up the book. "It is that play you were in with Akane a few years back. The one where the prize was to see the famous actor China."

Ranma momentarily groaned at the memory of how he had so eagerly taken the role as Romeo thinking that he would get to fly to China for free and be able to find the Spring of Drown Man. Some prize that had turned out to be.

However, he thought, you were so close to kissing Akane…

Realizing exactly what he had just thought, Ranma almost literally kicked himself.

Idiot! That was the only time that the tom boy was ever cute, and besides she put that piece of tape on!

"Do you plan on reading this?" Kasumi questioned, sliding the book back to Ranma.

Picking up the book, Ranma looked at the cover and made a disgusted face. It looked like some sort of silly, sappy, love-sick romance. Nothing that he, the great Ranma Saotome, would ever read.

"No, I was just curious," Ranma scoffed, tossing the book onto the counter and leaving. "Thanks for your help Kasumi."

Thank you to: The Liz, Ulitheal, Hououza, the-shadow002, Den Scurman, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, Jennyroseangel, black-lotusblossom, AmayaSaria, panda-tiney, shadow-mistress, V-Chan14, and Koneko8844.

Heh he! I'm finally done with this and it's only 12:43 am central time in the USA. About time, eh? Hopefully a sooner updation for the next chapter. See you guys then.