Rewind and Replay

by patrioticmerc

Ranma and Akane die at Jusendo and are flung back in time to the first day they met. With knowledge of what they went through, they are preparing themselves. There is more to their return, they find out, as even more supernatural beings are involved. What does a Phoenix and a Dragon have to do with it? Ranma needs to overcome his PTSD as well or someone might get hurt.

2. Rewind and Replay Ch02 Disturbances

Characters from the manga, Ranma 1/2 are the product of Rumiko Takahashi. This fanfiction is not for commercial use and is only for the writer's and readers' imaginations and enjoyment.

Thanks to for making a detailed and fairly accurate timeline for me to use. The notes for any modifications and reasons behind them appear to be well-thought-out and reasonable, IMHO. If you wish to check it out, go to:

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Notes: When describing Furinkan High School, I'm using the manga as my basis. Floors are listed as ground, then one through three like the British system, as opposed to starting at one for the ground floor as in America. The balconies are not present in the anime, from what I've noticed. You can see what I'm talking about on Ranma's first day when there is a closeup of Nabiki outside of her classroom (pg. 72) and a panned shot of the school where other students are watching (pg. 80). An oblique shot from the sidewalk looking up shows the depth and supports of the balconies (pg. 89)

I hope you enjoy!

Rewind and Replay

Chapter Two: Disturbances

0500, Tuesday, 08 May

Akane felt like death warmed over, splattered on the side of the road, flipped like Ukyo's okonomiyaki and then ran over by a mountain of logs. That was the censored version. She had never felt so miserable in her entire life after working out with Ranma. This was only the first morning of her assessment and it had been so grueling that she wondered if she could ever recover.

Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she willed her legs to move one after the other. She was already long past the dry heaves and had progressed to being hellishly miserable. Sweat dripped from her chin, down her front and back and just about anywhere else one could imagine. Her gi was thoroughly soaked, salt stains crusting on the edges where her sweat was evaporating from her excessive body heat. There were only five more steps left to get to the entrance of the Tendo dojo.

Ranma-onna was leaning against the wall, waiting for her. He had been 'encouraging' her for the past kilometer. "C'mon, Akane. A tomboy like you should be able to make it. You say you're a martial artist?" His taunting had worked at first yet the last two hundred meters had been difficult. He was still using it to get Akane motivated, though it looked like it was merely her own pride and willpower that had been her motivation. What he had just said was mild compared to the various abuses used on Akane beforehand. She was too tired to be angry.

By sheer force of will, she straightened herself up and then allowed her weight to carry her body forward, legs somehow stumbling beneath her. Just as she crossed the threshold, Ranma-onna caught her up in his arms.

"It's about time," he quipped. Her body hung limp in his arms as he carried her into the house. Akane couldn't even care at this point how Ranma-onna was carrying her. "Yo, Nabiki, Kasumi!" His call to her sisters were answered deeper in the house. Entering the family room, he found Kasumi.

"Oh my," Kasumi exclaimed in her soft voice. "Is she all right? What happened?" She touched her hand to Akane's cheek and forehead in concern, pushing Akane's long, clumped tresses out of the way. Akane's face was hot and clammy. The sweat had gathered in her eyebrows, then trickled down her cheeks. The hairs were rimed with salt much like her gi, as if she had stood outside in the cold and had gathered frost.

"She's fine, just wore out. I had to push her to her limits just to see where they are, then force her beyond those to see what kind of reserves she has." He continued on into the house, going to the washroom. "Could you and Nabiki help her get cleaned up?" Ranma-onna set Akane onto her feet, allowing Kasumi to take her sister's weight. Kasumi showed her own strength when she took Akane's weight from Ranma-onna without showing any stress.

Nabiki walked in, holding her toiletries and a towel, looking unkempt and bleary-eyed. Taking in the scene, she raised her eyebrows. "Is she even alive," she asked, amused.

Ranma-onna chuckled. "After she gets cleaned up and a bath, she should be fine." He turned his attention back to Kasumi. "She'll be really hungry, too, so if you could...," he trailed off.

Kasumi smiled, nodding, "We'll take care of her, Ranma." With his duties performed and Akane needing to be undressed, Ranma-onna left them to their ministrations. He shut the door behind himself and headed to his room to wake his father for a light workout.

After a quarter of an hour, Ranma-onna saw Kasumi putting a kettle onto the edge of the engawa. A few quick strikes from the Saotome duo left Genma-panda splashing in the koi pond, bewildered at how Ranma-onna had managed to gain the upper hand. It was as if Ranma-onna was accustomed to his curse and Genma-panda's movements were being telegraphed. Part of this was true. Ranma-onna had become accustomed to his curse over the course of two years. Even without the increased speed and durability from two years of training and constant fighting. As for beating Genma, Ranma-onna had been doing that nearly a year after moving to the Tendo's.

Ranma-onna leapt from the rock at the edge of the pond and landed next to the kettle. He picked it up and used it to change back to his male self. "How's she doing," he inquired.

Kasumi pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I think that you overdid it with her." Genma-panda lumbered up, taking the kettle for himself and changing back. He listened with Ranma. "Right now, Nabiki is sitting in the furo with her, keeping her from cramping up and from falling over. She will have a really difficult time at school today, I'm sure." Her tone sounded disapproving, making Ranma feel self-conscious.

He added the information to his own assessment and calculations. "She's a martial artist, or so she says," Ranma shrugged, uncaring. "I need to see what her limits were as soon as possible," he explained. "This way I can set up the right training regimen for her." Even hearing this, Kasumi still seemed perturbed.

He looked at his father, checking to see whether there would be any commentary from him. "Make sure she moves around today and stretches," Genma's advised. That was standard, of course, but it was a segue for more advice. "A light workout after school should be fine. She may need a massage just to ensure she can move later as well." This gave Ranma pause for a moment before he remembered what resources he had on hand. It was ever his father's intention to get him and Akane together. It appeared he was already starting.

After Ranma had taken his bath, and they had eaten, the two youths were walking to school. Ranma was staying near Akane, making sure that she would be able to make it to school without incident. He was practically hovering over her, but she was oblivious to this, as she was lost in her own exhaustion.

Akane was quietly distracted, reflecting on what she had experienced that morning. Never in her life had she thought that she would have worked to the point of fatigue that Ranma had worked her to. Was this what the Saotomes had done throughout the years of their journey? It was no wonder Ranma was as skilled and strong as he was.

These ruminations led to her epiphany.

She had always been jealous of Ranma's superior skills. Having experienced the evaluation Ranma had given her that morning, she now felt more of an appreciation for Ranma's dedication. He had performed everything she had done in addition to a few other stunts to see if she could do them. Having sat on the sidelines for so long, seeing him eclipse her in so many things had been devastating to her self-esteem and created some resentment. Her reliance on quick solutions such as the Super Soba and Do-chan, the enchanted dogi, had been ill-advised. She could understand how Ranma had disdained such methods. It would take serious dedication on her part to grow into as respectable a martial artist as Ranma was and would be. The girl found herself taking another maturing step as a young woman.

Her thoughts were interrupted as they came into sight of the schoolyard. The same crowd from the day before was waiting for her once again. Apparently they hadn't gotten the message.

From the gathered boys' perspective, they didn't realize that they had been beaten by Ranma. He'd been a blur within their midst. Collectively, they thought they had been pounded by Akane once again, only having lost the memory of it.

Ranma assessed the crowd before them and looked at Akane. His concern for her led him to a quick decision. He passed his bag to her, saying, "Here, hold onto this." Akane didn't argue, for she didn't want to have to fight while in such an exhausted state. Leaving it to Ranma would be best.

She found herself being scooped up by Ranma. She gave a surprised yelp as he leapt forward.

The young men were caught by surprise as well, seeing Akane being carried by the new transfer student. They prepared themselves, seeing the approaching figures. To their consternation, they saw a sight that they felt could only have been from a martial arts movie. As Ranma was carrying Akane, he was gaining as much speed as he could. His legs coiled beneath him when they were mere steps away from meeting the first of the combatants. His leap sent the two sailing over the crowd. Everyone stood, gape-mouthed at the spectacle.

Without breaking stride, Ranma ran towards the school building. His trajectory was just below their classroom rather than straight into the school. Three more jumps, each to the balconies above, landed them on the balcony outside of their class. Ranma set Akane down gently, conscious of her weary body. "Here you go, all safe and sound," he said to her, smirking. Akane nodded, at a loss for words. Turning, Ranma leapt from the third floor and back towards the dumbfounded crowd. The students that had seen them arrive in the classroom gasped when Ranma disappeared from sight. A crowd gathered around her.

Nabiki and her friends had watched the spectacle from their own perch. Since she had been the one to assist her sister the most that morning, so she knew just how worn out Akane had been. But to see Ranma pick her up and perform such a stunt was beyond her expectations. She, herself, having lived at the dojo her whole life, had never seen the like. Her father, sister and other local martial artists had never shown such physical prowess. Not only was Ranma's curse expanding her understanding of magic, but Ranma's abilities were opening her eyes to people's potential and capabilities.

Behind them, Tatewaki Kuno stood watching as well. He was somber that day and had decided not to challenge Akane that morning. Or Ranma, for that matter. His mind was set upon other matters as he watched the display unfolding below. Having been stuck to a tree before being cut out of his clothing had allowed him some time to reflect on the previous morning's happenings.

Landing softly on the grass, Ranma strolled up to the crowd with his hand in his pockets.

Looking at each other, the young men found themselves at a loss. A mixture of reactions ran through the assembly. Embarrassment, fear, awe and a myriad of other feelings. In a voice loud enough to be heard to the other side of the challengers, Ranma called out, "I'm Ranma Saotome, from the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm Akane's fiancé. Challenges can be sent to the Tendo dojo, or we can settle them here and now." He left it simple, leveling a glare at everyone.

Several of the young men stepped forward. A few cracked their knuckles, others flexed their muscles and another showed off some moves. Ranma settled into a deceptively relaxed stance.

Akane was still standing where Ranma had left her, watching and waiting for his return. She had seen Ranma's cocky manner and bravado, so it was hardly any surprise to her to see what he had done. His announcement had immediately sent a shockwave through their school. He had said it loud enough that many had heard his words through the open windows. Her own class began its own ruckus, much like it had when they had heard it the first time.

The largest, a sumo wrestler, taunted, "What's a puny dork like you think you can do to all of us."

Ranma smirked and thumbed his nose at the sumo wrestler. His eyes scanned the group. It looked like half of them were willing to challenge him. While not as versed as Akane with fighting crowds, he was willing to give it a try. The day before had been a surprise to them, so he had managed to defeat all without getting caught. "You ain't seen nothin' till you've seen me fight," he called back.

The group rushed him.

At first everything was going okay for Ranma. He met the sumo wrestler head on, pounding his head into the ground. Immediately he grabbed onto his feet and started swinging him around like an Olympic hammer thrower, keeping him level to the ground. Bodies flew away as they were smashed by the bludgeoning force. Releasing his impromptu weapon, the sumo wrestler sailed into the air and landed against a tree, slumping to the ground.

Above, Akane rolled her eyes as she saw Ranma wobbling dizzily in place. Under her breath, she cursed him, "Ranma, you idiot."

Seeing an opportunity, several of the martial artists in the group leapt at Ranma. They managed to dogpile on top of him. With six latching onto him, Ranma quickly toppled, each of his limbs held in a lock. Crashing to the ground, the other athletes joined in by stomping on him. Or so they thought.

A few had gotten in a few good hits but Ranma managed to pull himself out of two holding his arms through sheer strength. Two young men were nothing compared to being able to break out of chains while encased in concrete. He replaced himself with someone that was wearing clothing the same color as his.

Standing nonchalantly off to the side, he observed the tussle. He yelled encouragement. It took a moment for those that were waiting their turn to realize that he was standing there before them. With a startled cry, one pointed and called out, "There he is!" Several immediately turned and leapt towards him.

Laughing, Ranma began to take them out as he backed up, allowing only one or two within reach. As he did so, he taunted each one about their particular sport they were representing. He had a passing thought of doing the Hiryu Shoten Ha, but held back because he didn't want to use a move that would show too much of his abilities. After only being back two days he didn't want his father to get wind of a new technique he had learned seemingly out of nowhere. One of many times he would think the same thing and hold himself back.

The dogpile finally resolved itself when the cries of their compatriots brought their attention to the fact that Ranma had escaped. Several of them were lying on the ground as wild blows had rained down on the poor fool that Ranma had replaced himself with.

With half of the combatants down, Ranma began jumping over and around them, causing them to group up into a tight pack. They were being picked off one by one as he did so and were either falling to the ground where they stood or got flung to nearby trees or made craters of their own to lie in. That's not to say that he came out of it unscathed. With the numbers he was going against it was like fighting a few Ryoga and Mousse clones. A variety of weapons or limbs were being used against him, and he had yet to increase his speed up to his previous levels.

Finally, there were no more opponents standing. Ranma stopped and looked around. Lying about were the unconscious or moaning bodies. Finding himself without anyone else to fight, he shrugged with a wry grin. Dusting himself off, "I guess that's that." Ranma sauntered over to the side of the building and leapt up.

When Ranma landed next to Akane, she turned inside to make her way to her seat, holding Ranma's bag out to him. Secretly, she was impressed with how Ranma had unhesitatingly claimed her as his fiancée and handled everything altogether. They tried their best to ignore the questions that couple were being bombarded with. Akane simply sat down at her desk, resting her face in her hands and allowing her hair to curtain her private reaction. If it weren't for the fact she was exhausted, she probably would have been grinning from ear to ear, but she did find herself smiling pleasurably. The bell rang and their homeroom teacher made his way in, calming the class.

---

1200, Tuesday, 08 May

By lunch, Akane was nearly comatose. The teachers, her friends and Ranma were constantly monitoring her. It was not customary for Akane to be this drowsy. Knowing Akane would be upset because she hadn't made her notes to her satisfaction, Ranma was doing his best to ensure his would be available for her to copy later.

When the bell finally rang for lunch, four of Akane's friends immediately took her under their wings. Their destination was the nurse's office where she could lie down and rest. Added to that was the relative privacy they could attain. Ranma let them take care of his fiancée, unconcerned by their stiff and unwelcoming looks directed his way. It didn't take much cajoling to drag the story out for Akane's morning torpor as she lay on the bed. Ranma ate his lunch in relative peace in the classroom.

Meanwhile, in their own classroom, Nabiki was being questioned by Tatewaki Kuno.

"Is it true what this vile cretin says about being engaged to thine sister, the fair Akane Tendo," he growled. This morning's confession to the students had served as a witness to what Ranma had said the day before, where only he could hear. His blood was seething at the news, while at the same time his skills had proven ineffectual. His defeat had been more humiliating than he was able to handle. Even now, having been ineffectual in combat for the first time was an inordinate amount of distress to his ego. Additionally, his initial cowardice in the face of the enemy was not helping.

While her tone sounded bored, she was anything but. "It's true. Our dad and his dad decided that those two will marry." She was anticipating an explosion.

Instead, what she got was him narrowing his eyes. "From whence came he?"

Sensing an opportunity, Nabiki turned her full attention to Kuno. "Three thousand yen and I'll tell you what I know about him." She held her hand out expectantly.

Kuno hesitated a moment, thinking about the offer. He nodded, "Agreed," handing over the bills.

"He and his dad have been traveling for a long time," Nabiki started, tucking the money away. "They've been all over Japan and even into China. They practice the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, apparently a sister school to our Tendo dojo. Our dads have been friends for a long time. They decided years ago that they would join the schools together through marriage. The Saotomes showed up just this last weekend and have started staying with us. After the omiai, it was decided that Ranma and Akane were the right ones to get married."

As she was detailing Ranma's history into an abbreviated form, she was watching Kuno, gauging his response. His initial reaction was that of one imagining the journey and details, but soured as she was finishing. It was at the point of her announcing the engagement that surprised her the most. He didn't react as she expected. "Hmm. The life of an itinerant. A vagabond, as it were. How skilled is he?"

Having seen how handily Ranma had defeated the crowd along with Kuno the day before, then his stunning acrobatics and second win earlier, Nabiki smiled intuitively. "He's pretty good from what I can tell. At the end of the omiai, Akane decided she wanted to be taught by him. For her to decide that, he must have shown her that he could beat her after they went to the dojo...alone." It had to be true. Ranma's destruction the day before had been so smooth and quick, much better than Akane had ever accomplished in the weeks prior to Ranma's arrival. Today's had been less spectacular but it had also been against opponents who had been able to retaliate. "Why, just this morning, he took her out for training. When they got back, she looked like she had just finished a triathlon, marathon and sumo tournament all in one morning. Ranma didn't look the least bit winded." Yes, that training combined with Ranma's demonstration indicated he was fairly talented.

The more she talked about Ranma's skills, the darker Kuno's expression became. Nabiki could sense the thundercloud that was gathering over Kuno as he digested what he had been told. It was only a matter of time before the storm's bursts of violence would come.

To further enrage the kendoist, Nabiki added, "They seem to be so well paired and getting along that they might even be married by the end of the year."

"M-married by the end of the year!" Kuno exclaimed. "Such an arrangement is incomprehensible. His...his usurpation shall not go unpunished. I must devise a way to vanquish him at the earliest possible convenience. A marriage between someone of his ilk with the fair Akane Tendo is tantamount to...to..." Kuno was unable to finish, as he was frothing at the mouth. He withdrew into himself, occasionally muttering. Kuno became so preoccupied with Nabiki's baiting that he couldn't focus on classes for the remainder of the day. At one point, during the second period after lunch, the teacher had been forced to remove him from the room due to him incessantly mumbling.

---

1530, Tuesday, 08 May

When the final bell rang for the day, Ranma went to the nurse's office to fetch Akane. "How ya feelin'? A bit stiff?" By now he was looking none the worse for wear from his morning bout with the Hentai Horde.

Akane sighed, nodding. She hadn't felt this beaten up in quite some time. The muscles in her legs and shoulders had tightened to the point that she was afraid she would tip over should she dare to stand.

Chuckling, Ranma handed both of their bags over to Akane. Before she could protest, he collected her up into his arms and leapt out the window, which had been opened for the spring air to freshen the room. Akane's cheeks were flaming, much like her namesake. She was thoroughly embarrassed by how she was being carried, but didn't dare smack Ranma for fear of falling. Her skirt was gathered at her knees, which alleviated some of her discomfort. The people below would not have an impromptu peepshow. In fact, she found herself rather enjoying the ride after a moment.

She was a bit surprised when they landed in front of Tofu-sensei's clinic. Ranma set her down just outside, making sure she could stand on her own. Opening the door with one hand, he allowed Akane to lean on his other arm as they walked inside.

The receptionist greeted them. Her voice warmed even more when she recognized Akane. The waiting room was clear, so they were immediately taken back into an examination room.

"Oh, Akane," the congenial doctor greeted. He pulled an examination chair up to the bed she was sitting on. "What can I do for you today?"

"I had a workout this morning that wore me out. I thought I could get some relief, perhaps?"

Ranma allowed his hand to lightly slap onto the unsuspecting man's shoulder, causing the man to jump.

"YEEARGH!" the doctor screamed.

Unable to contain himself, Ranma burst out with peals of laughter. In short order he was lying on the floor, gasping for breath.

She gave Ranma a withering look which he ignored. Turning her attention back, "Tofu-sensei, I'd like you to meet my fiance, Ranma Saotome."

Tofu-sensei noted the happy, lilting tone Akane used when saying the boy's name. Looking at her, he could have sworn that there were sparkles and flowers surrounding her. He was quite astonished to see the usually reserved, even bashful, Akane that he'd known for years being so bright. Such a display he had witnessed only in young newlyweds. It was a remarkable experience for him to see in Akane. "Nice to meet you," he replied, returning his gaze back to Ranma, who waved. His own heart was beginning to slow down.

Picking himself off of the floor, Ranma apologized, "Sorry about that. Akane told me that you were a pretty good martial artist." That's payback for the first time I met you!

Grinning, Tofu-sensei acknowledged the test for what it was to himself. "Hm. A practical joker, I see," he commented dryly. "What brings the two of you here?"

"Nah," Ranma chuckled, "like she said, she ain't hurt, so much as I kinda broke her this morning during training. I was hoping that you'd be able to help her muscles relax a bit, so she can rest tonight."

The chiropractor motioned for Akane to take a prone position onto the bed lying face down. Ranma sat on the opposite side, watching intently as Akane's muscles were manipulated through massages and pressure points. After a time, Akane was able to finally move without stiffness and pain.

"Thanks, Tofu-sensei," Akane beamed. She felt so refreshed after having all the kinks removed from head to toe. It almost felt as if she could go do another bout similar to the one she'd done that morning.

"You're quite welcome." Tofu-sensei followed them out to the receptionist, handing a paper over. "Akane, your body will start producing and storing toxins in your muscles that will need to be released. I would suggest a session of moxibustion and acupuncture in addition to manipulation that I just did if you're going to keep up with this level of training. Be sure to drink at least one or two cups of Matcha each day to help with the detoxing. Using water or milk is fine." Turning to Ranma, he held out his hand for the youth. A silent battle began as they tested each other's grip. After a time, the older man's face began to purple and conceded. He slapped Ranma's arm good-naturedly.

Ranma and Akane settled their business with the clinic and went outside. Absentmindedly, Ranma jumped up onto a nearby fence, walking on it as if it were a sidewalk. Akane looked up at him enviously. "When do you think I could start doing that," she asked.

Pulled out of his own thoughts, Ranma looked down at Akane. "You should start practicing now. Use any opportunity available to practice and learn. If you don't, then what's the point?"

Several steps later, Akane managed with, "I guess I'll start tomorrow. I don't need anyone to look up my dress. I can start wearing shorts underneath."

Ranma made an exasperated sound. "If you're going to be worried that someone sees your panties, then there's not much use worrying about martial arts." His words were a contradiction of his own personality traits. On one hand, he could be very prudish when it came to wearing girl's clothes when he was in his female form most of the time. He despised being called a cross-dresser, even though he could physically change into a girl with just a splash of water. On the other, his lack of 'feminine modesty' was nearly legendary, as he was comfortable taking his top off with nary a concern for showing his breasts. His use of his female body as a weapon was just that, though, as he didn't consider it to be his body, in a sense. He recognized the telltale signs of Akane's anger began to emerge. Before she could retort, however, he interjected with, "It's not like you have ever been bothered about it when you do your kick anyhow. If you are so bothered by it, we should get you something durable that you can fight in, though. I'm allowed to wear this," he said, indicating his own outfit, "because of my curse. Maybe we can find something for you to wear all the time that can hold up."

Nobody had bothered Ranma about not wearing a school uniform to their school. Even before anyone had known of his curse, he hadn't worn a uniform. Somehow, Genma had made arrangements to allow Ranma access to alternate clothes.

"I don't see them letting me have anything other than this," Akane replied, indicating her own dress. "Maybe if I start wearing shorts underneath?"

"Hmm, yeah," Ranma said distractedly. His face brightened. "Think you can make it home on your own? I got something I need to go check out." Without waiting for a reply, Ranma leapt off of the fence and onto a nearby roof, quickly disappearing.

Frustrated at having been left to her own devices suddenly and without explanation, Akane stomped home.

As she neared the dojo, Akane's temper settled enough for her to return to a previous set of thoughts that had run through her mind. She quickly went up to her room, dropping her bag off and snatching up the object her thoughts had been about while she lay in the nurse's office, then went to see Kasumi.

---

1815, Tuesday, 08 May

It was just before dinner was going to be served that Ranma made it back home. He had a smug look on his face when he walked in. Slung over his shoulder was a canvas bag which he quickly ran up to his shared room to put away. As he was headed down the stairs, he heard Kasumi's call stating that dinner was ready. Sitting down at his customary place, he took a sip of his tea.

Akane rounded the corner into the room, having come downstairs from her bedroom. When she did so, Ranma eyes bugged out, and he involuntarily gasped, choking and coughing on the sudden intake of tea. The reason for his astonishment was that Akane had shortened her hair. Previously, it had been his and Ryoga's fight that had caused a significant portion of Akane's hair to be lopped off. Seeing her with the shortened hair of her own volition was, to him, unprecedented.

Witnessing Ranma's discomfiture, Akane smiled.

It was Nabiki that was the first to comment, "Oh, went back to the short hair, I see. What prompted this, I wonder?" She cast a knowing, yet also questioning, glance at Ranma.

"After this morning's workout, it was difficult to take care of my hair," Akane explained. "If I'm going to continue, I felt it was better to have my hair short again like when I was practicing with Daddy"

Nabiki raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Is that all?" Akane ignored the question and insinuation.

"I think it quite suits you, Akane, dear," Soun praised. He had also noted Ranma's reaction, though wasn't about to make a deal of it just yet.

Akane posed, turned and flicked her hair so that everyone could see. She paid particular attention to Ranma, who was acting as if he weren't watching. Yet she could tell he was due to his sidelong glances and what appeared to be a hint of a blush on his cheeks. Added to the effect was one of the dresses she was certain could get his attention. Now that their relationship had progressed from being an unrequited infatuation into much more, Akane was feeling like she wanted to test what Ranma's tastes were. Posing a couple of times to show enough of her legs and twirling, she had the pleasure of seeing Ranma's attention locked onto her. "Kasumi helped me with it as soon as I got home." She sat down next to Ranma and accepted a bowl of rice from Kasumi, 'casually' brushing her arm against his. She could feel his body stiffen at the touch, which made her smile even more. Knowing from his current reactions and their conversation the previous night, any future name-calling such as 'uncute', 'sexless' or 'ugly' were hollow. She would have an advantage over him when the time came for their inevitable arguments.

Ranma reflected on Akane's hair as he ate. After Ryoga had inadvertently cut it, Ranma had kept the locks with the ribbon as a keepsake. It had been a reminder of his remorse from that time. Akane had initially played it off as her having cut her own hair and asked Kasumi to fix it. Now, though, she had taken the matter to Kasumi of her own volition. Nabiki's statement that Akane had short hair was a reminder that she had grown it out to compete with Kasumi to garner Tofu-sensei's affections. Such was not the case now. Instead, she had reverted to short hair for other reasons. It was one he was most used to now and, he found, he quite liked it. Had it been as she said, for the ease of taking care of her hair, or was it for his benefit? Her actions with the posing and her outfit had been tempting, eliciting a response he was keen to hide from the others in their presence.

Their dinner proceeded without interruption. After they were finished, the two went upstairs. Akane had to study up on what she had missed earlier in the day, even if she had done it once before. At the top of the stairs, Ranma said, "I got something for you. I'll be there in a sec."

Akane did so, leaving her door open for when Ranma came to her room. He entered carrying the bag he'd brought back from his trip earlier. "What's that?" she queried.

"I remembered this place that sells clothing and equipment. So I ran over there to see what they had. The store didn't have what I wanted exactly and I forgot to get your measurements, so I couldn't have them order the outfits." Akane's eyebrows arched in surprise. "They did have a few things I thought you could use for training." He pulled out what looked like articles of clothing, laying them on the floor for Akane to see. Two looked like undershirts, a pair of bracers and a couple pairs of stockings.

Akane ran her hand over the material. As she tried to pick up one of the undershirts, she nearly staggered and fell over, unbalanced from the unexpected weight. "What are these made out of," she exclaimed.

"Not sure, but they're heavy, aren't they," he smirked. "I remember getting a pair of the bracers after I moved here, um, before. Anyway, this will weigh you down. I know I said that you're pretty strong, but that's not the point of using this clothing. With this, you'll be much faster after training with it for a while. When you take it off, you'll feel pretty light. You'll need to wear these all day, every day. I got two of the shirts and stockings so that you can switch them out while one is gets cleaned and dried."

She looked at them skeptically. The undershirt itself must weight about twenty-five kilograms. She put the undershirt back down and hefted the other articles. The bracers seemed to be about five kilograms each and the stockings were about the same weight as the undershirt, if not more. In total, if she were to wear all of them at the same time, she would be wearing sixty kilograms. Doing some quick math in her head, she realized that it equated to over one hundred thirty pounds. That was clearly more than her own weight. With this, if she were to do her regular weight lifting, it would be compounded.

Would that be enough? She had seen Ranma pick up boulders that weighed thousands of pounds. A mere hundred was insignificant compared to that. Though, she reasoned, one could not start off with such abilities, but instead had to train them up. While she was strong enough to lift heavy objects for her size and gender, she was significantly above her peers as well as the boys her age. Ranma's training had taken nearly his entire life. She wanted near-instant results, but that was out of the question at this time and, likely in the future. As with the Super Soba incident, many of those wondrous items that had been introduced into her life had their own drawbacks.

Everything started with something akin to baby steps. While she was not a total novice, compared to Ranma Ryoga, Shampoo and others, she was at the lower tiers. In order for her to get better, she would have to try out Ranma's training methods. She also thought of how the bracers would look while she was in her school uniform. At first, she would feel pretty ridiculous, as she was self-conscious about her appearances. That feeling would ebb as time passed while she became more comfortable. Enduring the initial stares and questions would be a form of training itself.

"I also got a set of bracers for myself," Ranma continued, pulling them out of the bag. They were thicker and longer than the ones he had purchased or her. "They're quite a bit heavier than what I go for you, about fifteen kilos each. I plan to work on my punching speed." This last was an allusion to the training he'd had due to Cologne administering the Cat's Tongue Pressure Point, Akane knew. She nodded her understanding. "There is some other stuff I want to practice. That's gonna have to wait till we can get to a place I can do it without destroying anything."

"Thank you, Ranma." Akane looked towards the closed door, trying to determine whether there was anyone listening on the other side. Turning back to Ranma, she grabbed his hand, stretching up onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. She was grateful for Ranma's consideration to her training. While she hadn't expressed her discomfort at wearing the strange equipment, she felt gladdened that Ranma would be accompanying her with this new fashion trend.

A bit embarrassed, Ranma scratched the back of his head and smiled. He wasn't used to being thanked by Akane. "Ah, yeah. You're welcome." He squeezed her hand, but wasn't sure what else to do. "Well, I have to get my homework done, and we still have training in the morning. I don't think it's good for you to practice tonight, so just get some rest."

"How did you pay for these?" she wondered.

Barking a laugh, Ranma answered, "I charged them to Pops. He probably doesn't have the money for it, but I have some stashed away just in case."

To avoid getting caught, Ranma left with merely a squeeze of their hands.

---

0630, Wednesday, 09 May

Training went better the next morning. Akane was wearing the weighted equipment as Ranma had directed. He hadn't brought her to the level of exhaustion as he'd done before, but Akane was still feeling a good burn in the entirety of her body, indicative of a thorough workout. Instead of releasing Akane to take a bath, Ranma led her to the dojo where he could assist with stretching. Sweat was running down both of their bodies, as Ranma had done his own exercises while goading Akane.

Genma, hearing their return, turned up at the doorway of the dojo. By this time he would have woken up to spar with Ranma. With Ranma up and out training with Akane, he had nothing to do. Unable to contain himself, he went ahead and butted into their stretching inside of the dojo. "Why don't you try with the training we did in the Wakayama mountains we did six years ago," he suggested.

Just the memory was enough to send a shudder through Ranma's body. That particular training had been grueling. It had also been where he had learned to leap like he was able to now. That had been a good number of years ago, though. Ranma reflected on the idea, looking at Akane thoughtfully. "Hmm. That might not be a bad idea."

She had listened to the suggestion and was curious. "What kind of training was it that you did in Wakayama," she asked.

Ranma smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Jumping. So much jumping that I had to crawl using just my arms at the end of the day just to get back to camp." His father had refused any form of assistance, instead telling Ranma that it was added training. Akane blanched at the thought of crawling back to camp. "There's a terraced cliff there where I would jump up to each level, then down again. We did it for about a week. As it got easier, I had to started carrying weight on my back and doing other weird stuff." He looked over at his father. "I think we could do the same thing in the mountains not too far from here." He, of course, knew of some training areas just outside of Tokyo that would work. It wouldn't take them a full day just to travel to the mountains in Wakayama Prefecture, which were south of Osaka.

While the training sounded scary, the ability to keep up with Ranma while he was roof hopping sounded pleasant to Akane. "I'm okay with it," was her enthusiastic reply. "I could even cook while we're out there."

It was Ranma's turn to pale. He caught himself before saying anything disastrous. Instead, he said, "Well, hey, look. We need to get ready for breakfast and school." Without waiting for a reply, he bolted out of the dojo. Akane stared at the door he had departed from, a flat look on her face. She knew exactly what he was avoiding. Without a word, she followed Ranma back into the house.

At the breakfast table, Genma announced his hiring as a part-timer somewhere. The couple remembered that, for a short while, Genma had worked at Tofu-sensei's clinic.

"You comin' with us for the training trip?" Ranma asked.

"Not this weekend," Genma replied. "I'm supposed to be helping out this Saturday with some cleaning and filing."

Ranma shrugged. He would be able to train Akane with or without his father. Next to him, he felt Akane stiffen for a moment. He took a sidelong look at her, noticing that she had a light blush.

Finishing, Ranma and Akane headed to school. As they rounded the corner and out of sight of the dojo, Ranma stopped and pointed up at the concrete wall. "You ready to start your balance training?"

Akane looked up at the narrow ledge he intended her to run on. Ranma had always acted as if the walls, fences and rooftops were his very own superhighway. "Yeah, I'm ready," she declared.

Ranma leapt up to the wall, looking down on her. He gave a perplexed look when she didn't follow. Instead, she was giving him a vexed look. "Whatcha waitin' for? You've got your stockings on today, right?"

"Yes, I have my stockings on. But I'm not able to jump up that high yet," she replied in exasperation. "With all this weight I'm carrying, it's much harder."

"You've done it before. Heck, I'm sure you can do it now." Ranma gave her a bland look, as if he were speaking to a recalcitrant child.

The look set Akane off for some reason. "It might be easy for you, but I didn't go out training like you all those years."

A few unkind words from Ranma set off their bickering. After one particularly nasty verbal jab, Ranma said, "Nyah, nyah," and started running. Akane followed after him as he continued his barrage, running backwards as he did so.

It wasn't until they were in sight of Furinkan High School that Ranma finally stopped in front of her. As she was sending him a roundhouse punch for the latest insult, he dodged and pinned her arms. Struggling, she attempted to release his hold on her.

"Hey, Akane, look down," Ranma said softly.

Her eyes were drawn below them at his behest. She saw that they were standing atop a wall, perhaps six feet off of the ground. Somehow, she had managed to leap to the wall while angered and land on the fence. At this realization, she was hit with vertigo and felt herself sway. Only Ranma's firm grip on her kept her from falling down to the ground below.

"How...when...," she sputtered.

"Oh, for a while now. You were so focused on trying to hit me that you jumped up and chased me before we got to the river." He looked rather pleased with himself. Akane growled at him, but he ignored it as he lifted her by her elbows and leapt down to the ground. "Let's go. We don't want to be late."

As they approached the school, there were only about half of the boys from the previous day standing in their way. Akane stopped him by grabbing his arm. She quickly whispered instructions to him. He nodded in understanding.

A spokesman stepped forward. It appeared he was one of the rugby players, someone that looked like a brute. The sumo wrestler from the day before was absent. His face was scarred, and he had a few teeth missing. "We don't recognize your engagement to Akane Tendo, Saotome. Prepare yourself!"

The mob looked as if it were about to surge forward, but Ranma held up his hand again, this time to the crowd. "You guys say that if anyone defeats Akane, they can go out with her, right?"

Confused at the changing of their imminent battle into another question, the young men began muttering among themselves. The spokesman spoke up again. "That's right. What about it?"

"What's does it mean by defeating her?" he asked.

There was more confusion. "Well, uh," the rugby player said, fumbling about, "I guess pinning her, knocking her out, that sort of thing."

Ranma nodded, looking back at Akane. "So, if I beat her, then I can date her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," was his reply, the wind taken out of the mob's sails.

"All right, let us in and watch," Ranma instructed.

The boys made room for the two as they walked onto the school grounds. Ranma turned to face Akane, who had a look of anticipation on her face. "No holds barred on your part, ya got that?"

Akane nodded, tossing her bag to the side and getting into a ready stance. Ranma did the same, the crowd picking them up and opening the circle wider for the combatants. Above, in the classrooms, word was getting around that Ranma and Akane were about to fight. The students and even some teachers crowded the balconies and windows to watch the spectacle below.

The display of athleticism by the two sent a shiver through the spectators. It was evident early on, however, who was the better fighter.

Akane struck out at Ranma, but was blocked each time. The slap of flesh on flesh resounded. She lunged forward, attempting to smash Ranma's foot, only to crater the ground, sending dust into the air a meter around the pair. This sent an awed response from the crowd surrounding them. Ranma was immediately behind her, sweeping her trailing leg. Akane was spun about, but manage to stop it by digging her toes into the ground and crouching down with one hand, dropping her center of gravity. She leapt forward, her legs leading as she sent a flurry of kicks towards Ranma's chest. They were slower than normal due to the increased weight she was carrying. Each one hit even harder due to that.

The breath was knocked out of her as she slammed onto the ground by a powerful forearm blow as Ranma dodged past her legs and next to her. She bounced off of the ground, reflexively recovering with a backflip and skidding back. Akane landed on two feet and one hand, her other hand held before her, ready to block another attack. Her arm smarted from another heavy blow. Ranma slid his arm down from where it contacted and grabbed her arm. She responded by grabbing onto his arm with her other hand immediately. His intention had been to throw her, but with her grip, she was able to gracefully fly over him and then roll, pulling him over her. Using her legs as a springboard, she sent him flying.

Ranma somersaulted and landed lightly on one foot, not looking the worse for wear. Akane, on the other hand, had already impacted and rolled on the ground twice so far. Her school uniform was dirty and her hair mussed. Ranma put his hands into his pockets and advanced forward. A flurry of kicks left Akane battered. There were only a few in the crowd that had been able to see the speed Ranma had used while attacking her. To the others, it had only been a light blur surrounding Akane as she was enveloped by Ranma's attacks.

Disengaging, Ranma leapt back from Akane. Not allowing him any respite, Akane followed him, sending forth kicks of her own. He dodged each one, his hands still in his pockets and not even bothering to block any of them. They danced like this till Akane was finally out of breath. Standing just out of reach of Akane, Ranma pulled his hands out of his pockets, crouched and waited.

Akane breathed heavily and evenly until she felt ready to continue. She whirled, placing her hands onto the ground and doing what looked like a half-somersault, her legs windmilling through the air towards where Ranma was standing. He caught Akane's blow and its full impact. Beneath him, the ground cratered, spraying clods of dirt all about them. The two stood in the crater, though it was nothing like what Ranma or Ryoga were capable of creating. Akane recovered, leaping to the top edge of the crater, but didn't get a chance to do anything else but fall back as Ranma renewed his own flurry of attacks.

This time, he was hitting all of her major nerve bundles, starting at the wrists and working his way up to her shoulders. Desperately, Akane tried to get out of reach of his strike, but was unable to do so. Eventually, her arms hung limply at her sides, weighing her down.

A single strike to her exposed neck sent Akane falling to the ground. Before she could hit, Ranma caught her and laid her down gently. He stood and turned to the Kuno, who had been watching on the outskirts of the crowd.

"Are you satisfied now?" Ranma asked coldly. "The rules were that anyone could date Akane if they defeated her, which I just did." He turned his attention to the stunned boys. "As I said before, she's my fiancée. Challenges from here on out go through me. Any questions?"

Seeing that there were no takers, Ranma bent down and picked Akane up. A boy timidly stepped forward, bowed down at the waist, holding out their school bags. Ranma took them wordlessly as he left the school grounds.

Ranma was furious with Kuno. It was obvious that the upperclassman had been the one to rile the boys up. He'd noticed him at the beginning, lurking in the shadows, watching like a spider.

With the display they had provided, Ranma was certain nobody would challenge either himself or Akane. His fiancée's kicks had been devastating. The skill she'd shown had been more than when he had first met her initially. His former paramours had fought with her on numerous occasions, giving her the combat experience she had just shown to everyone. Her sparring with him on a regular basis had honed her skills a well. It was obvious to him that she had picked up the abilities over the two years of living with the chaos he had brought with him. While her power hadn't been as good, her technique had been far better.

It hadn't been his intention to go all out like that, but Akane hadn't let up. At first, he had wanted to just show them just how skilled Akane was before pinning her to the ground. That had changed when he'd seen her crater the ground with the first stomp. The male students at Furinkan were notoriously thickheaded. It was both fortunate that Akane had displayed such ferocity, as some might have considered her defeat as her throwing the match. At least a rumor of that type could now be avoided.

Ranma was proud of his fiancée for the fight they'd fought. She hadn't given up an inch without fighting at her best. And that had been performed while wearing the heavy clothing he'd given her the night prior. Now he just needed to build up the confidence in her own abilities. That was something that he was still wracking his brain about.

Looking down at her face, he felt the urge to kiss her pouting lips, but refrained from doing so. Taking such a reward from her while she slumbered would be empty. With a sigh, he put aside any other thoughts and headed to Tofu-sensei's clinic.

---

0900, Wednesday, 09 May

It didn't take long for Tofu-sensei to help Akane after he dropped her off for treatment. Ranma immediately left for the Tendo dojo to grab a change of clothing for Akane. As her eyes opened, Akane began remembering the fight she'd had with Ranma. The battle had been exhilarating.

This had also been the very first time that Ranma had ever laid a hand on her outside of practice where he'd used more force than light taps to deflect her blows. The fight had been entirely one-sided, with Ranma dominating. He had taken the full brunt of her kicks and strikes, showing everyone that he was able to do so, even making it look easy. Strangely, rather than upset, she found herself elated.

Tofu-sensei, hearing her restless shifting, came around the corner of the divider. He had an unpleasant expression on his face, as if he were upset. "How are you feeling, Akane?"

She flexed her fingers and tested her arms' mobility. "I'm doing just fine, thank you," she replied. Akane sat up on the bed. For some strange reason, she found herself unashamedly beaming at how pleased she felt.

"Ranma came in here saying that he'd just beaten you up and knocked you out." The doctor's displeasure was quite evident in his voice as he said this. He appeared oddly put out by Akane's expression. Behind him, she noticed Genma-panda peering around the corner, holding up a sign, [ ? ].

It felt odd coming to Ranma's defense for what he did. "It's not what you think, really. He beat me up to help me."

The troubled expression turned to one of confusion. The board behind him, which was now filled with more question marks, mirrored what Tofu-sensei was feeling. "He beat you up and knocked you out just so he could help you? That doesn't seem quite logical."

Akane laughed at the situation. "Well, it started at the beginning of the year, before Ranma and his father showed up," Akane began. From there, she proceeded to describe the events that had transpired concerning the challenge up to the battle she'd had with Ranma.

By the time she finished, Ranma had made it back. "Is Akane up yet," he called out, as he walked into the clinic's examination room. He was holding a bundle of folded clothing. Ranma heard the tail end of the explanation as he came around his father. He dropped the dress and blouse onto the end of the bed.

The men left Akane to get changed out of her dirty and slightly distressed clothing. They went to where the privacy dividers gave Akane the chance to change undisturbed. While Akane had been changing, Ranma explained the relationship between the working panda and himself. He included a description and a demonstration of his own curse. As before, Tofu-sensei took it in stride, even adding his own humor. Between the two's explanations, the chiropractor now had a better grasp of the happenings in the youths' lives.

"Uncle Saotome, if you don't mind, could you take my clothes back home with you when you go, please?" Akane asked.

Genma-panda nodded, [ No problem, Akane-kun. ]

"We need to get back to school. Thanks for everything, Tofu-sensei," Ranma said.

The two left the clinic in good spirits. Tofu-sensei's bedside manner and overall jocularity had always been a pleasant experience for them. Except, of course, whenever Kasumi had come around to send the good doctor into the stratosphere. When they finally made it to school, half of the morning had already passed. Workers were already repairing the damage to the area in front of the school. Both students skirted the work a bit shamefacedly. There had been too many instances of them destroying property throughout Nerima. After Ranma's arrival, the construction industry had become profitable as well as efficient at repairing the damage throughout the ward. Entering their class, Akane handed the note she'd received from Tofu-sensei in order to keep them from holding buckets.

Their classmates were quite subdued for the remainder of the day. Akane's friends were even more hesitant around Ranma. While they were somewhat jealous of Akane's popularity, they did empathize with her plight of having to fight every morning. Now she appeared to be beholden to a challenger that had defeated her in front of the school. Akane's former fears from before were now reflected in their eyes when they went outside for lunch.

Ranma continued sitting several feet away from the group, but felt even more ostracized as he was constantly receiving their glares. The daggers in their eyes and the venom in their remarks stung each time they were directed at him. He quickly finished his meal and went further away so as not to be the focus of their ire.

It was, of course, understandable. As far their classmates were concerned, Ranma was a complete stranger. His sudden appearance, announcement of an engagement and then beating up Akane was all too sudden. All of this had happened in the span of a mere three days. Even Akane's attitude towards the situation was confusing her friends. Her distress at the challenge and fighting the boys had been obvious. Now, after having been beaten, she was acting as if she were content with the results. It was no matter to them that she had been the one to tell him to do fight her in the first place.

As lunch progressed, Akane attempted to assuage the concerns her friends had for her, but it was having little effect. They were also miffed about Akane's previous obfuscation about their true relationship. From Ranma's perch on a tree branch where he could watch the group, he saw the conversation get more animated. Parts of the conversation that he could hear when the volume rose were not as kind as he would have liked. However, he trusted Akane to placate her friends to the point where his presence would be tolerable in the near future. The distance from Akane he was feeling at the moment was causing a painful pressure in his chest.

The remainder of the day, and the week, for that matter, remained relatively unremarkable. Having seen Ranma's defeat of Akane and the skill displayed by both, the boys declared their own defeat the next morning. It was reminiscent of when they had done the same after Ranma had defeated Kuno during their first go-round. Kuno had appeared and had attempted to challenge Ranma. Before he could get more than a few words out, a foot to the face had silenced him. The lunchtime routine was not as hostile as Wednesday, but Ranma refrained from joining them, allowing Akane to enjoy her time with them. Their evenings were spent working on speed drills for punches and kicks. Akane's limbs were sore from the impacts. Overall, she was quite satisfied with how the training was progressing.

There were no repeats of the dream from the first night. On occasion, Ranma and Akane were quite aware of each other's presence, they had yet to have their libidos been thrown into overdrive like before.

Unlike before, Nabiki had not started taking pictures of Ranma for her personal gain and profit. Without Kuno obsessing over Ranma's female side, she had no venue to exploit Ranma with, much to his pleasure. Ranma was cognizant of this, as he had been victimized for two years by her. He had yet to formulate a plan on how to deal with the issue should it begin again.

---

1630, Friday, 11 May

The end of the week finally came. They were excited to be going on their planned trip. So far, they had been able to show a platonic student-teacher relationship to their families. Neither of their fathers had pressured them into anything, snooped or caused any of the problems that had happened before. It had taken them awhile to get to the point where their family was monitoring their progress initially. Neither remembered exactly when that had begun. They hoped that it would take longer for the men to either show an interest or leave them alone altogether. It was an odd situation for them to not be bothered, yet they were content with the relative peace they were experiencing. Fortunately, there hadn't been any suggestions or allusions to them becoming 'closer' while away by themselves.

While their fathers appeared to be unconcerned, it was Kasumi that was proving to be a small roadblock. As soon as they returned from school, she was waiting for them at the door. Soun and Genma were not around, having gone out to have a little celebration of their two children's outing where they could bond.

"Would the two of you come with me for a moment," Kasumi requested. She led them into the family room and sat down, facing the two. Ranma and Akane followed her example, looking at each other questioningly. Turning to Ranma, Kasumi began, "Ranma, I do appreciate what you have been doing for Akane this past week. I haven't seen my sister this happy in a long time, even if she is covered in scrapes and bruises." The two subjects of Kasumi's scrutiny chuckled in embarrassment. Kasumi's tone turned a bit more serious than before, bringing them back to attention. "However, I want to make sure things are extremely clear. While it is true that the two of you are engaged, you still are not married. I do hope you're an honorable young man." The level look that Kasumi gave Ranma made him swallow nervously.

"Ah, yeah, I, um...Yeah, I understand," Ranma said, looking uncomfortable.

Akane came to his rescue. "Don't worry, Kasumi. I'm sure Ranma won't try to do anything. Besides," she said, giving Ranma a sidelong glance, "if he does try to, then I'll just knock him around."

Ranma winced, looking a bit hurt at the jibe. "Hey, I wouldn't," he started to say, but was interrupted as Akane continued.

"While we've only known each other for a week," Akane said, stressing the word 'week', "Ranma hasn't done anything that would be inappropriate. He's been more helpful with some issues I've had with boys lately, which I'm glad for." Her tone was sincere at how Ranma's actions had been recently.

"That may be true, Akane," Kasumi rejoined, turning her full attention to her younger sister, "but I expect the same out of you as well. You're quite inexperienced with boys and relationships, so I'm worried that you may get caught in the moment."

Akane blanched, then flushed in embarrassment. Their first night came to mind, and she looked down at her hands. Her fiancé let out a soft, nervous laugh next to her. Flustered at Kasumi's accusation, Akane fumbled about, "No, that...I can't. Um, the two of us have only known each other for...for a week." Though they had truly known each other for nearly two years, she couldn't admit that to Kasumi.

Akane's reaction was causing Kasumi some distress. The flushed appearance and her darting glances at Ranma were obvious signs of attraction. While she was gladdened at Akane's attraction to her fiancé, she also didn't want their relationship to progress too rapidly nor inappropriately. "I'm sure you two will do the honorable thing while away."

The two acknowledged the admonishment. Taking that as a cue, the two got up to leave.

Just to be sure they were ready, Ranma had their gear laid out, minus Akane's unmentionables, before they packed it all away. It had become a habit to ensure he would be prepared for any eventuality. Akane and her pack would be laden down with the extra weigh of her spare undershirt and stockings. She was also expected to carry the cooking gear, tents and sleeping bags while Ranma packed the foodstuffs for the weekend. Satisfied they were as prepared as they could manage, the two set out just over an hour after having returned from school.

Their first destination was the train station. They would take a series of trains to the outskirts of Tokyo, then take one that would carry them to the closest road to a quarry near the town of Sakaishi, just a little ways outside of Tokyo to the northwest. Time-wise, it would only take them just about an hour to get to their expected campsite.

The two chatted amiably about their expectations. It was a refreshing experience to the couple, as there was no outside pressure. They were preparing to do something that they shared an interest in, that of martial arts. Ranma described his own training in more detail as they sat on the train, causing Akane to have some trepidation of what she was expected to undergo. She tried her best to quash them before those fears could get out of hand.

Upon arrival at their final stop, Ranma and Akane hefted their packs, drawing concerned looks from those nearby. It was obvious that Akane was carrying the heavier and bulkier pack. There were even a few muttered imprecations directed at Ranma. Leading the way, Ranma headed out, following the road signs indicating the quarry.

Smirking to herself, Akane called out in a sing-song voice, as she lagged behind, "Wait for me, shishou!" Calling Ranma 'master', caused a small stir from those that had been talking amongst themselves. If she were his apprentice or student, then that was okay, obviously. Her loaded pack was, of course, a part of the training regimen. Ranma's straightened stature and ego would be knocked down later when she had a chance, of course.

It didn't take the two long to get to a vantage point that overlooked the quarry. Enormous trucks were parked in rows and machinery meant to dig and transport tons of rock were like the carcasses of behemoths strewn about the pit. The scene was reminiscent of times they had watched boys at parks and beaches with their bulldozers, dump trucks and other toys that moved sand and rocks to build their little castles. Scanning the edges of the quarry, Ranma finally spied a place for them to make camp. Motioning for Akane, he set out.

Before they would begin the training in the late afternoon, Ranma and Akane set up their campsite. It would be too much of a hassle to try to set up a tent when one's body refused to do what it was told while in the throes of spasms and cramps. Assessing the amount of light they had left, Ranma decided they had enough time to get Akane started on training. He led her down to a spot that had shorter tiers where she could leap up and land without too much trouble. Off to the side, he set some firewood down for the purpose of his own training.

"So, here's what you need to do. You're used to doing a running jump. That's not going to work for this." Ranma pulled out what looked like a set of shackles. "I'm going to put these on you and you're going to hop from this spot here and then jump up to the edge. While doing so, you need to focus your energy into your feet and legs. You have to keep moving. Once you get on top of the ledge there, you have to do the hopping and jump again. There are ten of these ledges that you have to get up." Giving her a serious and assessing look, he asked, "Do you remember what you did after you woke up in your wedding kimono?"

Trying to remember, Akane shrugged, "I yelled at Daddy is all that I can remember."

Chuckling, "Yeah, but you did a little more than that." At Akane's curious look, he continued, "You used one of your dad's ki techniques. You emitted the beginning stages of his demon head attack."

Wonderingly, "R-really?" For her to have used the demon head attack meant that she had been in the early stages of manifesting her ki aside from a battle aura.

"Yep. It wasn't as big or scary like his, but it was definitely there. I'd say it was at least five or six feet tall. Scared your dad out of his gi, that's for sure!" They shared a laugh, remembering that portion. Sobering, "So, since you've begun being able to use that, I think you should try focusing your ki down into your legs. It'll help when you jump. It might not feel like it you're doing it at first. And maybe you won't. But at least try. If you don't feel it by the time we're done today, I'll have you do some exercises tonight."

Encouraged, Akane waggled her head in acknowledgment. Returning to her exercise, she looked at what Ranma was holding and then at her targets. "What about going back down?" she asked.

"I was getting' to that," Ranma smirked. "That's gonna be the hardest part. It might sound stupid, but it's easier going up than it is going down. At first, you're gonna feel a bit dizzy. But you'll get used to looking down and jumping after a while. Just remember to roll when you're coming down if you don't feel comfortable. I don't know how many times I ended up falling flat on my face when I misjudged my jump and landed wrong. You'll probably have it under control on the third trip down." Ranma attached the shackles to himself rather than to Akane. "Let me show you what I'm talking about."

Ranma did as he had described, performing three quick hops, then jumping to the ledge above him. He could have cleared more than what he was demonstrating, obviously. He made another set of hops and a jump, momentarily disappearing from Akane's sight with the last hop before reappearing as he leapt to the ledge above him. Ranma turned around and indicated his intent to descend. He stopped at the ledge then dropped down effortlessly, hopping to the next ledge. He did so again, landing next to Akane.

"That looks easy enough," Akane remarked.

"Yeah, it is, for the most part. Having your feet like this will help with your balance, too. You can use your arms for now. Later, though, I'm gonna tie them up. That way you practice your balance some more. First, though, I want you to go up and down ten times. I'll go with you the first two times just to make sure everything is going okay. By the time you're done with the ten trips it'll be time for dinner."

Akane looked up at the obstacle before her and took in a deep breath. "All right, Ranma, let's do this."

The training was as much as she had expected. By the time she was done with the ten rounds, her legs were screaming in pain. Each jolt on the last downward two laps were excruciating. Ranma, as promised, had gone up and down with her for the first two. Afterwards, he had moved to a point where he could observe her throughout. After she had completed her fourth circuit, he set up a campfire to begin his chestnut training. As Akane performed her leaping training, she found that she was beyond counting how many times her feet had seemingly come out from under her, making her eat dirt and gravel. She did her best to perform her rolls. Each toe felt as if it had been stubbed a dozen times. Her arms were sore from the sudden impact with the hard stone and rolling over the scattered gravel that she had tumbled over.

When Akane finally made it down to the bottom on her last round, Ranma was patiently waiting for her. His expression didn't show any hint of praise or dissatisfaction. Kneeling down, he silently took the shackles off. When Akane tried walking forward, she let out little gasps as the change in movement pulled on muscles that had become accustomed to the hopping and leaping motions.

Taking pity on her, Ranma said, "Want me to carry you back to camp?"

Akane blinked in mild surprise and thought about the offer. Trying to keep her face as calm as possible but inwardly elated, Akane nodded. Ranma stood before her and turned around, offering her a piggyback ride. Akane mounted his back, feeling his arms tighten around her legs to ensure a stable ride. At this point, Akane allowed herself to smile, though she was blushing from the intimacy. While it wasn't rare for Ranma to show kindness, it was rare for him to offer this type of support to anyone.

Feeling a tad mischievous, Akane leaned forward, resting her head on Ranma's shoulder, facing into his neck. She felt his back stiffen when her chest came to rest upon his shoulders. While she was wearing a sports bra, it didn't completely hide the fact that she was, in fact, a young woman. She let out a contented sigh, making sure her warm breath wafted across his nape.

By the time they made it to their camp, Ranma was quivering. Had they not shared a night together, he would never have expected Akane to do as she had done. The leaning into him, laying her head on his shoulder and the sigh had just been the start. She had continued with her teasing with little noises of contentment and breathing on his neck. Even a few moans had escaped from her as she wiggled her toes and rotated her ankles to keep them from stiffening more than they already had. When he was finally able to set her down, he gave a shudder. It was one of relief and disappointment.

In quick order, Ranma started a fire and pulled out the dinner bento Kasumi had prepared for them. They ate in relative silence as the sun made a final peek from over the horizon before disappearing in favor of a moonlit evening. The snapping of the fire and chorus of crickets were a welcome melody for Akane. Tired from her exertions, she set aside her bento and felt herself nodding off. An attempt to shift her legs brought her fully awake in an instant, however.

Pain lanced from her toes all the way up to her hips. Her yelp of pain and surprise startled Ranma, who had been relaxing with half-lidded eyes. His lashes had hidden his lingering gaze upon his fiancée as he watched her eating in the firelight. Upon realizing what had caused Akane to cry out, he sat up and scooted around. He took one leg and propped it up onto his knee. "Just sit back. I'll give your feet and legs a massage."

Normally, Akane would have objected to being touched. Now she couldn't wait for Ranma's hands to be all over her. The pain convinced her that she needed the massage, making her glad for the chance.

Ranma's ministrations sent her into various fits of moans, groans, cries of pain and giggles. He started at her toes, which were tender. Moving to her arches caused a variety of sensations. There were tight spots but also areas that were ticklish. Whenever he found the latter, he would run his finger across it a few times, chuckling as Akane tried to struggle from his iron grip only to giggle, herself. The next set of sensations were excruciatingly painful as he found the muscles and tendons that were tightened like piano wires. His fingers dug gently into those areas, the muscles feeling as if there were little bubbles being popped inside. The tendons he strummed until they were finally loosened enough. He worked each foot until she could wiggle her toes without any pain. That, of course, didn't feel good in her calves and ankles, but those were the muscles he focused on next.

Feeling Ranma's hands on her calves did bring about another sensation to Akane. Her heart was beating faster and she felt slightly flushed. Never had she allowed Ranma to touch her in this way, but she was finding it so pleasurable. It was to the point that she was having trouble keeping her own thoughts from going places they shouldn't.

While he massaged Akane, Ranma wondered at the softness of Akane's skin. Her body was petite, tiny compared to his. His hand engulfed her ankle and then her calf as he worked the muscles. It was a marvel that such a small figure could contain the power she emitted. Never really having had a chance to touch her in this way before, he was amazed at the play of muscles along her lower leg felt under his rough fingers. Entranced with the feelings, he sought out knots and strummed her muscles delicately. He ended by stopping at her knees.

"How's that?" he asked.

Akane wiggled her toes and did a variety of other tests to evaluate the massage she had received. "Yes, I'm doing much better now, thank you." Wanting more, "You could, um, finish massaging me if you want. My thighs are still a bit tight and I wouldn't mind if you did it," she managed without a stutter.

With a sly grin Ranma asked, "You sure?"

Akane met his gaze with a sultry one of her own. "Mm, yeah," she uttered huskily.

"Um, okay." He sat up and scooted forward, reaching his hands out.

"Wait. How about I lie down on my stomach?" Akane looked around their campsite and decided that lying on her sleeping bag would be more comfortable. She pointed, "How about I lie down here?"

The two got up and moved to where Akane had indicated. She lay down on her stomach, pillowing her head on her arms. Ranma sat next to her. With relish, he began massaging her leg, beginning at her knee and moving up. He paused shortly after starting. "Just tell me when I get high enough," he instructed.

"Okay," she replied. She knew what Ranma meant. His hands were slowly making their way up her thigh towards her posterior. Both were nervous about how far they might go while alone in the woods together, but Ranma had provided her the means to stop him. He was just a finger's breadth away from her bottom when her courage finally failed her. "I think I'm good enough on that leg," she finally said. His hands moving up her body had begun to get her libido worked up even when she had mentioned they should be more circumspect. Ranma got up, moving to sit on her other side to administer to her other leg.

It wasn't till Akane was sitting up when her massage was finished that she realized her sleeves and face were soaked in tears.

Ranma saw the state she was in, asking worriedly, "You all right, Akane? If I was hurting you, you should have said something."

"No, it didn't hurt," she said thickly. "My legs feel much better, thank you."

Confused at Akane's tears, Ranma could only look at her. Finally, he asked, "So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Akane replied. "I mean, I don't know." No, Akane realized, she did know why she was shedding a cascade of tears. There was a tightness in her chest that would not relent. There were so many pent-up feelings raging in her heart that it was hard to contain. "Oh, Ranma," she wailed as she cast herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest.

So stunned was he that Ranma was unable to react at first. His fiancée was crying for some unknown reason right after he had helped her. Though he might turn into a girl with a splash of water, they were still an enigma to him. Slowly, he brought his arms up to her back, lightly embracing her.

It took awhile, but eventually, Akane was able to gather herself to some degree. "...so much," he heard her murmur. She pulled away from Ranma, looking him in the eye. "So much," she started. She paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She gathered as much courage for what she was about to say. "I love you so much, Ranma, that it hurts. It took me so long to realize it and even longer to finally say it. If-if we hadn't come back, I would have never..." Fresh tears and choking sobs cut her off. Again, she buried herself into Ranma, holding onto him tightly.

This scene was much like when they had woken up from their shared nightmare. Unlike before, it was Ranma's turn to provide consolation. He had only seen Akane cry like this once before. That time had been right after having her hair cut and getting over her infatuation with Tofu-sensei. Akane's weeping appeared to be another form of release, he slowly realized.

Akane's thoughts were a jumbled mess. She had been repressing the emotional toll of what had happened during the week, but now it was finally being released in a tidalwave. Their mutual bonds of affection had finally culminated. Her feelings aside from anger had been dammed up for so long that they were just now flooding out, washing away pent-up years of pain and suffering.

All of it had started with the loss of her mother. In order to keep from suffering a similar loss, Akane had kept others at arm's length. Anger had been her refuge, an easy path to maintain. Now, with Ranma, she could finally experience the love she had missed for so long. The very same love she felt for him was reciprocated. This bond they shared was beyond anything she could describe, but she felt it with her whole being. As she wept, the gaping hole that had been left by her mother's death was finally being filled in with the love she shared with Ranma. It was a warm, comfortable feeling that she embraced wholeheartedly. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother anymore. No, it was just that she was finally able to move on after all these years. By holding onto the past, she had been unable to move forward like she was doing now.

Akane shifted, positioning herself more comfortably in Ranma's lap. Her tears quelled, she felt the relief of these realizations she had just gone through. She murmured her endearments into Ranma's chest. For his part, Ranma could only smile happily and hold his fiancée as he listened.

While they didn't seem to mind staying like that, the two knew that things had to end for this night. Akane sat back up, raising herself up to meet Ranma's lips with hers. The kiss lingered on for a moment, followed by heavy breathing and then more kissing. Ranma rested his forehead on hers, smiling. Reluctantly, they mutually disentangled themselves from each other and stood.

Too tired to do anything else, Akane slipped into sleeping bag. Ranma helped with getting her feet into the bag and zipping it up halfway so that she would stay warm through the night, though not get too hot. They held hands for a moment longer before he went to bank the fire and then slipped into his sleeping bag next to her.

---

0600, Saturday, 12 May

Akane's dreams that night were some of the most pleasant she had had in such a long time. The combination of the workout, massage and emotional release allowed her to sleep contentedly. When morning came, she was quite refreshed. Ranma was already up and had prepared breakfast for the two of them. He set up a pot to cook their rice for lunch over the banked coals of their campfire after they were finished. It didn't take him long to clean the dishes and lead Akane back to the quarry.

For the remainder of the morning, Ranma had Akane performing a variety of leaping exercises. As she wore down, he allowed her to take a break, providing support to her in the form of massages and checking her feet for blisters and wounds. The work, like the night before, was grueling.

While Akane did her part, Ranma was doing his as well. His first experiment was to test his ability to manipulate ki. The golden ball of energy he summoned had a familiar feel. A few blasts and the rubble from shattered boulders were raining down. Unable to practice his Hiryu Shoten Ha without an appropriate heat source, he shelved the test of that ability for a later date.

Satisfied, he started another fire where he could practice the method of increasing his speed. Without the Full Body Cat's Tongue Pressure Point, he was able to withstand the heat from the fire. He was wearing the heavy bracers bought earlier in the week. He found out the added weight was helping to shorten the training time when he took them off to test his progress. While he didn't have Cologne there to train him like she had at the Nekohanten, he was confident he would quickly master the Kachu Teshin Amaguriken.

By the time lunchtime came around, Akane was quite worn out. As Ranma was preparing their repast, Akane was able to soak her legs in a nearby stream. She watched as small fish darted about.

A light shaking and her name being called woke Akane from her slumber. Apparently she had fallen asleep, slumping to the ground in exhaustion. Ranma's face loomed above her, a grin betraying his amusement. Her feet were numbed from the cold water. Pulling them out, she shook off the water and splayed them out in order for them to dry in the warm sun. Ranma handed her a plate heaped with rice and something he had prepared from their rations.

Before she knew it, she was finished with her plate. She looked at it guiltily, realizing just how famished she had been. Ranma's chuckle brought her gaze to him questioningly. He pointed at her face, "You're supposed to eat it, not wear it."

Akane tried to find it, but was ineffectual. Ranma saved her the trouble of searching by reaching over and taking it. He was about to flick it away when Akane grabbed his hand, pulling it towards herself and nibbling it off of his finger. She waggled her eyebrows at him, enjoying his discomfiture as his face turned bright red.

It was the little things like this that Akane had privately fantasized about, having read them in her manga or watched them on the television dramas. Being able to do this with Ranma was rewarding. She released his hand. Ranma's face showed a mixture of relief and desire. Unable to deal with his feelings at the moment, he abruptly stood, holding his hand out to Akane again to assist her in standing. She took it gratefully.

Again, Ranma made quick work of the dishes. He'd already set more rice to cooking. They headed back to the quarry for more training.

It was later that night, after more training and their dinner that the two were sitting and enjoying the stars and warm glow of the fire. Akane's thoughts were slow from being tired, but there had been a question she wanted to confirm the answer with from her fiancé. "Ranma, how old are we?"

Without thinking about it, Ranma snorted and said, "Eighteen."

Akane mused on that for a moment while Ranma turned to look at her quizzically. They had lived together for nearly two years and had celebrated their eighteenth birthdays. It was shortly after that they had gone to Jusendo and lost their lives. While their bodies were now sixteen again, their mental states were eighteen. "You know, that makes Nabiki my little sister now," she laughed.

Ranma guffawed. He was now older than Nabiki as well. In fact, Kasumi wasn't much older than the two of them now. "You're right. What do you think she would say if she knew that?"

Akane shrugged. "She probably wouldn't really care. In fact, she would likely use it to act spoiled and try to get more of whatever she wants." It was typical of Nabiki to do just about anything she could in order to get ahead. Especially when it came to money. It wasn't that she coveted it but instead used others to obtain it for whatever interest she had, such as concert tickets or expensive brand-name apparel and accessories. Of the latter she usually borrowed from Akane without asking.

In that vein of thought, Ranma continued, "Y'know, we could probably take our first and second year tests and pass them. That would put us as seniors." It would be amusing to see their peers and even some seniors flabbergasted by their sudden jump through two grades. Kuno and Nabiki among them.

The idea gave Akane pause. They had been close to finishing their second year when their last fight had transpired. The education they had attained was still fresh in their minds. "Do you think you want to try it, Ranma?" she asked eagerly.

"It's not really a bad idea," Ranma mused. "Who'd want to sit through all the same classes, do the same homework and take the same tests? There could be other benefits to skipping to being seniors." He had a hunch that such could be the case, even if he couldn't pinpoint them at the moment. "What about your friends, though?" he rebutted.

Akane had been with her friends through her elementary years. Leaving them behind by two grades would surely upset them. There were a myriad of pros and cons to the advancement.

Hanging out with Yuki and Sayuri outside of school had been one of her favorite pastimes. To a lesser degree due to their own clubs and interests, there was Mikoto and Shikako. There were the outings to shopping, playing sports and enjoying the variety of eateries throughout the Nerima ward. Their tastes and interests were, unfortunately, now outdated, in a way. At this point in time of their lives, they were two years behind her. She had already moved past what the current trends were. Now she was focused on improving her martial abilities, which would take up much of her free time from now on. Between the morning, evening and weekend training, she didn't see many opportunities where she could devote herself to her longtime friends.

There were goals she wanted to attain. Ranma's efforts and expertise would get her to where she wanted. Their relationship had advanced beyond the juvenile name-calling and jumping to misguided conclusions. There was a purpose for them having come back to live their lives again. She wanted to take full advantage of it. There were people waiting on them for help, even if they didn't know it yet. The two martial artists couldn't afford to waste the precious time they had been given.

Besides, it wasn't as if she were abandoning her friends altogether. They could still go out and enjoy each other's company when time allowed. There was the lunch hour they could catch up on their daily lives, trading stories of their escapades. For the time being, it was essentially them moving to another homeroom rather than changing schools altogether. Surely their bonds of friendship would survive such a minor inconvenience such as being in another classroom. Even the occasional weekend and evenings could be spent with them.

It was strange to be able to sit there and think of how she wanted her future to go. She was finding herself to be more mature and sober in her thoughts. She looked over at Ranma, who had become distracted with tending to the fire, banking and smothering it for the night. Knowing how each of them felt towards the other had lifted a weight from their overburdened relationship. Without the other girls around, their hearts had quickly melded into one.

While Akane had been thinking deeply, Ranma had been able to mull the idea over as well. The release of their English test results from Hinako-sensei because of the principal's idiocy had proven he wasn't stupid. Akane had scored quite well on it. With the limited time he had to study because of the craziness in his life, it was a testament to his abilities that he was able to do so well in school.

Her thoughts finally culminated in her answer. "I think we should do it. There are too many pluses to us skipping the grades if we can. Should we graduate a year early, we can dedicate our time solely to training. This will let us be ready for Jusendo or any other catastrophe we get pulled into. We might even be able to head things off."

"That's true. This time we can avoid the mistakes we made as well." Ranma became pensive. "What if they say that we can't, though? What do you think we should do to convince them?" Before Akane could become too distracted by her own musings, he supplied one idea, "We may have to reveal a few things like the curse and us coming back."

Akane wrinkled her nose at the idea. "Maybe, but only as a last resort. We would have to find someone that could keep our secret."

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "What was there to lose, anyway, right? So, this next week we'll have to add studying for exams into our schedule."

The idea was in place, and they would have to execute it at their first opportunity. Satisfied, Akane's fatigue washed over her again. She stood, gingerly walking over to her tent. She paused, turning to look at her fiancé. "I'm going to turn in." Reaching into the tent, Akane pulled out her pajamas and quickly changed in the cooler night air. Ranma watched, enjoying the sight. Noting his gaze on her, Akane did what she could to give him a show.

Ranma got up from where he was standing and pulled Akane close to him, giving her a deep kiss.

She closed her eyes, meeting him halfway. Afterwards, she looked up at him, smiling. They were getting used to this level of intimacy quickly. Their inhibitions were rapidly melting away to be replaced by a comfortable familiarity. She murmured a thanks as she slipped into her sleeping bag, leaving him to follow.

---

0600, Sunday, 13 May

The next morning's training went similar to the first. Akane was given her tasks while Ranma practiced at his fire. Their efforts were steadily improving their individual abilities, much to their mutual satisfaction. Instead of stopping for lunch, the two worked an extra two hours beyond. They would be leaving that day because of their need to travel home.

At long last, Akane found she was done with her exercises. She dropped the boulder that was slung in a cloth cradle on her back down to the ground. Its weight crushed several smaller rocks and sent others skittering about. Ranma was standing nearby with their gear. She wiped sweat from her brow and face. "I want to get cleaned up a bit before we go, if you don't mind," she requested.

Ranma smiled and nodded. "Sure. We can do that in a sec. Why don't you take off your weights and see how quickly you can get to the top first, though?" He looked up the hill and then back at her.

Akane followed his gaze and turned back at the same time as him. She grinned at the idea of this test. "Right." Her fatigue was mostly forgotten. Feeling bold, she stripped off her gi, followed by her heavy undershirt, stockings and bracers. There was nobody around to see her, so she wasn't worried about being seen by anyone else.

Ranma watched the sensual play of her muscles as they shifted under her skin, finding it erotic. He felt a little heat rise in his cheeks while he smiled at what he was seeing. Akane, pleased with his reaction, smiled back at him before putting her gi back on and tying her belt.

Stopping Akane before she could start leaping up, Ranma said, "I wanna see you jump from here to the edge and then to the edge of each shelf. No hopping like you were doing before. See if you can manage jumping up two ledges. Then three. If you can't, that's fine."

Her adrenaline was really pumping, causing her to bounce on her toes, raring to go and able to ignore her fatigue. With an acknowledging nod, she did just as instructed. Ranma watched her efforts with a clinical eye, assessing her efforts and ability. One leap was an attempt to see if she could make it up to a second ledge, but was unable to. Instead, she went well past, but ended up nearly smashing into the stone wall. Emboldened by this, she attempted to leap up three ledges, but found herself unable to. Only once did she nearly slip and plant her face into the ground, but that was when she had managed to make it to the top. After she recovered her footing, she made a leap for joy, whooping her pleasure. When she made it back down, Ranma's smile was beaming. Seeing this, Akane felt even more jubilant.

"That was great," he praised. "With you able to jump like that we can start working on the next phase of your training. If you were rested, I'm sure you would have been able to jump up the three ledges. That's about fifteen feet or so. I'm thinking that maybe you can begin working on the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken from now on."

This was the most praise she had received from Ranma ever. Jubilant about all that had just transpired, she leapt about, doing a happy jig and humming. After a moment of this, Akane stopped in front of Ranma and grabbed his head. She placed several pecks on his face while he laughed at her antics.

Calming down, she said, "I want to go get washed up real quick, and then we can go." Akane grabbed her backpack and headed back to where they had camped. Just a little upstream had been a small pool that wasn't too deep. She could wade out into and rinse the grime off of her body. Ranma stuffed her discarded weights into his own backpack and followed her partway, taking a slight detour of his own.

As she was cleaning herself, Akane looking back the way she had come, the thought of inviting him to join her flashing through her mind. Realizing that she had missed an opportunity, she berated herself. She could have bonded some more with him while they washed each other's backs. Then the thought of him changing into a girl while they were doing so crossed her mind. That would have prevented them from doing something they might regret at this time.

Her thoughts strayed to daydreaming, thinking of making out on the grass along the bank. She allowed it to play into them making love. When it abruptly flashed to Ranma's cursed form, she shuddered at the idea. There was a line she wouldn't cross. It had disturbed her that Kasumi and Nabiki had thought she was into sapphism. Just because she enjoyed martial arts and had despised the boys from Furinkan did not make her like other women. As she reflected on Ranma's curse, she found that many of the couple's times together had been quite friendly. A sort of quasi-girlfriend sort of friendship had emerged. Wrapping her mind around how she knew it was the male Ranma's mind while stuck in a female body made her do some mental cheetah flips. She would still berate him for his antics like during the duplicating mirror incident. That had been idiocy on his part when he had tried to compete with her to seduce guys. Ranma's ego was just too much, even for himself, sometimes.

Ugh, this is starting to make my head hurt.

Akane dunked her head and cleaned her hair, shampooing and rinsing it out, trying to wash the thoughts away along with it the dirt and sweat. Satisfied that she wouldn't be offensive to other passengers on their way home, Akane strode out of the pool and dried herself off. She changed into the clothing she had thoughtfully put in the top of the backpack beforehand.

When she arrived at their previous camp, she saw that Ranma was looking as refreshed as she had. Telltale signs showed that he had taken the time to wash up as well. Such as his hair glistening wetly and a clean set of clothing. As she walked up to him, he appeared to be putting what looked like a thermos into his backpack.

"I'm ready when you are," Akane said.

"You forgot your weights, so I put them into my pack."

Akane looked down at Ranma's pack. "I can put them into mine if you want," she offered. She had completely forgotten about them. The thought of putting on the sweaty underclothes didn't seem appealing.

"Nah, I think you earned a little relief," Ranma said. He shouldered his backpack effortlessly. "C'mon, let's go. I'm pretty hungry now."

At his mention of food, Akane's stomach gave a loud growl. They laughed together. "Yeah, let's go."

When they made it through the trail and onto the service road, Ranma slow down. He seemed to be in deep thought. He offered his hand to Akane. The action brought a memory back to Akane from when they had begun their return trip from Ryugenzawa. Pleased at the gesture, she took Ranma's hand, and they set off at a faster pace again.

When they finally made it to the train station, both of them were feeling ravenous. They got their tickets. Finding that they had plenty of time before the next train would arrive, they found an eatery nearby and had some soba noodles, slurping them up joyously. They returned to the train station, setting their packs aside, then relaxed and waited for their ride home.

The train ride back, while relatively short, allowed Akane to unwind enough to nap. They had only needed to switch trains once, which Ranma made sure to awaken Akane for. As soon as they sat down each time, they had clasped hands, with Akane laying her head onto his shoulder. It had only taken a moment for her to fall asleep.

Ranma felt a nervous tension as he was sitting with Akane. The first train ride had started out relatively unoccupied. At each stop, the number of other passengers had increased with each exchange. Some new passengers had taken note of the couple. The older folks had given him knowing smiles and nodded, many remembering their own experiences. The youngest would point to their parents, some laughing. He tried to manage his embarrassment by watching the landscape outside or staring at their hands in wonder. Being with Akane shouldn't bother him but his old habits were kicking in too hard for him to shake them. It was what others thought of them that was causing the reaction, he understood.

When they made it to the last stop of their train ride, the two disembarked. Akane felt refreshed while Ranma felt a bit frazzled from nerves. The two were not in a rush, but they did not dally on their way home. There was a warm furo and Kasumi's cooking they were looking forward to.

Upon their arrival, they found their fathers in the family room. They were relaxing over a game of shogi and drinking beers. Nearby, Nabiki was reading what appeared to be a magazine while the television was playing a game show.

Neither father bothered them about the weekend, much to their relief. Nabiki's prodding at dinner had allowed Akane to show some vehemence at the idea of them doing anything, throwing anyone off the trail of their amorous relationship. Distracting them from their wondering about how the two had gotten along, Akane described the training she had been going through in detail. Minus the luxuriating massages, of course. Those were private memories for her to enjoy for her private momens.

It was later that Ranma was lying on the roof of the house, gazing up the stars. He was feeling quite content. There was the sound of someone landing on the roof a ways away, the scuffing of their foot on the roof tile indicating they had slipped, followed by a muffled curse. Ranma smiled, but didn't say anything as he recognized Akane's first roof hop. She came over and lay down near him, pillowing her head in her hands while looking at the stars. She was beaming in happiness at her accomplishment.

A cool, northern wind ruffled their hair and clothing. After some comfortable minutes had passed, she sighed happily, giving voice to the same contentment that Ranma was feeling. "It's so nice to be back home. A hot bath and Kasumi's cooking is wonderful."

"Oh, so my cooking wasn't good enough for you?" Ranma teased. He smiled, as he was feeling the same.

Akane removed one of her hands from under her head, punching him lightly. "You know what I mean." They laughed. "It's so much nicer not fighting like we used to. If I had been able to train like this, I'm sure everything would have been much different." Ranma agreed. "I'm tired from this weekend. I think I'm going to head to bed." She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow and looking pointedly at Ranma.

Seeing Akane looking at him, Ranma asked, "What? Didn't you say you were going to bed?"

Exasperated, Akane said, "Dummy." She reached over and grabbed her fiancé's shirt, pulling him closer. Surprised at being manhandled in such a way, Ranma started to ward her off, but realized almost too late what was going on. Rather than blocking her, he instead wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling himself closer, and they kissed. She let out a contented sigh as they parted. "Much better. Well, see you in the morning."

Ranma watched her departure wistfully. The feeling of her lips still lingered, and he found himself wanting more. An idea popped into his head, making him grin. The sooner he, himself, went to sleep, then the sooner he would be able to see and kiss Akane again. Putting thought into action, he left the roof and went to bed.