"Of Loss, Life, & Love"
Chapter 8: Collisions
A Ranma Fanfic by Luna12


"Hey, Kasumi, have you seen my -"

Akane stopped mid-sentence, feeling overwhelmingly shocked and awkward at once.

Kasumi was openly sobbing in the laundry room. Kasumi, the emotional rock of the family, who took such pride in keeping a well-kept home, was weeping over dirty clothes?

All at once, Akane realized it wasn't about the laundry. The clothes in the hamper were her father's, and the brown gi Kasumi was clenching in her fist had been her dad's favorite.

Tears began to prick and burn at Akane's eyes, and she found herself struggling to regain control. Her throat felt suffocatingly tight, but she refused to let the sadness out. Breaking down in front of Ranma had been enough. She didn't want to think about her father's death anymore! Couldn't she just pretend that he was away on vacation? Kasumi's tears made the tragic reality impossible to ignore.

Akane placed a hand on Kasumi's sobbing shoulder. Her elder sister jumped in surprise. She had been so engrossed, she never noticed Akane's presence. Immediately, Kasumi began wiping her eyes, trying to hide her weakness.

"Oh, Akane, you startled me..."

"Oneesan..." Akane didn't know how to finish. They stood there in awkward, grieving silence before Akane spoke again.

"Would you like some help?" Akane lamely finished. It had been years since Akane had volunteered. Last time she tried to do the laundry, the machines flooded the room with bubbles from an overabundance of the wrong detergent.

Mutely, Kasumi shook her head.

Akane struggled for something else to say, something to heal her elder sister, but she could think of nothing. How could she heal her, when she was hurting too? There were no words equal to the task, so Akane used action instead.

Akane wrapped her sister in a tight hug and held on. Kasumi needed to know she wasn't alone. She needed to understand that Akane missed him too, that Kasumi's burden of hurt and grief could be shared.

Eventually, Kasumi pulled out of the embrace. She had stopped crying.

"I don't know what came over me," Kasumi began to explain, feeling embarrassed. "It's just that the clothing... they have his scent. I need to wash them, so we can donate them, but then... I would be erasing Father's presence. I-I-"

Akane took the gii out of Kasumi's hand and placed it back in the hamper. "The laundry can wait."

Kasumi nodded numbly. For once, it was Akane who needed to take on the comforting role.

"You've been working too hard," Akane scolded lightly. "Why not take some time off?"

Kasumi began to protest. "Oh, but I need to go to the market, and prepare dinner, and -"

"I can do that."

Kasumi eyes widened, slightly horrified. The image of Akane wrecking mayhem in her pristine kitchen was too much to handle at the moment. There were still scorch marks on the ceiling from Akane's last cooking attempt. "Akane, I'm making dinner, and that's final."

Akane pouted. How was she supposed to help? "At least let me get the groceries."

A weak smile graced Kasumi's lips. That was something her culinary-challenged sister could manage, as long as she provided a detailed list. Akane's ideas for ingredients and her sense of recipes was appalling at best.

Kasumi nodded her head in agreement. She looked at her "baby" sister, and couldn't help but feel a well of pride. She had helped raise Akane, and her temperamental sibling was maturing into a kind, responsible woman - even if she couldn't cook. Somewhere, she was sure, both her parents were also proud of them.


Shampoo frowned, feelings of boredom and frustration mixed uncomfortably as she eyed the fresh fish at the marketplace.

She hadn't been able to see her airen all week! Even though Nabiki had made it clear that Ranma was fair game to visit, he hadn't stepped foot outside the Tendo residence without accompanying Akane, meaning she couldn't go see him without breaking the promise Cologne had made with Nabiki.

Shampoo pouted. Making matters worse was all the time her Ranma was willingly spending with Akane. The posters advertising Akane and Ranma's martial arts lessons were everywhere in town.

Grandmother had tried to explain to Shampoo the virtue of patience, that acting too soon would make things worse, but what could be worse than Ranma and Akane together in the ice cream parlor, with Ranma in male form?! Shampoo had spied them through the window on her food delivery runs, and had nearly crashed through the wall to stop their laughter.

When did everything begin to fall apart?

Ranma had never succumbed to her advances before, but he used to be friendly. Ever since the battle with Saffron, he avoided her and pushed her away fiercely. The entire trip back from China, he refused to talk with her. She knew he had been angry over that little joke of hers to snap Akane's neck, and her bribing him with the life saving water for sex, but normally Ranma forgave her by now.

The attempted wedding from only two months ago nagged at her. If it wasn't for her (and many others') efforts to disrupt it, would she have lost her airen? The memory of Ranma in a tuxedo next to a glowing Akane, clothed in a beautiful white wedding gown, made her blood boil. Shampoo ground her teeth in frustrated worry. Akane wasn't yelling at Ranma as much as before, and the hitting was less. They would yell and argue, but it was not the same. They were getting closer, and Shampoo feared Akane was truly becoming an obstacle once more.

And obstacles were for killing, after all.

She would not return to China childless and ashamed of not consummating her marriage. If Ranma was infertile, her fellow sisters would understand why she returned without him, but to say she never managed to bed him! Oh, the taunting would never cease, to be scorned by an outsider!

She looked up from the stall of mackerel and stood stunned in place. Of all people, Akane was several stalls ahead of her. Why was Akane here at the market? Shampoo often saw the eldest sister with the too-happy face, but never Akane. She glanced around. Ranma was nowhere in sight, either.

A mischievous gleam filled Shampoo's eyes.

Akane turned her head and Shampoo instinctively ducked.

Perhaps things were changing in her favor after all...


Akane lugged her canvas bags filled with fresh produce down the street to her home. It was a quiet afternoon, beautiful fluffy clouds grazed across the sky, and the street was empty.

But Akane was not enjoying the summer day. She felt edgy, and had goosebumps in the back of her neck. She could sense that someone, or something, was following her. Akane had her fair share of kidnappings and ambushes, and of necessity she had become more wary of her surroundings.

She spun around, annoyance all over her face.

"I know you're there!" Akane called out defiantly to the air in front of her. She placed her grocery items neatly against the fence, and assumed a defensive stance. "So come out already."

Shampoo jumped over the fence in an impressive leap, landing after a striking display of acrobatic back-flips.

The Amazon looked Akane up and down, like a cat inspecting her prey.

Akane sighed. "What do you want, Shampoo?"

Shampoo made a show of examining her manicured nails, ignoring Akane for a few beats before answering.

"Shampoo bored. Want match?"

Akane crossed her arms. Something felt off. Shampoo hadn't challenged her to a fight in a long time. Why now?

"Some other time, Shampoo. I need to get these groceries home to Kasumi."

Shampoo's eyes flashed with emotion, but Akane couldn't tell if it was anger or excitement.

"Shampoo understand. Food-waster too scared to spar. Food-waster know she very, very weak."

Akane glared, and felt her face grow hot along with her temper. Part of her knew Shampoo was purposely goading her, that this was an opponent who had beaten her in every fair fight before, who had given Ranma a run for his money, but she didn't care. She had picked up a few new moves, and was eager to prove she could handle herself.

Akane cracked her knuckles in preparation. "The name is Tendo Akane. Or are you too stupid to remember?"

This time it was Shampoo's turn to flush red. Without hesitation, she attacked.

Shampoo bounced a series of rapid blows off Akane's ribs before she could effectively dodge or block. Fortunately, Shampoo wasn't hitting at full strength.

Shampoo stepped back, laughing. "So slow. Shampoo have to treat like baby."

Akane gritted her teeth. Shampoo was as fast as Ranma, and she had caught her by surprise, but Shampoo was also being cocky and overconfident. Akane could use that.

In a predictable and familiar gesture, Akane pressed an attack with reckless enthusiasm, shouting her battle cry as she lunged towards Shampoo with a roundhouse kick.

The Amazon girl yawned in theatrical annoyance, prepared to block the amateurish move. But the move she expected, the move she had seen Akane thrust and had witnessed a dozen times before, never came. Instead, Shampoo felt an unexpected impact on her nose.

"AIEEEE!" she screeched, both hands pressed against her nose. A flow of blood was pouring from her face. Akane had hit her?! Akane, that clumsy excuse for a martial artist, had successfully feigned then counter-attacked? Not only that, but the speed of that attack was close to her own Amazon superiority. It was as if she knew the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken. It was not something Shampoo had expected, and in her overconfidence, had left herself woefully unprepared to block.

For a moment Akane was also stunned. She had really hit Shampoo. Not some passing blow to an arm or leg, but in the face! She had heard the crack on impact and knew she had broken the Amazon's nose. For a moment, Akane felt guilty. As much as she made fun of Ranma for not being willing to fight girls as equals, she realized she was blameworthy of the same thing. She usually fought women in formal tournament matches, with strict rules on valid targets. Only when she had fought against males, or for her own safety, had she truly used her Anything Goes techniques without holding back.

Shampoo glared at her opponent. This was not the Akane she had fought before. Originally, she had planned a simple, humiliating match to put Akane in her place. In the past, it had been all too easy to provoke her romantic rival into a spiral of low self-esteem and irritation.

Not anymore. This time, Shampoo was out for blood.

Ominous thunder rolled in the distance.

"How about we finish this another day?" Akane offered, eying the black clouds rolling in.

Another day?! Shampoo spat and wiped her bloody hands on her legs, her training kicked in and she ignored the continuous trickle of blood from her nose. This upstart would pay, now! She had gone easy on her before, but this time, Akane would know what a true warrior could do.

Shampoo lunged with a kick combination that Akane barely managed to block. She grunted from the effort. This was not the 'baby' hits from before, but Shampoo's full strength, and Akane could feel the impact right down to her bones.

Pressure points, Shampoo strategized, were the best way to seek her revenge. Shampoo was still stronger and faster than the Tendo girl, no matter how much Akane may have improved with Ranma's guidance, but she also knew it would be a poor idea to exchange blows and give her foe another chance to get lucky. All it would take was a few precise hits to the correct nerve clusters, and she could render Akane a helpless doll. Then, she would take all the time she wanted to inflict equal punishment. Maybe even make her beg for mercy. Yes, that was what she wanted.

Shampoo spun away from one of Akane's punches and twirled gracefully around behind her adversary's back. She lashed out with extended fingers towards the Tendo girl's exposed neck...

Akane shifted her stance at the last moment. Shampoo's fingers glanced off the girl's hard-muscled shoulder, which was not her intended target.

Still, the blow caused Akane to stagger backward, a cry of pain escaping her lips. Hitting the wrong nerve clusters would certainly inflect torment, if not the paralysis Shampoo sought.

The Amazon frowned and danced away from Akane's counterattack. This was becoming more challenging than she ever expected.

It was time to take the battle up a notch. Shampoo waited for her foe to throw another kick, then dropped down and spun with a sweeping counter. She took Akane's feet out from under her and sent her sprawling to the asphalt. She waited a split second until the girl was in the midst of trying to rise to her feet again, and then launched into a savage three-kick combination. The first kick contacted her opponent's ribs and lifted Akane off the ground, but before she could continue, Akane managed to twist and somersault out of her range.

Akane was breathing heavily, clenching her side. This was Shampoo's chance! She lunged -

- and stumbled. Her fists transformed into paws covered in snowy white fur, trapped in the fabric of her human clothing.

The clouds had burst, and Shampoo the great Amazon warrior, was now a cold, wet, Persian cat.

Akane wasn't sure if she was grateful or disappointed that the rain had ended their match. As she had managed to get in a few blows and block others, she had felt equal to Shampoo, and was excited at the chance to prove herself. Yet, her aching ribs, shoulder, and arms told her she should be grateful for the rain delay.

Shampoo had managed to climb out of her clothing. She looked utterly retched and pissed. Even in her cat form, her nose was bleeding and slightly crooked, and her white fur was plastering itself in unattractive mats.

Akane bent down to her former opponent. She actually felt a bit sorry for Shampoo. The Jusenkyou curse was bad enough for Ranma, but at least he remained human.

"Will you be able to get back to the Nekohaten okay?" Akane reached down to pick up the girl's clothing, but Shampoo swiped at Akane's hands with her claws fully extended.

"Ow!" Akane withdrew her bleeding arm. "Fine. Get home by yourself!"

Sympathies would only go so far. Akane picked up her groceries and went home.


A loud "MEOW" bellowed from the back door of the Nekohaten.

Cologne suppressed a chuckle and fetched the hot water for her cursed grandchild. Cats were certainly ugly creatures when wet!

Since their curses, Cologne had the kitchen especially arranged to accommodate them. Towels and bathrobes were on the back entrance door hooks, above the large "pet" door at the base. A thermos of hot water was always ready at the counter.

Mousse was also in the kitchen, attending to pots of ramen and dumplings. Gentlemanly, he averted his eyes while Shampoo donned a robe.

"Whatever happened to you, child?" Cologne cackled, half concerned and half amused.

Shampoo's nose, although no longer bleeding, was bruised a deep purple and swollen to twice it's normal size. There were also bruises forming on Shampoo's shapely legs.

Mousse, placing his over-sized prescriptive lenses on his face, was stunned. "My dear Shampoo! Who has done this to you?!" Mousse continuing fuming, working himself into an insensible, overprotective tirade, shouting incoherently about avenging her marred beauty.

**Oh, shut up, Mu-su!** Shampoo raged back in distorted, nasal Chinese. She was in a foul mood, willingly ignoring Cologne's standing edict that she speak only Japanese. It was a policy to improve her verbal skills with Ranma, though it had little effect on her terrible Japanese.

Cologne gave Shampoo a disapproving look, and the girl switched back to Japanese. She pointed at her nose. "Ugly Tendo girl, lucky punch."

Mousse and Cologne shared looks of equal surprise.

"You're telling me that Akane defeated you?" Cologne demanded, her tone a mixture of curiosity, doubt, and disapproval.

Shampoo pouted. "No defeat, just... draw. Bad luck, rain. If not cursed, Shampoo win."

Cologne studied Shampoo's body language carefully. That wasn't the full story. Shampoo was not entirely sure of her success, and that, rather than her busted nose, explained her especially foul mood.

"Of course," Cologne soothed. "Though I have heard rumors that son-in-law has been training her. About time."

"What?!" shrieked Shampoo, giving her grandmother a look of shocked betrayal.

"Don't look at me that way. A worthy adversary pushes you to train harder and to better yourself. You've grown lazy here in Japan. The Tendo girl has always had the raw potential, and you knew it. Instead of moping, why not choose to train a little harder yourself?"

Shampoo felt angry and ashamed, but knew there was nothing more to argue with Cologne. She bowed her head to the elder. "As you say."

Cologne put a reassuring hand on Shampoo's shoulder. "Akane is decent practice for you, just don't let her defeat you... it would cause unpleasant complications if the Kiss of Death were invoked."

Shampoo opened her mouth to speak, then wisely closed it. The dishonor and gossip from not having consummated a marriage with Ranma was bad enough, but to have failed to fulfill the Kiss of Death would enrage her grandmother to the breaking point. She would face banishment, or worse.

Cologne ignored the awkward silence, attributing it to shame and embarrassment. "That's enough on that matter. Off with both of you to your duties. I have an important meeting this afternoon."

Shampoo sulked off to her bedroom to change, but Mousse smiled secretively as he stirred the pots.


"Tadaima..." Akane's weary voice drifted from the doorway.

"Oh good, I was worried you were caught in the storm-" Kasumi's mouth dropped open as she took in the sight of her baby sister.

Akane was dripping wet from head to toe, but that wasn't what alarmed her sister. Akane's shirt was violently ripped at her right shoulder, the exposed skin covered in freshly formed blue and purple bruises. Her left arm, also bruised, sported three claw marks and was bleeding. Minor scrapes and scratches covered both legs, as well.

"Oh my!" was all Kasumi could say at first. "Akane, have you been fighting again?"

Nabiki, who had been curled up in a chair reading, perked her head up.

"Whoa, sis. You look like something the cat dragged in."

"Funny you would say that..." Akane sluggishly handed the grocery bags to Kasumi. "Shampoo wanted to have a sparring match."

Nabiki's mouth tightened. "I see. Did you win?"

Akane shrugged, then regretted the movement as pain shot up her neck. "I guess you could call it a 'draw', due to the weather."

"Who started it?" Nabiki asked, her voice uncharacteristically intense. Akane was surprised to see her sister look so concerned. It wasn't like her. Even Kasumi had stopped fretting about Akane's schoolyard brawls years ago. Nabiki's usual response was to ask about the odds and start a betting pool.

Akane tried to laugh it off. "All hers. You know how crazy she is."

Nabiki didn't look relieved. In fact, she looked more worried than before, and it was starting to unnerve Akane. She recalled how Shampoo's attitude had so abruptly changed during their match. She had started off arrogant and playful, but by the end it was like she was taking that 'obstacles are for killing' line seriously.

"Well... I'm off for a long soak in the tub. Stop worrying, Nabiki. It doesn't suit you."

Nabiki watched Akane ascend the steps, warily. Akane had put on a brave front, but she was leaning heavily on the railing for support, her other arm clutching her ribs.

Nabiki found herself very grateful that rainwater was always cold.

With Akane out of sight, Nabiki snatched her satchel and put on her shoes.

"Nabiki?" Kasumi asked. "Are you going out? Dinner will be ready in an hour."

Nabiki flashed her best reassuring smile. "I'll be home in time, Nee-san. Just have to run a quick errand..."

...at the Nekohaten, she thought grimly.


Author's Note:

In regards to Ranma's learning curve in teaching: I've found from my own experiences that often the most brilliant people in their respective fields have difficulty teaching. Some of the genius professors I worked with in grad school were the worst lecturers and couldn't communicate at all, while some of the best educators were far less distinguished. Teaching is a very different skill set, regardless of the subject matter to impart. I hope I've realistically portrayed Ranma as brilliant but (at the moment) needing to work especially hard to develop good teaching skills.

Caia: I also believe Ranma to be honorable, so no worries on me taking that exact direction...

More Ranma/Akane moments coming up for next chapter.