Disclaimer - I do not own Ranma 1/2

Chapter 8 – The Talk

She was adept at jumping from her window now, landing easily with her knees bent, she continued to the dojo. "Alright, I'm ready. What are…"

"…that is not your gi!"

Akane shrugged, "This is cooler."

With the amount of skin she was showing and the fact that he loved watching her powerful muscles move, there was no way he was going to be able to maintain a soul of ice. It was a good thing he didn't really need it right now. He crossed the dojo to stand in front of her, a blind-fold, in his hand. "I thought we might work on your blind fighting as well. It will help improve your other senses. Sometimes you might have to fight in the dark or with the sun in your eyes. There are all kinds of things that can happen to make using your vision nearly impossible."

"Are you going to mask your aura like your father did?"

"Not today. We need to see what you can hear and feel first."

"Dad used to work on that a little bit with me. I haven't practiced it in a while though." She took the blind fold that Ranma handed her but didn't put it on yet. She wanted to ask him something first.

"Ranma, why did your father say I was a distraction to you?"

He blushed and looked away from her. "Don't worry about it. It is something I have to work on."

"But… I have never been a distraction to you before."

Chuckling, he pulled her into a hug, "You have always been a bit of a distraction. If you weren't falling off of something, you were nearly drowning or entering the battle. I have had to catch you more times that I can count."

"Oh I see, I am just a hindrance to you." She wanted to be irritated but he was right. She rarely did what she was told and stayed out of danger. "I'm sorry. You have gotten hurt a lot because of me."

"What is wrong with you?" He growled at her, "You are being too meek. You are not a hindrance." There were times he was irritated with her for needing rescued but he never thought twice about doing it. He had wanted her safe as long as he had known her.

"So tell me how I am a distraction so I can help. I don't want you to get hit because of me, even if it is only by our fathers." She nuzzled her face into his chest.

"Well I guess you can help. First you need to stop smiling at me, and then maybe make your skin less soft. Definitely lose the muscle tone in your legs and arms. And finally your lips… we have to do something about your lips." He leaned down and pecked her stunned mouth.

"What… you mean… how… I mean… why… or…"

He kissed her again to stop her stuttering. "If you are just now figuring out that I am attracted to you then you no longer get to be the smarter one."

"So you have to train to not be attracted to me anymore." She was crestfallen. She had gotten used to all the attention he paid her.

"Sorry… I guess you really don't get to be the smart one today," wrapping his arms tighter around her. "I just need to work on my soul of ice so that I can ignore it temporarily. I can't let it be used against me in a fight. Not if I want to still be able to keep you safe.

"Well then let's get back to training so that I can keep myself safe."

He leaned down and whispered, "I like catching you."

"I don't like that you have had to, I want to be able to do martial arts like you. I want to learn advanced techniques." She step back from him and tied on the blind fold. Stepping into her sparring stance she waited for Ranma to try and attack her. Keeping her breathing as quiet as possible, she listened carefully to the sound of his footsteps and breathing. She couldn't believe he was letting her hear him this easily.

Ranma didn't argue with her wish, in fact he had always been impressed by it. He tested her ability to track him by not moving quietly. He could see her head turn in his direction or she would shift to face him. He flipped over her, landing just out of reach of her foot that had shot out trying to catch him. Time to see if she can parry me.

He moved faster and faster around her, changing direction often. She still tracked him well, swinging out with fists or feet but not connecting. After a few minutes of this he began to invade her space, reaching out and poking the back of her head as he flipped over her or tugging her hair as he spun past her side.

She was getting frustrated; she hadn't landed a single hit. She felt his fingers tickle her ribs and then his toes tapped her calf. She knew where he was but he was moving too fast. Without the blind fold she could probably get him once or twice. Being blinded was slowing her down too much.

He could tell she was getting irritated with the training but she wasn't complaining. He admired the focus she had for her art and although she probably didn't realize it, she was doing much better than he anticipated. He decided to move quieter to force her to focus even more. He didn't increase his attacks, still only touching her in various spots. Right now she had too many openings but as he continued she was figuring out how to close them and she was starting to move defensively.

Trying to hit him wasn't working; she needed to be able to stop one of his attacks. She finally realized that by attacking him she was leaving herself too open to an opponent who could see her. Shifting her stance she tried to be more patient and catch his movements towards her body.

He gradually increased the timing of his attacks, coming at her swiftly and retreating away from her retaliation. He also poked her or tugged her hair a little harder; wanting to see if her ability to track him improved as her battle aura activated or if she lost the ability all together.

She managed to knock some of his attacks away but still had not be able to make contact with his body. So if this were a real fight she might be able to somewhat defend herself but not fight off her attacker. She felt him coming at her again and used her forearm to send his hand off course but his other hand contacted her stomach and pushed her backward. She stumbled momentarily but he gave her no reprieve. He was relentless and it was pissing her off and she knew her battle aura was rising.

There she goes. Now to see what she's made of.

She could barely hear him moving around her and she had no idea where he would hit her next. She felt his hand thump her shoulder blade and spin her around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blur of blue. That can't be right, I am blind folded. The blind fold hadn't moved and she had kept her eyes shut as well the whole time trying to focus on her hearing. She swung out wildly in her confusion.

Ranma ducked under her arm. That swing had no control. It might be time to stop before she gets too angry. He decided to give it a couple more tries before stopping her. He smacked her leg, smiling at her yelp, before spinning around to her other side.

Again Akane saw the blur of blue. This time she reached for it as it moved in front of her from her left. Swinging hard with her right fist she connected with Ranma's chest and was reward with a groan as he sailed away from her. She tore off the blind fold, staring in shock at Ranma sprawled on the floor.

"So how did you hit me? Were you swinging randomly?"

"Well, not really but I don't really know what I was swinging at." She thought he would think she was crazy if she said that she had tried to hit a blue blur.

"What do you mean?" If he was thinking right, she had glimpsed his aura while her battle aura was active. If not, it would be a lot harder to train her to fight against a highly skilled opponent.

"I'm not sure, I thought I saw something but that is silly because I was blind folded and my eyes were closed." She took a deep breath and described the blue blur. When she finished, Ranma was grinning broadly at her.

"That was my aura!" Ranma was practically bouncing he was so excited that she could see it. "You could really see it?"

"Sort of… It was just a little blur of movement."

He looped his arm around her waist, picking her up off the ground and spinning around with her. "God you are fun to train."

00000

Kasumi walked with Dr. Tofu, her arm linked in his, down the street waving and greeting people she knew. Most people kindly greeted her back and then sent an amused smile in the direction of their local doctor, who was currently walked very similarly to a robot. Everyone in town knew how the doctor reacted around Kasumi and only worried about it when they needed an appointment. If Kasumi stopped by the office with food, they rescheduled; it was simply safer.

Dr. Tofu was having trouble forming coherent thoughts. He rarely got to spend this much time with the beautiful woman currently on his arm. He tried a couple of times on the walk to say something, well anything, but he was having too much trouble forming words. She had always been a sweet, pretty girl and he wasn't exactly sure when he realized she had grown up into a sweet, graceful, lovely woman. He knew that since their mother died, Kasumi had taken on much of her mother's responsibilities and never appeared to mind. It was probably for the best that he hadn't worked up the nerve to ask her out on a date, with Nabiki and Akane still at home she would be unlikely to consider a serious relationship.

Kasumi was exceedingly patient with the man beside her; she wasn't worried about his strange behavior. She knew he was kind, intelligent and a hard worker. It was a lovely evening to be on a walk and she enjoyed the excuse to get out of the house. Her home was never boring but quiet time was something that rarely occurred anymore. She wouldn't wish for it to be different, she had just learned to appreciate the calm moments all that much more.

"Doctor, we are at your clinic. Thank you for the lovely flowers and for walking with me."

"Heh… heh… heh… Th… th…thank you f…f… for the c…c… cookies."

"You're welcome. You are always so kind to us. I enjoy cooking for you." Turning her sweet smile on him, she hoped he would be okay now that he was home. "May I ask a favor of you, doctor?"

She explained her concerns that Ranma and Akane letting their relationship move quickly and how she wanted to make sure they understood the consequences. Dr. Tofu blinked at her a few times and his expression grew more serious.

"Would you like me to talk to them?" He focused on her forehead because if he looked at her concerned, perfect eyes he would be lost in them.

"Oh no, I think I should. I had hoped maybe you would have some things here to help me know what to say without sounding like I am upset with them. They love each other so much; it is wonderful to see my little sister so happy."

"They no longer fight?"

"Hehe… not for as long anymore but they are still both a little immature."

"I think I have a few things that might help you." He turned and walked straight into his door, backed up, turned the handle and entered the building. One of these days I won't act like an idiot. By concentrating on gathering the items he wanted to give her he was able to behave a little more normally. He handed her a small box.

"Thank you very much doctor, I knew I could count on you."

He made the mistake of glancing at her eyes and then the even bigger mistake of looking at her lips. His mind fogged and all he could think about was getting away from her so she didn't see his silly behavior. Grabbing Betty he danced his way to the back of the clinic and up the stairs, leaving Kasumi standing a little perplexed at the entrance.

Kasumi giggled and walked out making sure the door locked behind her. She sighed quietly and walked home with a small smile on her face.

When she arrived home she took stock of where everyone was in the house. Her father and Uncle Genma were playing shogi, a quick peek upstairs told her Nabiki was in her room and combat sounds from the dojo let her know the two people she needed to talk to were sparring again. She went to the kitchen, made some tea for her father and his friend before heading to the dojo, box in hand.

Upon opening the dojo door both teens turned to face her. Ranma was spinning Akane around laughing and her sister was blind-folded.

"Put me down Ranma," As he placed her feet back on the ground she waved to her sister, "Hi Kasumi."

Kasumi couldn't help but smile at their antics. It was obvious they were having fun tonight and she was sorry that she had to disrupt it. "I would like to talk to you both. Will you bring over some cushions?"

"Um sure…" Ranma put his fiancé down gently and pulled the blind-fold off her eyes.

After they were all seated Kasumi open the little cardboard box in her hands and looked inside. She couldn't help but blush a little at the contents. Dr. Tofu had provided a few informational brochures and placed on top of them a small sampling of condoms. Closing her eyes, taking a deep breath and making a quick wish that her mother was here to handle this Kasumi finally began, "I would like to talk to you both about last evening."

Ranma wanted to disappear. Was she seriously going to give them that talk right now? He knew his face was red and all he could do was look away.

Akane stared wide-eyed at her sister. She is going to talk to both of us? She figured that Kasumi would find some time to speak with her and it would be embarrassing but not as much as it was right now. Her face was as bright as Ranma's and she too look away.

Kasumi knew they hated this and wished it could be easier, "I am not mad at you, nor am I disappointed in you. This is a challenging time in your relationship but neither of you have ever backed down from a challenge."

Ranma frowned and looked at her. She was sitting there smiling at them both as if she didn't have a care in the world. "Challenging?"

"Yes, challenging Ranma. You both are still new to the complexity that being in a relationship can bring. I think so far you are doing a wonderful job and helping each other since you came back from China. I think you both learned to value each other more." She saw Akane finally look her way, "Little sister, you are happier and even more confident than before Ranma came. The opportunities you have had to use your martial arts instead of just practicing them, I think, has been good for you."

Akane smiled at Kasumi and then Ranma, "Thank you Kasumi."

"You both know that the hardest things to do in life are the most important. Dr. Tofu gave me some information to pass along to you both. Please look at it and take it seriously. Some of it I am sure you already know but there might be some things that you don't." She stood up and crotched down in front of each of them in turn, hugged them and kissed them lightly on the forehead. "I love you both. Please be careful. Ranma, even if you and Akane do not marry, I will always think of you as family and you will always be welcome in my home."

They watched her leave, closing the door behind her, then stared at the box laid in front of them. Akane was the first to finally move, picking up the box and opening the lid.

Ranma saw her blush and knew the embarrassment wasn't over. Closing his eyes for a moment he tried to wish himself someplace else. "So… um… what's in there?"

Akane pulled out a brochure and looked it over. Its goal seemed to be dispelling myths about how to get pregnant. She handed it to Ranma and took out another. This one was aimed at teens and discussed reasons to delay intimacy. The third pamphlet displayed the rules and regulations regarding birth control. Last she pulled out the condoms and set them on the floor between them.

Ranma had no idea what to say. They hadn't really talked about this sort of thing but last night they had been rather caught up in each other, if Kasumi hadn't walked in he wasn't sure exactly where they would have stopped. He was pretty sure Akane wasn't ready to go all the way and he really didn't think he was either. He picked up the box and looked inside, there was nothing else to find. He wasn't sure what he thought he might find but he had hoped maybe the good doctor had included something to help him. Wasn't he supposed to be a man among men? How was he supposed to know what that meant when it came to relationships? The men in his life were not great examples. Happosai? He groped every cute young girl he could get away with. Pop? He is afraid of his own wife. He was a bit at a loss about the whole process, he knew the basics, they covered that in health class but movies implied that the man was supposed to make sure the woman enjoyed it.

They surprised themselves and both managed to read through the information the doctor had taken the time to send them. It would have been rude not to but neither could quite talk about it yet. Akane slowly placed everything back in the box.

"Um… I should probably keep this in my room."

"Yeah okay. Um Akane?"

"What?"

"I am really glad your sister is so nice. I thought she would be mad at us."

"Me too. Ranma?"

"What?"

"I'm not ready."

"Okay," He wasn't either but he didn't know what else to say.

They returned to the house and Akane went to her room while Ranma headed for the bath. She hid the box under her bed and waited for her turn in the bath. When Ranma finally knocked on the door he told her he was heading to bed.

"All the training today has finally caught up with me." He gave her a quick goodnight kiss and left for the spare bedroom.

Akane sat in the bath thinking about everything. Ranma was so attracted to her that it had become a weakness while he fought, Kasumi was worried they were going to have sex and Ranma had told her she was sexy. Maybe it was time for them to chill out and focus on training for a few days.

AN: No big notes to you today. Just have a safe and happy holiday season. R&R as you like. I like reading them :)