“This is what happens…now you’ve lost her boy, you’ve lost her.” His father’s voice lingered in his ears as he shook the dream from his consciousness. The distant memory pushing itself back into its place in the recesses of his mind. When he awoke completely he found himself alone in his dorm room, a condition that had been growing in frequency.

Ranma made his way past the sparring partners noting their amateur status. He slowed his pace while walking by Kenji and his partner. Kenji blocked the kick aimed at the side of his head with his arm retaliating with his own kick to the shorter boys chest. The boy went flying off the mat and into the wall. Dropping his defenses Kenji turned and watched Ranma head toward where Akane was coaching a female member of the kickboxing team.

Since the incident in their room she started ignoring him completely. She was hardly ever in their dorm room, she stopped going to lunch, never talked to him in class and bolted from the classroom before he got out of his seat. He didn’t really have a plan of what to say, but that never stopped him in the past.

The young girl was hitting the bag hard pausing only to nod after Akane’s instructions. “That’s better, but you’re still turning your wrist in.” Akane held the girl’s arm out before her removing the boxing glove from her hand. “If you strike with your fist like this you’re going to feel a tingling sensation throughout your tendon and you could sprain or possibly break your wrist.”

Akane proceeded to show her the correct way to throw a punch sending several punches into the bag.

“Still as tough as a mule I see.” Ranma smirked, but Akane kept her eyes focused on the bag. Letting her breath out slowly she drew her arm back and severed the sandbag in half with a single punch. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to watch, all silent. Ranma stepped back slightly eyeing her warily.

“Care for a match.” She asked stoically.

“Ah, I guess, if you like.” He’d been dying to see her fight since he returned, but somehow he doubted one of their ‘sparring matches’ would solve any of their current problems.

“Here.” Akane threw him a pair of gloves. He stared at them dumbly then watched Akane walk over to one of the mats. The young girl Akane was coaching came over and helped him with the gloves. She placed some tape at the base of each glove securing them to his arms, giving him a wink before backing away from the mat.

Slowly, he strode over to the mat standing opposite Akane his arms to his side. She glared up at him under her bangs taking up her fighting stance, her fists held higher than usual. ‘Yeah, she’s pissed.’ Ranma thought to himself with a sigh. He was ready, he would spar with her, but he refused to hit her. He had his honor after all.

Akane’s was first to strike as Ranma had expected. She lunged at him with her fist, already he felt a bit bored as he ducked her most predictable move. He was not prepared for the follow-up, a side kick aimed at his lower head. He was still fast enough to block, but he was surprised that she faked her first move. He smiled at her his arm still blocking her extended leg, she just glared back stinging him with her eyes.

The paced picked up from then on Ranma was hard pressed to stay on the mat while trying to dodge Akane’s blows. ‘She has gotten better, much better.’ Ranma was mild pleased that she appeared to making so progress in the art since he was away. Not that he expected her to give up on it, but he was continuously anticipating her to go back the fighting style he was used to and she was continuously surprising him by faking him. He realized he was seriously impeding his ability to win by taking Akane’s moves for granted. He had to make a few adjustments in his tactics in order to keep the upper hand.

“Have I ever told you that you’re really sexy when you’re fighting.”  Ranma commented with a sly grin, twisting to avoid a forward kick. Akane seemed to be struck off guard for a second. Ranma seized the opening without hesitation and knocked his former fiancée off the mat and unto her posterior with a hard shove.

“Do I win?”

Her face flashed from shocked to furious, jumping to her feet she seethed in open hostility toward the boy smirking at her on the mat. ‘OK, that’s enough he thinks he can just play with me!’ Akane tore at the tape at her wrist with her teeth holding the glove under her other arm she ripped her hand free, slammed the glove on the ground, then proceeded to remove the other.

“So, I guess we’re going to spar for real this time.” Ranma continued to grin tearing the gloves from his hands heedless of the tape ripping from his skin. The boxing gloves were tossed to the side, where the students glanced back and forth between the two combatants in awe that their coach had just been taken off the mat.

She was upon him at once, moving in languid, graceful strikes, holding herself in a cold demeanor that barely whispered the hostility he was sure she was feeling. It seemed she learned to rein in some of her anger in the last two years. Ruefully, Ranma realized that she had also gotten faster, making it harder for him to continue dodging in such confined space. One punch very nearly hit him. He pivoted to the side, then let his body follow her forward momentum grabbing her wrist along the way. Stopping sharply, then letting go of her wrist sent her into a spin sprawling her on to the ground.

A splint second before her face should of met the floor, she braced herself with her hands and sent her leg jetting up catching him in the jaw. Ranma was surprised to say the least, he attempted to dodge, but was still hit smartly in the mouth and was left savoring the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

He staggered back a bit raising a hand to his mouth his hand drew back, his fingertips stained with a few drops of blood. The crowd murmured around them, proud that their coach got first blood. Ranma’s pride would not let this continue. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he awaited her next assault.

Akane had risen to her feet, a light tingling sensation ran through her wrist to her elbow, but she barely registered it. ‘OK, Ranma let’s see if you remember this.’ Again she was lashing out as he nimbly avoided her attacks. She feigned into a kick then lunged into his midsection, fists flying. Her speed was much more than he’d expected letting her get in a few hits before he started to block. The students watching stood in complete awe as the two combatant’s arms disappeared before their eyes.

Seeing that she’d gotten as many hits as she was going to Akane jumped back to start the battle renewed and they were at the game again, but this time Ranma was blocking more than he dodged.

“Chestnut fist?” He asked blocking a high kick with his forearms crossed in front of his face. She grunted and nodded sending three more kicks into his arms before backing down. Ranma stood ready a wall of cinder blocks close behind him.

“That’s not all.” She said betraying a little of her breathlessness. She was lunging at him again with a single punch, but her aim seemed to be slightly off, she was going to just miss him. Being cautious Ranma moved an inch or two away from her strike, it was then that he noticed that she wasn’t attacking with a punch, but a lone extended finger. In an instant their bodies collided and his back slammed into the wall of cinder blacks. A minor pain compared to her body melting against his own. Why is it that fighting with her always seemed somewhat erotic, Ranma pondered as her lips grazed his ear.

“Bakesitenketsu.” She whispered her battle cry before burying her head in his chest. Whipping his head to the side he saw her finger strike the block, a blinding light filling his field of vision. Instinctively he brought his head down to hers, holding her upper arms in his hands.  The wall exploded behind him sending debris and a smokescreen up around the room.

The two were sent hurtling through the air, skidding across the floor on their sides, Ranma’s arms around Akane holding her arms to her side. They came to a stop just before hitting the opposite wall. Coughs and wheezing echoed all around them from the students assaulted by the dust cloud created by Akane’s breaking point strike.

“Are you going to hold me forever?” Ranma opened his eyes and found Akane staring up at him.

“Maybe.” He stated releasing her. As she rose to her feet, he rolled on to his back, his entire body aching from the blast. She’d obviously had the training to take the hit without much damage, but he’d protected her anyway. Rising up on his elbow dusting off his shirt, he started to wonder if she had taken that into account to begin with.

“Well, are we done now?” Just as the words left his lips a foot came crashing down toward his face. He dropped back on the floor catching her foot with both hands centimeters from his nose.

“I guess not.” Ranma grunted throwing her foot away. He rolled back and hoisting himself onto his feet, taking a hard kick to the stomach which knocked him back against the wall. He managed to block the next two kicks aimed at his face. She stood in place on one leg unleashing kick after kick at the speed of her chestnut fist. Ranma was able to block most, but more and more were getting through, taking all of the force of her bakesitenketsu was taking its toll on his reflexes.

Momentarily, Ranma considered changing into a girl to get some extra speed, but his strength in his female form probably couldn’t stand up to the girl in front of him. He didn’t exactly relish in changing before all these witnesses even if he could conveniently find a splash of cold water. Li-Li and Fuji, once he came out of his catatonic state,  had kept their word and hadn’t told anyone about his curse. Not wanting to be the campus freak by the end of the day, he banished the idea from his mind all together.  (rewrote the bit with Fuji & Li-Li discovering Ranma's curse in part 5, Fuji was shocked into a trance for a short time)

He realized that he was seriously hindering himself by not returning her blows, even at a lesser level. She vastly improved in his absence, her speed, her stamina and strength had increased exponentially and she’d also gained some strategy knowing that he’d underestimate her. Still he had his conscience to live with and he refused to strike her. Things needed to come to a conclusion and soon, he had his reputation as a martial artist to think about.

She couldn’t be looking for an all out knockout, he summarized. He’d only needed a show of superiority, as he had in their first match, of course he needed more than to tag her on the nose to settle this match. First things first, Ranma decided being pinned to the wall by her kicks was not the way to win the upper hand, it was time for some sacrifices.

For her part, Akane was really getting into dishing out the punishment even if he was blocking most of her kicks. Deciding to switch to punches she dropped her leg back and through her upper body at him arms blurring in motion. To her amazement more of her punches were landing on his stomach and chest, but her arms were starting to sting. Sparing a second to glance down she noticed a few small red marks developing on her forearms.

Ranma was now moving toward her, away from the wall he’d been pinned to and the little welts started to move up her arms. She looked up to find Ranma smirking at her and she began to loose her composure, slipping into a blind rage.

Moving his pinch attack to the more sensitive skin of her sides, she began to flinch and tried to cover the assaulted areas. When she growled out in frustration, he knew he had her. His hand surrounded one of her wrists as she started to strike out blindly and her started to move her around into an intricate dance, keeping his hold on her. The moves he was forcing her into seemed to infuriate her further, she felt herself shaking with unbridled fury.

He was twirling her around him as she tried in vain to hit him. Suddenly he had her other wrist clutched in his hand, both arms behind her back pressing her against the wall. 

“Can we stop this now?” He pleaded with her in a loss of patience.

Akane only saw red, pain and anger wrenching through her body. ‘It wasn’t enough he left me alone, but to screw around with Shampoo and now he’s just playing around with me. Never taking me seriously, and after everything I did for him, all I’ve gone through…’ Now she found herself pinned by his body, her own body continuing to shake, a fiery heat radiating between them. She glared up into his eyes, tears glistening in the fluorescent lights of the gym.

“How…how could you?” She chocked out. Feeling beaten, Ranma’s hands slowly slipped from her wrists. They starred at each other painfully for a few minutes. Akane glanced around wiping her eyes quickly before any of her team saw their coach crying.

“Nice match, Ranma.” She said bowing to him quickly, and then brushed past him toward the locker room.

“Wow, that was great!” The girl Akane had been coaching gushed.

“Coach, you’re as good as he is!” Kenji agreed, standing at Akane’s side as she stopped momentarily.

“Hmph, I’m not even close.” Akane said throwing a look over at Ranma, who was busy staring at the floor miserably.

“But-but he barely won. You could have taken him if you hadn’t stopped.” He assured her confidently.

“Ranma never barely wins, he just always wins.”

She stepped past the puzzled students and pushed through the door to the girls’ locker room. The rest of the team continued to practice and clean up after her fight, so she was left alone to wash up. She threw off her clothes and reached for the shower trying to keep the torrent of emotions under control. Wiping an errant tear from her cheek now and then. She was able to calm down under the hot water of the shower, she stood under the stream for several minutes just letting her mind go blank and her muscles relax. She listened to a couple girls enter, change and leave the locker room as she dried herself off in the shower stall. When she came back out to her locker she was alone once again with her thoughts.

Slowly, she pulled her clothes out of her gym bag running the fight over again in her mind. She used every advantage she could think of, all her techniques and she’s still lost. He had underestimated her, as she knew he would, but she still couldn’t get the upper hand. She had deserved to win, that she was sure of, he owed her that much. She concluded it would have been an empty win anyway. Built up as it was in her mind, two years of training in a vain attempt to get back something from him. Something she barely realized she had given him. She shook her heads looking down at her sneakers. It was all over now, any chance she had of getting it was lost, as was her element of surprise. He would never underestimate her again. A smile crept up into her face, through it all she took some small pleasure in that fact and continued to dress.

She pulled on a snug pair of black jeans and an over sized light gray sweatshirt bringing her knees up to her chest to slip on her thick white cotton socks. Gently a knocking on the locker room door drew her attention.

“A-Akane?” The door opened slightly, but no one entered.

“Come on in, Ranma.” She sighed pulling both legs up to her chest as she sat on the bench. He poked his head into the room wearily.

“You decent?” She nodded. “Nobody else in here?”

“It’s safe, Ranma.” She responded in a tired voice. Finally, he entered the room still looking about.

“So, that was a good workout.” Ranma started uncomfortably still feeling troubled by the way she was looking at him at the end of the match. “You really took me by surprise there. How the heck did you manage to learn the chestnut first? Cologne went back to China with Shampoo and Mousse, the same time I left.”

“I was there when Cologne showed you.” Ranma was dumbfounded he had never imagined that Akane would improve so much in the time he was gone. Truth be told, he really hadn’t expected her to improve much at all. The only training he saw her doing was jogging and breaking cement blocks.

“Why didn’t you try it back then?”

“I was afraid.” Akane said hesitantly turning her gaze from Ranma’s confused face to putting things away in her bag. “Don’t ask me why, I just was. I have no other explanation. I was afraid and then suddenly I wasn’t.”

She shrugged her shoulders looking thoughtfully into her bag. ‘You went away and I stopped feeling anything at all.’ She looked up at him a lonely vacant look on her face. “Didn’t think I had it in me, eh?”

“No, I mean-” Ranma struggled with the words in his mouth finally giving up with a sigh. “I guess I didn’t, but I was wrong.”

She nodded solemnly, so many things flooded her mind competing for her attention. She left the conversation that raged in her mind unsaid and started toward the door slinging her bag over her arm. Silently a frustrated Ranma followed, why was she acting like this again. So distant, hadn’t they started over, hadn’t they been friends…

He wanted to shout at her all his feelings and frustrations from the past two years. But what would he say? He loved her, he hated her…he missed her? She’d hurt him more than any martial artist could ever have. His shoulders slumped over with the weight of his thoughts. He’d abandoned her…she’d dumped him. The whole thing was exhausting and he was so tired. When he came to live with her he was tired of not having a home and now after having a home and being forced to leave, he was tired of missing it.

Friends.

“Akane.” He said almost desperately, turning her away from the door before she could open it. “Look about… I mean…”

He was completely at a loss as to what to say. How could mere words break the insurmountable divide between them?

“Well after all this time and all that’s happened…we were friends, ARE friends, right?” Why did he feel like he was losing her all over again? He could deal with friends, he could forget everything, as long as he had her in his life.

“Friends?” She said to herself out loud. He seemed somewhat pitiful looking at her the way he was.

“Friends.” She repeated as an affirmation.

Neither was sure who reached out first, but they were in each other arms, holding each other tightly. Ranma buried his face in her hair nuzzling her shoulder and neck, breathing in the scent of her freshly washed hair deeply, a feeling of relief rushed through his body leaving him light headed.

‘Friends.’ Akane repeated over and over in her head as a stream of tears slowly rolled down her cheek. She wept for the loss of an engagement and shed tears of joy for the chance to start again.

Epilogue to Part VI

“So you learned the Kachu Tenchin Amagurikan from Cologne, indirectly. Ryoga must have taught you the breaking point, that dog he never told me.” He drew away from her wiping the tears from her cheek with a frown.

“I asked him not to.” She sniffled lightly, their arms still resting around each other.

“What else did you learn?” Ranma moved the hand from her cheek to push her hair back over her ears.

“Well,” She looked up for a moment clearing her throat, before looking back into his eyes. “I practiced with your father every morning after you left.”

Ranma’s eyes grew large at the thought of some of his father’s ‘training’ techniques.

“That was interesting.” She chuckled and Ranma began to laugh when the shock wore off.

“Did Ryoga, teach you how to focus your chi?” Ranma said taking her bag from her shoulder as she turned to the door.

“No, we were just starting, I wasn’t very good at focusing. Recently, he’s been too busy with Ukyo to show me anything.”

“Well, I guess its time that I started to show you.” He sighed slipping his arm around her shoulder, leading her outside.

“Really?” She squeaked raising herself onto her toes tugging at his shirt.

“Sure, I can show you some other stuff too.” She smiled up at him her previous depression forgotten and he felt like the most influential man of the planet. 

More links for you, if you like this story then check out Nerima Episodes and Daigakusei no Ranma