These wonderful ideas belong to Rumiko Takahashi, our brilliant leader. I am 
just a humble writer, have pity! ^_^ enjoy!


cheese productions presents . . . Blind Desperation 
	It was another typical day in Nerima  . . . .well as typical as Nerima could get.
	Fists flew about, seemingly thousands in number, with deadly precision in a matter
of a few seconds.  Each was well placed and delivered with speed to make a V8 corvette
jealous, not to mention the incredible concentrated strength behind each of them.  Ranma
was sure the receiving end noticed the strength as well.  *Raindrops on roses and whiskers
on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up
with string ...  these are a few of my favorite things.  Cream colored ponies and crisp*
Ranma silently hummed in his head while he dodged the clumsy strikes of his opponent
with a graceful bound in the air.  *Hmm, I’ve always liked the Sound of Music, and boy
can Julie Andrews sing* thought Ranma as he easily dodged a chop aimed to his head and
quickly snapped his slippered foot into the soft belly of his adversary.  *Hmmm, his soft
belly reminds me of.... Jello!  I’m hungry.  Okay, time to deliver the ending line and the
finishing move to go with it, I’m hungry* thought Ranma wearily, really these daily
challenges from people who came from various corners around the world were starting to
bore him.  *Jeez, if they were going to travel this far, couldn’t they have the grace to put
up at least a little fight?*  
	Ranma took a glance at his opponent, a short boy with a shock of wild brown hair
that stood on its ends.  Accompanying the intelligent look in his eyes, the boy wore a
white lab coat whose edge barely missed the floor.  He was a mad scientist claiming the
hand of Akane . . .  again.  *Really, * thought Ranma *can’t these stupid challengers even
think of original motivations?  Or at least normal ones, fighting for Akane?  Yech!  Then
maybe I wouldn’t get so mad fighting the lot of them.  I thought my curse was, ‘may you
live in interesting times.’  Well, I guess not, because this is bland.*  All this was thought in
the moment when Ranma struck a pose in the bright sunlight of the street, his shoulder
thrown forward and his chin lifted high;  he was a picture of grace.  He dimly
acknowledged the presence of Akane to his side, faithfully carrying his bookbag as the
incredible strength coiled in his muscles, gathering momentum every second he stood.  
	Without a sound, Ranma leapt in a wide arc slowly ascending and his weight
throwing him sharply down on the descent for the kill while his pigtail flapped wildly in the
wind.  *This fight’s over* Ranma thought in the air as he darted through the air, bringing
his leg back and around in a perfectly executed back hook kick.  His eyes focused intently
on his opponent on the street, unaware of his impending doom, Ranma’s mind relaxed as
he prepared for the impact of finishing blow.  To his surprise, the boy threw up his hand
and a veil of fine blue dust hung in the air, Ranma’s mind didn’t register anything.  Time
slowed down as Ranma went hurtling to the ground, his foot still hit his target but instead
of landing gracefully to his feet, Ranma hit the black asphalt of the street with an
unceremonious thud.  The only thing Ranma could think was *Ow, my toosh hurts*
before his long friend and brother claimed him into the black unconscioussness he had
learned to welcome over the years.  
	Akane watched from the sidelines, she admired Ranma’s form as he went soaring
through the air with his back hook kick, connecting perfectly with the boy’s chest.  *Good
thing he aimed for the chest, a knock to the head would have killed the boy. . . . but I
guess that was all part of Ranma’s plan*  
	Sometimes Akane wondered at the proclaimed stupidity of the pigtailed martial
artist when he showed such cunning and fore-thought in his fights.  The blue dust barely
caught her attention until she saw her fiance on the floor, unconscious.  Sure, she’d seen
him unconscious plenty of times, heck, she was usually the cause of it, but a sickening
lurch came to her stomach at the sight of Ranma on the floor untouched.  A quick panic
grabbed a hold of her as she rushed to Ranma’s side.  She quickly observed the
unconscious and bruised scientist and disregarded him as she knelt by Ranma’s side.  After
giving him a few shakes that made the earthquakes that hit Tokyo jealous, she knew
Ranma wasn’t going to be awake for a while, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she
found Ranma’s pulse beating strong and steady.  She quickly doused Ranma with water
supplied by the lady who faithfully cleaned the sidewalk everyday and hefted the lightened
load of Ranma-chan on her shoulder as she ran home, muttering, “Baka, making me carry
you home,” the whole time.  

	*Ahhhh, I haven’t slept that well since...  I’ve never slept that well.  How great! 
Ahhh, maybe for once I’ll be prepared for all the weird stuff that happens to me.  Hahah,
fat chance, am I ever prepared?* thought Ranma, his good mood rising with every
moment he spent awake.  He took in the morning’s peace with great satisfaction, soaking
up every asset he could take from the beautiful morning.  He heard the sound of crickets
just beyond the window, playing a cheerful melody accompanying the harmony of the
gently clinking dishes downstairs.  The gentle hum of Kasumi settled Ranma’s mind into
ease and he could hear the distant honking of a vendor’s truck.  Food.  He smelled the
savory aroma of one of Kasumi’s great breakfasts, the fresh scent of newly cooked rice
mixed in with the slight salty tang of the miso soup.  All the smells of spring burst from his
window, he took a deep breath of the fresh cut grass and pleasant laundry detergent smell
which he inhaled from his futon.  He could feel the light breeze which swept across his
naked back and down his bare legs, drying up the sweat of his night’s rest.  His soft pillow
gently rubbed against his cheek as he nuzzled his face into it, relishing the comfort.  He
could feel shafts of light reaching it’s eager fingers toward his back and warming up his
legs.  Ah, what a great morning.
	*That’s enough dawdling, time to get up and eat* Ranma eagerly thought with a
grin on his face.  He slowly opened one eye, and then the other.  Something was definitely
wrong.  Fear gripped his stomach and twisted it into thousands of tangled knots and the
pressure in his head grew and grew.  He panicked only one thought running through his
mind, over and over again with a wild desperation.  A cold sweat broke down his neck and
forehead, soaking his pillow and futon.  Ranma let out ragged breaths cautiously inhaled
and exhaled, shaking his chest in spasmodic quivers.  He was trying to stay calm while
scanning his surroundings, that was just it.  He couldn’t scan his surroundings, he couldn’t
see.  Ranma Saotome was blind.
	Unconsciousness slowly crept over him, submerging his thoughts into a black
abyss.  The last lingering and equivocal sliver of thought was *I’ll never see her smile
again.*  
	Akane watched from the doorway as Ranma slowly slipped into unconsciousness
again with a panic in her stomach.  She soon reappeared at Ranma’s doorway with
Kasumi in tow.  Kasumi quickly rushed to Ranma’s side, administered smelling salts, and
when they worked to no avail, she hurried downstairs to call Doctor Tofu.  

	Ranma’s mind was a haze, the cloud lifted slowly, the first thing he felt was cool,
soft fingers brushing against his cheeks and forehead as a soft, wet cloth was firmly
pressed to his forehead.  He took a sniff at the air and could smell her shampoo.  Akane. 
Her small hand slowly and methodically dragged the cloth over Ranma’s cheekbones and
across his nose.  She lifted it again to redampen the cloth and deliberately ran it over his
closed eyelids.  She dropped the cloth in a sudden movement when she saw Ranma’s eyes
open, but not with the same confident glance she was so used to.  His eyes were glazed
over, frantically falling from place to place across the room, never focusing on anything. 
It had a wild and disoriented look which scared Akane.  
	“Ranma . . .” Akane eagerly uttered, her voice trailing off.  
	“Akane.”  Ranma’s voice was cold.  “Please leave the room.”  He almost broke
down into sobs as he finished off his sentence.  
	“What’s wrong, Ranma?” asked Akane, genuinely confused by Ranma’s actions. 
Why was he acting so cold, and why did it look like he was going to cry?  This was just
too strange.  The usual caustic remark that was ever ready died on her lips.  She ignored
the tears which were wetting his eye lashes, not wanting to embarass Ranma.  It was
hardly a time to tease Ranma for crying.
	“Akane.  Leave . . . Now.  Get out!”  Ranma was almost screaming.
	“Fine Ranma, I’ll leave, but I’m getting Tofu-sensei,” Akane quickly replied. 
“Wait here, I’ll go get him, don’t move.”  Akane was geniunely concerned, *if Ranma is
panicing, I think I have good reason to as well.*  
	Akane was geniunely surprised, Ranma never yelled at her without provocation. 
This can’t be good, she though.  She raced downstairs, grabbed Doctor by his hand and
dragged him up the stairs without a word.  She pushed him into the room, then took a
post in the doorway, wanting to obey Ranma’s wishes.  
	“Akane, please close the door,” Ranma said in his tight voice.  Akane was hurt,
she had thought Ranma trusted her now.  *I guess I was wrong.*  She quietly closed the
door behind her and tried not to sob.  She wrinkled her brow as she returned to her own
room to let out her salty tears into her pillow.

	There was a gentle rapping on her door which awoke Akane out of her reverie. 
She sat holding her pillow to her stomach on her bed as she mumbled, “come in.”  The
door tentatively opened revealing Tofusensei.  He didn’t look to worried, only a little
concerned.  Before Akane could ask, Tofu started talking.
	“Akane, Ranma’s going to be fine, he’s just going to need a lot of help the next
day or so.  I don’t think he is going to react well to receiving help from anyone except
you.”  
	“Doctor, what’s wrong?  Please, tell me!  I’m going to scream if you don’t tell me! 
I can’t take the suspense.”  Akane urged.    
	Tofu carefully wiped his glasses on his gi and esconced them on his nose as he
firmly told Akane, “Akane, Ranma is blind.”   
	Shock took Akane as she sunk back onto her bed which she had jumped off of
when Tofu had entered.  “Wha... What?”  She couldn’t imagine the great grey blue eyes
which always held the confident look not being able to see anything anymore.  She
thought about all the things Ranma couldn’t do anymore, no more fighting.  Poor Ranma
she thought, a silent tear forming at the corner of her eye and gently coursing down her
cheek.  She resolved to help Ranma all she could, no matter what smart aleck comments
escaped his mouth.  
	Tofu silently studied Akane’s face, and observed the tear coursing down her face
before she could hastily wipe it away with her sleeve.  “Akane, I think you misunderstood. 
It’s not permanent, it’ll be gone, hopefully by tomorrow thanks to Ranma’s healing
capabilities, I’m just worried that Ranma will not take blindness well, not even temporary
blindness.  I want you to give him all the support you can.  This means no fighting, Akane. 
Can you promise me that?”  
	“Dr. Tofu, Ranma is angry with me.  He doesn’t want to speak to me, much less
help him.”
	“Akane, you can’t depend on the way Ranma acts.  He’s not in a pleasant
circumstance, and we all need to be a little bit more understanding.  You have to promise
me that you will not fight with him and try to understand.  I guarantee you can bash on
him all you want as soon as he is recovered, I don’t think he could bounce back
emotionally if he doesn’t have someone to understand right now.  If he’s handicapped
emotionally, it could lead to serious physical problems . . .do you understand?  Promise
me.”  Tofu-sensei’s tone was serious and he placed a hand on each of Akane’s shoulders,
giving her a gentle shake.
	“I understand, I promise,” was all Akane could say, meekly. She lifted her pinky in
the air as Tofu locked it with his with a grin on his face.  They shook on it and Tofu patted
Akane on the back.  
	Tofu reverted to his usual cheery self.  “I think I will go downstairs and see what
Kasumi’s up to” Tofu said with a blush and a toothy grin.  “Why don’t you go to Ranma’s
room right now?  He needs a friend.”  He gave her shoulder a last squeeze as he found his
way to the door and promptly started down the stair way.  Akane bore herself to Ranma’s
door and with grim resolution, opened Ranma’s door.
	Inside, Akane could see Ranma, still sitting on the futon.  His back was to her and
she could see his hands desperately roaming his face.  His shoulders were hunched over
and his finely toned back had a weariness to it that broke Akane’s heart.  She walked her
way over to Ranma, making sure that Ranma could hear the footsteps approaching.  The
last thing she needed was a surprised and angry Ranma.  Sure enough, Ranma stuffed one
more suppressed sob down his throat and wiped the tears away.  Akane was surprised that
Ranma had been crying, she’d never seen him cry, now she knew the blindness had firmly
shook him up, more so than she had thought.  A martial artist who was blind couldn’t do
much, look at Mousse.  She pretended that Ranma had effectively hid his tears and sat
directly in front of Ranma.
	His face was mournful, his brow creased and furrowed and his eyes still wide open,
searching, but never finding anything.  Akane let out one more sigh and picked up
Ranma’s hand.  She waited for him to retract it, but he didn’t, “Oh Ranma, I’m so sorry. 
But don’t worry, I’ll be with you.  I’m sure it’ll be gone in a snap.”  Akane chirped
cheerfully.  She hoped her cheerful voice would at least keep Ranma from dwelling too
much on his temporary disability.  
	Ranma bit down a sarcastic remark and tried to keep himself from snatching his
hand away.  He still had the same thoughts running through his head.  *I can’t see I can’t
see I can’tseeIcan’tseecan’tsee caseaciaiscisiaisci*  Even after Tofu sensei had reassured
him that it was temporary, everything was fine, he had never felt so helpless in his life.  He
was used to grabbing life and throttling it when things didn’t go his way, he was always
able to do something for himself to make it better, but now...   he could do nothing at all. 
Surely punching something would do nothing, *after all, I’m just a jock* Ranma thought
morosely to himself.  He couldn’t see.  Period.  *What if someone tries to attack Akane? 
Who will stop them?  I certainly can’t in my condition.  Ryoga will probably help her out*
Ranma dolefully thought.  A deep depression settled over Ranma as he was started to
dwell on the same gloomy thoughts.  
	This was perhaps the worst fate for him.  He relied on his eyes to guide him
throughout the years, he couldn’t give it up.  Hopelessness settled on his heart, his ego
was extinguished, for the first time in his life, Ranma Saotome was at a loss in what to do.  
	Ranma spoke.  “Akane, I can’t protect you, and before you go on stubbornly like
you always do, I know you’re a martial artist, but be careful anyway.  Yes, you can
protect yourself, but think also about your sisters.”  *Oh jeez, I sounded so conceited, I’m
going to get hit for this one.*
	Akane was silent.  She could feel the hard wood of the handle of her trusty old
mallet beginning to flicker into existence.  She was fuming mad, Ranma treating her like a
child, but now was hardly a time to lash out, and she remembered her promise to
Tofu-sensei.  “Okay Ranma.  Okay.”
	Ranma was surprised.  *Akane agreeing?  Demurely?  No pounding?  What’s
going on?*  He was truly puzzled, and sat pondering.
	As they sat nervously together, each at a loss what to say, the door opened and
Kasumi appeared with a tray in her hand.  
	Ranma quickly swung his head in the direction of the door, his eyes open but
seeing nothing.  He took a sniff in the air, “Kasumi.”  Akane took the tray from Kasumi
and carefully walked over to Ranma and the futon.  “Thank you Kasumi, it smells
delicious,” Ranma said with a glum smile.  He turned his head back to the window while
Kasumi gave Akane a worried look and squeezed her hand.  If anyone could pull Ranma
out of his depression, it was Akane.  
	“Are you hungry, Ranma?”  Akane asked.
	“Have you ever known me NOT to be hungry?” Ranma asked sheepishly.  He
attempted to grab for his spoon and chopsticks, but remembered.  His hand fell back into
place on his lap.  *Just for a few days at most, Ranma.  You won’t be an invalid for long,
but look at this weakness!  I’m relying on girls to help me through when I should be a man
and handle it myself!  Never was such a weakness known!*  Ranma bit down his macho
thoughts and sat quietly and patiently.  
	Akane suddenly grew timid, she didn’t quite realize until this moment what his
blindness obligated her to do.  She was going to have to feed him?  “Ranma, do you want
help . . .?”
	“No.”  It was short and coldly said, sending Akane back into her hole.  His voice
softened, hearing his own iciness and wincing.  “I can feed myself, can you just hand me
the rice bowl and my chopsticks?”  
	Akane gulped and quietly handed the said things to him.  He started to slowly stuff
rice into his mouth, chewing and swallowing deliberately.  He couldn’t see the other dishes
on the small table Kasumi had prepared for him, Akane took the other pair of chopsticks
Kasumi had wisely provided and started dropping food into Ranma’s rice bowl as he
continued eating.  When he noticed the first clump of meat in his bowl, he ate it with
surprise and his brow began to crease, but he didn’t say anything.
	*Aw jeez, she’s feeding me?  What is up with this?  I can’t stand this, having to
have Akane, the biggest tomboy in all Japan to feed me.*  Ranma grumbled quietly to
himself.  *She’s only trying to help.  Just bear it for a little while, it’ll be over soon.*  He
kept shoving the food in his mouth.  He was finishing up, and was in midbite when his
father stepped in.  
	Saotome Genma stood in the doorway, filling it up with his large figure.  “Son, I
heard about your... err... misfortune, and I think this is a perfect opportunity to train!”
	“Train? Nani?”  was all Ranma replied, scratching his head.  His chopsticks fell to
his bowl as he kneeled on his futon.  
	“Mr. Saotome!  Don’t you ever stop thinking of martial arts?” was all Akane could
exclaim indignantly.
	“No,” was all Genma said, shamelessly, beaming proudly, taking it as a compliment
as Akane’s eye twitched.  “What is this?  Akane is feeding you, Ranma?  I can’t believe
this!  My only son being fed like a baby.  Oh Ranma, you do your father shame!”  Genma
started to wail and go into a tirade about the merits of his son.  
	Akane was furious and marched up to him.  She clocked him hard with her mallet,
but not hard enough to knock him unconscious, as much as she wanted to.  “Mr.
Saotome, I think Ranma’s hardly in the condition to train, let alone leave the dojo,” Akane
said in a deathly whisper. 
	Genma’s eyes turned solemnly on Akane.  “Akane, believe me.  You may think I’m
being harsh, but if you give it careful consideration, this is the only thing that will keep
Ranma sane for the next couple of days.  He needs to be doing something or else he’ll go
crazy, it’s the will of the martial artist.  Besides, he doesn’t need to leave the dojo, you
could help him out and spar with him right here.”  Genma had started seriously, but ended
with a mischeivous grin.
	Akane failed to notice the grin, but thought of the well-being of Ranma.  *Well, I
suppose the baka really would get agitated if he didn’t get out and do something, why
not?  Besides, maybe I can get a few shots in when we spar.*  
	“Fine, Mr. Saotome, but nothing heavy duty.”
	“Yes, yes.  Whatever.  You gonna eat that pickle?”  Genma unceremoniously
swiped the pickle in between the chopsticks Akane had forgotten to put down in her haste.  
	Akane turned around, taking in the unkempt condition of Ranma as she planned his
training.  *Jeez, this is so exciting!  I get to train Ranma?*  She took another look at
Ranma, her resolution rising as she took another inspection.
	“Ranma, I think you should get cleaned up for the day.”
	“What for?  Besides, I’m hardly in the condition to go stumbling around in the
bathroom.  There are dangerous things in there, like toilets.”  Ranma snickered to himself,
thinking about Mousse and the training potties he kept hidden in his robe.
	Akane ignored the laugh, not understanding.  “You wanna walk around dirty all
day?  Jeez, try to help a guy out.”  Akane grumbled as she pulled Ranma up and started to
push him to the door.  
	Without saying anything, Akane went to his closet and picked out his customary
red shirt and black pants and folded them neatly over her arm.  She grabbed his arm, and
without saying anything, she dragged him down to the bathroom.  She opened the door
and put down his clothes on top of the basket.  She was about to get him his toothbrush
when Ranma quickly pushed her outside with a grunt and shut the door on his face.  
	Akane was pissed.  *Grrrrrrr.  RANMA!!!  Try to be nice to guy and all he can do
is be a JERK!*  She tried to control her voice as she said with a voice disguised with
honey, “Ranma, don’t hesitate if you need anything.”
	“I don’t need you, I’m fine by myself!  Leave me alone!” was all Akane heard,
muffled through the bathroom door.  
	*BAKA!*  was all Akane thought to herself as she clenched her fist and started to
beat on the wall.  She calmed down after a while and took up her post with her back to the
door of the bathroom.  
	Ranma was inside, groping his way around.  He rinsed himself off quickly, feeling
the change and jumped in the furo.  After a few minutes, he was out again and felt around
for his tooth brush.  After spilling tile cleaner, baby powder, lotion and gel on his
toothbrush, he finally found the toothpaste.  After, he entered the changing room
shivering, and after bumping around, hitting walls and baskets at every turn, he found his
clothes and changed into them.  
	*I can hear that jerk bumping around in there, why could he just let me help him.*
Akane thought to herself as she waited.  
	He exited the bathroom, tripping on Akane on the floor.  He fell over and lay
slumped against the wall as Akane rubbed her back.  She got up first, and held out her
hand to help Ranma up.  
	Ranma could tell Akane had extended his hand, but he ignored it and stood up on
his own, brushing off his pants.  
	*I guess he didn’t know my hand was out.  He can’t see after all,* grumbled
Akane to herself.  She stifled a giggle when she saw Ranma’s shirt.  The buttons were off
by one all the way down and gave Ranma a crazy lopsided look.  She reached up and
started to unbutton his shirt to help him fix it, but he slapped her hand away, fixing it
himself.  Akane humphed, but didn’t say anything else as she watched fixedly as Ranma
fixed his shirt. 
	*Jeesh, Akane is being so nice to me.  Taking all this time out of her Saturday
morning to help me, but she’s still a violent tomboy.* Ranma thought to himself while
fixing his shirt.  
	They heard the ring of the telephone in the other room and Kasumi called out for
Akane to pick up the phone.  Akane left the hall, leaving Ranma standing there as she
went to go answer the phone.  Ranma could hear snatches of conversation from the other
room.
	“No Sayuri, I don’t think I can go to the movies with you today, and I have to
cancel shopping later today.”
 	Akane paused for the answer, “Um yeah, I have a lot of homework and Kasumi
wants me to help around the house, sorry to ruin your plans, maybe next weekend. . . .
.Yeah, see you in school, bye.”  Soon, Ranma could hear the light tripping of Akane
through the hallway.  *Aw jeesh, I didn’t want to ruin her plans.  He felt bad about being
mean to her, but he still felt that he should do these things for himself.*  Ranma’s mood
lightened as he found Akane was going out of her way to help him.  *The least I can do is
be agreeable, I guess.*
	“Akane....” Ranma said his eyes wandering to the floor he couldn’t see, “You can
go out with your friends.  Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.   I mean, what’s the
difference if a stinky ol tomboy is here with me or not?   Just go and have fun, no reason
for both of us to be locked in the house.”  Akane cringed at the tomboy remark and she
felt her anger rising to her throat.  
	“Fine, if you don’t want me around.  I tried my best to help, and still it’s not good
enough for you.” Akane said in a steely soft voice.  Her tears spilled out unchecked, her
hammer glitched into sight, but instead Akane started to run up the stairs.  
	“Akane, wait!  I didn’t mean that, I just meant you should go out and have fun,
stop worrying about me.  Jeez, you never listen to meeeeeeeeahhhhh!” Ranma said as he
dashed up after her.  Too bad he couldn’t see the stairs because he was eating a mouthful
of dust as he layed flat on his back and his head bumped against the wall.  “Ieeeeeee.....”
Ranma groaned painfully.  
	Akane shot her head back just in time to see Ranma dash after her and right into a
wall.  She couldn’t help laughing and feeling sorry for him.  A large bump started to
appear on his head and his face was contorted into embarassment and shame.  Her
compassionate heart yelled at her for being such a jerk as she walked up to Ranma.  She
stretched her hand out and demanded Ranma to stick out his hand.  He did, but missed her
completely, and finally she was able to grasp his hand and hoist him up.  Leading him by
the hand and giving him instruction on how to get through the house with little reminders
like, “step” “turn” and “miscellaneous puddle of water.”  She deposited him in her room
since she was much more comfortable there with all her pictures and toys than in the stark
walls of Ranma’s room.  She went to get an icepack for Ranma’s head and found him
uncomfortably biting his lip when she came back.  He sat perched on her chair, careful not
to touch anything or move for that matter.
	She shook her head slightly at his bashfulness. *Hadn’t the hentai come into her
room hundreds of times in the night, and he can’t even sit quietly here in broad daylight?* 
She pushed him to the bed so he could rest his had back as she unceremoniously dumped
the icebag on his head.  After a few minutes, he seemed to finally get comfortable, his eyes
closing in peaceful reverie.  
	Akane sat, struggling to think of various ways of proposing the training idea.  She
didn’t want to sounds like she was lording over him.  *Hmmm, the indirect approach
always works!* Akane thought to herself  “Ranma, would you like to spar with me? 
Maybe I’ll be able to get a few hits in, you know.”  Akane hit the right spot, messing with
Ranma’s ego always got the same results.
	Ranma sat up, knocking the icebag onto the floor.  “Aw Akane, you know that
even if I was hog-tied and drugged senseless you couldn’t beat me.  Give it up.”  Akane
would have been furious if not for the fact that her plan was going perfectly.  *Now to
synch the deal.*  
	“Ranma, I bet I can.  Winner has to admit he’s wrong.  Deal?”  
	“No deal.  You need to do something humiliating. . . .  hmmm, what would be
humiliating for a tomboy like you?  Got it.  Loser has to be the winner’s slave for an
hour.”
	“Hmmmmm, PLUS they have to dress up.”  Akane giggled at the thought of
Ranma uncomfortable in a hakama feeding her grapes.  “Deal?”
	“You’re on.  Just cause I can’t see doesn’t mean I still can’t beat a tomboy like
you.”  Akane just smirked in reply, putting on her gi and leading Ranma outside to the
dojo.  *Aw jeez, she probably thought she tricked me into training with her.  How stupid
does she think I am?  I guess I owe her this training, after all, she gave up her Saturday
plans just to help me out.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long long day.*  
	
	The dojo was all silence as Akane and Ranma faced each other, each one silently
bowed and with a sharp bark of “Fight!” from Akane, each paced carefully in a circle,
defending their honor with all their skill.  
	*Aha!  I got him now!* was all Akane could think as she circled Ranma, observing
him like a shark his lunch.  She snapped her foot up in a round house aimed for his head
which he deftly dodged, snapping his head back just in time to miss her foot.  *No way am
I gonna loose.  He can’t even hit girls!*
	“Jeez Akane, do you ever wash your feet?  I guess that’s too girly for you, huh?”
Ranma taunted.  *She probably thinks she’s gonna win because I don’t hit girls.  Trying to
use my own honor against me, figures!  She’ll get a surprise.*  He was expecting Akane’s
foot as she predictably snapped her other foot at his head once again when she twirled
around with a back kick.  Instead of dodging this one, Ranma just caught it.  He was
straining all his senses, each atuned to the movement of the air, the sound of Akane’s feet
on the boards and the heat that radiated off Akane’s body.  With her foot still in his hand,
he tickled her viciously and let it go.  Akane just squirmed, trying to wretch her foot loose
from Ranma’s grip and when he let go, she fell back thumping to the ground on her
backside.  
	She wouldn’t give up so easily.  She slide tackled Ranma from her position on the
floor, entrapping his feet and causing him to wave his hands around trying to regain his
balance.  She viciously kicked her feet to try and knock Ranma down, but he leapt in the
air and tapped her shoulder.  *Grrr!! He still won’t try and hit me!*  Akane thought to
herself.  She lashed out with a quick back hand which Ranma ducked underneath and
sidestepped so he was underneath her arm and he twisted to the side.  Akane looked over
at Ranma, attacking again and again and Ranma deftly dodged between her, popping up
on either side until she got her own feet twisted up and fell to the ground.  Akane was
furious.  *He still beat me!  ARGGGHGHGH, he didn’t touch me and I’m still here on the
floor!*  She shot up her foot into the kneecap of the smiling Ranma, wiping off the smile
as she put a tight grip on his ankle.  
	“Hey!  That stung, you know,” shouted Ranma gleefully as he swiveled his leg
position so that Akane’s grip became awkward on his leg and he plopped on Akane’s
stomach to start tickling her again.  
	Akane just wailed from the tickling, her sides aching.  She kicked her legs out and
tried to push Ranma off with her arms but he relentlessly tickled her, yelling above her
laughs, “Do I hear something?”  
	Akane just yelled “Okay okay okay, you win you win, get offa me you pervert.”
	Ranma just tumbled to the side, rolling to his feet neatly and his gaze wandering
just said, “I’m waiting.”
	“For what?”
	“You know what.  Don’t keep me waiting.”
	“Alll righhhhtt.  . . . . Iwaswrong.”
	“Huh?  I didn’t quite understand you, what’s wrong with you?  You eat some of
your own cooking?”  
	“I was wrong!”  Akane screamed at the top of her lungs, pulling out her mallet. 
Instead of pulverizing Ranma like she usually did, she just tapped him cutely on the side of
the head over and over as she danced around him, yelling, “Jerk!”  Ranma was relieved,
being booted over the Nerima wasn’t on his list today, especially since he couldn’t find his
way back if he got lost.  
	A few minutes later found Ranma and Akane outside.  Ranma was standing in the
grass in a defensive position while Akane 10 yards away.  “So what am I supposed to be
doing, Akane?”  
	“Just dodge or catch the bricks I’m going to be hurling at you.  It’s just a little
hearing and sensing warm up.”
	“Yeah, sure, why not?  Nothing else better to do,” Ranma said while he still stood
in the middle of the grass.  “You know only a tomboy like you could think chucking bricks
at a guy is helpful.”   
	“Ready?”
	“Yep.”
	Akane started to wind up her arm, chucking the brick at Ranma as fast she could
as she could for the last tomboy remark.  The brick fell cleanly through the air, whistling in
it’s speed and as it approached Ranma, he swatted it away with a quick block with his feet
planted firmly in the ground.  
	*Humph, only Ranma.  He’s blind and I’m chucking bricks, and I still can’t beat
him... grrrrr*  “Take this, Ranma,” Akane said furiously as she let another brick fly
towards Ranma.  To show off, Ranma sat there nonchalantly and used his forearm to
break it in half at the last minute.  *Humph.  He’s showing off, what a jerk . . .  but he
looks so cool.  Oh shut up Akane.*  She let brick after brick fly towards Ranma until her
pile had dwindled down and she had only one brick left.  In desperation, Akane threw the
brick underhand, letting it fly straight up in the air.  
	“Hah, Akane, you missed me complete about that one.  Hey, don’t forget, you’re
gonna be my slave for an hoUUUUUURRRRRRRR!!!!!!,” Ranma finished, a wall of
exploding brick flying at him as he frantically tried to block all the little pieces.  
	“Ranma DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!”  
	“Oh jeez, not again.  What do you want porky?”  
	“Shut up Ranma,” Ryoga spit with bitterness.  “What have you done to
Akane?!?!?”  
	“Whadyamean?  Are you dense?”  
	Ryoga looked around him, he spotted Akane, slightly sweating, but otherwise
unharmed, Ranma standing around looking at a tree and . . . “but I heard Akane breaking
bricks and ... she never breaks bricks unless she’s mad at you.  Can’t you even have the
decency to look at me when I’m talking to you?  And what is this I hear about her being
your slave?  I knew you  were vile, Saotome, but to this extent is despicable.  Ranma...
DIIEEEEEEeeeeee?”  
	Ryoga stood with his cocked fist ready when a brick fell from the sky and smacked
Ranma on top of the head, taking him into the ground.  
	“Iiiieeeeeee, that hurt, Akane.”  Ranma said from the ground.
	“Oops, forgot about that last brick.”  
	“Ranma dieeeee!!!!!!!!”
	“Don’t you EVER get tired of saying that? . . . sheesh!”  Ranma prepared to fight
but remembered his current condition.  *Jeez, he never gives up, I guess he wants a fight
and won’t stop until he gets one.  With me blind and Ryoga with a bit of a violence
problem, we’re likely to tear up the house.  Better get out of here, Nabiki better thank me
for this one.*  With that, Ranma leaped to the top of the wall, neverminding the big hole
Ryoga had made and started sprinting off, down the street and around the corner.
	“You coward, come back here!” Ryoga yelled desperately as he took off after
Ranma, slipping through the hole he had made earlier.
	Akane blinked several times, looking at the brick, the hole in the wall and .. .
where’d Ranma go?  *Smart, Ranma.  Run off when you can’t see your own death
hurtling towards you.*  “Hey guys!  Come back!!!!!” Akane yelled as she finally snapped
into realization, pounding down the street leaving cracks as she followed the two martial
artists.  

	*Okay, here’s a good place to stop.  No innocent bystanders, nothing to trip over,
besides I can execute my secret plan here if things get rough.*  Ranma was standing by the
canal, balanced on the fence where he walked to and home from school every day with
Akane.  *Where is Ryoga?  He’s getting slow.*  Ranma pricked his ears as he heard the
heavy panting of Ryoga after the 3 kilometer sprint Ranma had led him on.  Ranma wasn’t
really fearful of getting beat up by Ryoga, he was a pushover.  The first time he had fought
him, true, it had been a challenge, but since then, Ranma had been pulling his punches and
just playing with Ryoga.  *Here he comes, the odds are he’ll come here and shake up the
fence good.*  
	Sure enough, Ryoga charged up to the fence, yelling his familiar war cry as he
slammed the bottom of his foot against the fence, hoping to shake Ranma off.  Funny
thing was, there wasn’t a trace of Ranma, the only thing in the fence now was the large
twisted dent in shape of a foot protruding from the middle.  As soon as Ryoga had pulled
his leg up from the side kick, wrestling to get his foot out of the wire, Ranma had flipped
graciously with his finger on Ryoga’s head for balance.   Although he had timed the
maneuver correctly, he miscalculated his landing as his foot had caught in a slight dimple
in the sidewalk, causing him to stumble.  He rolled safely up, but couldn’t tell what
direction he was facing because of the roll.  *I still bet I could find my way back to the
dojo better than Ryoga could.*  He chuckled at that thought, catching Ryoga’s attention.
	Ryoga turned around to find Ranma tensed and ready to fight, but in a defensive
stance.  Ryoga curiously looked at Ranma, Ranma rarely ever used defensive stances, and
especially when facing in the wrong direction.  *Facing in the wrong direction?* Ryoga
thought pensively to himself.  What’s going on here?  Ranma was facing the canal, leaving
his side open for Ryoga to hit.  Ryoga cracked his knuckles and charged at Ranma with
his fist extended.  
	*Where is that stupid oinker?  There we go, thanks for cracking your knuckles
bacon boy.  He’s probably going for his mad suicide punch thingy.*  Ranma’s thoughts
dissipated in a second as he deftly dodged Ryoga’s punch by ducking underneath the over
extended arm and used his chestnut fist to pound into Ryoga’s exposed rib.  It didn’t do
much.  As Ranma finished up his last few punches, he felt intense pain as Ryoga’s elbow
came flying toward his temple.  It felt like someone had put a firecracker and strapped it to
his head.  
	*Ow!  That hurt, I guess Ryoga’s been eating his vitamins.*  Ranma lifted his hand
to his temple and found his cheek busted, blood ran down his face, he smeared it with his
hand and took stance again.  
	*I . ..  I connected?*  Ryoga thought amazedly.  *Hehe, I must be getting better!* 
With his new found confidence, he sprang at Ranma, his foot extended.  “Ranma,
Dieeeee!!!!!” the familiar war cry exploded from Ryoga’s lips.
	Usually, Ranma would have dodged, but he couldn’t sense exactly where Ryoga
was coming from and had to settle for blocking it, absorbing the impact with his arms. 
*That’s gonna leave a nasty bruise.*
he charged at Ranma with his Bakusai Tenketsu, planning to slow him down with the little
rock chunks.  The wall exploded under his finger in a cloud of dust.  For a moment,
Ryoga’s vision was impaired and all he could see was Ranma’s fist coming in time after
time, slamming into his face and stomach.  He put up his defense, absorbing most of the
punches but was surprised when Ranma grabbed him by his shirt and hefted him up in the
air.  
	*Time for my secret plan.  Ryoga’s lucky that I can’t see nuthing right now, when
I can see again, he’s a goner.*  Ranma hefted Ryoga up above his head, taking advantage
of the huge dust cloud he could feel around him and hurled him toward the canal.  The
only confirmation he needed was the large splash and loud “Bweeee!” he heard as he
dusted his hands and rested with his hands on his knees, catching his breath.  
	Akane came pounding up to see Ranma, another hole in a wall and a very bent up
fence.  She gasped when she saw Ranma, she’d never seen him so beat up after fighting
with Ryoga, she held back her tears as she approached him.  Cut after cut had covered his
face, his cheek distorted and popped open from the force of Ryoga’s punch.  His clothes
were in terrible shape, his knee had a hole and the cloth of his pants was stuck to his knee
with the dried blood of his scraped knee.  His forearms had big bruises and small pieces of
rock lingered in the skin when he had blocked from the Bakusai Tenketsu.  He was
hunched over from fatigue and he wiped his hand across his mouth where his hand left a
trail of smeared blood over his cheek from his bloody lip.  
	“Ranma... are you all right?”
	Ranma let out a sigh as he tried to stand up straight, and Akane hurried to his side
to prop him up when she saw him wobble precariously.  She was quickly flung to the side
to land on her butt when a quivering mass of purple hair and bicycle bells had bounded
between her and Ranma screaming “Aiya!  Violent girl get away from husband!”  
	All Ranma could say was a tired “Gah!”  
	Shampoo glomped tightly on to Ranma’s bruised forearms, clenching it tightly and
making his hand turn an odd color of blue.  She purred as her face was lifted up to
Ranma’s face and her very curvaceous body started to wiggle its way to fit snuggly in
Ranma’s body.  Ranma squirmed helplessly, his eyes unfocused as he tried to wiggle out
of Shampoo’s firm grasp without touching Shampoo suggestively.  He failed.  He didn’t
even notice the king sized mallet hurtling towards him at 148 miles per hour.
	Akane was angry.  She sorely rubbed her bottom as she lifted to her feet.  She
growled quietly, “Ranma....  no...   baka!”  She screamed her battle cry as she lifted out
her mallet and swung it over her shoulder as she pounced toward Shampoo and Ranma. 
One leg was bent up while the other trailed behind as she had a firm grip on the mallet
swung over her head.  
	*Thwump*  
	Ranma lay huddled with his hands over his head and crouched on the silent street,
the gentle swoosh of the canal the only sound, that and Akane’s ragged breath.  When he
was sure it was safe, he stood up and took his arms off his head, on natural instinct, he
started to look around for Akane, but saw nothing.  He sighed and started to sag again as
Akane approached him.  She was surprised, she’d never thought of sending Shampoo off
in orbit with her mallet, but the only sign that Shampoo had even been there was her
bicycle and the now black bruise on Ranma’s arm.  As she took another step towards
Ranma, a sharp shard of metal flew through the air and neatly took off a chunk of skin
from her arm.  The tiny spatula continued it’s flight, now splattered with Akane’s blood as
it hit the floor with a slight clink.  As Akane looked up, she saw the countenance of Ukyo
smiling sweetly back at her.  
	“Akane, get away from Ran-chan.  He wants his cute fiance.”
	With that remark hinting on her kawaikuneness which was rather a sensitive spot
with Akane, her eye started to twitch violently as her mallet started to flicker into
existence.  Ukyo started to approach Ranma, noticing his blank stare.  “Ranma honey,
what’s wrong?  Why aren’t you looking at me?  If I didn’t know, I would have thought
you were bl . . .” 
	Akane was about to interupt, thinking up denials and excuses why Ranma was
looking around, anything to hide the fact that Ranma was blind.  *If anyone finds out he is
blind, even if it is temporary, they will take advantage of it and Ranma’s dead meat*
Akane thought grimly.  Suddenly, she was delivered from trying to make up an excuse as
an all-too nerve wracking familiar laugh pierced the air.  As if Ukyo wasn’t bad enough,
the high pitched “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!” was heard as Kodachi’s ribbon
snapped through the air, leaving little slice marks through Akane’s already bleeding arm. 
“Step back, fould wench.   Ranma, darling, yoo hoo, let me look into the deep expanse of
your beautiful eyes,” was all Kodachi, the gymanstic jewel of St. Hebeke High, said. 
	“Kodachi, get away from him!  No one wants you looking into their eyes, so just
back off!”  Akane interupted trying to direct attention away from Ranma before either one
of the girls started to glomp on him, then they were sure to find out his problem.  Even if
she had to fight, and even if she got beat up, it was worth it.   
	Ukyo’s face had turned a furious red with the arrival of Kodachi.  With a flick of
her wrist, she sent another razor sharp spatula whizzing through the air to cut Kodachi’s
ribbon.  Kodachi’s face was enraged as she screamed.  “My favorite ribbon.  For that you
will pay, you hired help.”  
	Two battle cries filled the air as Kodachi and Ukyo charged at each other, fighting
the deadly dance of life for the love of Ranma.  Ranma just stood there, still staring off
into nothing.  Akane just stood blinking, letting the whole situation sink in as she watched
Ukyo and Kodachi go at each other’s necks.  She shrugged and took a peek at Ranma, he
was staring off into nothing, whether from blood loss or his blindness, Akane didn’t know,
but she decided with a shrug that it was better safe than sorry.  She ran to his side and
proped him up leaning him against the fence as she told him she had something to take
care of.  
	She resolutely walked to where Ukyo and Kodachi were still battling out their
differences.  Kodachi had pulled out many of her gymnastic props, hurling rings, batons
and clubs from under her leotard while Ukyo had resorted to her humongous battle spatula
to deflect all of Kodachi’s toys.  Both were to absorbed in fighting that they failed to
notice the madly quivering Akane stealthily sneaking up to them with a large mallet in her
hands.  She simply clubbed them down and then flicked them off like she was playing golf. 
Both of the girls were surprised and they went sailing off into the afternoon after
Shampoo’s trail. 
	“Humph.  Uncute, huh?  Just a wench, huh?  MUahahahahahaah!”  Akane laughed
unsteadily as she stood shaking with exertion and frustration, her mallet flickering back
into it’s space until she would call it forth again, probably soon.
	Meanwhile, Ranma was swaying from blood loss against the fence and as Akane
hurriedly picked off Ukyo and Kodachi, he started to stumble up, walking in the wrong
direction until Akane ran after him and pushed him off towards the Tendo dojo so she
could go and patch him up.  As they were walking down the street, trying their best to get
to the dojo in a hurry, yet with Ranma’s heavy steps and Akane’s fatigue, they were
making slow time.  
	Each too tired to speak, they made their way to the dojo, but their walk wasn’t left
in peace.  Kuno threw himself in front of their paths, throwing Akane and Ranma in
surprise, but not for long.  Kuno got a good whack at Ranma with his bokken at Ranma’s
side, eliciting a yelp of pain and grumble from Ranma. Kuno stood gloating in satisfaction
at hurting the foul sorceror Saotome, but his drone didn’t last long when he found
Ranma’s foot implanted in his stomach.  *Drat, I missed* thought Ranma as he punted
Kuno into high orbit along with the three girls.  
	They continued down the street when a familiar potty came hurtling toward
Ranma.  It effectively knocked him on the head as Mousse popped out behind a wall. 
“Ranma, you knave!  What have you done to Shampoo?  I just saw her sailing over the
sky in the direction of Tokyo, you womanizer.  Who would dare to hurt my darling?” 
With that speech, Mousse let go a melee of chains and knives, although Ranma was able
to dodge most of them, a stray chain clobbered him on the head, adding another nasty
bruise and cut on his face.  While he was distracted, Mousse threw a chain at Ranma’s
torso, the sharp edges cutting into Ranma’ shirt and into his skin.  As the seconds flew by,
the chain grew tauter and tauter, blood starting to stain the polished metal of Mousse’s
chain.  Akane wanted to knock Mousse over, but knew that Ranma’s pride would be hurt
if she tried to help him.  The girls were a different story, Ranma couldn’t hit girls anyway,
but Mousse was usually dispensed with so easily that Akane knew that Ranma would be
disappointed if she did something.  
	Ranma spun around, wrapping up the chain around his body in a jerk and sent
Mousse flying.  Ranma just hoped it was in the direction he and his extended foot were in. 
Sure enough, Mousse’s face caught the ball of Ranma’s foot, sending him sprawling on
the cement.  Ranma just called out, “C’mon Akane, let’s get outta here!”

	Akane and Ranma sat in the dojo silently.  Ranma sat with his head bowed down,
so ashamed that he got so beat up by the people he had so carelessly dismissed the days
before.  Akane was digging through the first aid kit she had swiped from Kasumi, carefully
laying out gauze and bandages, as she pulled out a bottle of antiseptic with an “AHA.”
	As Akane started to clean Ranma’s wounds, taking care to blow softly on the big
cuts so they wouldn’t hurt, Ranma started to speak softly under his breath.
	“Akane, you all right?”
	“Yep Ranma, not a scratch on me,” Akane lied.  She knew that Ranma wouldn’t
be too happy to know that Ukyo had left a laceration in her left arm along with the
stinging cuts left by Kodachi’s ribbon.
	Carefully, Ranma moved his hand to Akane’s which was holding the cotton pad. 
With his other hand, he softly moved his hand over the deep gash in Akane’s arm. 
“What’s this then?”  He continued to run his rough finger along the serpentine trail of
blood Kodachi’s ribbon had left.  “And this?”  Akane turned a bright red, for both her
hypocryphal comment and the gentle and almost caring touch from Ranma’s rough hands. 
She was glad he couldn’t see her face.
	“Oh, okay, maybe a little scratch?” Akane meekly answered back, trying to divert
Ranma’s attention.  She snatched her arm back and continued cleaning all his wounds,
gently prodding the bruises.  
	“I’m sorry.  I should’ve protected you . . . but . .  but like this I’m useless!” 
Ranma turned his back to Akane, trying to hide the disappointment and anger he felt and
knew which was written clearly on his face.  She could see that he held his hands up,
trying to inspect their uselessness, but unable to it, he threw up his hands in frustration. 
All his emotions he had trained to hide so well lay on his face for her to read . . . well,
almost all his emotions.  
	For once, Akane took a small glimpse into Ranma’s heart.  Akane quietly observed
that he wasn’t wearing his usual mask, its protection had crumbled down, leaving Ranma
cautious and vulnerable.  He turned away before she could take a look at his face, but she
understood the strong sense of duty Ranma felt.  She understood his gentle soul that hated
to see people get hurt.  She understood the frustration he felt from being left useless,
unable to protect himself and those he cared for.  She understood all the emotions which
had contorted his face before he had turned his face away .  . . well, almost all of the
emotions.  
	Each sat quietly reflecting in their own thoughts.  Ranma keeping silent because he
was embarrassed and Akane silent in awkwardness, afraid of making Ranma more
embarassed.  Finally Ranma said, “Thanks Akane.”  
	“For what?” Akane asked him innocently, her thoughts brought back into the
present.
	“You could’ve told everyone that I was blind, vulnerable.  You protected . . .”
	“Ranma!  Of course I kept your secret, of course I helped you  . . .” 
	“Akane, you don’t understand.  These days, I’m not sure that many people
would’ve done that.  Others would have exploited my weakness, or tried to black mail me. 
I’m not sure who to trust anymore, who I can turn to, who my friends are . . .” Ranma had
started off vehemently, then had quieted down into almost a whisper, Akane leaning closer
to hear what he said.  Ranma suddenly whipped around to face Akane but his head
bumped into Akane’s instead, sending her sprawling to the other end of the floor.  
	“Norou . . .” Ranma cursed under his breath.  “See, I can’t even sit quietly in a
room without hurting anyone.”  
	“Ranma, don’t say that.” Akane said as she got up from where she had been
pushed to the floor.  *I guess it’s time Ranma had a confidence booster.  Haha, I never
thought I would be needing to give Ranma a boost in confidence!*  Akane thought to
herself.  “Ranma.  How many times have you beat some mysterious, unknown looser from
who knows where to save me or Ukyo, or anyone?  Even people you don’t like, you save
them all.  You help everyone and you never ask for anything in return . . well, besides food 
. .  but anyway, you’re a great friend to so many people, and we just take you for granted. 
You shouldn’t feel like you don’t have friends.  You have so many friends, many who
don’t even deserve to be your friend.”  Akane bowed her head.  She was starting to feel
that maybe she didn’t deserve to be Ranma’s friend, after all those times she had made fun
of him and jumped to conclusions.  
	Ranma sat with his head bowed, deep in his thoughts, he looked up and his eyes,
although seeing nothing palpable, was piercing into the depths of Akane’s soul.  It was
like rays into her dark and lonely soul.  He opened his mouth to say something when
Kasumi appeared at the door.  She bore a tray loaded with all of Ranma’s favorite dishes
and two bowls of rice.  The light of deep soul searching discovery turned into the light of
pure excitement and anticipation as Ranma smelled the delicious food that Kasumi brought
in.  
	“Dinner!”  was all Kasumi said as she set the table down in between Akane and
Ranma.  
	“Ita daki masu,” Akane and Ranma chorused to Kasumi’s retreating back as they
prepared to eat.  Ranma adopted an evil light into his eye as he sat fumbling with his
chopsticks.  
	“Oh Akane.  Or, should I call you slave?”  Ranma’s lips curled up into a smile as
Akane’s face turned into dumbfoundment. 
	“Oh that.  I almost forgot.  Good thing you reminded me, master,” Akane said,
sarcastically, but still laughing lightly.  
	“Why don’t you go change into your kimono, and don’t try and trick me, I wanna
feel the silk of it when you’re done so you don’t cheat me out of a well dressed and
properly humiliated slave.”  
	“Yes master!” was all Akane said as she shuffled out of the room, grumbling the
whole time about evil masters and how they were so abusive.  Ranma just sat smiling. 
*Whew!  I didn’t want to miss out on all this food, and the only way I get to eat all of it is
if Akane feeds me.  Blech*

	Akane went to her room to dig out her kimonos.  She picked out a soft pink one
patterned with cherry blossoms with a wide black sash.  She pulled her hair back with a
comb and adjusted the back as she waddled carefully back into Ranma’s room.
	Nabiki caught her in the hall, just as Akane was exiting her room and Nabiki was
entering hers.  She raised her eyebrow in question.  
	“Don’t ask,” Akane mumbled, growling as she continued to shuffle down the hall.
	“Some weird kinky love thing going on in there?  Should I call the parents?”
Nabiki asked with feigned innocence.  She secretly smiled to the door as she started to
enter her room, hearing Akane stop.  She closed the door behind her just as Akane
exploded, “NabiKI!”  Nabiki just laughed as Akane continued on to Ranma’s room.
	
	Akane poked her head in first and saw Ranma’s morose face as he looked at the
wall, straining to make out anything in form of his room.  Akane felt sorry for him and
decided to cheer him up.  She walked dramatically in the room, shuffling her feet against
the tatami mats as she waddled up to Ranma and bowed so that Ranma was hit with the
breeze she created when she flopped down.  “Master Ranma, I am here to serve your
every need.”  
	Ranma’s face lighted up in a quirky smile, his eyebrows twisted.  *I think Akane’s
finally snapped.*  “Well, slave, first, let me feel the fabric of your kimono.”  He held out
his hand and Akane put the hem of her kimono in his hand.  He thoughtfully rubbed it
between his fingers as his other hand stroked his chin.  “Now promise me, slave.  I cannot
see the clock so I cannot tell when an hour will be through, you must promise me to be in
my servitude for no less than an hour.  Swear on your honor!”  He struck an over dramatic
pose and Akane clutched his hand and vehemenly said, “Oh yes master!  Of course!”  She
whapped him on the head with her hand and continued, “Ranma, jeez.  You think I would
cheat you?  Humph, baka hentai jerk . .”  
	“Ieee, would you stop that?  No wonder I’m so stupid, you’re always killing brain
cells!” Ranma good naturedly said.  “Now, you may feed me, woman!”  He couldn’t help
but smirk, but he felt very awkward.  *Jeez, I hope I didn’t do anything stupid in asking
Akane to feed me.  She’s already been so nice to me today, she’ll probably kill me for this
later.*  Akane took up her position on Ranma’s left side, taking up his bowl.
	She put on a mischeivious smile as she looked at Ranma’s dumb face, she couldn’t
help thinking on how cute he was and how fun it was going to be to feed him.  She knew
it was wrong in Ranma’s time of need, but she couldn’t help thinking it.  She evily thought
what the other fiances would think of this.  *Ha Ukyo!  So much for the cute fiance! 
Shampoo, where are your magic potions now?  Kodachi?  Ha, darling Ranma-sama
indeed!*  Without another moment’s hesitation, she drew the table closer to Ranma and
perched herself in front of Ranma.  She loaded up a spoonful of rice and pickled veggies
and told Ranma to say “Ahhhhh!”  She giggled as she clumsily shoved the spoon in his
mouth and pulled it out again.  
	In an attempt to lighten Ranma’s mood, Akane giggled, holding back her pride,
“Wow I got that one in your mouth.  You better watch out for us clumsy tomboys, we
can’t even feed a guy right.”   Ranma attempted to smile around a mouthful of rice and
instead gave a lumpy grin.  After chewing slowly and deliberately, he swallowed and
Akane handed him the bowl of miso soup.  He took a sip and handed it back.  Slowly, the
rice and veggies disappeared, as did the miso soup.  Ranma smiled happily, more from the
sweet attention he got from Akane than the food, but she didn’t have to know that.
	“You have to finish your veggies, Ranma.” Akane said as she sent a pickle sailing
until it landed with a eloquent splat on Ranma’s right cheek.  At first, Akane thought
Ranma looked dejected and her face softened up.  She started to move to remove the
pickle, ashamed of taking advantage of him when he suddenly leaped at her and tackled
her to the ground.  She was pinned down between his legs, her arms uselessly swatting the
air around her as Ranma gave her the tickling of a lifetime.  She turned beet red, more
from the touch of Ranma’s fingers on her stomach than laughing.  She’d never known
Ranma to be so friendly with her, and she secretly enjoyed it.  Finally, the pickled was
removed from his cheek and landed with another splat on Akane’s forehead.  Akane
mumbled, “I surrender” between her laughing. 
	She couldn’t help but enjoy the brotherly attention she was getting from Ranma. 
She always longed for a big brother to joke with, help her, and make her laugh.  She
looked at Ranma, his face merry from laughing.  It was just inches away, she could just
reach up and touch it . . .  
	“Such insolence from a slave!  I need to buy another one!” Ranma just said as he
rolled off of her as Akane started sit up, rubbing her sides.  She moved to the table,
busying herself by cleaning up the table, the cheery clink of the dishes keeping Ranma
occupied.  She took up the napkin and wiped his mouth for him as he swatted her hand
away.  “Jeez, Akane, I’m not a baby.”  
	“Yeah, well, you sure look it.  It’s about time for you to get cleaned up.  Ranma,
time to take a bath.”  He just looked at her funny.    
	“Wha . . .” he started with his mouth hanging open. “You call me a hentai.. what
about you?” 
	“Oh you wish.  Like I wanna get a look at you,” she taunted as she slapped his
back eliciting a cringe from Ranma.  “Oops, sorry,” Akane said sheepishly, forgetting
about all the bruises.  She moved to his closet and pulled out a clean pair of boxers,
undershirt, black pants and silk shirt.  “C’mon.  You’re hour’s going to be over soon if
you just sit there gawking at the wall.”
	“You’re freaking me out, Akane.  Why would I want a tomboy like you to wash
me, anyway?”  
	“Ranma, if you were smart, I would get up now before I pound the living daylights
out of you.”
	In response to that, Ranma shot up from his position on the floor and started
groping his way to the door, still muttering insults about tomboys and their unique
waistless chestless qualities.  He was pelted from behind with one of his shoes as Akane
stood there fuming.  Ranma just rubbed the back of his head protectively his tongue
sticking out.  “Rebel slave, huh?”  
	“Shut up,” was all Akane said as she pushed Ranma down the hall and towards the
stairs.  She led him down carefully, making sure he wouldn’t trip down and led him to the
bathroom.  She went inside and drew a hot bath while Ranma waited in the changing
room, stripping down into his boxers and undershirt.  He stood there nervously, not
moving a muscle.  
	“Ranma, it’s not like I haven’t see you in your boxers and undershirt before.  You
sleep like this every day.  Jeesh!  Well, get into the bathroom so I can soap you up and
you can take your bath by yourself.  What a freak, I may be a tomboy, but I’m still not
desperate enough to peek at you.” With that, she shoved Ranma into the bathroom,
leading him to the stool.  She took a pin and clipped his pigtail to the top of his head,
hiding a giggle.  She noticed the undershirt wasn’t going to work and told Ranma so.
	Ranma reluctantly pulled it over his head, not feeling comfortable about sitting
around half naked in a bathroom when he couldn’t see a damn thing.  Not like Akane
hadn’t seen him before just as naked on the beach and sitting around the house, but he felt
funny about it now.  Not wanting to incur the wrath of Akane, he just obeyed and sat
silently, shivering in the night air.  
	Akane scooped up a bucket of hot water and soap as she stood squatting Ranma. 
She started to scrupulously wash Ranma’s back, covering it with suds and worked over to
his arms.  She couldn’t help but notice the muscles well laid over his shoulder blades and
his biceps and forearms as she ran her fingers over them delicately to scrub him down. 
She moved on to his chest, blushing furiously, but intent on not letting Ranma know that
she was embarassed.  Besides, it wasn’t a big deal, was it?  *Just giving him a bath . .
.nonono, I mean, just helping him wash.  I mean, he can’t do it by himself, can he?*  She
started humming to herself unconsciously as she moved on to his feet.  She took on a
wicked grin as she sloshed a large amount of soap and water onto her cloth.  She grabbed
the back of Ranma’s head and smothered Ranma’s face into the cloth eliciting a sharp cry
of surprise from Ranma.  

	Ranma sat enjoying the attention.  He was nervous, but it slowly melted away as
Akane’s small hands scubbed delicately all over his arms and legs.  He was never so
thorough.  *Maybe she’s not such a big tomboy as I thought.  She’s kind of girly, no guy
would ever take so long just to wash himself.*  She was washing his feet, he felt kind of
bad, but after all, she was his slave for the hour.  He wiggled his toes as she tickled them
with her light touch when suddenly a hot wet heap was smooshed into his face.  He
spluttered out soap and hot water as he flapped his arms wildly.  He had no time to protest
as Akane took a hold of his ears and started violenly scrubbing behind his ears, under his
chin and around his neck.  Finally, Akane was satisfied and as Ranma sat waiting for what
was supposed to come next, he was sloshed with cold water.  
	“Hey!  What’d you do that for?”  Ranma-chan yelled, instantly standing up.
	“Just rinsing you off, how else are you supposed to get into the furo?”
	“Oh.”  Ranma felt stupid but just crossed his arms over her chest.  
	Akane led Ranma-chan over to the edge and told him to wait.  She padded away
from him to the door, saying over her retreating back, “I left you by the edge of the furo. 
All you have to do is take off your boxers and slip in.  I left a towel by the left edge,
careful not to splash water on it.”  With that, Akane went through the sliding door leaving
Ranma-chan alone.
	Ranma just took off her boxers and sunk into the water, feeling the change
immediately.  He welcomed it as he sat relaxing in the water.  *I know I gave Akane
plenty of reasons to slap or pound me today, I wonder why she hasn’t cracked yet.  Why
she’s being so nice, couldn’t be that she . . .*  Ranma’s thoughts trailed off as he put the
familiar well used block on his thoughts about Akane and just sat silently in the furo. 
After a while he got out again, reaching for the towel that Akane said would be there and
groped his way to the door.  
	Akane on hearing Ranma get out of the bath yelled, “Ranma!  Do you have your
towel on?”
	“Yeah?” Ranma said, wrinkling his brow.  *What does she care?*
	“I’m coming in!” Akane said, not giving Ranma a chance to hesitate as she opened
the door and led him through into the changing room.  Ranma blushed, pulling the towel
closer around him as Akane stole glances at him.  She knew he couldn’t see her, but she
still felt embarassed about looking at his well muscled chest.  She turned her head away,
and just started instructing Ranma.  “Here’s your boxers and your undershirt.” she said as
she placed the said items in his hands.  “Your shirt and pants are here on the sink rim.” 
She guided his hand there, letting him feel his clothes as she started to leave the room. 
“Just knock when you’re done.”  She left the room as Ranma started to silently dress
himself.  
	A few seconds later, she heard the rap she was waiting for and entered the room
again.  She laughed as she once again saw that Ranma had put on his shirt crooked, the
buttons mismatching.  This time as she moved to undo the buttons to fix them, he didn’t
swat her hands away but stood patiently until she was done.  Akane took in the sweet
smell of a newly washed Ranma as she buttoned up his shirt, his damp chest just inches
away from her face.  Akane sighed.  *I wish I could just lay my head against him . . . 
what?*  She quickly jerked her head away and finished hooking the last button with her
arms outstretched, her face getting red in embarassment.  *Why did I just suddenly want
to do that with that baka hentai . .  .*  The usual stream of insults weren’t coming in
handy.  She handed Ranma a toothbrush, instructing him to brush his teeth as she stood
behind him, untying his hair, quickly combing it out and braiding it up again and tying it
with the dragon whisker all under 20 seconds.  She dusted her hands off, inspecting her
work as she took up scissors and clipped the excess hair that had grown.  She handed
Ranma a glass of water as he spit out the toothpaste.
	She then led him upstairs, into his room and sat him down.  He rolled over on his
futon and cleared his throat.  
	Akane rolled her eyes, *what does he want, NOW?*  She looked at her watch. 
*Hours done, play time’s over.  Ohhh, he is going to get so hurt when he regains his
vision.*  She started to speak when she was interuppted by Ranma.
	“Slave girl, my back hurts, I wanna massage.”  Ranma twisted his head, trying to
see Akane and her reaction, but all that he saw was more darkness.  
	Akane sat thoughtfully back on her heels.  *Hmmm, hours up.... but . . . *  before
she knew it she was kneeling next to Ranma, her small hands kneading his back with a
firm grip.  Ranma sighed in content as he closed his eyes and let his body go limp.  *This
is the first time in a long while that I’ve actually had time to relax . . .* Ranma thought as
he his thoughts trailed off, a sleepy fog settling over his mind.
	“Ow!”  Ranma woke up with a jolt, feeling a small elbow in the middle of his back.  
	“Hour’s up, jerk!” Akane said as she pulled the offending elbow out of Ranma’s
back.  “It’s nearing ten, Ranma.  You wanna go to sleep now?”  
	Ranma’s visage suddenly turned solemn, he sat up looking up at the ceiling he
couldn’t see.  
	“Akane . . . Akane, I’m scared.  Perhaps the first time in over five years I’m
scared.  Life has always dealt me the most unappetizing of lives, but I could always fight
to make it a little better.  I could always do something, but now.. . .” His hand felt around
in the air for Akane’s warm one, and Akane smiled a sad smile to see him searching the air
for it.  She reached her hand up to meet his frantically searching one and he seemed to
calm down a bit.  “I know it’s a lot to ask a tomboy like you to sit around and help an
arrogant jerk like me, but please Akane, will you promise to not leave me alone?  It’s too
dark and I’m afraid.  Please Akane... please.”
	Akane felt numb with fright and happiness.  Ranma had finally laid his emotions
and fears bare for her to see, not only for her to see, but he had entrusted the protection of
them in her hands.  She was extremely gratified, but at the same time afriad.  She couldn’t
bear the new dependence Ranma had grown, usually so carefree and independent.  At the
moment, his rough hand was slick with sweat and his eyes darted haphazardly through the
air.  She secretly swore to herself that Ranma would never feel afraid until he could regain
his eyesight.  She patted him on the leg, smiling at him, even though he couldn’t see.  His
fingers twitched nervously in his lap, his sight immersed with darkness.  


	The night was pitch black, a rattle was heard in the kitchen.   Two sets of feet
sneaked stealthily around under the cover of the dark shroud of night as they darted from
one dark corner to another.  Black bandannas were tied snugly under their noses, intent on
not getting caught.  They stole up the stairs and into the bedroom where Akane was
snoring peacefully on her bed with Ranma-chan sprawled on the floor.  
	“We’ve got you now, Ranma,” one of the men said as the other produced an
object from his hand, the moonlight gleaming off the steely metal.  He approached Ranma
menacingly, careful to be quiet.
	“Hurry up and do it, before we caught,” the other man whispered urgently, already
backing up to the door.  The other man just nodded as he approached Ranma, his face
could be seen in the reflection of the moonlight against the smooth surface of the steal.  It
was done, a flash of red soon covered by the black fog of night.  Ranma’s body spasmed
in reaction and all was quiet again, save for the peaceful snoring of Akane’s slumber.  
	The two men slipped out again into the hall, and into the night.  


	Bird chirped in the early morning dewy air, unaware of the possible violence which
lay ahead.  Akane was the first to awake, yawning groggily as she stretched her arms in
the air.  She smiled from content as she rubbed her eyes and struggled to sit up straight. 
After rumpling her hair she took a look at Ranma on her floor.  She was prepared to see
Ranma-chan on her floor remembering last night, but she was totally unprepared for what
lay on her floor.  
	She looked on in horror and disgust, angry thoughts zipping through her mind. 
She leaped to the floor, letting an anguished cry escape her lips.  


	“Ranma no BAKA!!!!” was the familiar battle cry which issued from the sweet lips
of Akane Tendo as she took out her mega mallet and launched Ranma out of her window
with a force of 48 tons and a speed of 240 mph.  *Humph, hentai jerk, changing into a guy
in the middle of the night.  What a pervert!  And I thought he was being so sweet
yesterday, ha!  What a joke, what could I expect from Ranma?*  She dusted her hands off
as she set about getting ready for the morning.

	Ranma went sailing through the air with his hands holding his barefeet, patiently
waiting for his landing.  The morning’s events went through his head.  *Hmmm, woke up. 
I could see! YAaaatttaaa!!*  He smiled in recollection about the first thing he saw.  *Boy
she sure is cute when she smiles.*  Ranma just happened to glance at her when she had
just woken up, stretching and smiling in the bright early morning.  Her smile was imprinted
in his mind as a clear image, her eyes sparkling and her little nose crinkled.  *Hmm, then
the second thing I saw was that I was a guy.  Uh oh, I knew that meant trouble.  Hmm,
third thing...  Akane’s mallet as it hit my face, and here I am, sailing through the air.  I’m
so glad things are back to normal.*  Ranma relaxed, putting his hands behind his head as
he sailed through the air, his thoughts lingering on a certain smile.