Change in the house of Nerima Prolog Akane sat alone in her room which was almost completely empty. The reason for this was simple all of her belongings had been moved to Ranma's room since they were supposed to have gotten married that morning. The wedding was a complete fiasco and her things had not been moved back into her room The only reply Akane gave to this was to sigh before getting up and heading to Ranma's room where a full-size bed sat in the corner 'this should be our room right now' Akane thought as she sat down on the bed and remembered the events at the curse Springs before remembering how her father used her feelings against her once again and then how she threatened Ranma. A threat she had no way of backing up or the intent to do so. 'I love you' Akane thought 'he did say it I know that and I love him' Akane thought tearfully before continuing to think 'tonight should have been that night that we finally made love ...damm he should have been mine ...and he should have been his' Akane thought with a mix of anger and sadness before walking to the window where Nodoka and Genma were departing "why do we fight so much me and Ranma?" "Because you're both fighters and you love the fight" Kasumi replied from the doorway before leaving which left Akane deep in thought for a very long time 'Sis is right but I'm tired of the fight' Akane thought before relaxing on the bed Sometime later Ranma enters to find Akane sleeping on the bed. Ranma's only reply to this was to pull the covers over Akane "Ranma" Akane said as Ranma finished "Don't worry I'm leaving" Ranma replied "No you can stay" Akane replied in an almost pleading tone of voice "Well ok" Ranma said before Akane dragged him underneath the covers where she embraces him in a hug Sometime later Akane begins crying quietly "What's wrong" Ranma asked "What's wrong I'll tell you what's wrong today was supposed to be 'our day'" Akane said tearfully and angrily "You actually did want to marry me?" Ranma said in surprise Akane only nodded "despite all of our fighting and everything I say I really do love you" The only thing Ranma did in reply was put his arms around Akane. For a long time nothing was said between the two "Ranma do you love me please just drop your guard and tell me" Akane said in a pleading tone of voice "just drop your guard and please tell me" The next thing Akane felt was a shift in Ranma's ki a shift she couldn't quite tell the meaning of however when she looked up at Ranma nothing could have prepare for the tortured and haunted expression that hung on Ranma's face "I do I have for a long time" Ranma replied however Ranma's voice wasn't even close to his normal one "Is this who you are underneath everything are you really like this" Akane asked has she looked at Ranma Ranma only nodded "just ... please tell me everything get it all out" Akane said And thus Ranma began to truly open up to Akane. By telling Akane about his ten-year training mission with his father the horrors of which went beyond the Neko-ken and the cursed springs. Because the daily grind of living with Genma was arguably worse. every day Ranma would be awoken by the vicious morning attack from his father and only after beating him senseless did Ranma have time enough to make himself breakfast and eat and of course Ranma would have fend off his father to make sure he had enough to eat. After that the two would fight almost endlessly and if Ranma did anything that Genma considered remotely feminine –which was anything but the art-- Ranma would be punished by humiliation naturally this had its toll on Ranma which manifested itself in his hatred of anything feminine. However despite all of this Ranma had managed to keep a kind heart buried under his tough exterior but as one would expect Ranma had no way no express himself emotionally. so in reality underneath everything Ranma was quite a fragile human being true he may be able topple mountains but emotionally Ranma was quite weak and had about as much confidence in himself as a dog that had been wiped it's entire life Akane being Akane was not about to let this continue she loved Ranma with all of her heart and so as she laid on top of her love she spoke "Ranma I'll help you through this I swear that I'll help you become as confident of your self as you are of your skills" Ranma had no reply for a long time and when he did reply he replied with one word "how" "I don't know Ranma but I'll do whatever it takes" Akane said "but for now just rest ...I'll be here in the morning for you" Akane added before she kissed Ranma lightly on the cheek "Ok I'll trust you ok" Ranma replied before drifting off into sleep 'From now on your bed is my bed' Akane thought to herself before trying to find answers for Ranma's question ************ Early the next morning before the sunrises Ranma awakens to find Akane still lying on top of him "Morning Ranma" Akane said tiredly "Have you been up all night" Ranma asked "No just most of it" Akane replied "tell me Ranma do you ...hmm do you know how to read and write" "No not really" Ranma admitted "Ok that will be the first thing I help you with" Akane replied with a smile "Why are you doing this Akane?" "because I don't want see you hurting over something like this ... over the past year I've seen you take physical hits that make getting hit by a semi truck look like nothing but when anyone really insults you mentally you come very close losing it and that's just not right" Akane said tiredly before setting up in bed to reveal that her pajama top had become quite ruffled revealing the fact Akane did not sleep with a bra on this naturally induces Akane's default reaction but just before she struck Ranma she stopped and just looked at her clinched fist before asking a question just by looking at him the question was simple; why "If Akane could produce a ki blast what emotion would it be based on" was Kasumi's unexpected question from the doorway "...hmm anger" Ranma replied after a moment of thought Hearing this Akane frowns before Kasumi asks another question "And would it be safe to say that Akane feeds off of her anger like Ryouga feeds off of his depression" After a long moment of thought Ranma replies with a nod which makes Akane frown even more "Now if somebody based their energy on say depression they would subconsciously try to become more depressed even if they didn't realize it consciously" "Yeah I figure that's Ryouga's main problem" Ranma replied "and if somebody based their energy on anger they would subconsciously try to get angry at anything they could even if the person they were getting angry at didn't deserve it" Kasumi asked The only reply Ranma gave was to nod this made Akane start to quiver "and if that person could no longer get angry or had trouble getting angry at their usual target would they feel drained and weak" Again the only reply Ranma gave was to nod That was the straw that broke Akane's will which was apparent when she started crying while grabbing onto Ranma The only thing Kasumi did in response was too quietly leave "I'm sorry Ranma. I had no idea I really had no idea I was some kind of monster feeding off of anger" Akane said as she cried into Ranma shirt "I guess I'm not the only one with personal problems" Ranma said sadly before leaving "but I didn't even know ...at least you knew you had problems" Akane replied tearfully ************* As Ranma set foot on the ground floor of the dojo he found Kasumi waiting for him "follow me Ranma" Kasumi said in a neutral tone of voice before leading Ranma to her father's bedroom where Soun sat looking at Nabiki's laptop while Nabiki herself sat nearby on the porch of her father's bedroom facing out towards the koi pond "so I guess you spied on us for the whole night" Ranma said while not sounding surprised the Tendo patriarch just nodded sadly "I'm sorry Ranma if I had known even a tenth of the things your father did I would not have let him under this roof..." Soun said "Ranma ... listen I'm not very good at apologies but this time I'm apologizing with out thought or reservation ... I've always thought you were nothing more then an idiot jock but I had no idea what your father really put you through ...no one should have to go through that for any reason ... no one deserves what you had to go through" Nabiki said quietly before leaving saying one last thing before she left "listen Ranma this is a family of survivors and all of us will help you survive your worthless family" "surprised Ranma" Kasumi asked to which Ranma only nodded to as a reply "come on I'll make you some breakfast" ************* "Ranma I have a suggestion for you" Kasumi said after handing Ranma his breakfast "now you have to promise me not to immediately dismiss this" Kasumi added quickly "Ok" Ranma replied "Do you know why Dr. Tofu left earlier this year?" "Because of how he always went crazy around you" "yes and Dr. tofu solved this problem by going to see a psychiatrist ...now the psychiatrist he went to see as just moved to Nerima" "And you want me to be his first patient" Ranma said while looking a little annoyed "Yes this doctor has done wonders for Dr. tofu although he still goes crazy around me but still ... and also a psychiatrist may be your only hope of ever getting over your fear of cats ... but considering your life around here I'd say you should see a one in any case ... you've handled things admirably Ranma all of the books I've read on psychology say you should have had a mental breakdown long ago so you're obviously not weak ... but as my mother always said the truly strong know when to seek help for that help can only add to your own strength" was Kasumi's little lecture to Ranma Biting his lip Ranma nervously started pacing "will this guy freak because of the curse" "no Dr. tofu told me that this doctor was very interested in the unusual and moved to Nerima because of the challenge of caring for a group of people in such extreme circumstances" "so basically this shrink moved to Nerima because it's crazy ...well I suppose this guy can't be all that if he's come here to help" "Dr. Tofu says he fits in so well that he surprised that he didn't grow up here" Kasumi said with a smile "Well ... ok I guess life around here is crazy enough ... Not to mention any shrink that would come to Nerima one purpose must be slightly crazy in the first place" Ranma said "but Akane has to go to ... I'm no expert on this stuff but even I can tell Akane's temper is unnaturally large" "Fair enough Ranma fair enough" Kasumi replied "So when do we go meet the shrink" Ranma queried "Probably this afternoon" Kasumi answered before Ranma nodded and left after which Akane entered "no arguments Akane Ranma's right" Akane's only response to this was to nod in silent agreement ************** Chapter 1 a short visit with Dr. Shinri It was unassuming building near the edge of Nerima but this building held Nerima's only psychiatrist All of the other mental health personnel in the ward had gone crazy because of the craziness in Nerima The psychiatrist in this rather unassuming building was waiting for his first two patients who were perhaps the most difficult in the entire ward. The patients were Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo who were being escorted to said doctor by Kasumi "I trust you can find your way home" Kasumi said leaving only after Ranma and Akane had entered the building what they found was a large open room with a large over stuffed sofa and a large armchair and along the wall's many in many bookshelves that held even more books also the room had a high ceiling and was scattered with various other pieces of equipment like a computer which had an odd looking device setting next to it and in the corner of the room stood a man that was about Genma's height however this man had a calm demeanor to him as well as long silver gray hair which unusually looked like it had always been that color "ahh my first two patients please sit down" the man said in a quiet but yet powerful voice that radiated trust "I'll have some tea ready in a few minutes" the doctor added before finishing making the tea he was working on when Ranma and Akane entered after which he handed Ranma and Akane each a glass before sitting down "now before we began I'm going to make one thing perfectly clear there will be no violence in my presence ... and I do have ways stopping this so don't try " "what kind of ways" Akane asked nervously "I am an empath and a very powerful one" the doctor replied calmly "you can read our minds" "no that's a telepath; I can read emotions and because of my strength I can also suppress emotions in others ... as you might expect this ability is quite helpful in my line of work .. But I only suppress emotions when absolutely necessary" "ok doc" Ranma said nervously "now first my name is Dr. Shinri and according to Dr. tofu's descriptions I can guess who both of you are" Dr. Shinri stated as he sat back in his chair and relaxed "now according to what Dr. tofu has already told me about you I feel that it would be best if I saw you to both separately and together" the doctor added in a manner that stated he had already made up his mind "now Ranma I understand you have fallen victim to a curse correct" "yeah" Ranma replied "would you mind demonstrating" the doctor asked calmly before Ranma stepped over to wear Shinri had prepared the tea where he measured out some hot and cold water before dumping the cold water over himself however before Ranma- chan had even lifted the hot water the doctor was on his feet and examining Ranma-chan with a scrutinizes eye after which the doctor quickly moved to his bookshelves where he pulled out a book before flipping quickly through it after which he looks through another few books before materializing a tape measure out of nowhere and measuring Ranma-chan's hips and shoulder width after which the doctor closes his eyes in thought and takes a deep breath before sitting down "hay doc what's up" "well I have already found a problem that you were probably unaware of" "what's that doc" "that body from his near as I can tell is that of someone that is around 13. I can't be sure of its actual age without thorough testing but I think you can already guess that this is a problem" The only response Ranma-chan gave was to look thoughtful and very odd before starting to pace around "now Ranma give me a general description of what it feels like to be a girl right now" "hmm disconnected jittery and I can never quite get comfortable with it" "damm just like I thought ..... There are genetic diseases that basically trap an individual in a child's body for their entire life and their descriptions of how they feel are what you have just said" "So basically since this body is younger than I am it's out of tune with me" "more or less now let's continue on" Shinri said before Ranma-chan changed back by using hot water "ok now I'd like you to tell me a little about your self's then this session will be over" the doctor said before Ranma and Akane did just that and left with a schedule that told each of them to come on a different day of the week for their individual meetings however as the two walked back to the dojo Ranma's expression was nervous "What the doctor said bothering you" Akane asked "yeah if my female body is only 13 then that explains why it's so much shorter and weaker and from what the doc said bout those people with that weird disease that a old mind in a really young body causes head problems by itself" Ranma said thoughtfully "and now than I think about it ever since I got cursed its been sort of like when I was 13 ... I don't know about you but 13 was a miserable age for me ... it just felt so well ... weird and it really messed with my mind to" Ranma said hauntingly "I'd remember to tell that to Dr. Shinri" Akane said as the two continued home *********a day later******* "hmm...good to know" was all dr. Shinri said as he made a note on his large notepad "now were going to play a little shrink game called free association in this game I say something and you reply with the first thing that comes to mind without thinking about your reply" "Ok" Ranma said as he leaned back on the couch "Good" "evil" "Light" "dark" "Red" "green" "Water" "fire and curse" Hearing this, the doctor scratches something down on his notepad before continuing "man" "woman" "boy" "girl" "woman" "man" "girl" "weak" "Why do you say that?" "Well girls are weak that's what pop always says" "Are you weak as a girl?" "Well yeah my strength is at least halved" "And what of Akane" "No way that tomboy's almost as strong as I am at least physically" "And what of your other fiancées *looks at his notes* Ukyou and Shampoo" "Well Ukyou can take most people on by strength alone and shampoo's no slouch" "So basically what your father said is wrong" "Yeah guess so" Ranma admitted "Ok continuing on" "Art" "fighting" "Painting" "art" "Music" "art" "Cruse" "evil" "Your curse" "no control" "hmm explain that" "Well that's what comes to mind that I have no control over it" "Ok that's enough association for the moment. Now I want to talk about what you think of some of the people around you; first your father" "What the best way to talk about pop would be to talk about the ten years I spent training with him" Ranma replied And thus Ranma began talking about his ten-year training mission with his father the horrors of which went beyond the Neko-ken and the cursed springs. Because the daily grind of living with Genma was arguably worse. every day Ranma would be awoken by the vicious morning attack from his father and only after beating him senseless did Ranma have time enough to make himself breakfast and eat and of course Ranma would have fend off his father to make sure he had enough to eat. After that the two would fight almost endlessly and if Ranma did anything that Genma considered remotely feminine –which was anything but the art-- Ranma would be punished by humiliation naturally this had its toll on Ranma which manifested itself in his hatred of anything feminine. **************** "..." was all Ranma said as he walked home as he remembered what Dr. Shinri's reaction was to his description of his father simply put the doctor had almost collapsed due to empathic overload and it would take him sometime to sort out what Ranma had told him however Ranma felt unusually good after the session. absently Ranma remembered something that he had heard from an American 'I guess confession is good for the soul' Ranma thought before arriving home "sit" Kasumi said in a tone of voice that even Happosai would not dare ignore and so Ranma sat "you have entered my element Ranma and I will be as tough on your mind as you are on your body" Kasumi said plainly and frighteningly before beginning And so it did begin ********************** And thus about 6 hours later Ranma enters his room and unceremonially deposits himself on the floor "I have never had so much stuff crammed in my head in such a short amount of time" Ranma said from the floor "Yeah I had forgotten how hard of a teacher Kasumi was" Akane said from the bed "Tough she was a nightmare" Ranma replied as he rolled over on his back "So how did you do" Akane asked "Kasumi said that she had a headache" Ranma replied as sat up "Not good" Akane said as she bit her lip "Because of how little I knew not be because of how fast I learned" Ranma said from his position on the floor "Oh so much did you learn" "A lot I figure" Ranma said before noticing Akane's belongings where is still in the room however before he could ask about it Akane spoke "By the way why did your mom all your dad off" "she said something about not wanting to mooch off of your dad anymore" Ranma replied before asking about Akane's belongings the only reply Akane gave was to blush "you want to stay in here don't you" Ranma asked to which Akane only nodded as a reply "ok" Ranma said before climbing into bed 'hmm how can I help him ... now he gets bord when he reads anything for a really long time ... heck anyone does ... mainly because it takes so long to read things' Akane thought before saying one thing aloud " ..hmm speed reading" "hmm what's that" Ranma said from underneath the covers "oops just thinking aloud" Akane said with a nervous blush "so what is speed reading" "oh I don't know the details but it's a way to read really really fast" Akane said "I knew this guy once in junior high he could read over 1500 words a minute" "is that fast?" "I can only read about 200" "Ok that is fast" Ranma said while sounding impressed "not really I can read over 100,000 words a minute" Kasumi said from the doorway as she entered with some laundry needless to say both Ranma and Akane's jaws drop "and as stupid as it may sound the biggest problem I have going faster is how fast I can turn the pages without ripping them" Kasumi added as she gathered the dirty laundry "Wow it's like knowing a Amaguriken for books" Ranma commented "I never thought of it that way but yes I suppose it is" Kasumi said with a smile before leaving **************** The next morning Kasumi awakens Ranma with a kettle of hot water "Rise and shine Ranma" Kasumi said as Ranma clung to the ceiling The only reply Ranma gave was to give Kasumi an evil eye "Get your bath and then I'll give you some breakfast after all you can't learn anything on an empty stomach" Kasumi said before leaving "Sis doesn't care that it's Saturday" Akane said "I noticed" Ranma said from the ceiling before leaving to do as Kasumi instructed which left Akane to prepare herself to visit Dr. Shinri ****************** "now from what you said during your last visit your main problem right now is a large and violent temper" Dr. Shinri said as he looked over his notes for Akane to which the blue haired tomboy only nodded to as a reply "now tell me can you remember win this problem with your temper began Akane's reply to this was to start pacing and approximately 5 min. later she spoke "it was the day my mother died I was the only one to see it happen and no one believed me they just said left but Daddy couldn't handle that so we quote morned her death but she really did die that day and I saw it" "Do you want to tell me about it" "Do you believe in magic?" "Oh yes I have seen magic many many times like with Ranma the other day" Dr. Shinji replied "Ok .... We were walking at the park that day when what I can best describe as a tear in reality opened up. The man that stepped out of the tear was evil very evil. Mom told me to take cover and I did. the next thing I knew a meteor storm was pounding the guy that stepped out of the tear followed by some kind of blue energy blast hit mom then a giant fireball and it just have going on and on like that for 10 or so minutes. After that the guy was on the ground a mm away from death but he just smiled before throwing a black sphere at my mom. She was sucked into it after that the man died and he vanished" was Akane's explanation of her mother's death "By kami what a way to go" Dr. Shinji said as he rubbed his temples "now why don't you tell me why this started your anger" "Because no one would listen" Akane replied "Go on" **************** As Akane returned to the dojo she cursed herself for the things Dr. Shinji had shown her about her temper