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-- File: aa13.txt

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Ranma 1/2: Another Approach
Part 13
By Jack Staik, Bookkeeper-At-Arms
--------------------

(That evening ...)

Akane carefully snuck out the laundry porch door with her 
armload of appropriated foodstuffs. 

She hadn't had a decent bite of food since yesterday, thanks 
to her evil, greedy glutton of a sensei. And she knew that 
if she tried to get as much as one extra bite - and he knew 
about it - he'd eat it just to spite her!

Carefully, she sat down and began assembling what in another 
land would be known as a 'Dagwood'; a sandwich containing 
virtually everything that could go into a sandwich, and 
several things that had no business being in there. When the 
towering, leaning monstrosity was finished, she began 
ripping into it in a fashion that would make the cast of 
'Slayers' complain of her bad table manners.

She was aware that seeing someone with her current eating 
habits would have horrified her just a few weeks ago, but 
after missing four meals in a row, who gives a flying fig 
about table manners?

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" came the wail from a nearby window. 
"Whatever shall we do, Saotome?!?"

Akane's eyes rolled. Her baka father was crying again. First 
he shirked on her training, then he treated her like a little girl, then he started blubbering like a baby over the 
least little thing. <What a weenie,> she thought.

(Akane probably should have been ashamed for listening at 
the window, but she was too busy feeding her face to be 
concerned about that.)

"I have no idea, Tendo."

"With Akane's injury, she'll loose the match! The dojo and 
the school will be publically disgraced! And that crazy rose 
girl will try to *marry* me! WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Genma gave an evil chuckle. "That last part can't be *too* 
bad, Tendo. She's sixteen *and* she's attractive *and* she's 
a gymnast - the wedding night alone might make it worth it!"

"Panda no hentai," Akane mumbled.

"I WON'T BE UNFAITHFUL TO MY WIFE!!" Soun bellowed.

Akane blushed. No matter how big a jerk her father was, she 
couldn't find fault in his devotion to her departed mother.

"EVEN IF IT WOULD BE REALLY REALLY GREAT SEX!!"

Okay, maybe she could.

"Calm yourself, Tendo," Genma said quietly. "You used to 
have a lot more control." Genma laughed softly. "Remember? 
Everyone always called you 'Soun the Stern'. So stolid and 
grim that a samurai would have told you to loosen up."

"Blame the Master's Touched Soul Technique," Soun mumbled. 
"Ever since that horrible night, I haven't been able to 
control my tears - or my rages."

"Yes - a truly nightmarish thing," Genma agreed. "But 
amazingly useful. If my baka son would teach it to your 
Akane, her injury would be irrelevant. She would win the 
match easily!"

Akane stopped eating in mid-bite. A special technique that 
would allow her to win the match, despite her injury??

"No, Saotome! My delicate little girl is far too fragile for 
such a horror!"

(Inside Akane's soul, Soun's words formed a big finger that 
went to the control panel labeled 'Unreasoning Stubbornness' 
and pushed the button marked 'Overdrive'.)

Wolfing down the last bits of her purloined food, Akane set 
out in search of her sensei.

 * * * * * * * * * *

"Have any tens?"

"Go Fish."

Nabiki couldn't help but smile. Ranma was the *worst* card 
player she ever met! This was too easy!

"Any three's?"

"Here you go, kareshi," she said, tossing over her last 
three cards.

"Aw, man," Ranma exclaimed, dropping the twenty-odd cards he 
held.

"You lose - pay up."

"Nabiki!" he cried.

Nabiki patted the pile of her winnings - consisting of 
Ranma's shirt, slippers, and socks. "Fork it over."

Ranma blushed, then removed his t-shirt.

Nabiki wondered how so many muscles could ripple all at once 
like that. 

Ranma wondered why Nabiki was staring like that.

"You're lucky tonight," he commented.

<No need to 'get lucky' tonight - but I don't think I'd mind 
...> "It must be my lucky charm."

"What lucky charm?"

Nabiki pulled a small envelope out of her pocket. "I made it 
from a lock of your hair - 'seven hairs from a warrior'. 
According to the book, if I tied the knots right, it should 
make good things happen to me."

Ranma was impressed. "When did you start making charms?"

"Just a couple of days ago - I found this really old book on 
folk magic. *Really* old - it has a printing date of 1885."

"Does the charm work? Having any good things happen?"

Nabiki stared at Ranma's bare chest. "Oh yeah."

Akane chose that moment to burst into Nabiki's room. "There 
you are!"

"Akane! What's wrong?" Nabiki asked.

Akane looked at the tableau before her; her sister in a 
loose shirt and really small shorts, her sensei naked from 
the waist up, seated on her sister's bed.

"Sorry I interrupted your love-games, but I have to speak to 
Ranma-sensei!"

"Hey! I wasn't doin' nothin'!" Ranma protested.

"Unfortunately," Nabiki muttered.

Akane waved that aside. "Not now! I heard Genma mention a 
technique that could help me win the match, and I want you 
to teach it to me."

Ranma was wary; if Oyaji mentioned it, it was probably a 
major balls-up waiting to happen. "What technique is that?"

"He called it 'the Touched Soul'."

He was right. *Major* balls-up.

"NO!!" Ranma roared, jumping to his feet. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Fine!" Akane said resolutely. "I'll just ask Genma to 
teach it to me!" And she spun on her heel to leave.

"STOP!" he commanded. 

Akane skidded to a halt.

Nabiki sat up in shock. That voice ... so commanding, so 
powerful ... she could feel her chest ache. She didn't even 
know he had a voice like that!

(For that matter, neither had Ranma, who was as surprised 
as anyone.)

He turned her around. "Akane ... teishi ... don't. Genma 
will teach you, but he'll just jump into it. Let me explain 
it - as much as I can. After that, I don't think you'll be 
that eager to try."

"And if I am?"

Ranma sighed. "If you are, I don't want Oyaji doing it. I 
was damn near killed when he did it to me. I don't want him to screw up and hurt my student."

Akane sat down on the bed. "So talk."

Ranma sat down and began to explain.

"You know about ki and battle-aura. You've learned to 
harness a bit of yours - make yourself more durable and 
stronger. And you know that when the ki-training I've been 
giving you is advanced enough, you'll be able to use your ki 
to enhance your reflexes, accelerate your healing, and for 
other purposes."

Akane nodded.

"Practitioners of other Arts take years, even decades, 
advancing seven or eight dans to learn what an heir of the 
Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu learns in attaining first dan."

"I know that," Akane said impatiently.

Ranma took a deep breath. "The Touched Soul allows all that 
training to take place in one night."

"One night?!? Then why am I wasting my time doing breathing 
exercises??"

"Because," Ranma explained, "The Touched Soul is one of the 
most traumatic events a living creature can experience. Most 
people who attempt it die."

Akane and Nabiki both became very still.

"And most of those who don't die become ... insane."

"What about you?" Akane said. "You're not dead or insane."

"I was damned lucky," he said, his eyes squeezed shut at a
painful memory. "But I've had nightmares ever since. I wake 
up in terror three or four times a night. Every night."

Both Akane and Nabiki felt their heart go out in sympathy.

"Oyaji also told me about Moro - a guy who trained with him 
and your dad. He was the strongest, most able martial artist 
they ever knew except for their Master. And when he finished 
his own Touched Soul training, he broke a sake bottle and 
stabbed himself with it thirty times, laughing all the 
while."

"Oh my," Nabiki said.

Ranma opened his eyes. "Still want to go through with it?"

Akane didn't look in Ranma's eyes as she thought.

<Say no,> Nabiki thought at her, <Say no!>

"If I don't," Akane said softly, "the dojo and the School 
will be disgraced, a dishonorable bitch will humiliate my 
classmates and my family, and a lunatic will have free rein 
to persue my father." She looked up into his eyes. "The Arts 
involves sacrifice. And risk. I didn't really appreciate 
that until you came along." Akane got up. "If you don't want to, I'll go get Genma."

Ranma put a hand on her shoulder. "No. I'll do it." He 
turned to Nabiki. "Biki-chan, call Doctor Tofu. Tell him to 
bring his emergency bag." He turned back to Akane. "I'll get 
ready. Join me in the dojo in a half-hour."

 * * * * * * * * * *

"Are you mad??" Tofu yelled at Ranma.

"If not me, then she'll go to Oyaji," he said coldly. "And 
he won't stop. He'll complete it no matter what, even if she 
dies or has her mind destroyed. I can stop before then, give 
her the option to not continue."

Tofu exhaled; a ragged breath, full of emotion. "She's only 
a child ..."

"I was a lot younger," Ranma said. "Look, I don't *want* to 
do this, I don't like this, but it's my responsibility as 
Akane's sensei. At least I can try to keep her as safe as 
possible."

Tofu nodded. Then he got off the dojo floor where Ranma sat, 
and went to see Akane. Perhaps he could still talk some 
sense into the girl ...

Akane was sitting on the back porch, staring at the koi 
pond. Tofu sat down besides her.

"Akane-chan," he began, "Please reconsider."

"If I can master the Touched Soul, I can win," she said.

"It's just a high school match! It's not worth the risks!"

"It's become more than that," Akane answered. "That Kuno 
bitch has attached the honor of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu and 
the integrity of our family to this match. It's a matter of 
honor - the dojo's, the School of Anything-Goes, and the 
Tendo family."

"Is it really worth what you're risking? Your sanity? Your 
life?"

"Daddy trained in it, and he seems alright."

Soun dashed up and grabbed Akane around the waist. 
"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! My daughter said something nice about me 
on her last night on Earth!! WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

<WHAM!!> Akane's elbow smash sent Soun flying inside.

"You were saying?" Tofu said wryly.

"Besides, all you know about it is hearsay," Akane said. 
"You know how stories exaggerate."

"Actually, I was trained in the manner of the Touched Soul," 
he said.

"Well, *you* don't seem affected."

Kasumi brought out a tray. "Would either of you like some 
hot tea?"

Tofu's glasses fogged over. "W-Why Kasumi! What a surprise 
to meet you here of all places!"

"I live here, Tofu-sensei."

"Ah yes, that would make sense - hee-hee-hee." He turned to 
a wooden post. "Would you like some tea, Betty-chan?" Then 
he ripped the post up, danced with it across the yard, and 
jumped in the koi pond.

Akane was beginning to get worried.

 * * * * * * * * * *

It was time.

Akane got up and started toward the dojo, only to find 
Nabiki's hand on her shoulder.

"I won't stop, Nabiki," she said.

"I know," Nabiki said, putting a string around Akane's 
wrist.

"What's this?" Akane asked, looking at the funny things 
hanging from the string, like charms on a charm bracelet 
made in a kindergarten class.

"This one's for luck in challenges and tests - this one 
invokes good health - and this one's for spiritual awareness 
and strength," Nabiki explained, touching each charm in 
turn. "I made them for you."

Akane smiled. "Thanks, oneechan."

As Nabiki gave her sister one last hug, she silently prayed 
to whatever spirits were listening to let those charms work.

Akane proceeded to the dojo, nervous as hell. The build-up 
to this had terrified her.

But she couldn't back down now. She'd staked everything on 
this; her Art, her family's good name, even her own self-
image. If she stopped now, she could never really call 
herself the heir to the Tendo School again.

She walked into the dojo, wondering at the odd light.

The light came from Ranma Saotome, sitting in lotus position 
on the floor, emitting a radiant blue aura. She'd swear he 
was hovering above the floor, but that was probably just a 
trick of the light.

His aura was unlike any other she had ever seen. It seemed 
almost solid, and covered with webs or threads.

He gestured to the floor before him. "Sit," he said.

Akane sat before him.

He held his hands up, palms toward her. "You can still 
leave," he said.

Akane took a deep breath and held her hands up, palms toward 
him.

Their palms touched.

The 'threads' of ki covering Ranma's aura stabbed out, into 
Akane's flesh.

The paths of ki-flow in her body were choked with alien 
force. Every part of her spiritual being was grabbed, 
surrounded, infiltrated ... and pulled apart.

 * * * * * * * * * *

Inside the Tendo home, everybody jerked up at the sound of 
Akane's scream.

Nabiki always prided herself on her self-control. She wasn't 
known as the 'Hard Bitch' for nothing - she was supposed to 
be unflappable, unmovable.

The inhuman cry of torment from the dojo made her blood 
freeze.

Kasumi looked stricken, as if she wanted to cry and faint at 
the same time.

Soun simply put his hands over his ears and curled up in a 
fetal position.

By the dojo door, Doctor Tofu openly wept.

Genma grimaced, and poured himself another cup of tea.

 * * * * * * * * * *

Akane screamed forever.

After an eternity of pain, she heard/imagined/felt a voice. 

Ranma's voice.

<RESIST!> it cried.

<How ... hurts ... pain ... dying/death/dark ...>

<YOU MUST FEEL THE PATHS OF POWER INSIDE YOU, MUST RESIST MY 
ATTACK AT EVERY POINT. FEEL YOUR POWER! GUIDE IT! USE IT!>

<How??>

<I CAN'T TELL YOU, FOR EVERY SPIRIT IS UNIQUE. YOU MUST 
DEVELOP YOUR OWN METHOD, FEEL YOUR OWN SOUL. AND THE ONLY 
WAY TO DO THAT IS TO RESIST! SO RESIST!>

Akane struggled, sweat, swore. She stretched herself to the 
ultimate limits of her spirit and beyond. 

Finally, she cried in agony and fell over.

Akane fell back on the hardwood floor, gasping like a fish 
out of water.

Ranma looked down at her, torment and guilt on his face.

"How long was it?" she asked. "Hours? Days? More?"

"About twenty seconds, give or take," Ranma answered.

"W-was that it? Is it over?"

Ranma shook his head. "It's barely begun. You can still 
stop. No one will think the less of you."

Akane got back into lotus position and held her palms toward 
him.

 * * * * * * * * * *

Akane endured.

As the torment continued, she began to *feel* how ki flowed 
in her body, the patterns of life-force that surrounded her, 
filled her, shaped her and were shaped by her. She felt the 
patterns straighten, become more efficient, as her spiritual 
being was torn apart and re-assembled.

For brief moments, she even felt the shape of her own soul.

Again and again, Ranma stopped and asked her not to go on. 

Again and again, she refused. 

Her own will would not allow her to stop. If she stopped 
after all this suffering, all her training at the martial 
arts - her whole life - would be a lie.

So she endured.

As the dawn came, the Tendos, who didn't sleep at all, saw 
Ranma emerge from the dojo, carrying Akane's unconscious 
form in his arms.

"AKANE-CHAN!" several throats cried out.

Doctor Tofu examined Akane's sleeping, twtiching form. "She 
appears physically unharmed. We'll have to wait until she 
awakens to determine any other damage."

Ranma nodded, and carried her past, to where her family 
awaited.

"Oh my poor Akane-chan," Kasumi cooed. "We'll take her to my 
room."

 * * * * * * * * * *

After Akane was put to bed, Nabiki turned to Ranma. She was 
furious with him - how *dare* he put her sister through that 
- whatever-it-was!

Then she saw the look on Ranma's face. She'd spent most of 
her life learning how to read people, and she was frightened 
by what she saw.

She had seen that look only once before, on a boy in her 
junior high school. On the day he hanged himself.

"She wouldn't stop ..." he babbled softly to no one. "I kept 
telling her she didn't have to go on, but she wouldn't stop 
..."

Nabiki's anger faded in an instant. She took Ranma's hand 
and led him to her room. Once inside, she locked the door, 
then embraced him.

"It's all right, Ranma-kun ... it's all right ..."

 * * * * * * * * * *

Akane awoke in Kasumi's bed, with Doctor Tofu standing over 
her.

"Kawaii ..." she muttered.

Tofu looked at her in confusion. "Beg pardon?"

"Eep! I mean - good morning, sensei!" Akane sat up, 
blushing. "What are you doing here?"

"That should be 'good afternoon', he said.

"'Afternoon'?!?" Akane cried. "Oh my gosh, school!"

"Don't worry. Soun told them you and Ranma were training for
the Rhythmic Gymnastics match, and they allowed it."

Akane exhaled in relief.

"Now I want to examine you, maybe ask a few questions."

Akane felt herself becoming excited. <'Examine' me ... >

Akane had all the thoughts she normally had when Doctor Tofu 
examined her, but this time nothing was stopping them. No 
shyness, no 'cute schoolgirl' persona ...

Tofu noticed that Akane's face was flushed.

He performed his routines with his usual professional 
detachment. "Heart rate's a bit high ... temperature's up 
... you seem to be sweating a bit ... how's your leg?"

"Why don't you tell me?" she breathed.

Tofu carefully pulled up the hem of the nightgown Kasumi 
had put on her (not noticing the way Akane's breath caught) 
and examined the location where, less than twenty-four 
hours earlier, he had replaced one of fifteen stitches in a 
badly-irritated ten-centimeter wound.

The wound was gone - not even a scar. The stiches were 
completely absorbed.

"Your thigh seems to be perfectly fine," he said. "Can you 
move your leg?"

"Let me show you ..."

 * * * * * * * * * *

Nabiki awoke to a very comfortable feeling.

A warm feeling. Something smooth and strong and warm that 
smelled good.

She opened her eyes, and saw Ranma's sleeping face. Apparently, they'd fallen asleep after Nabiki brought him in here. The memory of holding him as he wept, ashamed of the 
pain he'd put Akane through, brought tears to her eyes.

"Ranma-sama ..."

Shock filled Nabiki's soul. <Who said that?!?>

Then it occured to her ... she said it.

<That's silly,> Nabiki chided herself. <It's all part of a 
scheme to maximuze my profits - and that's *all*! I am *not* 
in l->

Certainty settled on Nabiki as she watched Ranma's sleeping 
face.

<Oh gods, I *am* in love with him.>

Fear gripped her. 

Love - the ultimate loss of control. The complete giving of 
yourself to another person, taking everything on faith and 
trust.

She couldn't let this continue. She had to stop it. Break up 
with Ranma, get him kicked out of the house, never see him 
again -

Ranma twitched in his sleep, whimpering.

<Ranma said he suffered from chronic nightmares,> she 
thought, <Is he having one now?>

"Please," he whispered, his voice the voice of a small 
child. "don't leave me, daddy. Please. I'll be good - I 
won't cry anymore - don't leave me - I don't want to be 
alone -"

Instinctively, Nabiki clutched him tight.

"You won't be alone," she whispered harshly. "I'm right 
here, Ranma-sama. I won't ever leave you alone."

 * * * * * * * * * *

Kasumi went to her room to check on Akane's condition. 

<Amazing,> Kasumi thought, <how calm and professional Tofu-
sensei is around Akane-chan. It's like he's a different 
person from the silly clown I know.> She sighed. <It's good 
that such a competent and dedicated doctor will take care of 
my baby sister in her time of need.>

"YAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Doctor Tofu screamed, crashing through the 
door and dashing down the hall.

Akane ran out into the hall, panting. "COME BACK, ONO-CHAN!! 
DON'T DENY YOUR FEELINGS! THIS IS BIGGER THAN BOTH OF US!!" 
She looked at Kasumi. "Hi, oneechan. Which way did he go?"

"Um, that way," she said, pointing the opposite direction.

"Arigato," Akane said, then dashed toward the opposite end 
of the house. "YOO-HOO!! I'M COMING FOR YOU, MY BESPECTACLED 
STUDMUFFIN!!"

Nabiki and Ranma were both startled by the noise and dashed 
out into the hall. "What's going on?" Nabiki asked. 

"Is Akane all right?" Ranma demanded.

"Well," Kasumi said,worry in her voice. "I don't know. 
You'll have to ask Tofu-sensei." She pointed to the linen 
closet.

Ranma opened the door and found Doctor Tofu hiding amidst 
the sheets.

"Is she gone?" Tofu whispered.

"Who? Kasumi?"

"No! Akane!"

"She's not here. Doc?"

"Yes?"

"Why are we whispering?"

Tofu got an embarassed look on his face and came out of the 
closet. (Not *that* way, you deviants!)

"I was examining Akane," he explained, "and she tried to - 
um, that is, she was very -" He blushed.

Nabiki looked puzzled. "That's not like Akane."

<GLOMP!> "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Tofu screamed.

"ENOUGH OF THESE LOVER'S GAMES, ONO-CHAN!!" Akane sang, her arms and legs wrapped round the doctor's torso. "WE HAVE A 
WILD, BURNING PASSION TO CONSUMMATE!! GIVE IN TO THE FIRE IN 
YOUR THROBBING LOINS!! TAKE ME!! NOW!!"

A quick stab at a shiatsu point, and Akane fell to the floor
with a thud.

Ranma looked at Nabiki. "'Burning passion to consummate'? 
'Fire in throbbing loins'??"

Nabiki shrugged. "Who knew she had it in her?"

"Good thing Kuno didn't see that," Ranma remarked.

Nabiki chuckled. She could just imagine how the Blue Hentai 
would react to Akane behaving like this.

A horrible thought struck her. "This isn't permanent, is 
it?" Nabiki asked. As an isolated incident, it was funny, 
but otherwise, she could see all sorts of trouble.

"It's an aftereffect of the technique," he explained. "Her 
emotions will be rather - unrestrained for a while." 

Ranma picked her up and carried her back to Kasumi's room. 
"Any other effects, Doc?" 

Tofu shook his head. "None that I could detect right now.
Her aura seems stable - brighter, but stable - so there 
aren't any really severe, obvious psychic effects. Oddly 
enough, I'd have to say it was a tenative success."

"'Tenative'?" Nabiki asked.

"I'll want to keep an eye on her for the next few weeks - 
just in case."

"Well, that ended well," Kasumi said.

"EEEP!!" Tofu squeaked.  "W-Why Kasumi! What a surprise 
to meet you here of all places!"

"This is my bedroom, Tofu-sensei."

"Y-y-y-your *b-b-b-bedroom*???" 

He squealed like a little girl, shuddered violently, then 
fainted.



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