Pretty Cure Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Together in Spirit ❯ Revenge with a Slice of Insanity And a Glass of Ice cold Shoulder ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ryoga's back in town and boy, is he pissed.

Back in Nerima, Akane is having some problems of her own.

This looks like a job for... a certain cursed martial artist and his spirit friend.

Stick around to see how our heroes are going get out of this one.

Anime/Manga: Pretty Cure Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Shoujo / Martial Arts / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.06.2009 | Updated On: 06.30.2009 | Pages: 16 | Words: 15.4K | Visits: 942 | Status: Work In Progress

Pleasant greetings to you, the readers of this story. In this chapter, Ryoga will make his reappearance after being gone for two chapters.

We will also expect a somewhat different resolution to Akane's dilemma early in the series - her unrequited crush with Dr. Tofu Ono.

I cannot promise a picture perfect chapter but still, please read and enjoy this one.

Now let's go back to where we left off last chapter.

Chapter 4 - Revenge with a Slice of Insanity and a Glass of Ice cold Shoulder

Tendou Residence - 5:30 AM

Both Ranma and Akane had woken up from their respective futon/bed at nearly the same time.

After doing her early morning ablutions, the girl was about to draw her jogging outfit from her dresser when she remembered her talk with the cursed martial artist just the night before.

She wore her white dogi instead and looked for the said teen. They met in the stone path leading to the dojo and were nearly attacked by Genma. In response, both teens double teamed the elder martial artist and beat him to a pulp.

“That'll teach ya t' sneak up on us,” Ranma said as he and Akane headed for the dojo.

-oOo-

“I'm ready when you are, Akane.” Ranma told the girl after they both bowed at each other in respect.

“Let's begin and no tricks or evading. Let's spar for real,” Akane replied as she began her attack. She gave her opponent a left jab that missed entirely.

“Ranma, I already told you that-” The girl made a quick leg sweep while she was still protesting. It resulted with the boy falling on his backside with a loud thump.

After standing up while rubbing his sore tush, Ranma said “Akane, you havta learn that no opponent would jus' stand around awaitin' your attacks. You havta know where they will go next so that ya can hit `im. Then again, you did distract me for a sec there.”

“You're right. I have to anticipate his movements as well as my own to succeed.”

Both teens were so intent on their training session that a whole hour has passed by without their even knowing it. Ranma himself made a surprising move as he caught the girl's dogi at its lapel with his right hand and quickly pulled her down to the wooden floor.

He was supposed to make a few soft taps on the right side of her head near the temple with his free hand, but found himself staring at her surprised brown eyes.

She, in turn, was also mesmerized by Ranma's own confused blue eyes thus she forgot to break away from the grappling hold he had on her.

Unfortunately for both of them, Kasumi had just opened the door when both teens had landed on the floor with Akane on top of Ranma in a somewhat compromising position.

“Oh my.”

It was only when they heard the spoken expression did the two martial artists finally regained their senses, immediately stood up, and ran away from the other.

Both of them were blushing madly and were facing away from each other as they stood on the opposite ends of the hall.

They also belatedly realized that everyone else was standing behind the Tendou homemaker. Their own bug eyed expressions were actually amusing for both Ranma and Akane if it were not for their own embarrassing situation.

Therefore, only the flower spirit in the pony-tailed martial artist's mind was actually laughing uncontrollably at the whole deal.

“Before you guys go gaga over this, let it be known that it was her fault since she didn't break out of the grapplin' hold I made on her.” Ranma was trying to explain his side of the situation. `Stop laughin', Flappy.'

“Oh, really. If you hadn't grabbed my dogi, then this wouldn't even have happened in the first place.” Akane shot back, her brown eyes burning with newly found fury.

“Saotome, our prayers are answered. The schools will finally be joined.” Soun was in the process of flooding the whole training hall with his tears of happiness, ignoring the two voices rising in volume with every word spoken.

“Yes, Tendou. This calls for a celebration.” Genma was actually pulling party favors from thin air while also ignoring the argument. “Kasumi, bring out the sake if you please.”

“Wait a minute, we nev'r agreed to the said engagement and Mister Tendou ev'n said and I quote `Wahhh, my future son-in-law is a stuffed toy! The schools can nev'r be joined.' What do ya say about that?” Ranma now turned to the two elder men as soon as their words registered in his head.

“I'm with Ranma in this one. I only asked him to spar with me since I have to improve my skills and he agreed,” Akane added as she slowly marched in the direction of the door.

“Whoa there, my dear little sister. Don't forget that this is a pact made between two men.” Nabiki had placed her hand on the blue-haired girl's left shoulder.

“Even then, it is my future at stake here.” Both sisters then heard Ranma clearing his throat behind them. “Correction, our future is at stake here.”

“Akane, like Genma told both of you last night, you are only engaged to be married. Both of you are still free to choose if you would like to continue with the engagement or not,” Soun told his daughter after placing a comforting hand on her other shoulder. “Still, if neither you nor Ranma really wanted this engagement to continue, you both have to come up with an honorable alternative. I hope I made myself perfectly clear, young lady.”

“Yes, Daddy.” Akane replied while trying to hold back tears.

Ranma was torn between defending his new friend and bowing into the inevitable. He asked Flappy on what would be the best course of action out of the two.

“I'm not sure, Ranma-lapi. I would rather ask Akane about it if I were you though-lapi.” The flower spirit answered as he scratched his own head in confusion.

`You're no help,' the black haired teen jokingly told his mental guest.

-oOo-

After eating breakfast, Kasumi asked her little sister to take a book on herbs she borrowed back to Dr. Tofu's clinic.

Akane politely refused and headed out with Ranma nipping at her heals. Neither teen had taken their lunches from the perplexed older girl and mother figure of the Tendou household.

“I guess I'll take them to Dr. Tofu myself then,” Kasumi said to no one in particular.

-oOo-

“What was that all about, Akane?” Ranma had caught up with the running girl about a kilometer from their home and placed a hand on both her shoulders, instantly stopping the latter.

“I'm sorry, Ranma but would you let me be. I need to be alone for a while.” The girl slowly removed the hands on her shoulders and ran away as fast as she can.

Ranma tailed Akane from a respectable distance on their way to school. By the time he arrived, almost all of the male students who challenged the blue haired girl before were now assembled and their heads bowed in respect.

He only heard the closing speech of their spokesperson before they made an about face and walked to their classes in tears.

Oddly enough, he did not see the samurai wannabe among the crowd. He said as much to his mental guest.

“Who cares about that idiot, Ranma-lapi? It's best that you go to class anyway-lapi.”

`I don't, Flappy. I'm simply curious as to why he isn't here though. Then again, why should we go to class anyway?' Ranma thought with a grimace.

“Learning is kinda fun-lapi. Besides, there is a good chance that we may learn something useful while staying here-lapi.”

`You're just bored with my constant trainin', aren't you?'

“Yes I am-lapi,” The flower spirit replied with a resigned sigh. “I hope you're not mad at me for saying so-lapi.”

`Nah, even I get bored of doin' that sometimes. `Sides, if a martial artist like Akane can go to school, why can't I do the same?'

-oOo-

Time passed ever so slowly to the pony-tailed martial artist as he was actually worried about his sparring partner.

Akane was only acting as if she understood what the teacher was saying. In reality, her brown eyes were completely blank as if it held no emotions or life at all.

Even her friends were starting to notice and had tried everything to get her attention back the whole morning.

Not even the loud ringing of the lunch bell could wake the bluish-black haired girl up from her stupor. Only Ranma, Daisuke, Hiroshi, Sayuri, Yuka, and she remained in the classroom long after the bell had stopped ringing.

Seeing as there really was no other choice, the pony-tailed teen went to Akane's side before shaking her small shoulders gently.

“Whadda you want, you idiot?” Akane finally said as she stood up angrily. The boy took a few steps back, surprised at his new friend's behavior.

“Akane, Ranma's just worried about you. Lighten up, will you?” Sayuri was telling her friend since she herself thought that Ranma's obvious concern about her blue haired best friend was kind of cute.

“I'm sorry, everyone. I'm just feeling a little down today,” The blue-haired girl said as she sat down.

“Well, let's grab a bite to eat then. I'm payin',” Hiroshi told the group as he headed for the door.

Almost everyone except the other two boys looked at the sandy haired boy like he was an alien life form. Ranma even replied, “Thanks, man. I'm still a little broke and both Akane and I forgot our lunch back home.”

The three boys hurried to the cafeteria, leaving behind the stunned female half of the group. Yuka even remarked, “Boys, they only think with their stomachs.”

The light comment only brought a smidge of a smile on Akane's face as she followed her own two best friends to the cafeteria.

-oOo-

The six teens ate at girl's usual spot (a Cherry blossom tree in the school yard). Ranma sat contentedly on a rather large branch above the other five.

This action did have the unfortunate side effect of having to crane his neck and twist his body just to hear what the rest were saying or them having to look up just to talk to him.

“Saotome, get down here. We still have to help your fiancée out of her depression,” Yuka told the martial artist, ignoring the shushing of the other three teens and Akane's flushing cheeks.

“We are not engaged, Yagami. But I'll still come down since she's still my friend,” The martial artist said as he jumped down from his comfortable perch.

He also glared at the arriving crowd of female students, all of them eager for some hot gossip since the present gossip about Nabiki Tendou and Tatewaki Kuno being seen walking to class together for the whole day was just too unbelievable to be true.

“Now that I got your full attention, Saotome, let's cheer her up.” Yuka felt some kind of weird satisfaction at pushing Ranma's buttons.

He may not be as perverted as Daisuke but he's twice as egotistic. She felt even more satisfaction since the large crowd slunk away from them thus preserving their privacy.

“Yuka, I'm fine. There's no need to cheer me up.” Akane then turned to Ranma as he sat down on the grassy field next to Daisuke. “By the way, thanks for considering me as your friend. You don't know how glad I am to hear those words from you.”

“Enough of the mushy stuff, Akane. I'm getting cavities jus' watching you guys.” Daisuke pretended to throw up to Hiroshi's and Sayuri's amusement.

“Take this, funny man.” Yuka banged the brunet's noggin with her book bag. This time, Ranma and Akane joined in the laughter.

The second lunch bell had rung, signaling the end of the lunch period. The group packed up their spent lunches and threw it in the nearest waste basket.

Both Yuka and Sayuri returned to their classroom with mixed feelings. They were glad their friend had loosened up but they still didn't know why she was depressed in the first place.

As for the three boys, they were just a bit upset that they had to return to their boring classes for the remainder of the day.

-oOo-

Their final period for the day was Physical Education class. The boys were practicing on doing long jumps while the girls were playing a softball game.

Of course, Ranma's jump broke the old school record and established a new one that would remain for years to come.

After the boys had finished their jumps, they sat on the grass nearest the “diamond” as they watched the girls have their own fun.

Some of the other girls even sat in with the boys since the former had taken the shaded part of the field as their impromptu bleachers to escape the glaring sun.

The teachers ignored the whole scene since it would be unfair for their students to get sunburn or skin cancer just for the sake of separating them from each other.

This is why Sayuri was sitting next to Hiroshi in the middle of the pack. Daisuke sat next to his best friend while Yuka sat beside her own best friend.

Ranma sat some distance in front of the shy couple, mentally talking with Flappy about the game they were both watching.

Suddenly, a softball flew towards Yuka from the direction of the home plate. She instinctively raised her bare arms to protect herself, awaiting the inevitable impact of the solid leather ball. It never came.

She lowered her arms and opened her eyes to see Daisuke sprawled on the ground in front of her, a softball lying idly on his left side. In an instant, she knelt beside the fallen boy, rolled him over, and patted his right cheek gently.

She never even noticed the arrival of Akane from her position in first base as well as the fact that her other friends had now surrounded her and the still unconscious Daisuke.

“Wake up, you idiot.” She said softly to his face as she again patted his cheek. To her relief, Daisuke had finally woken up.

“Ungg, I think I heard the voice of a goddess.” The brunet was saying as he slowly sat up, his eyes still closed.

When he finally opened his eyes and saw that Yuka was actually making her own impression of a ripe tomato, he shook his head in disbelief. “Oops, I was wrong. It was actually the voice of a demon.”

A dainty fist was the last thing he saw before seeing stars for the second time that afternoon.

-oOo-

“Oh boy and here I thought that Akane's violent but Yuka's just as violent as she is,” Ranma was saying as he lugged the still unconscious Daisuke to the nurse's office with Hiroshi.

The martial artist was holding the brunet's shoulders while Hiroshi hefted the said brunet's legs.

“I'd be careful of what I'd say if I were you,” The sandy haired teen retorted as he took a sneak peek behind them.

“Yeah, besides breaking bricks and kicking suitor butt is not violent. Wait, let me rephrase that…” Akane was saying but caught herself in time.

“Stop it, Akane. It's a lost cause,” Sayuri advised as she laid a hand on her friend, while stifling a laugh with the other hand.

“Oh alright. You win, Sayuri.”

The group finally arrived at the school's clinic where Daisuke was revived with smelling salts. The nurse then advised them to bring Daisuke to Dr. Tofu's clinic since her supply of Aqua Oxinada had just run out. None of them saw Akane's gradual change in expression as they walked towards the said clinic.

-oOo-

The teens had arrived just in time to see the good doctor swinging his skeleton around in obvious joy.

Nearly all of them scratched their heads at the strange behavior of the well known Nerimian chiropractor. They then turned to Akane since she was the only one who knew Dr. Tofu very well.

“Judging from the embarrassing sight earlier, she had just visited him an hour ago.” She said cryptically.

“Who's she, Akane?” Ranma was still having trouble processing the fact that the cool man he met just yesterday would act like a lovesick buffoon like those in mangas that he had borrowed from his classmates back in middle school.

“My sister, Kasumi. That's who.” Akane hung her head as she tried valiantly to hold back tears.

“I see.”

Hearing the words spoken, the other four teens now looked at the pony-tailed martial artist.

“I see? That's all you're going to say, Saotome. I see?!” Yuka's temper flared up at her own inability to make sense of the situation especially since she has been with the youngest Tendou for years now.

“Yuka…” Akane gave a sidelong glance at the pony tailed teen. The boy was about to open his mouth but shut it quickly as compliance to her unspoken request.

“Everyone, although I had kept this a secret for a while now, I had a schoolgirl crush on Dr. Tofu.” She again looked at her housemate before continuing. “I now know that it's a waste of time but for awhile there, I really believed that he loved me back.”

“No worries, Akane. But I can't help you either. It's best to just leave it to the girls,” Hiroshi said as he placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

“Leave it to us, Saotome. You guys, better get yourselves home.” Sayuri said with a confidence never seen before as she and Yuka escorted the blue-haired girl to nearest ice cream parlor.

The guys each went their own ways as Daisuke still had to get home since his mom had some Agua Oxinada in her medicine cabinet.

Hiroshi went with him so they can explain to Daisuke's mother about the brunet's bruised cheek along with the shiner in his left eye.

-oOo-

Ranma slowly walked home from Dr. Tofu's office after he and the other boys said their goodbyes.

Along the way, he and the flower spirit were talking about what to do with Akane. The only advice Flappy can give his friend and host was to comfort the girl whenever he can with hugs and some encouraging words.

`Sorry, little buddy but I can't do that. I'd rather goad her ta fight me than act like a cheesy male lead in those soap operas that Nabiki and Kasumi watch ev'ry night,' Ranma whined after hearing the advice.

“What's more important to you, Ranma - your manliness or your friend?”

`Hmm, tough question but right now, being manly is second place ta helping Akane out.” Ranma stopped walking as realization finally set in. “You know, if I hadn't met ya and the Li clan, I might `ave made things worse than it already is.”

“Maybe, but for now, let's go home and let the girls handle it-lapi.”

`Now that's the best advice I've gotten from you all day, partner.' Ranma said as he jumped to the fence and ran the rest of the way home.

-oOo-

The next morning, Ranma was busy practicing in the training hall alone. Genma had changed his mind and let the heirs to the School of Anything Goes train each other for awhile. It was much healthier for him that way.

The pony-tailed teen was about to shadowbox when the door slowly creaked open. From it entered Akane who looked as if she hadn't slept all night.

“Yo, Akane. Ya feeling well?” Ranma greeted the girl as he stepped closer, his blue eyes filled with concern.

“Not at the moment, but thanks. Also no hugging please since Nabiki may have hidden a video camera somewhere in here,” Akane replied as she headed to the front of the shrine and bowed. “A nice good sparring session with you would do wonders though.”

“As you wish.”

-oOo-

As before, Ranma taught Akane as they sparred for an hour before joining the others for breakfast that was somewhat earlier than usual.

The girl slowly learned to increase her speed to match Ranma's own even though he is still much faster than he was letting on as well as not to telegraph her own moves.

Still, there were times when Akane felt frustrated at not having hit the boy even once while getting hit herself a few times. Thus, she just tried to wail on him to no effect.

After sparring, they bowed to each other and headed for the family room since it was already time to eat.

Along the way to the dining room, Ranma was thinking that he's got his work cut for him in training the Tendou heir to her maximum potential while Akane was thinking that unless she fixed her various weaknesses, she cannot improve as a martial artist.

During breakfast, the father and son duo ate as fast as they could even to the point of stealing each other's meals.

The Saotomes' antics still hadn't distracted Kasumi long enough from the sight of her baby sister who looked like she still suffered from slight depression after the events of the previous day added by the events just earlier. She did ask the girl about it but Akane brushed it off as usual.

-oOo-

After Ranma had taken a bath, Kasumi was actually waiting for him just outside the bathroom.

“Ranma, I'm sorry to tell you this but your clothes are currently in the washing machine. It would be best if you would remain in your cursed form for at least an hour,” She told the pony tailed martial artist who was only clothed in a white towel.

“Like I gotta choice in the matter,” Ranma muttered to himself.

“What was that, Ranma?”

“Uhh, nothing. I'll jus' come back ta the bathroom an' change for a while.” Ranma ducked back in to the furo and changed to his cursed form. He then hopped past the girl and headed for the engawa where he would meditate for the time being.

-oOo-

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Your clothes are ready,” A sweet sounding soft voice told Ranma as its owner whispered in the flower spirit's right ear.

The light green stuffed animal slowly raised its tiny arms as it opened its eyes and yawned loudly. He looked to his right, only to find the amused (and cute, Ranma thought to himself with a blush) face of his sparring partner and supposed to be fiancée.

“Ranma and Akane, sitting in a tree-lapi. K-I…”

“Thanks, Akane. Would ya be a good girl and bring a cup of hot water ta me and Pop's shared room?” Ranma was saying before hopping away. `Definitely not funny, so quit it while you're still behind, Flappy.'

“That's my father's and my shared room, Ranma.” Akane sighed before muttering to herself about deaf and cursed pony-tailed martial artists but still headed in the direction of the kitchen. `He'll definitely need a crash course in proper Japanese speaking or we'll need a translator for him soon.'

-oOo-

Classes went by quickly as Ranma took some notes or read his textbooks whenever the teacher looked at his direction.

This prompted Akane to ask the Japanese Literature teacher for a change in the seating arrangement and to tell her homeroom teacher to keep it for the whole semester.

She now sat directly behind the pony-tailed teen and tapped him at the back so that he would actually study his lessons rather than sleep whenever the teacher's back is facing him.

Ranma did complain about it during lunch but was actually overruled by the other two girls. After seeing Akane's example, both Sayuri and Yuka also changed their own seats.

Later, both Sayuri and Hiroshi sat next to each other and even shared a textbook during their Chemistry class. Yuka just hits Daisuke's back roughly whenever his roving eyes focused on the more endowed girls in their class rather then on his textbooks.

-oOo-

That afternoon, the six friends were just about to go their separate ways when suddenly Ranma told Daisuke and Hiroshi to tackle both Yuka and Sayuri respectively off to the side while he did the same to Akane.

The girls as well as the rest of the students were surprised and puzzled as to why Ranma did it. It only made sense a few seconds later when a boy around their age shouting “Ranma, prepare to die!” tapped the concrete walkway where they were standing with his bamboo umbrella.

The concrete suddenly gave way to an unseen force, thus forming a crater nearly a meter in diameter and more than fifteen centimeters deep. Everyone was frozen in fear at seeing the newly formed crater.

It was by this time that Ranma and his friends were slowly standing up from their prone positions outside the crater's rim. The young man crouching in the crater's center also stood up before heading towards the pony-tailed teen and the girl beside him.

“You're just lucky that you and your friends were not hurt by my little greeting. I will still take away your happiness.” The young man was wearing a yellow shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a yellow bandana with dark spots.

“Um, excuse me but do I know you?” Ranma asked as he slowly moved from the blue haired girl's side towards the stranger.

“How could you forget who I am, Ranma? Have you gone senile or something?” The boy shook his head in disbelief.

“He can't just remember anyone who didn't even introduce himself so cut him some slack, huh,” Akane said in defense of her sparring partner.

“Cut him some- that's it!” Ranma exclaimed as he suddenly ran out of the school gates.

“Come back here, you coward.” The young man was about to chase Ranma when his path was suddenly blocked by Daisuke and Hiroshi.

“Look, bub. I may not know Ranma that much but I'm sure he's gotta good reason for runnin' out on you,” Daisuke had said with a courage that surprised everyone including him.

“Daisuke's right, so let's just wait for him to come back.” Hiroshi added, in his mind he was actually hoping that Sayuri would be impressed with him.

She was but she was also worried about him getting hurt. The same could be said with Yuka on Daisuke's end.

“Outta my way, you fools.” The newcomer was about to swat the two boys away with his umbrella when he sensed something flying to his face.

He reached out only to find out that he was holding a piece of bread wrapped in plastic. “What the hell is this?!”

“Ryoga, we both know that it was me who head butted you into the cursed spring but still, accept this little peace offering fer both my actions there and fer not settling our earlier duel.” Ranma was already walking towards the surprised Ryoga Hibiki while carrying more bread in a paper bag. “Then again, it wasn't my fault that you didn't ev'n show up at the appointed place fer three straight days.”

“Do you think that giving me some bread would make me forgive you for all that you have done? Prepare to die, Ranma.” Ryoga had already charged at his old rival, holding his umbrella like he would hold a jousting lance. “Besides, I was there on the fourth day, you idiot.”

The pony-tailed teen had to duck various slashes and stabs before jumping high in the air. He landed gracefully with his back to the school, both fists clenched and ready to go.

While he was still airborne, he also threw the paper bag he was holding to a surprised Akane.

Ryoga once again charged like a teed off bull but missed when Ranma again took to the air. The fanged boy crashed through the front door and everything else behind it, before disappearing from everyone's view.

“Now that's what I call one pissed martial artist. Man, he'll need some serious anger management classes and soon.” Daisuke noted as he looked at the destruction made by Hibiki's passing.

Yuka once again rapped him on the head. “Considering what happened to him back in China, of course he'll be pissed.” She then turned to the male martial artist. “What the hell was the bread for anyway?!”

Ranma again sighed before saying. “I guess I'll havta tell you guys about the time Ryoga and me studied in an all boys' school back when we were still in Junior High.”

He then noticed the crowd that was still listening in on them. “Hey, this is private stuff. If you guys want gossip, make your own.”

-oOo-

After Ranma and Akane had taken their friends home and the former had also told the whole story about the bread feud between him and Ryoga, the girl suddenly punched the boy's left upper arm.

“Now what was that for?!” Ranma said while rubbing his sore muscles.

“Considering what you did to him back in Junior High, Ryoga would definitely chase you to Jusenkyo. Then again, why didn't he even show up at the vacant lot behind his house for three straight days?” Akane scratched her head on the last part.

“I dunno. I wish I couda asked him about it, but I guess I'll have to wait for him ta come back. Hopefully, he would have cooled down enough for us to talk normally.”

“Yeah, I hope so too. Alright, time for some Japanese lessons.” The girl added as she rubbed her hands to keep them warm.

“Wait a minute, why should I need lessons in Japanese anyway?” Ranma turned to his fellow housemate.

“Well, sometimes your language skills suck so much I need to translate what you were saying in my mind.” Akane replied with a smug smile. “Remember, to teach martial arts effectively, your students have to understand what you're saying. Otherwise, they'll never learn anything.”

“Ouch! Ya got me right `ere, Akane.” Ranma was clutching at his heart and doing his impression of having been shot through the chest while saying this.

“And here I thought I was a good actress. You could win an Academy award for that little performance,” The girl said with a straight face at first but later burst into giggles.

Her incessant giggling continued until they got home while Ranma laughed along heartily.

-oOo-

Early the next day, a routine was beginning to emerge in the daily activities within the Tendou compound. Kasumi would wake up first and prepare breakfast.

The heirs of the Saotome branch and Tendou branch of the Anything Goes School followed suit and started sparring with each other in the training hall.

Sometimes, the masters of both branches (Soun and Genma) would join in the daily sparring sessions just to relish their own past experiences in practicing the Art.

At any other time, both old men would awake just before breakfast and leave to do their respective jobs or play shogi. Genma now worked as Dr. Tofu's assistant and janitor while Soun heads to City Hall to pass some ordinances for the good of Nerima.

By seven thirty in the morning, everyone was enjoying a hearty breakfast made by Tendou homemaker. After putting away the dishes, everyone except Kasumi left for either work or school.

Kasumi had also given the pony-tailed martial artist a challenge letter from Ryoga that arrived the night before. She had somehow forgotten all about it due to all the extra housework she had been doing lately.

-oOo-

“What does it say, Ranma?” Akane was now walking on the fence along with Ranma, trying her best to keep her balance in every step of the way.

“Huh? Oh, it's nuthin'. Concentrate on your trainin' first, I'll tell ya all about it when you're done.” Ranma was still reading the letter as he too walked on the fence behind the girl.

“As you wish, Sensei.”

-oOo-

As they neared the school gates, both had jumped down to the sidewalk. Ranma finally told her about the challenge letter from Ryoga.

She took it with mixed feelings since they may change the fanged boy's mind but then again, they may not be able to and will have to fight him off instead.

While Akane was teaching Ranma the finer points of speaking Japanese along with her best female friends, Hiroshi saw something strange in the school's soccer field from his place beside the window.

“Yo, Ranma. It seems that Mr. Anger Management has come back for some more punishment. Unfortunately for him, he got knocked out by an out of line football. Wanna take a look?” The light haired teen was saying before he ducked at the paper ball thrown to him by Yuka.

“Nah, he left a letter for me, ta whoop his ass later in the afternoon, back at the Tendou compound sometime last night. I'll just straighten him out a bit after classes are over.” Ranma went to his seat since their homeroom teacher had just arrived.

-oOo-

Later that afternoon, both Ranma and Ryoga were facing each other in the empty soccer field. Students from the whole school had excused themselves from their classes (if any) to watch the coming fight.

Akane was actually looking worried since she didn't want another fight to occur since some innocent bystanders tend to get hurt whenever these battles happen. A memory of the previous afternoon easily came into mind.

She snapped herself out of her depressing thoughts when she heard her sister's voice calling for betting rings among the assembled students. `Trust Nabiki to turn a simple duel of two martial artists into a money making venture.'

Looking back at the two combatants, she could see Ryoga's malicious facial expression as opposed to Ranma's puzzled one. Ranma was saying that even though he loved to fight, this isn't the right time or place to do so.

“Shut up, you coward. I won't have you running away again like you did before. Your time ends now!” Ryoga suddenly charged at the pony-tailed teen, bamboo umbrella in the ready.

After dodging some swipes from Ryoga's weapon along with a few kicks, Ranma then slid underneath the charging boy and used his feet to put the fanged boy in an upside down stranglehold. He also used his opponent's leverage against him by grabbing his legs.

The result was Ryoga hitting the ground face first with his rival sitting on his back and giving him an ankle lock. The lost boy also lost his grip on his weapon of choice as soon as he hit the ground hard.

“Had enough, Mr. `I can't ev'n get outta paper bag'.” Ranma said with a victorious grin.

“I've never had enough, Ranma.” The fanged boy hoisted himself and his “passenger” several feet off the ground with his right hand.

As the two combatants left the ground, Ranma slipped a roundhouse kick through Ryoga's defenses causing the fanged boy to fall into the grass a few meters away from the pony-tailed teen.

“Now that's the Ranma Saotome that I know.” Ryoga then ran towards his bamboo umbrella, dodging some kicks and punches from his opponent as he slid towards his goal.

He opened the said item and threw it at his opponent's direction. Ranma easily ducked the clumsy attack but not the handcuffs thrown at him at the last second.

Ryoga said that the handcuffs, linked by a thin high tension steel wire, were to insure that Ranma will not run away from this fight.

“Ryoga, I wouldn't run away from this fight. I was only saying that we can have this battle in a better location where no one else gets hurt,” Ranma was saying as he delivered a flurry of punches at the fanged boy.

“I don't believe you. Take this.” Ryoga then made a reverse side kick that missed Ranma by mere inches. He then jumped towards a surprised Akane who was barely lifting his umbrella off the ground.

The girl managed to jump away at the last second as she had let go of the umbrella.

The fanged boy was elated at the turn of events only to appear crestfallen a second later when his opponent lifted it with his right foot and flung it away.

Realizing his chances of winning the fight were slim, Ryoga then ran up the soccer field's chain linked fence with Ranma closely following him.

-oOo-

Both martial artists stopped to fight near the Kendo Club's clubhouse where five land mines were buried there by the Chemistry Club hours before school even started. Since both teens were trained to be light on their feet, neither boy triggered the do-it-yourself buried weapons.

It was when the errant club members took matters to their own hands did the mines finally explode. An interesting side effect of the explosion itself was that the steel wire holding the handcuffs together was cut and the chase was on once again.

-oOo-

When both Ranma and Ryoga stopped in the streets of Nerima outside of Furinkan High to catch their breaths and resume their fight, Nabiki had caught up with them. She gave the lost boy some vitamin pills that she told him to be super strength pills.

In his mentally pumped up state, Ryoga tried to turn his opponent into pancake on the fence by means of a concrete transmission pole that he detached from its post.

It did not work since Ranma easily evaded the clumsy attacks, which only made more collateral damage to the residential walls surrounding them.

Ranma ran for his life shouting “Ryoga, you nit wit. How the heck could this be a fair fight? ”

The fanged boy's only response was to swing the pole to the cursed teen's location. The whole road to Nerima Zoo looked like a war zone with seven foot high white fences holed, transmission poles cut down like trees, cars sliced into two, and so on.

-oOo-

Ryoga finally cornered the pony-tailed martial artist near the monkey cages within the said zoo. Along the way, he had also destroyed any animal cage they had run into.

“You don't have anywhere else to go, Ranma. C'mon and fight me,” He taunted as he again slashed his opponent with the jagged edge of the now shortened transmission pole.

“You jus' ruined my favorite shirt, you dumb ass.” Ranma was saying as his red shirt was torn near the chest area.

“Boo hoo hoo. Widdle Ranma had his shirt torn, so what. Did you even forget that we're in a middle of a duel here?”

“You'll pay for that, Pig Boy!” Ranma roared as he jump kicked Ryoga. The kick itself had hit the remains of the concrete pole, shattering it to a million pieces.

Ryoga was now on the defensive as he jumped on top of a nearby open wash basin. The pony tailed teen followed him and with a second jump kick, broke the whole basin.

The impromptu water fountain that resulted from the basin's destruction triggered Ranma's transformation to a light green stuffed animal. Ryoga, meanwhile, used his spare umbrella to shield himself from the gushing water.

“Well, well, well. It seems that I finally have the upper hand. Say hi to God for me, Ran-” Ryoga's speech was cut short by a high twist kick that knocked him to the ground, face first.

The person who tagged Ryoga quickly headed to the surprised and cursed martial artist as soon as she got on her feet.

“You ok, Ranma?” Akane was saying as she scooped up the small toy into her arms and ran towards her other friends who were watching the fight near the trees leading to the entranceway.

“What the hell? Who did that?” Ryoga said as he stood up from his prone position and was drawing his bandannas.

Seeing the blue-haired girl fleeing from his location as well as the missing flower spirit, he quickly put two and two together.

He charged his bandannas with his ki before throwing them at the retreating girl and the flower spirit she was carrying in her arms.

“That'll teach him to mess with someone an eighth of his own size,” Akane was saying as she skidded on her left heel as she changed directions to spare her friends and classmates from the razor sharp bandannas being thrown at her.

She was so busy dodging the twirling projectiles that she tripped on a raised tree root, spraining her left ankle. Two bandannas had cut through her school uniform's skirt at its lower edge before flying elsewhere.

Ranma, enraged at how Ryoga could attack his sparring partner even while she's down, wiggled out of the blue haired girl's grip and charged at the fanged teen.

He did not see the girl behind him slowly stand up and tried to help him out. He even ignored her cries for him to stop fighting and just run away instead.

“Akane, get away from here-lapi. I'll handle this ravin' lunatic-lapi,” Ranma said as he tagged the fanged boy with combination kicks to the face.

“No way, he's got too much of an advantage over you.” Akane said as she hobbled towards the dueling martial artists.

“How sweet, I'll deal with both of you then.” Ryoga had gotten hold of another bandanna as he evaded all of the flower spirit's flying kicks and rapid punches before knocking the said spirit into a nearby tree.

“Akane, look out-lapi.” Ranma had by then propelled himself from the tree's trunk with his short legs and cloven feet. He then made a flying crescent kick on Ryoga's right hand.

The kick knocked the chi-powered bandanna he was holding into the air, before the twirling projectile was pulled by gravity and slammed to the ground behind the surprised girl.

Akane was felt like she lost one of her nine lives when she noticed that the bandanna had missed her. It was only when she felt her hair that she realized that her long bluish black hair was cut way past the ribbon she had tied about midway to its ends.

“Say goodnight, Ryoga-lapi.” Ranma then hit Ryoga's chin with an uppercut that was powered up by the momentum of his second leap prior to the knockout punch.

-oOo-

Everyone left the knocked out Ryoga, who was still lying in the stone pathway towards the animal cages, alone in the zoo.

Both Sayuri and Yuka escorted their stunned friend home while Daisuke and Hiroshi carried the cursed martial artist and his soaked clothes to the light haired boy's own house.

While Ranma was waiting for his clothes to dry out in Hiroshi's room, he asked one of his friends on what he had done wrong.

“I dunno, Ranma. I have heard from some of our classmates that a girl's hair is very important to her,” Daisuke was explaining while taking a few bites of the cookies as well as a sip of the tea Hiroshi had given them.

“Actually, it was more like their hair is like their life or something to that effect.” Hiroshi had just entered the door with the newly dried clothes. “Mom said that she had her own hair cut when she fell in love with dad. She later explained that cutting her hair symbolized a drastic change in her life and how she would live it from then on.”

“Hmm, I gotta go and apologize then-lapi.” Ranma then poured some of the teapot's contents on himself and donned his newly dried clothes. “See ya, guys and… thanks.”

-oOo-

Ranma then headed for the Tendou compound as fast as he can. Once he arrived at the front door, he asked Kasumi when the older girl opened the door if Akane's already home.

“I'm sorry, Ranma but after I gave her a new haircut, she and her friends headed for Dr. Tofu's clinic.” The brown hared Tendou homemaker then gracefully made her way to the kitchen.

Turning back to the martial artist still standing at the door, she asked. “Did you have a fight or something since she was half carried by her friends and part of her skirt was torn?”

“Nope, jus' a slight mishap while I was trainin' her balance.” Ranma was saying as he leapt out of compound's walls.

-oOo-

While Ranma was on his way to the chiropractor's clinic, a very cute girl with short bluish-black hair going the other way called out his name as he passed her by. The pony-tailed boy stopped and jogged back to the waiting girl.

“Um, how did ya know who I am, Miss…” Ranma was scratching his head in confusion in tandem with Flappy. Neither one recognized the girl in front of them even though it was obvious that she knew them very well.

“Ranma, you dummy. I'm Akane. Jeez, I would have thought that Flappy would have at least recognized me even with my hair cut this way.” The girl - Akane Tendou was actually laughing at the blank stare she was getting from the dumbstruck boy.

`That's Akane. Wow, I actually did not recognize her at all.'

“Me, too-lapi. I'll bet that she's much cuter then before huh, Ranma-lapi.”

`Uh yeah… I mean, of course she's always cute even if she's a tomboy.' Ranma had to shake his head in disbelief at that particular train of thought.

“Got you to admit that she's cute-lapi,” The flower spirit added with a laugh.

`Very funny, Flappy. Very funny.'

By the time Ranma was able to focus on Akane, the girl itself was already standing on the chain link fence.

She was again practicing her balance while walking on the small tube of reinforced steel, her face glowing with joy at the sight of the pony-tailed boy's blushing face.

The boy did not even have to tell her what he thought of her, the look on his face already told Akane everything she needed to know.

Her joy was even potent enough for her to forget the slight pain on her foot as she slowly walked home.

Ranma simply followed her on street level, giving additional pointers and preparing himself to catch the blue-haired girl in case she would slip and fall to the concrete sidewalk.

-oOo-

That night, someone had snuck up the Tendou compound. His light footsteps kept him from getting caught as he hefted his heavy backpack while returning a bamboo umbrella back to its usual place above the backpack. His instincts directed him to a large room near the stairs.

Upon opening the said room, the intruder smiled at finally finding his prey. He whispered on the black haired teen's ear that he wants to fight.

The said teen only mumbled in reply before turning to his left, a full second before a calloused fist broke thorough his pillow.

The intruder's patience was wearing thin thus he shouted. “Ranma, you idiot. Wake up and fight me.”

The end result was a badly woken and irritated panda who threw both teens out the window and into the rain-soaked garden.

The intruder had the presence of mind to open his bamboo umbrella both to slow his fall and to protect him from the rain. The still sleeping teen had neither the presence of mind nor an umbrella so he transformed as soon as he hit the pond below.

The flower spirit had jumped out of the pond as soon as he awakened before confronting the intruder. “Ryoga, what the heck are ya doin' here-lapi? It's two o'clock in the mornin' fer crying out loud-lapi.”

“Fight me. The lucky punch you gave me earlier was a cheap shot since you caught me unawares at the time.” The boy wearing the same yellow shirt and black pants as last time got into a fighting stance while still holding his umbrella.

As they did just hours before, both teens fought with an intensity that would puzzle anyone who did not know the true reason for the duel.

They were so intent on pounding each other to the ground that neither fighter saw the wet iron barbell flying towards them.

The said flying metallic object made quite an impact with the fanged boy's head. This attack, combined with a second hit at the said boy's stomach by Ranma, knocked him out of the running.

As soon as the fanged boy hit the large water puddle beneath him, his curse was triggered and he transformed into a little black piglet with a polka-dotted yellow bandanna on his neck that was hidden beneath the soaked yellow shirt. Ranma slowly removed the shirt so that he could check if his rival was still alright.

The Tendou sisters who had just ran outside to see who they had caught was surprised by the sight of the flower spirit and the black piglet lying beside it with a large lump on its furry head.

Akane was the first to speak as she shielded both flower spirit and piglet from the rain with her blue umbrella. “Are you alright, Ranma; and how did this piglet get in here?”

“Actually, that's `Mr. Anger Management' as Hiroshi has so kindly put it-lapi,” Ranma was saying as he shook the excess water from his fur. “I think I'll take that nap now-lapi. Damn that guy, goading me ta fight at this ungodly hour-lapi.”

The cursed teen then leapt back to the second floor guest room that he shared with his father while saying “What's that knuckle head ev'n thinking-lapi?”

Down below, the girls' made a little experiment on the poor piglet just to see if Ranma was telling the truth.

After thirty minutes had passed, Ryoga was sleeping blissfully (courtesy of a powerful left hook from one of the surprised girls.

The said blow was enough in knocking him out as soon as he woke up from the scalding water while he was changing back to human form) in a cot in the family room.

His newly pressed clothes and drying shoes were laid next to him as he dreamed on finally getting his revenge against Ranma.

Well that ends the fourth chapter of Together in Spirit, and I couldn't be happier for all the changes I had to make to the Ranma one-half storyline to fit the new situations.

I can bet some of you will say “What a copout for the biggest reason behind the major arguments between Ranma and Akane.”

Yeah, well. I already had Ranma tell pretty much everything to Akane from the get go.

Besides, if I let the drama continue, it may lead to a fatal error on either one's part as they tangle with their future enemies. Ryoga and the others are child's play compared to who they will fight later, trust me on this.

Next chapter would be the introduction of Kodachi Kuno, four of the Chinese Amazons, and the Golden Pair.

I can also bet that things will get really interesting here since Female Ranma is now out of the equation.

Akane is definitely going to have her work cut out for her this time around. So stick around to see if she'll survive the next chapter entitled “On Thin Ice.”

As before, read and enjoy.