The Characters of Ranma 1/2 are Rumiko Takahashi's. Hopefully, she'll
forgive us for what we're doing.


Send us your comments, blah blah blah Flames, blah blah- Oh to hell with
it! Just read the damn thing!

Ranma vs. Ranma! 
The Battle For Akane's Soul!
By She-Hulk and Kahm (brobinso@neocomm.net)
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Part 7


Tendo Dojo.....
	

	They had done all that they could to prepare for this moment. It was
unavoidable that the battle should take place here. They would try to
protect the family, but Ranma must die today. 

	Kuno strode swiftly into the courtyard. He stood in front of the house and
called out. "Ranma Saotome!"

	Ranma paused in the act of pulling on his shirt and looked out the window.
"Oh, great."

	Ranma was at the front door in moments and stepped outside to face Kuno.
"What do you want Kuno? Do you realize what time it is?" He frowned as
Mousse and Ryoga moved to stand on either side of Kuno. "What's going on?"

	Kuno spoke softly. "Gaze upon the sun, Saotome, for you will not live to
see it tomorrow."

	Mousse's voice was flat. "You're a dead man walking, Saotome. You just
don't know it yet."

	Ryoga stepped forward. "Enough of this. It's time to fight."

	Ranma watched the three as they advanced and he noticed something he had
overlooked before: They were dressed completely in black. Kuno's blue kendo
uniform had been replaced by black ninja clothes and rather than his
bokken, he carried a katana. Mousse's white Chinese coat was now black with
scarlet tigers embroidered across it. His hands slid from the sleeves and
he raised the long spear that had appeared. Ryoga was wearing  his normal
black outfit, but with a few changes. His head band was black and so was
the umbrella that he hurled at Ranma.

	Ranma ducked and the umbrella imbedded itself into the door. As he jumped
over his attackers, he winced thinking of Nabiki's reaction.

	"Are you crazy?" He tried to put some distance between them, but they were
staying right with him. Ranma hopped over a thrusting spear point, then
jerked his head aside, narrowly avoiding the rush of Kuno's sword. There
was a sudden burst of pain and Ranma found himself flying across the
courtyard to land against the wall of the Dojo. Ryoga smiled grimly at the
result of his kick. They moved in again.

	Ranma sat up and saw them approaching. "Why are you guys doing this?  What
am I supposed to have done to you?" They stopped.

	"You have been sentenced to death!" They rushed him.

	Ranma dodged, blocked and tried figure out what the hell they were talking
about.

	Strike after strike, blow after blow, they kept coming. He managed to
avoid most of them, but several found their mark. He was hampered by the
fact that he didn't really want to hurt them. 

	Mousse lunged at him, "For my Shampoo!" A hot pain ripped through his leg
and he looked down to see the point of Mousse's spear protruding from his
thigh. He cried out and jerked away, the feel of his flesh slicing making
him sick.
		
	"For Ukyo, you bastard!" Ryoga's fist landed solidly and Ranma fell back
as his breath left him in a sudden rush.

	Kuno didn't say anything, he just tried to sever his head. Ranma touch the
small cut at the base of his neck.

	Ranma struck out then, knocking his opponents back. "I don't know what's
going on, but somebody had better start explaining!"

	They circled him and Ranma braced himself. "If I've been found guilty of a
crime, then at least tell me what I'm supposed to have done!"

	"You attacked Shampoo!" Ranma twisted away, but still felt the sting of
Mousse's spear as it opened his side. 

	Ryoga's bandanna whirled past his arm, leaving a bloody trail. "You
attacked Ukyo!"

	Kuno's sword swept in and cut a shallow groove across Ranma's chest.
"Would that I could say that you had merely  "attacked" Kodachi, but thy
foul torture has destroyed fair maiden!"

	"But I didn't attack anybody!" Ranma flipped backwards, landing awkwardly.
Blood flowed freely from his injuries. He felt the wall at his back.

	He roared at them. "I Swear To You! I Did Not Attack Anybody!" 
	
	Inside, Kasumi and Nabiki were both startled by the sound and ran outside.
Nabiki saw the door and groaned. But then she saw Ranma and that was
forgotten. Kuno, Ryoga and Mousse had backed him up against the Dojo. Even
from this distance she could see the blood. Ranma was shaking his head and
held his hands up in a "wait a minute" gesture. They didn't. 

	Kasumi couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ranma was hurt and from the
way he was fighting, he was trying not to hurt his assailants. She heard
him protest, "I didn't do it! I was here all day yesterday! Ask Akane!" He
fell beneath a pile of rage and Kasumi could stand no more. She ran forward.

	"Stop this!" Ryoga spun around to find Kasumi glaring at him. Kasumi could
glare? He fell back out of the way.  She reached out and smartly thwacked
the top of Mousse's head with a wooden spoon she had pulled out of nowhere.
Mousse jerked up and stared. Kasumi? 

	Nabiki stepped forward and slapped Kuno, who had Ranma by the throat,
across the back of his head. His indignant howl increased when she grabbed
him by the ears and pulled him off of Ranma. 

	"Kasumi, Nabiki, please go back inside where it's safe." Mousse was
gesturing toward the house. "This doesn't concern you."

	Kasumi drew herself up to her full height and spoke sternly. "You will
explain why you felt it was necessary to come into our home and attack poor
Ranma!" Mousse suddenly felt about two feet tall. So did the others.

	"Poor Ranma" groaned at this description of himself and pulled himself to
his feet. Kasumi produced a clean dishcloth from thin air and he tied it
around his leg. "They're accusing me of attacking Kodachi, Ukyo and
Shampoo." His voice was quiet.

	Kasumi gasped and turned on the three men who were staring daggers at
Ranma. "Tell me everything. Right now."

	Reluctantly they did. Nabiki looked a little sick at the end. "Oh, no."

	Kasumi was frowning. Everyone stepped back. "But that's impossible! Ranma
was here all day yesterday. He couldn't have attacked those girls." She
spoke sharply. "You should be ashamed of yourselves! How could you think
that Ranma could have done something like that!" She was about to continue
her lecture when a scream from inside stopped them all.

	"That's Akane!" 

	They raced inside and up the stairs, the sound of crying drawing them to
the bathroom. Ranma's punch shattered the door frame and he was inside. 

	Akane was sitting in the floor beside the sink, her head resting on her
knees. Ranma knelt beside her and lightly touched her shoulder. She
stiffened and turned away from him. "N-no." Ranma frowned at Kasumi as she
moved beside him.  She started to gather Akane to her, but Ranma shook his
head.

	"Akane." Ranma's voice was gentle as he reached out to cup her face in his
hand and turn it towards him. Akane gave a choked sob and threw herself
into his arms. "Oh, Ranma!"

	A hard knot somewhere inside of him melted at her words. He held her close
as she cried and stroked her hair. "Akane what's wrong? You scared us half
to death with that scream. Talk to me Akane."

	She sniffed once and muttered, "I thought it was a dream, I mean, it had
to be a dream because that stuff couldn't happen, not really. Then I woke
up, but it was still there!" Akane's last words were a desperate wail.
Ranma lifted her face to his. Her tear-filled eyes held him spellbound for
a moment, but the gasps from the others gathered in the doorway drew his
attention away. He searched her familiar features, quickly spotting the
difference. Ranma turned her head slightly and stared at the strands of
white hair, mixed inexplicably within the gleaming blue-black.

	Dr. Tofu pushed past the group and knelt beside Kasumi. He saw the mark
and the fear in Akane's face. "Why don't we move this downstairs. Then I
can have more room to look at Ranma's wounds." At those words Akane gasped
and looked at Ranma. 

	The wound on his neck had stopped bleeding, but his side, chest and leg
were dripping blood onto the floor and Akane. She started to get up
herself, but Ranma was there, an arm around her waist helping her. She
looked up at him and for some reason she felt herself blush. "What happened
to you, Ranma?"

	She caught sight of Ryoga, Mousse and Kuno in the doorway. They had ran
into the house with weapons drawn, prepared to fight Akane's unseen
attacker. Now they shuffled slightly and tried to appear casual about the
arms they carried. She took in their dark garb and unusual weapons. Akane
saw the blood on Mousse's spear tip and looked at Ryoga. He kind of laughed
and raised his hand to brush back his hair, but caught sight of the bruised
knuckles and winced. Her attention landed on Kuno, who was trying to hide
his sword behind his back, but the bloody edge peeked over his shoulder.

	"What have you been doing?!" Akane started toward them with a furious
gleam in her eye. Ranma caught her from behind and pulled her back against
him. "It's okay Akane. Just a little misunderstanding. Dr. Tofu is right,
we should continue this downstairs." He jerked his head toward the door and
glared at everyone. The others quickly fled, leaving Ranma and Akane alone.

	Akane drew a deep breath and smelled Ranma. His arms were still around her
and she knew she should pull away, but his strength was a powerful lure.
Slowly, she turned in his loose embrace. She stared at his throat, unable
to raise her gaze any higher.

	Ranma was breathing rapidly, trying not to do what his body was urging him
to. He watched the top of her head and let her sweet scent fill his senses.
<She'll kill you, man!> the voice screamed at him. <She'll kick you clear
across Tokyo for what you're thinking!> Ranma firmly strangled that voice
and raised his hand to Akane's down bent head. With gentle fingers, he
lifted her face. Ranma watched her eyes fall closed and heard her breath
catch. A lone finger brushed her lips and her eyes fluttered open. 

	Akane felt the brush of his finger as it traced her lips and part of her
screamed that this was Ranma! The pervert! The two-timing jerk! Akane
turned a deaf ear to that part and placed the tinniest of kisses against
his thumb. 

	Ranma stopped. He fell helplessly into the dark depths of Akane's eyes and
as his lips brushed hers for the first time, he felt a heavy warmth pulse
through him. His lips pulled away and returned again and again, each time
staying longer, pressing deeper.
 
	Akane was deafened by the roar of her thundering heart. Her arms were
heavy weights, wrapped around Ranma's waist and she felt a trickle of sweat
roll down her back. She tightened her arms and pulled him closer. 

	Ranma gasped and lifted her arm away as Akane had pressed against the
wound on his side. She  realized what she had done and blushed furiously.
"Oh! I'm s-sorry Ranma I didn't me.." She stuttered to a halt and he was
dismayed to see tears fill her eyes. "Shhh. It's all right Akane." He
kissed away a stray tear and brushed her bangs back. "We'll just have to
try this again, when I'm in better condition."  She smiled at the thought.

	The sound of a throat being cleared startled them, but Ranma didn't back
away from Akane. He actually pulled her closer as Dr. Tofu stuck his head
through the door. "If you two don't mind, I really would like to take a
look at Ranma's wounds." He smiled warmly and went back downstairs.