A Panda's Dream pt. 2
Excellsior@attbi.com
Here we go, another fun filled adventure with gratuitous sex and
riveting action.

--

In the early morning Ranma awoke, the glint of the sun reflecting
off the polished wood floor and into her face.

"Ranma! Breakfast!"

Ranma looked up to see Kasumi standing in the door.

"Do you hear me? You don't get any breakfast unless you come down
now."

Footsteps receded away. She waited for a moment, then walked
downstairs to where the family had already gathered around the
table.

Ranma sat at the end of the table, next to Akane and across from
Nabiki. The redhead intently brought her chopsticks to her mouth,
devoted to the act of eating.

Akane opened up the conversation. "Did you sleep well?"

Her chewing rate constant, Ranma stared at a point in the wall
slightly to the left of Nabiki's head.

"Pretty well," Ranma responded, after a length.

"Pretty well?"

"Mm-huh," Ranma grunted, food in her mouth.

"I see." Akane's voice was prim.

Breakfast continued in silence until Akane stood up and Ranma
followed.

"So I'm going to school?"

Akane shook her head, not looking at the other girl. "Don't ask me."

Nabiki got up. "Well, it's time to leave, so if you are you should
be heading out the door." With that she left the room and went for
her bag near the stairs.

Akane sighed. "Are you going?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go. Thanks for the breakfast, Kasumi!" They headed off for
the door, Akane in front.

"Thanks Akane, it's my duty.

--

"Why are you up there?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you on that fence?"

Ranma continued, her balance perfect as one foot then the next came
down upon the narrow top of the fence. "No reason." She hopped down
to walk next to Akane.

"Is that something from China?"

"Not really, just a way of walking."

"I might have guessed."

Crisp air gently flowed around them as they walked the empty
street. Akane looked up at the overcast sky, where the sun lit up a
small bright circle in the heavy gray clouds. Evenly spaced houses
surrounded the street on both sides, their styles random and
mismatched. Some seemed to retreat from the street, isolated by
protective gardens and walkways, while others seemed to push the
street back, their walls flush with the sidewalk. It was a mix of
sloping roofs and stucco, decks and porches. Small yards were
crammed with bicycles, miniscule gardens, and trees. Birds sang,
their melody overpowering the frying noodles and sauteing
vegetables of breakfast.

To Ranma the scene seemed more like a pathetic model of something
far grander and wilder than a suburban street. Ranma felt an odd
whim to look inside one of the few parked cars, to see if there was
anything inside the metal shell.

"Ranma, look over there."

"Yeah?" Ranma responded, turning away from the street to look where
Akane was pointing. She saw a large building, double storied, with
large windows. A meter high wall encapsulated it, and it featured a
sign offering medical services. Like the houses Ranma had seen
earlier, trees were wedged in between the building walls and the
surrounding stone barrier.

"That's Doctor Tofu who works there, he's the family doctor."

"Big office for one guy."

"Yes, he's quite popular. He's a good doctor."

"You pass by him every morning?"

"Yeah, I used to see if I could see him through the windows
whenever I passed. Sometimes I would and we'd wave at each other."

"Used to?"

"Yeah, I used to..." Akane's voice trailed off before she started
again. "It doesn't matter now. I used to have a crush on him."

"Isn't a doctor too old?"

"He's in his twenties, so too old for me."

Ranma's expression turned to mild curiosity.

"When I thought about him I would pile up the reasons why it was
hopeless. I got sick of the heartache and forgot him."

"But you still walk this way?"

Akane's voice was melancholy; the familiar emotions behind Akane's
bittersweet smile called to Ranma and the redhead felt their tiny
cuts as well. "You can't just completely give up on something. I
spent hours thinking about Dr. Tofu. Sometimes when I'm by myself I
still imagine his arms, and how strong they would be."

"But they're not there. They can't be there."

"Exactly. They can't be there."

They stood there, looking at each other in front of the medical
clinic. Suddenly, a noise resounded from down the street and the
pair turned to the sound of glass crashing, echoing through the
morning quiet.

"What the hell?"

Akane turned to look at Ranma again. "Just recycling trucks."

"What?"

"Its glass-recycling day. Actually, I remember Kasumi putting some
bottles out, although we don't really use all that many. Look, down
that way you can see the truck." Akane pointed to their right.

"Ahh. Sure startled me."

Akane smiled. "And what word did you use?"

A red tint appeared on Ranma's cheek. "Uh, on the road with Pop I
learned some interesting ways to talk."

"Well, the schoolteachers hate that, especially from girls. Anyway,
we should hurry up."

"Alright." The pair continued.

--

The halls they walked through were empty, save for a few last
minute stragglers. The students all wore uniforms, guys in white
shirts and girls in dresses that matched Akane's. The floor was
freshly polished, water fountains dotted the walls, and the
overhanging lights gave a slightly yellow glare and a very faint
buzz, hard to make out against the sound of shoes striking the
linoleum-tiled floor. Although Ranma had never been to a school of
this size, it was exactly like she figured it would be: long
hallways lined with wooden doors, posters scattered at random, each
bearing a noticeable yellow sticker with a large black check on it.
The stairway steps were wide and lined with strips of black rubber
to give traction to rain slicked soles. They stopped in front of a
classroom, and Akane opened the door.

Akane went to her seat in the center back, and Ranma sat down next
to her. The room seemed foreign and distant to Ranma, the few
markings on the chalkboard consisted of numbers and scratches of
words in an unintelligible code. She caught fragments of the
conversations that bombarded her, but they were filled with people
and places foreign to her. It was all worlds beyond China and a
backpack

"Akane, who is your friend?"

The class righted itself, silent and attentive. They focused on the
middle-aged teacher up front and his question.

"I'm Ranma Saotome."

"She's staying with our family for a while, and wanted to come
along with me to school."

Eyes studied the redhead and her bizarre clothing.

"Ah, so you've brought along the paperwork the school mailed you?
Funny they didn't tell me about you."

"Uh, Ranma didn't contact the school."

"I just arrived from China."

"Saotome, you're Chinese?"

"No, I was on a trip."

"Ah." The teacher looked carefully at the two girls. "Well, why
didn't you plan ahead? You couldn't have just come in from China
and end up on Akane's doorstop."

"I'd rather not talk about it," Ranma responded with a vaguely
pained expression.

"Alright, I'll add your name on the attendance and talk to the
office about you." He paused. "If you plan to stay long, you should
pick up a uniform."

"Thank you, but that's okay."

"Alright class, let's begin. With the excitement of a new student,
you forgot to stand."

A good-natured groan arose from isolated students, but their
playful voices were drowned out by the shuffling of papers and
chairs as everyone got to their feet.

--

"So what do you think?"

"More interesting than I thought it would be."

Akane and Ranma sat under a tree during lunchtime. The few hours
had passed quickly, though Akane often had to whisper explanations
to Ranma's questions.

"That's good. I hoped you weren't too behind."

"It's still early in the year."

"Uh-huh." Akane pulled out her lunch. "You don't have anything to
eat, do you?"

"Nope."

"We'll have to remember to talk to Kasumi."

"How much longer is school?"

"A few hours." Akane smiled at Ranma. "Maybe after we'll stop for
something. Anyway, have some of mine."

"I couldn't."

Akane was startled by the contrast between Ranma's lazy, carefree
voice and the intense focus of her eyes. They were on a point
slightly above Akane's chin.

"Come on."

"Akane," Ranma whined with a pleading tone.

With her chopsticks, Akane wrapped some noodles into a tight ball.
She raised them in front of Ranma's mouth. "If you don't eat it,
its gonna go to waste." She let her hand waver slightly.

Ranma stared down the noodles. Sighing, she leaned forward and
planted her lips around the chopsticks. She enjoyed how her tongue
deformed the noodles by pressing them against the walls of her
mouth.

She reverently chewed, until her mouth was clear. She gave a pause
of a few moments.

"Can I have more?" Her smile grew grudgingly as Akane giggled.

--

The class had all returned from lunch and was waiting for the
teacher to resume his instruction.

"So tell me, what's the deal with you?"

Ranma turned to look at the boy out of his seat, standing next to
her. He was medium build, wearing the standard white shirt and
black slacks. His neck length hair was unevenly combed, as if he
had slept on it. The rest of him was meticulously prepared, his
shirt starched and free from lint.

"What?"

But for his hair, his face and clothing would blend in with a crowd
of fellow students. His face was utterly forgettable.

"You come in here, you call the teacher off. That's good. He can't
do anything if you don't wanna talk about it. He feels like he
shouldn't have asked, and then he knows even if you told him he'd
be unable to help. So he might as well let you in. You make him a
hero."

"So what?"

"So what? So who are you?"

"Ranma Saotome."

"You're more than a name."

"I'm staying with Akane's family."

"You're more than who you stay with."

Ranma scrunched her eyes in irritation. "What do you want?"

The boy sighed, letting his focus vanish on a distant point. After
a moment, he regained his insistent composure.

"You've been to China. What's that like?"

"It's a lot like here. There's trees. And hills."

The boy's response burned with disbelief. "No! There's more than
that, and you know it."

Ranma responded, her tone resigned. "Alright, most people don't
live in cities, there are a lot of poor farmers." She paused, then
finished with a note of glee. "Drought, they die."

The boy exhaled sharply, exasperated and incredulous.

"What do you want from me? I'm here in Japan now. I live with Akane
Tendo."

"And?"

"That's it."

"That can't be it."

Ranma shrugged.

Muttering and shaking his head, the boy walked back to his seat a
few aisles away.

Ranma turned to Akane. Akane was already facing Ranma. "Who was
that boy?"

"Kazuo." Akane gave Ranma a steady look. "What was the conversation
all about?"

"He asked me a bunch of stupid questions. I didn't know what the
hell was going on."

Akane giggled. "Ranma! You shouldn't talk like that. But you had
the conversation. It was you talking."

"It was you listening."

Akane's smile hid nothing.

"Yeah, well I sure didn't get anything out of it. He was asking me
about China and saying I wasn't my name."

"Well, you aren't."

"I don't need some random guy to tell me that."

"Who do you need?"

"Class!" Thirty students straightened in their chairs and faced
forward. "You no doubt have wondered why I was late. I apologize
fully, and hope you will forgive me." A few students snickered,
Ranma noticed Kazuo among them. "But, I have exciting news
regarding the assembly planned for the end of this week."

Ranma looked out the window. This time yesterday she'd been out
picking berries for a meal. The panda had been beside her, his
heavy breath forming a cloud of steam in the chill autumn air. The
berries were bright against the green leaves, glistening wet with
raindrops from the recent downpour. She shivered at the memory. As
she turned her head to look at Akane, she noticed Kazuo.

--

 "This is good."

"Yeah. I haven't been here for a while. Which ice cream flavor did
you get again?"

"What you got."

"Pralines and cream?"

"Yeah."

"I was disappointed. I was hoping you'd pick some wild flavor that
you got a taste for while in China."

"In China, they eat the cow."

Akane allowed a trace of liquid ice cream to dribble down her chin,
before she wiped away with a course paper napkin. She enjoyed the
way the ice cream melted against her tongue, a sugary pool that
filled the shallow well in her mouth.

Ranma looked at the way Akane sat, her back reclined and her knees
raised up, as if the booth was a throne. Ranma studied her relaxed
posture, her regal eye that would pass lazily from her ice cream to
the subjects waiting in line behind the counter, to the manager
rapidly pacing with his pastel uniform bulging around his large
belly. It was just an unimportant restaurant, only idle curiosity.
It felt right that Akane would toss her kingly head on a whim.

"Ranma?"

That gaze had focused on the redhead herself, suddenly with a
questioning edge to it.

"Hmm?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope."

"O-kay." She dragged out the syllable as if it was a schoolyard
rhyme. Akane repositioned herself, her blouse sliding against the
plastic seat as she straightened her back.

"So, how was school?"

"Better than China."

"Really? Most of our classmates wouldn't think so. Then again, they
haven't been to China."

"Yeah. Plus I get food here."

Akane watched the frozen balls of sugar and milk swirled with
sticky caramel melt slowly in the air-conditioned store. She
finally continued. "I noticed you look thin for a martial artist."

"Anyway, for not being in school for however many years, I can
still follow along."

"That's true. You'll want help with the homework, though."

Ranma smiled, then gave an exaggerated sigh. "No way around that."

Akane raised an eyebrow. "You'd want a way?"

"Not as long as you buy the ice cream."

--

Their feet hit the pavement in a syncopated beat.

"Anyway, how'd you have the money for this? Do you work?"

"No, it's from the insurance."

"The what?"

"Well, you notice my sisters and I don't have a mother in the
house."

"Ahh. I see."

"Not yet. The whole deal was kind of shaky, as when she got sick
Mother got huge coverage without telling either Father or the
doctors."

"Wouldn't the insurance agents not give that much if your mother
was sick?"

"It wasn't exactly the most legal thing she ever did. The insurance
agents even sent a few letters and called several times, asking why
she died so soon after getting a plan. Father broke into tears, and
managed to get out that Mother had received a vision."

"Had she?"

Their eyes met. "No. Father knew he was lying to cover Mother. It
was pretty hard on him. I guess he never thought that Mother could
pull something like that off."

"You'd think the insurance campany'd find out that your mother was
scamming them."

"Apparently Mother was clever. Fraud is hard to prove against a
dead woman, I guess. Anyway, Father stopped teaching and none of us
have to worry about money again."

"Lucky break."

"You know what? Nabiki's going to renounce her claim to the money
when she's eighteen. She figures it'd be good publicity."

"Your sister has publicity."

Akane's mouth turned up in a half-smile. "In her world. She plans
to be some rich businesswoman. So far, all she does is make bets at
school and sell the occasional picture of me, not like I'm in hot
demand. I guess she could do it though. People pay money for a lot
of stupid stuff."

"Like ice cream?"

"You said you liked it."

"It was good."

"Kasumi might not take any either."

"Your family is nuts."

"She didn't like the way Mother got it. She always sides with
Father."

"More for you."

No response came initially, instead Akane focused solely on her
feet, one moving after the other. "Yeah. I mean, they're my
sisters, but they can do what they want."

"And more for you."

Akane gauged the weight of Ranma's words. "You keep coming back to
that."

Ranma rewarded Akane with a playful raise of the eyebrow.

"Yeah, there is more for me. And there was a lot to begin with."

The street they walked was unfamiliar to Ranma, lined with trees in
concrete planters geometrically spaced. Shoppers walked with the
pair, their purchases in carts and paper bags. The stores all were
small, a laundromat, a restaurant, a grocery, a clothing store

"We're taking a long way to get home, aren't we?"

"I have no hurry to get home."

"Won't your father and sisters be worried?"

"Kasumi might be upset, but everything upsets her."

A feeling of airy weightlessness came over Ranma, and yet somehow
she felt drawn in, just from Akane's defiant tone. Their feet came
down, again and again.

The stores surrounded Ranma, flashing her with entire malls of
cheery advertisements and storefront windows with displays and
displays of leather shoes and cashmere sweaters. "Have you ever
even been to any of these stores?"

"No, I rarely go shopping." Akane looked at the windows, at the
people she could be, just for some money. "Every so often the
family goes and we get clothing together. We don't really get into
it though, not like my classmates."

"Hmm."

"My Mom got to liking it, near her end, I was the youngest so she
took me. We only went a few times as the dojo didn't bring much
money, and the doctors cost so much." Akane peered voyeuristically
into the windows. "I can't remember which stores we went to those
few times though."

Ranma stared as Akane's face and voice hardened.

"I can't even remember which stores we went to."

It reminded Ranma of hysteria, the way Akane became strong and
fierce for a single moment. It was like a splash followed by a
ripple, diminishing steadily, evenly. Meanwhile, through the store
windows were families happily spending, dresses and shirts in hand,
going to changing rooms.

--

"Want to stop here?"

Ranma looked at the park Akane had stopped in front of. "Yeah."

It was mostly a flat green lawn, with thick shady trees. The dusk
light filtered through the trees, while orange streetlamps created
bright spheres against the blue-gray overhead. A large stone wall
protected against the busy street, although at regular intervals
there were grill metal gates, wide open despite the late hour. The
two came to a bench, where they sat.

"It sure is getting dark early."

Ranma responded thoughtfully. "I suppose it is."

"Wouldn't you notice it, since just two nights ago you camped out?"

"I guess if you think back on it you'll realize it, but you don't
really remember things like that."

"Also, I'd think it'd be cold with just that on. Silk isn't warm."

"It feels nice against my skin."

"Its not worth it if you freeze."

Ranma's placed the back of her hand against her forearm, and her
eyes lit with surprise.

"Cold?"

"Yeah."

A hand reached over to touch Ranma's cheek. "You are cold!"

The only response was Ranma's quick grin. "Its not something you
notice."

"I guess not." Akane moved her body next to Ranma's.

"Akane, do people come here?"

"Yeah, its popular. It's a nice park. It was built a few years ago,
there was a vote to pay for it with our taxes."

They sat there, the night surrounding them with shadows.

Ranma leaned against Akane. "I think the best thing about it is how
still and silent everything is. Sometimes it was like this in
China."

Akane turned her face, her mouth closer to Ranma's ear. "I can't
imagine all the great things you must have seen."

"Spending your life on the read does give you something."

"What?"

Ranma's gaze turned thoughtfully towards the horizon. "I don't
know." She noticed the well-kept grass, how sharp the distinction
between gray stone path and green nature. "I spent my entire life
with my father."

"Sounds like something from a movie."

Ranma looked at Akane. "Yeah. I might be the last person to wander
around like that. Right now I'm thrilled to have a warm bed and a
bath."

"I don't even know what it would be like."

"It's not even possible to explain. I guess I'm glad I lived like
that, no one else has. But only because I'm here, and I'm done."
The windblown leaves fascinated Ranma, blurs of motion in the dark.
"I don't want to live like that anymore."

"I guess losing your father could do that."

"I guess it could."

--

The windows gave off a welcoming glow, and the house was a relief
from the night air.

"Where have you been?"

"I've been walking with Ranma, Kasumi."

"You've worried Father."

"He'll live."

"Akane! Don't say that."

"Sorry, Kasumi."

Kasumi exhaled noisily, broadcasting her lack of patience.
"Dinner's in a couple of minutes."

"Alright."

Akane turned to Ranma, who had stood silent during the
conversation. "A few minutes."

"I was going to ask about the schoolwork."

They walked to the living room, where the dark television sat
forlorn and empty.

Ranma pulled a book out of Akane's bag, and removed a worksheet
that had been stuck between its pages. "Let's get going."

--

Silence ruled the dinner; the conversation was light and fleeting.
Then it was over, nothing more than a mess to be cleaned, a stack
of dishes that would meld with the thousands that preceded it.

"Ranma, I noticed you didn't eat much." Kasumi was surprised by the
motherly tone in her voice; she hadn't thought she could make it
work.

"I don't eat much."

"You did yesterday."

"Yesterday I forgot lunch."

"More homework?" Akane broke in.

"Yes, I guess I have to," Ranma responded gratefully. Kasumi was
left standing there over dirty plates and half full dishes of food,
holding a rag, her attention divided between the younger girls and
the task at hand.

--

Forty minutes later, Nabiki's voice rang through the thin wood in
Akane's door.

"Akane, phone!"

"Okay." Akane rose and exited, leaving Ranma sitting alone on the
floor, her back propped against Akane's bed.

Akane padded down the stairs to the table where the uncradled phone
lay.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Yuri."

"Not much, you know, school."

"Yeah, Ranma and I were doing it together."

"Of course she doesn't know anything, but she's picking stuff up
quick."

"Well, I don't think there's any tests coming up soon."

"We had ice cream and walked home together."

"I would have, but I thought you were busy with, what's his name-
you know."

"Broke up? When?"

"Yesterday? You don't say."

"I wouldn't worry, you'll be back with him in a few days tops."

"What do you think I mean?"

"All I'm saying is that this isn't the first time he left you."

"Last time was the last time too. Except now we see that it wasn't
exactly the last time, because this time is the last time."

"Hey, I feel sorry for you, but-"

"Oh, that's a nice name for you to call me."

"Fine, I'm sorry, you don't deserve what he did, and he doesn't
deserve you. You are a beautiful human being, and he is scum. Go
prostitute yourself to an American GI in exchange for your ex-
boyfriend's death."

"Alright, I'm sorry, but you do get it, right?"

"Well I'm terribly sorry that Sayuri had to be at the movies and
you were forced to dial my number."

Akane sighed audibly, then a long five-second pause.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been like that."

"I know it must be hard."

"Yeah, he should at least have-"

"Exactly."

The clock on the wall seemed to taunt Akane. She wanted to smash
her fist into the pane of glass, the jagged shards leaving thin
trails of blood along the contours of her knuckles. She wanted to
put the phone on its cradle and return to Ranma.

--

The way that Ranma's head was thrown back so that it rested against
the bed, so oblivious; Akane just stared in shock at it. Closed
eyelids lazily opened and Ranma tilted her head, her back still
conformed against the wooden frame. She looked up at Akane's form
standing stiff and rigid in the doorway, Akane's face warmly lit
from the ceiling light overhead. Akane's hair seemed to glisten,
like a halo.

"Who was that?"

"A friend. She got dumped again."

"Dumped?"

"Broke up with a boyfriend."

"That's too bad, I guess."

"It's not." Akane studied the way that the textbooks and papers
were arrayed in a circle around Ranma's feet. She memorized how
Ranma's left hand loosely held a page of math notes, penned by her
hand few days prior. It looked as if the page could just slide out
of Ranma's grasp, fluttering the few centimeters to the carpet.
"She's an idiot about the guy."

"Hmm."

"You know how a couple will just keep breaking and making up over
and over? That's her. And she expects me to sympathize for her. You
know how people like that are."

Ranma's gaze was almost apologetic.

"Of course you don't know how people like that are. Well, take my
word for it, it gets stupid. And irritating."

"Okay."

"It's like she's not even listening to herself. I can't blame her,
I was staring at the clock the whole time."

A quick nod of Ranma's head.

"She just wanted someone to tell her yes every time she had to
breathe." Akane sat down on her mattress, close to Ranma, the bare
thigh below the cut of her skirt brushing against unfettered
strands of red hair.

Ranma's head fell against Akane's leg, her features collapsing into
the thick blanket and Akane's soft skin.

"And I sat there, listening. I don't care about it. But I didn't
want to say anything, she was already pissed off about what I said
at the beginning."

Akane felt the profile of Ranma's face rub against the fabric of
her skirt, up and down in mute agreement.

"She'll be fine by tomorrow. She just can't understand anything
except now. She doesn't deal with sadness; she needs for it to go
away right now. She can't let it well up; she can't learn to accept
it. What a bitch. And then tomorrow she'll be bouncing on the
walls, saying how happy she is not being chained down. Or she might
have even made up by then, and then she'd probably pass out from
ecstasy."

"It sounds like she enjoys being like that."

Akane froze, momentarily stunned. "Yeah, I guess she does. You
know, Yuri and I will live. Years ago, when Sayuri and I first got
to know her, I thought it was funny."

"Hmm..." Ranma's response was soft and noncommittal.

"Did you get any work done?"

"Not really." Ranma turned her head, so that she could see Akane's
head. It appeared over the peak of the skirt, a sunrise over
silhouetted mountains. "I thought about China."

Akane suddenly noticed Ranma's position, discovered the way her
body leaned in, flat against the bed, pressing against Akane's leg.
"What about China?"

"I dunno."

"Well, at least you don't go on and on about your boyfriend."

"I try not to."

"You have a boyfriend?"

Ranma giggled, her eyes still focused on a phantom hidden deep in
the ceiling. "Of course not. What would I do with one of those?"

"I wouldn't know." Akane's eyes told Ranma it went beyond a joke.

Akane was rewarded by Ranma leaning completely on her; it seemed
almost as if Ranma would slump to the ground, unsupported. As if by
the friction between their bodies alone, Ranma remained motionless.
After a few seconds, Ranma stiffly rose, something in her manner
suggesting worn joints. She surveyed the schoolwork scattered at
her feet. "I can't really see any more I need to do. Save some for
tomorrow."

"Alright." They bent down and began repackaging everything in
Akane's bag. "We may have to get you a book bag."

Ranma looked up momentarily, her hands holding open the bag for
Akane to fill with the fruits of that night's labor. "Thank you."

Akane smiled, shaking her head slightly, in mild disbelief.
"Sometimes you're so formal, I just want to laugh. Time for a
bath?"

"I could use one."

--

Akane gauged Ranma's nude body. "You're rather thin."

"Not really."

"I guess I didn't notice in the water. Refraction and everything."

"It's nothing to talk about."

"It could be. I'm glad you're here, eating solid meals. Didn't your
father feed you?"

"Back with Pop, I wanted to eat more. I needed it for the training."

The hot water welcomed their bodies.

"What training did you do, anyway?"

Ranma's cupped hands jerked towards the water's surface, causing a
current to well up in a plume. "We would spar daily, usually at
least a couple of hours. Pop would take me to any dojo we could
find, so I could fight with the owners."

"So you saw thousands of dojos like ours. That's the kind of
tourist trip people save up for years to do, just for the memories.
It must have been amazing."

"That's what it seemed at the beginning, but after I'd traveled for
a couple of years, they all started to look the same."

"I'd imagine after you saw enough of anything, it'd blend together."

"It would. Memories only go so far."

--

As they went up the stairs, Akane thought about the day. "Would you
like to have a sleepover?"

"A what?"

"Well, when I was younger my friends and I would all come to one
house, and stay up real late talking."

"I'm already in your house."

"No, in my room I mean." Akane meaninglessly tousled her damp hair.
It stuck together in shiny black clumps.

"Oh." Ranma stood at the top of the staircase, and Akane stopped as
well. "I could." Ranma nodded her head as she talked. "Yeah, I
could."

"Alright, come on." They resumed walking.

"Wait, I have to tell my panda."

"What? Tell your panda?"

Akane noticed a distant look in Ranma's eye. "I have to tell him."

Wordlessly Ranma walked through the hallway into her room. The
panda lying on the floor, turned slightly to face the girl.

"Akane invited me to sleep in her room."

The panda nodded.

"I probably won't be up to spar tomorrow morning."

The panda waved, stopping any more words.

"Alright, good night." Ranma walked over and scratched the panda
near the ears, where white fur and black fur mixed in a misshapen
parody of ying and yang.

She walked out into the hallway and almost ran into someone
standing close to the doorway.

"Akane!" She lowered her voice. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to hear you talk to your panda."

"What? It's nothing weird."

"Yes it is. No one else talks to their pet. Not like that." Akane
looked at Ranma, and smiled gratefully. "It's so cute."

They walked to Akane's room.

Ranma let her body fall against the bed, feeling the springs coil
and release from her weight. "So you do this often?"

Akane smiled, shaking her head, taken years away. "No, not for a
long while."

"Hmm...?" There was a rising, questioning end to Ranma's tone.

Akane tried hard to smile indulgingly, as if to a little child.
"When you get older, you don't do stuff like that anymore."

"Ah."

"Anyway, you have to tell me about your life."

"My life? There's not much to tell."

"No?" Akane laid down across the mattress, then propped her head up
with her elbow. "So you're born at age zero, you leave at age five
to train, your father dies at age sixteen, and now, the end of the
road is a dojo your father mentioned."

There was a hint of suspicion in Ranma's reply. "Yeah, that's about
it. Why?"

"This is what you do on the first sleep-over. Or you share a deep
and dark secret."

"A deep and dark secret? I'll pass."

"Oh, you can't say that and get away with it. Now you have to
explain. What, were you kicked out by your mom?"

Ranma ignored Akane's playful voice. "Sorta. I think."

"You're not sure?" Akane was surprised at the turn of events.

Ranma stared down at the ground she could see between her knees.
She sighed deeply. "I think that it involved my training and Pop. I
don't think he and my mother got along well. I didn't really
understand what was happening, but there was more to it than I was
told."

Akane's forehead crinkled with thought. "So your mom kicked your
father out and gave you to him?"

"They both agreed that I'd be better off perfecting the art."

"Exciting."

"It was. It really was."

Ranma untied her pants and slid them down. They hit the ground with
a quiet thump. Her shirt was next. Akane registered shock.

"What? Do you keep your clothes on during one of these?"

"Well, usually my friends wear more than boxer shorts. Those are
huge on you, you know."

Ranma slipped her body under the heavy quilt, relishing how the
weighted down sheets exerted a soft, cool pressure. She stretched
outward and her entire body pushed against the cotton's embrace.
"This feels really good."

Akane walked over to the bed and drew back the covers. Ranma rolled
towards the wall in response.

"The girls who came would sleep on the floor."

Akane sat on the bed, looking for a moment at Ranma.

"I've had enough of that from traveling."

Akane lifted her legs and put them under the blanket.

"I figured."

Akane pulled the blanket to her neck.


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