Final Duty

Part 2 'To Try'

    Today marked a full week after Ranma's failed delivery of his gift to Akane 
. On a few occasions when she had found privacy with him she had checked his 
healing . Ranma's skill and ability in martial arts marked him as an 
extraordinary individual , but coupled with being an eidetic , and someone who 
practically regenerated made him almost inhuman . Only a week from that sadly 
eventful day and all he had to mark his pain was a thin pink line that was 
rapidly fading .
    Following her instructions he had basically avoided Akane the whole time . 
At first this only angered her youngest sister but now Akane had calmed down 
finally and seemed to take the situation rationally once more . 
    Sadly , both due to his injury and a training trip planned by his father and 
hers Ranma had to quit his job at the hospital . She had tried to talk him out 
of it but he had refuted her .
' What excuse will Pop and Ojisan accept ?' 
' Tell them about your job , I'm sure they'll understand then .'
' If they would I would have already told everyone !'
' Why wouldn't they ?'
' 'Cause it's unmanly and not part of the training .'
' But not everything has to be part of your training .'
' Tell THEM that !'
    She had . That conversation had met with no success whatsoever .
' Now Kasumi-chan ,' Her father had talked to her like she was a quarter of her 
age . ' It's Ranma's destiny to both unite our families and carry on the 
traditions of our Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu .' 
' It's his burden and great honor ,' Genma had joined in . ' and you know that 
honor is very important to my son , Ranma .'
' He still needs to be himself sometimes .'
    They had stared at her , uncomprehending .
' He is himself .' Her Father had said .
' The art is his life .' Genma had swelled with pride .
    So now she cleaned away , inwardly brooding over the conversations of 
yesterday , and her lack of positive effect on any of them . All she could do 
for Ranma it seemed was bind his wounds with her own inept hands and attempt to 
sooth with words . All she could do for Akane was try to guide her anger away 
from Ranma . And all she could do for the parents of both families it seemed , 
was cook and clean . It had been a long time since she had felt so useless and 
inapt .
    Whether it was by some subconscious direction , or just serendipity , she 
found her cleaning quest had ended at the open door of the Dojo . 
    Inside Ranma was immersed in his own private world . Where mental , physical 
, and spiritual formed a powerful triumvirate in Ranma . He moved in a manner 
that transcended anything that she could classify as human . His speed blurred 
beyond her capacity to follow . The power behind each blow , each movement , yet 
shaped by a pure economy defied any description she could give .
    She had grown up in a Dojo , for the early years of her life she had even 
studied Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu alongside her two sisters . Only the death of her 
mother had forced her to leave the path . Still out of all the memories of 
people who could perform feats of skill and power Ranma still stood apart from 
them all .
    But this was no exhibition , at least not of design . This was for Ranma , 
and him alone . Pushing himself to his upper limits , straining through his 
boundaries to form new ones . All of it was for himself and no one else . He 
never exerted himself on all levels like this for his Father , at least not 
anymore . Never for an audience , not even for an opponent who could be beaten 
another way . 
    Suddenly she felt like an intruder on some sacred moment . Her face flushed 
, she prepared to leave .
    Then it happened . 
    Hours of practice at his limits caused even Ranma to sweat profusely . 
Perhaps it was noticing her on some unconscious level or just Murphy-san's law 
at work . Whatever the cause Ranma landed in a puddle of his own sweat and 
slipped . Both legs flew out from under him , his back impacted a adjacent 
puddle . The sweat lubricated his rapid slide across the floor and into the Dojo 
wall . In one misstep the spell was shattered , the triumvirate was dissolved .
" DAMN IT !" Ranma shouted abruptly from his prone position . 
    The palm that slammed angrily onto the floor nearly shook the entire 
building . As it was all the puddles splashed away from the impact as if in fear 
of retribution .
    She had no recollection of starting towards him , only that suddenly she was 
kneeling beside him .
     The hand she placed lightly on his shoulder caused him to somehow levitate 
several centimeters off the floor in surprise . 
" NANI ! Oh , Kasumi ." He looked at her with surprised relief . " Sorry if I 
sacred you ."
" What went wrong ?" She asked , glancing at the offending puddle .
" Nothin' ," Ranma began bitterly . " I just screw up anything I touch . All I 
can do is hurt and destroy . Apparently myself included ." 
" Don't say that ." She looked down at him sadly . " Things will get better , 
you'll see ." 
    She saw no reassurance taken in his eyes .

                           *         *         *

    I never liked school . I know that puts me in the dumb jock category , but 
does it look like I give a damn ? Thought not . 
    Every morning I walk on the fence beside Akane all the way to school . Why ? 
Simple , because she's my fiancée and that makes it my honorable duty . Ain't 
being honorable a real stab in the back sometimes ? In the week that I was still 
healing up I avoided being beat up again but taking us on a different route to 
school every day . I convinced Akane that this was just tying to find the 
fastest way to school seeing as how we leave so late alla the time . Thank all 
the kami she bought it .
    I had a few close calls , Shampoo found us one time , Ryouga the other day , 
and we got lost once . But so far I had avoided any serious impacts to my body 
for a week . Now that I think about it I wouldn't mind tryin' for a record . Not 
having any pain throughout my body is a feeling I like . I guess in all the time 
I spent getting pounded I forgot that it's normal not to have at least one 
healing injury . 
    So aside from my slip up yesterday I feel wonderful . Of course that means 
that some great kami on high looks down and says ' OH NO ! Ranma's happy , this 
must not be permitted !' . 
" Tired of hiding , coward !" Kuno bellows at me from across the street .
    Damn .
" You're never going to stop loving the sound of your own voice are ya ?" 
" Fight , cur !" Then Bokken boy decides to charge .
    That clarity that hit me about a week ago has only gotten better or worse , 
depending on how you look at it . One of the downsides is that it shoves all of 
my mistakes in my face , but only in retrospect . A upside is that it also shows 
me my opponents mistakes in real-time . When in the past I would have returned 
the charge and taken him out with raw speed and power , I just stood my ground 
this time . 
" Ranma noh baka ! What are you doing ?!" I hear Akane yell at me .
    Knowing exactly what she's doing , what Kuno's doing wrong , and what I'm 
going to do , that's what . 
    Kuno comes in , lowering his wooden sword to swing at me on my perch on the 
fence . I wait until the last moment , only bending my knees imperceptibly 
through my baggy pants . Kuno strikes , I step back into empty air . Kuno leans 
forward in an attempt to strike once again before I plunge into the drainage 
ditch . Kicking out at the bottom of the fence my toes find hold between the 
links and I leap back . Now sailing up and over the ditch in a lazy backflip I 
watch Kuno smack face first into the fence .
    A moment later I land lightly on the opposite fence .
" Ready to call it quits Kuno ?" I call , feeling no small amount of 
satisfaction at beating Kuno without throwing a single punch .
" Die cur !" He bellows back at me , climbing the fence .
    I take one look at him as he crouched for his jump and I know ten things I 
can do , I pick one with a grin and leap .
    Kuno sees me and leaps to intercept , but I know his leg strength , putting 
it behind his sword-stroke let me gauge it . I know that I'll be out of his 
reach .
    I'm right . With my legs tucked under me the tip of his sword streaks under 
them , missing by a good twenty centimeters . I hear him yelp before plunging 
down into the water below . With a smirk on my face I land in the same spot I 
began , taking careful measures to end in the same position and stance as I 
started with . A little style never hurt .
" What the hell ?" Akane slowly breathed to herself .
    With my eyes half lidded , still holding my pose , I watched her look from 
the dog paddling Kuno to the fence then to me . I have to try not to smile more 
than I already am .
" Come on Akane , we still need to get to school ." I say nonchalantly .
" Sure ." She replies , giving me a strange look I can't quite read .
    Then we're off again , not jogging or running , but walking at a normal pace 
for once . I should have known better than to let anything be normal .
" So that's what you've been doing all last week !" Akane stopped in her tracks 
and pointed a accusing finger at me . I hate being accused .
" W-What ?" Not again .
" You've been blowing us off for the whole past week !" She jabbed the finger at 
me once more as if to hammer the accusation home .
" I've just been giving you you're space ." Quick think quick Saotome . " I 
thought you'd like some time to without me crowding ya ." Please let that work .
" Why am I not convinced ?" She crossed her arms . " Then how do you explain 
that stunt back there ?!" She jerked her head to indicate the scene of my most 
recent altercation .
" What ?" Stall , stall .
" You didn't even lay a finger on him ." 
    Alright I can't fall back on arrogance , that'll piss her off for sure . 
Can't deny it . Make an excuse ? Why not ? " Akane , I fight him just about 
every other day , today I just wanted a change of pace I guess ." I added a 
shrug for good measure .
" Baka !" She barked . " You're avoiding the question !" 
" Huh ? What's the question ." I regret my words as soon as their out of my 
mouth .
    She squeals in frustration and grips her bookbag tighter . One more misstep 
and she'll throw it at me . Then my record goes poof .
" Oh , you mean the new stuff Pop wanted me to work on ?" I hope that fixes it .
    She relaxes , a vindicated expression forms on her face . Yup , that was 
what she wanted to hear . 
" So you think that some new technique your Father made up is more important 
than us huh ?" She puts her hands on her hips .
" Akane ju-" The warning bell saves me from possibly cramming my foot into my 
mouth once more . "-st . Come on we gotta hurry now !" 

                           *         *         *

    She loved school , it was possibly her most prolific source of lucrative 
opportunities . Betting on fights and sporting events , acting as a rumor-mill , 
and exploiting events of opportunity . Then there was Kuno , and Ranma . 
    Before Ranma had shown up she barely gleaned enough money for her family to 
eke by . Now she had had enough opportunities to actually have money to invest 
on behalf of her family . Slowly but surely it was all growing , soon much more 
permanent repairs could be made to the Dojo . All the old things in their house 
would be replaced . She might even convince her Father to reopen the Dojo to 
students . 
    But that was still in the future . Last month her stock gamble had fallen 
through , now she needed a fresh injection of cash to start over . 
" Foul sorcerer ." A dripping Kuno grumbled . " Now he learns to fly ."
" My aren't you a bit soggy , Kuno-chan ?" She snorted in amusement .
" I would much prefer you not to refer to me in such a familiar manner ." Kuno 
quipped . " Address me as Sempai , not ," He screwed his face up in disgust at 
the name . " Kuno-chan ." 
" Fine Sempai Kuno-chan ." She waited only long enough for him to give her 
withering look .
" You know I despise you ."
" Whatever , anyhow you said that Ranma can fly now ?" 
" Sadly it is so ." He hung his head dramatically . " The foul one now defies 
the laws of even the great mother , earth , and her gravity ."
" So ka ." She nodded , while attempting to decipher what the reality was .
" Even my mighty leap was passed over by one who had torn himself from the 
graceful embrace of the celestial orb's embrace ."
" He jumped higher than you ." She deadpanned .
" The vengeance of heaven is slow , but sure !" He struck a dramatic pose as 
thunder boomed in the distance .
" Kuno-san ! Please sit down !"  Their sensei reprimanded .
" H-hai ." He replied dumbly before complying .
    With a crooked smile she began working all the angles in her mind . The 
latest Kuno-Ranma confrontation had always been a surefire money machine in the 
past .



    Using only her eyes she glanced at Ranma . For once he appeared to be 
studying just like he was supposed to . That almost worried her . Sudden changes 
in study habits or lack thereof was not like Ranma at all . Special training by 
his Father would not improve Ranma's study habits , of that she was certain . 
    The thought that he had been out with one of his other fiancées crossed her 
mind . She cast another glance , this one directed at Ukyo . Only the other girl 
was looking at Ranma with the same puzzled look . So that left Ukyo out , but 
what about Shampoo ? No , Mousse would be attacking him at every turn if that 
had been the case .
    Then what ? 
" Saotome-san ?" Hinako-sensei asked .
" Hai ?" He looked up expectantly .
" Please read from line twenty seven then translate ." She asked with a raised 
eyebrow .
" Alright ." He raised the book a bit and squinted in concentration for a brief 
moment . "< Mister Johnson , could you tell me where main street is ?>" He read 
in heavily accented English . 
" Good , now please try to translate ." The child-teacher asked . " It does you 
no good to read but not know what you're reading ."
    Ranma took a deep breath and squinted at the words once more , his eyes 
darting over the line and back to the beginning a few times . " Johnson-san , 
could you tell main street where I am ?" He ended his own translation with a 
note of self doubt .
" At least I know you're not cheating ." Hinako-sensei smiled slightly . " No , 
it's 'could you tell me where main street is ?'" 
    She expected Ranma to scowl and toss the book on the desk in frustration as 
usual . Again Ranma acted quite out of character .
" But how do I know what the subject is ?" He asked with only puzzlement instead 
of frustration . 
    It took Hinako-sensei a few moments to deal with the odd event of Ranma 
actually asking a real question . " W-well , English has no regular structure . 
No specific part of speech that always points to the subject . So you have to 
infer it from the rest of the sentence or by other parts ." She gained 
confidence with every word , a smile began to spread on her face . " In this 
sentence 'tell' is an action immediately followed by what is acted upon , 'me' . 
Subjects are always nouns unless it poetry ."
" But you have two other nouns here right ? Mister Johnson and main street ." 
Ranma began , pointing to each in his text book . " A noun is a person , place 
or thing , right ?" He waited until a pleasantly surprised teacher nodded in 
acknowledgement . " So how do I know which is doing what ? 'where' is an action 
right ? You are somewhere . So how do I know what's doing what to what ?" 
" You infer it , sadly . Think to yourself how much sense your translation makes 
. I know gaijn don't make sense all of the time but what's in your textbook does 
make sense . So how much sense does asking main street to tell you where Mister 
Johnson is make ?"
" So you just juggle the nouns around to see what works best if you're not sure 
about it ?" 
" Hai ." 
" Arigato Sensei ." 
    She caught herself before her head hit the desk . 
    Ranma went back to studying , taking a few notes and scribbling down what he 
had just learned in his note book . 
    A glance to Ukyo told her nothing . The other girl looked just as shocked as 
her . In fact Ukyo still had yet to close her dropped jaw .
    Just what was going on here ? 
    After nearly a full hour of agonizing over that question the lunch bell rang 
. Ranma quickly finished his note taking with a flourish before wandering out 
the door to find a place to eat lunch at . 
    Suspicious , she zipped over to his desk and opened his note book , 
expecting to find gibberish or doodles . Only to find two pages of legitimate 
notes .
" Ran-chan has certainly turned over a new leaf in his studying ." Ukyo observed 
, reading over her shoulder .
" What happened to him ?" She whirled to face the other girl .
" I have no idea ." Ukyo replied . " I was going to ask you that . Did Kasumi-
san give him a talking to or something ?" 
" Hey ." Two facts made a connection in her mind . " She has been spending a lot 
of time with him lately ." 
" Maybe she's tutoring him ." Ukyo offered . " You know Ran-chan , convince him 
that something's a martial art or that he needs to compete in it and wham he 
goes to work ."
" English as a martial art ?" She looked at the other girl skeptically .
" You know how he hates to lose . Maybe she got him to look at failing a subject 
as losing ."
" That would get him going ." She nodded , looking at the still open note book .
    Something told her that there was more to it than just that . When she got 
home she would have a long talk about this .

                           *         *         * 

   He was lost . Not that this was an unusual occurrence in his life , far from 
it . Much too far . Everyone said he had no sense of direction . It was more 
than that . If it were simply lacking a sense of direction and maps he would try 
for the bathroom and end up in the bedroom , not try for the bathroom and end up 
in Korea ! Seoul was a nice place with plenty who spoke Japanese . Still it did 
take some time finding a bathroom . 
    After voiding his bladder he had tackled the task of getting back to Japan . 
It had not been easy but he had made it after passing through five other 
countries . Once in Japan it was onward to Tokyo . That had taken four days and 
eleven wrong cities . Once in Japan he had come upon Ranma . Such a rapid string 
of successes had put him in a particularly good mood . So he had been quite 
congenial to Ranma . That was before Ranma explained what that red and white box 
contained and whom it was for . 
    Of course he could not allow the cad to lead Akane on like that . Most 
likely the bastard was attempting to get Akane into bed with him . Filled with 
righteous fury to protect his beloved Akane from such a low manipulator like 
Ranma he had attacked .
    Ranma , already tired from a few previous fights , was far from his regular 
level of performance . During his stay in Korea he had taken a few pointers from 
another traveling martial artist . He had learned how to use his leg strength to 
launch a rapid spinning kick or back-fist . Adding his own touch had developed a 
new attack . A whirl of spinning kicks and back-fists that came from every 
height . His massive leg strength had pumped the rate of attack to something 
comparable to Ranma's Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken . Only each blow was almost at 
his full force . Two kicks in a row getting past Ranma's defenses were enough to 
crack rib and bring Ranma to his knees .
    If only he hadn't kicked Ranma over that wall and lost him before he could 
move in for the kill . He still had yet to completely conquer the intense 
dizziness that prolonged or repeated use brought on . Ranma must have been 
counting on that . He must have let that kick hit him . Ranma must have been 
counting on him getting lost in the pursuit .
" DAMN YOU RANMA !" He bellowed to the sky . 
    Then more quietly . " Where on earth am I now ?" 
" Tokyo , Nerima ward ." A helpful voice called from an apartment window above 
him . " And my condolences to this Ranma's family when you find him ." 
" Uh , thanks ." He waved back his face coloring . 
" Think nothing of it ." The man waved before shutting the window .
    Now he knew where he was , but that still did not get him any closer to his 
goal . For all he knew he could be in Nepal two hours from now . 
    However , standing still would only be prolonging the inevitable . So he 
started off in a fashion that worked as long as he moved slow and never lost 
concentration . He looked at the sign with the street name on it and started 
walking towards it , eyes never wavering from his goal . Only his peripheral 
vision guided him around obstacles . 
    It was slow moving , just one block at a time , but as long as he maintained 
strict and total concentration it worked . Hours went by but finally he found 
himself on the street of the Tendo Dojo . 
" At last !" He sighed with relief . " Just a few hundred meters ." 
    Then something or rather someone unmistakable caught his eye . A red 
sleeveless shirt , black loose pants , and walking on a fence . It was Ranma .
" YOU !" He howled , the anger of their last altercation flooding back into him 
anew . " NOW WE"LL FINISH IT RANMA !" He charged his rival as he shouted , 
drawing his bamboo umbrella with one hand and a few bandannas in the other . 
" Aww man ." Ranma moaned .
" DIE !" He bellowed , hurling the now hardened bandannas like throwing stars .
    Ranma leapt high into the air over the lethal projectiles , which buried 
themselves in the wall .
    Growling he looked up to find Ranma silhouetted against the sun's glare . 
Cursing he used his now free hand to shield his eyes . He waited until Ranma was 
almost on top of him before taking his swing . A grim smile sprang to his face 
as he felt impact . Only to be jerked off his feet at the end of the follow-
through . Smashing through the curb and almost through the wall across the 
street annoyed more than hurt him . He brandished his umbrella as sprang to his 
feet angrily .
    Ranma stood where by the opposing wall , his stance was relaxed but 
defensive . He may look open to attack but long experience had taught him that 
when Ranma looked obviously open it was always a trap .
" STOP IT !" Akane jumped between them . " Stop fighting , what's this about ?" 
" Please don't interfere Akane-san ." He moved to circle around . " This is 
between Ranma and me ." 
    Before she could protest more he leapt over her . Ranma was ready for him 
even before he had cleared Akane . His initial kick was dodged easily , but 
Ranma's counter was also dodged . For an instant they were only centimeters 
apart , his furious eyes burning into Ranma's calm gaze . 
    The concrete shattered , practically exploded , from the force of his 
initial kick off . The thrust of inhuman strength propelled him in a tight spin 
that turned his arms and free leg into a cylindrical wall of blows . The speed 
of his revolutions created a sudden vacuum that drew his opponent into the 
barrage . He smiled savagely as he felt each blow connect , this time they were 
comparatively light , glancing hits , designed to wear Ranma down . 
    Just as he had to grow used to the bakusai tenketsu his body still had not 
adjusted to the sudden and extreme g forces he created with such a tight spin . 
though he could hold out much longer he did not want the dizziness to overwhelm 
him like last time . No , he would not make that mistake again .
    He dropped his leg onto the ground like an anchor . He halted after only a 
final two forty degree spin . His anchor foot had dug a trench in the concrete 
five centimeters deep . 
    He turned to face Ranma , expecting a battered opponent , barely standing , 
just like the last time . 
    Ranma stood pristine . 
" Nani ?" He stared at his rival in shock .
    Ranma just stared back at him blankly . 
" DIE !" He shouted , determined to fix whatever went wrong .
    His initial punch was overturned and as he was planted into the wall he felt 
that arm lock painfully under Ranma's vice like grip . Tensing in perpetration 
to exert his full strength he was almost unaware of the sharp mono finger jab to 
the base of his skull until consciousness fled him .



    Today she had been surprised by Ranma many , many times . Now she found 
herself in shock once more . 
    At first it looked like all of Ranma and Ryouga's fights . Until Ryouga did 
the Tasmanian Devil impression from hell . Ranma had just set himself in forward 
stance then his arms had blurred in his familiar Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken . It 
seemed Ranma had negated every one of Ryouga's strikes with one of his own for a 
block . 
    After that Ryouga had been shocked himself , shocked into attacking headlong 
like some amateur . Ranma had handled Ryouga just so , locking the joint and 
redirecting the force of the punch . After that he had jabbed a nerve cluster 
and sent Ryouga into unwilling slumber .
    It seemed that even with that new attack Ranma still had no trouble with the 
eternally lost boy . 
" So far so good ." Ranma muttered .
" What happened ?" She asked , half to herself .
" Nothin' ." Ranma shrugged . 
" What do you mean nothing ?" She jabbed a finger at the C carved in the 
concrete . " What the hell was that ?"
" Just some new technique Ryouga picked up in Korea . Nothing special ."
" What'd you mean nothing special ? How in hell did you see something like that 
coming ?"
" He creamed me with it last week ." Ranma admitted . " After a week of looking 
at it in retrospect that was only one of 'bout eight counters I came up with ."
    She just stared at him .
" Come on I'm hungry ." He hopped back on the fence and waved for her to start 
walking .
" At least his appetite is the same ." She mumbled before following .
    They arrived at home without further incident . Dinner was ready and waiting 
for them . Ranma ate as usual , like a starving man about to be executed . She 
finished her meal at a much more civilized pace . 
    Finally after everyone was finished she had volunteered to help her eldest 
sister clean up . The rest of the family dispersed quickly . Once alone with her 
sister in the kitchen she found herself at a loss as how to open the 
conversation . Frankly she was at a loss as to exactly what the wanted to ask .
    Fortunately Kasumi saved her . " What is it you wanted to ask me ?" 
" Well ..." She tried to begin . " ...it's about Ranma . He's been acting 
...well 
different ." 
" How so ?" Kasumi asked mildly . 
" Well at school he did the weirdest thing today . He studied ."
" How is that so strange ?" Kasumi smiled .
" He never did before !" She cast a suspecting glance Kasumi's way . " And 
there's more , this morning he beat up Kuno without even touching him !"
" If he didn't touch him then how can he have beat him up ?" 
" Fine then he 'handled' Kuno without touching him . Then after school we ran 
into Ryouga and they fought as usual . But this time even though Ryouga had this 
weird new technique Ranma never even hit him once , all he did was joint lock 
him and use a pressure point ."
" Oh my , is Ryouga alright ?" Kasumi looked at her with some concern .
" Of course he's fine . But Ranma never hit him , Ranma never even got hit once 
the whole time !" 
" Oh that's good news ." Kasumi returned to washing the dishes .
" Oh !" She nearly squealed . " You don't get it Oneechan !"
" I don't ?" Kasumi asked , sounding a bit confused . " Ranma handled Kuno 
Tatawaki without touching him , did well at school today , and fought Ryouga 
without either of them being badly hurt . What am I missing ?" 
    She deflated at that . Kasumi went back to the dishes after politely waiting 
to be corrected for a minuet . The pair washed and dried in silence for a while 
until she had gathered herself once more and collected her thoughts again .
" You've been spending more time with Ranma lately ." She said , trying to sound 
casual about it .
" Hai ." Kasumi agreed .
    She waited but her older sister said nothing more . No change in facial 
expression , no change in body language . Nothing .
" Well , you never did before ." She tried again .
" Hai ." Kasumi agreed once more .
    Again she waited for more , and again she studied her sister for any change 
, and indication . Zip .
" So why are you now all of the sudden ?" 
" I didn't before so now I'm trying to do better ." 
    Now she hoped she was getting somewhere . Again she scrutinized her sister 
for any change . Nada .
" So what do you two do together ?" Now she tried to add some innocence into her 
casual act .
"  We talk most of the time . Sometimes I've helped him with homework , and now 
he's trying to get me to take up marital arts again ." 
    Her brain was halfway through sending 'Oh so you were the one to get him to 
work in school' to her mouth when it ground that to a halt after processing the 
rest of what Kasumi had said .
" He's what ?" She almost dropped the bowl she had been drying .
" Trying to convince me to start studying Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu again ." Kasumi 
favored her with a wistful smile . " I'm so out of shape and practice I'd have 
to start all over again ." 
    She fell into defending her sister before following through with any other 
thoughts . " You ? Oh no , Kasumi , you used to be the best out of the three of 
us . You'd pick it up again in no time , just like riding a bike ."
" I wish I was that confident in myself ." Her older sister sighed before 
returning to the dishes .
" So how much time do you spend with Ranma nowadays ?" She returned to her 
former train of thought .
" I don't know really , I've never timed it ." 
" Have you noticed Ranma acting different lately ?" 
" Today ?"
" No , before today . Like this past week ." 
" Oh , that . Are you worried because Ranma was keeping his distance ?"
" He's avoiding me ." She put on a pout . 
" No he's not , Akane ." Kasumi put a gentle hand over hers . " I told him that 
you might need your space for a week ."
" You told him !? Why ?" Once more she almost dropped the bowl she had been 
drying . 
" With how angry you were that night and the fact that he was more than a bit 
injured that night too I thought it best . For both of you ." 
    Who was she to argue with the calm wisdom of her older sister ? 
" Hai ." She acknowledged . " Arigato ." 

         End of part 2  'To Try'