Telepathy Ranma Saotome arrived at what he now called his "home". He bowed before he entered. He bumped into Akane Tendo who was coming out just then. "Sorry Akane. Where are you going?" "Oh, nowhere. I'll be back in no time." Ranma thought about offering to go with her but the smell of food reached him and he decided not to. "OK. Bye." He walked quickly into the house. Akane stood there for just a moment looking at the door he had disappeared into, then she turned around and left. ***** "By the way Kasumi. Where did Akane go?" asked Ranma between mouthfuls of rice. "Oh, she went to see Dr. Tofu." She saw Ranma stop eating and quickly added "Don't worry, she went because I asked her to return a book to him. I was too busy to go myself." After eating Ranma watched T.V for a while. Then he went to this room. He lay outstretched on the floor. Akane still wasn't back from Dr. Tofu's. It was raining real hard outside. Maybe he should call to see if she wanted him to go over there with an umbrella or something. She had a volleyball game that Friday and she could catch a cold if she came back in this downpour. Yeah, he should call. Besides she had offered to help him study for the math test. He went down the stairs. He picked up the phone and put it to his ear. He realized after a second or two that there was no dial tone. He frowned a bit. "Hello?" he said. A familiar voice answered from the other side. "Ranma?" "Akane? Zat you? "Yes. Did the phone ring? "No, I picked it up to call you." "Really? That's weird. Well, I was calling you to ask if you could..." "...come over pick you up ?" He finished the sentence. "I was calling to ask if you wanted me to take an umbrella over there." Akane was silent for a fraction of a second. "Yeah. Well... I don't want to get wet. So, you don't mind?" "Nope. I'll be there in a minute. See ya." As they hung up they both smiled thinking the same thing They arrived home a little late. Dr. Tofu had insisted on them staying until the rain gave up a bit. They had drunk tea and cookies but since the raining didn't stop (it actually started raining harder) they had said goodbye to Tofu sensei and returned home sharing an umbrella. Akane talked about her volleyball practices and how difficult Friday's match would be. Ranma listened intently and for once didn't open his big mouth to offend Akane either on purpose or not. They both liked times like this. When neither one wanted to fight. After dinner Akane helped Ranma with math. He understood everything. He was surprised how easy it seemed when Akane explained it to him and not the sensei. One chapter was still to be studied but he figured that what he already knew was enough not to fail the test and so he thanked Akane said goodnight and went to sleep. Akane stretched and proceeded to do the same. ***** The next day Akane had had to stay after-school for volleyball practice. As she walked home she thought about many things. she blushed at her own thoughts < Who cares. He doesn't know. And... well, maybe I wouldn't wish for that. That would be too easy. I want him to love me because... he wants to. Because... *small gasp* I know what I would wish for. I'd wish to be the best, the greatest cook on Earth. That way Ranma would eat happily whatever I gave to him and all of his other fiancées really won't stand a chance against me. > She smiled broadly at the thought. She started to laugh quietly but then her smile disappeared. <*sigh* That's impossible. I'm a terrible cook. I try so hard. So hard. And yet... any normal person would die of intoxication after eating one bite of my food. *sigh* It's no use. > "Nothing's impossible child." A voice spoke behind her. Akane swirled around to face a woman in a business suit. She was very beautiful and she was smiling at Akane. d "W... What?" asked Akane frowning. "I said nothing's impossible. You _can_ be a great cook." Akane stared at the woman frowning. < Was I thinking out loud? > "No you weren't." the woman said still smiling "I read your mind." She started approaching Akane and extended her hand. Akane tried to back off but somehow she found it impossible to move. "My name is Atsuko." Akane's hand moved forward and she shook it with Atsuko's. "I'm Akane." She responded. The woman smiled warmly. Akane wasn't afraid anymore. This woman looked kind enough. She decided to start talking. "W... what do you mean by saying that nothing's impossible?" "I have a deal to offer you. I have observed you and I happen to need your strength for just one day. Wait, let me finish." She said when seeing Akane open her mouth. "You will give me your strength for exactly 24 hours and in return I'll give you another 24 hours of being the greatest cook in the world." She then read Akane's mind and quickly observed. "That day would start today as soon as you get home." "You mean I'll lose my strength today and you will return it to me tomorrow?" "Yes. That and the ability to cook. Tomorrow at the same time you arrive today at your house." Akane thought about it for a minute. "_All_ my strength?" "Well, you'll keep enough vital energy to breathe. You know, stay alive. And also to blink, a bit. Most of the time you'll feel too weak to stay awake." Akane scrutinized the woman. She thought of all the implications of the offer as fast as she could. She pictured Ranma eating happily and saying how good a cook she is. And Shampoo and Ukyo watching jealously from afar. "Can you repeat all of the deal again." said Akane still imagining her last fantasy. The woman smiled. "Today is Thursday. You'll lose your strength the rest of today and almost all of Friday. Friday at this same hour you'll be the greatest cook on earth and, of course, your strength will be restored." Akane was curious about what could this woman do with one day of her strength. She smiled though. It _was_ worth it. Just then another thought hit her mind. What about Ranma? He was much stronger than herself. Had this woman been observing for a long time she should have surely noticed Ranma's strength. And he would be glad to be able to get rid of his curse in exchang... " "Sorry kid" Atsuko interrupted Akane's thoughts "I know that young man is very strong. But there's nothing I can do about his curse. It's beyond my powers. Maybe, some other time, I'll make a deal with him. When I find another thing he might want to trade for his strength. So Akane. Is it a deal?" She extended her hand again to make it official. Akane shook hands with her. "Deal." "Good. Hurry up and go home. The sooner you get there the sooner you'll get your reward." Akane stood there looking at the woman for another second. It started to rain. Atsuko smiled at Akane. Akane smiled back and then she turned around and left running as the rain started to fall stronger. Thick drops of freezing water. It was a real downpour. Akane felt warm under the rain though. She was running fast. As she ran she thought if she still needed to use recipes to cook or if she could just improvise the way she always wanted to do. She shook her head to get her soaked hair off her face but she just made more of it stick to her cheeks. She smiled, it didn't matter, she felt so happy. She turned around a corner and saw the door of her house only a few feet away. She looked at her watch. 6:20. She was totally soaked. Suddenly she felt an awful pain in the middle of her spine. As if someone had stabbed her with a long, thick needle. She jerked to a stop in pain, throwing her shoulders back. Wincing she fell to her knees and then flat on her chest. The rain fell down as she lay on the ground, feeling that something drained her strength through that invisible needle. Akane cried out in pain. Soon she could just whine weakly, it was too painful. She tried to move her left arm to push herself up. But she only got to let her hand rest in front of her face. The pain was gone. Her hand started to move in and out of focus several times. She tried to remain conscious but it was impossible. Her head felt heavy and big. As a least effort she whispered, almost mouthed "Ranma." Then she passed out. ***** Ranma was in the dojo practicing. Akane still wasn't back from volleyball practice. he looked at the clock. 6:20. Just then he got a weird feeling in his chest. As if someone had squeezed his heart, but it wasn't physical pain. Almost. It was some kind of anguish. He ran out of the dojo and transformed immediately. It was raining hard. Ranma-chan ran to the door. She opened it and ran outside. She looked to her left and then to her right. Then, through the rain, she saw an unmoving body on the floor. Her eyes bulged out. She ran toward it to find Akane laying on the ground, her wet hair stuck to her cheek. Her left hand laid next to her face and her right hand was still holding her bag next to her leg. Ranma-chan turned her around and lifted her upper body off the floor. Akane's head hung loosely toward the floor. Her arms hung limply next to her with the palms facing up. Ranma-chan gulped as she put a hand behind Akane's head to support her and told her softly to wake up. She used her other hand to remove the wet hair from Akane's pale face. He tried calling her softly but was now starting to freak out. "Akane?! What's wrong?" Ranma-chan shook her a bit. Akane's breathing was uneasy and so was Ranma's now. She picked Akane up and ran to the door and then inside. The briefcase was left alone in the rain. ***** Akane was sleeping in her room. Everybody was downstairs talking to Dr. Tofu. "What's wrong with her sensei? She was perfectly fine this morning. What could have caused this? WAAAAAAHHH!!!" Soun asked as tears ran down his face. "I do not know Mr. Tendo" answered Dr. Tofu. Kasumi was in the kitchen so he was acting normally. "I can't find anything wrong. She's just terribly weak. Her pulse is slower than usual but I really can't tell what caused this to her." He turned around to face Ranma. "You said you found her outside in the rain, right?" Ranma nodded, concern showing clearly on his face. Dr. Tofu continued. "Do you happen to know how long she had been unconscious out there?" "No." Ranma managed to say shaking his head slowly from side to side. "Well, she doesn't show signs of being sick because of a virus or anything like that. You probably found her just after she passed out, she doesn't have fever or any signs of a cold. All I can recommend now is that she gets rest and that she eats everything that is prepared for her. She needs her strength." Kasumi walked out of the kitchen just as Dr. Tofu was opening the door to leave. "Oh my. You're leaving already? Would you please stay for dinner Dr. Tofu?" Tofu's glasses immediately fogged up. "Kasumi. What an incredible co-coincidence to find you here. Can I ask what brought you around here?" "I live here Dr. Tofu" said Kasumi giggling a bit. Dr. Tofu, always so funny. "Did you say something about dinner?" asked Dr. Tofu addressing a wall. "Yes, Dr Tofu. Would you like to stay for dinner." Repeated Kasumi. "Dinner? Sure I'd be delighted." "Please come and sit down, I'll start to serve the tabl... Oh my. Dr Tofu wait, that is a plant you're sitting on. Come this way, here is the table." They all went inside the dining room. Ranma stayed behind and looked upstairs frowning. This was very weird. ***** Ranma finished eating and excused himself from the table. Nobody seemed to notice. They were all looking at Dr. Tofu stuff himself with seven potatoes at a time. Ranma got up and went upstairs. He knocked at Akane's door twice. Nobody answered so he came in. He closed the door behind him and went over to her bed. She was asleep. Ranma sat at a chair next to her and watched her. He noticed how pale she looked. He clenched his fists in anger. Who could have possibly done this to her? Who had dared? He kept looking at her. He felt guilty. He should have been there when it happened. How could he have let this happen? He should have known something was wrong when she didn't return home in time. Just then Akane began to open her eyes slowly. "Akane?" he leaned over her. Akane opened her eyes and saw Ranma's face in front of hers. She tried to raise and arm to push him backwards but she couldn't move. She couldn't move one muscle. It was hard enough to keep her eyes open. "Akane, are you alright? "W... what's wrong with me?" Her voice was so weak. Then she remembered. It had been that woman. The traitor, she had said as soon as she got home. She hadn't even reached the door. "Akane. What happened?" Akane looked at Ranma. "How did I get here? I know I blacked out outside." " I brought you in after I found you outside. You weren't far from the front gate." Akane pondered for a minute. She had fainted a little after 6:20. She had looked at her watch just before that. How long had she been unconscious out there in that tempest? "Do you know at what time you found me?" she asked. Ranma didn't have to think to answer that. "It was about 6:21. I looked at the clock in the dojo just before I went outside to look for you." He didn't tell her about the feeling in his chest and how he had known right away that something had happened to her. "Oh." Akane said smiling weakly. "Then I wasn't out there too long." Ranma always found a way of being there when she needed him. She had been really scared. She had tried to call his name for help but she knew she had just whispered. She looked at Ranma again "Thank you, Ranma." Ranma blinked twice, his eyebrows lifted slightly. Then he frowned and asked "Akane... do you have any idea of who did this to you?" Now it was Akane's turn to be surprised. She couldn't tell him that she had give up her strength for one day in exchange of another day of being the greatest cook. She blushed a bit. After all, she had done it for him. "Akane?" Ranma looked at her intently. "That doesn't matter Ranma. The thing is I'll be fine by tomorrow afternoon." "What?" "I'll be fine by tomorrow afternoon." "How d'ya know?" "I... I just know OK? I'll be OK tomorrow." "Yeah right." Ranma scoffed. "Don't believe me if you don't want to." Ranma didn't like this at all. Akane knew who had done this and yet she wasn't angry. And she seemed pretty sure about being fine the next day. "What exactly happened then? Are you sick?" "No, I'm just weak. I lost my strength." "What!? How?" "That doesn't matter." "But... you... and... what about tomorrow's volleyball game?" Now that was something Akane hadn't thought about. "Damn." "Yeah damn. Didn't you tell me it was a very important game? That the other team was very tough? *scoffs*. Now your team will surely lose without you." Akane smiled at this last comment. He had made a compliment to her. He didn't notice though. He was looking into space, obviously thinking about it. Akane sighed and proceeded to examine her quilt. After a short while Ranma started talking again. "You... you want me to replace you?" he asked without looking at her. She didn't answer and he looked at her. "Do you want me to?" he insisted. "Well... I don't know." "Well, your team will lose if I don't. Unless you exaggerated about that other team being so good." Akane frowned "Of course not. They _are_ good. If you want to replace me then go ahead." Ranma sighed. He wanted to say that it was her who should decide if she wanted him to replace her or not, but he said instead "OK. I'll replace you." He got up and stretched. "It's late. Go to sleep now. Dr. Tofu said you need to rest." He headed for the door and as he opened it he heard Akane's voice. "Ranma?" He looked back. "Yeah?" "Thank you." He smiled, some kind of secret smile of his. But she knew that smile. "You're welcome. Good night." Then he left. Akane looked at her closed door. "Good night Ranma." Then she noticed that he had forgotten to turn off the lights. She opened her mouth to call him afraid he might not hear her weak voice, and just then Ranma opened the door again and peeking in, he said "I forgot to turn off the lights. Sorry." He beamed at her and after turning off the lights he said "Sleep tight." Akane blinked in the darkness. January 2001 The next day only Ranma went to school. He won at the tournament that afternoon. It was a very short game. Then he returned home. After eating really quickly he went to Akane's room. He knocked and waited some time. No reply. He assumed Akane was asleep. He came in, but as he approached the bed he realized she was awake. "Aren't you asleep? Why didn't you answer?" Akane just looked at him kind of angrily. She mouthed (or so he thought) "Come closer." So he did. He brought a chair next to her bed and sat down. He looked at her and waited for her to start speaking. She said something but he didn't hear it. "What?" he said leaning in a little closer to her face. "I said, I can't speak loudly. So come closer, shut up, and listen!" She whispered as energetically as she could. Pretty weakly. Though the tone in her voice made Ranma nod obediently. He had forgotten how weak she was. Maybe she had answered when he knocked. Maybe she hadn't. He wasn't sure, but he thought it was kind of funny. Then he realized how pale Akane looked and the anxiety came back to him. He nodded again. And leaned in to hear what she had to say. Akane watched him nod with an amused look on his face. Suddenly, concern returned to his face. Right after that he nodded again, this time, his face full of worry. He leaned closer to her to listen. She smiled weakly. He could be so nice sometimes. His expression was so innocent she couldn't help but wish she could hug him right then, but she couldn't. She had been sleeping when he knocked on her door. She still was very tired but she wanted to ask him how his day had been. She had missed him all day. She was not used to being in bed so long and without moving. She had kept wondering how he was doing. Had his curse gotten in his way again? Did Kuno try to attack him or hug him? She often felt jealous when thinking about Ukyo there in school all the time and of Shampoo during lunchtime. She felt sad all day. She was unusually sensible because of her weakness. Ranma was still there, watching her expectantly, she hadn't said anything but he still had on the same expression. Akane felt like hugging him again She thought, her eyes filling with tears. He suddenly looked directly at her eyes, frowning a bit. She seemed so helpless. He thought. He looked at her blink and a tear fell. He suddenly felt the need to hug her. He felt that she needed him and he knew he needed her. He smiled a bit at this. Hugging her wouldn't be as if he were taking advantage of her. And she looked so cute when she cried. And she looked so sad and weak. He decided that he would take the chance even if later she kicked his butt. Akane felt the tears stinging her eyes. She looked away closing her eyes in frustration Suddenly she felt Ranma picking her up from the bed. She opened her eyes feeling his firm hands supporting her head and back. She was very surprised. She felt a twinge of anger but it disappeared quickly: he had known, he had seen. She smiled at him. He smiled back and then he hugged her tightly. She felt so good. She smiled blissfully. After a while she felt Ranma starting to let go. She whispered in his ear "Wait." So he stopped and held her some more. She smiled again and said "OK. What I want you to tell me is what happened today at school. Then at the game. You won didn't you?" Ranma still didn't move. "Ranma... that is all for now. You can let go of me." He chuckled a bit and then he placed her softly back on the bed. Then he told her all about his day. He'd never done it before. She had always been there with him. At first he felt kind of weird, but he saw her smiling at him and he soon started to tell her every single detail he could think of. She laughed a bit at some things he said. He felt good at seeing her smile. He loved to see her smile. She always looked cute: angry, sad, happy. But when she smiled, he just felt so good all over. He told her how the game had been so easy to win. "They weren't so tough as you said. At least not for me..." Akane frowned at that last comment. Ranma freaked out for a moment but he remembered she couldn't hit him. "I... I don't mean to say that you..." He looked for the right words. This was a strange chance he had of actually being able to explain before she kicked him through the ceiling or the window. He breathed deeply and thought Then he imagined Akane punting him into the stratosphere. So he decided not to say the usual kind of thing he would say in this kind of situation. Instead he said. "You exaggerated a bit. They weren't so good. _But_ you could have taken them easily. You could have won as easily as I did." He said shrugging. Akane looked surprised again, though not too much. She didn't have the energy to show that much surprise. Then she smiled and said "OK." He leaned a bit since he thought she would start to say more. She then decided that he had talked enough and so she said "I'm a bit tired Ranma. I want to sleep. But can you wake me up at 6:15 this afternoon?" He nodded and stood up. Then he left. Akane fell asleep right away, smiling. ***** February 2001