Ranma walked hesitantly into the classroom and glanced
at the faceless teacher before turning nervously to
face the class. She glanced around for Akane and
Ukyou, but didn't see them anywhere. Nabiki had said
she wouldn't let Ranma go through this alone either.
They weren't there, none of them.

There was a see of faces she knew only vaguely, and
even those she didn't have a clear view of. There was
something wrong with the lights in the classroom. Only
one in the center of the room worked, and, when the
door closed behind her, she could not see the edges of
the room.

"Hi," she said quietly. Even so, the sound echoed
dully through the dark room full of unfamiliar faces.
"Ya heard the rumors I guess." There was a shuffling
from the class.

Ranma scanned around the room, avoiding the faceless
mass before her. She crossed her arms over her chest
and looked down at her feet. She was wearing a dress.
Her eyes narrowed and she looked around nervously. She
didn't own any dresses.

"Oh, you poor dear," someone from the class said. The
voice was low almost a purr. A small group of people
approached Ranma, and she backed away towards the
door.

"We made you a little something to make you feel
better," another voice said. She couldn't identify the
speakers, but she could see what they were bringing
her. A steaming bowl of ramen.

"NO!!" Ranma shouted and ran for the door. She found
nothing but dirt walls, Ranma whirled around to face
the other 'students'. Now he could see the faces, all
the cats' eyes and ears, and swishing tails. The hands
holding the ramen were thick and slitted, for holding
claws.

"Come on, Fluffy," the voice was definitely that Jin
girl's, but rendered cat like. Several hands gripped
her and pulled her down, claws ripping at her dress.
"You let everybody else have a taste, why not us?"

"I don't want to!" Ranma protested trying to curl up
against the pulling, clawing hands.

"Of course you do," the voice was from the light,
which wasn't a light after all, but the exit from the
pit. "All girls want it, they just pretend not to."

"As he has said," Kuno-neko voice declared, as Ranma's
panties were ripped away. "Did you not secretly enjoy
our tryst."

"NO!!" Ranma shouted forcefully.

"Airen must have know Shampoo do something to ramen."
Ranma could see the purple cat on someone's shoulder.
Strangely, aside from the older voice above, it was
the only totally human voice, but Ranma didn't care
about that right now. "Ranma eat on purpose." She
sounded so confident of her belief.

"Let go of me!" Ranma shouted, lashing outward and
slashing out with hands curled into claws. Her cries
as she slashed about grew more cat-like as time
progressed. She was becoming like them.

Even as she fought them down, she saw out of the
corner of her eyes more cats being dropped into the
pit and becoming cat-people as they landed. In the
corners she could hear some of the cat-people making
time with each other while waiting for a chance at
her. Strangled birth cries began echo through the pit,
like a horde of ghostly kittens that were seeking more
than milk.

More were appearing than she could bring down.
Eventually they would pull her down, and then they
would have her. Again. And again.

"Ranma!" the voice came down from the hole in the top
of the pit. 

A rope came down from the exit, and Ranma looked at it
in a mix of fear and hope. That's where the cats came
from, that's where everything came from. Anything that
wanted to hurt him came into the Pit through there.
Besides, she belonged in the pit, she was dirty.

"Ranma, please!" the voice called out again. Was it a
trick? Maybe outside the Pit there was nothing but
cats. The distraction was costing her, the cats were
getting further before she could take them down.

"Spread your legs, pervert," another Jin-neko purred
from down below before Ranma kicked her head in.
Kitten-Baby cries continued throughout the Pit,
strangling, drowning in blood.

"Airen skin so soft," Shampoo-neko said, as she clawed
down Ranma's back.

"Let me free you of this spell." Thick clawed hands
reached for her throat. 

Ranma had lost her vocabulary now, and she only hissed
as she slashed out and ran toward the center of the
Pit, under the light. Maybe Above was worse, but the
Pit was intolerable. How could anything be worse? She
climbed up the rope out of the Pit.

Strong arms held her as she reached the top. But these
arms did not seek to violate her. Somebody rocked her,
holding her naked, bleeding body and comforting her.

"You're slacking off, boy!" a harsh voice shouted.
"You need to keep training." Somebody gripped her by
the hair and tried to throw her back into the pit.

*********

Ranma snapped awake, being held tight in Akane's arms.
She wrapped her arms around Akane and cried into her
spouse's shoulder. Akane stroked her back and rocked
her gently. Ranma didn't care that it made her feel
somewhat like a child, she was safe like this. She was
out of the Pit. 

"Do you want to stay home tomorrow?" Akane whispered
as Ranma started to calm down and Akane could. Ranma
could still feel herself shivering in remembered
terror.

"No," Ranma answered firmly. She caught her breath and
checked her hands for a moment, making sure they were
still human hands. She had never tried the rope
before. "I ain't hidin' anymore."

"You've said that before," Akane reminded her.

"Yeah, I know," Ranma said. "Don't let me fall." She
said quietly, holding Akane.

"I won't," Akane answered, kissing Ranma's forehead.

*********

Nabiki stared up at the ceiling until she heard Ranma
and Akane go back to sleep. Then she stuck her head
back under one of her pillows. Her second pillow kept
the sun out of her face in the mornings. It also made
an excellent gag, though not so good with only one
hand to hold it with.

Tomorrow was the day.

She curled up under her blankets, awkwardly trying to
accommodate her shoulder, and held down her pillow,
hand shaking.

*********

Kasumi woke up again at her normal time, not yet dawn.
She sighed at her appearance in her mirror. At what
point had they started to just accept the black
circles under their eyes?

Kasumi was walking down the stairs and heard someone
in her kitchen. She paused a moment to investigate and
wasn't too surprised to find Ranma cooking.

"I woke up early again," Ranma said without turning
around.

"Are you okay?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah," Ranma said. "No problem." She still hadn't
turned around. "I woulda done some training, but
Ryouga's still in the dojo."

"Cooking is very relaxing," Kasumi noted.

"Yeah," Ranma said. "It's like katas, sorta. Ain't
gonna throw away my Art for yours." She added the last
firmly.

"I would not expect you to," Kasumi said. "Do you need
any help?"

"Nah, I can handle this," Ranma said. "You should go
back to bed."

"Whatever they say at school today," Kasumi said
quietly. "It doesn't change anything here."

"Thanks Kasumi," Ranma said, pausing a moment, she
wiped at her face before turning around. "I'm figuring
that out." She turned toward the stairs at the sound
of footsteps.

"Kasumi is..." Akane breathed a sigh of relief as she
came into the kitchen and saw Ranma.

"I just woke up early again," Ranma explained again,
turning back to the cooking. Akane sighed and glanced
at Kasumi before moving to hug Ranma.

"It'll be fine," Akane whispered. Ranma nodded and
leaned back in Akane's arms. Kasumi was turning to
give them some privacy when Akane asked, "Do you need
any help in here?" Kasumi and Ranma stiffened.

"Ummm, could you set the table?" Ranma asked
nervously. "I want ta get this part done myself."

"You sure you don't want me to help with the meal?"
Akane asked.

"No, I'm fine," Ranma insisted, sweating. "I just want
to do it. Relaxing you know?"

"Relaxing?" Akane repeated, she had never really found
cooking relaxing. If Ranma did, though, maybe it was
better to let her do it. "Okay, I guess." She kissed
Ranma on the cheek and then started to gather the
plates. To the immense relief of Kasumi and Ranma.

"I shall be in the living room if either of you need
any help," Kasumi said. She noticed that she was still
in her night robe and added another comment. "As soon
as I get dressed."

"Thanks," Ranma said. She quietly watched Akane taking
the plates out to set the table and smiled briefly
then returned to her cooking.

*********

Ryouga came in through the gate yawning,
half-wondering when the dojo had gotten that second
bathroom. The one without the furo with little yellow
"m"'s everywhere. He was also curious to know why they
had built it so far away from the living quarters. 

He hadn't known the Tendo compound was quite that
large, in fact. Maybe it was like one of those
dimensional pockets that was bigger inside than it was
outside. Like Doctor Who's telephone booth or the
Furinkan basement.

>From the gate he meandered around the grounds until he
came the rear entrance. Akane was setting the table
for breakfast and he heard somebody in the kitchen and
decided it must be Kasumi.

"Ryouga, what were you doing in the courtyard?" Akane
asked as she looked up.

"Going back to the dojo from the other bathroom,"
Ryouga said as if it was obvious.

"Right," Akane said. She went back to setting the
table. ~Don't ask.~

Ryouga saw Kasumi in the living room, and decided not
to wave in case she was still upset with him. He was
too tired to wonder how Kasumi could be both in the
kitchen and in the living room. After all, he'd been
wandering the Tendo compound for several hours trying
to get back to his bed. He continued in his quest for
the dojo.

Ryouga was confused when he hit the master bedroom. He
was quite certain that that was supposed to be
upstairs. Backtracking he found a closet, but the
closet had another exit through a copy of the master
bedroom. Then he was in another hallway, trying to
figure out how the Tendos moved around their secret
passages all the time.

Ryouga stopped as he heard a muffled sob behind a
door. Turning he saw a sign on the door, "Nabiki"
written in romanji. His first thought was wondering
what Ranma was doing in Nabiki's room while Akane was
helping Kasumi in the kitchen. Some left over of his
long time tendency to think the worst of Ranma
perhaps. Thinking it through, for once, he found that
unlikely.

Ryouga knocked on the door hesitantly. There was some
movement on the other side of the door.

"Hello?" Ryouga said. The door cracked open a little
later, and he could see Nabiki peeking out.

"Tryin' to sleep 'Yoga," Nabiki whispered. "Tomorrow's
goin' be hard."

"Ummm, Nabiki," Ryouga said. "It is tomorrow."

"Can't be," Nabiki protested. "Not asleep yet." 

"Check your clock," Ryouga suggested. She looked away
from the crack in the door for a moment. 

"Masaka." Then there was a thud on the back of the
door. "Itai."

"Are you okay?" Ryouga asked.

"Fine," Nabiki said. "Be right out." The door started
to close.

"Do you need someone to back you up?" Ryouga asked.
Nabiki hesitated.

"Yeah," Nabiki said. "Thanks."

*********

Kodachi was pondering that morning's meal. She had
never actually eaten anything so simple before.
Ranma's cooking seemed to involve rice with a little
meat and very little seasoning. That and a salad she
had made on the side. She had asked about it and had
been told that it was camping fair.

"It's a lot tastier when you're in the middle of the
forest, made over a wood fire," Ryouga had said. 

"The smoke adds flavor," Ranma agreed quietly. Which
had started a brief discussion about the virtues of
different kinds of wood between Ranma and Ryouga.
Kasumi had made suggestions, to Ranma, about how to
duplicate certain flavors in a kitchen environment.

Kodachi listened with interest, missing her roses and
pet. It was a pleasant distraction.

"We should probably leave the cooking to the men,"
Nabiki said. Nabiki didn't look like she had slept,
and she was obviously fidgeting this morning. Ranma
blushed and immediately quieted down, while Ryouga
scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Nabiki," Akane said, grimacing. Kodachi was confused
with the exchange for a moment.

~She was including Ranma,~ Kodachi realized. She
looked to where Ranma was sitting on Akane's lap.
~Don't they see it?~ 

Kodachi spent the last little bit of the meal by
watching Ranma and Akane.

*********

"We've been expelled," Ukyou shouted angrily coming to
meet them on the road to school. She was in her boy's
uniform, which was smoking slightly, but without her
characteristic spatula.

"What?" Akane asked.

"That Hawaiian freak had us expelled," Ukyou growled.
She gestured around their whole group. "All four of
us."

"On what grounds?" Nabiki demanded coolly. Some of the
obvious nervousness drained out of her, but not all,
not even most. If the principal had made her stand
impossible today, all he did was prolong it for a much
more public situation later.

"I was busy dodging pineapples," Ukyou growled. She
was obviously very frustrated, and her fists were
clenching and unclenching. "But he said something
about moral turpitude."

"What does that mean?" Ranma asked. Ukyou shrugged
angrily, but Nabiki and Akane were pale with anger.

"He's actually going to claim that?" Nabiki asked
quietly, gripping Ryouga's hand.

"What's he claiming?" Ryouga asked.

"We're a bad influence," Akane snapped. "Most likely
something to do with..." she hesitated a moment.
"...sex." Ranma winced and held tightly to Akane.

"He's going to say I wanted it," Ranma said quietly,
shaking. "Isn't he?" She virtually spat the question.

"Maybe," Nabiki said neutrally, fairly certain that
was it. "Let's go see what he has to say." 


*********

The Principal was waiting for them at the gates,
smiling broadly as usual. He seemed even more lunatic
than usual. A crowd of students had gathered to see
the coming conflict.

"No, no, no," he said, waggling his finger. "You all
is expelled. Bad influence on da Bid Kahuna's keiki."

"We're a bad influence?!" Akane shouted. "What about
you?"

"Dis da Bid Kahuna's school," the Principal said. "And
you follow de Bid Kahuna's rools. You is all bad for
deesseepline."

"What rules have we broken?" Nabiki asked.

"Oooo, so meeny t'ings." He chuckled and started
ticking off points. "Fighting on de campus,
deestruction o property, suspeetion of murder, lood
behavior..."

"He wouldn't take no as an answer!" Ranma shouted
angrily stepping forward from Akane. She faltered at
the sudden interest the crowd was giving her. "So
h...he..." Akane stepped back up to her side and
hugged her.

"Tacchi have eeny wahini he want," the Principal said
still smiling. He didn't notice Nabiki smirk at the
comment.

"Brilliant the Kuno's aren't," Nabiki muttered. Ryouga
noticed the look in her eyes, the same one she got
before she took Shampoo's hair ornament.

"He couldn't have me!" Ranma shouted, almost crying.
Hinako struggled her way out of the crowd behind the
gates and started walking towards them.

"Why blame someone else for yo' spilt milk," the
Principal asked, this time quietly so the crowd
couldn't hear.

"You arrogant bastard," Akane growled, holding Ranma
tightly.

Ranma stared at the Principal blankly for a moment in
shock. She clenched her fists angrily and clenched her
eyes shut, turning her face away from Principal.

"Ranma," Nabiki warned. The redhead laughed once
bitterly and suddenly relaxed.

"I ain't gonna fall for my own game," Ranma said
quietly but firmly. She was still shaking in Akane's
arms, angry and hurt.

"Let's go back home," Akane said, kissing Ranma
lightly. "We can fix this later." The Principal looked
somewhat disappointed but was distracted by
Hinako-chibi pulling on his sleeve to attract his
attention.

"You know that was interesting what you said about
milk," she said. "I hate wasting milk especially
chocolate milk. Oh yeah, I have to tell you that I and
some of the other teachers are going on strike."

"But you can't do that," the Principal protested.

"Oh and we're moving that you be removed," Hinako
said. "For running an unsafe school." She started
walking down the street.

"Dis is my school!" the Principal shouted. "And you
must follow my rools! I hired you to enforce
deesseepline." He took a step towards Hinako and she
stopped to turn around.

"Principal," Hinako said in a sing-song voice, playing
with a coin. "You wouldn't be thinking of trying to
discipline me, would you?"

"All you want is revenge, not disicpline," Ryouga
shouted. "And I should know what revenge looks like."

Small groups of students were passing through the gate
and away from the school. The Principal didn't notice
as he was preoccupied with his teacher and the primary
troublemakers. He backed away from Hinako, and the
others. 

The Principal couldn't take Ryouga, Ranma or Hinako if
they were alone, much less together. If Ranma had
attacked, with no apparent provocation, he would have
had more evidence, the Principal was unaware that a
crowd of witnesses cut both ways, but Ranma had kept
her cool.

"He's finished," Nabiki said smiling. The smile faded
and she bit her lip. "But now everybody will know."
She whispered, considering what was coming. This would
hit the news for at least a little while. All because
some jerk on a bureaucratic power-trip wanted revenge
for his worthless son.

"You should go back and get some sleep," Ryouga said.
Nabiki nodded.

"You blew it, jerk," Ranma said angrily, tears still
flowing, before she and Akane turned away to firmly
walk away from the school. Ukyou held her position for
a moment staring darkly at the Principal before
turning to head for her restaurant.

"Maybe I should have done something more than dump him
in the basement," Ukyou muttered.

*********

The dojo was quiet. Kodachi had gone to school, at her
own insistence, and apparently Kasumi had actually
gone to sleep as promised. Nobody had said anything
after leaving the scene with the Principal.

Ranma had cried quietly, but mostly she was just
sniffling and fuming. Akane and Nabiki were also
fuming, Akane most obvious of any of them. Nabiki's
expression was the veritable definition of ice, though
it was very strained. Ryouga was nervous, as usual
when he was with a girl or collection of girls, though
more so considering the situation. He and Akane both
shared a concerned expression as well, though Akane's
was mostly focused on Ranma.

As they were entering the house, Nabiki stumbled over
nothing and almost took a hard fall. Ryouga steadied
her easily before she could hurt herself. She didn't
even protest when he carried her the rest of the way
to the living room and a couch. That certainly brought
all of their attention to her for the moment.

"Nabiki, are you feeling okay?" Akane asked worriedly.
"You haven't looked good all morning."

"I had a little trouble getting to sleep last night,"
Nabiki said. Ryouga cleared his throat and Nabiki
rolled her eyes. "Okay, I didn't go to sleep last
night." Ranma looked at her closely.

"You weren't planning on going through with that?"
Ranma asked. "Were you?" Akane looked confused for a
moment before she remembered what Nabiki had told
Ranma a few days ago.

"Go through with what?" Ryouga asked.

"I told Ranma that I would stand with him," Nabiki
said. She turned to Ranma. "I made that promise, and I
intend to keep it."

"You mean..." Ryouga was cut off by Nabiki nodding.

"Nabiki, you don't have to," Ranma said. "Everybody is
interested in me, not you."

"Ranma," Nabiki said her voice trembled a little. "I'm
not going to let you go through this and just sit on
the sidelines saying 'don't worry about them.' That's
somewhat hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Nabiki, are you sure?" Akane asked.

"I'm tired of hiding too," Nabiki said shakily. 

Nabiki was trying to keep from crying, but it was
difficult. She was far more tired than she was used
to, her arm hurt like hell, most of her energy had
already gone to keeping her composure this long. 

"I'm giving Ranma all this advice," she said through
choked tears, "and she's doing things I've been too
terrified to even consider."

"I didn't make the choice," Ranma whispered.

"But you're surviving! You're doing it!" Nabiki
snapped. "And I'm still scared!" She stood up and
paced, fighting to keep her tears down. Kasumi quietly
came down the stairs in response to the shouting but
nobody noticed.

"Nabiki," Akane started.

"Nabiki knows what to do," Nabiki snapped,
interrupting Akane. "Nabiki's the tough one. Nabiki's
the smart one. Nabiki is in complete control of
everything." She waved her good arm out to encompass
the room and then turned towards them, virtually
screeching now. "Nabiki didn't fight! Didn't even try!
Nabiki," she twisted her name in self-mockery, "was
stupid enough to go inside the guy's house!" She stood
there shaking and staring wildly around. The crying
was shaking her shoulder somewhat, and the resultant
pain wasn't helping her keep composure.

Ryouga hesitantly stood up and reached a hand out to
her. She grabbed it and then broke out into full
weeping leaning into Ryouga. The martial artist
cautiously hugged her.

"It'll be okay," Ryouga said, as Ranma and Akane moved
over to help comfort Nabiki.

"There's always things you would do differently if you
could," Ranma said softly, paraphrasing Kasumi. 

"It wasn't your fault," Akane added, mostly just to
add her voice. 

Akane was reminded of when Ranma broke down at school
after seeming so recovered for a month. But certainly
Nabiki had let it out to her support group. It just
seemed that she managed to keep it in around everyone
else. 

Nabiki was still weeping when Kasumi walked out of the
kitchen shortly, carrying a tea set. Nabiki was still
crying heavily, her eyes puffy, but she turned around
to see Kasumi.

"I...didn't mean to wake you," Nabiki said hesitantly.

"It is quite all right," Kasumi said quietly. "Please
sit down, it sounds like you could all use something
to calm your nerves." She sat down and poured everyone
a cup of tea. She took her own cup and sipped at it
yawning.

"There's nothing in it?" Ranma asked hesitantly.
Kasumi shook her head and smiled briefly.

"It's just instant tea," Kasumi said with a little
self-reproach. She really didn't feel up to making a
good tea at the moment.

"You want to know why we're home so early?" Nabiki
asked, sniffing. She sat down on the floor around the
tea set, with a little steadying help from Ryouga, and
shakily took up a cup of tea to sip at it.

"Perhaps later," Kasumi said. "Right now let's just
share a cup of tea, and then some of us can get their
needed sleep."

"The Kasumi cure-all," Nabiki laughed,
half-hysterical. Ryouga sat down next to her, watching
Nabiki nervously. Her shoulders were still shivering,
and she seemed on the verge of crying again. Akane sat
down next to Kasumi and Ranma, as usual, sat in her
lap, both watching Nabiki.

"You don't want to be like me, Ranma," Nabiki said
after about five minutes of silent drinking. "I'm a
coward."

"That's why you faced off against the Amazon's,"
Ryouga reminded her. "Humiliated Shampoo in fact."

"It doesn't change the basic fact," Nabiki said
quietly. "The Ice Queen is a coward. And soon everyone
is going to know it." She set down her teacup and
started crying again. Soft, silent sobbing this time.

"You're exhausted," Kasumi said. She arched an eyebrow
as Nabiki leaned her face into Ryouga's shoulder.

"Yeah, Nabiki," Akane agreed. "You'll think better
after some sleep." Ranma shifted uncomfortably.

"You're telling people on your will," Ranma said. She
paused and smirked before continuing quietly. "And if
you keep counting on the Ice Queen bit this'll just
keep happening." Nabiki's crying was broken by several
laughs.

"I should charge you for that, Saotome," Nabiki said
shakily. She closed her eyes, her shoulders still
shaking. "My shoulder hurts, damn it." In the next
moment she seemed to relax all at once and started
breathing deeply.

"I was hoping she'd fall asleep soon," Kasumi said,
sounding tired herself. "Hibiki-san could you perhaps
carry her to her bed."

"Ummm, okay," Ryouga said nervously. Noticing that he
still wasn't "Ryouga" or "Ryouga-kun" again. He
cautiously picked Nabiki up, blushing as her good arm
wrapped around him, as he stood up and almost started
to walk.

"I shall show you the way," Kasumi said, beating Akane
and Ranma to the protest. She stood up and started to
lead Ryouga away, but turned back to face Akane and
Ranma. "And then I'm going back to bed as well." She
smiled. "As per instructions. You shall be fine?"

"Yeah," Ranma said.

"We can handle things today," Akane said.

~Probably better than I at the moment,~ Kasumi
thought. ~Why didn't I see this coming? And is
encouraging 'P-Chan' another mistake?~ She looked at
Ryouga briefly and how tenderly he was holding her
sister. ~Perhaps that one is not.~ "Hibiki-san, follow
me."

"Hai," Ryouga said nervously.

*********

"Is it true?"

Kodachi looked up from her lunch to face the girl that
had asked the question. She was being remarkably
brave. There was no way that she would have dared
approach Kodachi if it weren't for the burns that made
fighting or more or less impossible.

That was as it should have been. She could focus on
her studies, and no one would bother her. Eventually
the noise of the other students would fade into the
background. Merely the buzzing of hornets, or the hum
of an air conditioner. The solitude reminded her of...

Kodachi was about to answer but froze, her words
catching in her throat. Quiet. Alone. Empty. Dead.

"Kuno-sempai?" the girl asked. Kodachi laughed
snickered at that.

"I am nearly seventeen," Kodachi said softly. "But I
am still in the lowest class rank."

"Oh, are you okay?" the girl asked cautiously.

"I just realized something," Kodachi said. "What are
you asking about?"

"About your brother attacking..." the girl started to
explain.

"I have no brother," Kodachi answered firmly. The girl
winced.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly and started to turn to
leave.

"Please wait," Kodachi called out. "I apologize. That
is a touchy subject right now, and it is not something
I wish to discuss."

"Oh, I see," the girl said, uncertain of what to do.
Kodachi was well known to be unpredictable. "They're
saying he was eaten by something right?" Kodachi
frowned.

"Is there anything else we can talk about?" Kodachi
said, picking at her lunch. Bending her arms seemed to
hurt worse now, but it was the pain produced by
stretching new skin. Her arms were healing.

"You actually want to talk to me?" the girl asked,
wary.

"Quite suddenly I would not mind talking to anybody,"
Kodachi said. "The school was feeling like home just a
moment ago."

"That's a bad thing?" the girl asked confused.

"Home is de..." Kodachi stopped herself and released a
frustrated sigh. "I am keeping you from your lunch, my
apologies again. Please return to your meal, do not
worry about me." Kodachi turned back to her own lunch.

"All right," the girl said. She walked quickly back to
her seat to eat her lunch.

"Well?" one of the other girls asked. "What did she
say?"

"She said she didn't want to talk about it," the girl
shrugged. "And that she didn't have a brother. She
seems depressed."

"Doesn't surprise me," somebody said. "You know when
they found her collapsed in the locker room last year?
I heard she took something to kill herself."

"Her?" somebody scoffed. "Why would she want to kill
herself?"

"Oh you know how those old money, samurai types get,"
another said. "Everything has to be so dramatic, it
was probably just some attention getting stunt. What
does someone like her know about hard times?"

*********

"We really should get started on something," Akane
said.

"Mm hmm," Ranma agreed quietly. Neither of them moved
to do anything though. Nabiki and Kasumi were still
asleep. So, other than the occasional appearance from
"Charlotte," they were alone. And they were still
sitting against the couch where they had settled that
morning.

Ranma had been mostly quiet since Nabiki was taken to
bed. She just seemed to want to sit curled up in
Akane's lap and be held. The attitude was driving
Akane crazy.

"Don't worry," Akane whispered, hugging Ranma.
"Everything's going to be fine."

"I'm leaning too hard on people," Ranma said quietly.
The knock on the door cut off any response Akane might
have had. Ranma reluctantly stood up.

"I'll get it," Akane said, standing up next Ranma.

"Nah," Ranma said, shrugging. "I got it, besides, it's
probably just Ryouga." At which point Ryouga wandered
down the stairs and into the ground floor hallway.

"How many floors does this house have?" he muttered to
himself. Akane and Ranma watched for a moment and
turned to each other. Whoever was at the door knocked
again.

"I..." Ranma hesitated.

"Why don't you make sure Ryouga doesn't get really
lost," Akane suggested. Ranma looked at her.

"That's hiding again," Ranma said. "I'll get the
door." Akane kissed her on the forehead after a
moment's hesitation and Ranma went to the door.

The door opened on a nervous looking pair of students
in Furinkan uniforms. Ranma immediately felt like they
were dissecting her.

"Can I help you with anything?" Ranma asked, wanting
to close the door already. "Or did you just come to
stare at me?" They glanced about in embarrassment
avoiding her face. Ranma growled and started to close
the door.

"Wait!" one of them said.

"What?" Ranma demanded.

"We just came to..." the boy hesitated. "To say thank
you." Ranma stopped shutting the door.

"Thank you?" she repeated.

"You saved us from some muggers once," the girl said. 

"Oh," Ranma said, shrugging. "You're welcome, I
guess."

"A lot of people are glad you're around," the boy
said. "Some of the jocks were out of control before
you got here."

"You saw what was going on with Akane," the girl
pointed out. "Can you imagine what would have happened
if they had..." she gasped and covered her mouth as
she noticed Ranma turning pale. "I'm sorry, I didn't
mean..."

"Who is it, Ranma," Akane asked coming up behind.
"Ranma?" She noted the grip Ranma was giving the door
and gently encouraged her to hold her hand instead.
She gave a quiet squeeze back and she could feel Ranma
calming down somewhat.

"It's our fault," the girl said.

"Yeah, we should leave," her boyfriend agreed.

"Thanks for comin' round," Ranma said before they
left.

"It was the least we could do," the girl said before
they continued toward the gate.

"What did they say?" Akane asked seriously as they
left the gate.

"They were saying thank you," Ranma said. She looked
to Akane, biting her lip and looked the other girl up
and down a moment. "They said I kept 'em from getting'
mugged."

"That's what's got you so scared?" Akane asked,
brushing Ranma's bangs away from her face.

"Akane?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

"What is it Ranma?" Akane asked nervously.

"Would you accept training from me?" Ranma sounded
really nervous about the question. Akane relaxed
immediately.

"Of course I would," Akane answered, and the redhead
suddenly looked as if a load on her back had been
lightened.

"Thank you, Akane," Ranma whispered as they walked
back into the house. 

The phone rang as they passed it. Akane glanced at
Ranma and picked up the phone cautiously.

"Hello?" she said into the receiver. She turned an
angry red and hung up the phone a moment later.
"Jerk."

"That was about me right?" Ranma asked.

"It doesn't matter," Akane hugged her close. "It's
just one idiot." Ranma nodded, looking angry herself.

"I'm gonna make somethin' for lunch," she said.

"Do you want help with that," Akane asked, not
noticing Ranma's wince at that suggestion.

*********

Kodachi dodged aside as the egg came at her. She
turned to glare at the offending party and silently
wished she knew more about unarmed techniques than she
did. There was some hesitation from the small group of
boys, each wearing some sort of animal mask, before
they tossed about five more eggs. It was just as easy
to dodge those, maybe a little more so since she
actually saw them coming.

"Excuse me," Kodachi said. "What do you think you are
doing?" She took a step towards them and they broke
and ran. "Pathetic." She snarled and shook her head as
she walked the last block to the dojo.

"Tadaima," she called out as she entered the genkan.
She had to remind herself to do so. She wasn't used to
living in a place with other people yet. 

Kodachi was passing the phone when she noticed the
light indicating an incoming call. Oddly enough there
was no ringing sound to indicate the call. If she
hadn't been planning on using the phone anyway she
probably wouldn't have noticed the call. She
considered the boys outside that had tried to hit her
with the eggs and frowned before she picked up the
phone and grimaced as she bent her arm to hold it to
her head.

"Tendo residence," she said coolly. "Did you come up
with that taunt on your own? Or perhaps you
subcontracted?" Kodachi hung up the phone with a sneer
of disgust. She picked the phone up again and dialed.

"There've been a lot of calls since lunch." Kodachi
turned to see Ryouga. "Some people came to visit too,
they were okay, but they apparently stopped coming."

"I can explain that, there was a group of boys tossing
eggs a block from..." Kodachi turned her attention to
phone. "Yes, the estate? Tomorrow?" She grimaced.
"Fine. Oh yes, that advertisement. Have the papers run
it. Yes, I am certain, thank you." She released her
breath as she straightened her arm and hung the phone
up.

"Who was that?" Ryouga asked.

"My lawyer," Kodachi said.

"You have a lawyer?" Ryouga asked.

"You think I could run the Kuno fortune, attend
school, train and," she paused and frowned upon
remembering her garden was destroyed. "Do other things
all on my own?"

"Good point," Ryouga said, embarrassed.

"What happened today," Kodachi asked worried.

"Didn't you hear?" Ryouga asked. Kodachi shook her
head and frowned deeper. When Ryouga was finished
summarizing the day's events she was almost livid.

"He did what?!" Kodachi demanded before turning back
to the phone.

*********

Ranma came to rest across the dojo, breaking contact
to get a good look at Akane. Neither of them were even
breathing hard. Akane wasn't pushing herself at all.
Ranma sighed dejectedly and relaxed from ready stance.
It was almost an imperceptible change, Ranma's ready
stance being more a matter of attitude than position.

"I can't figure out where you are you if you don't
come at me," Ranma said quietly. Akane's attitude
didn't really shift as she dropped out of the physical
stance. Ranma frowned.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ranma?" Akane asked moving
over to stand next to Ranma. "You've been acting funny
since those first two stopped by." She leaned
worriedly over Ranma and brushed at her cheek.

"I'm fine," Ranma said and then looked down. "Akane,
I'm gonna try this again." She shuffled nervously.

"Okay," Akane said, nervous about Ranma's attitude.
"Are you going to do something different this time."

"Yeeeah," Ranma said hesitantly. ~She needs to be
better.~

*********

Kasumi glided down the stairs and smiled at Kodachi
and Ryouga watching the television. Kodachi was acting
like it was the first time she had ever watched
television. Kasumi was wondering if that might not be
the case.

Kasumi's pleasant expression faded as she looked about
the genkan. It was by no means filthy, but she usually
kept it in much better condition. Actually, she
couldn't remember the last time she had straightened
up the genkan. 

She sighed in frustration. The point of keeping things
in constant order was so that it was never a big job.
She wondered if the number of little things she had
neglected already equaled that big job. She started to
look over the entryway to see where it needed dusting
or polishing, and noted the phone.

"What did you say this was called?" Kodachi asked.

"Gundam Wing," Ryouga said. "I think it�s a rerun." He
wasn't entirely certain of that, but he was fairly
certain that he had seen it somewhere before. If he
could find the TV when he wanted more often he could
have been sure.

"Are you aware that the ringer on the phone has been
turned off?" Kasumi asked as she looked into the
living room.

"Someone's been calling the house," Ryouga said.
Kodachi's rapt attention was on the screen. Ryouga was
somewhat confused at the attention she was giving the
screen. After all, there were no fights or anything
going on. It was just that circus guy moaning
listlessly about his Amnesia.

"You mean prank calls," Kasumi asked.

"Yeah, Akane turned the ringer off," Ryouga said.

"Is it a different caller each time?" Kasumi asked.

"I answered a couple of times," Ryouga said. "I think
it was the same person. They're tying up the phone
line though."

"Ah, thank you," Kasumi said. She walked back to the
phone and picked it up. "Hello, Tendo residence.
Takeo-chan, is that you?" She blinked as the phone
clicked to a dial tone, and then dialed. "Ichino-san,
hello. Yes, it has been difficult, but Ranma is doing
better. Is Takeo there? He is visiting friends? Oh,
then I suppose I'll have to talk to you about this."

*********

"Why'd you hang up?" one of the three kids asked.
"Don't worry about threats, how are they going to
figure out who's calling."

"That was Kasumi," Takeo said, pale. "She used to
babysit me."

"So," the third said nervously. "She couldn't have
known that was you." She continued in a small voice.
"Could she?"

"I can't believe I said that to Kasumi," Takeo said.

"Are you guys beginning to think this was a bad idea?"
the other guy asked. "I mean what if Ranma was really
raped."

"You don't believe that," the girl said. "Do you,
Kenichi? This is Ranma we're talking about."

"And Akane, Nabiki, Ukyou, Kasumi, Ryouga, Sayuri,
Yuka, Hiroshi, Daisuke, and maybe even Kodachi," Takeo
said. "Do you think all of them are lying, Seki?"

"She got my sister fire..." Seki was interrupted as
the phone rang in Takeo's hands. The three of them
stared at it as it rang again. The second ring was cut
off as someone downstairs picked it up. Takeo picked
up the phone carefully again and the three of them
listened at the receiver.

"It's my mom," Takeo whispered to the others. The
three of them winced at the next thing they heard on
the receiver. "Hey Mom." The other two backed away and
watched him cringing against the phone with a sort of
morbid fascination. At least until Kenichi's mother
slammed open the door.

"I need to talk to you," she said firmly. She turned
to Seki. "I think you should go home."

"Okay, Mom," Takeo said meekly and winced again before
hanging the phone up. "Yeah, she's coming to pick me
up." Kenichi's mother nodded. She took the phone from
him and started dialing, looking down at them.

"I really can't believe you children," she said
angrily. 

*********

The phone rang again.

"Hello?" Kasumi said into the receiver. "Yes, thank
you. No, that will be quite all right. Thank you
anyway, but for now it would be enough for them not to
make any more calls. Thank you."

She sighed in relief and hung up the phone. The sound
of someone walking towards the house out of the dojo
attracted her attention and she looked down the
hallway.

"Akane, are you hurt?" Kasumi asked as she saw Akane
leaning on Ranma. She immediately left the phone and
rushed to check on her sister.

"What?" Ryouga said anxiously. He turned immediately
to look towards the hallway and took in the situation.
Akane limping along, leaning heavily on the smaller
girl.

"Is it serious?" Kodachi asked, ripping her eyes and
ears away from the Gundam Wing credits.

Ryouga almost fell into old habits and started yelling
at Ranma for attacking Akane. He clearly caught a look
at their faces before he could though. Akane seemed
radiantly happy, while Ranma's expression looked like
it belonged on Akane.

"What happened?" Ryouga demanded. He and Kodachi
joined Kasumi to check on Akane's state.

"I just twisted my ankle," Akane said, waving off
their concern. Ranma helped her sit down on the couch
and then sat next to her. She stared down at the
ground and held her hands in her lap.

"You are certain you do not need anything?" Kodachi
asked. Akane nodded happily.

"Kodachi, I'm fine," Akane insisted. "I'll be better
in no time."

"You actually sparred Akane for real?" Ryouga asked in
shock. Ranma winced and shrunk in on herself.

"He actually took me seriously," Akane said. "It was a
real spar. I was so busy trying to defend I couldn't
get a shot in." Ranma silently nodded in agreement.
Akane scooted closer to Ranma and kissed her on the
cheek. "Thank you." Ranma smiled slightly and allowed
herself to be hugged before standing back up again.

"I need ta make dinner I guess," Ranma said.

"I can do that Ranma," Kasumi said. "Perhaps you can
see if Nabiki is feeling up to eating dinner?"

"Huh?" Ranma shrugged. "Okay."

"Don't try too hard to wake her up," Kasumi said.
Ranma nodded and walked upstairs. Kasumi almost
grimaced at what she was about to say. "Akane can you
help me in the kitchen?"

"Sure!" Akane said after a little surprised
hesitation. Ryouga turned pale, Kodachi merely
shrugged. She had heard of Akane's cooking, but surely
it was not so bad as the rumors made out.

*********

"I don't know what got him started, Kasumi," Akane
shrugged as she looked for the ingredients Kasumi was
asking for. "Is this the vinegar?"

"No," Kasumi said looking. "That is vegetable oil. The
vinegar is in a bottle with a green label."

"Oh, okay," Akane said looking back into the closet.
"Actually, I think something scared him. Like he's
worried he won't be ready if someone tries to do that
again." Kasumi glanced at her sister and arched an
eyebrow. "Is this it?"

"That is soy sauce," Kasumi said. "You need a bottle
about the size of the vegetable oil with a green
label." Akane nodded and started looking again. "About
the spar, Akane."

"Uh huh?" she responded.

"Did you make any attacks?" Kasumi asked.

"No," Akane said cheerfully. "I was too busy trying to
avoid the attacks coming in."

"Did you try to attack," Kasumi reiterated. Akane
paused and looked at her older sister.

"What do you mean?" Akane asked. "I already said I had
no openings, if I tried I would have been open too
long." She didn't think of that first, useless round.

"That's okay then," Kasumi said. "That's the vinegar."

"That bottle's not green," Akane protested. "It's
gray." Kasumi blinked at her and looked at the dull
green label. She picked up the vegetable oil that
Akane had set to the side.

"What color is this?" she asked, pointing at the pale
yellow label.

"White," Akane said a little offended at the question.
Kasumi set down the vinegar and clapped her hands
together, looking to the ceiling in what appeared to
be an expression of thankfulness. "Kasumi are you
okay?"

"Yes," Kasumi said, in the voice of someone who has
finally found two pieces that match in jigsaw puzzle.
"I think I needed a small victory."

"A victory over what?" Akane asked.

"You remember what I've told you about color-coding,"
Kasumi asked.

"Yeah," Akane said.

"Ignore it for now," Kasumi said. "Take the time to
read the labels." Akane blinked in surprise.

"Nabiki's not waking..." Ranma stopped and stared as
she saw Akane in the kitchen.

"Is something wrong Ranma?" Akane asked, worried about
the nervous look on her wife's face.

"No," Ranma whimpered. Akane looked at her doubtfully.

"You didn't answer the phone did you?" Akane asked.
Ranma shook her head and looked down.

"Ranma, do you still want to help?" Kasumi asked. She
could talk to Akane, and maybe Nabiki, about the
problem later.

"Yeah, sure," she said.

"Why don't you and Akane prepare the salad," she
suggested.

"That sounds like fun," Akane said.

*********

"You're slicing too hard," Ranma said, a few moments
into slicing the lettuce. "You're cutting into the
board underneath, see."

"Oh," Akane said, surprised mostly at Ranma correcting
her without insulting her. She realized she shouldn't
have been, Ranma hadn't been very insulting to anyone
but herself of late. "So how am I supposed to cut it?"

"Here," Ranma took hold the knife and slipped in front
of Akane. "Hold the knife."

"You want me to take the knife from you?" Akane asked.

"Nah," Ranma said. "Just hold it over my hand."

"Like this?" she asked, gripping over Ranma's hand
lightly. She had to get right behind Ranma to do it,
putting the redhead between her and the counter. The
slight shiver Akane felt from Ranma told her Ranma had
noticed the almost trapped position she was in as
well. "Are you sure you're okay, Ranma?"

"Yeah," Ranma said quietly. "Just let me get started
cutting here." She started slicing through the head of
lettuce, guiding both the knife and Akane's hand. "See
its like fightin'. Speed and power are nice, but not
if you're wild. Get accurate first."

"I think I see," Akane said, actually paying more
attention to Ranma. With the side effect of not
stressing about the preparation of the food for once.
She kissed the back of Ranma's head as she felt the
tension start to ease away.

Kasumi glanced over from the entr�e to watch them and
smiled. Successes indeed were a little more
invigorating than simple rest.

*********

"My home shall be ready for habitation tomorrow,"
Kodachi said suddenly.  "The damage and debris should
be cleaned up, and I have arranged for some minimal
furniture."

"Can you take care of yourself?" Kasumi asked
indicating Kodachi's arms.

"Well enough," Kodachi said. "I believe that I should
return, considering the circumstances."

"What 'circumstances' are you talking about?" Akane
asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Certainly it is in poor taste for me to ask you for
hospitality," Kodachi said. "With what happened."

"What, because of your loon of a father?" Ranma asked.

"You are welcome here, Kodachi," Kasumi said. "I don't
believe anyone here blames you for a desperate man's
action."

"I did promise the Kuno clan would serve Ranma and his
family," Kodachi said. "We have not done a very good
job as of yet." Akane kept silent on the matter.

"You have done quite well actually," Kasumi said.

"Yeah," Ryouga agreed quietly, remembering Kodachi's
second phone call. "Really."

"And again you are not responsible for your father's
actions," Kasumi continued, glancing at Ryouga.

"Yeah, he's a loon," Ranma said. She said the word
without the element of dismissal that used to
accompany it. Loons could be dangerous.

"Well, thank you Kasumi-san, Ranma," Kodachi said.
"But I must oversee the estate as well, and I would
like to start a new rose garden."

"We'll help you move back," Akane said. Ranma flinched
in Akane's lap. "If that's okay."

"Thank you Akane-san," Kodachi said, smiling. The
phone rang and everybody froze.

"I thought I turned the ringer off," Akane said.

"You did," Kasumi said, standing up. "I turned it back
on. After speaking to the parents of the prank
callers." She walked to phone. "Hello? Oh. One
moment."

"Who is it?" Ranma asked nervously.

"It�s a newspaper," Kasumi said. "Do you want to..."
Ranma shook her head firmly. "All right, I'll tell
them that."

"Great, now it's news," Ranma whispered. Akane rubbed
her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

"It'll be all right," Akane said. "I'll be right
here."

*********

Nabiki snapped awake gasping. First in response to the
nightmare that had woken her up, and then from the
pain of jarring her shoulder. The second brought her
back to reality.

"I'm still dressed for..." Nabiki grimaced as she
remembered why she was still in her school clothes. "I
can't believe I did that." She leaned on her good arm
for a moment and settled herself down.

Obviously she had been more tired than she had
originally thought. She lay back down on the bed and
tired to let sleep come back over her. Instead of
approaching sleep, she found herself staring at the
pillow on top of her head and shivering underneath a
thick blanket. She sat up again and let out a long
breath.

"I need to sleep," Nabiki reminded herself, holding a
pillow tightly in front of her. She glanced about her
darkened room cautiously. It felt quite large when she
couldn't see the walls, as if it could go one forever
and hide anything or anyone.

*********

Ryouga stretched awake and yawned. Then he went about
the morning ritual of figuring out where he was. The
answer was simple, the Tendo dojo, after all, Kasumi
had led him back there when dinner ended after all. A
quick glance around proved that.

Yep, weights, fold-up mats. There was a water bucket
over there. Better avoid that part of the room. Where
did those things always come from anyway? Blankets and
pillows piled in the corner. Bo-staves. Ryouga paused
and squinted in confusion.

"Blankets and pillows?" Ryouga repeated to himself. 

He glanced about a second time, eventually finding the
right corner of the room again. 

"That wasn't there last night. I don't think so
anyway." On a second glance it looked less like a
haphazard pile of bedding than...something else.

He stood up and walked to the corner, careful to keep
it in sight. Getting closer he could clearly see a
hand holding down one of the pillows. Ryouga grimaced
as he recognized that whoever it was had slept leaning
on that arm, by now it was going to be rather numb.

Ryouga cautiously reached over to try turn the girl
over on her back, and free up the blood flow to the
arm again. He was pretty certain of who it was,
especially with the outline of an arm in a sling under
the blankets. The thought was confirmed as soon as he
tried to move her.

"No!" Nabiki's muffled voice gasped, she sat up
quickly and looked nervously in Ryouga's direction. 

She was backing into the corner and staring at him
when she recognized Ryouga. The behavior turned a
knife in Ryouga's gut. To see Nabiki acting like that.

"Ryouga," she breathed in relief. Then she continued
in her regular dry tone. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Ryouga said instantly. "Just...you're
laying on your arm." Nabiki looked at her good arm and
frowned, noticing it was numb.

"Great," she muttered tiredly. "One good arm and the
floor puts it to sleep." She started flexing her hand
to get the blood moving.

"Do you need help?" Ryouga asked, still nervous about
finding Nabiki asleep in the same room as him. She
narrowed her eyes at the suggestion.

"It's just asleep," she said. Nabiki gathered up her
bedding and stood up stiffly. She almost glared at
Ryouga sitting in front of her. Ryouga returned the
look, confused for a moment.

"Oh," he said, then laughed nervously as he stood up
and quickly backed away from the corner. 

"Afraid of something?" she asked, sounding amused.
Nabiki walked past him, back into the house. He
watched her go in curiosity and concern. She seemed to
be acting normal. If you ignored the fact that she had
come to the dojo to sleep.

*********

Kodachi took a glance at the newspaper personals
before she walked out of the Tendo dojo.

"Kuno Kodachi, daughter of Kuno Chikako, formerly of
the Hibiki clan, seeks contact with her mother's
family." It was followed by her address and telephone
number. She set the paper down and nodded in
satisfaction. Then she walked out the door.

Kodachi frowned as she noted an extra car upon walking
out of the Tendo dojo. She frowned deeper as one of
the car doors opened and somebody approached her.

"Saotome Ranma?" the reporter asked.

"Kuno Kodachi," she corrected sharply. "I have to be
lea..."

"Any relation to the principal of Furinkan High?" the
man asked.

"The man is unfortunately my father," Kodachi
admitted. "And, no, I do not approve." She glanced to
the nearest rooftop and leaped upward. "Good day."
Then she continued along other rooftops, heading for
school.

*********

"School walk out," Nabiki read out loud, ignoring the
odd looks she was getting for being more or less awake
already. "Staff and students protest episodes of
sexual harassment."

"Harassment," Akane repeated angrily. "That's what
they call it?"

"If it weren't for the strike and the walkout," Nabiki
said bitterly. "They'd probably ignore it, but people
want to know what's happening."

"What's the article say?" Ranma asked quietly.

"The students and much of the staff of Furinkan High
in the Nerima Ward walked out following a brief
altercation between the Principal, three students and
a teacher," Nabiki read. "The teachers stated their
reasons that the Principal had been running an unsafe
school." 

"That's an understatement," Akane said. Ranma nodded
in agreement.

"Several teachers mention times when the principal has
directly endangered the lives of the students," Nabiki
continued. "Even one of the newest teachers, Ninomiya
Hinako indicated a level of dangerous level of
delinquency among the athletes, and implied the
existence of multiple victims of some sort of sexual
harassment." Nabiki frowned.

"Something wrong with that statement?" Kasumi asked as
she noted Nabiki's expression.

"They wouldn't have said multiple if Hinako wasn't
adamant on that," Nabiki said, a catch in her throat.
She glanced at Ranma looking honestly shocked. "We
might not be the only ones."

"But it says harassment," Ranma said hesitantly.

"Ranma," Nabiki said sharply. "The article says you
were expelled over an 'inappropriate relationship'
with a 'prominent member of the kendo team,' and that
you accused the athlete of making 'improper
advances.'"

"What?" Ranma snapped in disbelief.

"They put it on the front page of the local paper,"
Nabiki said. "But even then most of the story is page
five. We're an embarrassment!" Ranma looked at her for
a moment and shifted uncomfortably in Akane's lap.

"I'm gonna be in the dojo," Ranma said, clenching her
fists. She stood up and walked stiffly to the
corridor.

"I'll come with you," Akane said, following behind her
quickly. Ranma froze for a moment, but nodded and
continued on.

"You really think there might be others," Ryouga
asked. Nabiki shook her head.

"I don't know," she said, not sounding enraged any
longer. It was more like, guilt really. Ryouga was
confused at that. "I thought I knew everything about
Furinkan." Guilt and something else. Ryouga hesitantly
reached out to lay a hand on Nabiki's shoulder,
checking Kasumi's expression first. Nabiki flinched at
the unexpected touch and glanced at Ryouga.

"It'll be all right," he assured her. Nabiki stopped
herself from denying the need to be comforted.
Considering what happened yesterday, a denial would
just put her in a weaker position.

"Thanks, Ryouga," she said, sighing. Kasumi refilled
Nabiki's teacup drawing a somewhat exasperated glance
from the girl.

*********

"Are you Ranma Saotome?" a man asked before they'd
gotten half a block from the dojo.

"Are you a reporter?" Ranma asked. The man nodded and
Ranma growled and turned away from him.

"Why in the world are you even here?" Akane asked. "I
thought you people wanted to bury this story." She and
Ranma walked past him.

"They won't print anything else with what we have,"
the reporter insisted, following them. "The staff are
each giving extreme stories so we can't trust either
side, and the police won't release any information.
And yes, they do want to bury the story, but I think
this is important."

"Leave me alone," Ranma said without turning around.

"Ninomiya-san said there were five victims including
you," the reporter said. Ranma stopped and looked
down, Akane turned to look at him, shocked.

"Five?" She asked. "Hinako-sensei said that?" The man
nodded.

"You don't have to talk to him, Ranma," Akane said.
Ranma nodded and continued walking along, holding
Akane's hand.

"Do you want them to just sweep this under the rug?"
the reporter asked.

"Just turn around and leave," Ryouga said crushing a
fair sized rock in his hand and then turning quickly
so as not to lose sight of Ranma and Akane.

*********

"Where are they going?" Nabiki asked Kasumi,
indicating where Akane, Ranma, and Ryouga had left
saying they'd be right back.

"They've finished fixing Kodachi's house," Kasumi
explained. "They're going to help her move back in."
Nabiki stared at her for a moment.

"I'm staying home," Kasumi said reassuringly, noting
Nabiki's surprised expression. Nabiki shook her head.

"That's not it," Nabiki said. "Ranma's going with
you?"

"Yes," Kasumi said. "Is that a problem?"

"They're taking Ranma," she said, emphasizing the
name. "To the Kuno Estate."

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "I had not considered that."
Kasumi stood up and moved to the door. "They're
already gone."

"I guess if there's a problem they'll come back,"
Nabiki said.

*********

Ranma stopped outside the gates to the Kuno estate and
stared up in terror. She gripped Akane's hand tightly
and took a step backwards. The redhead bit her lip and
shook her head.

"Akane," Ranma said shakily.

"Is something wrong Ranma?" Akane asked, turning to
face her.

"I can't go in there," she said looking up at the Kuno
gates.

"Why n..." Akane started. "Oh. Oh. Ranma, I'm sorry, I
didn't think."

"What's wrong," Ryouga asked, confused.

"It's nothing," Ranma said. "I just can't go
into...that place. I'll wait outside."

"You're sure?" Akane asked. "You don't want me to walk
you home or anything?" Ranma frowned and crossed her
arms.

"I can protect myself," Ranma said, eyes focused
sharply on Akane and avoiding looking at the Kuno
estate. "And..." she glanced down at the ground in
shame. "I can scr...yell if I need help."

"You're certain?" Akane asked. Ranma nodded, walked to
the Kuno wall and sat down facing away from it.

"You should get in there," Ranma said. "Kodachi's
gonna need help movin' stuff around."

"If you're okay," Akane said. Ranma nodded again. "All
right, call us if you need anything."

"Right," Ranma said, looking up and down the street.
She still didn't look at the building she was sitting
against. Akane hesitantly turned away from her and led
Ryouga into the building.

"Why's Ranma staying outside," Ryouga asked as they
entered the estate, whispering.

"This is where it happened," Akane answered under her
breath. "You know. It." Ryouga stopped and looked
around the courtyard with a new perception.

"I didn't think of that," Ryouga said.

"Neither did I," Akane added, berating herself. Ryouga
glanced at her and would have said something if
Kodachi hadn't stepped out of the building.

"Akane-san, Ryouga," Kodachi said, she looked around.
"Ranma is not here?"

"He's outside," Akane said. "He felt uncomfortable
about coming inside."

"Yes," Kodachi answered. "I suppose she would." She
sighed and looked down, then shook her head. "Well,
this should not take too long. I only have the bare
minimum of furniture required, most of the rooms shall
be empty for now. Ryouga, if you could stay near me or
Akane, I do not think Nabiki-san would appreciate it
if I lost you." Akane and Kodachi smirked as Ryouga
blushed.

*********

"Five," Ranma said quietly. "Why am I the only one
everybody found out about?"

Ranma pulled her legs up and hugged herself. She
didn't like where things were heading. She hadn't
liked the attention she was getting before all this
happened. Now it was like a constant bombardment of
looks and questions. It was like fate wanted to make
her some sort of spokesperson...or sideshow freak.

"Come look and see," Ranma muttered. "A lifetime of
martial arts training, this girl once killed a god,
and she still couldn't protect herself." What was she
worth anyway.

Most of her life had been spent only under the eye of
her father, and only her father. The father that had
left in the night when his son was emasculated. 

Ranma sighed and looked briefly at the estate walls.
Akane hadn't abandoned her. Actually a lot of people
had stayed by her. But they couldn't know her as well
as her father did, could they? Obviously, if her
father had known her the longest time, that meant he
knew her the best. That was right wasn't it? And he
had abandoned her.

"Akane sees something in me," Ranma said. "I guess."

She glanced up at the people walking along the street
and frowned as they glanced at her. Some of them
probably recognized her, but she couldn't tell which.
A lot of them were staring at her, for the fact that
she was a loitering teenager if nothing else.

"Hey, look," somebody said. Ranma glanced at the group
of boys, a group of jerks from her school. She had
hoped they would just pass by without noticing her.
"It's Ranma, we missed you yesterday."

"Go away," Ranma growled angrily, looking over her
legs.

"What?" one of them said. "We just wanted to thank you
for getting us out of school." They moved closer,
seemingly unaware of what Ranma could do to them if
she decided.

"Leave me alone" Ranma snapped irritably. ~I...don't
want to hurt them that's all.~

"Yeah, no way any of us could have thought up this
whole scheme," one them said. "Much less pull it off."

"Back off," Ranma warned again. She pulled in as tight
as she could, feeling closed in. She'd seen this
before, broken up scenes like it in passing. She'd
never been subjected to it before. It said a lot about
how she was projecting herself that they were doing it
now, even knowing who she was. ~Please just go away.~

"You even got Akane out of it," one of them said.

"Does that make you a lesbian?" asked another. 

"Fuck you," Ranma snapped angrily, trying to keep from
crying. The Kuno Estate behind her, and the memories
weighing down on her threatening to keep her
paralyzed.

"Does that mean you're bi?" one of them laughed.

"Maybe Kuno just didn't do it for you?"

~Are you going to sit here a let them turn you into a
victim again?~ Ranma demanded of herself. "No." She
whispered

"No?" The speaker placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder,
not noticing as the shaking in Ranma's frame vanished,
much less the slight chill in the air.

"Get. Your. Fuckin'. Hand. Offa. Me." Ranma growled.
She reached up and grabbed the hand, twisting it.
"NOW!!" 

She continued twisting, driving him to the ground and
giving his arm one good twisting yank that was
accompanied by several cracks. She turned a glare on
the other guys as she let go of the screaming boy.
They grabbed their friend and ran, something
clattering to the ground behind them. 

"You damn jerks!" Ranma shouted after them. "You
better hope I never see you trying that with anybody
ever again!" He glared down at the mask that they had
dropped in their flight, a stylish ceramic gorilla
mask. She growled and clenched her fists staring after
them fiercely.

"Hey," someone male said behind her. Ranma whirled
around, lashing out with a fist.

*********

"What happened to you?" Nabiki asked as Ryouga came
in, sporting a small bruise and being virtually
dragged by Kodachi. Nabiki took a moment to consider
how much it took to actually hurt Ryouga.

"Ranma's stronger than she used to be," Ryouga said,
grumbling.

"I said sorry," Ranma said, embarrassed.

"He's not mad at you, Ranma," Akane said, one arm
comfortingly around Ranma's shoulders. "Are you?"
Akane said glaring at Ryouga.

"Uhh...Of course not," Ryouga said.

"You hit Ryouga," Nabiki surmised.

"The fool came up behind her without announcing
himself beforehand," Kodachi explained rolling her
eyes.

"I was just seeing if she was all right," Ryouga said,
sitting down. Ranma tensed at Ryouga's comment.

"Oh! Did something happen," Kasumi asked coming into
the room. "Nabiki was concerned about you going to the
Kuno estate." Nabiki winced.

"Nah, it wasn't that," Ranma said. She hesitated.
"Well, sort of...I was waiting outside."

"Some boys," Akane said, almost spitting, "were
harassing Ranma."

"Oh dear," Kasumi said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma nodded. "I took care of it."

"If you think Ryouga looks bad," Akane said smirking.
"You should have seen one of the guys that Ranma ran
off." Ranma smiled briefly, then frowned.

"Idiot shoulda known better than to grab me," Ranma
said. "What did they think I was going to do? Just let
'em paw me?" She shivered.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nabiki asked.

"I'm goin' ta take a bath," Ranma said, walking in
that direction, still holding Akane's hand. She turned
to Nabiki and Kasumi. "I'm okay. I just need to
relax." They nodded

"I think I need a bath too," Akane said.

"Yes, you do," Nabiki agreed, Akane gave her an
annoyed look. Nabiki then pointed at Ryouga, "and
he'll be right behind you two."

"Great, now I stink," Ryouga muttered.

*********

"They knew who I was, and what I can do." Ranma said
quietly, leaning back against Akane in the hot water.
"And they still treated me like that."

"Ranma," Akane said. "You haven't been acting
dangerous lately. People forget things if they're not
reminded."

"I almost freaked out again," Ranma said. "I had time
to prepare for...Him."

"You were fine Ranma," Akane assured her.

"I woulda been," she took a breath and continued in a
rush. "I might as well have eaten another bowl of
Shampoo's ramen if that had happened."

"It didn't happen," Akane reminded her. "You'd run
them off before any of us got there."

"But I almost..." Ranma said.

"You were fine," Akane insisted. "The way that jerk's
arm was hanging I say you'd broken it in three
places."

"I crushed his hand and dislocated the shoulder too,"
Ranma said succinctly. "But what about next time."

"If you keep worrying about it," Akane whispered. She
shook her head. "I mean, Ranma, you laid out Ryouga in
a single punch."

"Uh, heh, I was lucky." Ranma lost some anxiety as
embarrassed amusement replaced it. Then she shook out
her hand with a little bit of a grimace. "And it hurt.
But don't tell him that."

"Is that a little ego I hear?" Akane asked in
amusement. She kissed Ranma on the cheek as the
redhead smiled.

*********

"Umm, Nabiki," Ryouga started, glancing toward the
kitchen where Kasumi was, and towards Kodachi watching
television until she felt it was time to go back to an
empty house.

"What is it, Charlotte?" Nabiki asked dryly, setting
her manga down so she could change the page. Ryouga
flinched, but didn't let the name distract him.

"What were you doing in the dojo?" he asked.

"Sleeping," Nabiki answered, picking up her manga and
starting to read it.

"Yeah but why?" Ryouga asked.

"Why does anybody sleep?" Nabiki asked, shrugging. "I
was tired."

"No why were you sleeping in the..."

"Feeling better, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, glancing up
from her manga for a moment. Ryouga turned around and
saw Ranma and Akane walking into the room. He gave
Nabiki a frustrated look, but didn't ask anything
else.

*********

"We're going out," Akane said. Nabiki noted that Ranma
was not with her and glanced about. She found the
redhead coming down the stairs and zipping up a light
jacket. She arched an eyebrow and turned back to face
Akane.

"Okay," Nabiki said, then turned back to the morning
shows she usually had to miss for school.

"Do you want to come?" Akane asked.

"Where are you going?" Nabiki asked.

"Ucchan's, maybe a movie," Akane answered. "Might as
well get some rest before we tackle that jerk."

"Be good to know what Ukyou is thinking about, too,"
Nabiki nodded.

"So are you coming?" Akane asked. "Kasumi wants to
catch up on some of the cleaning, so she's staying."

"I think I'll stay," Nabiki said after a moment. "Talk
to...Hinako. Just stay in all day."

"Okay," Akane said, shrugging. "Just me and Ranma
then." She moved to join her spouse waiting nervously
at the door.

"See you later," Ranma said, before they walked out.
Nabiki considered Ranma's behavior. On the one hand
she was comfortable enough that she wasn't virtually
hanging off Akane or anybody else. One the other, she
was obviously agitated.

"He's getting ready for something," Nabiki said.
Whatever it was, Ranma didn't seem to want to deal
with it. Which reminded her of something else. 

A while later she stood up and looked back to the
dojo, and then the television. Kasumi came into the
room, carrying some light cleaning supplies.

"Excuse me, Nabiki," Kasumi said, cheerfully. "But I'm
going to go over this room now."

"That's fine," Nabiki said. "Sorry if I'm in your
way."

"Don't worry about it, Nabiki," Kasumi said, smiling.
"It's pleasant to have someone else around the house
during the day." She went to work as Nabiki left the
room and glanced at the phone. She really did need to
talk to Hinako. Before the teacher did something
reckless. She almost went to the phone but sighed and
walked down the corridor to the dojo instead.

"Listen, Ryouga," Nabiki said, walking into the dojo.
She stopped and noted the camping materials neatly
stacked against the wall where Ryouga had left the day
before. "You idiot."

*********

"Business looks good," Akane said.

"I'm open about twice as much," Ukyou said,
exaggerating. "So word is spreading a little more."

"That's good," Ranma said. "No problems from..." He
glanced at the rug that had been put over the blood
stain that she and Konatsu were slowly working out.

"It's actually working for me," Ukyou said, not
sounding particularly pleased.

"What?" Akane asked. "People are coming here because
of that?"

"Weird," Ranma agreed.

"They're like vultures," Ukyou said angrily. "Just
sitting around and waiting for an opportunity. I've
got people coming in and asking about..." Her face
shot up to look at Ranma and she stopped. "Anyway,
it's really starting to bug me."

"Yeah," Ranma said quietly glancing around. Some of
the customers were looking at them.

"There was a reporter hanging around outside our place
a couple days ago," Akane said. "He might still be
around."

"If Mousse hadn't done all that," Ranma whispered.

"Damn, amazons," Ukyou agreed. "The only good thing
about this is the whole Kuno mess."

"At least it wasn't one of us that did it," Akane
said. Serving a table behind them, Konatsu tightened
up.

"I guess it's good to have clean hands," Ukyou said,
watching Akane.

"Are you okay Ukyou?" Akane asked confused. "You sound
upset. Oh! I forgot it is you! I'm sorry Ukyou, I
didn't mean to remind you about..." She glanced at the
rug. Ukyou looked at Akane's honestly concerned face
and relaxed.

"That's okay, sugar," Ukyou said. "I'm just a little
wound up." Ranma sighed, unnoticed by the other two
women, and slumped.

"Ucchan," Ranma said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"What for, Ranma?" Ukyou asked, watching him with her
own cautious look as she handed a plate to Konatsu.
"You didn't do anything."

"Yeah, I know," Ranma said.

*********

Nabiki took a breath as the door closed behind Kasumi,
Ranma and Akane. Ryouga still hadn't managed to return
to pick up his stuff. Nabiki had moved his things into
her room on the second day, to get it out of the dojo.
It was in the way of Ranma and Akane's training after
all.

She stared at the phone and tapped her fingers
impatiently. She really needed to talk to Hinako.
There was, of course, the school situation. She'd
already missed more than half a week, she really
didn't want to miss much more.

Misery loves company, and Nabiki wanted to know who
else Hinako had seen. The problem was that talking to
Hinako would pretty much close the book on her ability
to keep from going public.

"You've already told Ranma," Nabiki reminded herself,
trying to forget that Ranma had said she wasn't
expecting Nabiki to step forward. It was certainly a
case of easier said than done. ~This is what you
insisted to stay home for.~

Nabiki grabbed the phone receiver, took a deep breath
and picked up the phone. She dialed quickly.

"Hinako," Nabiki said after hearing the voice on the
other end. "It's Nabiki, I just want to know what you
and the other teachers are doing?"

*********

"I hate this stuff," Ranma said, pulling up her pants.
She sat down on the stool and pulled her legs up to
rest on a support between to legs. She leaned forward
and hugged around her knees.

"It�s the only way we have," the doctor said
apologetically. "When I was a girl it was all men
doctors." Ranma stared at her and shivered.

"I couldn't do that," Ranma said.

"You don't have to," Inohara assured her. She took a
breath and tossed the gloves in the trash. "You could
have canceled the appointment. I expected you to,
actually. You seem to be getting enough poking and
prodding as it is."

"I just need ta know," Ranma said. "I mean, they told
me that I could still...after I...when...you know."

"I understand, Ranma," Inohara said soothingly. "And
you don't have to worry. The hospital didn't lie, you
can still have children." Ranma gave deep sigh of
relief.

"I never thought I'd want ta hear that," Ranma said
quietly.

"Never wanted children before?" the doctor asked. The
small talk was calming Ranma down a bit.

"Not like this," the redhead answered.

"No, I don't expect so," Inohara agreed, only
half-right as to what she thought Ranma was talking
about. She changed the subject. "I think it's time I
met your's and Nabiki's family."

"Yeah," Ranma said slipping off the stool and walking
to the door. In the waiting room, Akane-kun and
Kasumi.

"Hello," the doctor said, extending a hand to Kasumi.
"I don't believe I've met you yet. I'm Doctor Inohara
Nui, you must be Kasumi. Nabiki is tightlipped about
her life, but she's mentioned you, and so has Ranma."

"Yes, Nabiki can be fairly reticent," Kasumi agreed.
"You must be a good doctor for Nabiki to suggest you."

"I would hope so," Inohara said. "May I speak to you
for a moment?" Kasumi exchanged a brief look with
Ranma and Akane.

"Certainly," Kasumi said, and followed the doctor off
to the side.

"I just want to ask about how Ranma is doing at home,"
the doctor said. "I did not get a chance to know her
before."

"Well, Ranma is hard to describe," Kasumi said.

"I can tell, can you tell me if she's improving at
all?" Inohara asked.

"Certainly," Kasumi said, before beginning to talk to
the doctor in earnest. "Is there anything else?" She
asked as the doctor seemed to be satisfied with the
provided comments.

"Yes," Inohara said. "I'm having trouble finding
Ranma's medical records, who was her last doctor."

"Dr. Ono Tofu," Kasumi said. "Our family doctor, but
he has been on sabbatical for the last few months. I
do not know before that."

"Do you know where she lived?" Inohara asked.

"On the road," Kasumi answered. "Ranma she has spent
most of her life with her father to study the Art."

"So, she probably doesn't have a paper trail," Inohara
said, Kasumi had mentioned Ranma's martial arts skills
already. She had been surprised, and concerned, about
that. The little she had seen of the girl hardly
seemed like a highly skilled martial artist. "Well, I
can try to track down your family doctor, but that's
it a suppose. Thank you for taking the time to speak
to me."

"That is perfectly all right," Kasumi said. "I have no
problem with trying to help Ranma with...the
situation."

"Any word of her parents?" Inohara asked.

"Not as of yet," Kasumi said. "If they followed
Ranma's father there is a chance they do not have
access to a telephone or such methods of
communication. Ranma's mother limited her trip to two
months however, and she only left two weeks ago."

"And the school situation?" Inohara asked. "I only
know what they said in the article."

"She's dealing with it," Kasumi said. "She is more
angry than depressed about the situation."

"Sorry to keep you here," Inohara said. "But I need to
talk about somebody else now."

"Nabiki?" Kasumi guessed, the doctor nodded. "She is
somewhat more difficult to pin down."

"I know," Inohara said. "What can you tell me about
her behavior?"

"Well..." Kasumi started, taking a deep breath.

*********

"Tadaima."

Nabiki heard the three voices and relaxed.

"Okaeri Nasai," she called back. They walked into the
living room. "The prognosis the same as what the
hospital said?"

"Yes," Ranma said, in obvious relief. "Did you talk to
Hinako?"

"I did," Nabiki answered. The other three looked at
her in surprise. Nabiki had been saying that she would
call the teacher for the last couple of days now, but
hadn't yet. "The hearing is set next Monday. She was
getting ready to call us soon anyway."

"Why?" Akane asked.

"She wants us to testify," Nabiki said dryly. She
sighed and continued in a quiet voice. "This is going
to be a circus."

"I don't think Hinako would try to make a big deal
about this," Akane said. "She acted fairly discreet so
far."

"She's known all this time," Ranma said quietly.

"Hinako's just taking action," Nabiki said. "Somebody
had to. Principal Kuno made it a circus when he
expelled us."

"Are you okay, Nabiki?" Ranma asked.

"Are you?" she asked in return.

"I don't know," Ranma said. "I don't think I'm going
to have much choice."

"You don't have to testify," Akane reminded her.
"Either of you."

"I have to," Ranma said. "Everybody already knows
anyway."

"We both have to," Nabiki said. ~But can I?~

*********

"What's she doing here?" Akane asked irritably as they
sat down. Everybody else turned to see the girl from
the theater sitting in a chair and glaring at them.

"I don't know," Nabiki said, wringing her hands.
"They're more interesting." She dismissed the girl and
turned her attention to a group of five boys, one of
which had a cast wrapped around his arm. 

"That's those jerks that wear the masks," Ranma said
angrily.

"Aren't they the guys that were bugging you, Ranma?"
Akane asked.

"Yeah," Ranma said, tearing an angry glare away from
them towards the Principal as he strutted down the
aisle, wearing a conservative suit and a hat. Probably
trying to cover the pineapple tree. He smiled in the
direction of the Tendos and Saotomes and continued on
to take his seat.

Kodachi came separately a few minutes later. Her
father directed a betrayed expression in her
direction, but she did pay attention to him.

"I am sorry to be late," Kodachi said.

"You aren't yet," Akane said. "They haven't started."

"Oh good," Kodachi said. "Then I have not missed a
chance to provide aid."

*********

"I am Saotome Ranma," Ranma said. It helped that most
of people here had already heard her story. They were
already dissecting her appearance and attitude. She
really couldn't get more sideshow if she tried. And
she was using the soul of ice again. For this, she
would need it.

"Your student records say that Saotome Ranma is male,"
one of the board members said.

"I was born male," Ranma said quietly. They were
probably the only people in the room that weren't all
Nerimans who knew about Ranma. Certainly this was a
topic Ranma was more used to.

"So how is it that you are now a girl?" the board
members asked.

"I have a shape-changing curse," Ranma explained.
"It...it went crazy after...what happened. I can't
change back yet."

"A curse?" someone said doubtfully. "You expect us to
believe that?"

"We brought some pictures..." Ranma started. One of
the board members shrugged.

"This could be your brother for all we know," one of
them said.

"Excuse me," Akane called out standing up and walking
to stand next Ranma.

"Akane, what are you doing?" Ranma asked.

"You can't expect us to keep secrets while you do
this," Akane said.

"Tendo-san?" a board member called out. "You have not
yet been called."

"My name is Saotome," Akane said to a collection of
startled gasps. "I took it when I married Ranma."
There were disturbed looks from the board.

"What you say is impossible, miss," one of them said.
"It is against the law for two women to marry in this
country."

"I am just going to be up here long enough to set the
curse matter to rest," she said, holding a small
canteen.

"Your significant other," the speaker used an
unfriendly amount humor, "has already said that she
can't change back, what do you plan to do?" He was
already jotting down mental instability on his pad. 

Akane simply poured the water over herself, growing
several inches and her figure definitely attaining a
male figure. He shook the water out of his hair and
extended arms with an expression of challenge on her
face.

"Satisfied?" Akane asked. "Does this prove the curse?
Or do you want me to drop my pants in both forms?" She
asked the last angrily.

"No," someone said sweatdropping. "Just, how did
this...affliction happen?"

"I got mine in China," Ranma explained quietly. "My
father has a curse that turns him into a panda,
someone else we know turns into a piglet."

"And what about your...spouse?" someone asked. "Is
this affliction...contagious?" Suddenly there was a
nervous murmur in the room.

"No, I gave myself the curse," Akane said. "For my own
reasons."

"I see," one of the board said. "This does make the
Principal's accusations seem less likely, you may sit
down Tendo...I mean Saotome-san."

"Fine," Akane said, sitting down in an empty chair
right behind Ranma.

"Saotome-san." The board turned their attention back
to Ranma, who reminded herself that Akane and other
friends were right behind her. "Your Principal claims
that you seduced his son and then helped to kill him.
You say you were raped?"

Ranma shuffled a little and looked down at the table
in front of her. She glanced back at Akane, who
reached forward to grip the hand Ranma sent back.

"Saotome-san?"

"Yes," Ranma said quietly. "He...He...raped me."

"And you blame Principal Kuno for that?"

"No," Ranma said, gripping Akane's hand tightly. "He
didn't have anything to do with that. That was
his...son and this girl that drugged me."

"Why didn't you report this to the police at the
time?"

"They were both skilled martial artists," Ranma said.
"Sending the police would have been a slaughter."

"So you handled it yourself then?" The voice sounded
disapproving.

"Yes," Ranma said. "I didn't want to see anybody die.
And...And I didn't want anybody else to learn about
what he did."

"You didn't lead him on, perhaps?"

"I was drugged," Ranma said. "I didn't have very much
control, but I Did say No!" Ranma's voice cracked and
she had to take a moment to rebuild her soul of ice.
"I didn't want to."

"Okay!" One of them interrupted, snapping Ranma back
into shape by the rudeness of it. "Assume the rape did
happen." His attitude drew an angry glare from Ranma
and Akane. "What does this have to do with the
Principal and his administrative method?"

"When he expelled us," Ranma said, almost growling.
She turned to glare at the principal. "He told me not
ta blame other people for my spilt milk. He also said
that his son could have any girl he wanted."

"And this represents an unsafe administrator?" The
same person asked.

"It does sound like a desperate father defending his
son," another board member added reluctantly.

"He throws around exploding pineapples," Ranma said.
"He sent live lobsters to attack students, nearly
drowned us in an artificial flood, he once put a live
shark in the swimming pool with Akane! And Akane can't
swim!"

"Okay, Saotome-san," one of them said after a long
silence. "You may return to your seat." Ranma nodded
and stepped away from the table, staring at the
ground. Akane stood up to meet her as she turned away
and hugged her.

"Are you going to be okay?" Akane asked.

"I need to go the bathroom," Ranma said, quietly.

"Ranma," Akane said firmly. "Are you okay?" Ranma
nodded as they walked along towards the doors to the
chamber.

"Excuse me, Ten, Saotome Akane," somebody said. "I
believe it is your turn."

"Hey..." Akane protested. Ranma laid a hand on his
shoulder.

"I'll be fine," Ranma said. "And...I'm just going to
the bathroom."

"Saotome-san." They sounded impatient.

"Just get it over with," Ranma said. "And I'll be
right back."

"I guess so," Akane said. He kissed Ranma on the
forehead and hugged her tightly. "You're sure you're
fine?"

"Yeah," Ranma said. 

*********

The faucet was running, cold not hot. Ranma didn't
want a reminder at the moment as she splashed her face
with the running water. She let out a long breath and
let go of the soul of ice as slowly as she could. Her
shoulders started shaking as she quietly sobbed
gripping the side of the sink, growling low between
sobs.

She immediately tensed up and quieted as the door
opened behind her. She didn't really want to look up
in the mirror to see who it was.

"You!" the newcomer shouted angrily. Now Ranma really
knew she didn't want to look up, but she already knew
who it was. "You lying little piece of perverted
fluff."

"Go away," Ranma said, still looking down into the
sink.

"There aren't any other bathrooms," the girl snapped.
Ranma could hear her edging toward one of stalls.
"Otherwise I would have just turned around and left.
Do you think I want to be in the same room as a freak
rug munching publicity hound like you."

"Leave me alone," Ranma growled, moving her eyes up to
look at Jin's reflection in the mirror.

"If all you want to do here is practice your acting
for all the idiots out in the stands," Jin said,
crossing her arms. "Then get out and let me do my
business." Ranma whirled around and was suddenly in
the other girl's face.

"What is your problem!" Ranma demanded. Jin flinched
back against the wall. "What did I do to you? You
think I like people poking at me? I hate this! I HATE
IT! Do I prefer women? Fuck yes! I'm supposed to like
girls! I'm supposed to be the father! I'm not supposed
to...know what it's like...ta BE one!"

She punched the stall door to the side of Jin's head
and pushed away.

"Well now I am one," Ranma said. She continued under
her breath, quietly coming down from the rage. "Maybe
in more ways than one."

Ranma sniffed at the air and snorted irritably. She
walked to the sink and took a deep breath and splashed
her face to wash away the tear tracks.

"Sorry," Ranma said reluctantly. "But at least you
don't need to use the toilet anymore." Jin stayed
plastered against the wall, staring at Ranma
wide-eyed. Ranma shook her head in disgust at the
girl. One minute a rabid dog, but as soon as any
resistance is shown she's a wallflower.

"You forgot who I was, eh?" She asked quietly. "Those
jerks forgot too, you saw the cast?" Jin nodded
nervously, Ranma continued on without turning to see
it. "He grabbed me." She turned fiercely towards Jin.
"Nobody is going to touch me like that except Akane,
got it?"

"Yeah," Jin said, nervously.

"Get yourself cleaned up and stay out of my face,"
Ranma snapped, irritable again. She seemed actually
shrink as she stalked to restroom exit. "Why the hell
are you even here?" 

Ranma walked out the door shaking. As soon as the door
closed, Jin slumped to the floor releasing a long
breath. She swallowed and starred at the sink,
noticing the finger marks where Ranma had been
gripping the ceramic.


=====
"Caffeinated Kender?  What's that, a berserk spell?" - 
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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