----- Original Message -----
From: "Defender of the Light"
To: "Zorknot"
Cc:
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 9:48 PM
Subject: [FFML] Re: [fanfic][Ranma]Thyself Known Ch.6: Fetching
--- Zorknot wrote:
I haven't had anyone look at this yet. Please let me know of any
problems.
Hope you enjoy,
the fic should follow
Other than your habitual failure to make use of quotation marks,
either single or double, it looks okay. But then, maybe in the face
of that, I simply didn't notice other problems.
Thanks for letting me know! The quotes appear just fine to me and I had no idea anything was wrong. It would have been awful if I had sent chapter after chapter without ever realising the quotes were missing. Oh wait...that's what happened. Oh well^_^;
At any rate this just further convinces me that Microsoft is evil. Smartquotes...not too smart if you ask me.
I would like to point out that all the chapters to TK are also available on my geocities website including the latest, and really that's how I would prefer chapters be read anyway. I'm fairly certain the quotes will appear on all computers there and it has all the italics still in it too. It's fairly easy for me to edit chapters on that site so everything new goes there first.
I'm going to attach an updated version of the fic that will hopefully have all the quotes. Sorry for the headaches.
-W.B.R.
ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING!...
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: tk6d.txt
-- Desc: tk6d.txt
Thyself Known
Ch. 6: Fetching
By Zorknot
You can find previous chapters in the following locations:
http://www.geocities.com/zorukonotsu/TK.html
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=377434
Disclaimer:
There once was a boy from Jusenkyo
Owned by Takahashi Rumiko.
He changed sex with cold water
Changed back with hotter
Y no se si es chica o chico.
What Has Come Before: Nabiki and Ranma have
fallen for each other after a mind meld saved
Nabiki�s life. In other news, Shampoo renounced
her Amazon-hood and enlisted Ukyo�s aid in
carrying out revenge on Cologne for making her an
unwilling sex kitten. Meanwhile Akane is coming to
terms with the idea that she may have acted a
teensy bit like a psychotic uber-bitch earlier, and is
wondering if maybe Ranma might not want to be
her fianc� anymore. She wishes things were
different, but she can�t think of any way to fix the
situation. Well, Miss Tendo, say goodbye to the
status quo...
~~~~~[BEGIN]~~~~~
"The saris go by me from the embassies.
Cloth from the moon. Cloth from another planet.
They look back at the leopard like the leopard.
And I...
This print of mine, that has kept its color
Alive through so many cleanings; this dull null...
You know what I was,
You see what I am: change me, change me!"
-Randall Jarell Fr. "The Woman at the
Washington Zoo"
~~~~~*~~~~~
Tendo Akane walked slowly away from Furinkan
High. It was a wonderful day. The sky was deep
blue with wispy clouds that almost weren�t there,
birds soared majestically over head, and the sun
sparkled prettily off of the broken glass underneath
the gaping hole in Hinako-sensei�s English class.
Akane couldn�t enjoy the view though. As usual,
she was thinking about Ranma.
Was this what love was? Constantly thinking about
someone all day, every day? Having all emotion
dedicated to the actions of one solitary human
being? Wanting to beat that person to a pulp one
second, and then wanting to be one with him
forever the next?
A light zephyr of fresh air blew through her blue
school uniform and rustled the sunny tree limbs
above her. A curled up, brown fist of a leaf that had
escaped half a year�s worth of raking, Neriman
weather, and general decay, skittered toward Akane
on the street, blown by the wind. Akane�s eyes
riveted themselves to it as she passed, even as
they misted over.
There was a time when Akane was on top of
everything, when she knew exactly who she was
and what she was doing. Sure, she had problems,
but she could handle them, and maybe eventually
solve them... Then there was Ranma, and then
there was his mother, and now... Ranma would be
at Tofu�s clinic. He had after all saved Nabiki�s life.
Akane would have to apologize...only she wasn�t
sure she could.
Akane�s hands tightened around the brown handle
of her bookbag. She took in a dry, empty breath,
and continued walking, no longer exactly sure of
where she was going.
And so it was that Akane was nearly run over by
Ryoga as he ran down the street at a break neck
speed. He skidded to a halt in front of Akane. A
nervous smile was already on his face and his hand
already behind his bandanna clad head when the
dust cleared. "Akane-san! W...what are you doing in
Okinawa?"
The way Ryoga acted was so close to Tofu�s
reaction to Kasumi it made Akane smile in spite of
herself. "This is Tokyo, Ryoga," she informed the
lost boy while wiping the moisture from her eyes.
"It is? I could have sworn...I mean...I knew that! I
was just...making a joke! Heh heh." Ryoga looked
off at nothing as he said this, his face growing
redder by the second. Now he turned his head back
toward Akane and lowered his hand. He frowned.
"You were crying...What did that bastard Ranma do
to you now? I�ll kill him! I�ll pound him so far into the
dirt his feet will be kicking in Times Square! Or
rather... they won�t be... because he�ll be dead!"
It was so obvious that Ryoga had a crush on
Akane. Sometimes she wished she could love
Ryoga back. It was like the fates were getting her
back for her crush with Tofu. All she could do was
do what he had done, and try to be as nice as
possible without acknowledging the crush. "Thanks,
Ryoga, but it�s not really his fault this time. It�s mine.
I just feel so...it�s nothing." Akane sighed and tried
to smile.
"It can�t be your fault! Did he say it was your fault?
He�s wrong! He�s telling you lies, Akane-san! Don�t
listen to him!" Ryoga shook his fist in anger.
Akane was afraid of Ryoga. That was the main
reason she couldn�t like him like he wanted her to.
Razor sharp belts whizzing through her hair, barely
missing her neck, attempts at hugs that crushed
concrete pillars, and his various maniacal
obsessions just made Akane a little uneasy around
him. But the main reason she was afraid of Ryoga
was that, looking into his angry yellow-brown eyes,
every now and then Akane got the queasy
sensation that she was looking at a distorted
reflection of herself.
"Why do you fight with Ranma so much?" Akane
asked suddenly.
Ryoga was taken aback for a moment but soon
recovered. "Because of him, I�ve seen Hell! He
keeps running away and tricking me instead of
fighting like a man! Plus, he mistreats you all the
time! I will destroy his happiness if it�s the last thing
I do!"
"What do you mean you�ve seen Hell? You say
that all the time, and it seems like something
important, but you never say what it is..."
Ryoga�s face was now somber and his eyes lost a
little of their fire. "You wouldn�t understand, Akane-
san. There�s no way you could know the tortures
he put me through."
"What tortures? It can�t just be the bread, can it?"
"IT�S NOT ABOUT THE BREAD! Don�t LISTEN to
him Akane! You�ve never been to an all boy�s
school. You can�t know what it�s like. Maybe if you
were a martial artist..."
"I AM A MARTIAL ARTIST!" Akane fumed.
"Um...right! Of course you are! I meant... if you
were a martial artist GUY. Yeah. If you were a
martial artist AND a guy you would understand...er
gotta go, bye!" Ryoga smiled nervously and ran off
in the direction he came, yelling "Just you wait,
Ranma! Today you meet your doom!"
Akane felt sick. She could stop Ryoga, keep him
from fighting Ranma, but then again she couldn�t.
Some part of her wanted Ryoga to beat Ranma to
a pulp. Some part of her wished she could do it
herself. But she would get just as much pleasure
from nursing Ranma back to health, mending his
wounds, feeding him...only she couldn�t do any of
that. She couldn�t cook, and bandages in general
were recondite to her.
What was wrong with her? Why couldn�t she do
anything? Why was she so clumsy? It shouldn�t be
so hard to learn how to swim, or sew, or cook, and
Ranma made it all look so damned easy...
Ranma. It all came back to him.
Akane kicked a stone idly as she walked. Her eyes
wandered to her bookbag, wherein a letter rested
amidst well-worn books and folders. A letter she
must not let anyone see. The assistant principal
had something else to say to Akane after she got
the phone call... Her grades were dropping through
the floor.
Before Ranma had come to Nerima, Akane had
been an honor student. She had never gotten lower
than a "B" in anything. Now...she was doing okay in
History, but she was failing everything else. She
was just too distracted.
Was this love? Because if it was, Akane wanted
out.
Only she didn�t.
It was all so frustrating. Akane needed to get
home and smash a few bricks with her fists. That
would make her feel better.
Only it wouldn�t.
She came upon an abandoned lot that wasn�t quite
as abandoned as it usually was. Through the chain
link fence, Akane could see Shampoo and Ukyo
sitting in the shade of a cherry tree, talking
animatedly about something.
Akane entertained the brief fantasy that they were
both declaring their lesbian love for one another
and would from now on leave Akane to her Ranma
troubles in peace. Unfortunately, it was far more
likely that the two were planning something.
Akane shrugged. She desperately needed a
distraction from her thoughts, even if the distraction
was the two prettier and more talented rivals for
Ranma�s affection. She bound over the fence and
slipped a bit in the mud as she landed, waving her
arms around to keep balance.
"Damn, Sugar, I�m surprised you cleared the
fence!" Ukyo quipped. She and Shampoo had just
been talking about how wrong for Ranma Akane
was, something they had always been in agreement
on, when the girl had stumbled into their midst.
"Shut up, Ukyo. I have enough problems without
your insults on top of it all. So why don�t you tell me
just what you two have planned?"
Ukyo showed her hands, "It�s kind of Shampoo�s
business, Sugar. It really doesn�t concern you."
"DOESN�T CONCERN ME?" Akane yelled, "He�s
MY fianc� dammit!" Akane winced immediately
afterwards. She had, for the umpteenth time,
cancelled the engagement that very morning.
"This isn�t about Ranchan, Akane. When are you
going to learn to listen? It�s Shampoo�s business.
Besides he�s my fianc� too you know..."
"Ukyo, stop." Shampoo put a hand on Ukyo�s
shoulder. "Is Akane�s business too."
"What do you mean?"
"Akane affected by Amazon technique. For almost
year now."
"What?" Akane said.
"Sai Fang Heng Gow." Shampoo explained.
"Oh." Akane nodded. "Huh?"
"Shampoo� Honey, you�re not making things
much clearer here," Ukyo noted.
"Shampoo use Sai Fang Heng Gow on Akane.
Make Akane forget Ranma," Shampoo said
motioning toward her temple.
"You mean that Shiatsu attack! You know I�ve
been to several salons since then, and I�ve never
been able to recreate that refreshed feeling."
Shampoo smiled proudly "Shampoo give too too
good brainwashing. No other compare."
"Wait a minute here," Ukyo held up her hands "you
mean you can brainwash people?"
Shampoo nodded, "Is true. Though need special
shampoo to do."
"Why aren�t you married to Ranma right now
then?" Ukyo knew that if SHE could brainwash
people she�d...she�d what? Manipulate Ranma�s
mind so that he�d love her? Give Akane and
Shampoo a lobotomy? Ukyo shook her head. She
couldn�t do that. Not to Ranma, probably not to
anybody. But she had thought of it...when had she
gotten this desperate?
Shampoo was silent for a while. "Ranma like
Akane. I know this from when give kiss of marriage.
Ranma let violent girl hit. Ranma not like it when
make Akane forget him. Ranma not Ranma if
change mind. Shampoo hand tied."
"Quit talking as if I�m not here!" Akane demanded.
Shampoo turned to Akane with half-lidded eyes. "I
no like you. You is not warrior, you is small child in
body of womans what play with Art." She looked
away, "I forget sometime it not all you fault."
Akane raised her fist. "Look who�s talking, you
Chinese bimbo!"
Ukyo marveled at how thoroughly Akane illustrated
Shampoo�s point for a moment before returning her
attention to Shampoo. "Just what are you saying,
Shampoo?"
"Sai Fang Heng Gow what erase memory, but
must have formula 110 shampoo to make last for
longer than few minute. It freeze brain, keep from
changing too much." Shampoo took in a breath and
then let it out. "Keep Akane from learning new skill."
A wind picked up, waving the wispy yellow-green
grass of the lot. A leaf tumbled across the ground
between the three girls. Akane felt a chill.
Ukyo blinked her eyes in understanding. "So...all
this time...Akane not being able to learn any new
techniques, or how to swim, or cook..."
"I can cook curry pretty well now, thank you very
much!"
"...or listen," Ukyo continued, "it�s all from this
technique you performed on her almost a year
ago?"
Shampoo shook her head. "Not from technique,
from formula 110 shampoo. One dose just enough
to keep brain frozen until Sai Fang Heng Gow
become permanent, but Akane receive second
dose..."
"Ranma...he washed my hair with the same
formula of shampoo!" Akane remembered. "He
tried to cure me but made things even worse! And
all to satisfy his ego! All because he couldn�t handle
me not remembering him!"
"Listen, Jackass, Ranma couldn�t have known it
would do that to you! Ranma isn�t to blame for
every thing that happens to you! I would think you
would have learned that...by...now." Ukyo deflated a
little. "Oh."
Shampoo nodded. "Is all Shampoo fault."
"Well it was your fault too, Sugar. Let�s not forget
that," Ukyo pointed out.
"That what I say! Is all Shampoo fault!"
Ukyo frowned for moment then hit her palm with
her fist. "You want to say �it�s all MY fault!�"
"But how could it have been your fault, Ukyo? You
weren�t even there." Akane asked.
Ukyo buried her forehead in her palm.
"Is all...my...fault" Shampoo repeated. "I know
what shampoo do, and still almost use again on
Akane before Ranma punch to beat. Akane
probably get better at curry because is skill she
know before. Just improve on. But no can learn new
food she never make before."
Akane thought back. Just before that day when
she challenged Shampoo, she had given up on
Tofu, trained in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics,
had been getting A�s in Algebra and Biology, and
was maybe possibly just starting to think of Ranma
as more than a strange sort of friend while at the
same time getting annoyed that he didn�t protest
Shampoo�s affections more.
After Shampoo used her technique...what? Things
happened. She helped out Ranma a few times, had
a few battles, but emotionally and ability-wise she
had been in a holding pattern ever since. She had
learned no new techniques, her grades in
everything that required more that rote
memorization had started to fall, and even after
Ranma proved himself hundreds of times to
her...Things between them had gotten worse, not
better. It was all a vicious circle that she couldn�t
seem to break out of... "I...I thought it was stress...I
thought..."
"Wait a minute here," Ukyo said, "How is it she can
learn information like this, but not how to do
anything?"
"Brain tricky. People what have no memory of self
still know how talk. Sometime in village, someone
have brain problem. No can use part of face or
body but just fine with other parts. Sometime even
get new ability. 110 formula work on parts what
make new techniques, but must use Sai Fang Heng
Gow to change other parts."
"Why now?" Akane asked, "Why tell me now? All
this time and you wait till now to gloat! Did Ranma
sleep with you? Is that it? Did the two of you get
together after I left and have cat sex or
something?"
"What Violent Girl know about it?" Shampoo
screamed, "She no get anything! She stupid even
before Shampoo use shampoo! Akane watch and
do nothing! Akane watch Ranma cat
almost...almost..."
"What are you talking about? You two were pawing
at each other like cats in heat! How is that different
from what you normally do?"
Ukyo stepped in front of Shampoo. "Akane,
Shampoo�s not an Amazon anymore. She
renounced her marriage to Ranma; that�s why she
told you all this. The way I figure it, you deserve
what you got. Now leave, before I decide to
reconsider my pledge not to beat up the weak."
"What? But..."
"Leave, Akane. Maybe it�s not all your fault, but I
don�t care right now. Just go."
Akane stood for a moment trying to think of
something to say, but the look in Ukyo�s eyes told
her that talking right now wasn�t the smartest of
ideas. Besides what did she care? These were her
rivals! Resolved, Akane turned back toward the
fence.
They were also her friends.
Akane slammed her open palm into on of the
metal posts of the fence. It bent inward deeply from
the blow. Letting her frustration move her now,
Akane threw her bookbag down, grabbed the links
of the fence with her hands pulling, ripping, and
tearing them apart with a series of snaps and low
creaking sounds.
Her hands bleeding now, Akane picked her bag up
again, shoved herself through the hole she had
made in the fence and walked on to Tofu�s clinic as
the implications of everything she had learned
percolated in the blast furnace of her mind.
"Note to self," Ukyo muttered, staring blankly at the
hole in the fence, "Never, under any circumstances,
let Akane hit me."
Shampoo nodded. "Is very good note."
~~~~~*~~~~~
She stood naked in front of the full-length mirror in
Tomo Hoko�s bedroom, fondling herself.
The person in the mirror was a normal looking
teenage girl. Not a bombshell by any means; she
had average dimensions and long hair with bangs
that partially hid a face that was just pretty enough
to be unnoticeable in a crowd, which suited her just
fine. But it wasn�t her. Or was it?
She caressed her anatomy, tickling nerves on
each patch of skin that told her that she was the
same as this girl in the mirror. Is this me? Is this
my body? Are these my breasts? Are these my
thighs? Is this my... She bit her lower lip, barely
stifling an involuntary squeal of pleasure. They say
beauty is only skin deep...but isn�t the skin the
largest organ in the body?
Tears passed down her cheeks even as shudders
of pleasure passed through her. She cried now
even more than earlier, in the bathroom, when she
had been slicing her arms with a razor. Not to kill.
She didn�t want to die, not yet anyway. No, she
needed pain, she needed pleasure, she needed
this body that she saw reflected back at her to
convince her that she belonged here, that she
could stop looking, that here in front of her, was her
true self.
But she knew that wasn�t true.
She woke that morning in Tomo Hoko�s bed, to
the sound of Hoko�s mother knocking on the door.
If she had gotten up then or even remained silent,
she would right now be following Nabiki around or
participating in some grand scheme of hers.
Instead, she had taken a perverse pleasure in
telling the woman to fuck off.
Naturally, Hoko�s mother was concerned and
came through the door, and naturally, upon seeing
the girl she thought to be her daughter openly
masturbating she had become even more worried.
The last straw though, she reflected, had been
when she asked Hoko�s mother if she wanted to
help.
That was stupid.
Now, she was essentially under house arrest, with
her ad hoc mother concerned about how "ill" she
was. Ill indeed. She wondered idly now, as the
intense feelings she had generated washed out of
her in a sigh of ecstasy, how concerned Hoko�s
mother would be if she knew that the real Tomo
Hoko was stone dead, cut into pieces and laying
strewn about the city dump.
Perhaps the poor woman would have a heart
attack and save her from having to kill the bitch
herself.
Focusing on her image in the mirror and blurring
out the marks on her arms with her mind, she
brought out her demon cloth from null space and
passed it over herself. When she looked in the
mirror again, the marks were gone. It wouldn�t do to
have herself thrown into a mental institution for her
little weakness this morning. If she didn�t already
have a goal in mind, going to a mental institution
might actually be fun, but she had to remain
focused as much as possible.
She smirked to herself. One of the perks of
owning the cursed demon cloth was that she never
had to shave, or cut her hair, or clip her toenails, or
even bathe if she didn�t want to. She was a little
slow in catching on to this hidden benefit, but now
she took it for granted. Sometimes...like today...she
missed all that though.
The Migration never ends
The Migration. The fucking Ijuu. Someone else
had joined it, she could feel it like a static charge in
her brain. There was no doubt in her mind that it
was Ranma. The bastard would probably get
through the initial stages smelling like roses. He
had people that cared about him, after all, even if
he was an arrogant prick. She�d like to see what
he�d do if he had to grow up in a orphanage, spent
all his time moving from place to place without any
ties to anyone, without a single constant save
himself. She�d like to see what he�d do if even that
last refuge eroded away, leaving nothing but a
shadow...a desperate, hungry shadow...
But she�d settle for a gruesome death in a pinch.
She took a breath and calmed herself. She had to
convince Hoko�s mother that she was alright and
that it was just especially painful cramps or
something. She had to be ready for Nabiki�s
scrutiny, and while she could do this with enough
concentration, she had to be mellow.
First things first, she had to get dressed. She went
to the dresser and opened the top drawer. The
panties. She picked up a pair and smelled them,
but they just weren�t as fulfilling laundered.
Tomorrow at school she�d be in the girls� locker
room and she�d get all the panty action she wanted
there. If she hadn�t blown it this morning...
But no matter. She put on the panties and a bra
she found, taking time to leer at herself in the mirror
a bit, and then went to the closet for some outer
wear.
She decided she liked being a girl. It was like she
was her own prostitute, and she didn�t have to pay.
Even the masturbation was wonderful, once she got
the hang of it.
Hoko�s mother was a pain. She wished she could
just kill her, but of course if she did, then she�d have
to kill Hoko�s father as well, and then the people at
Mr. Tomo�s business firm would wonder where he�d
run off to, and things would lead to more
complicated things. It just wasn�t worth it.
She decided to go with a short skirt and dark
colored top with a jeans jacket. She put on long
black socks that went past the knee and black
sneakers. She looked in the mirror again. It
seemed okay, but as far as she knew she could be
breaking several major fashion rules. She blinked.
The girl in the mirror blinked. She liked how she
looked right now.
There was a pang as she realized she had lost
another part of herself.
"I am Copycat Ken." She asserted to her
reflection... but it felt wrong, alien now. She was not
Ken anymore. Ken would have just copied whatever
Hoko had worn before she died. Now after several
months of stalking people, of killing them, stealing
their lives and making them her own for days, even
weeks on end, she could no longer say with any
certainty whether she was male or female. "I was
Copycat Ken" she said sadly, "Now, I�m just
Copycat"
Ever since that last battle with Ranma, she had
been unable to find her true form, the body she had
been born with. Ever since then, she could only be
other people, never herself. She tried to remember
what she looked like, but she had no pictures of
herself, and instead of getting closer to finding her
original form, she found it slipping further and
further away.
Copycat left the room, whereupon she was quickly
intercepted by Hoko�s mother. "Just where do you
think you�re going, young lady?"
Copycat smiled, "I feel much better now, Mom. I
was just...I had a weird...personal dream...and I
didn�t expect you there..."
Hoko�s mother nodded. "I know you�re growing up,
but that�s really no excuse for...Hoko, dear, that just
didn�t seem like you at all. I was almost sure you
were possessed or something like in that American
movie...Are you sure you�re alright?"
"I�m fine, Mom! I�m going to go to Tofu�s anyway
to get a note for class tomorrow. I�m sure if there�s
anything wrong he�ll find it."
"Do you mind if I go with you? You really had me
worried."
"Oh okay. How do I look?"
"You look...very fetching."
Copycat laughed.
"What�s funny, dear?"
"Nothing," she waved it off sobering, "just a private
joke."
"I�ll just get my purse and then we can go, okay?"
"Sure" Copycat agreed. She crossed her arms
and leaned up against the wall as she waited for
Hoko�s mother. She allowed herself to think
optimistically for a few moments. Four months of
careful planning, stalking, observing and she was
now almost ready to make her move on Saotome.
First, though, she had to take out his most effective
defense against her...Nabiki. The Ijuu...it would
complicate things, but no matter what, the end
result would be the same.
Ranma was going to die.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"PREPARE TO DIE, RANMA!" Hibiki Ryoga ran
along the street away from Akane. She had gotten
angry at him! Angry. At him! It had to be Ranma�s
fault. All those awful insults he threw at Akane every
day...it must have been rubbing off on him!
How could he say that Akane wasn�t a martial
artist! She was a wonderful martial artist! Not
compared to himself or Ranma or Mousse or even
Kuno in a real no-holds-barred fight, but still better
than most. Maybe he could convince Akane to go
on a training trip with him! That way she could feel
better about her martial arts and he could have all
that time alone with her!
But...if she refused...
Akane in a yellow sun dress and white hat looks
up at Ryoga with tears in her eyes and shakes
her head. "No, Ryoga, I�m afraid I cannot go with
you on a training trip," Akane lifts the back of her
hand to her brow and looks away in anguish, "for,
alas, my heart belongs to Ranma, and I cannot
bear to be apart from him..."
Ryoga shook his head violently. No! His fragile
heart of glass could not withstand it!
Ryoga thought he heard Ranma just then.
Ranma...calling him a coward.
"NO! I am no coward, Ranma! Just you wait!
Today you meet your doom!" Ryoga ran on. He had
to keep moving. Keep his goal in mind...otherwise
he�d lose track and start to think of other things.
Why DID he fight Ranma so much?
It was a question that Ryoga himself asked from
time to time in the dark chill of night beside a dying
fire. But he already knew the answer, and thinking
about it just drove him further into the dark depths
of his insurmountable depression.
So Ryoga kept running, and concentrated solely
on that, and on his goal. He paid no heed to stray
thoughts or to the passing scenery. Nothing could
distract him from his revenge. "RANMA! PREPARE
TO..."
"...shake vigorously and pour the liquid down the
throat." Dr. Tofu looked up and smiled at the young
man who had just made a rather large hole in the
wall of the examination room. "Good to see you,
Ryoga, but you know you really shouldn�t disturb me
when I�m with another patient."
"Oh we don�t mind, doctor. It�s nice knowing that
my husband and I aren�t THAT strange." Yamashita
Niburi adjusted the position of her arm underneath
her husband�s small body with a smile. "Isn�t that
right, my little sweetums?" she tickled her
husband�s nose with her finger.
"Thtop that! Woman, I thweal..."
"Um...is Ranma here? I�m trying to kill him." Ryoga
said eying the Yamashitas. If he didn�t know any
better he�d swear that the baby had just talked.
"He�s in the waiting room," Tofu pointed to the
door, "Just take it outside if you could and...make
sure Ranma is wearing his earrings."
Ryoga headed for the door.
"Ryoga..."Tofu called after him.
"What!" Ryoga snapped back.
"That�s the closet."
"What�s Ranma doing in the closet? I thought you
said he was in the waiting room."
"I did. The waiting room is over there," Tofu
pointed again, "that door leads to the closet."
"So where�s Ranma?"
"In the waiting room!"
"But you just said..."
The baby spoke up, "Ith that...the Lyoga? Hibiki
Lyoga...the famouth lotht tlavelel?"
"Huh?" Ryoga asked...the baby DID talk!
"They tell thtolies about you in Thikoku! Evely
week ol tho you letuln to The Town of the Boal with
giftth flom dithtant landth! That�th how I came aclotht
the map to the Fountain of Youth!"
"Ryoga, have you been to the Fountain of Youth?"
Tofu asked, grabbing Ryoga by the shoulders.
"Y...yeah." His eyes widened, "So that�s why that
baby can talk!"
"Do you know of any cure?" Tofu asked.
"Er...have you tried hot water?"
"Hot water?"
"You know...like Jusenkyo?"
Dr. Tofu pushed his glasses up on his nose. He
turned on the hot water in the sink. When it was just
short of scalding he filled a glass and poured it on
the baby. In that instant, all of Yamashita Ichiro�s
eighty-five kilos returned to him and he fell to the
ground with nothing but a bit of blanket to cover his
special purpose.
"Looking for portents in the stars, we must remain
mindful of our feet." Tofu said over the stunned
man on the floor.
"You mean all this time...ALL this time I spent as
helpless baby...and THAT�S the cure?" Ichiro stood
up shakily, barely remembering to cover himself.
"It wasn�t that obvious, I mean, who would think of
throwing water that hot on an infant?" Niburi argued.
"It�s not a cure...You�ll be a baby again with a
splash of cold water," Ryoga noted.
"How do you know that exactly, Ryoga?" Tofu
asked chuckling. "If I didn�t know any better, I�d say
you fell in yourself!"
Ryoga laughed nervously and his hand found itself
on the back of his head. "Umm...where was Ranma
again?"
Niburi put a hand on Ryoga�s shoulder. "I�ll lead
you to her. It�s the least I can do."
"Oh, so you�re going off with other men, now, is
that it?" Ichiro quipped.
Niburi turned back. "Is my little Ichikins worried I
might leave him? I swear I�ll be right back and we
can play a nice little game of peek-a-boo." Niburi
laughed. "You�re such a baby!"
As they went through the doorway to the waiting
room, Ryoga heard Ichiro remark, "I�m never going
to live this down, am I?"
It made him smile for a moment.
Then of course he saw Ranma-chan sitting
suspiciously close to Nabiki while they played some
sort of card game with Kasumi. Genma and Soun
played shogi in the opposite corner. Ranma, that
bastard! Having fun with other women while
Akane suffers...
"You�re going to have to tell her some time you
know. It�s just going to get worse if you don�t,"
Niburi said softly.
Ryoga nodded. "I know, I�ve been wanting to, but
things get so complicated...Wait a minute!" Ryoga
turned toward Niburi, "How did you know about
Akane?"
"Hmm?" Niburi looked up slightly, showing her
mature, delicate complexion with its slight smile,
"Akane? So sorry, I was talking about Ranma!" She
indicated the red-head with a raised open hand.
Ryoga was silent.
"Oh, it�s obvious! Well, if Ranma hadn�t told me
she was really a girl all along I might not have made
the connection I suppose but..."
"Ranma said that? No. Ranma�s a guy. He would
never say something like that. That�d be like giving
up. And even if he were a girl I would never..."
"Right. You would never. So you just find any
excuse to be with her."
"Listen, lady, you got your signals crossed or
something. Ranma�s my worst nightmare. Nothing
would make me happier than to see her...him
dead."
Niburi sighed. "Fine, fine. Just trying to give some
advice. If you don�t mind then, I�ll just leave you to
your homicide." She smiled impishly "It�s been a
while since I�ve seen my husband all grow�d up."
Ryoga stood unmoving for a moment after Niburi
went back into the office, looking at the girls and
Ranma. He couldn�t just threaten to kill Ranma
again, not after what Niburi said. It�d be like proving
her right...
Ranma-chan laughed, and damned if it didn�t
happen in slow motion... with sparkles.
Ryoga squeezed his eyes shut against the image,
but even as he did so, he wasn�t sure if he was
trying to keep it out, or tying to keep it in. Ryoga
could feel it sure as anything...he was about to
spend a long time on the road.
When he opened his eyes, though, he had to say
something..."Ranma, how dare you go out with
Nabiki behind Akane�s back!"
Ranma turned her head slowly in Ryoga�s
direction. "Howdy, Oinkster! Good of you to join us!
Say, you�re a guy right?" Ranma picked up a card
that Kasumi had just shown her and Nabiki and
asked, "Tell me, what does this look like to you?"
"A Rorschach inkblot," Ryoga answered in spite of
himself.
"Yeah, I know that. Why do you think we�re
messing with them? So... what do you see?"
Ryoga found himself studying the mirror image on
the card. It was random and splotchy, of course,
but there was something about it. Thin on either
end, wide closer the center and then thin again
where the fold would be, it looked disturbingly like...
"A mask. Like a one of those cheap plastic
Halloween things."
"Oh come on! It�s a bra! Look there are the
straps..."
Ryoga�s eyes shifted to Nabiki�s amused and
smug expression and then back to Ranma.
"Okay...maybe I�m a little worried about Mom
coming, okay? I could have told you that."
"Ranma-chan�s right, Nabiki. That could be what it
is. The inkblots are not precise. The things you see
in them are like the symbols in a dream.
Sometimes their meaning is quite literal, as would
be the case if Ranma is only worried about having
to wear a bra. Other times though, they can be
much larger. Nabiki, how would you feel if Ranma
was never a man again?"
"It really wouldn�t bother me," Nabiki replied
seriously. "I always kind of liked Ranma as a girl
anyway." Nabiki turned to Ranma now, "I know, I
know, but I have to say it. You seem freer somehow.
More yourself. Except when your mother�s around
of course."
"Well, I guess I am pretty well built..." Ranma said
pushing out her breasts.
"And that right there proves you�ll always be a man
inside," Nabiki smirked. "Hey, Kasumi, is it just me
or is Ranma bigger?"
"Oh my, Ranma-chan�s growing up!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Let me check..." Nabiki grabbed Ranma�s breast.
"HEY!"
"Yep, definitely bigger than last time." Nabiki
nodded officially.
"Let�s see how big YOU are..." Ranma-chan
threatened and grabbed a hand full of Nabiki.
Ryoga couldn�t take it anymore. "Ranma! What do
you think you�re doing?"
Ranma, out of reflex, immediately brought her
hand back to her side. "What are ya talking about?"
"Akane�s your fianc�e!"
"Actually, I�m his fianc�e now," Nabiki informed.
"What do you mean?"
Ranma turned to Ryoga. "Look, Pigface, Akane
broke it off again this morning, and a lot of things
happened since then, alright? It�s not the first time
it�s happened; let�s just hope it�s the last. I would
think you�d be happy anyway."
"What about your honor, Ranma?"
"Hey, Nabiki�s a Tendo too, you know, and
Shampoo and Ukyo both have valid claims to boot.
Why are you getting so worked up over this?"
"But Akane�s the one true fianc�e! She�s the one
you love! The one you�ll always be with!"
"Ryoga, that�s sweet, but you�ve got the wrong
Tendo. Maybe I do love Akane, but right now, I
don�t even want to think about her, and I don�t think I
could stand living with her for the rest of my life.
She�s free, no strings attached. Get her while she�s
hot."
Ryoga felt the depression building. The
depression that would never go away, that was
always there, waiting for him, whenever he dared
think clearly. If Akane wasn�t Ranma�s fianc�e, then
he wouldn�t have an excuse to...to... "I won�t allow it.
I can�t! I..."
A splash of cold water shocked Ryoga and turned
him into a piglet. He watched with surprise as
Kasumi gently placed the empty fire bucket to her
side. "Forgive me, Ryoga-kun," she bowed, "but
you were disturbing our harmony."
"Hey I just thought of something..." Ranma said,
"If my female side is growing, how come Ryoga�s
pig form hasn�t gotten bigger or anything?"
"Maybe his curse is special... or maybe he fell in a
different spring and the curses mixed?" Nabiki
shrugged.
"Yeah...I�ll have to ask him when I get the chance."
Ryoga in pig form turned and clicked away from
Ranma and the others. It was so easy for Ranma.
Always so easy. In junior high, it had taken months
for Ryoga to establish himself as the top martial
artist. It had taken Ranma a day to take it away,
making Ryoga once again just a "stupid lost boy."
Ryoga challenged Ranma again and again, but
each time Ranma would win. Ryoga became a joke.
He lost all of the friends he had made. He got lost
more and more often. Everyday Ryoga would see
Ranma laughing with friends that were once his,
succeeding in all the areas where he had failed. It
was Hell. Pure and simple. And Ranma was an
undefeatable guardian of paradise...of the bread, of
the respect, of Akane...Everything that Ryoga
wanted, Ranma would already have. But now Akane
was free. Now Ryoga could see her without
guilt...and he didn�t want her.
Ryoga hated himself for it, but he realized now
Akane was just a spoil of war to him. He didn�t love
her, only what he could do to Ranma through her.
Defeating Ranma was all he cared about. Ranma
was all he cared about...
It was time for Ryoga to get lost.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Two and a half centimeters. That was all.
No divine hand. No chivalrous knight. No moat
teaming with fantastic and terrible monsters. Just
two and a half centimeters. That was all that
protected Tendo Akane from Ranma�s words as
they stabbed unerringly into her heart.
Then again if the door had been a little thicker,
maybe Akane would have gone inside. Maybe she
would have seen first hand what she had heard.
That would have been worse.
There were a lot of ifs. If she had helped Ranma
out of the Nekoken, if she had kept him away from
Shampoo, if she hadn�t been so cruel to him that
morning, if his mother hadn�t shown up when she
did, if Shampoo hadn�t used her shampoo to begin
with...if, if, if, if. It made no difference.
Nabiki was fine, even if she was in danger of dying.
As long as Nabiki didn�t come near her, Akane
wouldn�t kill her. Akane felt her mallet hand itching,
and it took everything she had not to go through the
door and swing away at Ranma. She knew he
wasn�t hers anymore, maybe never was, but she
just couldn�t grasp the meaning of that. It was
another unknown variable in the indecipherable
math equation that was her life.
Then there was Ryoga. P-chan. Try as she might,
she could not think of the two entities as being the
same person, even with this direct evidence. And
how many times had Ranma tried to tell her, even
before Shampoo�s formula 110? She was right.
She had been stupid even before. Or maybe she
just needed P-chan, just needed someone to talk to,
someone she could trust. Even now, if P-chan
came to her, she would hold him and cry and tell
him everything just like before, even knowing what
she knew, because she could not think of hurting
the poor creature. She wished he would come out.
She was so lost...
If she went inside, she would do something she
would regret. Whether it was hurt someone she
loved, or simply break down. So Akane gathered up
her distended emotions and turned away slowly
from the door of the clinic.
Just then, she saw Nabiki�s friend Hoko walking
with her mother toward the clinic. Caught between
not wanting to seem rude and walk away and not
wanting to talk to anyone, Akane wavered at the
door until Hoko was there. "Good afternoon, Hoko-
senpai," Akane greeted in a subdued tone with a
small bow. "Tomo-san" Akane bowed deeper to
Hoko�s mother.
"Hey, Akane-chan! What are you doing here?"
Hoko asked.
"I...um...I was just leaving. It�s been a bad day...I�d
rather not talk about it." Akane bowed again, trying
to smile and only managing a grimace. She moved
to go, but then Hoko grabbed her forcibly by the
shoulder, surprising her.
She found herself looking into the older girl�s dark
brown eyes. They were fierce,
challenging...compassionate. Hoko smiled. "It�s
going to be okay, Akane-chan. It�s all going to be
okay."
Akane nodded hesitantly. When Hoko released
her shoulder, she left without any other words. She
walked briskly from the clinic, needing to get away.
For some reason, what Hoko said gave her the
creeps.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Copycat was surprised to find the clinic so
crowded. When she saw Ranma she stopped
stock still. It took all she had not to pull out a tanto
from null-space and slay the bastard then and there.
But that would be too fair. Ranma would win in a fair
fight.
"Hoko-chan?" Hoko�s mother asked, "Is
something wrong?"
"Nothing, Mom, just had a strange thought..."
"It wasn�t...personal...was it?"
"Mom!" Copycat laughed. It was easy to pretend
to be Tomo�s child. She had plenty of practice
pretending to be other people�s children after all.
First in foster families, then with the families of the
people she killed. Every time trying to make it work,
but knowing that it wouldn�t. In a way, she did love
Tomo. In the end, it didn�t matter. She�d still have to
leave her eventually...if she didn�t kill her.
Nabiki got up from her seat. "Hoko! You�re
alright?"
Copycat nodded, "That�s what I keep telling Mom,
but she won�t believe me."
Nabiki frowned and seemed a little distracted as
she said "Well...you know how parents can be..."
A thirty-ish woman, attractive, yet dressed so
conservatively she seemed older at first glance, left
Tofu�s office, her arm around that of a well-built
man in a brown gi (probably Tofu�s) with short burnt
umber hair that spiked and curled wildly about the
top of his head. Copycat got the impression that
they had gotten together primarily because she
liked to clean messes and he liked to make them.
The two either had trouble finding time together, or
one of them was impotent, because the woman
didn�t have the look of a mother, rather she had the
slightly weary, hopeful look of someone worried
she might never become one. Copycat was quite
familiar with the type.
The woman introduced the man to Nabiki and
Nabiki bowed and thanked her. Apparently the
couple was Yamashita Niburi and Ichiro, and
apparently the woman, Niburi, had somehow helped
save Nabiki�s life. Then Nabiki introduced Copycat
as Tomo Hoko and she greeted and thanked them.
Copycat was genuinely thankful that Niburi had
saved the life of her "best friend," If she hadn�t,
Copycat would not be able to kill her.
Nabiki�s powers of perception were perhaps even
greater than Copycat�s, even without the
surveillance equipment with which the girl had a
near symbiotic relationship. Copycat had chosen
her first victim, Buntaro, based on the idea that no
one knew who he was, that no one cared about him.
After the second day at school, Nabiki approached
Copycat and wanted to know what was going on,
why Buntaro was acting so differently. Copycat said
that it was trouble at home, the same excuse she
had offered case workers years before she had
joined the Ijuu and an oni offered her the demon
cloth and the camera that could allow her to copy
any ability.
Nabiki offered Buntaro a job.
When they found Buntaro�s body, as Copycat
hadn�t yet hit upon the idea that merely burying a
corpse was not enough, Copycat had to find
someone else. It must have seemed strange to the
police that the body was a week dead, while
Buntaro was last seen the day before, but there
was nothing in the paper about it. By chance
Copycat had been using another form at the time,
that of a male cop she observed earlier asleep on
some sort of stake out, to do some spying on
Ranma, otherwise she might have been found out.
Aside from Buntaro�s destitute mother, Nabiki was
the only one at the funeral. Copycat had shown up
as Generic Overworked Cop and asked Nabiki what
her relationship was to the deceased.
"Potential friend," Nabiki had said simply.
Potential friend.
It was then that Copycat knew that she�d have to
kill Nabiki before she�d be able to get near Ranma.
Copycat smiled and said, "I guess I might as well
get this check up over with." Tofu had since come
out of the office and he and Hoko�s mother
exchanged some mindless pleasantries, before
Tofu invited her and Copycat into his office,
apologizing for the state of the room.
Copycat wasn�t worried about being found out.
The demon cloth made Copycat a perfect copy of
Hoko�s body, including basic ki flow patterns. After
a period of time, Copycat�s own distinct ki pattern
would start to become more visible, but by that time
it would be attributed to changes in lifestyle.
Hoko�s mother explained how she was worried her
daughter might have been possessed by
something, but she was sure it was nothing now
and was sorry to take up Dr. Tofu�s time.
Tofu simply nodded and examined Copycat,
prodding certain spots and seeming to gaze
through her.
The problem with simply walking up to Ranma and
slitting his throat when he least suspected it was
that Ranma seemed to suspect it all the time.
Ranma could detect things, dodge things, and
anticipate things to the point where it was uncanny.
Copycat had once, in the form of Ryoga, tried to kill
Ranma in his sleep, only to have every attempt
thwarted by a dodge. Copycat was almost certain
Ranma had some kind of latent precognitive ability.
Ranma had his weaknesses, but he also had an
annoying tendency to let everyone know what he
was doing. Even if he could be goaded into a trap,
it wouldn�t matter because he�d say "Uh oh! Looks
like I�m walking into a trap!" and his allies would
eventually find out and rescue him.
Copycat had no allies.
In order to defeat Ranma, she had to rectify that
situation. It was a long, arduous task to make new
associations, she knew this from experience. Nabiki
already had allies, it would be far easier to just steal
hers.
Tofu said that he could see nothing abnormal in
the ki flow patterns and started with the physical
check up. He asked Copycat to turn her head and
cough. She did.
Copycat�s next victim had been a Japanese
Language teacher. A single, middle-aged woman
named Tanaka Kimiko. This time, Copycat was
extra careful to get the personality down. She found
the camera that stole abilities worked for
personalities as well and it was fairly easy to fool
the woman�s students. It was considerably harder
to stab the woman repeatedly with a tanto, stuff her
in the trunk of her own car, drive some three hours
into the countryside where no one was around, saw
her up into segments and throw them into separate
dumpsters as she traveled back to Tokyo.
Copycat used her position as one of Nabiki�s
teachers to try to get some information on the girl.
The thing was, Nabiki really didn�t have any
enemies. Many people did not particularly like her,
but almost everyone Copycat overheard in the halls
regarded her with a respect that bordered on
worship. Once, while Copycat sat in the school
office, Nabiki came in to see the assistant principal.
Copycat listened in. Nabiki was saying that there
ought to be a school wide martial arts tournament to
raise money for the repairs to the gym that Ranma
had damaged in his fight with Hinako-sensei.
The tournament was held two weeks later.
Nabiki was not infallible. She hadn�t suspected
anything of Copycat as she taught in the guise of
Tanaka Kimiko, and while she got impeccable
grades, Nabiki still made mistakes. She still mistook
one complex kanji for another or turned papers in
late same as anybody else. There was the
occasional student who claimed to have won a
heap of money off Nabiki in the betting pool. And
the tournament had of course been a complete
disaster. But the girl knew things. She got things
done. And she was fair.
The only possible chinks in her armor were her
two closest friends, Inamura Yuki and Tomo Hoko.
Yuki was extremely popular. She was friends with
Nabiki in a large part because Nabiki kept Kuno
from realizing that fact. Yuki had many friends aside
from Nabiki and furthermore, her father was a
police detective; so she wouldn�t work for
Copycat�s purposes.
Hoko, on the other hand, was a loner. A
nondescript wall flower who worked for the school
newspaper and wrote ho hum articles about things
people already knew with pictures that everyone
had already seen. She wasn�t an outcast or
anything; she just kept to herself and didn�t make
any waves. She was perfect. But if Copycat was
going to get so close to Nabiki, she had to make
sure she had Hoko down perfectly. Luckily, there
was one pathetic kid who no one really liked and
who had almost every class with the girl.
So Copycat made as if she were retiring from
teaching and moving to far away lands, and then set
about killing Gosunkugi Hikari.
"I don�t see anything wrong, Tomo-san. Your
daughter is just a perfectly normal, healthy, teenage
girl."
Copycat got up off the examination table as Tofu
had Hoko�s mother sign some papers so he could
get paid from the insurance company. Then he
walked her and Copycat out of the office,
whereupon he and Hoko�s mother exchanged a few
more mindless pleasantries, which Copycat tuned
out, until Tofu turned to her smiling and saying
"...and you, young lady. You make sure not to kill
your mother in her sleep okay?"
"Um...right..." Copycat replied. She glanced at
Tomo�s pained expression and was grateful that
she hadn�t been the only one who thought Tofu�s
comment unfunny. She wondered just how much
Tofu was hiding. He had the stink of Ijuu, but he
behaved so innocuously... Maybe his remark was
just an attempt at humor, but if it was, then perhaps
Ranma wasn�t the only one with latent precognitive
abilities.
Just then Ukyo and Shampoo came in hesitantly
from outside. From their body language, Copycat
figured they had somehow put aside differences
and were now friends. Ukyo seemed almost
protective of Shampoo, so Copycat guessed
something had happened to the Amazon and Ukyo
had consoled her. Shampoo�s hair was cut as if by
a knife, which meant she had either left the
Amazons, or she had an unfortunate run in with
Ryoga.
Copycat�s eyebrow went up with interest at this
turn of events.
When Ranma turned to see Shampoo she turned
into a he and jumped...no... pounced on top of her,
making a horrible rowrling...
"Ranchan! What the HELL?" Ukyo screamed
Shampoo screamed too but it wasn�t quite a
scream or even human sound.
Nabiki got up out of her seat on the couch, her jaw
open eyes blinking.
Genma jumped up and flattened himself against
the wall while Soun just sat stunned.
Kasumi ran to Tofu�s side and looked worriedly up
at him, but all he could manage in response to the
situation was a visible gulp.
Ranma tore through Shampoo�s cheongsam with
invisible claws. One breast and upper thigh of the
Chinese girl now showed. It was making Copycat
excited and she started breathing exercises so she
could enjoy the view without revealing herself.
Shampoo whirled around and faced Ranma on all
fours. She hissed and it was a cat sound only larger,
louder. That same sound that made a small furry
creature a source of fear now made this buxom girl
from China positively terrifying.
Ranma was not dissuaded. He attempted to circle
around Shampoo, but the girl shuffled to face him.
Nabiki moved closer to Ranma holding a hand out
hesitantly. "Ranma...she...she doesn�t want to mate
with you."
Ranma whipped around. "What would you know of
it, HUMAN?" Ranma turned back toward Shampoo
but she was gone through the door, which she
ripped apart in her escape. Without a second
thought, Ranma bounded after her followed by
Ukyo... and Nabiki.
Copycat wanted to applaud. Instead, she looked
up at Hoko�s mother and lied, "Mom, is it all right if
you go home without me? I�m going to see if I can
help Nabiki." Not waiting for the Tomo woman to
respond, Copycat ran out and, when she was sure
no one could see her, jumped onto the roof of a
nearby building and continued after the three girls
and Ranma.
She considered the possibility of being seen.
Most people didn�t know Hoko, but if Nabiki found
out, she would have questions. On the other hand,
Nabiki seemed rather preoccupied and was unlikely
to be looking above her. The alternative was to use
the demon cloth to change forms, but the only form
that would make sense would be Mousse and he
was probably at the Nekohanten, which might cause
some question-raising if there were reports of him
being in two places at once. Also, in order to
change back to Hoko, she would have to study a
photo of her, as she had only changed into her
once. Finally, if worse came to worse Copycat
could always invent secret martial arts training for
Hoko. So Hoko she would remain. She bounded
over a gap between roofs. She was catching up to
Nabiki and Ukyo but the "cats" were still far ahead.
She brought her camera out of null space and put
her head through the strap, still holding on to it with
her right hand as she ran to keep it from banging all
over the place. She would get to Ranma eventually.
The Nekoken was one of Ranma�s most powerful
techniques and soon, it would be hers.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Ukyo should have done something...but it all
happened so fast. She hadn�t even considered the
possibility that Ranma was at the clinic. She just
thought Tofu could help Shampoo somehow. That
maybe there was a pressure point that diminished
sexuality or something. And when it
happened...Ukyo had believed Shampoo, but it
hadn�t been real to her until it was right in front of
her. Her friendship to Shampoo was so new, and
already Ukyo felt like she had betrayed it. And so
she ran after her and Ranma. But they were so
much faster. Both of them.
Ukyo heard the sound of shoes behind her, and
she glanced back. Nabiki was running too! Even in
her short glance though, she could tell Nabiki wasn�t
fit enough to run even the distance she already had.
Ukyo fell back, allowing Nabiki to catch up. "Why
are you running?"
"Ranma...might kill...if...I...don�t... stop him...Go
back to Tofu�s...get help."
"Sugar, you aren�t going to make another ten feet,
there�s no way you�ll catch up to them."
"I�ll...catch up...you...go."
Ukyo just ran beside Nabiki. To her surprise the
Tendo girl started picking up speed. "Nabiki, how-
?"
"GO!" Nabiki waved her hand at Ukyo to go
back....or at least that was what Ukyo thought she
was doing until she felt a sharp burning pain. The
chef slowed to a stop as she examined the four
parallel tears in the arm of her boy�s school uniform.
She looked up at Nabiki who had already gained an
uncanny amount of ground. She was bounding on
all fours, catlike.
"This is fast becoming an epidemic," Ukyo
remarked to herself. The statement didn�t begin to
cover the strangeness of seeing the Ice Queen run
off like that though.
"Hey you!"
Ukyo turned to see a rather unkempt and rotund
man with curly black hair and a moustache standing
outside the door of the Hot Dog and Coffee. "Me?"
"Yeah. You wanna buy a hot dog?"
"No thanks, sugar," Ukyo said, "I�m trying to quit."
In Ukyo�s opinion, the worst thing a person could do
with a piece of meat was turn it into a hot dog.
"Heh heh. Fine suit yourself. I just know that after I
see three teenagers run past me on all fours after
each other, a nice, normal hot dog sure sounds
good."
Ukyo had to admit she was tempted, but she had
somewhere she had to be. "Maybe some other
time. You�ve got an effective sales strategy there."
The man shrugged. "Hey, this is Nerima."
"That it is," Ukyo agreed with a sigh. "Take care."
And with that she ran back toward Tofu�s.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Nabiki wasn�t sure at first why she followed Ranma
out the torn down door of the Tofu clinic. It wasn�t
something she would normally do. Normally she�d
acknowledge that Ukyo was the most qualified to
defuse the situation and make sure she was
prepared for every foreseeable eventuality. But
something told her Ukyo wouldn�t be able to fix this.
That only she could.
She hadn�t done much aerobic exercise in the
decade or so since she stopped practicing the Art,
and she felt it as she pounded the ground with her
feet after the others. In her mind though, she kept
seeing Genma at the mercy of invisible claws...
Over and over like a sports broadcast that was too
enthused about its instant replay feature she saw
the image. And she remembered the power, the
freedom...By the time Ukyo fell back to talk to her,
Nabiki was half-crazed from exhaustion, and almost
the rest of the way crazed by something inside her
telling her she could be faster, she could be
stronger...
Nabiki struggled desperately against this. She
recognized the voice inside her, felt it as the cool
weight of a pistol in her palm...it wasn�t any different
than that. But unlike a pistol she couldn�t throw this
away, she could not renounce it like a bad habit and
be done. It was as much a part of her now as it had
ever been for Ranma.
It wasn�t until she involuntarily scratched Ukyo�s
arm though, that Nabiki understood. She had power,
whether she liked it or not. The only thing she had
any influence on was how she used it. She had to
find some way to control it but there was really only
one way to learn. Nabiki stopped resisting.
Immediately the world became a wash of sounds,
smells, sensations... the bloody sweet sweat tang
of Shampoo�s menses attacked her nostrils
immediately. As she concentrated she could
discern Ranma�s pleasant musk. She heard Ukyo
talk with somebody far behind her but the words
held no real meaning any more. She knew she was
now running on all fours, but found it so natural she
wondered why she didn�t run that way all the time.
Then she wondered why she was running in the
first place when, even now, she was so close to
utter exhaustion. So Ranma wished to mate with the
other female. What was the problem? It was her
time, was it not? Ranma could mate with Nabiki
when it was her own time. It was natural for the
female to fight off the male at first. If she reached
them she�d only be interfering in what might be a
happy copulation. But then she had a thought...
Human pregnancies take a period of nine
months. Human kittens take at least twelve years
of care to mature and usually require an
additional eight before they can survive on their
own. The male is expected to help support the
family during this period. Ranma, Shampoo and I
have human bodies.
Nabiki increased her speed, trying not to notice
her ugly, pink, hairless hands as they pushed away
the concrete underneath her...tried not to get
frustrated at not being able to direct her hearing
with her atrophied stumps of ears. If she let Ranma
mate with Shampoo, she could lose him for two
decades. Nabiki would not let that happen.
Ranma was hers.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Kawagami Hiro knew he should have known better.
The girl was still in High School, and she was a
reckless driver on top of it. But he had fallen for her.
The way she moved on that bike, it was like she
was one with it! He helped save her life, and while
at the time he was too worried she might die to pay
much attention, now he could not quite get the
feeling of her lips on his to go away, even as he
sipped black java at the Hot Dog and Coffee,
remembering the image of her and that punk kid
making out on the couch of Tofu�s waiting room.
The Hot Dog and Coffee was a favorite hang out
for cops, first because of the coffee, and secondly
because you could see all the girls coming out of
the Sanjuuichi ice cream shop across the street.
"Why so glum, chum?" asked Inamura Kentaro as
he sat down across the table from Hiro. He had an
extremely well-kept goatee that, combined with his
oriental features, made one think simultaneously of
Don Quixote and Kublai Khan. He tended to have
more Quixote than Khan in him most times. People
often wondered at how such an ebullient man could
be a homicide detective, but he was, and he had
definite limits to his pleasantness.
"It�s this girl I gave a ticket to. Saved her life. She
didn�t even thank me and she was banging this
punk..."
"Hiro, Hiro, Hiro...you�re like one of the women in
the self defense class! You keep trying to save
these girls, trying to change them but you can�t. You
can�t ask a tiger to be a lamb."
"This girl was different. She was intelligent, I could
tell...and there was something else..."
"There all different. They�re like snowflakes, but
Hiro," Kentaro winked and glanced out at the
Sanjuuichi meaningfully "They all taste the same on
the tongue."
"Yeah, I know. I just thought going back to being a
traffic cop would keep me from having to deal with...
women. And this one hit me harder than the others."
Hiro sighed, "So you have any gruesome murders
to lift my spirits?"
"Heh. As a matter of fact... I was about to ask you
to do me a favor."
Hiro had a good idea what it was, "You know,
contrary to popular belief, Kentaro, I don�t actually
like giving people bad news."
"But you�re so good at it!" Kentaro batted Hiro
lightly on the side of the head.
Hiro was caught in a disturbing niche of being one
of the few cops that didn�t absolutely dread telling
people their friends or family members were dead.
He wasn�t an especially morbid guy, far from it. It
was just that he�d rather someone hear it from him
than a pimple-faced rookie or a callous veteran of
the force. He wouldn�t want cheery bright-eyed
Kentaro to do it; that was for sure. Hiro sighed,
"Okay, so who is it?"
"It�s a murder. A grisly one at that. Not one of
those nice induced heart attacks no siree."
Kentaro�s voice had taken a slightly manic tone.
This case had upset Kentaro more than usual. He
was venting. "This one all we got is a maggot
infested arm that fell out of a dumpster about five
o�clock this morning. We got the torso an hour or so
later, so we ruled out self-amputation. We ran the
prints...they belong to an eighteen-year-old girl.
Maybe one of your waifs?..."
Hiro tried not to think of Nabiki hacked into pieces.
It was common knowledge troubled teens tended
to have a short shelf life. But Hiro had been a
troubled teen not all that long ago and Kentaro�s
humor hit a little too close to home.
The older cop continued, "She came by just three
days ago to get her motorcycle license renewal
signed by a notary public." Kentaro�s face suddenly
lost its brightness.
Hiro knew he was thinking about the murderer,
about catching the bastard, about how fucked the
judicial system was that let maniacs like that loose
even after they were caught, about how it could
have been his own daughter that had been killed.
"Tomo Hoko, that�s the name of the victim."
Kentaro took in a breath leaning back to gaze into
the fluorescent light over head, "Alas, poor Hoko,"
he said and lowered his head to look at Hiro with
smile as natural as a skeleton�s and about as
cheerful, "I knew her, Horatio."
"Give me the address, and I�ll take care of it." Hiro
said solemnly.
Kentaro handed him a copy of Hoko�s file. He got
up to leave and turned back, "I knew her." He left
then, and Hiro knew that the man would be
relentless in tracking the murderer down. Kentaro
was in full Kublai Khan mode now, and for him, the
divine wind was on his side.
Hiro looked at the address on the file and shot to
his feet. Tomo Hoko was Nabiki�s next door
neighbor! He ran to see if he could catch Kentaro,
but he was distracted by someone turning up the
volume on a TV in the caf�. "Hey check it out!" the
fat, curly-haired man said.
A four way intersection blocked by a naked couple
having sex. They seemed to be making high
pitched cat sounds. Hiro didn�t really think when he
saw the image. He just went out of the room, out of
the building and onto his bike.
~~~~~*~~~~~
When Akane entered the building dressed in her
yellow gi and carrying a backpack on her back, a
man in long, white robes embraced her.
"SHAMPOO, MY LOVE!"
The Nekohanten, Akane thought sardonically,
they may not know your name, but they�re always
glad you came. Akane pried Mousse�s arms from
her torso as best she could, explaining, "I�m not
Shampoo, Mousse. Honestly!"
Just then, Akane noticed the TV mounted on the
wall...
"...Amazingly, instead of running over them, the
first cars were blown back by some form of
energy. Police officers are having difficulty getting
to the scene owing to the sheer magnitude of the
traffic jam the two love birds have caused. This
just in! The names of the exhibitionists are
Saotome Ranma and...CRASHsizzlepop"
Akane extricated her mallet from the television
only a little self conscious.
"Hey! We were watching that!" one of the
Nekohanten customers exclaimed.
Ignoring them, Akane turned to Mousse. "Is
Cologne here?"
Mousse put his glasses back onto his nose from
the top of his head. "I�ll take you to her." Mousse
led her to the back of the restaurant, where
Cologne was standing on the counter, hovering
over a large pot of ramen. "Old ha...I mean
Honored Elder?" Mousse bowed, "You have a
visitor."
She turned and saw Akane. "Ah yes, Tendo
Akane!" She picked up her staff and hopped to the
floor and then on to the top of the staff balancing on
its tip. "You�ve been through a lot today, child. Feel
free to let go of your pack and sit. May I ask where
it is you�re going?"
Akane set her pack down and sat on it. Her eyes
were now level with the Amazon elder�s. "I�m going
to a friend�s house for the weekend. I
need...distance."
Cologne nodded, "You did leave a note, right?
You mustn�t let your family worry."
"Yes, I left a note telling them where I�ll be and I
plan on calling as soon as I get there."
"Good. You�ll need as few distractions as possible
the next few days or so."
"You have what I called about?"
Cologne brought a bottle of formula 119 shampoo
"Yes, I have your cure, and I appreciate you telling
me about Shampoo."
"Forgive me, Cologne-sama, but I thought you�d
be more upset about that."
"Phah, I was the same as her back in my day. The
truth is the Amazon culture can be a little stifling. If
you don�t rebel every now and then, you wither up
and die. Shampoo�s biggest fault was that she was
too willing to follow orders. If she had just stayed in
Japan to begin with, she�d be married to Ranma
right now."
Akane couldn�t suppress a twitch in her eyebrow
but managed to stay calm. "So you think she�ll
come back to you?"
"I know she�ll come back, child. Whether she
wants to or not. It�s her destiny."
"Destiny? It can�t be changed?"
"Some things cannot be changed, child. We all
grow old, we all die, the day inevitably darkens into
night. Other things...they are as mercurial as a
flame in the wind. This thing with Nabiki for instance.
You know I wasn�t expecting it at all? And now it
seems like it should have been obvious. But to say
that was destiny is an anthropomorphic fallacy. We
try to make reality more human, because we can
deal with people; we know how they operate. If this
didn�t happen, if that didn�t happen...we start to
wonder how it is that all these things were set up.
We start to think of it as the fates playing with us.
But the very nature of the word "if" should clue us in
that there isn�t a plan. You could just as easily be
married to Ranma right now. So could Shampoo or
Ukyo or nearly anybody. A billion random events
conspired against you. A butterfly flapped its
wings."
"So I still don�t have any control." Akane said
bitterly.
"Of course you have control! You are yourself part
of the world you live in! You can affect it just as
surely as it can affect you. You already do in fact,
you just don�t realize it because you don�t observe.
Do you know what the most awesome power in all
of the universe is?"
"What?"
"The power of thyself known. If you know
absolutely everything there is to know about
yourself, then you can do almost anything given
enough time. Case in point, if you knew that you
had been affected by the formula 110 shampoo
earlier, you would have gone to me or Tofu earlier
and perhaps none of this mess would have
happened. But instead of being in control, you were
controlled, and so in a way, it�s all your fault."
"I don�t see how I could have known..."
"But you did know. You knew the first day that
something was wrong, but you dismissed it. Phah, if
everyone in the world would stop dismissing things,
the world would be a lot more interesting."
"I suppose you�re right," Akane sighed.
"Of course I am." Cologne crossed her arms,
"Have you made a decision?"
Akane nodded.
"So, would you like to be an Amazon?"
"Yes. Yes, I would, Honored Elder."
Cologne smiled. "I�m pleased. Your training starts
Monday. And don�t think you�re going to get out of
paying for that television. Tomorrow I will go with
you to your school so you can get a work permit. I
imagine your grades have suffered a bit."
"But, Honored Elder?"
"Yes?"
"The cure?"
"I�ve already administered it. You�ll be back to full
capacity in just under three hours."
Akane blinked. She hadn�t even seen the old
woman move! "Will I ever learn to be that fast?"
she wondered out loud.
"You will learn many things. Your mind is free now,
and the chains it has worn have served to
strengthen it. Just be sure not to squander this
opportunity."
Akane nodded, smiling. She could feel it now, like
a fog slowly lifting from her mind. Like static she
hadn�t even realized was there fading into a clear
picture. She didn�t need Ranma. If he and Nabiki
wanted to screw in a city street then that was their
business. Akane was finally through for real.
Besides, Ranma didn�t deserve her. She was
Tendo Akane.
She was Amazon.
~~~~~[END]~~~~~
AN: In case you�re wondering about the title and/or
about Copycat�s inside joke, it all revolves around
knowing that "fetch" is another name for a
doppelganger, or a creature that mimics people
and then kills them. I always planned on having
Copycat Ken in this fic. I wasn�t satisfied with the
ending of the episode in cannon, and really there�s
no character in cannon that I know of with more of
an identity crisis. Seeing as he was able to turn
himself into a perfect copy of Happosai, someone
much smaller than his normal form, I figure the
blanket he uses is more than just illusion.
Slowly but surely the fic is approaching the main arc.
Believe it or not, it actually centers on Nodoka, and
she should finally make an appearance in the next
chapter. Unless my idea monster rears its
complicated head again of course.
Feedback greatly appreciated.
It gets weirder.
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