ShadowSoft Inc.
                          Presents:
                              
                     A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
                         side-story
                              
                              
                      "Careful Destiny"
                              
                             by:
                          Todd Hill
                     AKA Shadow Stalker
                              
                              
                          Based on:
               "Be Careful What You Wish For..."
                         written by:
                      Richard Beaubien
                              
                              
         Inspired by the "Ranma 1/2" Manga and Anime
                     by Rumiko Takahashi

      A  warm spring breeze blew through the streets of  the
Nerima  district shopping center.  Today, like  every  other
Saturday,  was  full of people looking for  things  to  buy.
Ranma  was  among this crowd of shoppers, looking  for  some
green  onions  for Kasumi.  However, as he walked  down  the
street, his attention was diverted by a little junk shop  at
the corner.
      Letting  his  curiosity get the better of  him,  Ranma
approached  the  store and opened the door.  Melodic  chimes
rang, announcing a new customer.  As he entered the store he
was  immediately assailed by a strong odor of old books  and
musty furniture.  Pictures of American automobiles from  the
fifties,  and  some  pre-World War Two  clothing  and  other
relics littered the floor and walls in no discernible order.
      A  vendor  dressed in a sparkling white  leisure  suit
looked  up  from  his place behind the counter.   Unseen  by
Ranma,  the vendor's eyes sparkled as his gaze fell  on  the
young  martial  artist.  `Yes.  This may  be  the  one,'  he
thought  to himself as he approached Ranma.  Ranma was  busy
flipping   through  a  stack  of  old  National   Geographic
magazines when the vendor tapped him on the shoulder.
      "Yahhh!" Ranma yelled, startled by the quiet  approach
of  the  vendor.  Several magazines spilled to the floor  as
Ranma jumped in response to his startlement.  Undisturbed by
Ranma's  outburst, the vendor bowed slightly.   "Anything  I
can help you with, kind sir?"
      Ranma  scratched his head, wondering how the guy  from
the  seventies  could  have snuck  up  on  him  so  quietly.
"Ummm... well, I was really just looking ..."
      "... for a gift, perhaps?" the vendor completed.  "For
your  girlfriend?  We have plenty of those here,"  he  said,
gesturing to the walls and aisles of junk in the store.
      "Well... not really.  To tell you the truth,  I  don't
even know why I came here," Ranma said distractedly.
      Adapting  a  sly  smile, the vendor  said,  "Ahh!   It
must've  been  a magical attraction that brought  you  here,
eh?"   He  chuckled  slightly.  "Say, you like  magic  young
man?"
      Ranma  frowned  at the question.  No, he  didn't  like
magic.  After Jhusenkyo, and all of the magical ambush plans
by  Shampoo  and Cologne, he'd had his fill of  magic.   But
instead of ranting about his life, he merely replied, "Naah.
I've never really thought about it."
      Undeterred, the vendor continued his spiel.  "Well, we
have  a  few  items  here  that are `special,'  "  he  said,
gesturing to the glass cabinet beneath the counter.
      "Whattaya  mean,  special?" Ranma  asked  skeptically.
`Special' usually meant trouble for him.
     "Well, the whole lot of items in this cabinet were sold
to  me  by  a  person  who swore to me that  they  were  all
magical," he said, waving his hands about the display  in  a
way that would make Vanna White proud.
      Ranma  couldn't help but ask.  He didn't  believe  the
vendor's  claims, but he just wanted to be  sure.   "Really?
How can you tell?"
      The  vendor  shrugged.  "I can't  know  for  sure.   I
haven't the inclination to try them, just in case.  But I do
have  a  history on a few of them."  Seeing Ranma's nod,  he
continued.  "Well, this one," he indicated a parasol from  a
mixed  drink, "supposedly causes rain if you put it  into  a
Gin  and Tonic while drinking it under a full moon."   Ranma
shuddered  at  the  thought  of rain.   That  little  gadget
wouldn't give him anything but trouble.  Besides, he  didn't
drink.
      Seeing Ranma shudder, the vendor continued on  to  the
next  one, which happened to be a pair of plastic ear plugs.
"This  little  gem  is  supposed to be  man's  best  friend.
Apparently,  it  doesn't block out all sounds.   Instead  it
blocks  out only the nagging voice of a girlfriend or  wife.
Great for arguments."  Ranma nodded his agreement, but  then
feared  his  fate should Akane discover him using  them  and
find out what they were for.  He shook his head, urging  the
vendor to continue.
      "And this," he said, pointing to a rather unremarkable
broach, "is the prize of the collection."
      Ranma snorted laughter, pointing at the broach.  "That
old thing?  You *must* be joking."
     The vendor oiled his voice, smelling a sale.  "Ahh, but
sir,  that  is no ordinary broach.  The original owner  said
that every fifty years, that broach will grant the owner two
wishes."
     THAT got Ranma's attention.  "Wishes?  Really?  I mean,
you're kidding, right?  It can really grant wishes!?"  Ranma
looked  over his shoulders suddenly, not wanting  anyone  to
see his reaction, or hear what the vendor was saying.  "Yes,
as  I  said, the previous owner said it can grant 2 wishes."
He  turned away from the display and looked at Ranma with  a
downcast look on his face, trying hard to look disappointed.
"But  you said that you don't really believe in magic, so  I
guess that this broach wouldn't be of any interest to you."
      Ranma  caught  the vendor's arm before he  could  walk
away.  "NONO!  I mean... I *could* give it to my gir.. ahh..
a friend of mine," he said quickly.
      `Bingo!'  thought the vendor as he took the item  from
the  shelf.  He handed it to Ranma, letting him feel  it  in
his  hands.   Just as Ranma was getting comfortable  holding
it, the vendor plucked it from his hands and replaced it  in
the cabinet.  "Heyy..." Ranma yelled, indignant.
      The vendor looked him square in the eye and said,  "If
you want it, it'll cost you 5000 yen."
     Ranma turned over the idea in his mind.  5000 yen was a
lot of money for an unemployed martial arts student.  Kasumi
had given him some money for the onions, and he had some  on
him  from a rebate he got from Nabiki when she gave him  bad
information.  Totaling it up, he had about 6500 yen on  him.
`I  hope Nabiki doesn't find out about this!' he thought  as
he  fished the wad of coins and bills from his pants pocket.
`She'd  hound  me  endlessly if she  found  out  about  this
broach.'   He  shuddered to think of  a  wishing  broach  in
Nabiki's  hands.   "I'll take it," he said, quickly  handing
the money over.
      `All too easy,' the vendor thought as he exchanged the
money for the broach with Ranma.  Ranma took the broach from
the  vendor's  hands  and  pocketed it  quickly,  suspicious
again.  "Okay, now tell me how it works," Ranma pressed once
he was sure no-one was around.
      The  vendor leaned forward over the counter,  propping
himself  up  on  his  elbows.  "Well,  it's  really  simple.
Before  you go to bed, make a wish and put the broach  under
your  pillow.   In  the morning your wish will  come  true."
Ranma  smiled.  `Finally!  I'll be rid of his curse, and  be
able  to  walk  around Nerima as a man among men.   It's  so
easy!'  he  thought to himself, triumphant.  `Heck!   If  it
doesn't  work,  I'll just give it to Akane, or something...'
Ranma  turned to leave the store when the vendor called  out
to  him, "One word of warning, though.  Save the second wish
to  undo  the first one just in case your wish doesn't  turn
out the way you want it."
     Ranma looked up as he opened the door, smiling.  "Sure!
I'll keep that in mind.  Ja ne!!"  he said as he exited  the
store.
      The  vendor smiled at the closed door, watching  Ranma
walk  down  the  sidewalk.  "Yes, I'm sure you  will,  Ranma
Saotome!"  he  said mirthfully, laughing as if  getting  the
punchline to some cosmic joke.  Then he snapped his  fingers
and vanished from the store.

                            ****

      Ranma picked up the green onions for Kasumi with  what
money he had left on him, then dashed for the Tendo dojo  as
quickly  as  he  could.  He laid the onions on  the  kitchen
counter, shouting, "HereyougoKasumi!" as he bolted  for  his
room.   Once  upstairs, he hid the broach carefully  in  his
room, taking care to make sure that neither Akane nor Nabiki
were watching.
      The evening passed swiftly for Ranma.  He'd managed to
avoid  Nabiki's  curious mind, and only  fought  with  Akane
once.   "We  may  finally be getting along," he  thought  to
himself.  He looked over at her again, smiling.  She  caught
his  look and frowned, shouting, "What are *you* looking at,
*pervert!*"   `Then again, maybe not,' he thought  sullenly.
"I'm  going to bed," Ranma said quietly, as he stood up  and
slowly made his way to his room.
      "Finally,"  Ranma  said aloud as  he  heard  the  last
bedroom  door  close.  It was finally bedtime at  the  Tendo
dojo,  and  the  closing  door  signaled  the  last  of  the
household  had gone to sleep.  His father was  already  out,
snoring blissfully in his panda form.  Now that everyone had
turned  in, Ranma was free to use the broach.  Walking  over
to  where  he  hid the jewelry, he took it from  its  secret
location   and  prized  it  into  his  hands,  clasping   it
desperately.   `I sure hope this works,' he  thought  as  he
closed  his eyes.  In a soft voice, Ranma said,  "I  wish  I
never became cursed with a girl's body!"  His wish complete,
he  put the broach under his pillow, curled up on his futon,
and went to sleep.

                            ****

      Morning  broke  in  Nerima  (smash!   ^_^).   Sunlight
peeking  through the window fell on the face of a blissfully
sleeping, and lightly snoring Ranma.  The door slid open and
a  woman  poked  her  head in the room.   "Ranma-chan,  wake
up!!!"  Ranma recognized the voice, but in his sleep-induced
torpor he wasn't sure who it was that would call him `Ranma-
Chan'  at  the  Tendo  Dojo.   Ranma  assumed  it  was   his
kawaiikune iinazuke taunting him and turned over in his bed,
mumbling,  "...nnn...g'way Akane..."  Soft  snoring  resumed
shortly after that.
      A  metallic  rattling  sound could  be  heard  in  the
distance,  making  Ranma  twitch.   The  clanking  was  soon
replaced with a splash as a deluge of water nailed Ranma  in
the face.  "I said GET UP!  Honestly!  If you would at least
get up on time I wouldn't have to do this every morning."  A
suddenly  alert and very angry Ranma shot back  with,  "That
was  cold!!  Why did you do that?!  I'll get you, you ...  "
his  words trailed off as he realized who he was talking to.
Nodoka Saotome.  His mother!  "MOM?!?!?"  he screamed,  half
hysterical.   His  hands were a blur as he quickly  searched
himself  for signs of breasts or other incriminating  parts,
and, to his astonishment, found that he was still male.
      `It  wasn't a dream?!  I'm not cursed anymore!'  Ranma
jumped  up and ran to the bathroom (once he could  find  it)
and  nailed himself with cold water again.  After confirming
that  he was no longer cursed, he ran back into the room  he
woke  up  in.   `My mother!' Ranma thought  blissfully.   `I
don't  have to hide from her anymore!'  With that he ran  to
his  mother and hugged her tightly.  "Oh Mom!  It's been  so
long!" he said, on the verge of tears.
      "Dear,  you  must've had a bad  dream.   We  were  all
together  for supper just last night, as usual.   Don't  you
remember?"  Nodoka said soothingly.  She didn't  argue  with
the  hug though, all too willing to express her love for her
only son.  She stroked his head gently as he broke down  and
cried  on  her shoulder.  A couple of moments passed  before
Ranma  stood back from the hug, wiping his eyes and  getting
himself  under  control  again.  He  grinned  widely  as  he
remembered  his  cold water experiment.  He started  dancing
around  the room, gleefully proclaiming, "I'm a  MAN!   YES!
No more Jhusenkyo!"
      A *very* confused Nodoka looked Ranma in the eye.  "Of
course you're a man, Ranma.  What gave you the idea that you
weren't?   And  what's  this jusu-whatsis?"   Ranma  stopped
dancing in place for a moment.  `Of course!  She never  knew
about the training grounds of Jhusenkyo.'  Waving a hand  at
her,  he  casually replied, "Ah, it's nothin' Mom!   Just  a
weird dream."
      "Well, whatever Ranma.  You'd better get dressed soon.
It's  almost time for school, and you don't want to be  late
again.   Breakfast will be waiting for you, so hurry up  and
get ready," she said as she walked out of the room.
      `Wow!  The broach really worked!  But it worked  in  a
weird  way.  This isn't the Tendo home.  In fact, I have  no
idea  where  I am.  I wonder if the broach is here.'   Ranma
looked  under his pillow, and to his satisfaction, saw  that
the broach had made the trip with him.  He hid it in what he
felt  was a secure place.  After dressing for school in  his
customary  Chinese red shirt and black pants, he looked  out
his  bedroom window.  He was eager to see just what kind  of
world he was living in, and was thinking of what to do first
when a thought stopped him dead in his tracks.  `If I'm  not
at  the  Tendo hall, then I wonder where Akane  is?'   Ranma
dropped  the question for the moment when Nodoka called  him
down to breakfast

                            ****

      `God!  This is so real!' Ranma thought, spellbound, as
he  wolfed down the food Nodoka sat in front of him.   `It's
better than Kasumi's cooking,' Ranma noted in-between gulps.
As he ate, something else that had been nagging at him since
he  woke  up finally crystallized, `I wonder why Pop  didn't
wake  me up for our morning practice?'  Ranma stopped eating
and laid his empty bowl and chopsticks down.  "Mom?"
     "Yes dear?" Nodoka called out from the kitchen.
     "Where's Pop?"
      "Out  training  with your sister, Ranko.   Where  else
would  he be?"  She walked to the table and put her hand  on
his  head.   "Are you sure you're okay, Ranma-chan?   You're
acting awfully strange.  Maybe you should stay home today."
      Ranma, stunned by the announcement that he now  had  a
sister,  managed to shove that to the side for  the  moment.
"No, Mom.  That's okay.  I'll be fine."
      "My  son,  not wanting to stay home from school?   You
*must* be sick, dear," she said mirthfully.
     "MOOOOM!" Ranma said, flushing red.
      "Just  kidding dear," she said, putting a hand on  his
shoulder.  "Well, you must've been hungry, Ranma.   Did  you
enjoy your breakfast?"
      "Yes, Mom.  It was very good," Ranma replied cheerily.
He  looked over at the clock and gasped.  Grabbing his shoes
from  the  stand near the door, he said, "Well, I'm  off  to
school."
      Standing at the door with his bento, Nodoka handed  it
and his books to him.  "Okay dear.  Here's your lunch."  She
kissed him on the forehead as he grabbed his stuff, and then
watched  the  dustcloud as he ran for school.  `That's  odd.
I've never seen him run on fencetops before,' she thought as
she watched him run.

                            ****

      Less  than two minutes into his run for Furinkan High,
Ranma  noticed two odd things about himself.   One,  he  was
unusually winded from his run, almost as if he hadn't run in
ages.  Two, he had to stick to running on the ground, as  he
fell  thrice  from fence railings after losing his  balance.
Pacing himself more carefully, he continued to run, although
he wasn't really sure of where he was going.  That was until
he  happened upon a very familiar landmark.  The Tendo Dojo.
`Good,  I'll be able to walk Akane to school.  She'll really
flip when she sees...'  His train of thought derailed at the
sight  of a limousine pulling up to the front gates  of  the
Tendo  Dojo.   `Huh?  There's a Limo pulling up?   Ahh!   It
must  be  for Nabiki,' he thought, dismissing the  limousine
for the moment.  Then he saw who stepped out of the limo.
      A  very austere looking Kuno stepped out and walked to
the gates, calling, "Akane-chan, time to go to school!"  The
gates opened, and a somewhat... depressed? Akane walked out.
Ranma stepped back in complete confusion, not sure what  was
going  on.   Akane let loose a tired sigh, replying  simply,
"Coming dear."
      `Coming  dear?!?'  Ranma tossed that one over  in  his
head for a moment.  Anger rising to the fore, he walked over
to Kuno.  "Hey!!  You baka, what are you doing!?!"
     Kuno regarded Ranma as one would a household cockroach.
"Who  are  you,  sniveling underling, to be  addressing  the
great  Tatewaki  Kuno in such an insolent  manner?"   Before
Ranma  could answer, Kuno held up his hand, "Ahh, but it  is
not important that I know who you are.  And since it appears
to  be so important to you, I'll let you know that I'm  here
to  pick  up  my girlfriend for school.  Now leave  us,  you
insouciant miscreant!!"
      Ranma stared open mouthed as he digested what Kuno was
saying.  "Girlfriend?!  How dare you say such a thing  about
my  fiancee?"   Akane  gasped  at  Ranma's  proclamation  of
marriage,  and  watched as he continued to  speak.   "You'll
take her over my dead body!!"
       "That  can  be  arranged,  simpleton,"  Kuno  replied
mockingly.
      "What's going on Kuno-chan?" Akane asked, unnerved  by
what this stranger was saying about her.
      "Just get in the limo, Akane.  He's just another  fool
who  wishes to win your heart.  Fear not, my dearest  Akane.
I'll  dispose  of  this  hentai quickly.   He  will  not  be
bothering you again."
     That last comment snapped whatever restraint Ranma had.
"You'll  suffer for that, Kuno!" he said as he  got  into  a
fighting stance.
      "You  may address me as Upperclassman Kuno, or Sempai.
You have no right to call me by my name."
      Preferring  not  to respond, Ranma  twisted  his  hips
slightly and launched into a jump kick.  What happened  next
shouldn't have.  Ranma fully expected to connect with Kuno's
face,  as usual.  However something in his body didn't  seem
to  be  responding properly, and the kick was deftly blocked
by the Kendo champion.  "You must really think too highly of
yourself if you believe that such sloppy footwork will  gain
you victory, knave!  That attack was pathetic!!"
      Ranma  panicked slightly.  `Kuno shouldn't  have  been
able  to touch that kick.  What the hell's happened  to  me?
Was the move telegraphed or something?'
      "Now  know the true meaning of pain, underling.   Shi-
ne!!"  he  yelled, launching his attack with his  battlecry.
He  slashed  at Ranma with his bokken, and Ranma managed  to
dodge the initial attack, but noticed that he was very  slow
on his reflexes.  It was as if his mind knew what to do, but
his  body  wasn't coordinated enough to perform  the  moves.
Kuno  was gaining steam, yelling "STRIKE!  STRIKE!   STRIKE!
STRIKE!   STRIKE!   STRIKE!   STRIKE!"  and  increasing  his
movements  to  the point where Ranma was no longer  able  to
combat  the  force of Kuno's multiple swordstrokes  and  was
thrown into the wall.  At that point, he lost consciousness.
      "Let us go, Akane," Kuno proclaimed as he entered  the
limousine, leaving a knocked out Ranma lying in the  garbage
outside the Tendo Hall.

                            ****

      The  world was spinning.  That had to be it.  How else
could  Ranma  be feeling as awful as he did at  the  moment?
Something had awakened him, and he slowly opened his eyes to
see  a  pretty  young girl standing over him,  snapping  her
fingers.   He blinked his eyes a couple of times,  and  then
managed  to move into a sitting position, although his  body
protested with every movement.
      "Hey  bro , wake up!!  What are you doing lying  in  a
trash  heap  anyway?"  She knelt down to look at  his  face.
"If I didn't know any better, Ranma, I'd swear you were in a
fight.  In fact, you look like shit."
      Ranma's  mind cleared a little bit.  He could remember
snippets of what had happened, but he couldn't get the whole
picture  in his mind.  He quit considering what happened  to
him  when  he  heard the young woman refer  to  him  as  her
brother.  He looked at her, and to his astonishment saw that
she  looked exactly as he did whenever he was hit with  cold
water.   `Yeah, a lifetime ago,' he thought sourly.  It  was
as  if he was looking into some sort of special mirror.  Her
only  difference to `his Ranko' was that she had dark  hair,
instead of red.  They both sported pig-tails.  This day  was
getting weirder and weirder, he declared before standing.
      "It  looks  like you were hit into that  wall,"  Ranko
commented, fingering the concussion in the wall.   "How  did
this happen?"
      Ranma  ignored the question as the fight flooded  back
into his memory with complete clarity.  "You mean, I lost to
Kuno?!!" he said, incredulous.
     "Ranma?!  You challenged Kuno-Sempai?" she yelled back,
clapping  her  hand  against her forehead  and  groaning  in
disgust.   "Whatever  possessed you  to  do  something  that
stupid,  bro?  Don't you realize that he's the best  fighter
at Furinkan High?"
      "Yeah,  and  I lost !!!" he spluttered, not  believing
what he was saying.
      "Well of course you lost!  You should know better than
to  challenge an expert martial artist when you  don't  know
any martial arts yourself," she said simply.
      Ranma  stood stock still, not wanting to believe  what
Ranko,  his sister, just told him.  "What did you  say?"  he
asked, hoping he heard her wrong.
     "I said ..."
     "I don't know martial arts?" he completed slowly.
      "Yeah,  you  haven't trained a day  for  the  last  10
years,"  she  replied matter-of-factly.  She stood  back  as
Ranma  raised himself from the garbage heap he  was  resting
in.
      "What!?!  This can't be.  How..."  Ranma took  Ranko's
hand and said, "Come with me please."
      "Hey,  what!?..."  she said as she was  dragged  away,
following Ranma to wherever it was he was going.
      Ranma  had to get away from the dojo for a bit.   He'd
deal  with  Akane later.  Right now, he had  some  questions
about  himself that he wanted answered, and he felt that  he
could  talk  at ease in the park.  Once there,  he  found  a
bench  and  sat down, dragging Ranko with him.  "What's  the
big  idea, bro?  I mean, I don't mind missing class and all,
but..."
      "Ranko,  humor me for a moment please.   I  know  this
question's coming out of left field, but I need it  answered
concisely.   Please tell me about my life," he said,  almost
pleading.
      "What?   Are you on drugs, Ranma?  Just what the  hell
kind  of  question is that, anyway?" she asked, placing  her
hands on her hips and scrutinizing her brother carefully.
     "Just humor me, Ranko.  Please?!"
      "Okay,  okay!"  she said, holding  her  hands  up  and
putting  them  on  Ranma's shoulders.  "Whatever  you  want,
bro."   She sat back on the bench, putting a finger  against
her  lips in apparent concentration.  "Well, here's  what  I
remember  from the stories Mom and Pop told  me.   You  were
Nodoka  and Genma's first kid.  Pop started to train you  so
you could carry on the Saotome school of martial arts.  When
you  were six, Pop wanted to take you on a training journey.
Mom  refused to let you go unless you wanted to.   When  Pop
asked  you if you wanted to go, you said you wanted to  stay
at home."
     Ranma nodded to himself.  `So that explains why I'm not
cursed,  but not why I don't know martial arts.'  He  turned
back to listen to his sister.
      "After that day Pop refused to train you, saying  that
you  weren't  a real martial artist.  When that happened  he
started  to  train  me  to carry on the  Saotome  school  of
Martial  arts  in  place  of  you."   She  looked  into  her
brother's  eyes,  "You were always okay about  this  before.
What's happened to you, Ranma?"
      Ranma  couldn't answer.  He was too  shocked  to.   To
think  that  his father would abandon him simply because  he
wouldn't go on that damn trip.  `My life seems to be  hinged
to  that  decision.  It seems that I've lost more by getting
rid of the curse...'
      Ranko  snapped her fingers in front of  Ranma's  eyes.
"You  all  right bro?" she asked, concerned for  his  mental
state.
      Ranma started as he realized something.  `Waitaminute!
Of  course!   I can relearn Martial arts.  This world  isn't
all  that bad.  As long as I can relearn martial arts I  can
win  Akane's heart!!  Yeah!  This world is definitely  going
to  be better than the other one!'  Ranma's mind returned to
the present as his eyes focused on Ranko's snapping fingers.
Quickly, he grabbed his sister's hands and held them  close.
Looking into her eyes, he asked, "Hey Sis!  Do you think you
can train me?  I wanna learn martial arts."
      Blushing at the question, she closed her hands  around
her  brother's  and  smiled.  "Well  I  can  certainly  try.
What's the sudden interest, Ranma?"
     "Let's just say that I have some things to work out.  I
appreciate  the help, Ranko," he said, quickly  hugging  his
sister and standing up.  To himself he added, `Great!   Just
you  wait Akane!  I'll put things back to normal and I won't
have  that  curse to make my life miserable!!  Then  we  can
have the life that we were meant to have!'

                            ****

     Ranma and Ranko had decided to haul ass to school, even
though they were both horribly late.  Ranma had originally
protested Ranko's suggestion about going to school until she
said, "If mom finds out we cut school, she'll kill us both!"
Ranma bowed to his sister's excellent logic and followed her
to Furinkan high.  When he got there, Ranma groaned in
disgust.  They had to stand in the hall for an hour due to
missing their first classes.
     Akane had been in his math class.  He'd brightened
slightly when he saw her, that was until he noted that she
was not returning his gaze.  In fact, if he had known any
better, he would've sworn that she was deliberately ignoring
him.  The shock of that was enough to stagger him.  He sat
quietly for the remainder of class, a stony look on his
face.  `She really doesn't know who I am!' he had thought to
himself at the time.  He kept stealing glances at her from
his position.  She was sporting long hair, like she had when
he first met her, previously met her, ... whatever, he
thought disgustedly as he struggled to sort out all of the
details of what happened today.  The bell rung, signifying
the end of the class.  Ranma took one last, lingering look
at Akane as she stood and walked from the classroom, and
felt his heart tear when she didn't even blink.
     Lunchtime had been right after that, and he ate his
without even tasting it.  A few people had come over to him,
trying to talk, but Ranma wasn't paying attention to them.
After lunch, the rest of school had been the usual drag.
Ranma's disdain for school had apparently traveled with him
when he made that wish.  By the end of the school day he had
amassed a copious amount of chalk dust in his hair from the
erasers that his teachers had launched at him for failing to
pay attention.  Somehow, however, he had managed to survive
to the end of the day.
     Ranma was walking from the school building, noticibly
depressed, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He turned
his head to see his bouncy sister walking behind him.  "Hey,
you alive in there bro?" she quipped as she advanced to walk
beside him.
     Ranma had to smile slightly at his cute sister's
obvious attempt to cheer him up.  Ranko's enthusiastic
behavior was contagious, and was helping him to banish the
foul mood that had swept over him during math class.  Ranko
reached her hand up and brushed at the front of Ranma's
head, dislodging a minor snow-drift's worth of chalk dust
from his hair.  He coughed slightly as some of the chalk
dust entered his nose.  "Didja fall asleep in class again,
Ranma?" she asked, chuckling slightly and clapping her hands
together to get rid of some of the chalk dust that had clung
to her.
     "Something like that, Ranko," Ranma replied absently.
He felt the depression begin to creep up on him again, and
sighed softly.  `Dammit, I hate being like this!' he shouted
internally.  `How can I get out of this funk I'm in?'  He
brightened as an idea came to him.  He turned to look at his
sister.  "Umm, Sis?"
     "Yeah, what is it Ranma?" she asked as she continued to
walk.
     "You know that agreement we made in the park today?
You know, about training me?" he asked quickly.  Ranko
nodded her head.  "Well, do you think we can start today?"
he asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.  Ranko turned to her
brother, smiling cheerily.  "Yeah!  I can do that.  What say
we get suited up after I finish my homework and we'll work
out in dad's training hall.  He should be out there by
then."
     "Great!" Ranma replied, glad for the distraction.
Although he had to wonder about Ranko's comment concerning
Pop.  `Why can't Pop be in there when I'm training?'  He
shrugged his shoulders.  `I guess he's teaching at that
time.  That must be it,' Ranma thought finally as he
followed his sister home.

                            ****

     Ranma frowned at the gi he was wearing.  He again
resisted the temptation to take it off, and stood there with
a slightly embarrassed look on his face.  His sister's
giggling wasn't helping matters any.  He eyed her
dangerously.  "You can cut that out anytime you want to,
Ranko," he said angrily.  Since Ranma's `other self' had
never taken to martial arts, he didn't have a gi of his own.
But since he and Ranko were close to the same size, she had
loaned him one of her older spares.
     He hadn't payed attention while putting it on.  It
didn't fit all that well.  The pants were a little small,
and they were a little uncomfortable around the hips.  The
top was the killer, however.  It fit fine, but it looked bad
on Ranma.  After all, how macho can a guy be wearing a pink
gi with Hello Kitty stickers on the back of the top?
     Ranko was nearly hysterical, pointing at Ranma and
gasping for air in-between gales of laughter.  Ranma growled
at her, cutting through her laughter and she managed to calm
down, smiling sheepishly.  "I'm sorry, bro.  I guess I
forgot that Mom had sewn on those patches.  After all, I
haven't used that gi in nearly a year.  We can fix that
after we get through practicing," she commisserated.
Ranma's ire slowly dissipated, and he assumed a ready stance
in the middle of the training hall.  It was smaller than Mr.
Tendo's dojo, he noted, but it served its purpose.
     Ranko walked over to where she faced him.  "Okay,
Ranma.  I'm gonna assume that you've never had any training
before."  Ranma nodded slowly.  He didn't want to give away
anything about his past, for the moment anyway.  "That being
the case, we'll start with some basic moves," she said,
adopting a teacher's stance.  "Ranma, I'll be honest and
tell you from the beginning that I haven't ever trained
anyone before, so I'm playing it by ear."
     Ranma looked at her squarely, saying "That's okay
Ranko.  I have faith in you."
     Ranko breathed deeply, and exhaled slowly.  "Okay
Ranma, let's start with defense.  I want you to try and
block my kick, okay?"  Ranma nodded, and Ranko launched into
a simple kick that Ranma blocked deftly.  Ranko eyed her
brother strangely, "Ranma, you sure you've never had
training before?"
     Ranma's eyes widened as he realized that he wouldn't be
able to hide his training.  Scrambling to find an excuse, he
finally came up with something.  "I just watched a lot of
combat movies," he said, smiling weakly.
     Ranko's sceptical glance didn't quite leave her face as
she said, "Uhh, yeah... right.  Well anyway, I'm going to
see just how much you do know.  Watch out, bro.  I'm gonna
start to pick up the speed on my kicks.  Let me know when
you want me to stop."
     Ranma nodded without saying anything further.  Ranko
got into her attack stance again and launched a fusillade of
faster and slightly more complex kicks than the first one.
Ranma managed to block most of them, but the strain was
becoming evident as he struggled to keep up with his
sister's pace.  Ranko, meanwhile, was getting frustrated
that all of her kicks up to this point had not connected.
Granted they were kicks that any martial artist with a
year's training could block, but Ranma wasn't supposed to
know martial arts.  She frowned inwardly, and decided to up
the stakes a bit.  She struck with a kick, hardly holding
back anything this time, and scored a hit.  This time Ranma
had barely been able to block it, and was knocked on his
butt on the mats.
     Ranko was immediately on her knees next to Ranma,
apologetic.  "Ranma, I'm sorry.  Man, I should've been
watching what I was doing."  Ranma was sucking in air, and
grasping at his ribs where Ranko had tagged him.  He
regarded her with a determined look, raising his hands to
cut off her apology.  "Hey, Sis!  It's cool.  Don't worry
about it.  I should've seen it coming," he replied calmly.
She stood and offered her hand.  He took it, bringing
himself to his feet.
     "Well, you seem to have some knowledge of defense,"
Ranko observed.  "I think what you need to do is practice
some more.  You've got good form, but your actions are a
little sloppy.  But let me try something else on you and see
how well you respond."  Ranma nodded and regained his ready
stance on the mats.  Ranko launched a simple punch at him,
which he easily avoided.  Ranko then launched a progressive
series of faster and more complex hand and fist movements,
only half of which Ranma was able to block.
     Ranma swore to himself as he tried to keep Ranko's
swift punches at bay.  He was beginning to get some idea of
how far out of shape his `new self' was.  He had to admit,
however, that while the `other Ranma' didn't exercise, he
had at least kept a modicum of fitness.  He figured three
weeks, maybe two if he pushed it, before he was fighting on
par again.  What was also bothering him was that he was so
out of shape that a girl was wiping the floor with him, even
though she was his sister.  Although, he couldn't help but
respect his little sister.  She was one hell of a martial
artist.  He found himself smirking at that, a small level of
pride working its way through him.
     Ranko noted the grin on his face, and allowed a
slightly ugly grin to appear on her own face.  `Ranma's
definitely got potential, but he's getting cocky if he's
going to grin like he's not getting a challenge.  Well, I
guess I'll have to re-educate him," she thought as she
allowed a full strength punch to fly.  Caught unawares in
his reverie, the punch tagged Ranma square on the chest, and
down he went.
     This time Ranko held her position instead of running to
help him.  Ranma groaned as the pain stabbed at him,
clutching his hands tightly to his chest.  Gritting his
teeth, he slowly worked himself into a sitting position on
the mat, then stared at his sister.  "Ouch!  I guess I
deserved that one, Sis.  Sorry I wasn't paying attention
there," he said with the beginnings a smile.  `Correction,'
he told himself.  `She's an *excellent* martial artist.'
Ranko smiled and said, "That's better.  Don't ignore your
teacher, that's what we call a *bad idea.*"  She put her
hand out for her brother.  Ranma took Ranko's proffered
hand, chuckling in spite of the pain.
     Ranko regarded him as he stood upright.  "Ranma, you've
impressed me.  I wouldn't have expected you to last half an
hour, much less three hours, fighting off everything I threw
at you."  Her brows furrowed as she considered something.
"I swear Ranma, you act more like a rusty martial artist
than a person who's never done Kenpo before."
     Ranma blinked at that statement, and plowed his mind
for a proper response.  "Heh, thanks for the compliment
Sis," he said, putting an arm around her.  She smiled,
satisfied that Ranma was telling her the truth.  "Okay bro,
this is what I need you to do..."  she began rattling off a
regimen of repetitive exercises that Ranma already knew by
heart.  Ranma sighed, glad that he was able to deflect her
suspicions.  `She's smart, I'll give her that," he conceded.
He then spent the next two hours doing the exercises she
recommended, with her watching and encouraging him on.  He
stopped when he heard his mother call from the house,
looking for him.  The Saotome kids, hearing their mother,
quickly cleaned the training hall and trotted to the house.

                            ****

     A few minutes later, an exhausted Ranma shuffled into
the bathroom.  Bone weary from the exercise he endured, he
slipped out of the gi and entered the bath.  He had seated
himself and was scrubbing away when he heard someone clear
their throat.  He turned to see what made the noise when his
eyes fell on a beet-red and very wet Ranko.  She had managed
to cover all of the interesting parts with her hands before
regarding her brother with a stare.  "Ranma, you did see the
sign on the door, didn't you?  I mean, aren't we a little
old to be bathing together bro?"
     Ranma didn't answer, although his mortified look
clearly told her that he hadn't expected to find her in
here.  Covering himself by reflex, he yelled in surprise and
quickly scrambled out of the room, closing the door behind
him.  "Sorry Sis!" he yelled behind the door.  Ranko
eventually resumed her scrubbing, although she wasn't able
to lose her blush for the remainder of the night.
     After bathing, alone this time, and eating, Ranma
retired to his room.  He smacked himself on the forehead,
cursing his ignorance.  He flushed in embarrasment again as
he replayed the event in his mind.  He hadn't seen anything,
but he was sure he'd given Ranko an unintentional eyefull.
A small comfort was that she hadn't reacted like Akane
would've.  "Akane..." Ranma whispered mournfully, the
incident in the bathroom quickly forgotten.  Not wanting to
stop the flood of emotions, he let them wash over him.
Unable to stand it any longer, Ranma turned out the light,
laid down, and cried himself to sleep.

                            ****

     The next several days went fairly smoothly, with Ranma
paying more attention to the teachers, and less to Akane.
He couldn't bear to look at her, although he managed to
console his broken heart by reminding himself that Akane had
never known him in this existence.  He drew hope from that,
thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could be with her again
in the near future.  That thought fired his determination,
and Ranma vowed that he would make Akane his, somehow...
     Ranma had taken that determination and used it to fuel
his training sessions with Ranko.  Each night saw his body
becoming more and more attuned to the movements that he was
visualizing in his mind as the physical conditioning tuned
his body.  His confidence in himself grew, and Ranko's
admiration of her brother was growing by leaps and bounds.
     By the seventh day, he was actually capable of
launching offensive moves at her.  Although it seemed to her
that Ranma was pulling his punches a bit, almost as if he
didn't want to hurt her.  Ranko held her hand up to stop her
brother.  "Ranma, what the hell are you doing?"
     Ranma showed her a puzzled look.  "I'm doing what you
told me, Sis," he replied simply.
     "Not that!  Why aren't you trying to hit me?" she
demanded.  "I know you're strong Ranma, and you've improved
a lot over the past week, but you act like you're holding
back, and I want to know why."  She stood in front of him,
her arms crossed under her breasts, awaiting an answer.
     Ranma blushed slightly and coughed into his hand.
"Well, I ummm...  You see, I can't hit girls."  Ranko gave
him a dark look, and Ranma explained.  "Honestly, I just
don't want to hurt you Sis."
     Ranko stood on her tiptoes so that she and Ranma were
nose-to-nose.  "Let's get one thing straight big brother.
Yeah I'm a girl, but I'm also a martial artist, and it's a
Goddamn insult to me when you hold yourself back."  Ranma's
eyes widened when she said that.  Angry, she continued.
"How dare you say that I can't defend myself from you, or
any guy, simply because I'm female?  You make it sound like
I haven't ever taken martial arts seriously.  What the hell
gives you the right..."  A lone tear worked its way free
from her reddened eyes, and wound its way down her cheek.
Angrily she swiped away the tear.  "Thanks a lot, Ranma,"
she spat visciously.
     Ranma shook his head and berated himself for his
behavior.  Tenatively he reached his hand out and grabbed
her arm.  "Sis, please, don't cry.  I didn't mean to say you
weren't good.  I just..."  He faltered in his explanation,
trying to find the proper words.  "I'm sorry, Ranko.  I
won't hold back anymore."  He brought his other arm around
her and held her to him.  "I promise."
     Ranko sniffled a bit and returned the hug.  "Really?"
she asked, laying her head against his shoulder.
     Ranma smiled.  "Yeah, Ranko.  Really.  I'll even try to
beat the shit out of you if you want," he said, chuckling.
     Ranko couldn't help herself, and busted out laughing.
She stood away from her brother, wiping the moisture from
her cheeks on the sleeve of her gi.  "You better Ranma,
because from now on I'm not gonna hold back either," she
said with a smile.
     Ranma winced inwardly, convinced that the number of
bruises he was going to get that night had doubled.  They
resumed fighting, Ranma pouring everything he had into his
attacks, truly enjoying his training with his sister.

                            ****

     The eleventh day marked a turning point for Ranma.  For
the first time since his training had begun, he had managed
to fight his sister to a standstill.  The fight ended in a
draw, with both very winded.  Ranma pushed himself harder
than he had ever done before, and was rewarded with
exhaustion, and a buss on the cheek from his sister, who
congratulated him on the good work.
     "You're impressing me, Ranma.  I've never seen anyone
take to martial arts like this before.  In fact, you've done
well enough that I think I'll start showing you some of the
special techniques of Anything Goes tomorrow," Ranko stated.
Her face clearly showed how proud she was of Ranma.  He
blushed at the praise, not used to hearing it from one of
his own family.  His ears perked up at Ranko's mention of
`special techniques.'  `I guess I should really go all out
tomorrow.  If Ranko feels I'm ready for special techniques,
then perhaps it's time I used them again.  I guess my body's
up to speed, finally," he thought to himself as he helped
his sister clean the training hall.  He smiled suddenly,
thinking how surprised his sister would be tomorrow when he
finally let loose.

                            ****

      *Whump!*   "Ouch!" she yelled as her breath  left  her
body  again.  She had never impacted with the mat that  many
times  before  in her life.  She stopped counting  when  she
reached  37.   `Where the *hell* did Ranma pick  this  stuff
up?'   She looked up to see Ranma holding his hand  out  for
her.   She grasped it and slowly came to her feet, surprised
at  how  many  parts of her body were aching.  `Geez!   Even
Pop's not this good!'
      "C'mon  Sis, just a little while longer.  I'd like  to
try  a couple of other things!"  He jumped back into a ready
stance, eager to go again.
      Ranko held her hand up, a tired look on her face.  "No
way,  Ranma.  I'm exhausted!  I didn't even lay a  punch  on
you, so I can understand why you're still ready to go."  She
sat  down and wrapped a towel around her neck, wiping  sweat
from her brow.
      Curiosity  came to the fore.  "Hey bro!   Where'd  you
learn those moves?"
      Ranma smiled enigmatically.  "You wouldn't believe  me
if I told you."
      "Well,  either you're getting better, or  I'm  getting
worse!"  she  said, a disappointed scowl etched  across  her
face.
      Ranma chuckled and sat next to his sister, putting his
arm  around  her.   "Hey!  Don't worry.  You're  not  a  bad
martial artist, Sis.  In fact, you're great!  Especially for
a girl."
      Ranko  turned to her brother with a mixed pleased  and
angry  look on her face.  "Well thanks, I think!  Geez,  why
are you acting so sexist all of a sudden?"
     Ranma flushed, realizing he'd just insulted his sister.
"Sorry,  that came out the wrong way.  I meant to  say  that
you  fight as well as a man, and I've never seen a woman  do
that before."
     Ranko nodded, satisfied with the apology.
      Ranma  stood up and walked to the door of the training
hall.  Ranko rose to follow, wondering what her brother  was
up  to.   "Hey Ranma, wait up!" she called as she ran  after
him.  Once outside, she could see Ranma placing the last  in
a series of practice dummies out in the yard.
      Finishing  up, he walked over to Ranko.   "I  need  to
practice some special moves."
      "We  could've done that, bro.  Why the dummies?"   She
adopted an air of feigned disappointment.
      Ranma's  face became serious as he missed  the  joking
glint  in  her  eyes.  He lay his hands  on  her  shoulders,
trying  to  comfort  her.  "No Sis.   Even  under  the  best
control, I could seriously hurt you with these moves.   It's
best that I use dummies for these."  He held his hand up  to
forestall any comment from her.  "Just trust me on this one.
Watch and you'll see for yourself."
      With  that,  he  stood in front of  the  first  dummy,
concentrating on his attack.  Imagining that the  dummy  was
Ryouga  helped.   He  then launched  his  attack,  shouting,
"KACHUU   TENSHIN  AMAGURIKEN!"   Ranko  watched  in   utter
amazement  as her `weakling' brother landed 479  punches  in
under  2 minutes.  The practice dummy was so much dust  when
he stopped.  "What the *hell*?" she asked, slack jawed.
      Ranma  didn't  reply, but merely walked  to  the  next
dummy.   Inwardly, he was very pleased that he was regaining
his  old  form.   In  less  than  two  weeks,  even!   Ranma
concentrated hard, building up his chi for the next  attack.
`This one's for you, Kuno!'  With that, he stood next to the
practice dummy.  Looking over his shoulder towards his  Sis,
he  said,  "You  might want to stand back  a  little  more."
After  seeing that first move, she was quick to  agree,  and
stepped  back  a  few paces.  "That's good,  Ranko."   Ranma
clasped his hands together in front of him as he closed  his
eyes.  Afterwards he balled one of the hands into a fist and
thrust  it into the sky as he shouted, "HI RYU SHO TEN  HA!"
A   column  of  blazing  chi-energy  launched  from   Ranma,
enveloping the practice dummy and hurling it skyward.
      As the energy dissipated, a panicked Ranko ran towards
her  brother.  "Ranma, you alright?!" she yelled in concern.
She  stopped  when she saw that Ranma was untouched  by  the
energy,   and   not  even  *breathing  hard?*    The   grass
immediately  around him was singed, and the  practice  dummy
was gone, but those were the only things amiss.
      Ranma  looked at her, smiling.  "Nothin' to  it,  Sis!
Now  I only have one more thing to try before I quit for the
day."
      Ranko's  eyes were wide, "One more?  You mean  there's
more?!"  `This I gotta see for myself,' she thought  as  she
turned to face Ranma and the final practice dummy.
      Ranma stood facing the dummy, and without any preamble
this time, crouched into a battle stance.  Ranma closed  his
eyes  again, focusing on the target.  He stood there  for  a
few minutes, doing nothing.  Ranko was about to check on him
to  see if he had fallen asleep, or something, when he moved
in  a  lightning  fast  array of hand  movements,  shouting,
"MOUKO  TAKABISHA!"  A ball of chi-energy launched from  his
hands  and  struck  the dummy in the center  of  the  chest,
burning  a  hole completely through it.  After  that,  Ranma
sank  down  to one knee, his breathing labored.   Ranko  ran
over to him, and held him so he wouldn't fall.
      "Thanks Sis.  I guess I overdid it a bit on that  last
one," he said as he fought to a standing position again.
      "Ranma!  That was incredible!  I had no idea you could
do this kind of stuff!"  `Hell, I didn't know *anyone* could
do  that,' Ranko thought as she guided him to the  steps  of
the  training room and had him sit down.  "Ranma, we  really
need  to  talk.  You're not the same person that I knew  two
weeks ago.  I think it's high time you told me what the hell
is going on."
      Ranma  considered this for a moment.  He  wasn't  sure
what  kind of impact it would have on this existence  if  he
told people about his other `former' life.  He shrugged  his
shoulders,  deciding that he could confide  in  his  sister.
"Okay Ranko, I'll tell you.  But first let's get cleaned up.
I'm exhausted, and could really use a bath right now."
      "Okay Ranma.  You can go first, and I'll clean up  the
training room."  A sly grin made it's way on her face,  "...
unless  you're  too tired and need me to  scrub  your  back,
bro."   She  broke  out into a fit of cackling  laughter  as
Ranma blushed clear to his ears.  Standing up, he said,  "Ha
ha.  No thanks Sis, I think I can manage by myself."
     With that, Ranma jumped up and ran in the house.  Ranko
watched  him  go,  with  a newfound respect  for  her  older
brother showing on her face.
      Another figure watched from a secluded position in the
trees.   The  figure leaned forward, watching the  departing
Ranma,  revealing the bald visage of Genma Saotome.  "So  he
*has* been training.  I wonder..."
      Another  figure, in a white leisure suit,  watched  as
well  from a respectful distance.  Hovering sixty feet above
the  back  yard  of  the  Saotome residence,  he  smiled  to
himself.   He  had  chosen well, he felt.  Ranma's  greatest
challenge  was yet to happen, however, and that event  would
be  the  one to decide Saotome's true fate.  He snapped  his
fingers, and disappeared again.

                            ****

      Ranko  exited  the  bath, a towel  draped  across  her
breasts.   She  was walking down the hall when she  suddenly
felt  a hand on her shoulder.  She whirled around to  see  a
smirking Ranma holding her shoulder.  "Gotcha!" he said with
a smile.
      Ranko  flushed  red,  embarrassed  over  being  caught
unawares.   "Get your hand offa me, hentai!" she  said  with
mock  anger.  Ranma released his grip on her, still smiling.
He  turned  to leave when she called out to him,  "Hey  bro!
When are we gonna have that talk?"  Ranma turned back to her
and  said, "We'll talk in my room, once you're dressed  that
is."
      Ranko's  voice gained a teasing tone as she tugged  at
her towel.  "What's wrong, Ranma?  You think this outfit's a
little  too  flimsy?"  Ranma's red face was all she'd  hoped
for.  "Gotcha back!" she yelled, giggling.  She ran for  her
room before Ranma could recover.
      A  few minutes later, she knocked on his door.   "Come
in!"  she heard him say as she opened the door to his  room.
She  saw him sitting on his futon, his hands behind his head
in  a comfortable repose.  She sat next to him on the futon,
gazing  at  his face.  He appeared to be elsewhere,  if  his
eyes were any indication.  "So, what's up Ranma?"
      Ranma sat up a bit and faced his sister.  He felt that
if  he couldn't tell his own flesh and blood, he wouldn't be
able to tell anyone, and he felt that he'd have to tell this
story several times.  "Well, Ranko.  What I have to say will
probably  sound incredible.  But I need you to  believe  me.
What I'm about to tell you really happened."
      "Geez,  bro!   You're freakin' me out!  You're  making
this  sound like an episode of Rescue 911."  Ranko eyed  her
brother suspiciously, unsure of whether or not he was  going
to tell her the truth.
      `Well,  here  goes  nothing,'  he  thought.   He  then
launched  into  the story of his other life.   Ranko's  eyes
grew  larger and larger as he continued spinning  his  tale.
Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and held one hand up
to  stop him, while the other hand went to her head.  "Woah,
woah, woah, bro!  You're definitely freakin' me out."
      "But  it's all true!" Ranma said loudly.  "I  wouldn't
lie about something like this!"
      Ranko  had  to  admit, while the  story  sounded  like
something out of an anime show, it held a ring of  truth  to
it.   Besides, impossible as it seemed, it was the only  way
to  explain  how he could've learned all of those  intricate
fighting forms.  Sighing, she decided to believe him.  "It's
okay bro.  If you say it's true, I believe you."  Ranko  ran
the  story  through  her  head,  and  decided  to  ask  some
questions.
     "Okay Ranma, lemme get this straight."  She held up her
hand,  ticking points off on her fingers.  "You were granted
a  wish,  and  that wish made you what you are  right  now."
Ranma  nodded.  "And in your `other life' you  never  had  a
sister?"
      He  nodded again, then spoke.  "I have a theory  about
that.   It seems that the Saotome family was always destined
to  have  a  daughter.  And since I was cursed in the  other
life,  I also acted as that daughter."  Seeing the skeptical
look on her face, he added, "Hey, it's just a theory!"
      "You  mentioned the curse again.  You and Pop went  to
this Ginseng..."
     "Jhusenkyo," he corrected.
      "Yeah,  whatever.  Jhusenkyo.  And this place  held  a
bunch  of  cursed springs.  You both fell into the  springs,
right?"   Another  nod.  "Dad became a  p...p...panda,"  she
chuckled  again at the image.  Her dad, a cute  fuzzy  bear.
Recovering  quickly,  she continued, "...and  you  became  a
girl?"
      Ranma nodded slowly, "Yeah.  Cold water activated  the
curse, and hot water reversed it."
     "So you weren't a girl all the time?"
     Ranma shook his head.  "No, thank God!  I only became a
girl whenever I got hit with cold water."
      "Still,  you  know what it's like to be a  girl?"  she
asked,  wondering what it was like to be a  magical  gender-
bender.
      "Yeah,  I  feel  like I've been through  it  all,"  he
replied, sighing like a war-weary veteran.
     "What did you look like?"
     "Well to tell you the truth, I looked exactly like you,
except I had red hair," he answered simply.
      That  earned  a  stare from his sister.   "You  looked
exactly like me?  How would you know that?"
      "Well you *did* flash me with the towel.  It was kinda
hard  not  to  notice, Ranko."  Now it was Ranko's  turn  to
blush  deep  crimson.  She didn't think that  she'd  exposed
herself.  Shuffling uncomfortably, she decided to press on.
     "Did you ever date a guy, Ranma?"
     Ranma flushed, "Gaah!  No!  Of course not.  Yuck!"  His
body  went  through various gyrations as  he  expressed  his
distaste at the question.  "I only had the body of  a  girl.
My mind never changed," he tried to explain.
     "Ahhh!  Now I see.  That must've been interesting."
      "More  than  you'll ever know.  Why did  you  think  I
wished to be rid of the curse?"  He told her again about all
of the problems he had to endure as part of his curse.
      "Multiple  engagements?  Heh, my brother the  gigolo!"
she said, a fit of giggling overcoming her.
      "Hey,  cut  that out Ranko!  I'm not done telling  the
story yet!"
      Bringing herself under control, she quieted  down  and
allowed Ranma to continue.
      "Anyway,  Pop  made  a few promises.   The  first  one
concerned the training trip that I took with him when I  was
six.   Pop had to promise to make me a man among men  before
Mom would allow me to go with him.  If Pop failed, Mom would
have  forced  both of us to commit seppuku."   Ranko's  eyes
widened  in horror as she got a visual of Ranma and her  dad
disemboweling themselves.  Ranma continued.  "That  was  the
last time I saw Mom for many years."
      "Ahh,  now  I understand why you're so happy  whenever
mom's  around.  I guess you had to hide from her  after  you
were  cursed," Ranko replied.  Ranma nodded, a sad  look  on
his  face.   Ranko  sighed.  She silently thanked  God  that
she'd  not been dragged around on a training trip  with  her
dad.  Her dad sounded no different from the one Ranma had to
contend  with in his other life.  Ranma shook  his  head  to
clear it, and then continued.
      "Another promise was the one I already told you about,
where  Pop  promised to marry me to Ukyou."  `Ever  since  I
made that wish, I've wondered what's happened to her,' Ranma
shook  his head again.  There were too many things  to  sort
out.   He'd  have  to  work on them one  at  a  time.   "And
finally,  before  I  was born, Pop made  a  promise  to  his
lifelong friend, Soun Tendo, that should Pop have a boy  and
Mr.  Tendo  have a girl they would marry the  kids  so  they
could  carry  on the Anything Goes School of  Martial  Arts.
Well,  after  we went to Jhusenkyo, Pop told  me  about  the
arranged  marriage.  Actually, he waited  until  we  were  a
block from the Tendo Dojo before he told me."  Ranma's fists
clenched at the memory.  "Anyway, when we arrived, we  found
out  that  Mr. Tendo had three daughters.  Kasumi,  who  was
nineteen,  Nabiki,  who was seventeen, and  Akane,  who  was
sixteen.   Akane was chosen as the one to marry  me  by  the
other girls after they found out about my curse.
     Ranma winced involuntarily as he remembered how well he
and  Akane, literally, hit it off when they first met.  `She
didn't have to hit me so hard with that table...' he thought
absently.   Bringing  his  mind  back  to  the  present,  he
continued.  "Akane and I never made the engagement official.
I mean, how could I get married to a girl in the condition I
was  in?   She  didn't  seem  to mind  the  curse,  however.
Another reason we didn't make it official was that we argued
all  the  time."  Ranma smiled fondly, adding,  "Although  I
have to admit that she had begun to grow on me recently.  If
only  she  wasn't  such  a ..."  He  broke  off,  unable  to
complete the sentence.
      Ranko looked at her brother closely, her eyes widening
in  shock  as she guessed at what he was hiding.  "You  love
her, don't you?" she asked, incredulous.
     Ranma's head snapped up, and he became defensive.  "No!
That tomboy?!  That uncute macho chick is ..."
      Ranko  held  her hand up, the expression on  her  face
telling  Ranma he should stop.  "Ranma, remember who  you're
talking  to.   I may be a girl, but I'm also a  Saotome.   I
recognize that look on your face.  You don't have to lie  to
me,  so just admit it," Ranko admonished, wagging her finger
in a lecturing fashion.
      "Yeah, you're right.  But we could never seem  to  get
anywhere  with all of the interference from my  enemies  and
other fiancee's," Ranma replied.  Then his eyes lit up as he
realized  something.   "But that's  not  the  case  anymore!
Shampoo,  Mousse and that old ghoul aren't  here  because  I
never  went to the village of the Amazons.  Same thing  with
Ukyou.  Pop and I never met her father, so she has no reason
to  be here, either.  Plus, I haven't met Ryouga or Kodachi,
yet, thank God!"
     "What are you babbling about, Ranma?"
     "Don't you see, Ranko?  It's like a clean slate.  I can
start  over  with Akane, and not have any interference.   It
may actually work this time!"  He jumped up, a big smile  on
his  face.   He  started doing that blue aura  thing,  waves
crashing in the background.  Ranko stood up and backed  away
from her brother, watching Ranma at a distance.
      "So what are you going to do now, Ranma?  I don't know
who  this  Akane  person is.  If she's at Furinkan  High,  I
haven't seen her."
      "Oh she's there alright.  She's even in a couple of my
classes,  although I get the feeling that she  doesn't  even
know who I am."  Ranma tossed that one around in his head.
     "So how are you going to get her attention?"
      "Getting her attention isn't the real problem,  Ranko.
I  have  to  get  her  away from that idiot,  Kuno."   Ranma
recalled  what  he saw outside of the Tendo Dojo  that  day.
"Why she's even hanging out with that jerk is beyond me."
      "Well,  you'd better have a lot of life  insurance  if
you're  going  to go after Kuno.  The self-proclaimed  `Blue
Thunder  of  Furinkan High' is good.  I've never fought  him
myself,  but I've seen the results of his fights many  times
before."
      Ranma  cracked his knuckles and smirked.  "Now that  I
have my fighting abilities back, Kuno's going to become  the
new doormat of the high school."
      Ranko  chuckled lightly and patted him  on  the  back,
saying,  "Well I wish you luck Ranma.  Just let me  know  if
you need any help with him."
      Ranma  turned  to  face her.  "You know,  I've  always
wondered  what  it  would be like to have  a  brother  or  a
sister."   He  stopped for a moment, unsure of what  to  say
next.  Fumbling for words, he finally managed to say, "Well,
I'm  glad you're here, Sis."  He wrapped her up in  a  tight
hug, mussing her hair.
      Ranko  returned the hug, stunned at the way Ranma  was
acting  all  of a sudden.  This definitely wasn't  the  same
person who only last month cut her bra into small pieces for
throwing away one of his manga books.
     "Ranko, I was wondering."
     They disengaged from the hug.  "Yeah, what is it bro?"
      "How  old  are you?  I mean, you look like you're  the
same age I am."
      "I'm  fifteen.   I  was born eleven months  after  you
were."
      "Oh.   Well, that being the case, I should be able  to
teach  you  some of the special moves you saw me  do  today.
That is, if you want me to."
      Ranko  smiled.  "Yeah.  I'd like that.  It'd  help  me
keep those hentai freshmen away from me."
      Ranma gave her a big grin and said, "Lemme know if you
ever  want  any  help in that department.  I  can  be  quite
persuasive."  They both laughed at that.
      Both heads turned at the sound of Nodoka calling  them
to the dinner table.
      "Oh,  by  the way Ranko.  Please keep our conversation
between  us.   I  don't want Mom or Pop to  think  that  I'm
crazy."
      "Ok Ranma.  I'll keep this between us.  Just make sure
that you don't slip and mention it yourself."  Ranma nodded,
then they both turned to go downstairs.

                            ****

     "Nodoka?" Genma called from the living room.
      Nodoka popped her head in from the living room.   "Yes
dear?"
     "Could you come here and sit by me for a moment?" Genma
asked, patting the seat next to him at the table.
      "Sure,  honey," she said, a puzzled look on her  face.
She  walked  from  the  kitchen and sat  down  next  to  her
husband.  "What's the matter?"
      "You  haven't  noticed anything... different...  about
Ranma, have you dear?"
     Nodoka considered the question.  "Well, actually, yes I
have."
      "What  about  him struck you as being  different?"  he
pressed.
     "Why are you asking me this, Genma?  Is there something
wrong?" she asked with growing alarm.
      Genma  quickly  brought his hand  up  to  silence  and
comfort  his  wife.  "Nonono.  Nothing like  that.   I  just
think  that he's been behaving differently recently,  that's
all.   I just wanted to know if you noticed it too.   All  I
want is your impression of his behavior," he said soothingly
      Nodoka  appeared  mollified by Genma's  response,  and
answered  his  question.  "Well, if anything,  I'd  say  his
behavior has improved."
     Genma considered this.  "Improved, how?"
      "Well he seems to be a lot more motivated than he used
to be.  Almost as if he has a goal he's reaching for.  Also,
he  seems to have become more athletic.  I thought he  hated
sports and exerting himself.  Especially martial arts."
      Genma's  eyes flashed at her mention of martial  arts.
"Martial arts?  You've seen him performing the arts?"
     "Not really.  Although I'd imagine he's been trained in
some  form  of martial arts.  How else can you  explain  his
being  able to run on the top of fence railings like he  has
recently?"
     Genma stared blankly, realizing that his son would have
to  possess a tremendous command over his balance to be able
to  do that without concentrating.  "Was there anything else
you noticed, dear?"
      "Well,  Ranko and he have been going into the training
hall  a lot lately.  I guess she's been showing him a couple
of  moves."  Nodoka smiled at the thought.  She was proud of
her  son, and was glad to see him doing more things  on  his
own.   A  sizzling  sound from the kitchen  reminded  Nodoka
about  dinner.  "Oh my!  The meal's going to burn if I don't
hurry!"  And with that Nodoka hurried to the kitchen.
      Genma  smiled  to  his departing wife.   Then  frowned
deeply as she turned the corner.  `Ranma and I are going  to
have  to  have  a discussion...' he thought, anger  stirring
inside him.
     He turned as he heard his wife call the children to the
table.  `Yes, after dinner Ranma and I are going to come  to
an  understanding,' he thought darkly, his knuckles cracking
under the table.

                            ****

      The  family sat down to the evening meal.   Ranma  and
Ranko looked like bookends sitting next to each other at one
end  of  the table.  Nodoka sat the meal down on the  table,
and  all  ate heartily.  During the meal, Genma kept looking
at  Ranma out of the corner of his eye.  Ranma was too  busy
practicing the shovel method of chopstick use to notice  the
scrutiny.   Moments later the two siblings put  their  bowls
down on the table, having inhaled their food rather rapidly.
Ranko stood, saying, "I have some homework to finish.   I'll
be  up  in  my room."  She turned and walked up the  stairs.
Ranma turned to follow when Genma caught his hand.
      "Ranma,  I  need to talk to you about something."   He
laid  his  chopsticks down and stood up.  "Let's go  to  the
training  hall,  shall we?"  Ranma smiled  and  said,  "Sure
Pop."  He turned to talk to his mother, "Thanks for the meal
Mom.  It was great!"  And the two men walked outside to  the
training hall.
      They entered the training hall and stood in the middle
of  the room.  Genma faced away from Ranma, apparently doing
something,  while  Ranma looked about the  place  nervously.
"So  Pop,  what  did you... HEY!" he said as  he  dodged  an
uppercut  that had been aimed directly for his chin.   "What
the  *hell's* goin' on here?"  Ranma asked, getting  into  a
combat stance.
      "So  I *WAS* right!  You've learned to fight!  Only  a
*seasoned* martial artist could've blocked that punch!"
      "So,  what's  the big deal, old man?"  Ranma  retorted
hotly.
     Genma's face was a mask of pure rage.  "The big deal is
that you were never *supposed* to learn martial arts in  the
first place, boy!  Ever since the day you refused to go with
me  on that training trip, I found you unworthy to carry  on
the  Saotome  name!  No son of mine should have  refused  to
join me on that training journey.  You were weak, boy!"
      Now  Ranma's rage showed, his face turning a brilliant
red.   "Now just a Goddamned minute!  There are a few things
that  you're going to have to get straight before you  start
giving  me  that `unworthy' crap.  I can't even believe  I'm
hearing  this from you!  You have *no* idea what  I've  been
through old man!" Ranma shot back, anger growing quickly  in
him.
      Genma  continued, undaunted.  "All I know for sure  is
that  you're a disgrace Ranma!  A stain on our family name!"
he  shouted in a very angry voice, pointing at his son in an
accusatory manner.  "You refused to learn the Saotome School
of Anything Goes Martial Arts when you refused to go on that
trip.   And  now I see that you've gone out and  learned  it
from  someone else!  This is a shame that our family  should
*not*  have  to  endure!"   Genma launched  another  attack,
trying  to  nail Ranma.  His punches were striking  air,  as
Ranma  neatly  dodged everything his father could  throw  at
him.  And his father wasn't merely sparring.
     "Pop, cut this out!  You can't hit me, so stop trying!"
Ranma  shouted  as  he kept blocking the  shots.   His  mind
scrambled  for a way to get his father to stop.  He  thought
of  a possibility and gave it a shot.  "You're a fine one to
talk  about  honor, old man!  If you're so  damn  honorable,
then why am I not engaged to one of Soun Tendo's daughters?"
      Nothing  else  would've stopped  Genma  the  way  that
question  did.   Genma quit fighting and  collapsed  to  his
knees,  placed  his face in his hands, and started  weeping.
When  Ranma approached him, Genma swiped at him with one  of
his hands, shouting in almost a half-sob, "Get away from me,
boy!"   After a short time Genma's sobs ended, and he looked
up  angrily  at his son.  "How did you find out about  that,
Ranma?   No-one  was supposed to know.  Who  told  you?"  he
demanded.
      Ranma  decided to be evasive.  He couldn't tell  about
the  wish or the alternate reality.  Life was chaotic enough
already without freaking his parents out.  So he decided  to
do  some artful storytelling.  "I learned it from the person
who trained me."
      Genma stared hard at his son.  "Oh, and who would THAT
be?"
      Ranma  smiled inwardly, awaiting his father's reaction
to his answer.  "Why Pop, it was the same person who trained
you and Mr. Tendo.  Happosai, of course."
      All  of  the color drained from Genma's face,  and  he
twitched  violently  at the mention of  his  master's  name.
Very  quickly, Genma leapt up and put his hand over  Ranma's
mouth.   "Shh, boy!  Don't say that name too loud.   He  may
hear  you."   Genma looked around suspiciously, making  sure
that  MegaHentai didn't make an entrance.  Ranma was  fairly
sure  that  Happosai was still sealed in that mountain  cave
that  his father and Mr. Tendo had trapped him in all  those
years ago.
     He then glared down at his father and decided to return
fire.   Breaking out of his father's grip, he shouted, "I've
made a man out of myself through a lot of effort and a whole
lot  of  suffering, old man.  I deserve everything I've  got
because  I fought hard for it, and there's no way I'm  going
to let you devalue my effort by calling me unworthy!  If you
want  to look at the person who dishonored the family,  look
at  yourself."  Genma didn't speak, but simply stared up  at
his  angry son.  "Had you asked, I would have loved to train
*here*  with  you, instead of going off on some damned  fool
idealistic  crusade."  Ranma gestured to  himself  with  his
open  hands, an exasperated look on his face.  "Obviously  I
like  martial arts.  I've trained for awhile in it, and  I'm
good!"
      "Ranma,  I never knew.  Why didn't you tell me,  boy?"
Genma asked, dumbfounded.
      Ranma  searched his mind frantically  for  an  answer.
Obviously  *he*  couldn't  have  told  his  father   sooner.
Technically, he just got here.  He decided to guess,  "Well,
if  you  hadn't been so dead set against me being a  martial
artist,  and  listened  to  me instead  of  playing  injured
soldier, then this wouldn't have happened."
      Genma  sat  still for several long minutes,  his  face
mirroring  the war of emotions that was playing  out  within
him.  "I ... don't know what to say, boy.  I guess I've been
wrong about you all these years.  You have grown up to be  a
man among men, as I always hoped you would," Genma declared,
looking  at  his son anew.  "You do your father, indeed  the
whole  family,  proud."  Genma stood up  and  smiled.   "I'm
sorry  for  striking at you like that, son.   You  and  your
sister are both great successors to the Saotome School."  He
extended  his  hand,  which  Ranma  slowly  accepted.    The
handshake turned into a hug, with both men pounding the hell
out of each other on the back.
      They both stood in silence for a few moments.  "Pop, I
gotta tell you something," Ranma finally said.
     "What is it, boy?" Genma asked warily.
      "I'm going to the Tendo Dojo.  I intend to keep intact
the  promise  you  made  to  Mr.  Tendo,"  Ranma  proclaimed
proudly.
      Genma held his arm out to stop Ranma from leaving  the
training  center.   "Ranma, I'm afraid I can't  let  you  do
that."
      "POP?!   Why not?  It's something that I want to  do,"
Ranma yelled, uncertain why his father would try to stop him
from going.
      "Well Ranma, it's a family secret.  One that only your
mother and I know."  He sat on the mats, and urged Ranma  to
do  the same, which he did slowly.  "You see, you were right
when  you  said that Soun and I made that promise all  those
years  ago.   However, when you decided not to  go  on  that
training  journey  with me, I broke off the  agreement  with
him, claiming that I had no son worthy of marrying off.   He
took  offense  with me, and claimed that I  had  soiled  the
Tendo  name  by  acting  so  dishonorably  as  to  break  an
agreement between friends."  Genma sighed, hating to have to
dredge  up such painful memories.  "Ever since that  day  he
has  refused to speak with any of us.  He's even  pushed  me
away violently on the occasions when I came in person to try
and  make  amends."  Genma's look darkened as he  continued.
"And  if  I  know  Soun, he's probably  already  made  other
arrangements  to  keep  his  family  honor  intact.   You're
probably too late, boy.  I'm sorry."
      Ranma's  face flushed with white hot rage as parts  of
the  puzzle  finally clicked into place.  "Kuno, of  course!
*Dammit!*  Why didn't I see it before.  No wonder Akane  was
depressed!   Pop, I gotta get over there!"  Ranma  bit  out,
clenching  his  fists  in frustration.   He  looked  to  the
training  hall  door in desperation.  He  *HAD*  to  get  to
Akane!
      Genma  grabbed  his  son  by  the  arms,  shaking  him
slightly.   "Ranma, didn't you hear me?   If  he  finds  out
you're my son, he'll probably try to kill you!" Genma  said,
trying to reason with him.
      "Pop, it's a risk I've gotta take.  You're gonna  have
to  trust me on this one."  Ranma said as he wriggled out of
his father's grasp and sprinted out of the training hall.
      Genma ran to the door of the training hall in time  to
see  his son vault to the roof of the house.  Unable to stop
him,  he  decided  to encourage him.  "Good  luck  son!"  he
shouted  to  the  departing Ranma, watching  him  leap  from
rooftop  to rooftop.  He then ran into the house,  to  break
the news to his wife.

                            ****

      Ranma  jumped down from his rooftop sprinting,  having
lost his way.  `Damn, I'm beginning to feel like Ryouga,' he
thought as he approached a street vendor selling Okonomiyaki
from a dingy yatai.  He wasn't able to find a street sign or
any  other  discernible landmark, so he decided to  approach
the street cook and ask him where he was.
     "Ahh, excuse me?" Ranma asked.
      The  cook  finished  flipping the okonomiyaki  on  his
griddle before turning to speak to Ranma.  "Yes sir,  can  I
help you?"
      Ranma had to concentrate hard on ignoring the smell of
the  cooking  treats.  They were calling  back  memories  of
Ucchan, and he didn't need that sort of distraction  at  the
moment.   "Uhh,  yeah.  I'm trying to find out  what  street
this is."
      The cook chuckled slightly, saying, "Well sir, I doubt
I can help you there.  I know my routes by way of landmarks,
so  I  don't  know  what street this is since  I  don't  pay
attention to street signs."
     Crestfallen, Ranma looked for another person to talk to
on  the  street, but wasn't able to see anyone else  nearby.
The  cook served up the completed okonomiyaki on a plate and
pushed  it in Ranma's direction.  "Here you go son,  on  the
house."
      "Oh  sir,  thank  you but I couldn't..."  Ranma  said,
smiling at the offer.
      "That's  alright, son.  Take it.  I have to  cook  one
every  once in awhile to keep the griddle properly seasoned.
If you don't eat it, I'll have to throw it out."
      Ranma  acquiesced and accepted the offered food.   The
cook  smiled as Ranma ate.  "So, what brings you out at this
time of the night, sir?"
      Ranma swallowed, then answered.  "I'm trying to get to
someone.  The damn thing is that I thought I knew the way to
her place."
      The cook cocked an eyebrow and smiled.  "Her, eh?  You
meeting a girlfriend?"
      Ranma  flushed, having not intended to let that  slip.
"Yeah, I guess you can call her that."
     "Oh, you having problems with the young lady?" the cook
asked inquisitively.
      Ranma didn't really want to say anything more, but  he
decided  that  he'd  feel better if  he  discussed  it  with
someone.   "Well,  yeah  I guess.  She  acts  like  I'm  not
around,  you know?"  The cook nodded his head.  "Besides,  I
think she's already involved with someone else."
      Ranma took another bite of the okonomiyaki.  The  cook
smiled  and said, "Well, that sounds like a lot for  someone
so  young to be worried about.  Is this ladyfriend of  yours
worth all of the trouble you're going through?"
     "Yes, she is.  She has no idea what I would do for her.
You see, it's not my desire that I'm worried about.  I can't
seem  to  find the right way to approach her."   He  sighed,
"And  there's  her  father to worry about,  too.   Something
tells me that he and I aren't going to exactly hit it off."
      "Well, if you want my honest opinion sir, I feel  that
anything  is possible if a person's commitment is  true  and
his intentions are both honest and honorable.  You strike me
as  being that type of person, so you shouldn't worry.  Just
let things happen and react to them, instead of anticipating
every possibility.  Life's too short for someone so young to
have  so  much troubling himself."  He patted Ranma  on  the
shoulder, smiling.  "You'll see what I mean someday."
       Ranma  guessed  he  did,  and  felt  better  for  the
discussion.   He  also  felt  a *lot*  more  determined  and
focused.   He  finished off the okonomiyaki and thanked  the
cook.   "You've been a big help.  Now if only I  could  find
the Tendo dojo from here," he said to himself.
      The cook pointed over Ranma's shoulder and said, "It's
two blocks in that direction."
     "How?! ... " he asked, an incredulous look on his face.
      "I  pass  by it every day," the cook said  by  way  of
explanation as he began packing things up.  "And now, I have
to  go  to another location.  It's almost time for the shift
change  at the wok factory.  Have a good evening  sir.   And
good luck with the ladyfriend!"
      "Thanks!" Ranma shouted as he headed in the  direction
indicated by the cook.  As Ranma faded out of view, the cook
smiled  to  himself.  "You're almost there  Saotome.   Don't
blow  it now," the cook said, snapping his fingers to reveal
a  white leisure suit.  Another snap of the fingers and both
he and the yatai disappeared from the streetcorner.

                            ****

      Ranma finally arrived at the gates of the Tendo  Hall.
He looked behind him, and saw that the damaged wall from his
last  encounter with Kuno had been repaired.  Twice he tried
to  bring  his  hand up to open the gate  and  approach  the
house.   `Dammit!   I  can't  be nervous  now!'  he  thought
angrily.  He steeled himself and bravely marched through the
gate and approached the house.  Seeing lights on, he knocked
at the front door and awaited an answer.
      Kasumi opened the door and saw a young man with a pig-
tail standing on the porch.  "Yes, may I help you?"
      Ranma decided to act like he didn't know any of  them,
and merely replied.  "Yes ma'am.  I'm looking for a Mr. Soun
Tendo.  Is he here?"
      Kasumi smiled and said, "Yes he is.  He's in our dojo.
You can wait in the den to speak with him, or go to the dojo
if  you  wish."   She indicated the dojo entrance  with  her
hand.
      Ranma smiled and said, "Thank you.  I'll talk with him
in the dojo.  You've been most helpful..."
     "Kasumi," she answered, bowing slightly.
      "Thank  you,  Kasumi."   He  turned  and  ran  in  the
direction of the dojo, leaving Kasumi at the door.
      "Oh, my.  What a nice young man," Kasumi commented  as
she slid the door closed.

                            ****

      Ranma  approached the dojo cautiously.   Once  at  the
entrance, he saw Soun going through a few katas.   `Wow!   I
never knew Akane's old man had it in him.  He's really  good
at  this,'  Ranma thought as he watched the Kenpo instructor
go through his moves.  When Soun finished, Ranma entered the
dojo and cleared his throat.
      Soun  looked up and waved at Ranma.  "Hello son.   Are
you interested in taking a course?"
      "Not  really,  Mr. Tendo.  I needed to see  you  about
something important," Ranma said cautiously, making sure  he
stayed on his guard.
      "Well,  what  can I help you with son?"   Soun  asked,
folding his arms in front of his chest.
      Ranma  decided  to  plunge on ahead,  consequences  be
damned.  "Well, I'm here to honor a debt to your family, Mr.
Tendo.  You see, my name is Ranma Saotome."
      Soun's face grew severe, and his arms dropped  to  his
sides.  "Ranma Saotome?  Not Saotome as in Genma Saotome?"
     "Yes sir, the one and the same," Ranma replied simply.
      Soun's  cold  look turned to a mask of iron-hot  rage.
"How DARE a Saotome disgrace my dojo with his presence?"  he
spluttered, assuming an attack stance.  "Get the hell out of
here before I hurt you, boy!"
      Ranma was going to play it cool, right up to the point
where  Soun used the words `Saotome' and `disgrace'  in  the
same  sentence.   Now  he  was pissed,  and  he  showed  it.
"Shelve  the  attitude, Mr. Tendo.  I didn't  come  here  to
fight with you, only to talk," Ranma spat.
      "Well  a  fight's what you're gonna get if  you  don't
leave, *now!*" Soun shouted, his fists shaking in rage.
      "I  have  no intention of leaving until we  talk,  Mr.
Tendo," Ranma said coldly, resigning himself to a fight with
his former, and possibly future, father-in-law.
      Soun  eyed his opponent, a sneer forming on his  face.
"Well,  if you're so eager to fight, I'll oblige you.   HA!"
And with that he charged at the shocked youth.
      Ranma  swore to himself.  He had a lot of respect  for
Mr.  Tendo, and didn't like the idea of having to fight him.
However, if it was the only way that he'd be able to get  to
the bottom of all of this, then it was something that he had
to  do.   Ranma  rose his arms up in a defensive  stance  at
Soun's battle cry, and the battle was joined.

                            ****

      The two combatants had fought for twenty hard minutes,
and  the dojo was suffering for it.  Soun had not been  able
to  land any real blows on Ranma, and on occasion missed him
altogether  to  hit the wall or ceiling instead.   Holes  in
panels,  and  cracked building supports gave evidence  of  a
fierce  battle that, should it continue much further,  would
literally bring the house down.
      Ranma  wasn't able to concentrate on the condition  of
the  dojo at the moment, as he was fighting harder  than  he
ever  thought he'd have to.  Soun's prowess was  surprising,
and  much  more advanced than what Ranma had encountered  in
his other life.  As he dodged punch after punch, he heard  a
distant creaking.  Looking up, he saw a thick section of the
rafter  break  loose and fall.  It was heading directly  for
Soun's  position.   Not wanting anything to  happen  to  Mr.
Tendo,  Ranma blocked a final punch, then landed one of  his
own,  sending  Soun sprawling out of harm's  way.   Then  he
concentrated  with all of his might on the descending  beam.
"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" he yelled, lashing out  at  the
beam  with his fists.  The combined force of the 719 punches
on  the beam turned it into sawdust, and soon it was snowing
wood  flakes  in the dojo.  Ranma collapsed  to  his  knees,
gasping in the dusty air.
      Soun  sat  with  his mouth open.  Never  had  he  seen
someone so accomplished in Anything Goes before.  Genma  had
indeed trained his son well.  `Genma!  How dare he say  that
he  has no son worthy to marry one of my daughters, and then
train  him to this level of expertise!?  This is an insult!'
Soun thought as he stood, an indignant look on his face.  He
wasn't going to fight Ranma again, not after seeing what  he
was  capable of doing.  But that didn't mean that he had  to
share the same floorspace with Ranma.
      Seeing  Soun turn to leave, Ranma turned  to  him  and
said, "Mr. Tendo, wait!  We have to talk!"
     "Why should I listen to you, after all that your family
has done to me?" Soun yelled, half wailing.
      Ranma decided to call in a debt, "Because I saved your
life."  Seeing Soun's incredulous look, Ranma nodded.  "Yup!
You  would've  died  if I hadn't taken out  that  beam,  Mr.
Tendo."  Ranma's look softened a bit, "Look Mr. Tendo, all I
ask is that you listen to me."
     Soun's shoulders slumped in defeat.  He'd have to honor
the  boy's request, so he sat on the floor of the dojo,  and
stared  at Ranma with a blank expression on his face,  "Very
well, go ahead."
     Ranma turned the creative engine on again, as he pieced
together  a story that Soun would believe.  "Well,  you  see
Mr.  Tendo, my father was correct in what he told  you.   At
the time he broke off the engagement, I wasn't really worthy
of  marrying  any  of  your daughters and  carrying  on  the
Anything  Goes school.  However when I grew older I  trained
hard  and quickly, and learned the art.  I realized  that  I
wanted  to  make my family proud of me."  Which  was  mostly
true, although the facts were twisted a bit.
      Soun looked at him and asked, "So when did Genma start
to train you, Ranma?"
      Ranma decided to stick with the same story he told his
dad.  "Actually, Mr. Tendo, Pop didn't train me."
     Soun's eyes widened, "Really?  Then who trained you?"
      "Well,  you  see, until recently, Pop  and  I  weren't
really  getting  along.  He thought me  a  disgrace  to  the
family, and refused to train me.  He trained my sister Ranko
instead.   So I turned to the only other person  skilled  at
Anything Goes."  Seeing Soun blanch, he nodded, "Yup, that's
right.  I got my training from Happosa...mfff!"
      Soun  dashed  over to Ranma, and in  an  imitation  of
Genma's  reaction,  whipped his  hand  over  Ranma's  mouth.
Ranma struggled for a bit before relenting.  "Don't say that
name around here, Ranma.  You might draw him to the dojo."
      "I  wouldn't worry too much about that, Mr. Tendo.   I
have  a feeling that he's safely sealed away, for the moment
at  least.  You shouldn't have any problems with  him."   `I
hope,' Ranma added to himself.
      Soun exhaled loudly, obviously relieved.  Suddenly  he
eyed Ranma, asking, "Just what all did you learn from Hap...
the master?"
      Ranma's eyes narrowed at the question.  "Well I didn't
pick  up  that  hentai's appetite for panties and  bras,  if
that's your concern," he deadpanned.
      Soun sighed in relief again and stood away from Ranma.
"Was  that  all  you wanted to tell me, Ranma  Saotome?"  he
asked formally.
      Ranma sighed in relief, believing the worst was  over.
He  collected  his wits for the next part.  "No  Mr.  Tendo,
there's  more.  As I've already told you, I know  about  the
promise that you and Pop had concerning marrying me  to  one
of your daughters."
      "I'm  sure  Genma  told you this, right?"  Soun  asked
acidly.
      Again  sticking to the story he told his  father,  "No
sir,   I  found  this  out  from  Hap...  the  master  while
training."   Ranma stood and began pacing the floor  of  the
trashed  dojo, kicking up sawdust with every step.  "I  will
admit  that  I was honestly upset that a marriage  had  been
arranged  for  me  without my consent.  But  I  was  equally
shocked  to  learn that the agreement had been  broken.   In
fact, it wasn't until this evening that I learned of why the
engagement had been broken."
      Soun hung his head low, tears streaming down his face.
"It was a great shame to my family the day your father broke
that  agreement.   I  had such plans for  the  both  of  our
families.  I had really looked forward to the day  when  our
families were joined."
      A  large  bead of sweat hung from his head,  as  Ranma
realized that his wish had caused all of this to happen  (or
not happen, depending on your perspective).  Ranma tried  to
make  the  best of the situation.  In Soun Tendo's words  he
saw a possibility to mend the feud between the two families,
and  proceeded  with  caution.  "Mr. Tendo,  my  father  has
regretted that day, and has wanted to apologize to  you  for
it on several occasions."
      Soun  looked over at him, and laughed with a touch  of
bitterness.   "Well, Ranma.  You see, it's not that  simple.
A  simple apology just won't do.  It'll take a lot more than
that to satisfy the honor of the Tendo family.  For example,
when your father broke off the marriage plans, I had to keep
the Tendo family honor intact.  So I scouted Nerima for many
years looking for a substitute of good ability who would  be
willing to marry one of my daughters.  Only recently  was  I
able  to  find someone who took an interest in  my  youngest
daughter, Akane."
      "Tatewaki  Kuno," Ranma ground out, his hands  balling
into fists.
      "Ahh,  so you've heard of him.  Well, while no  formal
announcement of their engagement has been made, the proposal
was  accepted by him on behalf of his family."  Soun sighed,
knowing that the arrangement was of little comfort.
      Ranma  shook his head, not wanting to hear  it.   "But
don't  you  see,  Mr. Tendo.  That's why  I've  come  here!"
Ranma  spread his arms out, almost preaching.   "I  want  to
keep the promise you and my Pop made.  I *want* to marry one
of your daughters!"
      Soun's  eyes lit up, and the beginnings of a desperate
smile creased his face.  "You aren't joking about this,  are
you son?"
      Ranma gave him his most solemn look, "No sir, it's  no
joke.  But there is a complication."
     "Complication?" Soun asked, getting upset again.
      "Well, you see, I've seen all three of your daughters.
And while I'd be very happy with Kasumi, and Nabiki would be
an  ... interesting wife, it's Akane that I'm really in love
with."   Ranma looked Soun in the eye.  "Please  Mr.  Tendo!
You  *have* to tell me that there's a way to break off  that
arrangement between Akane and Kuno!" he shouted, a touch  of
desperation creeping into his voice.
      Soun's  brow creased as he registered the distaste  he
felt  over  the  agreement, replying with, "The  arrangement
between  the Kuno family and ours has always been  on  shaky
ground.   Plus,  Akane isn't too happy with the  arrangement
herself.   Kuno  has  even made it worse  by  boasting  that
anyone  who  bests him in combat will win  Akane  from  him.
That arrogant bastard..."  Looking towards the house and his
daughters,  he  continued.  "Ranma, if you  were  to  defeat
Kuno,  and  rescue  Akane  from that  arrangement,  I  would
happily consent to your engagement."
      Ranma's mind backpedaled.  `Woah!  Why am I feeling so
resistant  all  of  a  sudden?  Isn't this  what  I've  been
wanting since I got here?' he thought as he tried to come up
with  something to say.  Finally he smiled at Soun,  saying,
"Let's  take things one step at a time, Mr. Tendo.   I  like
Akane, but I feel it's better if she knows me before another
engagement is sprung on her.  Besides, she might not... like
...  me."   Ranma  paused, having not ever  considered  that
before.   `What  if she doesn't like me?   I'd  hate  to  be
chasing  after her, only to find out that I'm  not  wanted.'
Ranma  banished  the thought from his mind, not  wanting  to
dwell on something as depressing as that.
      Soun  put  his hand on Ranma's shoulder, watching  the
emotions  warring  across  the young  man's  face.   "You're
right, of course.  We'll worry about getting Kuno out of the
way first.  The rest can come later."
      "Mr.  Tendo, one more thing.  Will you promise to  sit
down  and  talk to my father if I beat Kuno?" Ranma pressed,
hoping to reunite the two families.
      Soun  `hmmmed'  for a bit before saying,  "Very  well.
I'll  talk  to  Genma if you win.  It's a deal!"   He  shook
Ranma's  hand  heartily.  "We'll keep this to ourselves  for
now,  Ranma.   I don't want to risk getting my little  girls
upset with me."
      Ranma  smiled,  knowing how bad  upsetting  the  Tendo
sisters  can  be.   "Yes, Mr. Tendo.  I understand."   Ranma
looked  around,  noticing the damage  for  the  first  time.
"Oops!  Sorry I made such a mess of the place."
      "Quite alright, Ranma.  If everything works out as you
and  I have planned, the damage to the dojo would have  been
well worth it."  More creaking coming from the beams in  the
walls and roof seemed to underscore the point.
      Ranma took that as his cue to leave.  "Good night, Mr.
Tendo.   I won't disappoint you."  And with that he sprinted
out of the dojo, through the gate, and headed homeward.
      Soun  watched  the departing youth  with  a  nostalgic
smile.  `Ahh, Genma.  You should be very proud of your  son.
I've  missed you, old friend, and hope we get the chance  to
regain our friendship.'  And with that, Soun got out a broom
and  swept up what he could.  He and Nabiki could  tally  up
the damage cost in the morning, he thought absently.

                            ****

     Forty minutes later Ranma ran through the front door of
his  home.  `At least I'm getting better at finding  my  way
around this side of town.  Geez!  Why did Pop have to find a
place  so far from the Tendo Dojo?' he thought as he removed
his  shoes and stepped into the living room.  "Tadaima!"  he
shouted triumphantly as he entered.
     Ranma staggered backwards a bit as he got hammered by a
double-barreled hug from his mother and Ranko.  He  put  his
arms around the women and returned the hug as best he could.
Nodoka  stood  away  from Ranma a bit and  put  a  hand  up,
caressing his face in a motherly fashion.  "Oh thank God  my
baby's safe!" she said in a half sighing, half proud voice.
     Ranma smiled.  "Yeah, Mom.  I'm okay."  He put his free
arm  around  the shaking form of his younger  sister.   "Hey
Ranko, you okay?"
      Ranko  looked  up at her brother with  eyes  red  from
crying.   "You had us all worried, Ranma!" she  yelled,  not
unkindly.   "Pop told me all about the Tendos and  what  you
were  up  against.   I... I was afraid  you  weren't  coming
back..."  She started crying again, burying her head in  his
chest and wrapping him in a crushing hug.
      Uncomfortable with his sister crying, Ranma simply put
his hand on her head, stroking her hair and holding onto her
while   she  cried  on  his  chest.   Nodoka's  look  became
reprimanding  as  Ranma faced her again.  "Why  did  you  do
something as reckless as that, Ranma?  Your father told  you
the  risks, and yet you went ahead and did it anyway.   Why?
And  how  many more surprises were you planning on springing
on the family today, anyway?"
      Ranma  looked at her with a no-nonsense  look  on  his
face.   "Mom,  I already explained myself to Pop  concerning
the  martial arts.  I am a martial artist, and I'm proud  of
it.   I intend to make my mark in the Saotome name.  As  for
going to the Tendo Hall, well it was something that I had to
do.   Besides, I know I can take care of myself.  Mr.  Tendo
wasn't a problem once I convinced him that fighting me was a
bad  thing."   Ranma winced at the memory  of  the  marathon
fight.   "He  decided to listen to me,  and  we  talked  for
awhile."
      "Well  we never had to worry about you getting into  a
fight before," Nodoka chided.  "We were worried, son."
     "Yeah, well I'm sorry if I worried you, but I felt that
this had gone on long enough.  Something had to be done,  so
I did it," Ranma said simply.
      Genma  looked at him expectantly, hope  in  his  eyes.
"You said you talked with Soun.  What did he say, Ranma?"
      "Well  Pop, he told me pretty much the same thing  you
did  concerning the promise you two made.  He  said  he  was
upset  that the promise had been broken, and didn't want  to
see another Saotome ever again.  I told him that I was there
to  try  to  set things right between the two families.   At
first  he  didn't want to believe me, and I had  a  terrible
time  trying  to  convince him that I  wasn't  kidding.   He
didn't  start taking me seriously until I told  him  that  I
wanted to marry one of his daughters."
       Nodoka   gasped  in  shock  when  she  heard  Ranma's
proclamation.  "Ranma, you didn't?!" she asked in a  shocked
voice.
      Ranma  would've answered, but Ranko's grip on him  had
tightened.   "Ranma,  you're getting *married?*   That's  so
cool!"  Ranko's face was split by a wide grin.  She released
him,  which  allowed him to breathe again.  "So  when's  the
wedding date, bro?"
     Ranma placed a hand against his aching ribs.  He had no
idea  his sister was so strong!  "Don't get upset  Mom!   No
wedding  date  has been set.  I haven't even  *proposed*  to
anyone  yet!"  Nodoka breathed a *big* sigh of relief  after
hearing that.
      Ranko's  brow furrowed as she listened  to  her  older
brother.  "I don't get it.  You said you wanted to marry one
of Mr. Tendo's girls, and now you're backing off?  Do you at
least know who it is you're interested in?"
      Ranma smiled inwardly, grateful that his sister wasn't
spilling anything from their previous conversation.   "Well,
I  know which girl it is that I prefer.  There's a catch, of
course.   Mr.  Tendo recently had her betrothed to  Tatewaki
Kuno  in order to return honor to the Tendo family."   Ranma
regarded  Genma,  "I guess you were right about  Mr.  Tendo,
Pop.   He told me that if I was going to have any chance  at
Akane  being my fiancee, I'd have to have to defeat Kuno  in
an open challenge."
      Nodoka  gasped, not wanting her son to have  to  fight
again.   "Ranma, if you're so set on marrying one of  Soun's
daughters, why go through all of the trouble of fighting for
one  of  them  when  there are two  others  that  are  still
available?  What's so special about Akane, son?"
      Ranma considered the question.  Indeed, why was  Akane
so special to him?  He couldn't give a hard and fast answer.
But  he  knew, in his heart, that life wouldn't be  complete
without her.  He chuckled to himself.  `Man, this is  weird!
Only  a month or so ago I would've denied everything I  just
thought  and  said.  I guess I really do love  her.'   "Mom,
you're going to have to trust me on this one.  I know a  lot
more  about Akane than I do Nabiki or Kasumi.  I'd feel most
comfortable being with her."
      Nodoka shelved the question she had about how he  knew
the  Tendo  daughters, and how he had been able  to  make  a
decision  about  them.  She put her hand  to  her  head  and
sighed, "Oh God...  I have to sit down."  Genma directed her
to  a  mat where she could sit.  After seating herself,  she
looked up to her son with a slightly pleading look.  "Ranma,
why did you make this sudden decision to pursue Akane Tendo?
I  mean,  I'm  glad you've taken an interest in  women,  but
don't you think you're rushing things a bit?  Marriage is an
awfully big step for you to be taking, son."
      "Mom,  I'll tell you the same thing I told Mr.  Tendo.
I'm   not  looking  for  an  immediate  marriage  to  Akane.
Besides, I'm not even sure that she'll like me at all,  much
less  want  to  marry  me.  In fact,  that  is  one  of  the
conditions I placed on the engagement."  Seeing the  puzzled
faces,  he continued to explain.  "I told Mr. Tendo  that  I
wasn't about to force Akane into another engagement.   She's
already  upset  that she was pushed into marrying  Kuno.   I
told  him, and he agreed, that Akane and I should  date  and
see  if  we  had  anything in common before anything  became
final.   I also told him that we shouldn't tell Akane  about
our conversation for a while."
      "But you still haven't told me *why* you chose now  to
do  this, or why you wanted to do it at all." Nodoka pushed.
"Genma  didn't put you up to doing this, did he?" she asked,
a suspicious glint in her eyes.
      Genma spluttered indignantly, but didn't say anything.
"Of  course  he  didn't, Mom," Ranma  said,  coming  to  his
father's  rescue.  "I'm sixteen now.  For a while  now  I've
been thinking that I should be doing something more with  my
life  than playing with my friends.  After I was trained  by
Hap.."   Genma  and  Nodoka eyed him  harshly,  "err...  the
master  in Anything Goes, I felt that I was ready to make  a
name for myself."
      Ranma's  eyes widened as he looked at a clock  on  the
wall, realizing that he was going to have to get to bed  now
if  he  wanted  to  be in shape for the challenge  tomorrow.
"Mom,  Dad, thanks for waiting up for me.  I need to get  to
bed now; I'm tired."  He ran upstairs to his room, leaving a
speechless family in his wake.
     "Yeah, Ranma's right.  I'd better get to bed too.  I've
got  school tomorrow.  G'nite Mom.  G'nite Pop," Ranko said,
kissing each parent before bounding up the stairs.
      After Ranko disappeared upstairs, Genma came up behind
his  wife, embracing her and kissing her on the back of  the
neck.   "This has certainly been a day for surprises, hasn't
it Hon?" he asked, a whimsical smile on his face.
      Nodoka smiled and placed her hands over Genma's.  "Yes
it  has, dear."  Nodoka leaned back, pressing herself deeper
into  Genma's arms.  "Genma.  How do you think Ranma managed
to find that old lech?"
      Genma  scowled at the question.  "Nodoka,  that's  one
question  I  would rather never hear the  answer  to.   Some
things are better left unsaid.  The less we speak about him,
the better off the world will be."
      Nodoka got a sly smile on her face, thinking about the
past  and some of the influence Happosai had on her husband.
"Genma,  dear.   Do you think you could show me  again  that
`special technique' that Happy taught you?"
      Genma  could  hear  the quotation marks  around  those
words,  and grinned broadly.  "Absolutely!  But we'd  better
make sure the children are asleep first."  They both laughed
softly.   Nodoka turned in his arms, kissing her husband  on
the  lips.  "I love you, dear," she said, kissing him again.
Genma  merely  tightened  his  hold  on  his  wife,  happily
returning the kiss.
      A  few  moments later they turned out the  lights  and
headed upstairs.

                            ****

      At  that  moment, somewhere in a dark,  dank  cave,  a
sneeze  was  heard.   The  sneeze reverberated  through  the
confines of the cave, causing small bits of dust and rock to
fall from the roof of the cave.  Somewhere within the cave a
shifting  occured.  A shaft of light pierced  the  darkness,
emanating from the source of the shifting.  Two eyes widened
in  realization.  "FREEDOM!!!" the form screamed, as it  ran
towards the light.  Just shy of the light's origin,  a  loud
*smack*  was  heard as the creature struck  its  head  on  a
stalactite.   Reaching  an arm to the  light,  the  creature
managed   to   say   one   word  before   it   passed   out.
"ppp...pantiessss..."

                            ****

      Ranma  was preparing for bed when he heard a knock  at
his door.  "Come in," he said brightly.  The door slid open,
and  Ranko  walked in, closing the door behind her.   Seeing
who  it was, Ranma blushed and quickly whipped his pants  in
front  of  him,  wishing  he'd left  his  boxers  on.   He'd
forgotten  again that he had a sister now.  Ranko apparently
saw everything, blushing deep red from her toes to her eyes.
"Oops, sorry about that sis.  I forgot."
     Ranko smiled and allowed an embarrassed chuckle to work
its  way free.  "S'okay Ranma.  It's not like I haven't seen
you  before.   Although you look a bit different  since  the
last  time I saw..."  Ranko quickly dropped her gaze to  the
floor, stopping herself.  "Sorry, didn't realize what I  was
saying."  Changing the subject, she said, "I just wanted  to
tell  you that I'm worried about you fighting Kuno tomorrow.
Are you sure you can handle him?"
      Ranma smiled confidently.  "Yeah, Ranko.  He shouldn't
be  any problem.  I feel like I've gotten my old form  back.
And when I lived in the other existence, I beat Kuno daily."
Ranko's eyes widened when she heard that, realizing just how
*good*  her  brother was.  `That is, if he was  telling  the
truth,' she thought suddenly.
      "You're pulling my chain, Ranma.  No-one's that good,"
she challenged.
      Ranma's  face lost some of its cheer.  "I'm not  lying
about this, Ranko!  You're just going to have to trust me on
this one."
      Ranko's stomach churned.  Lately she had been  feeling
nervous  whenever Ranma said `trust me.'  "I do  trust  you,
Ranma.   But  you have to realize that this isn't  the  same
Nerima you were living in before.  So far you've managed  to
succeed  by  doing things the way you've always  done  them.
The  problem with that is that you're acting too  confident,
and  I'm afraid that something's going to happen to  you  if
you don't watch out.  Just because some things look the same
to you doesn't mean that they are."
      Ranma  hadn't expected the lecture, from  his  younger
sister,  no  less.  But he had to hand it to  her,  she  was
right.  He'd been doing everything so far believing that  he
was  the  only  one who had really changed.  Indeed,  if  he
wasn't  careful, then Ranko's worrying would  be  justified.
He  walked to her, and put a hand on her shoulder, which was
kind of hard to do while holding a pair of pants in front of
him.   "You're right, Ranko.  I should've realized that when
I saw Mr. Tendo tonight.  He wasn't the same man I knew from
before."   He  smiled.  "What would I do  without  you?"  he
asked rhetorically, wrapping his arms around her.
      Ranko returned the hug, saying "I'm just worried about
you,  that's all.  Don't forget, you're the only  brother  I
have."   He  laughed at that.  Ranko realized something  and
turned  red  again.   "RANMA!   Put  some  clothes  on,  for
chrissakes!" she yelled, turning away from him.
      Ranma's eyes bugged out.  "Shit!" he yelled, realizing
that  he  had  pulled his pants away from  himself  when  he
hugged  her.  While her back was turned he quickly  put  his
pants  on.   `I'm gonna have to get used to  having  a  girl
around  all  the  time,'  he  thought  wearily  to  himself,
embarrassment  plain on his face.  "Sorry  about  that  sis.
Looks  like I'm gonna have to learn some new habits,"  Ranma
said  sheepishly, scratching the back of his head  in  total
embarrassment.
      Ranko  turned  back around, and sighed, relieved  that
Ranma  wasn't `showing off' again.  "Did you normally expose
yourself like that in front of the Tendos?"
      Ranma  blushed deeper than he ever had before  in  his
entire life.  Ranko took one look at him and doubled over in
laughter, her whole body shaking.  Ranma stood there in  his
pants,  an  indignant look on his face.  "First  of  all,  I
never  thought I looked that bad.  Secondly; Akane,  Nabiki,
and  especially Kasumi, hardly ever came into my room at the
Tendo  place.   So  I  never had to  worry  about  `exposing
myself.'   Besides, I was a girl half the time I was  there.
It  wasn't  a  big  deal  for a girl  to  see  another  girl
naked..."  Ranma broke off his explanation, as it  was  only
adding  fuel to Ranko's laughter.  "I give up..." he finally
said, disgusted.
      Ranko  sank  to  her knees, unable to remain  standing
while  she  laughed.  Ranma sat on his futon,  crossing  his
arms  and tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for  her
to  calm  down.   A  couple of minutes later,  her  laughter
subsided.   Wiping tears from her face, she crawled  on  her
knees  over  to Ranma.  "I'm sorry bro, I just  got  all  of
these  mental  pictures and ..."  She broke out  again,  but
managed  to subdue it quickly.  "Life's definitely going  to
be fun with you around, Ranma."
     "Yeah yeah...," Ranma replied, rolling his eyes.  Ranko
hooked an arm around his neck, kissed him on the cheek,  and
mussed  his  hair with her other hand.  "Good night,  Ranma.
And good luck tomorrow.  I'll be keeping my eye on you," she
said  coyly, sticking her tongue out at him.  She stood  and
headed towards the door.
      Ranma held his hand to his face where Ranko had kissed
him.  `Uhh... yeah...  Thanks sis," he said to her departing
figure.   As  the door closed, he asked aloud to  no-one  in
particular,  "Do all brothers and sisters act  that  crazy?"
He  remembered Kodachi and Kuno, and shuddered.  `Thank  God
Ranko's not like her...  Ugh!'
      He  shook  his head to banish the thought of  Kodachi.
Taking  his pants off,  he put on some shorts and a t-shirt,
then turned off the light and went to sleep.

THE NEXT DAY...

      Morning  came  all  too soon for Ranma  Saotome.   The
combined weight of everything that had happened to Ranma the
night before had caught up with him the moment he had turned
the  lights  out.  The result of all that was  a  thoroughly
exhausted  Ranma  who  was unable to  sleep.   When  he  did
finally fall asleep, it had been light and fitful, with  him
waking several times over the course of the night.
     He cursed the sun when it rose, bathing his face in its
life-giving light.  As he lay there, he thought for a moment
that  he could possibly postpone the challenge to Kuno until
tomorrow.   But  he just as quickly struck that  idea  down,
knowing  that he wouldn't be able to sleep at all  until  he
settled the score with Kuno and freed Akane from that damned
agreement.  Sighing tiredly, he looked at the clock and  saw
that  he  still had an hour before he would have to get  up.
Unable  to sleep, he dragged himself to his feet and took  a
bath.
      He  emerged  from the bathroom several minutes  later,
heading  to  the breakfast table.  He could hear his  mother
humming  to  herself  as she prepared  breakfast.   He  felt
refreshed  and a bit less anxious.  He frowned  to  himself,
not  used  to feeling anxious over an impending battle.   He
nodded  a  moment later, realizing that the  source  of  his
anxiety was all of the expectations that were riding on  the
outcome  of  his battle with Kuno.  His and Akane's  future,
along with that of both the Tendo and Saotome families  were
on   the  line.   He  clenched  his  fists  in  a  show   of
determination, promising himself that he wouldn't lose.
      A  perky  Ranko bounded down the stairs and  took  her
place adjacent to her brother at the table.  "You ready  for
the  big showdown, bro?" she asked cheerfully, nudging Ranma
with her hip.
      Ranma  looked at her with a wan smile, "I  guess  I'll
have to be.  I wasn't able to sleep too well last night."
      Ranko  just smiled and replied, "Ahh, you'll  be  okay
Ranma.  Just remember your training."
      At that moment, Nodoka walked in with breakfast.  "My,
you're  both up early today.  You two have something planned
today?"   She  sat  the  food down on  the  table,  and  the
siblings started eating.
      Ranko  looked at her brother proudly and said,  "Naah.
Ranma's challenging Kuno for Akane today is all."
      Nodoka's  eyes widened slightly, and she  leveled  her
gaze  at her son.  He coughed slightly, seeing her reaction,
and  forced his half-chewed food down his throat  before  he
choked.   "Ranma, you're actually going to go  through  with
that fight?  Today?!?"
      Ranma adopted a no-nonsense look, returning her  gaze.
"Yes mom, I'm going to take care of it today."
      "Ranma!" she shouted, exasperated.  "You make it sound
like you're going for groceries!"
      "Well,  mom, to tell the truth, I *am* a  bit  nervous
about  it.   But it's something that I still  have  to  do,"
Ranma  said  gravely.  He resumed eating, to  cover  up  his
nervousness.
      Nodoka  resigned herself to the inevitable.  "Alright.
You listen to me.  If things get out of hand, I want you  to
come  get  me  or your father.  Immediately!"  she  shouted,
punctuating it by poking Ranma in the shoulder.  "There's no
telling what that Kuno character is capable of doing, and  I
don't  want  you  taking any unnecessary risks!"   Her  gaze
softened, and she stroked Ranma's face.  "You remind  me  of
your  father  when we were dating.  He was always  ready  to
come  to  my  rescue, even when I felt it wasn't necessary."
She smiled, a nostalgic look coming over her face.
      Ranma  sighed, feeling better knowing that she  wasn't
going  to  try  to  stop him.  He quickly finished  off  his
breakfast  and, grabbing Ranko's hand, dragged  her  off  to
school  with him.  "Good luck, dear," Nodoka called  out  to
the whirlwind Saotome siblings.
      "Hey Ranma!  Slow down, willya?" Ranko yelled as Ranma
blasted down the street towards the school.  Nodoka chuckled
slightly  at  hearing Ranko fading protest,  and  turned  to
clean  the table.  `I hope he makes it out okay.'   A  frown
crossed her face.  `Kuno better hope that my boy isn't  hurt
or...' she paused the thought, her eyes regarding her katana
that  hung  on the wall.  `... or else he and  I  will  have
words,' she vowed severely.

                            ****

      Ranma  released his sister's hand and ran onward.   He
didn't have to look behind him, however, to know that  Ranko
was  hot on his tail.  He rounded a curve and saw the  gates
of  Furinkan High ahead.  He poured on the steam, hoping  to
get  to  the school ahead of Kuno.  He frowned as he  neared
the  school,  watching a black limousine  drive  up  to  the
gates.  He watched as Kuno and Akane exited the vehicle, and
redoubled his efforts, leaving Ranko in the dust.

                            ****

      Tatewaki  held his hand out for Akane.  Gradually  she
accepted  it and stepped out of the vehicle, sighing  lowly.
`I  hate  my life,' she despaired internally.  When she  had
originally accepted the proposed joining, she had  vowed  to
make  it work.  She had also tried in vain to find something
likeable  about Kuno, but she just couldn't.   He  had  been
really  sweet to her when he was chasing after her, but  now
that  she had accepted him as her boyfriend his interest  in
her  had  waned...  She had become Kuno's trophy.  Something
only slightly more than a revered pet.  She really hated her
life.   But  she  didn't know of any way  she  could  change
things.
      That  fact was whizzing through her head as she  stood
away from the departing limousine.  She looked up, taking in
the  scene  before she entered the building, when  something
caught her eye.  She tugged on Kuno's hand, pointing at what
she  saw.  "Kuno-chan," Akane said by reflex, "what's that?"
As  the thing in question drew nearer, it looked like a dust
storm  approaching  the school.  Several people  were  being
drawn to the gates, seeing the disturbance.  Several "oohs!"
and  "ahhs!" could be heard from the building crowd as  they
watched the dustcloud approach.
      Someone in the crowd pointed and yelled, "It's a  guy!
Looks like he's really traveling too!"  That brought a *lot*
more  people  out,  and the crowd spilled into  the  street.
Akane  squinted, trying to make out who it was.  She  gasped
when she recognized who it was.  `It's that guy who insulted
Kuno in front of the dojo a couple of weeks ago!  Looks like
he's really angry about something.'  Suddenly the figure  in
the  dustcloud  began  shouting.  More heads  began  turning
towards the shouting.
      "KUUUUUUUUUUNNOOOOOOOOOOO!   KUUUUUUUUNNOOOOOOOO!" the
voice was heard to say.
     A guy in the crowd gasped.  "That's sounds like Ranma!"
Another  guy  turned  to  the first  one  in  shock,  "Ranma
*Saotome?*  No *WAY!*"  Stunned, the two turned to watch  as
Ranma approached the Kendo champion.
      Kuno turned at the sound of his name.  He watched with
mild interest as Ranma approached him.
      Ranma  put  on the skids, not wanting to  fly  by  his
opponent.  He also didn't want to become one with the school
gates.   He  came  to a halt three feet in  front  of  Kuno,
breathing  only  slightly  harder  than  normal.   "Kuno,  I
challenge you!" he yelled, pointing at him.
      Kuno  scoffed  at Ranma, pointing his bokken  at  him.
"You,  challenge me?  Surely you jest.  And for what  reason
should I fight a creature as unworthy as you, eh?"
     Ranma stared directly at him, confidence burning in him
like  an iron furnace.  "I know for a fact that you've  said
that  if  you are defeated in combat you will release  Akane
Tendo from her engagement.  That's why I'm challenging  you.
So LET'S FIGHT!"
      Akane gasped, her eyes as wide open as possible.   She
had  no  idea who this guy was, or why he was doing it,  but
she  sure  as  hell hoped he won.  She crossed her  fingers,
just to make sure.
      Kuno, on the other hand, laughed.  "It is true that  I
did  utter those words.  I did so, confidently, for  I  knew
that  only  I am destined to have the hand of Akane  Tendo."
He lowered his gaze, sneering.  "I guess that last thrashing
I  gave you didn't convince you of the futility of defeating
me,  the  great Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of  Furinkan
High,  in combat.  Very well, I will defeat you again."   He
brought   his  bokken  into  a  defensive  stance,  "Prepare
yourself, fool."
      Ranma  threw his backpack to the ground.   He  brought
himself  to  a  fighting stance, saying, "My name  is  Ranma
Saotome,  of  the  Saotome School of Anything  Goes  Martial
Arts.   And  by all that's holy, I will see you  fall!"   He
cracked his knuckles, awaiting Kuno's move.
      Akane  did the only thing she could do in her  current
emotional state.  She fainted.
      Gasps,  murmurs,  and side betting was  happening  all
throughout  the  crowd.   Every  student  was  on  pins  and
needles,  waiting  for  the first blow.   Ranko  joined  the
crowd,  picking up Ranma's backpack from where he threw  it.
She  stood,  rooting hard for her brother.  The  wind  blew,
scattering leaves and papers around the street and  sidewalk
outside  the school.  Kuno took that as a cue to begin,  and
struck.

                            ****

      Ranma didn't even see it coming.  Before he could even
get  his hands up to deflect the bokken, it sailed right  at
him  and tagged him in the chest, knocking him back, but not
down.   `Damn!  He's faster than I thought.  You were  right
sis.  Now it's my turn to take him down a notch.'
      Kuno  laughed scornfully.  "You have my permission  to
concede.  I suggest you do, Saotome, before you get hurt."
      Ranma laughed as well.  His however, was cold and even
slightly dangerous.  "You got your one hit, Kuno.  You won't
touch me again."
      Kuno's  eyebrow swept up in an unintentional  show  of
respect.   "Very well then, to your doom cretin!" he  yelled
as he charged.  Ranma was ready this time, and deflected the
bokken  with his hands.  He immediately followed up  with  a
kick to the kidneys, causing Kuno to gasp in pain.
      The crowd gasped as well, astonished that someone  had
actually  been able to land a hit on Kuno.  Apparently  Kuno
was stunned too, as he faltered slightly before bringing his
bokken up again.  Ranma wasted no time in launching a series
of  punches and jabs at Kuno.  But to his astonishment, Kuno
was   able   to  deflect  the  attacks,  albeit  with   some
difficulty.  The only upside to this for Ranma was that Kuno
wasn't able to launch anything offensive at him.
      The  fight  continued  this way for  several  minutes.
Neither combatant gave quarter during the fight, but neither
was  able  to  claim  an advantage either.   Akane  regained
consciousness during the fight, and watched in awe as  Ranma
held  his own against the Kendo champion.  She saw  a  young
girl  who  looked  just  like Ranma  jumping  up  and  down,
screaming,  "Whip  his ASS bro!  YES! YES!  YES!  YES!  YES!
Nail  that  SON  OF  A  BITCH!!  WOOOOO!!"   Without  saying
anything, Akane cheered for Ranma as well.
      Pausing  to  catch their breaths, Kuno sneered  again,
saying  "You're weak Saotome.  You may be able to get  in  a
lucky  hit,  but  as  sure as the Earth  sails  through  the
heavens,  I  will  smite thee!"  He crouched  into  a  ready
position again, laughing at Ranma.
     Ranma rolled his eyes and concentrated on what he hoped
would   be  his  final  attack.   Nodding  at  his  sister's
encouraging words, and sparing another nod for Akane,  Ranma
attacked.   "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" he  yelled,  louder
than  he ever had.  His fists were a blur as they met  again
and  again  with  Kuno.   Stunned at the  speed  of  Ranma's
attack,  Kuno lost his grip on his bokken, which  flew  away
from  him by the force of Ranma's punches to land away  from
him, clattering uselessly on the pavement.
      Kuno didn't have much of a chance to curse the loss of
his  weapon, as Ranma's punches took their toll and  quickly
sent  him  into unconsciousness.  Ranma stopped his  punches
when  he  saw Kuno fall.  Ranma collapsed to his knees,  but
remained upright.  He stayed there for a moment, gasping for
breath.   The  stunned  crowd stood in  silence,  unable  to
believe what they had just witnessed.
      "YESSS!"  Ranko screamed as she ran to  her  brother's
side.   She knelt down and gently put her arm around Ranma's
waist,  helping  him  up.  "I'm proud of  you,  Ranma.   You
really must've been pissed off at him.  Do you realize  that
you  hit  him  over a THOUSAND times?"  Ranma just  kind  of
stood where he was, trying to get some feeling back into his
hands.   He looked over his right shoulder, and spotted  the
bokken  that he had broken loose from Kuno's grip.  Stepping
from  his  sister's grasp, he knelt down and picked  up  the
weapon.
      Meanwhile, Akane ran from the crowd and gazed down  in
amazement  at  the  unconscious  figure  of  her  now-former
boyfriend.  As the reality of all of this sank in, she knelt
beside Kuno's dozing body and began to cry.  She wept  tears
of  joy  and  sorrow.  Joy that her engagement to  Kuno  had
finally  been broken, and sorrow over how weak and powerless
she  had been while with Kuno.  A figure approached her, and
knelt beside her.
      "Excuse me for a moment please?" a polite voice asked.
She  turned and saw that it was Ranma, holding Kuno's bokken
in  his hands.  "There's just one more thing I have to do to
make  this official." And with that Ranma took each  end  of
the  bokken  in his hands, and with all the force  he  could
muster,  snapped the weapon in half.  It broke  irregularly,
splinters  and  jagged edges forming along the  break  line.
Ranma smiled satisfactorily and tossed the broken weapon  at
Kuno's feet.  "Kuno had that coming, taunting me like that."
      Ranma  turned to look at Akane.  Her face was red  and
slick  with  tears.  Gently he reached out to her,  stroking
the tears from her face, and asking, "Are you okay, Akane?"


****


Author's notes:

      Well, here I go again.  ^_^  (those of you who've read
"The  Prince and the Lecher" will understand that remark...)
I  was simply minding my own business, and reading the first
two sections of the story "Be Careful What you Wish For"  by
Richard  Beaubien.  After completing that,  I  re-read  part
one, and said to myself "What if *this* happened instead  of
*that.*"  Well I shouldn't have done that, because here I am
clattering  away  at my IBM keyboard like a  man  possessed.
Two  days  have  seen  me crank out 21  pages  in  Word  for
Windows,  and I've still got a lot of ideas floating  around
in the old bean.
      Some  people may wonder about the content (boy  *that*
was obtuse!).  Well, as of this writing:

(1/30/96):
      I've  only  gotten the groundwork laid down  for  this
unintentional  project.  Ranma has made his  wish,  and  has
awakened to a strange version of his previous existence.  As
the  writer, I made a couple of decisions as to how the wish
affected him:
      Ranma's wish caused his environment to change.   Lives
were  re-written  and locations changed to  accommodate  his
wish.   This  means  that he did NOT jump  to  an  alternate
universe/dimension/plane  of  thought/etc.   Therefore   his
means  of  escape  from that existence are reduced  to  one,
which  is the second wish.  The wish is supposed to be  very
powerful,  and  the intention behind the  character  of  the
vendor was that he was to be very VERY selective in who gets
the  wishing broach, almost as a guardian or keeper  of  the
artifact.
      Another  effect of the wish was that Ranma's mind  was
supposed  to have been altered so that he wasn't  so  damned
infuriating and quick to fire off his mouth.  A higher level
of  maturity was something I was trying to add into  Ranma's
character  for this story, to help make his living  in  this
dimension  more sane.  I'm debating, however, the  merit  of
continuing to do so, as the humorous content of the story is
obviously diminished when I do that.  I may have him  mellow
out once he hits stable ground in this existence.
      The  second wish:  I'm really against him  using  that
second  wish for right now.  He's got a lot of potential  in
this  existence  considering that about 85  to  90%  of  his
antagonists  and  <for  the moment  ^_^  >  extra  fiancee's
aren't  around to punish him.  I'm hoping for a  more  solid
and  romantic  `second  chance'  between  Ranma  and  Akane.
Although  I  will  also  admit  that  a  love  triangle   is
inevitable.    In  fact,  the  gears  are  already   turning
<muahahahaha!>.
      Incidentally, should Ranma have to use the second wish
to  return himself to his cursed state (and hence everything
around  him revert to normal), he will retain full knowledge
of everything that had occurred during the first wish.  If I
write  it  past  that point, I would have a fertile  bed  to
plant new ideas for that existence as well.

(2/3/96)

      Based on  all of  the  excellent suggestions from  the
readers on the Fanfic ML,  I have *slightly*  (yeah, right!)
expanded on the training footage  between Ranma  and  Ranko.
Expanding  the fight  between Kuno  and Ranma is my next big
project.   I also corrected  some small  errors in the story
that were pointed out in e-mail.


Acknowledgments:
      I'd  like to thank Richard Beaubien first and foremost
for  granting  me  the permission to write  this  side-story
based on his.  Prior to writing this thing, he's never  even
heard  of me.  I understand that he's continuing the mother-
story  from which this one is based.  All I have to say  is,
"Go  for it man!"  ^_^  It's been a real treat writing  this
thing and playing around in his dimension (so to speak).  It
wouldn't  have been possible without his work as  the  base.
So  to  him, I say Domo Arigato Gozaimashita!  <author  bows
deeply, *CLUNK*  hits head on keyboard>
     Bert Van Vliet.  You're the one who gave me the writing
bug  <bzzzzz...   *smack*>.  Prior to picking  up  my  first
BubbleGum  Zone printout, I was clueless as to the  ways  of
writing  fanfic.  What a difference a year makes.  You're  a
good  friend,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  support.   Hail
SkyKnight!  ^_^
     Thank You <yes you, the one staring at the monitor> for
tolerating my unusual style of writing.  I'll get better,  I
promise  ^_^




And now for my .sig!

Later,
Shadow Stalker
(Protoculture Addict)
(Moderator: The Robotech Echo)

sstalker@delphi.com
-or-
betasysop@mci.newscorp.com  <--- try this address first!