Story by Mike Noakes

    "Ranma. . ."  Whispered Akane after a moment of shock,
taking a hesitant step after the pig-tailed girl.
    A hand fell on her shoulder.  It was her friend, Sayuri. 
"Don't bother, Akane." she said.  "There's no point.  You'll just end
up fighting, you know you will.  Give her a chance to cool down."

        Sayuri knows that Ranma is a "he", right?

    He stared at his friend is disbelief.  Was Ranma. . . lonely? 
Hiroshi had trouble believing that.  Ranma had everything: the good-
looks (as both guy and girl), the skill, the strength, the charisma; she
had three fiancees, and other gorgeous girls chasing after her; she
was engaged to, arguably, the most popular girl in school, and
Ranma, herself, was arguably the most popular guy.  How could
Ranma possibly be depressed?  

        Yes, why is she depressed?  She only has Ryoga, Mousse,
Kuno, Happosai and the odd monster, demon or angry martial artist
to deal with on a regular basis, not to mention her curse, her
troubles with Akane, a useless speciemorphic father, an unknowing
mother who totes a very sharp katana reserved for the express
purpose of lopping off Ranma's head should she/he not turn out
to be a man among men, a certain member of the Tendo clan with
leanings towards snapping pics of Ranma's female side [naked,
scantily-clothed, in come-hither poses - you pick] and selling
them for cash, two so-called fiancees with a penchant for 
using all sorts of nasty tricks to get Ranma together with
them, a childhood friend who dresses like a guy sometimes but 
loves Ranma YET she is doomed to failure from the start,
a home room teacher who can suck the ki-energy from Ranma,
and a psychotic principal armed with garden shears designed
to cut the pigtails off unsuspecting half girl/half guy
martial artists.
        
        Yes.  Life couldn't be better.

She could have any girl at school, if
she wanted, or, for that matter, probably any guy.  

Hm.  Interesting.  Tell me, is Ranma-chan a lesbian or a pervert? ^_^

Tried as he might,
Hiroshi couldn't understand.  But it didn't matter if he did or not. 
His friend was feeling down, and it was his job to cheer her up.

        Maybe it's just me and my hentai nature, but this
paragraph..... ^_^

    They rounded the corner of the house.  Before them, the party
was once more in full swing.  The pool was splashing, the music
was blaring, and the guys were sitting around the fire.  With a nod in
their direction, Hiroshi led the way.   "C'mon, Ranma.  You won't
regret this!  We'll make this a night you'll never forget. . ."

        Oh, my, Hirsoshi and the guys are....are....curse me and
my hentai nature!  :)

    "Hey, what is it?" he asked, nudging her.  The conversation
carried on without them, Daisuke desperately trying to convince the
guys that _he_ had dumped _her_, and not the other way around.

        Daisuke dumped who?  Ranma-chan?  Nahh.  She's too cute.

    She shrugged.  "It's not something I like to talk about,
obviously.  It's. . . it's kinda embarrassing; I'm a guy, but I gotta
deal with that crap."  With a depressed sigh she drooped a bit,
finger tracing an abstract doodle in the dirt.  "Hell, if it was just the
pain, it wouldn't be so bad - I'm used to pain, I can take it no
problem; it's the other stuff.  The blood and other shit.  Or the way it
makes me feel, right before.  It really sucks. . ."

        Then why doesn't she change back to a guy when that 
happens?

    Ranma raised her head and glared at him.  "I _don't_ cry!"
she insisted.  "Men don't cry."  Then she softened slightly.  "But,
yeah, I've seen Akane act that way a few times.  Really had me
confused 'till I figured what was wrong with her - 'till I felt it
myself.  But not me - it doesn't hit me that way; but I can still tell, I
know it's affecting me, I find myself acting. . . weird, sometimes.  It
scares me."

        Personally, I prefer to see more of female Ranma, so I can't
say it will affect me adversely if Ranma-chan became the dominant
personality.  Heck, I'd jump for joy.  Which is why the tapes "Pretty
Womanhood" and "Bathhouse Battle" are my favorites.

    "Sheesh.  Can't we just let it drop?"  She was saying. 
"Yeah, I've even gotta keep track of that stupid cycle - I make a
special effort to stay dry during that time.  Kasumi showed me
how."  She ended with a drink and muttered something about stupid
curses and stupider fathers.

        And how does one stay dry when splashed with cold water?

    "Ranma, if you have, you know. . ."
    "Yeah."
    "Then I guess that means that, as a girl, you've got, you
know, all the. . . parts, right?"
    She stared at him for a moment before nodding.  "Yeah."
    "So that means that, ah, theoretically speaking, you could,
you know, get. . ."

       Theoretically, she would enjoy having sex, too, since she
has everything a real girl has.

    "I don't like to think about that." she said, glaring at him. 
"And neither should you."

        The famous Takahashi quote.

    "Yo, Daisuke!" called out Ranma, drawing both guys back
into the talk.  "What about you?  Which girl you like?  Which one
you think's the cutest?"
    Hiroshi watched as his friend blushed, looking away.  He
was curious himself - Daisuke never really spoke about it much. 
Except. . . Hiroshi caught the brief, momentary sideways glance that
his friend tried to hide, and suddenly, he knew.  He'd almost
forgotten, actually: all the little looks Daisuke secretly threw her
way, the mild infatuation he seemed to have.  

        Hard not to sympathize with Daisuke.  She's pretty
damn cute and sexy.  Of course, watch Daisuke's reaction when
hot water is brought into the equation.

    "Oh, good choice, my friend!" he said, slapping his friend on
the back.  "Excellent taste in women, I must say!"

        I'd say.

    The guys looked among themselves for a moment, then
shrugged.  "Hell, Daisuke's got a point."
    "Yeah.  Cute face. . ."
    "A redhead!  With long hair!"
    "Nice legs. . ."
    "Hot bod. . ."

        She's stacked too.

"What?  Guys. . . I'm. . . I'm hurt!" she said, arching her back
slightly, reaching down and cupping her breasts, lifting them a bit. 
"You forgot to mention how stacked I am!"  She grinned and took a
drink.

        Then she got up and began to dance.  No one could say whether 
it was the fire that made everybody hot, or otherwise, but one thing 
was for sure...she was...*sensuous*.  No shrinking violet or timid
creature here...here was a *woman* in every sense of the word - 
powerful yet coyly shy, demure without being boring, as exciting
as the blood and sensations coursing through their veins...

        She spun close to Hiroshi, lowered her eyes at him and
opened her mouth, as if to blow him a kiss, but she smiled and
drifted over to the next guy, light as a feather in the wind.

        Then, facing the stars with her eyes closed, she slowly,
painstakingly, and almost shyly, began to take her shirt off.  The
fires cast shadows on her face, and body, and her loose shirt,
and she let out a sigh - a light whisper on the breeze it seemed - 
before her shirt came off and fluttered away on the wind.  Her
arms clasped over her chest, she slowly, agonizingly, began to
slide her hands off her breasts, and.....

        CUT!!!

        ^_^

    For a moment no one seemed to know how to respond to
that, until Hiroshi lifted his bottle.  "Uhhh. . . yeah." he said, but
then, after a moment's thought, he smiled wickedly and added:
"She's got a point!  We weren't doing her justice!"  He turned to her
and bowed slightly.  "On behalf of everyone here, I apologize." 

        Yeah, you forgot to mention her dancing skills.......

        *bap*bap*bap*bap*

        Oww!

    They were half-way to the pool before they realized they'd
left Ranma behind, still sitting stunned by the fire.

***

	Oddly enough, from the feedback I received on the TempML, people 
found that to be a good ending place... wasn't meant to be, but if it 
works, great!  Although I plan on finishing this chapter once finals are 
over (and moving on to the next).

        I agree with them.

        And you have finals too?  Don't they just suck?

	Anyway, just a few comments:
	-in the earlier draft, the fight between Ranma and Ryuta was a 
little different.  I changed it to this, but I'm not sure this is much 
better.  Did it work?

        Where's Ryoga?  Thought he was going to show up at the
party and fight Ranma.