Ookay, here we go again.  Chapter 1, rewritten.  It got somewhat bigger
as a result.  Most of the new stuff is at the beginning, although there
were changes through the entire story.  I've also dropped a plot line,
namely Akane's birthday.  I found a better way to do things instead.  (I
think!)

  Chapters 2 and 3 will probably be reposted tomorrow, but the changes
will not be as great as they are here.  Chapter 4 will follow over the
weekend sometime I hope.  Whether or not 2&3 reappear quickly depends on
what happens at my job tomorrow morning.  :-/.

  Anyway, same schtick as always.

P.S. - Zen, I've answered one of the questions you've sent me in this
part, though I don't know if you like the answer.


---- GO! ----

"Ranma-chan"

- Chapter 1 -

Written by Luigi Mattera


  There was no sun this particular morning in Nerima.  There had not
been for quite a while.  The weather in the past week had consisted of
rain, rain and more rain.  The weathermen were all harping about how
this past week had set a record for rain in Nerima.  Minor flooding
had occured, but nothing too be concerned about.  The problem which
most people had was that the horrible conditions had made it very
difficult to go anywhere.  While the weather was a nuisance for most
people, for several people it was a gigantic pain.  Curses which took
effect when you got wet had the natural side effect of causing one to
hate rain.

  Satome Ranma had little desire in going outside, considering the
effect rain had on him.  Staying inside was even less enjoyable, as
Ranma was very bored for the entire day.  Despite the weather, the
weekend probably qualified as one of the most irritating Ranma had to
suffer through in a long time.
  Akane had tried to cook breakfast to start the day on Sunday.  She
even wanted to serve it to him "in bed", getting the idea from a
gaijin western television show she saw.  Ranma for his part decided to
be nice about it, considering the fact that he would have to spend the
day with her in close proximity.  As a result, Ranma was nice to Akane
in the morning when she appeared with her tray of "food."
  This had the effect of surprising Akane, who immediately questioned
Ranma's nice behavior.  Ranma could not think of anything to say or
do, so he tried to tell her the truth - that he simply did not want to
get into any arguements because he was not in the mood.  Of course, he
didn't say that.  What he did say was something to the effect of not
wanting to anger a tomboy over her bad cooking with the weather as bad
as it was, which got breakfast dumped on him as well as an immediate
flight out of the house through his bedroom window.
  Ranma came back two hours later, soaked to the bone, his room's
window shattered and unrepairable until after the storm ended.  The
room was now off limits.  Kasumi had managed to get Genma and Soun to
cover up the window, but conditions decided that no one was to sleep
in there that night.  Genma immediately scurried into Nabiki's room,
as she was on a trip to a business seminar in downtown Tokyo.  Ranma
found it interesting how Nabiki always managed to avoid the worst
situations by disappearing well before anything bad happened.  This
left Ranma without a bed to sleep in, so he had to contend with the
couch in the living room.
  Ranma was tired, having battled the storm to make it back to the
Tendo house.  Genma called it "good training", and was about to toss
Ranma back out into the storm.. so Ranma immediately tossed Genma out
the door.  His father certainly deserved to suffer a bit.  Ranma
quietly shuffled along to the bath, wanting to soak for a while to
rejuvinate her body.
  Unfortunately, Ranma caught Akane in the bath.  Akane got angry very
quickly, but Ranma was too drained from the earlier effort to argue
back.  Akane took this as a sign of victory, and walked out of the
bath.
 Ranma sighed, glad for once that she didn't hit her, and settled down
into the tub.  Akane proved him wrong though, returning two minutes
later in a bath robe and slapping him hard.
  Ranma bit back a reply, not wanting to take another trip into the
storm.  Akane simply grinned and stepped back out of the bath.  Ranma
sighed, glad that things had finally calmed down.  He idly wondered
how many more times he would find himself outside this weekend.  At
least the hot water was still working.
  Akane spent the rest of her day in her room, doing homework.  Ranma
was bored, so he risked a quick run through the storm carrying a tea
kettle so he could make it over to the dojo.  Ranma made it over to
the dojo with little problems, and used the tea kettle to change
herself back into a male.  Ranma examined the dojo's structure for a
while, wanting to make sure that it did not collapse on him.  Despite
the weather, the dojo seemed perfectly able to withstand the rain.  It
might have had something to do with the fact that the walls were
rebuilt several times over the past year, each time a little stronger
than before to hold off extra repairs.  Of course, Ranma got stronger
far quicker than the dojo did, so the place kept on getting damaged
anyway.
  Ranma finally gave up on looking at the walls, and decided to try a
warm up kata to get his blood going so he could feel better.  As Ranma
turned around to begin, he noticed that the tea kettle was gone.  That
worried him, and his worries were immediately answered when Hibiki
Ryouga attacked him.

  That set off a good long fight, which lasted fifteen minutes.  Back
and forth the two went, Ranma purposely keeping the power levels down
to keep the dojo intact.. and to keep the fight going.  Fighting
someone always invigorated him, and he wanted this one to last.  Ranma
knew that Ryouga could be easily stopped with the weather being as bad
as it was.  Ryouga got tired of the battle, and blasted a Shi Shi
Houkoudan at Ranma.  Ranma dove out of the way, and the ki blast
wrecked the wall of the dojo.  The rain and wind immediately changed
both Ranma and Ryouga, and Ranma punted P-Chan into the air.  Ranma
walked back to the dojo afterwards, wanting to take another bath.

  Ranma made it back to the house, and trudged directly to the bath.
Ranma wasted no time in turning on the tap, but much to her surprise
the water was not working.  Ranma asked Kasumi about it, who replied
that the storm had damaged the water supply.  Ranma was curious as to
how that happened, but decided not to bother with the effort of
finding out. Ranma walked out of the kitchen to sit in front of the
television.
  Ranma turned on the television, tuning in to a Chinese off the wall
marital arts action movie.  Those things were always good for a laugh,
and Ranma sometimes would even try and steal a technique from the
movie just to see if it could be accomplished in real life.
  Ranma was happily watching television, when a few minutes later
something hit him off the side of the head.  She turned around, to see
an irritated Akane at the top of the staircase.  "What is the
problem?" she asked.
  "Turn the television down! I need to study, unlike some people
around here."
  Ranma shrugged.  "How can you be bothered by a television?"
  Akane was not in a good mood with exams approaching.  "I don't care
what you think, turn it down or turn it off!"
  Ranma sighed.  "Fine."
  Akane turned around, and left Ranma alone at the television.  Ranma
did have exams to study for.  In the past, she had simply not bothered
to study and still managed to pass.  She was not concerned at all
about getting into a good college, but Akane was pushing herself to
get started early.  It was like she was trying to compete with Nabiki,
who was practically assured good scores.  The result was a very
irritable Akane who was dangerous at times to be around.  Her temper
seemed shorter than usual lately, if that was at all possible.
  Ranma idly wondered to herself while watching the movie.  *Should I
do something for her?  She might take it the wrong way.* Ranma paused.
*That is not quite as likely lately.  It could just be the time of the
year.*

  The quiet did not last very long at all after Akane left, much to
Ranma's frustration.  Ranma realized that her shirt was soaked, so she
pulled it off.  There wasn't anyone around to complain about her being
naked, and it wasn't like she could just go and get another shirt with
her room off limits for the night.
  She was barely able to relax for five minutes before the cursed form
of Ryouga known as P-Chan attacked her.  Being attacked by a piglet
was at best an irritation, and at worst a practical death sentence
because of who the pig had as an unknowing ally.  There were days when
Ranma wished she had never promised Ryouga that she would not tell
anyone his curse.  Ranma reluctantly engaged in a girl/pig battle,
trying to keep the noise to a minimum.  She just wanted P-Chan out of
the house so she could relax.
  Ranma chased P-Chan around the living room for several minutes,
amazed that nothing had been broken as a result of the chase.  She was
trying to be very quiet, or risk the wrath of her irritable fiancee.
Ranma finally managed to grab P-Chan, using one of the pig's bandannas
to muzzle him so he wouldn't bite her.  Another one to hog tie him so
he could not run away again to cause more trouble.  Ranma hated the
ferocity with which the pig usually bit her.  She wasn't out to kill
Ryouga, but he was damn impossible to deal with when he was a pig.
The only person who P-Chan was even remotely nice to was Akane, and
that was because Ryouga had a crush on her.
  Ranma grinned evilly.  Finally, something had gone her way.  All she
had to do was find some way to get rid of the pig, and she could relax
for once.. or so she thought.  Ranma did not notice the pink cat
walking up behind her carrying a strange bottle on it's back.  Within
seconds, the bottle opened, and Ranma found herself glomped by a
purple haired amazon.  "Nihao, airen!" came the veritable shout from
Shampoo.  "Shampoo so happy to see you!"

  Akane did manage to hear something going on downstairs.  She looked
up from her books, irritated that Ranma was making noise again.
Couldn't he be quiet for even a few hours?  Was that too much to ask?
For Ranma apparently it was.  So Akane found herself walking down the
stairs into the living room, where she got a look at Ranma.

  Ranma's eyes, jumped up, glad to see Akane.  Maybe this time, she
would get Shampoo off of her for once.  Then Ranma remembered: She was
holding a blatently tied up pig called P-Chan.  She glanced down at
P-Chan, who was unconscious. Fresh blood via piggy nosebleed was
soaking through the bandanna covering his mouth and nose.  Ranma
wondered what was going on.. until she finally bothered to look at
Shampoo.
  The Amazon had apparently neglected to wear any clothing this time,
and was happily glomping a female Ranma.  Given where her arm was,
P-Chan must have gotten an up close and personal look at Shampoo's
reproductive organs..  Wait a second!  Why was Shampoo naked?  Ranma
then remembered the weather.  Shampoo must have snuck over as a cat,
and cats can't carry clothing.  Ranma also realized rather
embarassingly how Shampoo's bare breasts were rubbing against her own
very visible chest.  The feeling caused her to flush, and she looked
up at Akane.

  Akane could not believe what she was seeing.  Her fiancee was
obviously enjoying _her_self with Shampoo!  The pervert!  Then she saw
P-Chan, tied up and obviously hurt from the blood on him, and her
already thinly stretched patience and temper exploded.  Ranma panicked
when she saw Akane glow blue, but could do nothing with Shampoo
clinging so tightly to her.
  The entire neighborhood could have sworn they heard Akane's shout
through the rain, and people looking out the windows saw a person
lifting rapidly into the sky.  They simply shook their heads, long
used to the violence in the neighborhood.

....

  The next day began as any other in Nerima.  The sun lazily rose over
the horizon, as people slowly woke up and began the day to go to work.
Tendo Akane was already out on her morning jog, enjoying what relative
peace and quiet she usually had before her fiancee the human trouble
magnet woke up.  *Serves him right,* Akane thought to herself, as she
remembered yesterday.  *That baka tried to hurt P-Chan again last
night.* Sometimes she wondered why she put up with the idiot. Akane
frowned to herself as the Tendo Dojo was visible at the end of her
sight.  *Sometimes the baka is actually nice to me.* She sighed.  How
the hell can anyone be so damn stupid yet likeable at the same time?
What was his problem with her pet, anyway?  She jogged up to the doors
of the Dojo calling out, "I'm home!"
  "Good morning," was the response from Kasumi.
  Akane paused in thought.  Ranma and his father were always a sight
to see when they fought.  Akane knew that Ranma usually lost the fight
despite his stating the otherwise.  Losing was always a sore thing to
him, and Akane wanted to tease him about it for once.  "Oneesan, how
was the match this morning?"
  "Match?  Ranma-kun was out of the house before Genma-san woke up."
  "What?  He's gone already?"  Akane paused to consider what had
happened.  Ranma would not have gotten up so early unless he
specifically was up to something.  Then again, after yesterday's
fiasco, maybe he just wanted to hide for a while.  *He has been trying
to keep out of trouble lately.  Maybe he just cleared out early?*

  Ranma woke up early that morning, perhaps the earliest he had in a
long time. Ranma knew that Akane's exams were driving her nuts, and
after last night's fiasco he felt as though he had to make it up to
her in some way.  He knew of a few stores which were having a sale
today.  *If I get something for her now hopefully we can forget about
yesterday's mess.* The fact that Ranma had even considered getting
Akane a gift was a surprise in and of itself.  *I wonder how Oyaji
felt this morning when he woke up and I was out of the house?* Ranma
smiled to himself as he looked through the various shops.
  After an hour or so, Ranma walked into another jewelry store, his
third. *All these places are so expensive, how am I going to find
something?* Ranma was about to give up on jewelry all together when an
unusual ring caught his eye.  The ring was constructed out of a smooth
clear crystal with a bright green emerald built into the center.  It
certainly looked different, and was something he could afford.  Ranma
paid for the ring, pocketed it, and walked out with a smile on his
face.
 *If I head to school right now, I'll get there before Kunou and dodge
another fight.* Ranma wasn't feeling too spectacular after last
night's little fiasco.  *That pig causes me far more grief than I
should ever have to put up with.* Ranma headed towards Furikan high
school.

  Akane trudged along her usual route, wondering where her fiancee
wound up going.  Lost in thought, she neglected to see Shampoo stop on
her bike in front of her.  "Violent girl, where Airen?"  she
said. "What you do with him?"
  Akane looked up, irritated.  After last night, Shampoo was the last
person she wanted to see.  "I don't know where he is."
  Shampoo laughed.  "Violent tomboy needs leash or Shampoo will steal
Airen when not looking."
  Akane turned bright red and lunged at Shampoo, who was already
pedaling off on her bicycle.  *This day isn't going well at all.* She
thought to herself, and continued on her way.  *Why do I have this
feeling that things are only going to get worse?*

  Kunou Tatewaki stood in front of the gates to Furikan High School,
on the lookout for his two loves, Tendo Akane and the pig-tailed one.
Kunou spotted Akane walking along the street, all alone for a change.
Kunou laughed out loud. "Ah, fairest Akane-san, thou has finally
discarded that foul sorcerer Saotome and announced thy love for me!"
With that, he charged Akane.
  Akane looked up, saw Kunou, and she felt even worse.  When would the
fool ever learn?  With all the times Ranma and her had beaten him up,
you would think he would get the hint.  Sighing, Akane bashed him in
the head and kicked him in the gut.  Kunou was airborne, sailing high
over Furikan High School.  "Tendo Akane, date with me......"  he
shouted as he flew off into the distance.

  Akane trudged into class, just barely on time.  She looked up to see
Ranma at his desk, already talking to Ukyou and his friends.  *He's
already here?* She thought to herself, very surprised.  "Ranma-kun!
Where were you this morning?  You left me behind." Ranma looked up
startled, but it was Ukyou who answered.  "Ran-chan finally made it to
school on time, and you have to ask why?  He's not on a leash, you
know."
  Visions of Shampoo flashed through Akane's head as she glared at
Ranma.  Ranma surprisingly for his part was sitting at his desk
quietly, not saying a word.  Akane pondered this newfound meekness in
a small corner of her mind as she stood there. "Good morning class!"
came the call from behind her.
  Akane froze.  Ranma just had a smug look on his face, as if to say
"Oops Akane, should have sat down when you had the chance."
  Akane looked up and saw Hinako-sensei in front of her. "Tendo Akane,
please sit down!"  Akane sat down as she muttered an apology.  "I am
sorry, Hinako-sensei."
  "Don't let it happen again."
  "Hai."

  Ranma sat in class, staring off into space.  For once, he did not
fall asleep in class, and Hinako-sensei noticed this.  She thought it
was an improvement, but Ranma still was not paying any attention to
the class itself.  Akane was too busy scribbling in her notebook to
notice Ranma still awake.  Class for her had become rather hectic as
of late due to the upcoming exams.
  Ranma was worried.  The Shampoo/P-Chan fiasco of last night was
pretty bad as things went on the scale of lunacy in Nerima.  It took
Ranma quite a bit of time to get back to the house from that trip.
Luckly for him it had stopped raining just as he landed.  Ranma could
not figure out how to approach the subject with Akane, so he decided
to avoid her at lunch to give him more time to think and her more time
to cool down.
  Ranma scribbled a note, and passed it to Ukyou when Hinako was not
looking.  Akane continued to scribble away in her notebook.  <Ucchan,
let's head over to the new food place during lunch.>
  Ukyou read his note, and sent back a reply.  <New food, eh?  Did
Akane try to make lunch for you again?>
  <I don't want to find out.  Want to go?>
  <Why not head over to my resteraunt?  It's cheaper.>
  Ranma paused at that last message.  Cheaper, yes.  Ranma tried to
remember how much money he had, and decided that he wanted to save it
for once.  He sent one final note back to Ukyou.  <Deal.>
  Ukyou read his reply and nodded just as the lunch bell rang.  With a
start, Ranma and Ukyou were up and out of the classroom, leaving a
startled Akane behind. Akane paused for half a second, and walked out
of the classroom.
 When she got outside, she noticed that Ranma and Ukyou were nowhere
in sight. *What is he up to now?  You would think that he was avoiding
me.I wonder what he is up to?* She paused.  *Maybe he's finally
learned to keep his distance after a fiasco like last night?*
  When Ranma and Ukyou returned to class at the end of lunch, Ranma
noticed the perplexed look on Akane's face.  What had he done this
time?  Had he done anything at all?  With Akane, it was hard to tell.

  The day ended quietly, for once.  Akane and Ranma walked home, with
about ten feet of space in between them.  Ranma was wondering what to
say, but his mind was drawing a complete blank.  *Why does she always
have to make things so difficult between us?  It is not my fault that
Shampoo loves to jump me.  Akane should be happy considering the fact
that Shampoo hasn't tried to get me in bed with her yet.*
  Akane said nothing, curious as to what Ranma was going to do, but
worried enough about her school work that he was not currently a top
priority in her thoughts.

  Finally they arrived at the Tendo dojo.  Ranma jumped into the air
and landed in between Akane and the house.  "Akane..." he began, but
paused, unsure as how to continue.
  Akane simply waited for Ranma to say something.  She thought about
hitting him for being such an idiot, but decided in this case that she
liked watching him squirm better.. ignoring the fact that she couldn't
say a word to him even if she had tried to.

....

  P-Chan sat happily in the bushes of the Tendo residence, waiting for
Akane to come back home.  He was quite happy about how badly Ranma was
manhandled by Akane last night.  Maybe there was a chance he could
break the two of them up yet.  Then he could finally defeat Ranma and
win Akane's heart.  Then he saw Ranma and Akane standing in the yard,
and his heart froze.  P-Chan knew that if he didn't do something right
that second, he might lose Akane forever.

....

  Time was frozen for a few scant seconds, of how things could have
been.. but sometimes fate dictates that life take a different path.
P-Chan came running out of the bushes, intent on disrupting the
conversation between Ranma and Akane.  P-chan leapt into the air,
biting deep into Ranma's arm.  Ranma reacted immediately, hitting
P-Chan on instinct. P-Chan went flying into the wall, crashing into it
and collapsing on to the ground unconscious.  Akane looked at P-Chan,
then back up at Ranma.  Ranma raised his hands, trying to speak, to
say anything, but he never had the chance.

  "RANMA NO BAKA!"  came the reply, as it usually did concerning
P-Chan.  With a sudden inhuman speed, Ranma was slammed backwards by a
mallet which appeared out of nowhere.

  It could be said that Ranma had an affinity for the koi pool in the
Tendo back yard.  He certainly spent an inordinate amount of time in
it.  It could also be said that Tendo Akane had an affinity for aiming
towards water.  She certainly hit Ranma into it often enough.  The few
times she didn't hit Ranma into some form of water, she doused him
with water before slamming him.  To Ranma this was no better of a
situation.
  Something didn't go quite right on this particular trip into the koi
pond. Akane for some unheard of reason, was off in her aim today.
Ranma bounced off the ground of the Tendo's backyard and was
catapulted into the air.  This caused a bit of amusement to Akane as
she watched Ranma loft lazily up into the air.  Ranma then came flying
back down and proceeded to slam his head against one of the stones
separating the pond from the ground.  Ranma hung upside down, head on
the rock, for about a half second or so, at which point he fell into
the pond with a splash.  With a hmph, Akane turned around and stormed
into the Tendo house after picking up her unconscious pet pig.

  About a minute passed when the pond suddenly erupted into a shower
of water as a very wet and bedraggled female Ranma popped out of the
koi pond coughing up water.  "Finally rejoined the world of the
living, eh Ranma-kun?"  came Nabiki's cat call as she amusingly
watched Ranma struggling in the pond. Nabiki was having a good laugh
at Ranma's expense. Regardless of what happened, Ranma was _always_
good for a laugh.
  His inflated ego got him into more trouble than anyone could
possibly imagine, not that trouble found him on its own often enough,
but Ranma always found a way to make things worse.  Yet somehow he
would survive through the mishap without any real problems.  Nabiki
was smiling to herself as she remembered those adventures and wondered
how soon the next one would start..  after all, it had been a day
since Ranma's latest fiasco.  What she would have given to get a
picture of the two naked women together.
  Then Nabiki noticed how slowly Ranma was standing up.  He was moving
far more slowly than usual, and without any of his usual malice
towards her sister. *What is going on here?* Nabiki wondered. "So,
Ranma-kun, did Akane hit you hard enough with the mallet this time?"

  Ranma shook her head as she stood up, and proceeded to look
strangely at the clothes she was wearing. She then heard Nabiki's
voice, and frowned at the way she was addressed.  "Ano," she started
to say while looking around slowly, "where am I?"  Her head turned to
look at Nabiki, who suddenly had a look of surprise on her face.
"Excuse me, do I know you?" Ranma glanced down at her hand, and
noticed the crystal ring (s)he had gotten for Akane earlier.  *Nice
ring,* she wondered.  *Why aren't I wearing it?  Isn't it mine?* She
slipped the ring on her finger as she heard Nabiki's voice
again. Nabiki was frowning, especially at Ranma's tone of voice.
Ranma was never so polite to anyone.
  "Ranma-kun, don't play jokes with me, or I will call on some of the
debt you owe me," she said.
  Ranma blinked once, a bit confused.  "I'm sorry, do you have me
confused with someone else?  I don't recall meeting you before now.  I
don't think I know you, especially not if you insist on calling me
Ranma-'kun', which isn't very polite. I am sorry for confusing you, I
think I will just go along with my business."
  Nabiki could only watch in surprise as Ranma took a single step
towards the exit and collapsed unconscious in a heap on the ground.
Nabiki walked over to her. *Wow,* she thought.  *How amusing.  Akane
gave Ranma amnesia again.* [Anime reference, for you purists. :-P]
  "Akane-chan!"  She shouted.  *This would be interesting to see.
Maybe Akane will blame herself this time.* She shook her head. *Nah..*
Kasumi was the one who responded, though.
  "Nabiki-chan, what is it?  Is something wrong?  Akane went over to
her friend's place to study.  Can I help you?" Kasumi was surprised to
see Nabiki standing over Ranma's body.  "Oneesan," she said, "we have
to get Ranma to Tofuu-sensei."
  "Oh my.  I'll get otousan and Saotome-san, and we'll meet you
there."
  Nabiki smiled to herself.  *If Kasumi shows up at Tofuu-sensei's,
we'll never get Ranma any help at all.* "Oneesan, I think it would be
better if you stay here."
  "Why?  What is the problem.."  Kasumi paused for a long time.  Her
face went red.  "Oh my!" she stated, he voice suddenly much lower than
before. "I'll call Akane-chan and let her know."
  *Should I be the one to tell her?* Nabiki wondered.  *No telling how
she'll react to the news _this_ time.* "Thank you, oneesan."

  After grabbing her neighbor's car, Nabiki was in Tofuu-sensei's
office with an unconscious Ranma a few minutes later.  Tofuu paused in
his work as he saw Nabiki dragging Ranma in.  "Nabiki-san, what
happened to Ranma-kun this time?" He asked.
  Tofuu paused.  "Does Akane-san know about this?"
  Nabiki paused in response.  "She does not."
  Tofuu nodded.  "In any case, we should change her back so she isn't
any more confused when she wakes up."
  "Should I be the one to tell her?"
  "I will leave that decision up to you.  In the mean time, I had
better call the hospital just so they can look over him to make sure."
  "Right.  I'll get the hot water."  Nabiki walked out of the room.

  Nabiki returned with a kettle a few minutes later.  Tofuu-sensei was
busy looking over Ranma's unconscious form.  "He seems to be fine
physically as far as I can tell.  I've called the hospital and they
have dispatched an ambulance which will be arriving shortly.  I
suggest you change him back before they put any neck braces on.  It
looks like a concussion as far as I can tell."
  Nabiki nodded as Tofuu-sensei walked out of the room, intent on
gathering some papers together before the ambulance arrived.  Ranma
had a long history of violent encounters and an even longer medical
report.  *Ranma should be fine, if past history of his injuries is any
indication.* she thought to herself.

  There was a sudden gasp followed by a sound of something smashing.
Tofuu jumped up quickly and rushed back into the room.  He saw Nabiki
standing, her eyes wide with surprise.  He spotted the kettle lying on
the ground, hot water spilling out of it.  *That caused the crash, but
why did it happen?*  Tofuu's gaze lifted up, and he saw a female Ranma
sitting on the table.  A _wet_ female Ranma.  "Nabiki, did you splash
him?"
  Nabiki nodded quietly.  Tofuu grimaced as he picked up the telephone
and started to dial a number.  "This makes Ranma's injury seem simple
by comparison."
  Nabiki was smiling strangely enough.  *Things could get very
interesting now,* she thought to herself.
  Tofuu continued dialing.  "Moshi Moshi?"  Came the voice at the
other end. Tofuu's glasses started to fog over, and he fought for
control of himself to keep from slipping into a trance.  "Kasumi-san,
this is Tofuu-sensei.  Nabiki-san and I are on our way to the
hospital.  Please meet us there."
  "Oh my.  Is it bad?"  Kasumi replied.
  "It could be.  Please, hurry."
  "Hai, Tofuu-sensei."
  Tofuu could only sigh in relief as the ambulance arrived out front
and a minute later the emergency technicians stumbled in.  He pointed
to Ranma. "Concussion, possible brain injury.  Be careful."
  The technician nodded, having seen head injuries all to often.  He
glanced over at Nabiki.  "Any relation to the patient?"
  Nabiki answered him.  "Just an interested third party."
  Tofuu paused.  "Do you want to come with us?"
  Nabiki shook her head.  "I've got people to see.  Let me know how he
is doing."  With that statement, she walked out the door.
  Tofuu frowned.  *This seems like a bad omen,* he thought to himself.

  A few long minutes later, Ranma was brought to the hospital.  The
trip was relatively short, except that the ambulance drivers were
muttering something about an idiot wearing a bandanna and a backpack
who was blocking traffic on the way there.  He seemed damned happy
about something.  Tofuu rushed with Ranma into the emergency room,
where they administered drugs and an immediate cat scan. Tofuu idly
wondered how the hospital bills would be paid for, but brushed it off.
Ranma's life was more important right now.
  Tofuu walked over to the doctor and the staff, and engaged into a
long conversation with them.  He had to make sure that things did not
get too far out of hand.
  An hour after Ranma was placed into a bed, Tofuu could hear wailing
coming from the corridor.  He knew the sound well, having treated
Akane in the past while Soun cried his heart out.  Tofuu steeled
himself, but knew that the moment he saw Kasumi things would get out
of hand.  He sat himself down in a chair, prepared to hold out as long
as possible.  Soun and Genma entered the waiting area, Soun wailing a
storm more so than normal.  Genma had tears in his eyes, but was
barely keeping his composure.  "Tofuu-sensei," he began, "how is my
son doing?"
  Tofuu shook his head sadly.  "They are analyzing the results now.
We should know in a few hours."  He lowered his voice.  "Ranma was
brought in as a woman," he said.  "The hospital doesn't know, so.."
  Genma nodded.  "We'll keep quiet about it."
  Soun continued to wail, trying to speak, but being too overcome with
grief to do so.  Tofuu was about to mention what Nabiki had said
earlier, but those thoughts left his mind as Kasumi walked into the
room.  As a matter of fact, all rational thought left Tofuu's mind.
Kasumi smiled. "Tofuu-sensei, how is Ranma-kun?"
  "Kasumi!  What a coincidence to meet you here, that is."
  Kasumi giggled at his response. Tofuu stood up suddenly, and rushed
out the door.  Kasumi frowned, and looked over to Genma, since her
father was still wailing.  "How is Ranma-kun doing?"
  "Tofuu-sensei mentioned that the tests being done weren't quite
finished yet.  Have you managed to contact Akane?"
  "Her friend's mother said that she would relay the message once
Akane made it back to her house.  They had stepped out to take a break
from studying, it seems."
  Genma nodded and sighed.  He'd have to tell his wife that Ranma was
in the hospital again.  He idly wondered how the news would go over
with everyone else..  and hoped that the bill for the hospital's test
and repairs would not be too high.

....

  Meanwhile, Akane had returned home.  After blowing off her studying
and spending the entire afternoon having fun, she was almost to the
point where she had gotten over the last time Ranma had attacked
P-Chan.  Sometimes she wondered why she put up with him.  Something
had been nagging her at the back of her mind all day long, but she had
been ignoring it.  Akane walked up to the rear door, and entered the
dojo.  She frowned.  It was around dinner time, and Kasumi's cooking
was easily noticeable from within the dojo.  Maybe they had the doors
closed, as it was a bit windy tonight.
  Akane removed her shoes, and stepped into the house.  Everything was
quiet, the lights out.  The kitchen was dark as well.  Kasumi usually
had started preparing dinner a long time before now.  Akane scratched
her head, and called out.  "Oneesan?  Otousan?" She waited, but there
was no response.
  The little voice at the back of her head started to pipe up again,
but Akane paid little attention to it.  She wandered up the stairs,
looking around.  Genma and Ranma were definitely not in.  Nabiki
wasn't home, but that was not unusual all things considered.  Happosai
was definitely not home, and she was glad about that.

  Akane wondered where everyone was.  There was no reason for the
house to be this quiet at this time of night.  While Genma and Soun
could have been out drinking, Nabiki off with her business associates,
and Ranma off doing who knows what, Kasumi should have been home.  She
rarely left the house this time of night.  Akane decided not to worry
about it, since she had too much homework to make up.  She also did
not want to think about where Ranma was, considering how inconsiderate
he was to P-Chan earlier.  He also managed to ruin a moment in between
the two of them.  Those did not happen all that often.  Akane's mind
tried to tell her that P-Chan had blatently attacked her fiancee, but
she believed that P-Chan was trying to protect her from him.

....

  Two hours passed at the hospital.  Genma had called Nodoka, and she
was not happy at all.  She did not want anything to impede her son's
eventual marriage.  She may have cared about Ranma, but ten years
apart and a debt of honor to carry were hard habits to break.  She was
on her way, but the trains were a bit behind schedule tonight, so she
would not make it to Nerima until very early this morning.  Akane was
nowhere to be found, strangely enough.  She only really disappeared
when her temper went past the boiling point, and that worried Genma.
  Just then, a doctor walked into the waiting room.  "Saotome
Genma-san?" he queried.
  Genma looked up.  "Hai, I am him."
  The doctor bowed.  "Kato Akira.  Your daughter," he started.  Kasumi
was about to speak up, but Genma shook his head at her.  "Is there a
problem?" he asked.
  "No problem at all."  Genma replied.  "Please, continue."
  "As I was about to say, your daughter is suffering from a
concussion.  There is a significant amount of damage to the memory
portion of the brain area."
  Genma frowned.  He did not like the sound of that at all.  "Do you
mean that she may not remember anything?"
  Kato nodded.  "It is possible for her to suffer from amnesia, either
partial or even full memory loss."
  Genma frowned.  Soun managed to speak up through his tears, which
had dried out for the time being.  "Will she regain her memory
eventually?"
  Kato shook his head.  "I am sorry, but you have been watching too
much television.  Memory loss is usually permanent.  Some of our
patients who have had memory loss in the past have needed to relearn
how to speak."
  Soun immediately broke into another wail.  Kato did not seem
affected.  "Is he a brother of yours?" he asked.
  Genma shook his head.  "A very old friend of mine."
  "I understand.  To continue, she is sleeping rather peacefully.
I've never seen anyone suffer as a bad a blow as she has and not end
up in a coma."
  Genma smiled.  "My family has always been tough physically."
  "We'll have any new information for you as it becomes available, but
right now we need to wait for her to wake up."
  "Thank you for your help."
  "We do our best.  The hospital will be closing soon, please come
back tomorrow.  If anything happens tonight we will let you know."
  "Thank you again."  Genma looked down at Soun.  "Come on, old
friend.  Let us get going."
  Genma and Soun walked out of the hospital, with Kasumi behind them.
"Was Ranma brought in as a woman?" she asked.
  Genma nodded.  "According to Tofuu-sensei, yes."
  "I hope he told them what happens when Ranma-kun gets wet."
  "I am sure he did."

  Nabiki returned home, having completed a few deals with her friends.
She wanted to expand her network a little to increase her personal
cash flow. Finding a few new guys to date so they could spend money on
her was an added bonus.  Nabiki entered the house, removing her shoes
and placing them by the front door.  She noticed a pair of Akane's
shoes sitting by the door as well.  Nabiki made a mental note about
that as she walked upstairs, glancing around the house.  Nothing
appeared to be out of order. She remembered how Akane behaved in the
past whenever Ranma was really hurt.  The place had a tendency to look
like a tornado swept through. Akane apparently did not know that Ranma
was in the hospital, and that did not surprise her.  Her sister could
be surprisingly stubborn at times, even worse than Ranma himself.
  Nabiki walked quietly up the stairs to Akane's door.  She briefly
wondered how to approach Akane, and decided that the direct route was
the best.  She knew that it would hurt her sister, but didn't really
care all that much.  Akane was the only one of the three with a
serious attempt at a relationship.  If she was going to squander it so
easily, then Nabiki would rub it in as best she could.
  Nabiki walked up to Akane's door, and knocked gently on it.  She
heard Akane grumble as she answered.  "Who is it?"
  "Akane-chan," Nabiki replied.  "This is your sister."
  "Just a second."  Akane walked up to the door, and opened it.
"Hello, neesan.  I came home and no one was here.  Do you know where
everyone went?"
  Nabiki nodded.  "Yes I do.  Ranma got into a bit of trouble."
  Akane got irritated at the news.  "It figures.  What did that baka
do this time?"
  Nabiki shook her head.  Akane was so predictable.  Manipulating her
sister's feelings was easy enough to not even be considered a
challenge.  "Akane-chan," she said quietly, "Ranma is in the
hospital."
  Akane paused, barely listening, staring at the text book she was
holding.  "What?  What happened _this_ time?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "What?  You don't know?  He hurt his head very
badly."
  Akane suddenly had a bad feeling about this.  She looked up at
Nabiki.  "How did that happen?"
  Nabiki grinned evilly.  "Come on, Akane-chan.  You of all people
should know how it happened."
  "What are you talking about?"
  "Please," she replied, turning away from Akane.  "Ranma was hurt
only once today, by a certain hot headed individual."
  "Are you telling me _I_ did it?"
  Nabiki laughed.  "I dragged Ranma out of the pool after _you_ bashed
his head in."  She walked into the hallway.  "Honestly, Akane-chan.
You are the only one of us with a fiancee.  You should have learned by
now to treat him better."
  With that statement, Nabiki walked off into the house, and Akane
collapsed onto the ground.  She could not believe what Nabiki had just
said.  Could it be that she had actually gone too far this time?  She
started to cry, tears spilling down her cheeks.  *That baka,* she
thought to herself.  *Why did he have to make me angry by attacking
P-Chan?*