Most characters and situations in this story are the
property of Takahashi Rumiko and are used without consent
but without the desire to give offense.

For Every Action...

A wishing well.  Or at least, that's what the sign claimed.  "Wonder
whether Nabiki set this up?"  Ranma mused aloud.  *After all, the
sign doesn't say you'll actually get the wish, just that you get to
make one if you throw a coin in.  That's her kind of honesty.*  He
grinned for a moment and then shrugged and tossed a coin in.
"I wish...  Man, am I desperate or what?  Even for thinking
about doin' it... I have to be nuts.  And even if it was real,
you know it'd turn out goofy, same as every 'cure' I try.  I'm probably
lucky it's a phoney."  He turned his back, "Wish I knew why it always
turns out wrong."

                        *******

"What's so bad about being a girl!" snarled Akane, fists already
clenched as she glared at Ranma.  As ever, he was dumbstruck at
the idea of explaining how he felt about that or anything.

"Now, that's an interesting question."  Both turned to face the short
man with bright blue eyes.  "Tell me, Tendo Akane, are you interested
in the answer, or are you just picking a fight?"

"Uhm, do I know you?" Akane asked, distracted from the quarrel
by her questioner's appearance from nowhere.

He tossed a 5 yen coin into the air and caught it again.
"No, but I know a fair bit about you.  I'm actually here to fulfill
a wish that Ranma made last night.  He asked for the answer to a
question.  Since I'm feeling generous, I'll toss in an answer to
your question as well."

Ranma looked puzzled, "I asked a question?"

"Yes, you asked why your cures always seem to go awry..."  the little
man paused dramatically until Akane snapped, "WELL!?"
He grinned, "Just trying to build a little suspense.  The answer is
that magic is a conserved quantity, like mass and energy.
 It cannot be created, or destroyed, only altered and transferred.
 Thus, attempts to nullify your curse conceal it for a time, or twist it
into a different curse, but they all fail because they fail to dispose
of that force within you, fighting it, instead of releasing it."

"Ah man, how'm I supposed to do that?"  Ranma groaned.

"There are some ways, but magic has a way of demanding prices you may
not wish to pay.  Now, Tendo Akane, about the answer to your question,
you accuse Ranma of insensitivity to your feelings, but what of your
insensitivity to his?"  The little man tossed his coin again, but this
time at the apex of it's flight, it flared and vanished.  His
voice became more dramatic in it's tone:

   "Saotome Ranma, I grant you respite from your curse
   Tendo Akane, I give you the gift of comprehension
   For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
   For every question, there is a matching explanation
   When you grasp the cost and the worth of the gift you recieve
   You may accept it or not, as you please."

Water erupted from the ground in a ice cold geyser under their feet,
sending them both sprawling before either recognised a threat.  "AAAH,
COLD!  Akane are you-"  Ranma stopped, horrified at the sight of a
muscular boy as tall as  Kuno, dressed in Akane's school uniform.
Akane looked back at him for a moment, puzzled by an expression she'd
never seen on his face before.  Then she looked down and screamed.

"RANMA!  This is all your fault!"

Part 1 ends here.

-----------------
Most characters and situations in this story are the
property of Takahashi Rumiko and are used without consent
but without the desire to give offense.



"Ranma this is all your fault!"   Some might say that Akane was being
unfair in not giving any blame to the little man who had actually
transferred a version of Ranma's curse to her, but Akane had a practical
disposition and preferred to blame people who were available as opposed
to those who wisely jump into the river and vanish after doing their 
dirty 
work.  "If you hadn't made that stupid wish-!"

"Hey!  I didn't wish for that guy to give you a curse.  He just did it!"

"But it works out pretty conveniently for you, doesn't it?"

"Oh sure, that's just what I want for a fiance.  A guy in a dress!"

"..."  Akane stopped, mouth open.  "Wh-what if I'm stuck like this 
forever?"

"C'mon Akane, it's gonna work the same way it does for me.  You changed 
when you got hit with cold water.  All we have to do is get some hot 
water, 
change you back and get to school.  After school, we'll track that guy 
down 
and make him undo it."  Ranma reached out to take hold of
of... him... then stopped and said, "Let's run to Doctor Tofu's.  We've
still got time before school."

*He doesn't even want to touch me when I'm like this*  Akane 
quelled the painful thought and concentrated on sprinting faster than
she ever had ever had before putting just enough stress on her shoulders 
to
to let her left shoulder seam separate.  *Oh just what I needed to
make the day perfect*  Fortunately, this body didn't cry as easily as 
hers.  She really didn't want to start crying in front of Ranma in male
form.  "Umm, Ranma?"

"What?"

"Could you go in and get the water and some needle and thread?"

"We don't have time, we're-"  *Oh yeah.  Akane and Tofu.* "Right." 

As soon as she had reverted to female successfully, Ranma quickly
stitched up her tear, grabbed her and lept for the schoolgrounds.  

"Saotome, release the fair Akane before you feel my-  What's this
that my keen vision does espy?  Have you dared to damage her apparel
with your lascivious gropings?"  True, this was an unreasonable 
conclusion but Kuno has a dirty mind.  

"It's not like that at all!" Ranma protested indignantly and 
automatically,
as he stepped back to avoid the new form leaping toward the two of them. 
 


"Hello, Ranma, Tendo Akane, nice to see you.  Kuno, you dog, how dare 
you 
betray Nabiki by flirting with her sister!"  Yamazaki Kentaro and his 
brother had been the latest entries in Ranma's fiance sweepstakes thanks 
to 
the usual kind of identity confusion.  Surprisingly to many, once they 
were 
convinced that Ranma was male, they'd both switched their attentions to 
wooing Nabiki, with no noticeable success.  This, however, was a new
twist.  Ranma mouthed "Kunou and Nabiki?" and Akane just gestured her
confusion.  They avoided the developing new argument and headed inside. 
 
Where of course, they were late.  

"I am disappointed to see the two of you reverting to your old tardiness
after your improved performance in the last month.  You know where the 
buckets are."  

Standing out in the hall, Akane remembered Ranma's first day.  She'd 
half-jokingly threatened to throw her bucket at him.  It didn't seem
funny at all in retrospect, holding something that with a touch could
turn her into a joke for the whole school.  She shifted her position
slightly and froze as it seemed as if the water sloshed just a little 
bit more than it should have.  "Yeah," commented Ranma quietly.  "It's
almost like it's alive."  This was going to be a long day...
  
------
End of Part 2

Yes, they're short.  I'm new at this, give me a break.  
The Yamazaki brothers were the subject of my first attempt at writing
which mysteriously vanished before I could post it.  I suspect everyone. 
 
Someday I'll rewrite the saga of the brothers Yamazaki and post it. 

Since I rewrote Part 1 to some extent I'm reposting it with part 2