WOW!  I am ahead of schedule, big time!  I just finished Part 6 (one more
to go, I think, though I might have a short epilogue- I doubt it, though- I
suspect I can fit what I would put in the epilogue into part 7) and so I'm
sending out Part 5.  Also, while I feel that this part may have been one of
the most difficult to write (and, therefore, I fear it is the least in
quality) part 6 has been my favorite to write so far, so I'll send THAT out
on WEDNESDAY, instead of this part (which, quite obviously, I am sending
out now.  God, I'm babbling, but I have a right to do so after working on
this for so long today!  I basically started the chapter and finished it
today, and it's longer than some...)  This part, as I said, was the most
difficult to write and is the weakest chapter so far, but some very
important things happen.  I would greatly appreciate some suggestions as
far as how to improve this chapter, especially, but I also would like some
C&C, MST's, FLAMES (provided you prove you read it!), or any other kind of
comment you might care to make, public or private, on ANY part of this
story.  So far, a lot of people have sent in things such as requests for
missing chapters or the simple 'looks good, continue writing,' kind of
comment, but no-one has said anything remotely constructive.  I guess I
just have to assume that what I've written has been perfect (David's false
ego clashes with his false modesty and wins!) but I can't possibly hope to
keep this up forever.  As usual, if you want previous parts, e-mail me
(apparently, some people are having trouble recieving personal e-mail from
me.  If I haven't responded to such a request within 3 days, e-mail me
again letting me know, and I'll try to find someone else to forward it to
you).  Disclaimer and Author's Notes are in part one.  Is there anything
I'm forgetting?  Oh, yeah!  The story!  Here you go...
---------------
Part 5:

It was the first night of the 2nd Charlotte Cup, and everyone in the Tendo
residence was up and about.  Ryouga, in pig form, had just escaped from his
cage again, and was wandering the dojo in search of some hot water and a
change of clothes so as to find out what had happened earlier in the day. 
Akane was in her room, wondering what had come over Ranma just a few hours
beforehand.  Ranma was on the roof wondering the same thing.  Soun, Genma,
Kasumi, and Nodoka were all in the living room playing poker (amazingly,
despite her apparent ignorance of the game, Kasumi seemed to always win)
and drinking sake.  Nabiki was making some final adjustments to her plans
for tomorrow's contests.  Desaix was in the kitchen with a teapot, heating
water for Buriko.

"So why should I become B.B. now, exactly?"  Buriko asked angrily.

Desaix turned around to face her, secretly gritting his teeth as his weight
shifted onto the leg he had injured when he stopped Ranma's cat fist
earlier that day.

"Well, for a few reasons.  For one thing, I know she's going to be mad at
me for trying to stop her from cheating in the contests today, even if it
was you who asked me to do so.  I would rather face her anger when I know
that its her, and not when I'm not certain if she's in control of that body
of yours or if you are."  Buriko nodded at this.  "Besides, Nabiki wants to
talk to B.B. before the contests tomorrow, so..."

"Ah, I see.  I'm really sorry I've gotten you in trouble with B.B., Dez-
especially when I did so for no reason."

Desaix smiled at that.  "Don't worry about it.  After all, I'M the one who
failed today- you did great, even without the cheating Nabiki was doing for
you.  And I wouldn't say it was for no reason- after all, I stopped Ranma's
cat fist from going on a wild rampage throughout Nerima.  Its just that the
reason wasn't what we had intended it to be."  The teapot whistled, and
Desaix quickly grabbed it off the stove.  After pouring some of it into the
already half-full glass of room-temperature water he had set aside, he
turned to Buriko slowly.  "Ready?"  She closed her eyes and nodded.  Desaix
set the teapot down, and picked up the glass.  Raising it over her head, he
slowly turned his wrist.

Splash, and B.B. opened her eyes, a fiery anger set in them.  "WHY DO YOU
EVEN LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M IN THAT FORM!  WHY DO I PUT UP WITH YOU!"  She
pulled out her Mallet O'Chi, and smashed Desaix with it.  He hadn't even
tried to block, and when the mallet came down it knocked him out- and sent
him flying against the kitchen cupboards, sliding down to the floor head
first.  His legs were suspended in the air, and B.B.'s always observant
eyes caught something which Buriko had missed before.  To make sure,
however, she went closer.  Then she felt the leg of his pants- they seemed
very stiff and brittle.  She rolled them up (or, in this case, down) a bit,
and caught sight of the gauze bandages.  Curious, she removed some of the
bandages to see what the problem was.

'Hmm, looks like a giant cat reached out and scratched him.  Wait a minute-
giant CAT!?  What was it that he had stopped Ranma from doing?  Attacking
the city with his cat fist?  Then that means that I- er, Buriko- sent him
to do something which...'  Shaking that particular line of thought from her
head, she looked at Desaix's injury for a second before replacing the
bandages and sliding him away from the counter so as to allow him to
recover easier.  Then she turned her mind to more worldly matters.  'Didn't
I tell Nabiki no-one was supposed to get hurt for this contest?  I need to
have a little talk with her about our arrangement...'

*	*	*	*	*

There was a knocking on the front of the Tendo's door.  "I'll get it!" 
Kasumi said, leaping up from her massive pile of yen coins and heading to
open the door.  "Hello, can I help y- oh, my!" the three adults playing
with her heard.

Soun, knowing that her little 'Oh, my!' could have meant that anyone from a
mailman carrying a package to the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse could be
at the door, hesitantly decided to run and see who it was.  What he saw
astounded him.

"Is my darling little Ryouga here?" the innocent looking girl riding what
could have been one of the aforementioned Horsemen's mounts, had it been a
horse and not a giant pig, asked politely.  A much smaller piglet, in a
different room, did a piggy-facefault when he heard that voice coming
through the walls.  "I found his backpack and some of his other things in
the middle of the woods, and I know he always winds up here when he gets
lost, so I figured I would come here looking for him!"

Soun smirked.  "Ah, well, I don't think he's here right now, but I know he
could show up at any moment... he seems to appear out of no-where, at
times.  Er..."  Soun looked nervously at the pig.  "You can stay and wait
for him here if you like, but we don't really have the... uh... facilities
to accommodate your, er, pet."

"Oh, Katsunishiki's okay.  He can take care of herself."  Akari patted her
pig on the belly, hugging him.  "But where would I stay?  I don't want to
put anyone out..."

Kasumi smiled, finally having snapped out of the (what was, for her) shock
of seeing such a monstrous creature at the door.  "Oh, you can always stay
in my or Akane's room.  Actually, I suspect that Buriko may want to move
from Nabiki's room into mine- she hinted that to me when I went to the
bathroom a minute ago- so probably you'd better stay in Akane's room."

Akari nodded.  "Thank you.  By the way, while I know some of you, I'm not
sure I've met all of you..."  By this time, Nodoka and Genma had come to
see what all the fuss was about.  "My name is Akari."

Nodoka smiled and nodded.  "Hello, Akari.  I think I'll go tell Akane
you're here and let her know what's going on.  Dearest, why don't you help
her with her bags?"  As she turned and left, Genma approached the giant
creature nervously.  The monster-like pet  snorted, and he jumped back. 
Akari snickered at him before he once again moved towards that particular
animal.

In another room of the house, another animal, also a pig, was snorting as
well- but the difference was, while Katsunishiki was snorting in greeting,
Ryouga was snorting in fear.  He just knew that, with the duel over him
going on, Akane would eventually mention how P-Chan was her 'pet.'  And
Akari would let her know about his curse.  And then...

He left to find a source of hot water (and clothing) more desperately than
before- because he knew the only way to save himself from two enraged
females he was in love with... was to get one of them so mad she would
probably hate him forever.  It was time to tell Akane of his curse.

*	*	*	*	*

Nabiki was completely unaware of this surprising event, as she was in the
middle of a complex business discussion with a dissatisfied customer.  She
probably would not have done too much with the information, save to perhaps
find some hot water and a little pig to sell it to, but as things stood she
was much too angry to care.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU REFUSE TO PAY?"  She screamed at B.B.  She closed her
eyes, breathed, and calmed down.  Through clenched teeth, she asked "Okay,
I brought Akane down to two points, and both of those were because you and
Azusa didn't allow her to grab the wierd ingredients she normally puts into
her food that makes it taste so wierd or come to life or harden so hard it
can't be eaten.  So, why aren't you paying me the 14,000 yen you owe me?"

B.B. looked at Nabiki with an even greater anger.  "You broke a rule I
made.  You endangered lives for your plans."  She moved closer to Nabiki,
leaning over her.  "Enticing Ranma into the cat fist was not just
dangerous, it was completely un-necessary.  Doing so SERIOUSLY hurt Desaix-
he's got four 'claw' marks going down his leg- he could have been killed! 
I'm moving to Kasumi's room, and you won't see a single yen of that money."

With that, B.B. grabbed her bags and left the room.

"I don't believe it," Nabiki whispered in the direction of the departed
B.B.  "No-one has ever refused to pay me.  For that, I'll see to it that
you lose this contest, no matter what it takes..."

*	*	*	*	*

Desaix, who had spent the time after he recovered from B.B.'s blow changing
into his shinto robes, was carrying the clothes he had fought Ranma in to
the laundry room when he came across a little black piglet squeeling at him
desperately.

"Oh, hello, Ryouga.  I can't understand you like that, you know."  The pig
looked at him hopefully, and Desaix laughed, picking him up.  "Come on,
I'll find some hot water for you."  Passing through the laundry room on the
way to the bathroom, Desaix dropped his clothes on top of the hamper.

As Ryouga changed from pig to human, his squeels turned to desperate
whispers.  "I need your help.  I need a change of clothing and I need you
to guide me to Akane's room- and I can't be seen by anyone other than her!"

"Uh, well, I suppose I can loan you the clothes I just dumped in the
laundry room- they are a bit dirty and I'm not sure they'll fit you right,
since you're shorter and wider than I am, but I think that you can wear
them without tearing or anything.  And I can lead you to Akane's room, but
why-"

"Then do it.  I can't explain now- I don't have time.  And, if you can,
please keep people away from her room while I'm in there."

Whatever Ryouga's problem was, he was obviously in a hurry to resolve it,
so Desaix just nodded, deciding he would find out what was going on
later...

*	*	*	*	*

"...give me a chance to find out more about Ryouga's little girlfriend,"
Akane was saying to Nodoka.  Ranma's mother could tell that Akane's mind
wasn't really on the arrival of Akari from the catch in her voice, but she
decided not to say anything about it.

Desaix knocked on the open door and leaned in.  He briefly looked surprised
at the presence of the older woman, but then he recovered and began
speaking.  "Uh... hello, Akane, Mrs. Saotome.  Can I talk to you," he
pointed to Nodoka, "For a moment- privately?"

She nodded, and Desaix led her out of the room.  "So, what did you need to
talk to me about?"  Only a few seconds later, Ryouga snuck past the two of
them into Akane's room.

"Er," Desaix began.  He really didn't know what he could come up with that
would be convincing- until he mistepped and felt a pain shoot up his leg. 
"Your son, Ranma, injured me earlier today- it was entirely by accident, I
assure you," he said at her concerned look, leading her further away from
Akane's room.  "Anyways, I don't want the whole world to know that I'm
injured, but I wanted someone who would know proper first aid to make
certain that I bandaged my leg properly..."

*	*	*	*	*

Akane was astounded to see Ryouga come in through the door.  "Ry- ryouga! 
What are you doing here!  Akari is here, looking for you.  Did you know
that?"

Ryouga nodded.  Drawing all his courage to him, he closed his eyes and
began.  "Uh, yes I did.  In fact... she's why I've come here to talk to
you.  Akane, I have something important to tell you.  You are going to get
angry at me for telling it to you, but I ask that you hear me out before
you say or do anything."

Akane blinked twice.  "Uh... okay."

"Akane, for the past year or so, I've been decieving you, and..."  'Now,
Ryouga, if you're going to do this, you might as well clear yourself of all
your dishonor in the process,' he thought.  "And abusing a promise of
Ranma's to do it.  You've always wondered what the real reason I was mad at
Ranma all the time was, so now I'll tell you."  If Ryouga had opened his
eyes since he entered the room, he would see Akane looking as curious as
she had ever been in her life.  She wasn't looking really happy, but she
had yet to get mad.  "When Ranma first skipped out on our duel, I followed
him all the way to China, and to... Jusenkyo.  When I was there, a girl
chasing a panda knocked me into the... Pool of Drowned... Little Black
Piglet."  THAT set Akane's anger afire, and that anger manifested itself in
a hot red glow.  'Oh, my gods... All those times that Ranma... he abused a
promise?  Why would Ranma... why are you telling me know?  Why did you keep
it a secret in the first... that pervert... I'm going to KILL him- no,
wait, remember,' she thought to herself, 'hear him out BEFORE you kill
him.'  Her fingers slowly started clenching together into a pair of fists,
but she had yet to draw back for anything- slap, punch, or mallet.  "After
that fight where I accidentally chopped off your hair, I followed Ranma
here, and challenged him to a fight.  He and I fought in the rain... and I
changed.  Ranma... felt guilty or something, and so promised not to reveal
my curse to you.  Then, you decided to adopt me as your pet... and I fell
in love with you."  At that, the roller-coaster which was Akane's emotions
once more became derailed.  She gasped, as he continued with "I hope you
can forgive me... I never meant to... to hurt you, but I... I..."  Ryouga's
voice broke, and he just hung his head, unable to continue.

Akane, after giving him a minute to start again, slapped him hard, and
prepared to do much more after telling him off.  He looked up, finally
opening his watering eyes.  "You pervert," she said vehemently.  "No wonder
Ranma was always so jealous of P-chan..."  Her thoughts shifted to Ranma,
remembering what he had said earlier in the day.  "So jealous..."  Akane
decided something- and, using the family traits which had normally been
dominant in Nabiki but which had been somewhat hidden in her, came up with
a plan.  "Ryouga, I don't know if I can ever forgive you- you were a
friend, and you abused that friendship, and you framed someone I... someone
else numerous times for your own means.  I won't kill you for what you have
done, however, because you had your motives, however twisted.  I also know
how you feel about Akari and how Akari feels about you, and I HOPE that you
were telling me because you decided to go after her alone, because I will
never love you.  However, while I may find it hard to trust you again... I
want to try to remain friends.  And, as your friend, I ask that you not let
Ranma know you told me- you can tell anyone else you want, if you're
certain they won't tell Ranma.  I'll tell him myself, after the competition
is over... And, stay civil with Ranma, okay?"  Ryouga nodded slowly.  Akane
smiled slowly.  "Good.  Akari is going to be staying here until she finds
you, so... say, does she know?"

Ryouga gritted his teeth.  "Er, she knows, but she... didn't know that YOU
didn't know.  And I don't think she knows that I am- er, was... in love
with you."

Akane nodded.  "Hmm.  Well, you'd better head back to Ranma's room and get
into your cage."  Ryouga winced when she mentioned the cage, but he nodded
and started to leave, before stopping just short of the door.

"Uh, can you help me find Ranma's room?"  It was too much for Akane- she
just laughed.

*	*	*	*	*

Ranma, sitting on the roof, was still thinking about the exact same thing
that he had been thinking since he got up on the roof.  '"You haven't lost
me," I said.  What was I thinking?  That sounds so corny, and it doesn't
even begin to say what I wanted to say.  Aaargh!  Why are things always so
difficult with her?'  He sighed.  Before he could restart his line of
thought from the beginning again, a chill breeze struck him.  Ranma
shivered.  'I guess I'd better go inside.'

He hopped off of the roof and headed inside.  Going in, he though he caught
a glimpse of something pink moving outside, but decided, as large as it
was, it couldn't be anything other than a big truck.  'A pink truck?  Huh!'

When he reached his room, he ran into Akane leaving it.  Narrowly avoiding
a collision in the doorway, Ranma spun out of her way before saying
"Akane... uh, were you looking for me?"

Akane was startled to see Ranma there.  "Uh, no."

Ranma blinked.  "Then... why were you in my room?"

"Why was I in your room?"  Akane repeated.

"Yes, why were you in my room."

"I was, uh..." Realizing she needed an answer for this, she glanced back
into the room for inspiration.  "Visiting P-Chan."

Ranma smirked.  'She's lying- why?'  "You know," he said out loud, "If you
were to catch me coming out of your room, regardless of the reason, you'd
probably mallet me."

Akane shrugged.  Despite her nonchalant response, it struck her that she
sometimes malleted Ranma for some of the stupidest things.  Trying to keep
a straight face, she said "Probably.  I suspect it seems to you I mallet
you for no reason at all sometimes,"  She chuckled, pulled out a very
low-grade Mallet o'Chi, and smashed Ranma over the head with it. 
"Sometimes, I guess, you're right."

"Ow, Akane, that hurt!"

"Oh, come on, that was just a love tap!"  Akane giggled.  Then she blushed,
realizing how she phrased that.  "Uh, er, I mean... uh, bye!"  She ran off.
 Ranma blinked, not quite sure what just happened.  'That's nothing like
the Akane I know, what's up?  Does this have anything to do with this
contest thing?'  He entered his room, and pulled a wet pig out of his cage.
 Noting Desaix's dirty clothes lying about, he shrugged.  "Looks like
you've had a lot of company.  First Desaix, and then Akane.  Come on,
Ryouga, I want to talk."  Ryouga looked at Ranma nervously as he was
carried away.

*	*	*	*	*

Akane was headed back to her room, and nearly ran over Desaix.  'I need to
watch where I'm going more,' she thought, 'First I nearly knock Ranma over
after helping Ryouga return to his room, and then I nearly Desaix over
heading to mine.'

"Ooof," Desaix said, sitting up.  "What hit me?"

Akane picked him up and dusted him off.  "Sorry about that.  Say, where's
Auntie Saotome?"

"I think she went to take care of someone named 'Akari.'"

Akane nodded.  "Say, did you know what Ryouga was going into my room to
talk to me about?"

Desaix bit his lip.  "Well, I knew it was important and he was in a hurry,
but other than that, no."

"Ah.  Did you know about his curse?"

Desaix blinked.  "Yeah, but you didn't.  Did he tell you about it?"

Akane grimaced, nodding.  "Yes, he did.  Buriko told me not to talk to her
about private things, regardless of which form I'm in..."

"Probably good advice- saying something stupid when she's in one form has
nearly gotten me killed by the other form many, many, MANY times."

"Uh huh.  Anyway, I want to talk to someone about it, and Ranma's a bad
choice, Nabiki would blackmail me, and anyone else who I could talk to
right now wouldn't keep what I wanted to talk about secret.  Any chance I
could talk to you, privately?"

Desaix sighed.  He had figured out Nabiki's plan to activate Ranma's cat
fist, he had figured out a way to stop him, he had solved Mousse's debt
problem (that had been rather easy), he had come up with a plan to get
Ryouga to talk to Akane secretly, and he had just had a long talk with
Nodoka about first aid skills, among many other things. "I suppose, but
don't expect me to be of much help with anything.  I've done enough heavy
thinking for one day."

*	*	*	*	*

Ryouga stood in front of Ranma, after having been drenched for the third
time in less than an hour.  He was wearing a bathrobe Ranma was loaning
him, looking very confused.

"What do YOU want?"  Ryouga asked with hostility.  It wasn't that he was
really angry at Ranma, right at the moment, but with the multiple changes
he had already suffered, and with the need to reveal to Akane his curse and
having been trapped in a cage most of the day, he'd been having a pretty
bad day.

Ranma, of course, failed to notice anything unusual- Ryouga always treated
him like that.  "What's up with Akane?  She was acting really... wierd...
when she left the room, after visiting 'P-Chan.'  I know she sometimes
tells you things- any idea what's bugging her?  Anything to do with the
tournament?"

Ryouga panicked, but again, Ranma didn't notice anything unusual in his
behaviour.  "S-something's b-bugging Ak-Akane?"  Ryouga stuttered, his
voice cracking.  "In what way?  Was she upset, sad, angry?  Did she try to
mallet you for no reason, or something?"

Ranma blinked.  "Uh, no, that's how she acts normally.  She was joking with
me, and seemed a little nervous about something..."  He shook his head. 
"She just wasn't herself."

"Well, no, I don't know what's bugging her.  Now, can I go back to my cage
now?"  Ryouga was getting a little desperate- knowing this house, Akari was
likely to walk in any minute.

Ranma finally noticed something was bugging Ryouga too.  "Okay, you might
not know what's wrong with Akane, but... what's wrong with you?"

Ryouga took the safe way out.  "Akari's here, and, well, I don't really
want to see here right now..."

"Why?  I thought you liked her?  In fact, the last time I saw you before
B.B. found you, you were on your way to try and find her!"

Ryouga sighed.  "I was.  But... I'm just not ready to see her yet, you
know?  Especially with Akane here, and-"

Ranma raised his eyebrows.  "Could that have been what was causing Akane to
act all wierd?"

"Er, how should I know?"

"You talk to her more often than I do!  And besides, Akari's YOUR gir-" 
Ranma shut up and splashed Ryouga with cold water as he started to hear the
door open.  He picked up the pig just as Akane walked in- Ranma thought he
saw someone moving behind her, but that person disappeared from sight
before he could be identified.

"Ranma!"  Akane asked.  "What are you doing here?"

"Er..."  Ranma stammered.  "I was just... uh... giving P-Chan here a little
bath!"

Akane smirked.  "Ah!  Be sure to scrub behind his ears- they keep getting
so dirty for some reason."  She left and started to close the door behind
her.  "And try to keep from picking on him- he's just a pig, after all, a
dumb animal- you shouldn't be picking on dumb animals, Ranma."  As the door
shut behind her, Ranma could've sworn he saw her trembling as if she were
holding laughter back.

"'Dumb animal?'  Is she mad at you, or something?"  Ranma asked the pig.

"Bwee!"  Ryouga grunted noncommitally.

*	*	*	*	*

Akane, struggling to keep from laughing, dragged Desaix up onto the roof.

"I missed it.  What's the joke?"  He asked.

"Like I said," Akane said, trying to muster up enough calm to keep from
sounding like Kodachi, "Ryouga told me about his curse.  He also swore to
me he wouldn't let Ranma know I had told him.  Ranma probably already
thought I was acting wierd- I can only imagine what he thinks now that
I..."

"Now that you basically insulted 'your little pet' in front of him, he
probably wants to call the psycho ward.  Why did he swear to not let Ranma
know you know?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Akane said seriously, finally
under control.  She put her hand behind her head.  "I asked him to not tell
Ranma because I want to tell him.  I don't want to tell him, though, until
after..."  Her voice trailed off.

Desaix puzzled through what she might be using these delaying tactics for. 
Not coming up with anything, he prompted "After..."

Akane blushed.  "Well, see, he and I have never really kissed- in fact,
we've never even admitted how we felt about each other.  I think he loves
me- I THINK he screamed out once that he wished he could have told me just
once that he loved me when he thought I was dead.  But... I've never been
able to admit it to him myself- I deny it vehemently whenever anyone brings
it up.  Ranma, also, denies he ever said it... and I'm not sure, because he
thought I was dead for a reason- I wasn't breathing, I wasn't able to move,
and I could barely sense what was going on around me... but when I heard
that, I snapped out of it all.  NOW I realize certain things about him-
like how he was constantly jealous of my little pet for a REASON, and how
much I always beat him about for things which he SOMETIMES doesn't really
deserve, and that, just possibly... I care for him."  If either Akane or
Desaix had been listening for it, they would have heard a thump coming from
behind the dojo.  "I want to be able to know, however... so I want to
participate in the last contest just to see what... if..."

"How you feel about each other,"  Desaix supplied.  Akane nodded slowly. 
He laughed.  "I understand completely.  I swear to you that I will not tell
Ranma that you know Ryouga's little secret."

Akane smiled.  "Thanks, Desaix.  I think its about time I turn in."  Desaix
nodded, and they both jumped off the roof, heading in through the front
door.  Someone inside overheard this little conversation with a set of
earphones and grabbed Desaix the moment he got inside for ANOTHER little
talk.

*	*	*	*	* (end part 5)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
                 dtatum@capaccess.org
                     desaix@sysnet.net
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872