(Cut Here)
	"So, Ranko-chan, are you looking forward to your new school?" asked 
Kasumi as she passed another bowl of rice to her father.
	"Oh, yes!  I'm looking forward to meeting new friends.  I've never 
been at a coed school before."  Ranko's behavior and mannerisms had  
shifted back to the carefully poised young woman of before the 
sparring session.
	"I'm sure you'll be very popular with the boys," offered Nabiki, 
looking for her brother's reaction.  She was disappointed to see no 
change to his scowl, and that twitching eyebrow did not look at all 
good.

[Flashman: Whoo boy.  Wonder how the encounter with Kuno will be 
changed.
Sakura: A Ranm... Ranko who might have a chance at LIKING him. 
(Shuders)
Trident: No universe could be so cruel... I pray.]

	"I don't care," muttered Kaneda.  "'m not getting married." 
	"Kaneda!" snapped Souun.  "Manners!"
	"Sorry.  I respectfully decline to acknowledge this engagement.  I 
did not ask for an arranged marriage, and I don't want one forced on 
me."  His angry tone belied his polite words.
	"Kaneda-kun...is there another girl?" asked Nodoka.  This had been 
her greatest fear, and the reason she'd insisted on making the 
engagement formal now rather than giving Ranko a few more years to 
adjust.  Both children were at the age where another love might have 
blossomed, and made the marriage impossible.
	"N-no!"  The boy flushed.  As if he needed more than one 
entanglement! 
	"Oh, good.  Then there's really no obstacle to your marrying Ranko, 
is there?"  Nodoka sat back, smiling cooly.

[Flashman:(Kanade impersination) Only the fact that Ranko is a 
BOY!!!]

	"No!  Oyaji didn't even bother telling me anything about this until 
today!"  Kaneda's use of the impolite version of "Father" caused some 
concern among his family.  It indicated a major explosion coming on.  

	"I see.  Then this is a bit sudden for you."  Nodoka inclined her 
head.  "But I am sure if you just give Ranko-chan a chance, you'll 
see how pleasant an arrangement this is."
	Yeah, *right*, thought Kaneda.  Like I'd trust *your* judgement, 
after what Ranko told me.  Out loud, "I don't need a mannequin wife.  
Excuse me."

[Sakura: Ouch.
Flashman: Now THAT was unnecesary.]

	"My son is a bit headstrong.  He will come around," insisted Souun. 

	Nodoka nodded her agreement.  
	Nabiki watched Ranko's face, and noticed uncertainty in her eyes.  
			* 		*		*
	The conversation had become rather strained after that, and everyone 
was relieved when Nabiki announced she was tired, and they were able 
to declare the need for an early night.
	Kasumi showed the guests to their room.  "I'll finish clearing out 
the spare room tomorrow, so Ranko can have a room of her own.  I'm 
sorry I wasn't able to get to it." 
	Ranko assured, "That's all right, Kasumi-oneesan.  Everyone was 
caught by surprise.  Your hospitality means a lot to us."
	Nodoka nodded her agreement.  "One night together won't hurt.  After 
all, we spent most of our trip to China sleeping in the same rooms." 

	Kasumi was curious; that trip hadn't been mentioned before.  But she 
could find out more about it tomorrow.

[(S&F hum a funeral march.)]

			*		*		*
	Souun said a prayer before the memorial portrait of his wife.  
"Please, Dearest, help me be strong.  Our son needs your guidance 
from the spirit world as our family promise comes to fulfillment."  
Silent tears ran down his face.
	Though he presented a brave front to the world, he knew in his own 
way that he was a coward.  He should have informed Kaneda long before,
 but shortly after he and Nodoka made the original arrangement, his 
wife had fallen ill, and there had seemed to be no time.  After her 
death, he'd needed time to recover, and as Kaneda grew, Souun had 
just never found the right time to tell his son of the engagement.  
In truth, since seeing Kaneda's temper grow, he'd been afraid of the 
boy's reaction, and delaying had only made the fear worse.

[Flashman: Hmph.  Nice to see an explination as to why Soun might 
neverhave explained it in the main reality as well.]

	Still, arranged marriages were less about instant love than growing 
into a relationship, and he was sure Kaneda could learn to live with 
his beautiful fiancee.  It was just a matter of time and discipline.

[Flashman: Lots and LOTS of discipline.]

	Nodoka watched her daughter prepare for bed.  The day had been hard 
on Ranko, especially with Kaneda seeming to reject her.  But he was 
young, and according to his father, honorable.  The boy would do the 
right thing in the end.
	They had come a long way from the day she'd first realized what had 
to be done, and Ranko had performed admirably.  Yes, Nodoka told 
herself, I made the right choice.  This is as it should be, despite 
things at the Tendou home not being as they seemed to me.

[Trident:(Begining to glow gold) Destroying a childs identity is 
never a "right choice."
Flashman: Uh oh.  (Thinking) I hope this ends soon, or we're in 
trouble.]
 
			*		*		*
	Kasumi straightened just one last little picture in the hall before 
going to her room.
	Two permanent houseguests were certainly going to be a challenge!  
But she'd do her mother proud by coping with it.  She had good coping 
skills.  Hadn't she kept things running until her father was ready to 
start teaching again?  
	And Ranko was such a nice little girl.  So polite, but with a hint 
of fun underneath.  If only Kaneda wasn't spoiling things with his 
temper!  Kasumi had long since learned to work around her brother 
rather than confront him; she just didn't have the right personality 
to make him back down, even when she had the authority to.  Perhaps 
Nabiki would have some ideas on how to get him to accept the 
inevitable.

[Flashman: Yeah, but it might COST her...]

	Nabiki juggled possibilities in her head.  She liked the thought of 
having a little sister.  Her father tried to give her attention, but 
most of his time had to be spent on Kaneda, training him to take over 
the Dojo.  And Kasumi had moved into a role of not-quite-mother 
fairly early on.  Ranko could be someone to talk to about, well, girl 
things.
	And liking Ranko, Nabiki was irritated with Kaneda.  A catch like 
that came along once in a lifetime, and he didn't even want to be 
near her!

[Sakura: Well, there IS a reason for that... which I wonder how 
she'llreact when she finds out.
Flashman: Before or after she tries to sell pictures of Rankos male 
form?
(The gold glow around Trident grows slightly.)]

	But Kaneda's adventure-story mindset might be just the thing to 
bring him around.  If he had to fight to save Ranko from danger, real 
or imagined, it would tend to make him see her as a love interest by 
association.  
	Nabiki smiled slyly.  She knew just the person to talk to tomorrow 
to start the ball rolling...

[(Ominous thunder crash.)]
			*		*		*
	Ranko cuddled her favorite stuffed toy next to her chest.  She was 
really too old for dolls.  Heck, she was almost married!  But right 
now she needed the comfort.
	For nearly as long as she could remember, she'd been in training for 
one goal.  It had become the center of her life, this engagement to 
Kaneda.  And now, all her hard work seemed almost pointless.
	There were two Tendou daughters.  She didn't have to become a girl, 
she could have stayed a boy and continued learning martial arts.  Her 
mother's misunderstanding had cost Ranko more than she truly 
understood.  But it would still be worth it, if only Kaneda was 
willing.  
	But that did not look good.  Kaneda had reacted very badly to 
Ranko's secret.  She'd hoped her poses and calm words would bring him 
around, but obviously boys were not as much slaves to their hormones 
as some of her friends had claimed.
	Oh, Mr. Panda, what am I going to do? she cried silently.  But the 
black and white toy had no wisdom to offer.

[(Tridents glow grows even more as the "DBZ, I'm gonna show you 9,000 
different ways to hurt" snarl is firmly attached to his face.  
Flashman and Sakura don't notice as they are too busy blubbering 
their eyes out.)]

	He'd glimpsed, in the dojo, something behind the prim and proper 
mask Ranko wore.  Kaneda had dared to hope it was the real girl, one 
who would be his partner in a true sense, rather than just the 
household side of a cold equation.
	But instead the mask hid a hideous truth, a madness disguised as 
honor.  That beautiful body--Kaneda shivered as he thought of it, and 
his own body betrayed him by reacting--was a lie.  Ranko was really 
Ranma, a boy trapped in a role he should never have played.  There 
was no way Kaneda was *ever* going to accept this engagement!
	Still...there was family honor.  There should be a way out, if only 
he could pull it off.  But in the meantime, he had to keep up the 
hostility, keep their parents from rushing a wedding.  Kaneda needed 
time to do what he had to do...
			*		*		*
	So eldest to youngest, they drifted to sleep, and awaited the morrow.
 

			End Chapter Two

[Sakura: That's it, we're done.
Trident:(Still glowing) I have something to say.
Flashman: I quote, "I do not like where this is headed."]

SKJAM!
"Say the name, pay the royalties!"
___________________________

(Trident stands, his glow has reached an all time high and he points 
his hand trident at the screen.)

Flashman: Uh oh... DUCK AND COVER EVERYONE!

(S&F hide under their seats.)

Trident:(His voice low and dangerous) Making your son think he is 
your daughter... then changing him into a girl... having him engaged 
to a boy... never considering for a second that you may have done all 
that without having to.... never even bothering to double check!  
Nodaka... No... (Suddenly yelling as his aura explodes through his 
trident in the biggest Bio Ball he's ever created and he shoots it 
with all of his might) 
BAAAAAKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!}

(The backblast of the attack torches the entire theater.  Sakura and 
Flashman crawl out from under their seats.)

Sakura: Feel better?
Trident:(Once again his reserved self) Much.
Flashman: Good chapter SKJAM!  Anything that gets a reaction out of 
Trident, good or bad, is well done indeed.  Sorry it took me so long 
to do this.

The Flashman

May The Spirit Preserve You!